Apotheosis

Before long, Zen had reached the mountainside

but his gaze was transfixed on something just beyond.

Zen had met Lavender's long sword at this very spot

and yet it was nowhere to be seen.

Zen ventured forward another few hundred feet. Back then, Zen had thrown his sword away but no matter where he looked, he could not see any sign of it.

"It makes sense. This is an illusion made by the soul mark of a True God, not the true Killing Sword Mountain. This illusion may be the Killing Sword Mountain from 100, 000 years, or a million, possibly even tens of millions years ago. It looks like it will be impossible to ever retrieve my sword again."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, those swords came raining down towards him.

When Zen reached the middle of the mountain, the long swords that were attacking him were fairy weapons.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Zen masterfully swung the mysterious weapon, deflecting each of the swords as he advanced.

He continued up the mountain, eager to see who that person was.

Weapons continued to fall on him - fairy weapons, sacred weapons, divine weapons; rank above rank.

The higher up the mountain he went, the higher the rank of the swords on the mountain was.

Each sword was getting sharper and sharper, attacking him in different way.

There were many different swordsmanship styles.

'The Emotion Closing Godly Way... Strictly speaking, it is also a type of swordsmanship. I wonder, if I train in other swordsmanship, will I be able to enter the Godly Way?'

The question lingered in Zen's mind.

Just as the other True Gods he had encountered before, the Godly Ways they stepped into were also varied. But could that mean that there was not any specific cultivation method for cultivating the Godly Ways.

As long as there was some way that one could cultivate a technique to the peak beyond the restraints of the heavens, would one be able to create a new Godly Way?

Could there be many ways considered Godly?

And yet why would the Emotion Closing Godly Way be known as a forbidden way?

As the thoughts ticked away in his mind, Zen continued up to the top of the mountain.

At the summit, a middle-aged man with a long, wispy beard sat upright, a short sword floating gently beside him.

The short sword was two and a half feet long and white in color. The blade was simple and unadorned but undeniably sharp. It seemed unassuming.

"The Gods-intimidating Sword!"

Zen's eyebrows rose slightly at the sight.

He had long guessed that the person at the peak of the mountain would be Supreme Lord Sword. But now seeing the Gods-intimidating Sword which Yolande had mentioned before, Zen had been sure this person was Supreme Lord Sword.

However, since Supreme Lord Sword had appeared in the Corridor of Emperor, perhaps the more fitting name for him

s he looked indifferently at Zen, saying, "If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would never believe that someone would be able to see through the poem I left behind…"

"I knew that was a coincidence," Zen replied.

"No," Supreme Lord Sword smiled slightly. "Not exactly. The fortune before you is not set in stone. It seems there is someone pushing you in a different direction."

Confusion befell Zen's face. He did not understand what he was hearing. "Someone pushing me?"

"Who he is, I do not know. And I do not know his intentions but I am sure that he is making the arrangements for you," Supreme Lord Sword continued.

Zen's brows creased. He did not understand what Supreme Lord Sword was talking about and the mystery made him feel uneasy.

Zen was no fatalist. Even if he came to a situation that seemed inevitable, he always seemed to find a way to exert his will. His fate always remained in his own hands, even if for a little bit.

But the words of Supreme Lord Sword undermined all of this. Was there really someone who was planning out his fate?

Seeing the confusion on Zen's face, Supreme Lord Sword smiled faintly. "This is not a problem you and I have to discuss. I am not particularly concerned about this." As though he was closing the chapter on what he just revealed, he switched topics. "How many lotus petals has your Lotus Flower bloomed?" Supreme Lord Sword asked.

"Nine petals of the Hinayana Lotus Flower and twenty-six petals of the Mahayana Lotus Flower," Zen offered up easily.

Supreme Lord Sword nodded his head, as though in approval of Zen's answer. "Not bad. With the 35 petals at the Soul Sea Realm, it will not be long before you become a Godly Genius. Not bad, not bad at all."

He knew that Zen had indeed succeeded in the Emotion Closing Godly Way and with only one lotus petal remaining closed, Zen's Lotus Flower would soon be in full bloom.