Chapter 400: Spear Of Annihilation
Watching the scenes unfold before them, the elite disciples of Cloud Hall were struck dumb, unable to get a word out.
Most of them were at level four, five, or six of the Illuminating Soul Realm, a little higher than Frank. But if they really fought Frank out in battle, none could defeat him, for he was a heaven-level talent. He was far stronger than he looked and often fought warriors at higher levels with little difficulty.
But now, Frank had been challenged by a disciple of a lower level.
The elites could not wrap their minds around the fact that the boy was only at grade four of the nature level.
Frank was a beginner at the Illuminating Soul Realm. He could easily make dead meat of a disciple at grade four or five. The elites would have found it acceptable if both sides were at the Illuminating Soul Realm. Not to forget, Frank had an array of unusual talents and resources under his belt. His father had made sure he had been carefully cultivated. His one meal would probably cost many other warriors everything they owned. How could any of them compare to that?
But then what about Zen? It was a profound gap between grade four of the nature level and initial stage of the Illuminating Soul Realm. The other disciples found it incredible that the young boy, still wet behind the ears, had challenged a practiced disciple. Everyone was all too aware of the marked difference between them.
But now, they couldn't help but realize why Zen had been so arrogant before. He was strong enough to challenge even Frank.
As the other elite disciples stood looking shocked at what was happening, Frank emerged out of the hole. At the moment, his hair was disheveled, his eyes blazing red with fury. His current appearance strayed from his usual look of cold elegance.
Frank looked unhinged, like an enraged animal. His gaze stared daggers at Zen. “Zen!” he called out hoarsely. “I don't care who is backing you. You must be killed!”
Previously, Frank hadn't planned on killing Zen. That day after Frank's father heard someone's voice message in his ears, he instantly left without a word. It was surmised that the voice message came from a senior of the Cloud Hall. It might even have been Cloud Hall's head herself.
Frank hadn't wanted to put Zen to death at first when he decided to fight him.
But now he raged uncontrollably. Any sense of rationality and wisdom had vanished like ice in hot weather. Bits of gray death aura hovered over his body, as if belonging to a man who had been dead since a long time ago.
The dragon texture appeared over his white spear, blood-red light glittering inch-by-inch on it. Once the red illuminated starkly, it started to turn dark. As it did so, a black dragon texture materialized, replacing the previous red one. It had a clear and strong death aura.
“Frank, do you mean to use your killing skill?” Finlay asked, his face turning pale. He hadn't expected this, for Zen was at such a low level compared to Frank.
Hearing Finlay, the other elite disciples, too, lost color on their faces.
The skill was the Spear of Annihilation.
Most of them had heard about this skill, as it was Emanuel's unique talent. Emanuel had become famous for it.
It was said that only a warrior with an innate talent for communicating with the ghostdom could practice the skill of the Spear of Annihilation.
Ghostdom was something that was supposed to be indecipherable to the warriors of this world. The records mentioning it in secret books and legends did not go into much detail either.
There were only two people who had this talent and they were Emanuel Zhuo and Frank Zhuo. It was the exact reason why Emanuel cherished Frank so much, even though Emanuel had so many other heirs. Frank had the same special ability as him. In fact, Frank might even surpass his father once his full potential was developed.
Death aura radiated from Frank's body, flying undisguised around his white spear. Engulfed in it, Frank was a figure of terror.
Tia and Morphens stood inside the ice palace at the top of Cloud Hall. They stared at the Picture Slab without blinking.
“Frank is about to use his skill of Spear of Annihilation. He cannot yet wield it fully, but it is still powerful enough. I'm afraid Zen cannot survive it,” Morphens said. As per Morphens, Zen would find it unable to bear Frank's Spear of Annihilation. Just as its name suggested, the skill demanded absolute annihilation. Frank had suffered a heavy hit by Zen just moments ago. He would surely spare no effort in using this skill.
An icy fog hazed Tia's vision, her eyes looking momentarily surprised. “Don't worry. Let's see how Zen fights it. I think he can do it. The power of the Malicious Wheel of Life and Death is not weaker than that of the Spear of Annihilation.”
Tia was familiar with the Spear of Annihilation. Before going to the trial, Tia had been attentive of Frank's Spear of Annihilation and had planned to ask him to break the enchanted barrier. But later, she chose Zen. Perhaps this was how it was meant to be.
How powerful was the Blood Fiend Emperor? Since he had chosen the Malicious Wheel of Life and Death as his main cultivation method, how could its power not compare to that of the Spear of Annihilation? Even though Zen had practiced the Malicious Wheel of Life and Death for only a short period of time, Tia was still confident in him. More importantly, this would be a great test for him.
Although Morphens had heard that Tia could obtain the inheritance of the Blood Fiend Emperor with Zen's help, he still doubted Zen's power. Like most other warriors, he thought Zen's cultivation level too low.
Tia seemed not to worry about Zen in this situation. Morphens didn't say anything more, choosing to gaze at the Picture Slab instead.
