Chapter 362: The Puppet Killer
There was only a Picture Slab outside the Cloud Road, and whenever Frank and her disciple, Lois appeared in the slab, Lady Long would be all smiles and praises for them.
She regarded Frank as though he were her son, whereas she treated the other disciples participating in the Cloud Road like they were worthless. Besides, in her opinion, only Lois was qualified to stand beside Frank.
As an elder of Cloud Hall, Fernandez was quite familiar with all the disciples of Cloud Hall. He knew of Frank's and Lennon's skills and background. Naturally, his focus was on other disciples, such as Zen, Lewis, Rocher, Patrick, and a few others who performed outstandingly well in the test.
Funnily enough, whenever Zen appeared on the Picture Slab, Lady Long could not help but disparage him.
It would be fine if she only expressed her contempt for Zen once or twice. After all, she was a woman, not only of bad temper but also of great strength. It was unexpected for Lady Long to have a deep prejudice against Zen, and for her to belittle Zen every time. How could Kenneth tolerate her irrational behavior?
When Kenneth finally spoke up, the other sect leaders felt greatly elated and applauded him secretly.
Although Lady Long's caustic remarks were mostly directed at Zen, she was also rude to the other disciples. This, of course, had triggered dissatisfaction among the other sect leaders, but they all held their anger like Kenneth before.
“Humph! What's the future for a guy from that little place in the east? Eastern Region? Eastern Region? Humph! How can you call that place a region? How ridiculous! What are you staring at? Yes, I'm criticizing the Eastern Region as well. Zen has already offended Lennon, which is tantamount to provoking the union of the Wang Clan and the Zhao Clan. What will he achieve in the future? How ignorant and stupid he is! I think Lewis is smarter than Zen. At least he covered his face when he robbed the treasure chest...” sneered Lady Long, knocking her cane on the ground.
Kenneth, who was a forthright and impetuous man, appreciated Zen's courage to fight Lennon openly. So he protested against Lady Long, not caring about the consequences. “What's so great about the union of the Wang Clan and the Zhao Clan?” he argued gallantly after a short laugh. “The fact that someone offends the South Wang-Zhao Family doesn't mean the person has to worry about severe consequences instead of continuing with their practice. The union of the Wang Clan and the Zhao Clan is significant. However, they will be a third-grade family. Lady Long, don't forget that our Cloud Hall is a force at grade four. Can a member of this big family suppress an elite from Cloud Hall? You're overestimating the union! You boosted the morale of the other side and lowered our own! Lady Long, are you still a member of Cloud Hall?”
“You! When did I endorse another side and lower our own?” Lady Long snapped back.
Kenneth intended to use Cloud Hall's power to put pressure on Lady Long. If Zen successfully passed the Cloud Road, he would become an elite disciple of Cloud Hall, and then he would naturally be given sanctuary in Cloud Hall. Besides, a fourth-grade sect, of course, didn't fear a third-grade family.
“You were rambling about the consequences Zen would face for provoking Lennon. What? Will you now deny what you just said?” Kenneth questioned, twisting his lips into a sneer.
“I... I...” Lady Long was speechless.
Just then, Fernandez stopped their argument. “Enough,” he shouted. “Stop arguing about this little thing. Zen is going to reach the third treasure chest!”
As these words were spoken, Kenneth's and Lady Long's eyes flew to the Picture Slab at the same time.
Kenneth knew how hard it was to obtain a silver chest, but he had a hunch that Zen might be able to open it!
In the All Peaks Competition, Zen exceeded everyone's expectations in every contest and eventually won. Kenneth thought he would succeed this time, too.
At this point, however, Zen felt an excruciating pain in his chest.
Ever since the blood-red nine-headed dragon penetrated Zen's heart, every heartbeat seemed to hit him like a sledgehammer. In other words, every time his heart beat, he felt a sharp pain, which was almost unbearable.
In addition, when Zen's heart thumped wildly, the blood vigor of the nine-headed dragon in his body flowed continuously to various parts of his body. This pain was in addition to the pressure he felt in his heart.
His heart raced dozens of times before the pounding subsided, and the force of the hammering gradually faded away. This meant that Zen had absorbed the nine-headed dragon's blood vigor.
The force of vital energy and blood billowed in Zen's body. It made his vital energy and blood surge like waves. Zen suddenly sensed that he had boundless power.
At this point, he, of course, became aware of the value of the nine-headed dragon's blood vigor.
