Chapter 392: Voice Message
Emanuel Zhuo adopted a commanding stance and then bluntly ordered Zen in a firm voice.
He declared that Zen had to recount what had exactly happened on the Cloud Road to the smallest detail. In other words, he subtly hinted that it would be wise if Zen wouldn't conceal anything about the event.
Emanuel thought that he had spoken to Zen clearly and politely enough. His stance differed from Fernandez's. Fernandez had been quite old. Although he still acted as the Cloud Hall's elder, these days he was mainly responsible for dealing with mundane affairs like choosing elites among disciples. However, Emanuel was in the prime of his life, and his strength was at its peak. As a mainstay of the Cloud Hall, he looked down upon Zen. Perhaps he would have treated Zen with less respect if he hadn't won the first place.
Emanuel clearly knew that everyone was vying to obtain the treasures on the Cloud Road, since all of the treasures were inherited from a grade six sect.
A few moments ago, Frank had informed him that a flood dragon had appeared on the Cloud Road. Furthermore, Emanuel knew from Frank that countless streaks of light were manifested on the Cloud Road, and then all of a sudden, all of the treasures were assembled together in one place.
Even though Emanuel himself couldn't step onto the Cloud Road, his son still had a chance to enter.
The gateway to the Cloud Road was only opened every three years, because of the enormous amount of crystals necessary to trigger the opening. Specifically, it would cost hundreds of supreme life vitality crystals to trigger an opening. Emanuel schemed that he was willing to spend that exorbitant amount of crystals in opening the gateway to the Cloud Road once again so that Frank could attempt to obtain the treasures, as long as he could glean useful information from Zen.
He would benefit greatly from the treasures inherited from the grade six sect.
All eyes were trained on Zen as soon as the command was uttered from Emanuel's mouth.
Frank blatantly sneered at Zen, muttering to himself, 'I have asked you to tell me the whole truth before, but you outright refused. Now, my father is here, demanding you to reveal that same truth. My father doesn't play around.'
Gloom was apparent on both Kenneth's and Fernandez's faces, silence befalling them. It would be inappropriate for them to speak for Zen, because they would surely offend Emanuel. As for the other sect leaders, they didn't say anything either, as Zen was not a disciple of their sects, and in fact, they were also curious as to what Zen had encountered on the Cloud Road.
Both Rocher and Patrick could do nothing but sigh deeply in despair. They surmised that Zen had no choice but to reveal the truth.
Contrary to their expectations, Zen blinked multiple times, stared Emanuel right in his eyes and stated, “Master Zhuo, I survived the Cloud Road entirely because of my own good luck. Why should I reveal anything to you? Is there any reason why I should tell you?”
From the start, Emanuel had expected Zen to reveal the truth in its entirety, or he would conceal just a little bit of the truth, but he never expected this outright rejection.
As Zen questioned why he should recount the story to Emanuel, the faces of the five sect leaders and Fernandez portrayed expressions of disbelief.
'This guy is asking for it, ' they all thought. Emanuel was so ill-tempered that the stewards of the Cloud Hall were often scared out of their wits when they crossed paths with Emanuel. However, Zen, merely a young disciple who hadn't even been selected as an elite, dared to question Emanuel that way...
Zen definitely knew how powerful Emanuel was in his position. Upon hearing Zen's defiant words, the sect leaders began to admire Zen for his great courage. At the same time, they also got worried.
Frank who was standing in the sidelines had his mouth agape in disbelief. He even thought he was having a nightmare.
Ever since he was a little kid, he had never witnessed anyone who dared disrespect his father. Even the folks at the Internal Elixir Realm didn't have the nerves to speak to his father that way. Zen was only a nature creature. How could he...
Frank could sense his father's immediate fury. He also knew that death was now the only choice for Zen. Even though he himself was Emanuel's son, he dared not utter a single word, for fear that he would further infuriate his father.
“Why...” Emanuel repeated that word slowly, his face appearing like an expressionless mask. Soon, he burst into laughter and continued, “Ahhh ha ha, you asked me why? Do you take me for a fool just because you think that you've reached a much higher level after you won the first place on the Cloud Road? You are merely a nature creature, so you are in no position to question me. Now, let me tell you the reason, you ignorant wretch. You are an insect in my eyes. You can be gone from this world in an instant. That is reason enough for you!”
Unlike others, Emanuel was rather calm. It seemed that he didn't need to showcase his fury and power to match Zen's imposing manner.
It was precisely because of this that Emanuel was scary.
However, Zen remained unblinking and composed. It was impossible for him to reveal anything that he encountered on the Cloud Road to anyone else. On the other hand, he wanted to glean more information about who Tia was.
