Apotheosis

It made no sense. How was it possible that Zen, a warrior who had just reached the Soul Sea Realm, could break free from his restraining power?

Yosef could hardly believe his eyes.

His binding technique didn't look threatening, but it made up for what it lacked in presentation of strength, like a giant bearing down his weight to squash a miniscule, feeble insect. Perhaps he too had been fooled by appearances. This particular insect he was dealing with was much stronger than he thought.

Zen felt a huge force pressing down on his body. He was struggling, but he was able to resist it, walking with big, forceful steps towards the entrance of the underground palace.

Not only Yosef had been surprised by the sudden turn of events. The Saint Lords of the Demon Night and the humans watched with strange expressions on their faces. Clearly, none of them had expected this.

"How interesting," Yosef sneered. He was not one to lose. Once more, he raised his hand to press a thick finger towards Zen, doubling the force of his bindings.

Zen felt a greater force enveloping his body. He was the sole target of Yosef's technique, and all of its power was directed at him. He felt his muscles complain as the force around him grew heavier.

For a moment, Zen closed his eyes and focused. With a deep breath, he activated the power of more than ten thousand dragon scales in his body.

The spectators watched Zen pause for a moment. The next thing they heard was a loud crackle coming from within his body as it expanded.

"Hey!" Blood rushed to Yosef's head as rage took over him. It was simply ridiculous that a mere warrior at the Soul Sea Realm would be able to subdue the strength of his giant finger. In a fury-filled move, he poured all strength and sent his entire palm towards Zen's head.

"Yosef, think about your position. You are a Saint Lord. It would be disgraceful to compete with a junior!"

The human Saint Lord could no longer stand Yosef's contemptible pride. With a light wave of his hand, he dispelled the tremendous force that came from Yosef to Zen.

The next second, Zen felt freed from the invisible force that bound him earlier. The human Saint Lord then released the force that had been suppressing Lincoln's and Freya's bodies.

The human Saint Lord's words poured over Yosef's senses like ice, dousing his rage and pulling him back to his senses. Yosef chuckled. "I am not competing with him. I just think that he is a bit interesting."

With Yosef's anger visibly pla

at the bottom of this abyss.

They continued to descend, their senses tingling with agitation

as the wind blew past their ears. They kept falling for five minutes.

As they descended, Zen's eyes wandered around the surroundings within the abyss. It was impossible to decipher what sort of theurgy the Supreme Lord had used, or the reason why he built such a strange abyss.

However, one thing was clear. The creator had undergone great lengths in order to construct the dark space.

Having reached a wall with his questions, Zen turned to ask Lavender once again.

"I do not know," she answered simply. "A hundred thousand years ago when I explored this abyss, my cultivation was just at the Spirit Supreme Realm. I am more or less familiar with the underground palace, but I had not succeeded in discovering all of its secrets. The Supreme Lord's origins are obscure and mysterious. Until today, no one has been able to uncover his true identity. There is a possibility that he constructed his own grave in this way in order to choose a worthy successor. That, however, is only my guess."

A long time had passed since the abyss' creation. No one knew what sort of tribulations the creator had gone through in the past before he built the underground palace.

"Be careful," Lavender warned. "If I remember correctly, the first ordeal in the Endless Abyss should arrive at this time."

Zen's blood froze as he looked down. There, at the bottom of the pit were dark-green vines as thick as an arm, their spikes densely packed together.

He was only several thousand feet away from the vines. At the rate of their fall, the vines would pierce them immediately.