Apotheosis

"Pang!"

The dragons turned to see where the resounding boom had originated.

It was closely followed by another loud crash, and they soon discerned that it was the sound of something breaking.

Zen, in his deranged state, had managed to crush a brown, stone floor tile into pieces after having tossed himself over it. Although, he didn't seem to take notice as he proceeded to stumble and stagger his way across the courtyard deliriously.

He was making a huge, chaotic mess. His body appearing to be possessed with the strength of a thousand soldiers; every accidental bump he had made with the stone pillars caused them to shatter completely. Still, he was blinded by the agony he felt that he was not yet to be made aware of the three rooms that had collapsed after he ran into them.

The ruckus in the manor made Zen's innocent neighbors cower in fright. The owner had summoned his family members to gather in their shop, and with a quivering voice, he tried to console both himself and his family. "Don't worry, the cultivator is only practicing. There's no need to fear. Just remember that no matter what happens, never go to his yard and risk disturbing him."

The family all nodded in agreement. They were shaking, trembling so badly that the owner was almost certain that none had been able to even listen to his words properly.

'It's okay, ' he reassured himself. 'My wife is here, so are my children…' His eyes swept over the group, before they widened in horror. "Alice! Where's Alice? She's not here!" The room fell silent as everyone looked at each other in dread.

They all scattered in a hurry to look for the missing daughter, but ultimately failed to see any sign of her presence within the shop.

Oblivious to her family's turmoil, Alice had remained unmoving from her spot; entranced by the unbelievable situation on the other side of the wall. Perhaps, it was the child in her that led her to be so unperturbed by the dangers she was currently exposed to. With a gaze filled with wonder and disbelief, she whispered to herself, "Is that guy really as tough as iron and steel?"

"What's he doing? He's running into walls, and breaking them all to pieces… and he's unharmed? Is that even possible?" She pursed her lips in concentration as she tried to look for any signs of cuts or gashes on the man. "Not even a trace of blood! Are all cultivators as invincible as him?"

A barrage of thunderous noises cut off Alice's musings.

Zen rampaged like an angered, blinded bull sporadically wrecking whatever stood in his

ecause of Yan's Purple Power Body, and thus she was taken away by Eddie in the end.

His defeat led him to continuously face obstacles in order to chase after Yan again, and all that made him stronger by leaps and bounds. That is why I think that Yan is Zen's destiny guider."

"It sounds reasonable, brother! But, I think that it is still too early to be sure of it. If you're right, Zen should have been led into a much wider world, instead of this small Central Region," the red dragon countered.

The other companion agreed with a nod, "Indeed, my conclusion is not yet final. If she really is who I suspect to be, she might be taken away by somebody again."

Both dragons fell into quiet contemplation before they sighed, "If our eldest brother were here, he would've known the answer to our speculations!"

The red dragon grumbled in dismay.

Fate was elusive, akin to traveling a rocky, deserted terrain with no clear destination in sight. Even the most powerful beings like the Genuine Dragon race were unable to get a hold of the whole picture. Zen's superb abilities and his unusual destiny were first found by Kenneth, but even he knew of nothing about his fate to lead the world of chaos. It was only intuition that led him to believe that Yan played a role in guiding Zen forward.

Unfortunately for Zen, he was excluded from the topic regarding his own future, as his consciousness had not yet returned.

Zen woke up after a long, much needed rest. Disoriented and aching all over, the first thing that had come to his senses was the sweet smell of a young girl hovering over him as soon as he opened his eyes.

With a throat dry from dehydration, he asked, "Where am I?"