Apotheosis

It was said that no one taking the test could earn fifty-five thousand points, and even the legendary Yehudi, who had reached the consummation was unable to hit that mark.

What did it mean, if it was beyond even Yehudi's ability to achieve? The significance to that revelation was that Zen's combat level was higher than the consummation. Added to that, Zen was probably comparable to a master in the Illuminating Soul Realm.

Everyone admired and hoped the best for him.

Rankings among the thirty-three peaks were determining factors in how the peaks fared and the award amount. The monthly pay of disciples in the top peaks, including Skytop Peak and Blackrock Peak would make the Drizzle Peak disciples green with envy.

Moreover, the Cloud Sect could send the masters of magic array to build magic arrays of a large scale as secret cultivating spots where the inner disciples from those peaks could practice their refining techniques away from prying eyes.

These secret spots probably couldn't compare to ones that were required to pay, but, that didn't make much difference because they were completely different from those on Drizzle Peak.

It was a rule of thumb at the Cloud Sect that only the powerful could enjoy better treatments.

Therefore, it was difficult for a powerful man to cultivate his skills at Drizzle Peak. In all the years of Drizzle Peak, only Yehudi, had risen so high, but, he remained stuck in the consummation, unable to achieve a breakthrough.

On the other hand, Skytop Peak and many other peaks attracted talented disciples yearly because of their competitive benefits.

As time went by, powerful men grew more powerful, and weak ones became even weaker. The gap only widened, gradually.

Although the situation improved with Aura's arrival, it would take more than just Aura's strength to make serious changes. Even Aura couldn't forcibly make the candidates choose Drizzle Peak over Skytop or Blackrock Peak and their perks. Why would they willingly come study at the least powerful peak of the Cloud Sect?

But now, finally, Drizzle Peak had a spark of hope. Zen was truly an exceptional disciple. Possessing such powerful strength, he might be able to compete with the talents from the other thirty-two peaks and win a better ranking among them for Drizzle Peak.

They might not have been dreaming as big as earning the top spot, but, even if Zen ranked in the top thirty to fifty disciples, Drizzle Peak would be rid of the moniker of being the worst ranked peak.

It was thought by some disciples that Zen would accomplish what Yan achieved that year.

Now, since Yan had only been incarcerated within Hell Mountain since two years ago, many of the disciples could still recall her brilliant record. As a girl, it was unusual for her to rank so high, but, she'd defeated so many opponents that she was a finalist. By her efforts alone, she earned the ranking of second for Lady Peak.

A lot of the disciples who indulged in gossip noticed that Yan and Zen shared the same family name, Luo, and whispers were abound that the two were brother and sister.

But, even with the resources available, the gossipers couldn't ferret out what relationship, if any, there was. All they could do was guess.

It was even more difficult to discern since Luo was one of the most common surnames in the world. How would they connect the two simply by a s

he resisted sixty-nine waves of Magnetic Aurora.

On his third session, Zen managed to resist seventy-seven waves of Magnetic Aurora.

Steward Song became used to Zen's progress, still, he was puzzled by something. A few days ago, he reported to the leader how Zen was progressing with his training. He thought such a rare talent like Zen shouldn't go unnoticed at the Cloud Sect.

Steward Song believed that after he reported his findings, he would be given some reward, but, he hadn't expected for the leader's response to be one of denials.

Even though it was a mere two words of 'no approval', it gave him a lot of information. While the talented outer disciples were reserved for becoming inner disciples, the inner disciples could be promoted to personal disciples of some masters, and all disciples at the Cloud Sect were considered in selections by the lofty Cloud Hall.

The Cloud Hall wouldn't miss seeing a brilliant talent like Zen, neither should the Cloud Sect, so, he'd reported what he learned to the leader, to no avail. The reaction he received suggested there was something amiss with Zen, like he'd offended someone in a high position, or maybe he was wrapped up in something sensitive.

Compared to Steward Cao, who reported information repeatedly and ended up in trouble, Steward Song was much wiser.

Aside from practicing at hidden cultivating spots daily, Zen had no free time. He spent his nights studying the Heavenly Ogre Fist.

As a fifth tier refinement method, Heavenly Ogre Fist didn't only offer Zen demonic life vitality. The first move he learned in the Heavenly Ogre Fist, Ogres Shaking the World, could only be used by consuming a large amount of Zen's life vitality and it could only attack one person at a time..

In the beginning, Zen thought the second move, Swarm of Ogres Surging, was a move to use conjointly, but as he meditated deeply, he found it wasn't that simple.

Swarm of Ogres Surging could turn life vitality into dark demonic phantoms.

As Zen sat in a secret cultivating room, he entwined his fingers into each other, and twisted himself into a complex posture. "Swarm of Ogres Surging, now!"

"Whirr..."

came the monotonous sound as dark purple life vitality unfurled around Zen.