Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 477: The Gap

A loud voice rang throughout the area and drew the attention of the audience. “This is the first battle of our Bloodwood Cliff disciples! Crush him, Brody! Show your strength!”

Cheers and yells erupted from the disciples of Bloodwood Cliff in support.

Meanwhile, Lady Poison-blood, who sat at the back of the grandstand, stared coldly at Zen.

This young man called Zen Luo had once humiliated her, the leader of Bloodwood Cliff. However, she wouldn't let such a thing spread around. After all, she was a dignified leader of a fourth-grade sect and she didn't want to have her good reputation ruined by this unscrupulous young man. But that didn't mean she would not do anything to revenge herself.

“Brody, come over,” Lady Poison-blood said in a low voice.

“Yes, my Lady!”

Brody Bu heavily walked towards Lady Poison-blood's side.

At that moment, Lady Poison-blood put her delicate finger into her mouth and gently bit it. Blood oozed from her soft fingertip.

Brody's eyes twitched slightly when he saw what Lady Poison-blood had done in front of him. “My Lady…” he said in a trembling voice.

The Bloodwood Cliff wasn't known for their decency, and they were involved with countless acts of sorcery and crooked means. Brody clearly understood what their leader wanted to do.

“Don't worry, this soul-killing poisoned blood can help you to reach full potential in a short period of time and I will help you make up for the life span you will lose in the process. However, you have to go down there and kill that brat!” Lady Poison-blood laughed viciously. Brody just looked skeptically at her, and tried to deny her plan.

“My Lady, I don't need that boost to kill that brat!” he said and hurriedly shook his head. However, Lady Poison-blood just giggled, and her beautiful face became even more charming and enchanting.

"I know, but…

Just in case that you will need it!"

With that, she stretched her finger towards Brody's chest and drew a symbol with the blood on her fingertips. The blood symbol flashed and entered Brody's chest.

At that moment, it was as if Brody had become a completely different person. His eyes turned red as a sinister laugh came out of his mouth.

“I will destroy him, my Lady!” he said and then leapt into the arena.

At the same time, Zen also walked towards the arena.

“It's that brat who's at the fourth level of the Illuminating Soul Realm. It's his turn to fight again!”

“He actually defeated Alex in the last round. It seems that we can't call him as a common Illuminating Soul Realm cultivator. His real strength is far beyond that.” ŘâNÔ𝔟Ę𝓢

“He merely defeated Alex because he took his opponent by surprise. In terms of real strength, he can't compare to a warrior at the Internal Elixir Realm!”

Although Zen was a disciple from a fourth-grade sect, it was still hard for many of the martial arts practitioners to accept that an Illuminating Soul Realm warrior had defeated an Internal Elixir Realm warrior.

Not everyone could challenge an opponent who was levels higher than their own. The Central Region had an ironclad rule that one's cultivation level decided his strength. Only a few elite disciples of the fourth-grade sects might easily challenge higher level disciples. However, this group of talented disciples was extremely rare!

Alex, whom Zen had defeated was a descendant of the third-grade Gongsun Clan, and also had the rare heaven-level talent!

On the other hand, Zen had overcome the great gap between them, and almost beat Alex dead in one strike. That was not what the spectators had expected to see. They were extremely shocked by the turn of the events and thought that the fight was unfair. From a psychological point of view, they hoped very much that Zen would lose, and lose miserably in this round.

This time, Zen faced a disciple from a fourth-grade sect. The spectators all pinned their hopes on Brody.

Just then, several disciples from the back of the grandstand walked in. They were dressed in white and had the pattern of clouds on their chests. They were the disciples of Cloud Hall, and the two people at the helm were Patrick and Rocher!

“I never thought that the ticket to the Martial Arts Contest would be so expensive. It cost us a supreme life vitality crystal each.” Lewis sulked from behind them.

“We should feel lucky to be able to get inside. The battle has already begun. I wonder how the Cloud Hall disciples are doing in the battles,” Rocher turned around and glared at him.

Several months had passed, and Patrick had already entered the fifth level of the Illuminating Soul Realm while Rocher had improved even more. He had already reached the fourth level of the Illuminating Soul Realm, and had almost caught up to Patrick when it came to cultivation.

This time, they had carried out a mission that the Cloud Hall had assigned in Black Prosperity Country, which happened to be near the Oracle City. They knew that the Martial Arts Contest was about to kick off, and they certainly would not miss this opportunity. Thus, they went directly to the Oracle City after they completed the mission.

“The one on the stage seems to be a disciple from the Bloodwood Cliff. I wonder who his opponent is,” Patrick said indifferently as he glanced at the arena.

Rocher's sharp eyes swept across the crowd, and one person who slowly walked to the battle stage caught his attention. He felt that this person was a bit familiar. His eyes widened when he realized who he was. “It is...Zen!” he exclaimed.

“What? Zen? Is he here to watch the Martial Arts Contest as well?” Lewis asked. Meanwhile, Patrick looked to the direction where Rocher was staring at, and then his face suddenly hardened.

