Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 478: A Present

The soul-killing poisoned blood was one of Bloodwood Cliff's secret methods. It was a frighteningly powerful skill that could push a cultivator's potential to the extreme, however, it had one crucial side-effect that it could cause the user great harm.

Unless one's life was an inch from death, the soul-killing poisoned blood skill was not something a sane person would ever think of using.

However, it was a risk Brody had to take. Taking Zen down was a task given to him by his leader, and failure was not an option. He only hoped that his leader would give him a reward that would help him reach a higher refining level.

After being planted the blood symbol, Brody's eyes burned with a blood thirst as he stared up at Zen. When the curtain of light flickered and disappeared, hot, scarlet flames burst forth from his hand.

“I have gained understanding and comprehension of one-third of the Fire Law. If you've got any brains, you know it would be better for you to just stand still as I burn you to ashes with my blood flames…” As soon as he finished talking, the blood flame in his hand soared menacingly, eager to kill, eager to burn.

“Fire Law! I can't believe it. Brody actually mastered the Fire Law! What in the world is going on with this year's Martial Arts Contest? Law Power is not at all easy to learn. It is extremely difficult and complicated. How come all cultivators of the Internal Elixir Realm seem to have grasped it?”

“Don't be so overly dramatic. Brody is one of the top disciples of Bloodwood Cliff after all. He's definitely qualified to be one of the people that can comprehend Law Power. But, to be honest, I'm still quite surprised by the strength of the contestants for this year's contest. So many of them have already comprehended Law Power. In the past, only the top three could accomplish such a feat….”

“What are you talking about? Back then, only the strongest cultivators of the Virtual Tribulation Realm could master Law Power. It's amazing how so many talented cultivators suddenly showed up all of a sudden.”

“Blood flame? You want to burn me?” The scarlet flame burned bright, but it did not faze Zen one bit. Smiling, as if to mock his opponent, he waved his hand and a wisp of pure fire appeared over his palm. He pointed at the flame, and in the next second, it formed a protective circle of fire around him. “Fight fire with fire,” he said. “Since you want to attack me with your flames, I shall do the same to you.”

"W-What? I thought Zen was only a body refiner? What the heck is going on?! His flame looks weak…

But why do I feel so overwhelmed with its power?"

“Oh my gosh! That's the complete Fire Law!” someone suddenly exclaimed in shock.

“You're right! But how did he do it? That's impressive!”

Another round of heated discussion broke out among the spectators.

Hobbes, one of the three chiefs of the World Commercial Alliance rose from his seat. He narrowed his eyes at the pure flame that fiercely burned over Zen's palm.

The chief was a practitioner of fire-system techniques and had almost comprehended the first layer of Fire Law-Raging Fire and mastered 30% of its second layer-Ashes. However, since there wasn't a complete Raging Fire in the Central Region, he wasn't able to finish the first layer.

Looking at the intense, pure flame over Zen's palm, Hobbes realized that the lad had somehow fully mastered Raging Fire.

'How did he do it?' he wondered to himself.

Hobbes turned to Dillon. “Didn't you say that he was a runic expert?” he asked abruptly. “How did his comprehension of the Fire Law reach this degree?”

Dillon did not answer and could only stare blankly at the flame burning in Zen's hand, equally flabbergasted.

Upon the platform wherein the people of the Ethereal Spirit Sect were seated, Brent stared in fixation at Zen's flame. He curled his lips, and turned to Philip and said, “He's even way stronger than you said! That's the perfect power of the Fire Law!”

Brent's words caused Philip to turn away from embarrassment and quickly change the topic. “So what?! Compared to Fire Law, isn't the Space Law you refine more powerful and difficult to master?”

'Philip is right. Time Law and Space Law are considered the most powerful. However, only a few talented cultivators can master the complete Fire Law and Zen is one of them. He has truly underestimated him, ' Brent brooded.

“The complete Law of Fire. This young man is truly interesting. I feel like I've seen him before,” Eddie murmured. He had ranked number one in the Central Region and had not paid much attention to Zen since he had been more interested in the supposedly stronger warriors.

Marilyn remained silent but his son was quick to dismiss his thoughts as he said, “Dad, you haven't set foot in the Central Region for years. You must've mistaken him for someone else.”

