Apotheosis

The mighty oppressing force subjugating the soul in the third ring was twice as powerful as that in the second ring, and thus fourfold as that in the first ring.

The moment Zen crossed the threshold of the third ring, the unseen force almost knocked him off and dominated his body at once. He gritted his teeth as he felt the push and pull against his soul, which was being tightly pressed and squeezed into an irregular shape like a piece of rag. The intensity rendered him barely breathing, but he didn't resist. As a small smile was seen slowly forming on his lips, he embraced the massive force in total surrender!

Surely, he was a really bright spark. He silently thanked himself up for being wise enough to get well prepared. He had anticipated that this was bound to happen anyway. So the moment he gained access to the third ring, he braced himself hard and dashed straight towards the tiny oil lamp emitting a soft light in the center.

Christopher never slowed down a bit in chasing his target. As a strong and determined opponent, he followed Zen closely at his heels, no matter how fast the latter could run. And there wasn't much difference in time which they took to burst into the third ring.

In contrast to Zen's calmness, Christopher wore startled expression on the sudden impact of the strengthened force emanating from the third ring.

The strong cyan light shield surrounding Christopher's soul was comparably weaker against the mighty oppressing force in the third ring. The layer of cyan light, which wrapped his soul perfectly to protect it from any harm, cracked unexpectedly!

His soul was characteristically more powerful than Zen's soul. But having it exposed directly unprotected now against the mighty oppressing force that was quadrupled in strength, he felt he was close to the limit of his endurance. He grimaced as

ealm, it was by no means an easy job! The forging of soul, however, had nothing to do with a forger's accumulation of energies. So it was natural that some practitioners who had entered the later stage of the Internal Elixir Realm, and even some capable practitioners in the Virtual Tribulation Realm, were unable to have any opportunities to knock the door of the Fighting Soul Realm.

"Christopher seems to have lost his mind! There's no way for him to overtake his opponent!"

"It's useless. Zen is ahead of him all the time. Christopher is just wasting his energy. What he could do to Zen if he really surpasses him?"

"Hey, do you know who Christopher is in the Lower World? A talent! A big name! He has no choice! He must win his face back since he was defeated by that guy. It's understandable why he is unwilling to lose again in this contest."

The three companions of Christopher continued to discuss, feeling somewhat ridiculous for Christopher's stubbornness in catching up with Zen. He had never relaxed a single moment in chasing Zen, as he had a strong desire of overtaking Zen and killing him. He didn't know, however, that after so many circles of run-and-chase, Zen's soul was getting stronger and stronger.