Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 446: Pass Or Fail

It was quite a busy day at Oracle City. All the restaurants, hotels, and teahouses were filled with tourists, martial artists, and cultivators of different levels.

The Martial Arts Contest had surely piqued the interest of almost half of the martial artists from the Central Region. But not all of them were qualified to take part in the contests. Still, these martial artists went all the way here just to watch the battles between the great masters of different sects. It was going to be a worthwhile trip if they could learn a new fighting technique from these masters.

Some of these practitioners were even hoping to get an epiphany from watching the fights. Though there wasn't any assurance to it, it was worth a try.

Zen was asking around for the Martial Arts Contest registration booth, but no one seemed to really take him seriously. After several attempts, someone had finally pointed him in the right direction.

Although the contest was open to all practitioners in the Central Region, there were limited available slots. Hence, some pre-qualifying matches were designed to identify the qualified participants to the Martial Arts Contest.

But the pre-qualifying matches were intended only for the practitioners from unknown sects who at least reached the Illuminating Soul Realm. And only after passing these matches could they move on to the Martial Arts Contest.

While for the famous sects, they each could get three to ten reserved slots in the Martial Arts Contest. This meant that participants from Cloud Hall, Bloodwood Cliff, Ethereal Spirit Sect, and other top sects could get into the Martial Arts Contest without going through the pre-qualifying matches. Some top individual warriors could also get a reserved slot to participate in the Martial Arts Contest.

The Cloud Hall had five reserved slots and the list had already been sent to the World Commercial Alliance which held the Martial Arts Contest.

Despite being a top disciple of Cloud Hall, Zen didn't get a spot. So, in order to take part in the Martial Arts Contest, he needed to go through the pre-qualifying matches.

When Zen arrived at the registration booth, it was crowded with practitioners who wanted to sign up for the pre-qualifying matches. Every now and then, Zen could hear applause and cheering coming from the big crowd.

Despite being physically strong, he couldn't get his way into the crowd that easily. He pushed them away, braved through the thick crowds until finally making his way to the registration booth.

He found an old man with a mustache sitting at the center, guarded by four strong and tall men without shirts on. They appeared to be practitioners at the ultimate level of the Illuminating Soul Realm, giving off a more terrifying vibe. It seemed that they were assigned to sign up the practitioners.

As Zen looked around, he realized that these practitioners were just bystanders with no intention of signing up for the contest.

Zen was figuring out how to sign up for the test. He kept on looking around, waiting for someone to sign up so he could see. Suddenly, a practitioner walked up to the old man and said loudly, “I want to sign up.” The practitioner took out a supreme life vitality crystal from his pocket and threw it on the desk in front of the old man.

The old man then said, “Well, then. Try your luck, kid. Punch this stone as hard as you can.”

He was pointing at a square, human-sized, pale green stone. There was nothing special about this stone on the surface, and nothing unusual would seem to come out of it.

Zen sensed something weird about the stone, so he tried to scan it with his mental powers. But to his surprise, it totally blocked his soul and therefore, he couldn't tell what was in that stone despite scanning it thoroughly.

Without another word, the practitioner urged the bystanders to back off as he made his way towards the stone.

When the crowd stepped back and made room for him, the practitioner then stood back a little. The life vitality inside his body frantically fluctuated. He gave off a fierce and powerful aura as if he had been practicing a tough cultivation method.

“Ha!” the practitioner roared. His feet moved smoothly like there was water on the floor as he threw his fist towards the pale green stone.

The practitioner seemed to have reached the eighth stage of the Illuminating Soul Realm. If it was indeed an ordinary stone, it would instantly break into pieces once the practitioner hit it. Zen was observing the practitioner quietly. Everything he would learn from here could be quite useful for him. Zen took a deep breath when the practitioner was about to hit the stone. The practitioner threw his fist at the stone… but it didn't move or even shake a bit.

Only a dull thud was heard. The punch was strong and powerful, but it wasn't enough to even scratch the stone.

The old man casually glanced at the green stone. He then wrote something on his note and finally declared, “Failed! Next, please!”

The practitioner was stunned to hear the results, but he couldn't do anything. He left with a broken heart, shaking his head as he moved away from the registration booth. řἁΝÓ𝐁ЁṠ

'What a waste of supreme life vitality crystal! He didn't even get a second chance! Darn it!' Zen thought to himself, feeling pity for the practitioner. This was how the World Commercial Alliance made money. It was unfair, but nothing was indeed fair in this world.

Now Zen understood why only a few practitioners would sign up for the contest. A supreme life vitality crystal was not cheap; it was equal to more than a million low-grade life vitality crystals. For the second and third grade sects, and numerous famous families in the Central Region, supreme life vitality crystals were nothing; but not for any ordinary practitioners. Even most of the practitioners at the Illuminating Soul Realm could not afford to spend a supreme life vitality crystal.

