Apotheosis

Earlier, Zen had smashed around thirty rocks but only found one Chaotic Source Spirit among them.

There were probably thousands of rocks piled up there. Zen smashed them one by one, almost razing the area to the ground.

And yet, he couldn't find another Chaotic Source Spirit...

Surveying the multitudes of broken stones on the ground, Zen sighed helplessly.

Two hundred thousand Chaotic Source Spirits were scattered within an area with the diameter of millions of miles, most of which lived in groups. It was not easy to find one that appeared alone.

However, Zen refused to give up. The Chaotic Source World would stay open for one month; he still had time.

If it was difficult for him to find Chaotic Source Spirits, how much more for the others?

Zen took a break from smashing stones to check on the soul marks.

The hurricanes kept on pushing everyone further away from each other.

The distance between him and Elvinia wasn't any closer than before. In fact, it seemed she had drifted even farther. The same went for Dorothy.

On the other hand, to Zen's relief, he noted that the six people of the Nine Li race were much closer to him. Hutton and the three other Nine Li people were gathered as a group, while Sally was dozens of miles to his left.

"Eh?"

Zen grunted, as he pondered over this.

Sally had left a soul mark on him, as well. If she sensed his existence, she should have definitely headed in his direction.

But now, Sally stayed put, wherever she was.

The hurricane would blow every five minutes, and it was coming again soon. God knew where Zen would be blown to next.

So, he wasted no time and headed to the left, to where Sally was. Soon, he encountered a mountain range -- or what was left of it.

Apparently, someone had also destroyed the mountains. They were almost completely leveled, with shards of shattered rocks everywhere.

"There are still three miles left..."

Once again, Zen checked on Sally's location. After confirming she hadn't moved, he leapt into the air and flew through the flattened mountain range.

When he arrived at the area where Sally was supposed to be, he found no one there.

Puzzled, Zen surveyed the area with vigilance. The soul mark couldn't lie, but he couldn't see Sally anywhere.

"She must be down there..."

There was only one possibility: Sally was within the mountains. There must have been an entrance somewhere.

Just as Zen was deep

here was actually a huge cave, with shimmering stone walls.

In the middle of the cave, there was a thick stone pillar with countless small holes on its surface. Fiery red eyes flickered from inside the holes.

"Zen!" A voice cried as soon as they entered the cave.

"Chaim!" Zen grinned widely.

Chaim was on par with Milo in terms of both status and strength in the Oneness Sky Palace.

Moreover, he was very smart and flexible, which had left a deep impression on Zen on the Other Shore.

Besides Chaim, there were other warriors present: two werewolves of the Celestial Wolf race, three members of the Moon Spirit race, and another nonhuman creature.

If they were members of the super forces, they would never have been able to tolerate each other, and would have probably already taken action against each other. However, since they were all from smaller races, they were able to get along quite harmoniously.

With Zen there, Chaim was filled with joy. "Zen, you came at the right time. This stone pillar is so dangerous. We don't know how to deal with it. I was wondering if you can break the pillar."

Zen, of course, knew that since they stayed in this cave, these warriors had to be up to something.

He glanced at the stone pillar. "Are there Chaotic Source Spirits in the pillar?"

"Yes, and actually, there are a lot of them," answered Chaim with certainty. "But besides the Chaotic Source Spirits, there are also other ferocious beasts inside, which are very troublesome to deal with."

As he spoke, he summoned a fishing rod, casting the line. Then the hook with the bait flew towards the pillar.