Apotheosis

Despite having failed to take Yan back, Zen had still been able to achieve his goal of killing Marilyn. Her death would be a huge drawback to Eddie's plans for achieving the Lustful Demon Array.

Eddie had spent decades looking for women with the extremely rare Purple Power Body and just as he thought he had finally completed the whole set, his prized person was suddenly killed by Zen. It would take him a long, long time before he could find another person that fulfilled his requirements.

It could take years, decades, perhaps even centuries.

He might never be able to find one. Nonetheless, Zen was now racing against time. He might have been able to buy himself a couple of decades with Marilyn's death, but there was no telling when the next Purple Power Body would appear or when, and if, Eddie would find it. For now, he had to give it his all to get stronger and quickly take Yan back from Eddie.

It was truly unfortunate that he had been unable to communicate with her in any way back then. Her six senses had been blocked and she was completely numbed from everything. Not even the sight of her brother elicited any response from her sealed body.

Back to the arena, the fighting platform had collapsed entirely upon Eddie's departure, leaving nothing but dust and destruction in the once prestigious battlefield.

A lot of the warriors that had chosen to remain in the stands were still trembling in shock from the events prior. A few, however, sized Zen up.

"This Zen is probably the craziest warrior in the history of the Central Region," they whispered to each other. "To think that he actually dared to pull a stunt like that in front of Eddie. I mean, killing Marilyn? What was he thinking?"

"Even a Virtual Tribulation Realm warrior would tremble in fear just standing in front of Eddie, imagine how an Illuminating Soul Realm practitioner would react," someone murmured. "But Zen not only threatened Eddie, he even killed Marilyn right in front of him."

"What's even more amazing is that Eddie actually sucked it up and left! My God, is he still the Evil East Lord?!"

For everyone present, Eddie was once someone that had both been feared and worshiped. His might and status as the strongest made this a given. However, just moments before, he had been humiliated by a young man less powerful than him. Not only that, but this same young man had also been able to kill one of his subordinates right in front of him. It was disrespect of the highest level and yet this young man had lived.

If it hadn't happened in front of so many people, no one would've ever believed it was true.

Rocher smiled at the results, "I was right! Zen did it!"

Lewis nodded, "It's a pity there was no one willing to bet with you, otherwise you could've earned a fortune once again." Rocher had won a great deal by using Lewis' life vitality crystals to bet on the previous matches. Unfortunately, Rocher hadn't given Lewis a dime and this made him a bit grumpy.

"Zen did it," Patrick agreed, but he had a frown on his face. "But he still has a long way to go if he really wa

their faces.

"These runes are completely different from those in Central Region!"

"The vein splits in the middle, which is a taboo in runic techniques. So how is it that these runes are so exquisite?"

"There seem to be a lot of unnecessary strokes in the first half of the work, but when one's eyes reach the bottom, everything makes sense. How can the human mind even think of this?"

The three of them were lost and completely immersed in the unique runes, each of them trying to comprehend the profoundness of the divine textures.

The sophistication and complexity of the runes on the stone slabs were beyond what the runic expects in the Central Region could ever imagine. The development of divine textures in the Upper World had, after all, taken billions of years to complete and had experienced countless cycles of reincarnation. The divine textures were likewise, old men who had lived for millennia while the runes of the Central Region were mere newborn babies. The disparity was simply impossible to measure.

The three four-star runes were enough to enlighten Nate and the other two. In the next ten years, the three of them would venture forth and be able to figure out a trace of the divine texture's essence. They would, later on, get rid of the Central Region's rune patterns and bring them up to a new level. Although it would be impossible for them to surpass Zen's divine texture techniques, it would still create an era where they could surpass Arnold.

Seeing that Nate and the other two had directly dismantled Zen's runes, Xander and the other sect leaders were all eager to get a piece to bring back with them and study thoroughly. However, the thoughts of the World Commercial Alliance and how they would never let them go with the slabs made them reconsider. Perhaps it would be easier to just ask Zen for help and quickly began to think of ways on how they could bargain with him.

Just then, however, Xiao brought up a very obvious problem and immediate cause for concern. "What should we do about the remaining matches?"