Apotheosis

Under such an unprecedented pressure, Letitia, Imogen, and Zen were in no mood to be interested in the rest of the Martial Arts Contest. With their hearts beating loudly, they could have sworn they felt a faint ringing in their ears. The trio looked each other warily and grimly nodded; they had no other choice.

One of the strongest fighters in the competition, Brent, was presently in the battle ring, fighting with an independent warrior. Although the battle could have been interesting with the latter being at the middle stage of the Internal Elixir Realm, he could not pose a threat to Brent. The warrior was merely a plaything to him, as Brent continued to be formidable with his divine-level talent. 'Well, this is kind of boring, ' the boy thought with a pout, as he quite easily evaded the other's jab and countered with quick flicks of his hand.

When Brent had felt that their feeble fight had gone long enough, he sighed to himself and casually threw out a last attack that defeated the independent warrior. Looking over carelessly at the crumpled form of his previous opponent laying on the ground of the arena, Brent shrugged his shoulders and fixed his clothes momentarily before leaping off the arena. The talented fighter was once again excited at the prospect of drawing cards, and when he peered over and saw the word "Challenge" carved on the wooden card, his eyes were alight with elation and a grin sneaked onto his face.

Just seconds after he had drawn the card that he had wanted, he immediately waved his challenge card in the air vigorously as the crowd watching cheered with him. Fixing his gaze on the elevated platform where the members of the Cloud Hall were situated in, he smiled wider at the prospect of finally having the battle he had wanted ever since the competition had started. 'Nothing can stop me from challenging Zen now!' the young fighter exclaimed in his mind as he started to stretch his arms in preparation.

However, luck appeared not to be on his side at that moment due to the sudden voice that rose above all and fleetingly stopped everyone from moving. "Wait!" the voice of a woman declared amidst the noise of the arena. As multiple heads turned towards her, Letitia continued to announce in a leveled tone, "The Cloud Hall wishes to quit the competition."

"What?!"

The

ed something. As he watched Zen leave and catch up with the members of the Cloud Hall, he reassured himself with the fact that they were going to meet again eventually.

Xiao promptly turned around and handed the tiny piece of parchment to Dillon. As the other man curiously opened the folded paper and peered at the content, his eyes marginally widened with surprise. With his heart rapidly thudding in his chest, Dillon blinked his eyes and read the written words once more as he felt beads of sweat gathering on his forehead from nervousness.

As it turned out, Zen had shared with him the terrible secret of the Dragon Soar Arena through the small piece of paper. With trepidation, it dawned on him that anyone who did not have the Genuine Dragon blood running through their veins would be rightfully imprisoned for a thousand years after entering the Dragon Soar Arena.

"No wonder the warriors who have entered the Dragon Soar Arena in the past have yet to return. This is a huge secret," Dillon mumbled to himself as he gulped inaudibly at his realization.

Ever since Zen resurfaced from the Upper World, the Black Mountain Sect had sent a disciple named Jordan to travel to the Upper World. The sect had even hung the disciple's life jade card on the Dragon Soar Arena as a reminder that Jordan was indeed inside. Although the life jade card never broke or vanished, the disciple was never seen again. Bizarrely, no one was assured of what had happened, but the only thing they were certain of was their belief that Jordan was still alive.