Wisps of gray death aura gathered around Frank's white spear. A single glance at it hurt the souls of the warriors as if they had been damaged somehow. With the white spear in his hand, Frank was like a spirit from the ghostdom. “My skill of Spear of Annihilation can destroy every way in the world! Zen, let me see how you fight me now!” he bellowed.
Watching the extremely powerful spear, Zen's expression was grave. He began his Exterminating Wheel at once.
At the same time, he drew three pieces of malicious aura from the Killing Sword Mountain.
The cultivation method employed in the use of malicious aura was usually extraordinary. One piece of malicious aura could equip the skill with great power, while three of them could do that much more.
However, Zen had not stored up too much of the malicious aura. When he had been back at the Luo Clan, he received some malicious aura after killing the Blood Prisoner. Then he entered Cloud Road and gathered some piecemeal, stocking in the Killing Sword Mountain. Besides that, he also gained some on the Dead Road by killing hundreds of Dark Devil Phantoms in battle.
Zen felt reluctant to use so much of his malicious aura in a single fight alone. But he had to pull out all stops contending with Frank.
“Zen Luo, you must die!” Frank roared again.
The Spear of Annihilation together with the strong death aura rushed at Zen. The bystanders felt their hearts tighten. Frank had inherited it all from Emanuel. No one knew exactly how powerful the skill was, but all of them sensed the great strong force reverberating behind it.
At the same time, Zen waved his sword, the three bits of malicious aura blazing forth.
Generally, a warrior who had cultivated in the killing way had abundant malicious aura with him. Others could sense it when upon seeing such a warrior. Zen's sword spirit, Lily, was such an example. If he called her out, others could sense the malicious aura in her at the very first sight itself.
But things were different with Zen. When Zen had put his malicious aura in the Killing Sword Mountain, he looked quite ordinary, as if he did not have any of that aura with him. Now that his malicious aura had emerged out, he looked like a malicious god himself.
“What? How does he look so different now? He has such a strong malicious aura! He didn't seem like he practiced in the killing way before, did he?” an elite disciple asked.
“You are right. I never sensed any malicious aura in him before. So how did he...?” someone else commented.
“It's incredible that Zen chose the killing way. Isn't he afraid of getting hurt by the malicious aura?”
Just as the elite disciples looked on in wonder, Zen put the three pieces of malicious aura into his Blood Drinking Sword. He raised a foot and pulled back his arm, his body tilting forward as the sword rushed at the Exterminating Wheel swiftly.
Ping!
The malicious aura, as thick as a man's arm, swerved toward Frank ominously.
Generally, the elite disciples did not use their real powers when fighting each other. They stopped before they hurt their opponents for real.
But at the moment, both Zen and Frank seemed to want to use their best skills. The other elite disciples standing close and watching them now stepped back, fearing getting hurt by this great power.
Ping!
They had expected the two would make quite a stir when they started fighting. But this was beyond their imaginations. They heard a light brittle sound. Zen's Blood Drinking Sword had hit Frank's white spear.
As if in a daze, the other elite disciples saw with their very own eyes how Frank's white spear started to crack. Little by little, the medium-grade spiritual weapon splintered like rotten wood until it was nothing but a number of lone white fragments.
The white spear kept breaking from the pointy end like a chain reaction until the malicious aura arrived at the handle that Frank's palm was circled around. The onlookers saw how his arm twisted into an unbelievable shape. Then they heard the same noise of a crack coming from his arm.
The bones in his right arm had been shattered into pieces just like the white spear in his hand.
“Ahhh!”
The severe pain made Frank shriek. He collapsed, rolling over on the ground in agony.
Finlay Zhuo rushed over to Frank, taking out a fresh, white pill. He put it in Frank's mouth. Although Frank took the healing pill in time, his right arm barely recovered. It was certainly not as strong as it had been previously. A broken bone could be healed by pills, but it would take a long time for Frank's arm to fully recover. Moreover, even if the bones were all healed and patched up, the arm would not be as strong as it used to be.
Finlay's face fell. He stood up, watching Zen with a cold smile. “I never expected you to be so powerful. You not only survived Frank's Spear of Annihilation but also broke his arm.” Finlay clenched his jaw, barely holding back his anger.
Zen blinked, smiling calmly. “Spare me your accusations. Frank would have killed me if I hadn't broken his bones. In some ways, I was kind enough to break only his one arm. I should have taken his life for what he wanted to do to me.”
“Go to perdition!” Finlay stared at him menacingly. As Finlay shouted, his blood-red spear flew at Zen.
Finlay was at grade nine of the Illuminating Soul Realm, which meant he was close to consummation at the realm. He was far stronger than the other opponents Zen had met.
However, as Finlay's spear zoomed at him, Zen's body suddenly drifted into the air. He was flying!
Seeing this, the elite disciples were stunned. Their eyes widened, rounding into saucers. They were gobsmacked. Was Zen actually a nature creature? If so, how could he fly?