Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 436: A Gift To Someone Who Is Worthy

Every martial arts cultivator had undergone rigorous martial arts refinement that improved their physical fitness and endurance.

They were able to surpass human limitations even the standard human lifespan. Thus, they could live longer than any normal human.

An ordinary human could rarely live more than one hundred years. The martial arts cultivators, on the other hand, could live much more than one hundred years. And the martial arts cultivators at the same level as the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace had an average lifespan of ten thousand years.

The head of the Dragon Abyss Palace looked like a sixteen-year-old girl, but her actual age was already beyond a human's imagination.

The actual age of the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace might be unknown or had been lost in counting. But it could be traced back as to when she was actually sixteen years old. At that time, Zen's ancestors had not yet been born in this world. Even the empires that existed before the Burning Sky Empire had not yet existed.

But Zen was so naive about this fact that he even thought the head of the Dragon Abyss was sixteen years old.

It sounded offensive, but she didn't mind it at all. On the contrary, she was flattered. Despite her age, she was still a woman who required that kind of attention and flattery from time to time. But since she became the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace, no one dared to speak to her so casually that she rarely heard such kind of flattery.

Women always wanted to look young despite their age. They required that kind of validation, especially from men. And the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace was no exception. After all, she was still a woman.

The craze of women wanting to look young even after they aged had created a need for anti-aging pills. But these anti-aging pills were quite expensive in the Upper World. The head of Dragon Abyss Palace had spent a lot on anti-aging pills to remain young-looking all these years. But despite that, no one had praised her youthful look and glow.

So, Zen's words was the most flattering thing she had heard in her lifetime. She felt that her efforts in keeping her youthful look had paid off when a man finally took notice.

“Silly! Stop flattering me now! Just call me aunt,” she waved her hands and giggled. She had to be realistic about their age gap and set the right atmosphere between her and Zen.

Zen did no longer argue and just heeded her orders.

Then she continued with a smile, “I heard from Elder Wei about your intention to join our Dragon Abyss Palace. Is that true?”

“Yes, that's right,” Zen answered. Indeed, Zen had intended to be part of the Dragon Abyss Palace.

Upon hearing this, the head of Dragon Abyss Palace reached out her hand and flipped it over. Then, out of the blue, a bottle appeared. “There are about twenty drops of Genuine Dragon blood inside this bottle. You can use them to increase the concentration of Genuine Dragon blood in your blood.”

When Alan heard this, he gave a cold snort on the side. He had previously offered Zen fifty drops of Genuine Dragon blood as a reward, but the latter didn't take it. Now, the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace was offering him lesser drops of the said blood and Alan thought that Zen was being a fool in this deal.

Suddenly, the head of Dragon Abyss Palace turned her hand over again and said, “Now, this is a drop of Genuine Dragon Blood Essence. It's not the ordinary Genuine Dragon blood. You can use it to save your life at a crucial moment.”

This time, Alan's eyes had nearly popped out of his head.

Dennis, Elder Wei, and Zack were also astonished at the current offer. They didn't say a word, but their eyes were showing great eagerness at the sight of that one drop of Genuine Dragon Blood Essence.

The Genuine Dragon Blood and the Genuine Dragon Blood Essence sounded alike, but they were essentially different in all aspects.

A Genuine Dragon's body contained an amount of blood enough to wash away a whole continent. Hence, the Dragon Lineage Human had plenty of Genuine Dragon Blood to give away to their younger members as rewards.

However, the Genuine Dragon Blood Essence was quite rare compared to the Genuine Dragon Blood. The Dragon Lineage Human built 936 halls and 1300 palaces in total. From the 2, 000 branches of the race, some of them were lucky enough to possess over one hundred drops of Genuine Dragon Blood Essence, while the rest only had dozens of drops.

Hence, the other halls and palaces were eager to get even one drop of this precious treasure.

If the heads of these halls and palaces had the chance to acquire it, they would immediately use it to strengthen themselves.

The Genuine Dragon Blood Essence was equivalent to one thousand drops of the Genuine Dragon Blood–that was if someone was willing to exchange their Genuine Dragon Blood Essence for some Genuine Dragon Blood.

But just now, the head of Dragon Abyss Palace casually gifted one drop of the Genuine Dragon Blood Essence to Zen. It was quite an extravagant gift! If anyone was offered the Genuine Dragon Blood Essence, he wouldn't think twice and would just blindly accept it.

Zen must be flattered by the gift that the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace was offering. Alan, Dennis, Elder Wei, and Zack were all taken aback by her generosity towards Zen. They didn't think that she could be that generous to anyone. 𝘳АℕƟ𝐁Ëꞩ

Dennis who envied Zen right now had to ask, “Do you really intend to give it to him as a gift? The Genuine Dragon Blood Essence would be too much of a gift to that boy?”

The head of Dragon Abyss Palace, however, raised her eyebrows at Dennis and said, “Of course I do. Did you hear me stutter? Have I ever changed my mind?”

Dennis waved his hand. He didn't mean to offend her by asking. He said, “No, I didn't mean to question your generosity. I just feel that Genuine Dragon Blood Essence is rare. It's the most valuable thing to just be gifted to anyone.”