However, even though some practitioners didn't pass the pre-qualifying test, they didn't think that the supreme life vitality crystal went to waste. They took it as a payment for a great opportunity to broaden their horizons. Pass or fail, the practitioners couldn't take back the supreme life vitality crystal.

When the first practitioner left, another practitioner tried his luck.

The practitioner had a crew cut and calm eyes. He was carrying a navy-blue machete on his back. He walked up to the old man, carelessly tossed a supreme life vitality crystal on the desk, and then walked towards the pale green stone.

“I wonder if he can make it!”

“He has reached the top-grade Illuminating Soul Realm. I think he can make the magnetic stone change its color.”

“I won't be so sure. Earlier, two practitioners has also reached that realm, remember? But they failed anyway.”

The crowd exchanged opinions with each other. As Zen listened, he finally got to know that it was a magnetic stone. It was quite different from any other ordinary stones that even the practitioners who reached the top-grade Illuminating Soul Realm would have failed to affect it.

The practitioner with the machete approached the green stone, but he didn't do anything. He just stood slackly and simply waved his hand towards the stone.

There was nothing at first. Then a sound of wind came.

Then suddenly, the wind rushed towards the stone and hit it hard.

'Wow! That's sharp and fierce! He applied a bit of the principle of wind.' Zen thought to himself. This man hadn't even reached the Internal Elixir Realm yet, but he had the strength that could not be underestimated. It was quite rare that a practitioner who had only reached the top-grade Illuminating Soul Realm could do that. With the power that this practitioner showcased, Zen knew that that practitioner was someone he must not ignore.

Then there was a loud noise! A bang!

As the stream of air hit the stone, it didn't move an inch. But then, something unexpected happened–its color suddenly changed from green to red.

The red color only lasted nine seconds, then the magnetic stone turned green again.

“Wow! Can you believe it? He just did it from a distance, but he made it! He's incredible!”

“I'm afraid that even in those fourth-grade sects, only a few practitioners are able to do that. Don't get me started that he has only reached the top-grade Illuminating Soul Realm!”

“Yes, I agree with you. The magnetic stone has remained red for nearly fifteen seconds. For the practitioners of the top-grade Illuminating Soul Realm, I don't think that's an easy task. Perhaps he's the only one who could do that among those who are in the same realm.”

The old man with mustache glanced at the practitioner who had just succeeded and smiled slightly. He then said, “You passed! What's your name?” Then he took the writing brush and a nameplate, ready to write.

“Owen Ao,” said the practitioner.

Upon hearing his name, the bystanders seemed to have remembered something and then shouted, “So it's him! He's the man who has killed three thousand Shadow Wolf Kings on the Woollen Grassland on his own!”

“What? Killed three thousand Shadow Wolf Kings all by himself? Why didn't I hear about that?”

“The Woollen Grassland is far away from the center of the Central Region. It's just common that you don't hear about it.”

Owen Ao just stood there and didn't mind the bystanders' chitchat. After he took the nameplate from the old man's hands, he left to sign up for the contest according to the instructions of the World Commercial Alliance.

The crowd was still discussing Owen Ao when he left the place.

Zen was now ready to take his chance. He walked up to the old man, took out a supreme life vitality crystal from his space ring and put it on the desk.

“Oh my goodness, he is at the third grade of Illuminating Soul Realm? I am daydreaming? I can't believe it!”

“Whoa! He's even richer than he looks! How can he afford a supreme life vitality crystal?”

“I guess he's a brat from some third-grade family. Maybe he's just here to play and not to compete with others seriously. A supreme life vitality crystal is not cheap. He's just wasting his money!”

“You bet! He might as well just donate it to the Alliance instead to save him time!”

Zen's cultivation level was so low that he created a stir when he showed up here for the pre-qualifying test. The crowd became more excited than when they were discussing about Owen Ao.

Although practitioners who had reached the Illuminating Soul Realm could take part in the pre-qualifying test, only a few had truly succeeded. The magnetic stone was already a great obstacle and no one knew if there could be another test after that.

Most of the practitioners who had passed the test were at the top level of the Illuminating Soul Realm and some had even reached the Internal Elixir Realm.

As of to date, the number of the practitioners of the Illuminating Soul Realm who had passed the test was less than ten. Out of those who passed, most of them were already at the eighth or ninth level of Illuminating Soul Realm. That meant that they were almost the best martial artists among those who were in the same realm.

But standing before them right now was a practitioner of the third-grade Illuminating Soul Realm who was about to take on the challenge. The bystanders who didn't sign up for the pre-qualifying test were just there for the drama. They wanted to see which one of the challengers would pass and which one would fail. And for them, Zen was considered rather weak and they were looking forward to seeing him fail and eventually embarrass himself.