Apotheosis

All the Red Sect's disciples instinctively turned their attention to Zen when Kenneth finished talking and some of them were looking forward to competing against Zen.

No matter how powerful Rocher claimed Zen was, his strength was only at the third grade of the nature level, which was an unchanged fact at the moment. From their experiences, the gap could be narrowed by real strength, however, the larger the gap, the more difficult it was to narrow the expanse.

They held the strength of the Illuminating Soul Realm while Zen was only at the nature level. The gap between them was... incredible, indeed. Perhaps, they would be able to save face and reclaim their honor by defeating Zen.

Eddy, the head of the Red Sect, naturally had an opinion too. He considered the various aspects as he mulled things over, 'Akiba is our Sect's top-ranked disciple, and he was defeated quickly, which was humiliating to me. We'll lose face if we aren't able to beat any of their disciples. That would be quite a blow to confidence in the Sect. Hoffman ranks second here, and his strength's almost on par with Akiba's. Come to think of it, Akiba had only a slight advantage over Hoffman when they battled.

Maybe, if I were to send Hoffman out against Zen now...'

Feeling as though he were being stared at, Eddy stopped meditating on his next moves and looked around. He then caught a glint in Kenneth's eyes and a hint of a sly smile on his lips. Almost intuitively, he realized he shouldn't go with the idea he had.

Another thought struck him, 'Wait a minute, Kenneth knows Zen's ability is only at the third grade of the nature level, and yet, he invited our disciples to compete against Zen. What could it mean?

Hmmm, Kenneth's confidence in his capabilities must mean Zen is far more powerful than Rocher!

I'd be an idiot not to believe what Kenneth told me earlier. If Zen's that extraordinary, he might really have some insight into the space rules...'

Although Eddy had reached the result himself, he still found it difficult to believe. Flipping back and forth, he also knew his summation was based on sound facts. So, in the end, he decided to trust his instincts.

"Sir, I would like to challenge Zen," volunteered Hoffman.

Eddy shook his head and said firmly, "No, you need to conserve your strength for the upcoming trial of the Cloud Road!"

"Bu-but!" stammered Hoffman in protest, not wanting to give up. He didn't understand Eddy's concern. If he were beaten by Zen though, it would be another humiliation for Red Sect, and Eddy couldn't bear a second humiliation in a single day!

"I said no, and that's final!" stated Eddy in a terse tone as he scowled.

Hoffman's heart sunk as he witnessed the dark expression that crossed Eddy's face. As the leader of the Red Sect, Eddy's word was law. He had the final say, and what he said was more effective than any command given by the Emperor.

While Hoffman didn't want to give up so easily, he had no choice but to follow Eddy's order. In the end, Hoffman retreated after a brief nod of respect to Eddy. As he backed up, he glared at Zen.

Unable to witness the failure of the disciple of the Red Sect, Rocher and Patrick frowned, and a trace of pity showed in their eyes. Earlier, they were both beat by Zen and suffered humiliation, and thus, seeing anyone else being beat by him would have thrilled them.

At that moment, there were more people headed towards them, and they were getting closer.

"Look, the members of the Auspice S

hed door that had small holes dotting it. Fernandez stood under the arched door and then life vitality crystals shot from his space ring nonstop as he waved his arms gently.

The life vitality crystals were dense and all embedded themselves into the small holes that dotted the arched door.

"Wow! Those stones are all supreme life vitality crystals! I think there are more than two hundred holes! That means there are over two hundred supreme crystals being used!" Zen exclaimed while he rubbed his nose. The Cloud Hall was very different, and as a fourth-grade sect, it would be that generous.

Zen had believed himself rich. By melting, refining mysterious and spiritual weapons, he could easily earn a lot of cubic crystals. Yet, one million cubic crystals were equal to a single supreme life vitality crystal while two hundred supreme crystals equaled four hundred million cubic crystals...

It crossed Zen's mind that with such a large fortune, the Cloud Hall could even buy the top seven noble clans!

Naturally, Zen wasn't the only one startled. Except that the Cloud Hall's disciples looked calm, the other sects' disciples all were staring at the arched door with mouths agape.

When all the supreme crystals were inlaid, the door trembled, and a gray swirl appeared in the middle of the doorway. It continued to spin, as if it would suck the onlookers in and drag them to hell.

Many disciples were itching to attempt diving into the whirlpool, and taking the preemptive leap into the secret area, in order to gain an advantage, until they heard Fernandez loudly declared, "The gate to the Cloud Road is now open. Disciples of the Cloud Hall will enter first!"

Cloud Hall's disciples in white proceeded slowly, and confidently toward the portal. Meanwhile, they raised the corners of their lips slightly as they walked by the disciples of other sects.

Other disciples looked their condescending faces and wanted nothing more than to soundly thrash them on the spot, teaching each one a lesson, and rubbing their smug expressions off. However, considering how famously powerful the Cloud Hall's disciples were, they didn't dare to do that and just bore their arrogant attitudes in silence.

"They're in now, Zen. It's time for us to go inside!" stated Patrick.

Zen nodded as he walked towards the whirlpool.