Apotheosis

Both Zen and Marilyn stood in the middle of the battlefield, the deafening silence adding to the thick tension as the two stared each other down. At that moment, both Zen's and Eddie's plans were slowly coming to fruition.

Because of what he did to Eden, Eddie had been itching to kill Zen. He needed to do his duty as a father to avenge his son and Marilyn was an extremely valuable chess piece for Eddie in that regard. The cleanest way to dispose of Zen was through defeat in a formal battle.

For Zen, who had been plotting Marilyn's death way before, the battle was a critical stage for his plan to buy himself more time and save his sister, Yan.

The Martial Arts Contest was a competition to find out the best cultivators in terms of skill and power. Many who particularly liked killing and simply taking out those weaker than them participated in the contest, but this battle wasn't anything but simple. It wasn't a fight to find out who was stronger, nor was it a fight for simple gratification—it was a fight of old grudges and deep-seated hate.

Marilyn flexed her wrist, breaking the silence as purple life vitality surrounded her, the energy humming with power. "I don't care why you wanted me to choose you as my opponent, but I warn you, there's no backing out now."

Zen did not answer. Marilyn narrowed her eyes and willed the purple life vitality surrounding her to suddenly expand, surrounding and enveloping the entire battle ring like a dome.

This put Zen on high alert. He had already shown about sixty-percent of his strength, but Marilyn still looked calm and composed. 'She's quite confident with her strength, ' Zen thought to himself, observing his opponent closely. 'What other skills is she hiding?'

The purple light she had cast around them was not something that Zen was familiar with but some of the cultivators in the audience let out a gasp.

"I-I can't believe it! It's Purple Power Domain!"

A series of discussions buzzed through the crowd. "Domain? I thought only masters who have reached the Soul Sea Realm could exhibit it. What the heck's going on?"

"Perhaps Marilyn could display this because of her Purple Power Body. It is a special physical constitution after all. That should explain why Eddie went to great lengths to employ Lustful Demon Array!"

"Zen's no match for her at all! There's no way he'll survive this fight."

Zen heard all of this. He frowned as he glanced up at the purple light. "Domain?"

The somewhat stunned expression of her opponent made Marilyn chuckle. As she raised her arm, a soft purple light glowed and dissipated in her palm, revealing six, sharp flying knives. Wasting no time, she immediately threw her knives in various directions.

"Shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo!"

The knives were all meant for Zen.

The blades came f

w which pushed him to make the decision of starting with Space Rules.

However, after the baptism, he had earned a better understanding of the other rules and was able to grasp and comprehend them all.

Zen's sudden display of Space Law shocked and irked Brent of the Ethereal Spirit Sect. "Didn't you say there was no need to fight Zen because he was too weak?" he blurted out. "Look at what he did. Did you see just what he did? He's mastered Space Law! I have comprehended the first layer and been so proud of it too, but he actually mastered it!"

And it was true. Brent had always thought highly of himself for comprehending the first layer of Space Law.

In fact, he was the only person in the Central Region who had accomplished such a feat despite only being at the ultimate level of the Illuminating Soul Realm. Of course, he would feel proud.

Zen, however, had learned Fire Law, Wind Law, Thunder Law, and now, it seemed he also comprehended Space Law. It was a huge blow to Brent's ego.

Even before fighting him, the divine-level talent of Ethereal Spirit Sect was already feeling frustrated by Zen's shocking potential.

Philip, on the other hand, was rendered speechless.

He was also a heaven-level talent and used to be the pride of the Ethereal Spirit Sect—until Brent turned up and took his place. The youngster's skills had already shocked and humbled him.

He had always thought that Brent was the most talented cultivator in the Central Region and that nobody would ever be a match for him.

But Zen just had to come in and shatter all their preconceived notions of skills and power. Though his cultivation level was lower than Brent's, he could already unleash skills as powerful as his. Zen truly shook Philip's resolve. At that moment, Philip wasn't sure if he still thought Brent was the most talented cultivator in the Central Region.