Dennis could not shrug off that feeling. The Genuine Dragon Blood Essence was one of the Dragon Abyss Palace's most important treasures. It seemed too good to be true that the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace would just give it to someone from the Lower World like Zen who was not even qualified to be in their presence. Dennis sensed that it might have something to do with the dragon named Josh. Or perhaps the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace had found something else.

However, Dennis could not bring himself to ask these questions. Besides, he had got the message from the cyan dragon, so he wouldn't dare to interfere with Zen too much. Moreover, no matter what he thought about it, there was nothing he could do right now. Whatever it was in Dragon Abyss Palace head's mind, it was none of his business.

While Dennis had somehow figured it out that it was all because of the cyan dragon, Elder Wei, Alan and Zack still had difficulty in uncovering the truth.

They were still wondering why the head of Dragon Abyss Palace offered to give the Genuine Dragon Blood Essence to Zen.

But among the three, it was Elder Wei who felt particularly disgruntled.

He was one of the lucky ones to get a drop of the Genuine Dragon Blood Essence as a reward for his significant contribution to the Dragon Abyss Palace. However, it didn't come on a silver platter. He had almost lost his life to deserve that kind of reward.

But Zen had just arrived in the Dragon Abyss Palace and hadn't proved anything yet, but still got a drop of Genuine Dragon Blood Essence as a gift. What was so special about Zen that the head of the Dragon Abyss Palace had favored him that much?

But despite his envy, Elder Wei believed that it must be Zen's good luck that brought him that fortune.

“It's a special gift, so it is just fitting for me to give it to someone who is truly worthy,” said the head of Dragon Abyss Palace. She then turned to Zen, beaming a smile and said, “Zen, do you agree?”

“Yes. What you said is truly right,” Zen replied happily.

Afterward, he took the munificent gifts from her hand.

“Cyan dragon, do you think that she has noticed something about you?” Zen asked the cyan dragon in his mind.

“Probably. She's a smart woman, and she might have noticed something when you entered the level of Fighting Soul. But this is not the time to worry about it. I think she understands what she should do,” the cyan dragon replied. His tone was rough and weak. He hadn't completely recovered from his fight with the Owl Beast ghost.

Zen didn't think that the head of Dragon Abyss Palace would just give him the gift because of his great talent. She must have sensed the presence of the cyan dragon within Zen, otherwise, she wouldn't treat him any differently.

Acquiring the Genuine Dragon Blood Essence was a rare opportunity that no one would pass. And getting it without doing anything was a once-in-amillion chance. Zen must have been truly lucky that the universe collided for him to get this rare opportunity.

Zen immediately stored the Genuine Dragon Blood and Blood Essence in his space ring. At once, Dennis walked up to him and said, “Zen, there's one thing I need to ask you about.”

“I'm listening, Sir,” Zen bowed to him with clasped hands. He wasn't sure what did he owe Dennis to get this attention. Or was he getting into trouble?

“You were the last one who left the black ball, and you reached the level of Fighting Soul near the Owl Beast ghost. But after that, it disappeared from the Soul-nurturing Thunder Lock. Do you know what happened to it?” Dennis asked directly.

Dennis had the feeling that Zen had something to do with the disappearance of the Owl Beast ghost.

Everyone had the same thought. It couldn't be just a coincidence that the Owl Beast ghost had disappeared simultaneously when Zen had made the new breakthrough.

Dennis couldn't still figure out why the Owl Beast ghost had just suddenly disappeared. It was bothering him for quite a while and now was the right time to finally know the truth. Despite reaching the Fighting Soul level, it would still be impossible for Zen to defeat the Owl Beast ghost just like that. What could have happened to the Owl Beast ghost if it hadn't been killed by Zen?

Zen had foreseen that this would happen when he agreed to the cyan dragon's request.

But just as the cyan dragon had told him, Zen played dumb in front of Dennis.

“The Owl Beast ghost? I don't know, I just…” Zen said with a confused look on his face. He stuttered to be more realistic. “When I heard the crack of the Thunder Lock, I saw the Owl Beast ghost jumping on me. That's all I could remember. After that, I lost consciousness.”

The part where he lost consciousness was true.

When the cyan dragon destroyed the Thunder Lock, the influence of the Owl Beast ghost was released and overwhelmed Zen. His soul could still not stand the impact of the Owl Beast ghost even if he had improved it. In the sixth circle inside the black ball, the pressure upon Zen's soul was already thirty-two times stronger than that in the first circle. And when the Owl Beast ghost was freed from its chains, the pressure became stronger and harder to bear.

The combined pressure from the sixth circle and the Owl Beast ghost's influence had made Zen's soul almost split up. Luckily, the cyan dragon had activated the furnace on time and its colorful glow had repaired Zen's soul. With the help of that mysterious colorful glow from the furnace, Zen had managed to enter the level of Fighting Soul.

“You really don't know?” Dennis asked again. He didn't believe that Zen didn't know what happened. He could see through Zen's eyes that the latter wasn't telling the whole truth. “You better tell me what you know because the Owl Beast ghost is an important treasure of our city. There must be something you know about the disappearance of the Owl Beast ghost.”