Chapter 363: When All Hope Was Lost
Using his strength, Zen waved the Streamer Sword to create silver shadows and cut through the puppet's waist.
Ting!
It was a good hit! But unexpectedly, Zen didn't even scratch the puppet's body. It seemed to be made of some hard metals. Zen could feel his hands becoming a little numb from the sword's vibration.
“It's so tough. Even a fairy weapon can't cut it!”
Before Zen could wave his sword for the second time, the puppet started to move. Its body slightly tilted, and the rapidly rotating blades rushed towards Zen.
Two blades were too fast for the naked eyes to see. They almost looked like silver plates that reflected too much light.
Ping!
In the face of the incoming knives, Zen stepped back swiftly. He rolled to the ground, barely avoiding the attack of the puppet.
He thought he was safe, but to his surprise, the puppet started to make the knives cut through the ground. It was aiming to cut the platform into two so Zen would fall!
The puppet was too smart as if it had a mind of its own.
Usually, a human-made puppet could only follow the simplest instruction. It would get confused if the instruction was a little complicated.
But this puppet was different. After it forced Zen back, he knew to cut the platform to make Zen fall off. Apparently, it had the ability to think.
Zen didn't have much time to think about it. His main objective now was not to fall off the platform, not because he was afraid of the disciples from Cloud Hall waiting for him outside the enchanted barrier, but because he wouldn't get the silver box if he fell. Moreover, Zen also wanted to try for the gold boxes above. He wasn't sure if he'd make it to the black box, but it was worth the try. He would not give up once there was a chance.
Zen was not too ambitious and had a good attitude. He was always determined to give his best to seize any opportunity. But if after all his effort he could still not obtain it, that meant that he wasn't strong or lucky enough. Zen would always accept defeat humbly.
Take for example the fairy place hidden in the Eastern Region. Apparently, it was a very good chance for Zen. However, he was only the temporary owner of it. If Zen would really become the owner of it, he could benefit much more. But he didn't insist further because he knew his strength and capacity.
It was important to do something hard, but sometimes self-consciousness was more crucial!
Today was different though. He felt that he had a chance on this one, so there was no way he would let it pass without giving it a try.
The puppet was still cutting the platform. Zen heard a harsh sound and saw rubble flying in all directions. With the current pace of the puppet, the part stretching out of the cliff had already been cut in half. And if the puppet continued with its pace, the platform would soon fall off due to its own weight.
“Stop cutting!”
Six demonic phantoms rushed towards the puppet from different directions. Zen knew that the puppet's body was strong, and his six demonic phantoms might not stand a chance, but at least they could stop the puppet from cutting.
Six loud bangs echoed.
Just as Zen expected, his demonic phantoms hit the puppet like they were eggs smashing the stone!
The material used to make the puppet was surely the hardest Zen had ever seen. If the puppet could be sold outside the Cloud Road, the price would be exorbitantly high.
While the six demonic phantoms were hitting the puppet, Zen put the Streamer Sword into the rotating silver plate in hope of stopping the 'windmill'.
“Crash!”
The Streamer Sword went through the silver plate. The sword's tip part got stuck in the puppet's waist and the middle part had barely stopped the knives from rotating. The force of the knives rotating had resulted in the Streamer Sword to be deformed.
With his fairy weapon deformed, Zen felt bad, but he had no choice. The puppet was too hard to be cut, and it was also so smart!
Just as when Zen struck the puppet's body with his sword, the puppet's metal columns started to reshape itself! It turned longer and shorter simultaneously!
Two long metal sticks suddenly stretched out from its legs. With three knives on each top of the sticks, they looked like paws. The paws then swiftly moved towards Zen, and in a matter of seconds, Zen's legs were locked.
Splish! Splish!
Zen's ankles were trapped by the paws. The knives started to cut Zen's skin and almost reached his bones. He was bleeding so badly.
This was the first time that Zen was hurt after he entered the Cloud Road.
Zen's body was a top-grade spiritual weapon which meant that normal attack could not hurt him. But these paws were different because Zen could be injured.