When Zen was in the Burning Sky Palace of the Eastern Region, the third prince had offered three gorgeous women. These women were from the Yen Group and had powerful vital energy and blood in their bodies. By taking their virginity energy, one could acquire the power of their vital energy and blood, which was a great benefit for cultivators.
Zen speculated that the power of the three stunning women's vital energy and blood was probably less than a tenth of the power of the nine-headed dragon's blood vigor.
Many cultivators were eager to secure the virginity energy of the three beauties at that time. Zen wondered how desperate they would be to possess the nine-headed dragon's blood vigor, and what would be its value. Zen was sure that their yearning for it was beyond belief!
When his heart rate returned to normal, Zen decided to move on without a break!
What was in the silver treasure chest? Zen couldn't help wondering about the contents of the treasure chest. After all, when the prize in the blue treasure chest was so precious, the contents of the silver treasure chest would be even more valuable.
Zen climbed the cliff slowly. The cliff was so rocky that there was no shortage of places to put hands and feet, so it was not difficult to climb.
After selecting a silver treasure chest, Zen walked toward the stone platform.
“I must get the silver treasure chest!”
Zen murmured as he stood on the stone platform. A determined look flashed in his eyes. He knew that taking the silver treasure chest would be far more dangerous and difficult than getting a blue one.
Faced with an unknown challenge, Zen was on his guard and focused on the dark cave.
“Clank! Clank! Clank...”
A rhythmic, crashing sound came from the cave.
It seemed as though something was about to emerge from it.
Zen was not the only one who was nervous. All the onlookers wanted to know what test he would have to pass to get the silver treasure chest in the third tier.
Lennon remained motionless. He stared intently at the platform where Zen was standing. According to his strength, the goal Lennon set for himself was to reach the silver treasure chest in the third tier. The leader of Cloud Hall had taken a silver treasure chest in the third tier. Although it was impossible for him to become a powerful leader simply from the prize in the silver treasure chest, if Lennon obtained the silver chest, it would show that he was as gifted as the leader of Cloud Hall.
To become an elite disciple would be a great honor and provide him with considerable resources! If he had the same talent as the leader of Cloud Hall, who would dare to ignore him?
Thus, Lennon observed intently, unwilling to overlook a single detail. If he could grasp these details and figured out how to deal with them, his chances of winning the silver treasure chest would increase by at least 30 percent.
In this sense, Zen climbing the cliff first actually benefited Lennon. At least Zen's exploration of each tier was a demonstration for Lennon.
However, this didn't mean that Lennon forgave Zen. On the contrary, he hated Zen's guts... Lennon hoped that Zen would make the most of his power so he would know what danger was in the third tier. But he didn't want Zen to make it through and get the silver treasure chest. In short, Lennon had complicated feelings and thoughts about this situation.
“Clank! Clank...”
The noise grew louder, and soon, a strange thing appeared at the mouth of the cave.
“Is this a puppet?” Zen mumbled.
It was hard for him to define what it was.
It looked like a puppet made of pillars. Zen couldn't think of anything to compare it to. Given that it could move automatically and didn't breathe like a living creature, Zen could only call it a puppet.
But the puppet's arms and legs were made of shiny metal pillars, at the end of which there were no hands or feet but sharp blades that gleamed in the cold light. Obviously, these blades were of high-grade material. Besides, its head, shoulders, and many other parts also had a lot of blades.
Apparently, this puppet was made for killing. It was a puppet killer!
As soon as the puppet exited the cave, it rushed toward Zen.
With every step it took, the blades on its feet were driven deep into the stone platform.
As it quickly approached Zen, its thin, and metal column torso suddenly began to spin. In the same instant, its arms also rotated at high speed, like a windmill, trying to injure Zen.
“What should I do to deal with it?” Zen whispered as he racked his brain.
Puppets didn't have weaknesses as human beings did. Zen reckoned that the puppet would have a core to power it, so he just needed to smash that core.
The problem was that Zen didn't have much time to observe the puppet and find its core. At this moment, he was standing on the edge of the platform, and if he could not withstand the puppet's first attack, Zen would fall off the cliff and lose the test.
“Its waist!”
Excitement flickered in his eyes as Zen abruptly bent down like a tiger that was readying itself to attack its prey! This ready stance of attack was called the Crawling Tiger Move. When the puppet rushed forward, Zen kicked his feet off the ground like a pouncing tiger. At the same time, he pushed his Streamer Sword horizontally.
The puppet's waist was a long, slim iron pillar. Zen felt confident that he could cut it off with this move!