“It's really Zen. He's not here to watch the Martial Arts Contest. He's in the battlefield.” He smiled wryly.

“What!” Lewis was so surprised that he bolted upright. He craned his neck above the crowd to get a better view of the arena, and then his mouth went wide. Lo and behold, it was Zen. “It's really Zen. What is he doing up there? Is he trying to get killed?”

Patrick, Rocher, and Lewis were all now disciples in the Elite House of the Cloud Hall, and had received the best training from it. They had made incredible progress in the past few months. For instance, Rocher had comprehended two laws in the cultivation of Extreme Thunder Sword Intent, namely the Metal Law and the Thunder Law. Although he didn't get much Law Power, only one or two among thousands of cultivators were able to comprehend the laws. Moreover, Rocher was only at the Illuminating Soul Realm, so one could imagine just how gifted he was.

Patrick also had improved a lot in his strength. He could now summon the Acalanatha continuously without taking a break at the intervals. In addition, the Acalanatha had a second pair of arms. In the Vajrayana, the strongest Acalanatha had six arms, which meant that Patrick still had a lot of room for improvement.

Lewis, on the other hand, didn't advance as fast as the other two did. However, his bodily movement skill was becoming more and more unfathomable. He could almost approach his opponent without casting a shadow and could leave without a trace.

Their rapid progress in the cultivation made them very proud in the Elite House of the Cloud Hall. They believed that it would not be long before they were able to rank among the top in the Elite House.

However, when they discovered that Zen was in the arena, they suddenly felt that the achievements they had been so proud of seemed to have become a joke now.

Before they arrived in the Oracle City, they previously discussed the Martial Arts Contest along the way.

The strongest disciples of each sect gathered to compete in the Martial Arts Contest, and it was a showdown among the Internal Elixir Realm masters. Rocher had complained about how the Martial Arts Contest was held a few years in advance. If the plan hadn't changed, he would have a few more years to practice. Once he reached the Internal Elixir Realm, he would have the opportunity to participate in the contest.

Lewis had mocked Rocher that even if he was given a few more times, he still might not be qualified to participate in the Martial Arts Contest. In turn, Rocher got so irritated that he even placed his sword on Lewis' neck to shut him up.

However...

Zen had already stood on the arena of the Martial Arts Contest.

"His cultivation base has improved quite rapidly. In less than half a year, he has reached the fourth level of the Illuminating Soul Realm from the nature level. But...

Why is he allowed to compete here, considering the gap between his level and the Internal Elixir Realm?" Patrick said. A lot of doubts crossed his mind.

“Don't forget that back when he was in the Cloud Sect, he defeated a bunch of Illuminating Soul Realm warriors when he was just at the nature level. Now that Zen has reached the Illuminating Soul Realm, it is possible that he has the ability to fight against those Internal Elixir Realm warriors!” Rocher said and shook his head.

Rocher's words fell on a warrior's ears who stood next to him. The warrior's face darkened.

“What do you mean possible? The brat only got a bit lucky. I'm sure he won't survive this fight. The disciple of the Bloodwood Cliff will definitely beat him!” he said.

The warrior who spoke to them was a member of the Gongsun Clan. Although he was not a core disciple, he had strong sense of honor to his family. He was quite unhappy to hear what Rocher had said.

“Lucky?” Rocher smiled. “It seems that we have missed a match. Zen has already fought and won one,” Rocher said to Patrick.

“However, this round doesn't look too good for Zen. The person from the Bloodwood Cliff is not easy to deal with,” Patrick said and fixed his eyes firmly on the arena.

They came from the same sect as Zen and entered the Cloud Hall together. They got a bit worried when they saw how extremely powerful Zen's opponent was.

“Oh, he won't survive this! No way! It's an Internal Elixir Realm master on the other side!” Lewis cried out. However, Rocher just raised his eyebrows and a smile graced his lips.

"I don't know why, I have the hunch that Zen will…

Zen will win all the way through to the end!

Lewis, give me all your money!"

“What are you trying to do?” Lewis subconsciously held on tight to his space ring. He was the one who had reaped the most benefits from their mission because he had an advantage in speed and bodily movement. Thus, he had obtained a lot of life vitality crystals from the mission.

“Don't be nervous,” Rocher said and reached out a hand. “Did you see the sign over there? The odds are out, and the odds against Zen are shockingly high. I want to take a gamble!” he explained.

Rocher wasn't a gambler, but he felt that Zen always had a good luck on his side. He just wanted to see if his hunch was right.

“Nope!” Lewis screamed. “Give them to me!” Rocher said coldly.

“No!” The two of them continued to grapple for the money in Lewis' space ring.

A gust of wind gently flew by, and the tip of Rocher's sword was pressed against Lewis' neck once again.

Lewis sighed. It seemed that he would never win as long as Rocher could threaten him.

He couldn't do anything but hand over his money to Rocher in resignation.

Just after Rocher had placed his stake, the luminous curtain in the center of the arena disappeared, and the battle between Zen Luo and Brody Bu began.