Apotheosis

The soul pressure from the Owl Beast's ghost in the black sphere would cover the cultivators' souls. However, the soul pressure was not distributed evenly.

A practitioner would suffer less soul pressure when they got to the edge of the black sphere. But as they moved towards the center of the sphere, the soul pressure would become more overwhelming.

There were six circles of the sphere. Each circle had a different level of soul pressure, and this pressure would exponentially increase as the circle became closer to the center of the sphere. In other words, the closer the circle to the center of the sphere, the strongest the soul pressure would become. Zen, like most of the cultivators in the black sphere, was now at the outermost circle.

After repeatedly practicing at the outermost circle for half of the day, Zen could feel his soul becoming stronger. He was now ready for the second circle. When he had finally regenerated his soul once more, he went straight for the second circle.

The cultivators regenerating their soul around the oil lamp were stunned to see Zen's next action. Some of them had been in the black sphere for months now but still didn't dare to advance to the center. But Zen, who had only practiced for half a day, was already going for the second circle.

The speed of Zen's progress could be attributed to his current soul strength before he had entered the black sphere. It could be noted that his soul was tougher than an average practitioner. Also, he didn't waste any time. He could have opted to stay within the protected area longer, but he chose not to. Once he felt that his soul had regenerated, he would immediately go back to the outermost sphere. The time he spent strengthening himself in the outermost sphere was longer than the time he spent regenerating his soul.

On the other hand, most cultivators would spend most of their time resting near the little lamps than struggling on the outermost circle. Their souls could not stay in the outermost circle longer because of the pain and agony. It would take them two to three hours to complete a run, while Zen could complete dozens of runs in the same period.

As Zen was about to enter the second circle, two pairs of men and women approached the edge of the black sphere. Actually, Zen knew these four people. They were the group he had met in the area of the obelisks. One of them was called Christopher.

Christopher was considered one of the best among those ascended from the Lower World. With his remarkable talent, he was able to work his way from the Lower World to the Upper World. In the process of understanding the laws, he had climbed both the obelisks of the Space Law and the Fire Law. Given this accomplishment, Zack considered Christopher as an elite disciple who deserved the highest commendation.

However, all of those had changed when Zen arrived. He had gained the favor of Zack when he was able to comprehend the Original Laws, except the Time Law, in just three days after he went through the baptism by laws. It was the fastest comprehension ever recorded in history.

With Zen's existence, Christopher's confidence was trampled. His light had become a firefly compared with Zen's sun. Since then, Christopher had held a grudge against Zen.

Christopher had never felt this humiliated in his life before. He grew up being constantly praised for his wit and talent. Thus, he developed an arrogant and self-

cticing. Unfortunately, Zen met a mindless, arrogant and unreasonable guy!

"Christopher's fighting the guy again... "

"Of course he will fight that guy. You know Christopher, he has never been insulted in his life. So those who dare to humiliate him would surely suffer his wrath!"

"It's his fault. He relentlessly took the spotlight from Christopher. Now, he's meeting his doom!"

The three practitioners who had come with Christopher stood by the oil lamp and whispered to each other. Without Christopher's help, they wouldn't be able to come to the Upper World through the Dragon Soar Arena. So, it was just fitting that they would take his side.

The other practitioners in the black sphere watched as the two men fight. They momentarily forgot the reason they were here as they watched in amazement.

As it was already very painful to practice under the intense soul pressure, these practitioners were just grateful not to be trashed into idiots. The soul pressure was taking all their energies that they had to come to these little oil lamps to regenerate. However, it was incredible to see that some people could have that energy to even fight in this tormenting environment. It was ridiculous but surprising at the same time. However, these practitioners started to worry about Zen as he was being chased by Christopher.

It was dangerous to fight under the soul pressure. If Zen was to be killed by Christopher, he could become an idiot under the tormenting soul pressure.

The black sphere had turned some great cultivators into idiots. Because of their senseless arrogance, some cultivators had pushed themselves too far to tolerate the soul pressure. Their souls were eventually damaged that they didn't have the energy to come back to the oil lamps. Hence, soul pressure crashed their souls and turned them into idiots.

"That guy is obviously running out of luck!"

"If I were him, I would take back my soul and stop practicing for a while!"

"You're right. He'll be fine if he leaves the black sphere. But why does he push himself too much?"

The cultivators talked while their backs were on the oil lamps. The fight between Zen and Christopher was a good excuse to stay near the oil lamps a little longer. They watched the fight as if it was a leisure play.