Apotheosis

Four young maidservants followed the girl wearing a green dress. Each maid carried a musical instrument. One brought a Chinese dulcimer, and another had a four-stringed Chinese lute; one maid had a Chinese zither, while another held an erhu, which was a Chinese two-stringed musical instrument that was usually held in the lap and played with a bow.

"Please call me Coco, my honorable guests," Coco uttered softly as she bowed politely in greeting.

The soft-spoken girl in green, Coco, wore her long, ebony hair loose, and it fell on her bare alabaster shoulders. She had wide eyes that sparkled and she resembled a pure flower fairy.

This was Zen's first visit to this sort of place. Smiling, Nory waved his hand, gestured in Coco's direction and requested, "May we hear Miss Coco's lovely singing voice please?"

Nodding in acknowledgment, Coco stepped back, repositioned a chair, and sat demurely. Then she accepted the four-stringed Chinese lute from one of the maidservants and began singing a light song.

Her voice was like a nightingale's voice, modestly melodious, echoing in the private box and the ears of her contented listeners.

Several waiters served food and wine as they listened. Zen sighed in his heart. Although the Golden Wind Restaurant was pricey, the quality of service, food, and recreation offered made it worth it.

Before Coco finished singing, a rough voice of an interrupter came from the doorway.

"Are you kidding me? Yesterday, you wouldn't sing for me Coco. You told me that you had a sore throat, but, here you are, singing for them?" A large man in a black robe sauntered in, followed by a few men who were also dressed in black robes. They were all inner disciples of the Cloud Sect.

Standing next to the big man was a waiter bowing and apologizing.

Scrunching up her brows in disgust, Coco stopped singing, and stated, "Mr. Hong, yesterday I had a sore throat. Now, I have other guests. If you want to hear me sing, you will need to wait for another day!"

"Yes, Mr. Hong, Coco has guests already today. If you would come with me, please, we have other good singers," remarked the waiter while he bowed deeply in front of Bush Hong.

"Fuck you!" Bush Hong shouted angrily as he kicked the waiter to the ground and demanded, "Who gives a shit about the damn guests? I am a guest too, and I demand that Coco sings for me, now!" roared Bush, while glaring at Zen and the other guests. As he noted they were all wearing white robes, he sneered, "They are only a few outer disciples." He paused briefly and said to Zen and the others, "You guys don't mind if Coco sings for me, right?"

No one enjoyed losing face in such a public way. Nory and Sean frowned. They didn't want to give in, but, these were the Cloud Sect inner disciples. Regardless of which peak they were in, Nory and Sean didn't think they c

strength at such a drastic rate?

In fact, even though Zen had been half a step into nature level, the development of his strength wasn't as fast as Nory and Sean imagined.

Zen had changed purple life energy into demonic life energy.

Since there was a large gap between the second tiered method of Purple Light Fist and Heavenly Ogre Fist which was a tier five method, it led to Zen's fantastic power.

Deep inside, Nory and Sean envied Zen because they were slower in improving, compared to Zen.

After Coco sang a few more songs, Zen and his friends were full and ready to leave.

After paying for the wine and food, Zen gave a tip of two cubic crystals to Coco.

However, Coco refused and said, "Sir, that's generous of you, but, I can't accept it."

Zen nodded, remaining quiet. Coco might be ill-fated to work there, but Zen wasn't her savior.

Stepping out of the Golden Wind Restaurant, the three noticed it was time for them to be returning to the Cloud Sect.

Nory and Sean headed towards the Sect while Zen walked away in the opposite direction.

There was something Zen needed to do before he returned to the Cloud Sect.

Even though all disciples were eager to attain points, Zen wanted to rescue Yan, so, he was more eager than anyone else at the Cloud Sect.

Cubic crystals were exchanged for points at the Cloud Sect.

It took two million cubic crystals to equal one million points.

Having just recently learned of a new manner to earn cubic crystals, Zen was excited to try it.

After a few inquiries, Zen arrived at the imperial capital's largest mart.

Along the path were a variety of shops, including the Cloud Pill Shop, the Wonder Drug Shop, and one bearing the name, Treasure Room.

Zen wandered around the market looking at the many shops. Finally, he stopped in front of a large shop with a sign bearing the name Weapon Pavilion.