Apotheosis

Four disciples stood by the lava sea, two were ladies from the Iridescence Sect and the other two were guys.

As soon as the male disciples saw Zen, they rolled their eyes, glancing at him disdainfully. Zen recognized them immediately as elite members of the Brumous Sect. When they had first arrived escorted by their leader, they had noticed Zen at that time.

Considering these two elitists thumbed their noses at even the Illuminating Soul Realm disciples, there was no way they would take a disciple at the level of nature creature like Zen seriously.

Actually, aside from Zen and Rocher, who were both nature creatures, the lowest ranking disciples participating from the Cloud Hall and the other five sects were at the first level in the Illuminating Soul Realm.

Unbelievably, at the third grade of nature level, Zen was the lowest ranking disciple at the trial.

Regardless of how Zen tried to keep a low profile, there was no way for him to go unnoticed. He was at the third grade of nature level and surrounded by disciples who were at the Illuminating Soul Realm, which made him as conspicuous as a firefly lighting up the sky at sunset on a warm summer night.

Zen hadn't planned to cross the lava ocean yet. Like the other four disciples, first, he wanted to observe what he would be up against silently. He'd seen a hundred-foot long black wire, suspended over the ocean which got Zen thinking. He thought, if he could reach the line, he could travel down the length with his understanding of the space rules.

But, he realized that it wouldn't work because the ocean was boundless, and if he were going to cross it, Zen would need enough force to propel himself more than a hundred miles, and the line fell substantially short of the far side of the ocean.

As Zen stood there puzzling out how to cross the lava, one of the male disciples waved at Zen and indifferently said, "Hey you! Yeah, you, over there! Come here!"

Zen's face darkened into a scowl as he stood where he was, staring back at the disciple, and responded, "Who? Me? Why? What's up?"

"Cut the crap and just get over here!" said the other Brumous Sect disciple in a huff.

By the condescending tone that the two elite disciples used, Zen knew they took it for granted that they could boss him about because he was at the third grade of nature level, and he wouldn't be taken seriously as a refiner.

At first thought, Zen was going to handle the situation by snubbing the two, but, as he took a deep breath, he calmed down, and in that second, Zen decided against it. The Cloud Road trial wasn't like the Blooded Test. Throughout the Blooded Test, contestants could attack each other, and the magic array guarded them so that no one would die.

But, there was no magic array at the Cloud Road, so, if anyone were to perish, it would be final.

Plus, the purpose of the trial was not to win any fights. Instead, the participants needed to traverse the Cloud Road.

Beyond any of that though, Zen assumed he could get some useful information from them about the lava ocean.

Plastering a broad grin on his face as the thought came to mind, Zen walked o

Snuff! Snuff! Snuff!

As more fiery evil spirits slammed into Zen's demonic phantoms, they suffocated, the flames remaining blazed just ahead of Zen. With the demonic phantoms clearing the path ahead, Zen stepped forward steadily.

More fiery evil spirits were ahead, and after seeing what happened to the other fiery evil spirits as they were pulled irresistibly to the demonic phantoms, they plunged into the Sea of Raging Fire, knowing they would be unable to escape the fate that befell the ones who'd just been snuffed out.

"Ha-ha! I knew it was wise for him to lead the way!" chuckled Adler, proud of his bullying tactics.

"His strength isn't half bad! He surpasses usual nature creatures. But, he isn't a match for us," remarked another disciple, grinning.

As Zen forged the way ahead, the four disciples only had to follow him, and were rather relaxed.

Just then, a large lava bubble rose up from the Sea of Raging Fire, appearing ahead of them. As the bubble expanded, a giant snake head popped out of the lava.

All color drained from Adler's face, and he shouted, "Dammit! It's a red fire snake! What do we do now? Fuck! What shit luck!"

"Let's take it on, together. Even though the red fire snake is ferocious, we can beat it, if the four of us work together!" encouraged a female disciple of the Iridescence Sect.

"Let's wait a minute, and see how he handles it!" declared Adler. There was a devious smirk spreading across Adler's pallid face as he came to an abrupt halt, and raised his arm to stop the other three disciples from rushing ahead.

Envy being just another part of human nature, in the eyes of the four disciples, Zen would never be an equal match. However, Zen was more talented, as well as being more advanced than when they were in the third grade of nature level. If at some point, Zen gained entry into the Cloud Hall, he would undoubtedly outrank them in no time.

If however, Zen were careless and fell into the sea, and was cremated, or if he were to battle the red fire snake, and be devoured, they wouldn't be unhappy about his fate.