Apotheosis

Since Zen's body was a spiritual weapon, it was not easy to injure him. However, he could still feel the pain from the blows. Thus, the piercing pain that resulted from the punches still made him groan. Despite the agony, Zen stood and took several deep breaths to ease the pain.

At the same time, he was watchful. It would be careless of Zen not to pay attention to the smoke around him. The thick black smoke and white smoke mixed and billowed around Zen, forming human figures now and then.

Maybe Zen's injuries instigated Black Fiend and White Fiend. They began forcing the smoke toward Zen much quicker than before. Shrieking with crazed laughter, they rushed toward Zen under cover of the thick smoke. In their minds, Zen was like a lamb to the slaughter. He could not escape.

However, Zen was far from what they thought. He had been observing the smoke. Since he couldn't see clearly, Zen had also been listening carefully. He wanted to identify the location of the two arrogant rivals by their distinguished laughter.

Soon, he noticed a cloud of black smoke forming beside him. Not surprisingly, a laugh like that of Black Fiend came from inside this block of smoke. Without hesitating, Zen swung his fist into the smoke and broke it up. However, there was nothing in it. Black Fiend was not there.

"I am here! You brat!"

White Fiend's voice echoed from far away. But strangely, his fist connected with Zen's Back.

Zen staggered forward several steps. However, before he could gain his composure, Black Fiend's leg appeared before him. Zen could not dodge this time, and the kick landed on his belly...

Owing to the thick smoke and the unexpected appearances of his rivals, Zen was bounced back and forth just like a ball, beaten by White Fiend and Black Fiend. Sometimes, he could avoid a blow from White Fiend, but soon, he found himself under attack of Black Fiend.

Even though Zen seemed to be in a passive state, inside his body, the warm currents were refreshing his marrow through his blood vessels. In this way, his energy was recovered, and his strength and power improved tremendously. Stimulated by the warm currents, Zen could not feel more comfortable.

However, he knew that this assault by the two rivals at the nature level could not continue. Zen thought, 'I must think of a way to deal with them.'

Their voices were sometimes far away and sometimes nearby. Their lau

r more powerful than an ordinary person's. Since the soul directly affected the agility of the consciousness, Zen's ability to 'feel' was stronger. With no other alternative, Zen had complete confidence that he could use his consciousness to identify White Fiend's and Black Fiend's location.

Although these nine black and white dragons were rushing toward Zen, he closed his eyes and began searching for the direction of killing intents from his rivals.

At this point, a surge of obscure consciousness was emitted from Zen's body and formed a circle around him.

In this circle space, Zen found that he could feel many details that he had not noticed when he was seeking the two Fiends through his sense of sight.

The uneven ground, small stones, and even the sand scattered on the ground, as well as growing low weeds, even cicada pupae which had been dormant underground for several years. All these appeared vividly before his closed eyes.

This was a wonderful feeling, as marvelous as the time when he managed to forget himself at the Drizzle Peak.

But Zen had no time to enjoy this special feeling. When the nine black and white dragons rushed into his circle, Zen found what he was searching for in an instant.

White Fiend and Black Fiend were hiding in between two of the nine dragons. One dragon was in front of Zen, while the other was behind him. They were standing amid these two smoke dragons. Each Fiend held a halberd in his hand.

Their faces were twisted because of their strong killing intents. It seemed as though the two Fiends wanted to kill Zen in one attack!