As the cyan dragon guessed, Tia was definitely more powerful than the disciples at the Illuminating Soul Realm, and might have practiced some cultivation methods which required people to practice anew repeatedly when reaching a certain point. These cultivation methods were rather hard to master and refine, but one's power would increase exponentially if he or she successfully mastered the methods.
Tia might be a powerful plater at the Cloud Hall if the cyan dragon's guess was correct. Zen dared estimate that Tia might even be more powerful than Emanuel at least.
“What if I don't tell you anything?” Zen replied flatly with a wry smile. At this moment, he had secretly siphoned life vitality into Tia's token.
“Heh. Since you refuse to reveal the truth, I am not interested in listening to your words anymore. Instead, I will search the source, your soul.” Emanuel didn't threaten Zen at all, but intended to directly scour Zen's soul.
To search Zen's soul, Emanuel had to directly access Zen's brain to invade it, using a secret technique that let him skim through Zen's memories. Only the most powerful people knew this technique.
As Kenneth heard that Emanuel was going to search Zen's soul, he found it hard to keep silent. Zen was, after all, a disciple of his Cloud Sect. And so Kenneth hurriedly stepped forth and said, “Master Zhuo, Zen was out of his mind just now. Please grant him another chance!” As soon as he pleaded, he turned around to face Zen and reprimanded, “Zen, reveal all to Emanuel instantly! You must not conceal anything from him!”
Kenneth spoke to Zen in a stern voice, since he was afraid that Emanuel would really scour Zen's soul. Soul searching was not a small thing.
One whose soul was scoured would suffer various mental damages when the memories were extracted. In simpler terms, Zen would turn into a simpleton if his soul was to be searched.
“Kenneth, idiot off,” Emanuel retorted loudly, blatantly disregarding Kenneth's position.
“Master Zhuo, there is no need to be so worked up on some naive boy. Please, for my sake...” Kenneth begged with a smile while bowing with his hands clasped in front of him.
“Idiot off, I said!” Emanuel yelled coldly. Then, he promptly added after a few moments of consideration, “Kenneth, tell me why I should do this for you.”
“Sir, don't beg him anymore,” Zen said expressionlessly.
Since the cyan dragon was protecting his soul from intrusion, Zen did not fear the soul search. The cyan dragon was a hidden advantage Zen possessed. Although he seemed to still be very weak at the moment, he had consumed the flood dragon's spirit and drunk an entire pond of the flood dragon's blood. Zen believed that the cyan dragon wouldn't ignore him in his crisis.
Besides, Zen was still waiting.
He wanted to see if Tia would grant him a favor.
In spite of Kenneth's pleadings, Emanuel approached Zen with long, powerful strides. Kenneth, who stood beside him, dared not impede him. In the current situation, Zen still stood where he originally was, but he was a little short of breath.
When Emanuel was only about a couple of steps away from Zen, a small piece of rune suddenly appeared near Emanuel's ear. A few seconds later, a little spark shone and burnt up the rune in an instant.
All the sect leaders present recognized the rune, which could transmit voice messages over a long distance by the use of one's life vitality.
Emanuel's ears perked up as if he was listening to an unseen voice. Soon afterwards, he frowned and looked rather sullen, staring at Zen with a complex expression.
Moments which seemed like an eternity passed by as everyone was waiting with bated breath. A few seconds later, Emanuel glared at Zen and sneered, “You better thank your good luck! Frank, let's go!” As soon as Emanuel uttered the words, he flung himself into the sky and hovered for a few seconds. Then, he quickly dissolved into a gray shadow and rapidly disappeared.
Frank was dumbfounded and confused by his father's words.
At the beginning, Frank silently wished something horrible to happen to Zen as he watched in silence. He wanted to witness firsthand his father searching Zen's soul so that Zen would be reduced to a bumbling idiot. Frank would have been so ecstatic to witness such an event.
On the Cloud Road, Frank felt that Zen was mighty. It was clear how Zen was an absolute threat to his ascendancy at the Cloud Hall. Thus, no outcome would be greater than Zen's demise.
However, Frank never expected his father to abruptly give up scouring Zen's soul. What went wrong? Why was a voice message suddenly transmitted with the aid of life vitality? Who would be so powerful? Who was able to change his father's mind that quickly?
Although Frank's mind was plagued with questions, he dared not utter a word as he noticed his father's grim expression. Instead, he just gave Zen an intense look and flew closely behind his father.
At this moment, only the sect leaders, Fernandez and Zen stood where they had been. They were all very much confused by the sudden turn of events.
Like Frank, they were also wondering who on earth had sent a voice message that convinced Emanuel so easily.