He was just lucky that his bones were stronger than his muscles and the knives could not cut his bones. If it was another disciple, the bones in his feet would surely be cut into pieces.
But despite that, the situation was becoming too bad and dangerous. Zen could not move because his feet were locked. Before Zen could move his arms, another two sticks started to stretch out from the puppet's shoulders.
Splish! Splish!
Now, the second pair of paws trapped Zen's wrists. They were digging through Zen's flesh. Blood started to squirt out of Zen's wrists until his wrists were covered in blood.
Zen was now completely locked and unable to move.
He appeared to be a fish on a chopping board ready to be cut down into pieces.
The puppet seemed to know that a normal attack would not work on Zen. A sharp object spiked out of the puppet's chest and it rotated fast aiming for Zen's chest.
Seeing what was happening, the Cloud Hall disciples waiting outside the enchanted barrier were stunned. They could not talk, holding their breath in fear.
It was too thrilling.
The Cloud Hall disciples thought that the test would be easy for them. Everything went smooth in the beginning. They didn't face any dangerous situations even when they passed through the Sea of Raging Fire.
They also defeated the ghost-faced spiders easily at the start of the hidden trial. With their consecutive wins, they felt that the Cloud Road was not as difficult as it was said to be.
It was easy to pass the trial with skills alone, however one also needed chances and good luck. Challenges came with chances and good luck.
If a disciple didn't try to seize these chances, it was like they found a treasure, but didn't take anything. Any disciple wouldn't want that to happen.
But seeing what was happening to Zen, they understood that if they were not strong enough, they wouldn't have a chance for the treasures. They would only be miserable!
Looking at the powerful puppet, Lennon just shook his head. On one hand, he felt happy seeing Zen suffer. On the other hand, he had to accept the fact that he would have died earlier than Zen if he had climbed the third platform.
Outside the trial field, Kenneth was silently staring at the Picture Slab. His face was dark and cold like iron.
The Cloud Road was a dangerous place. Once the disciples were in danger, there was nothing their leaders could do but watch.
The other leaders of the sects knew that Kenneth was feeling bad right now. Even Lady Long who had always spoken sarcastically to Kenneth was speechless. She dared not to say anything bad to Kenneth, afraid that the latter would turn his anger to her. Deep down, Lady Long felt happy at the turn of events.
Zen was eager to reach the third platform with his limited strength. Who could stop him? But with his current level, there was no way he could succeed before the others. However, he insisted on attending the hidden trial and wanted to obtain extra good chances. He seemed to be ignorant at what he could achieve being only at the third grade of the nature level.
Fernandez sighed while shaking his head,“With its purplish metallic color, I can tell that the puppet is made of 'Purple Dark Iron'. This material is used to make extremely hard top-grade fairy weapons. It will be impossible for Zen to break out from the puppet.”
Seeing Kenneth's pale white face, Fernandez didn't say more. He could only say much and only hoped that Zen had other methods to escape from the puppet and jumped off the platform.
In such a situation, no one had thought about the silver box at the other end of the platform. They were all focused on Zen and wondered if he could escape. Even if he obtained the box, there would be no use if he was already dead.
Could Zen escape from the puppet? Or was it his end?
Meanwhile, Zen was thinking hard. After all he'd been through, he wouldn't let a puppet kill him.
With all his limbs trapped, he had no choice. Out of the blue, Zen shouted. As his voice echoed, all his energy burst out. All the dragon scales on his body lit up simultaneously and raging power filled his body in a second.
Then Zen was trying to shrink his body despite the pain. He was too desperate to escape from the puppet regardless of the consequences. It was all or nothing for him now.
But the puppet remained still. From there, Zen realized the huge gap between his power and the puppet's. He felt like a kid trying to kick down a sturdy tree.
It was hopeless. At that moment, Zen felt like he could do nothing. His eyes lay on the ground and suddenly, his eyes lit up. He noticed that the puppet fixed itself on the ground by planting knives into the platform. Zen wasn't sure of his plan but it was the best he had right now. There was no loss in trying after all. For the first time, he stopped struggling and lay down on the ground calmly.