Apotheosis

'From here you jump, and head to the Dragon Soar Arena gates as fast as possible. I'll handle the rest!' the cyan dragon commanded, smoothly.

A feeling of relief washed over Zen. Till now, the cyan dragon hadn't done anything that served no purpose. Since the dragon seemed to know exactly what to do here, Zen decided to do as suggested.

One after another, he watched the nature level warriors as they were tossed from the mountain. Then it was Zen's turn. The two warriors at the Internal Elixir Realm took hold of Zen's limbs and hurled him at the mountain stream, where the winged dragon waited.

As Zen dropped from the slope, he watched the winged dragon gobbling up the other warriors that landed before him. It finished them as Zen fell, and turned its attention to Zen. Suddenly, the winged dragon craned its neck and snapped at Zen.

'Now, cyan dragon!'

screamed Zen in his mind as he wrestled free of his bonds. He realized he was outmatched, and would have to rely solely on the cyan dragon to escape with his life!

"Huh!"

uttered the young man in purple thoughtfully with a trace of surprise as he watched Zen break free. His surprise changed quickly, and a wicked grin spread across his face because he felt Zen's struggles were in vain. Whatever Zen did, there was no escaping the winged dragon.

Unknown to the young master watching, just as the winged dragon's jaws snapped shut over Zen, within Zen's mind, the cyan dragon sounded a mighty roar!

"Raawwrr!"

echoed the roar through the mountain stream.

The reverberating roar filled the ferocious winged dragon with fear, and its head shot back. The winged dragon huddled in a ball in the Dragon Soar Arena, with wide eyes filled with uncertainty and alarm.

Its fear to the dragon roar was reasonable, for winged dragons had evolved from flood dragons, who were born with an innate fear of true dragons, whereas the latter were naturally powerful, legendary beasts, if not the most frightening of all.

Jaws dropped as the master warriors watched. Shock etched in the face of the young master as he stepped forward.

Considering the winged dragon was beyond his capabilities, he didn't dare get any closer than that!

"He...How! How did he manage to create a dragon roar that powerful? Does he have a secret weapon that I'm not aware of?" mumbled the young master quietly, as he studied Zen top to bottom as he sprinted. Suddenly he remembered something and his devious smile returned, giving his face an evil look as he muttered, "Well, even if he escapes the winged dragon's attack, he wouldn't be able to get into the Dragon Soar Arena!" As he clutched the jade dragon-shaped pendant tightly, the young master's expression darkened. The medallion he held was the most valuable treasure his clan had, passed from one generation to the next for as long as anyone could remember. It was the key to the Dragon Soar Arena, and without it, the arena couldn't be opened.

Kicking at the mountainside to attempt to slow himself, Zen dropped quickly. In a blink of an

magic array if the beast isn't disappearing! Is all this real? No, no that isn't possible!' thought Zen, with a look of surprise. At first, he thought he was trapped in a magic array, and that the beasts were illusions. But, he quickly rejected that idea when he saw the bloody corpse. Where was he, then? Was he transported to some weird place? Wasn't he in the Dragon Soar Arena?

The cyan dragon heard his questions, and chortled before he replied, "Of course it isn't a magic array. It's far superior to any magic array. It's an array that was arranged with divine textures. Your mortal mind cannot comprehend it. All you have to do is climb to the top!" After he finished explaining it to Zen, the cyan dragon's laughter reverberated through Zen's soul.

Just then, something weird happened, again. A mass of malicious aura rose from the polar beast's corpse, and charged at Zen. A malicious aura was pure curse power that could only be generated by living creatures when they died holding a grudge. Seeing it appear, Zen was sure that the beasts were not shadows, but instead they were real.

A small dot yellow light shot from the polar monster's body, too, and flew at Zen. Before he could react it ploughed into his abdomen.

'What on earth? What's happening?' Feeling the light as it merged with his energy, Zen had a look of doubt on his face. But, there was no time to think. There more polar monsters were standing by Zen ready to pounce on him.

Zen moved at full speed, weaving between the monsters. Whenever he could, he took a chance, and thrust his sword through another beast, slicing through as many as he could. In a flash, the corpses were piled like a mountain of red, wet ice.

As the death toll increased, the malicious aura masses' count rose on the ice, and more spots of yellow lights shot into Zen's body.

When the light points accumulated to a certain extent, Zen felt a feeling of fullness in his belly, precisely where his energy was stored. 'What in the hell is happening!?' Zen asked himself.