However, Eddie disagreed and shook his head, “No, I've met him once. I'm certain of it. I just don't remember where.”

And he was right. Back in the Cloud Sect, his huge face had sneered at Zen. It wasn't really surprising that he forgot though, seeing that he had only met him once. At that time, Zen was an unremarkable nobody to Eddie so there was no reason for him to remember him. R₳𝐍ô𝐁Ę𝐬

“I would've never thought that the Cloud Hall would be able to cultivate such a genius. He not only reached the Illuminating Soul Realm but also comprehended the first layer of Fire Law. And he is a body refiner too. Eden, it looks like you should cultivate harder!”

Eddie said with a composed and confident smile. He obviously did not consider Zen to be strong enough as his son's opponent.

Eden was his son.

Hearing his father's words, Eden nodded. The confidence shining on his face, he declared firmly, “Don't worry Dad. I won't disappoint you.”

“Is that so?” Eddie asked, looking at his son.

Eden nodded his head. “Of course! You invested a lot in me. If I fail to stand out in the contest, I'll be a laughingstock. Just wait and see. I'll defeat all these so-called geniuses!” he declared with certainty.

His son's words were haughty but Eddie nodded his head approvingly. 'He is my son. I have complete faith in him. He is surely more powerful than the other contestants, ' he thought to himself, pride swelling in his chest.

When she saw Zen's display of the Fire Law, Letitia's eyes widened in astonishment.

It was then that she realized that she truly knew nothing about her disciple.

When they first met, she had been impressed by his display of great talent during the Cloud Road test. Ever since then, she had the gut feeling that Zen would rise to be a key figure in the Cloud Hall which was why she spent so much time and energy cultivating him.

It came as a surprise to her when Zen later started to study runes. She fondly remembered how the chief runic expert marveled at his strength and claimed that Zen was even better at runes than him. Then, when Zen returned from the Dragon Soar Arena, she found out that he had actually comprehended the Space Law.

Now, during the Martial Arts Contest, he had just showcased the body refining technique he was good at. She didn't have any idea that he had actually started learning the Fire Law.

Even more surprising was that he had actually completed and comprehended the first layer of Fire Law!

As far as she knew, there was no intact introduction to Raging Fire in the Central Region which was the primary reason why Hobbes of the World Commercial Alliance couldn't fully grasp the first layer of Fire Law.

'Upper World…

Zen must've inherited the Fire Law there, ' Letitia surmised in her heart.

And her assumption was right. However, it wasn't just the Fire Law. What Letitia had never expected was that Zen had in fact mastered the nine Original Laws after his baptism by the laws.

Although Brody had almost lost his mind, he could sense that the flame over Zen's palm was powerful. Despite that, he had no time to hesitate. Since he had been planted with blood runes by Lady Poison-blood, he had no other choice but to take Zen out.

His face distorted in a white-hot rage as he shouted, “Go to perdition!”

Brody rushed forward, a brown scimitar appearing in his hand. In a split second, scarlet, blood flames engulfed the entirety of the blade.

He advanced at an alarming speed. In a blink of an eye, he was already poised above Zen, ready to strike him down.

“Blood Flame Hacking!”

Blazing blood flames licked the scimitar's blade, adding more power to his attack. With the blood rune, Brody's moves were amplified to be tremendously overwhelming with each strike.

However, just as he swung down his blade, Zen was already gone, nimbly dodging his strike. Giving his opponent no time to react, Zen quickly directed his flame towards Brody, striking his chest with his palm hard.

“BANG!”

Brody was sent back a few feet but was nonetheless standing. Finding his ground, he quickly swung his flaming scimitar at Zen's direction, aiming for the fire circle that surrounded him. As soon as his blood flame and Zen's fire collided, it started to devour each other.

Since Zen hadn't ever been exposed to any fire-system cultivation technique, he couldn't fully unleash the power of the flame he held in his hand.

But, compared to the cultivation method, the comprehension of Law Power was more important. The flame Brody had released looked amazingly powerful but soon, it became apparent that he was at a disadvantage.

Brody's blood flame was much weaker than Zen's.

If two cultivators practiced the Law Power of the same attribute, the one who had a better understanding of what they refined was stronger.

It meant that Brody was comparatively weaker in Fire Law than Zen.

However, Brody was still a warrior at the Internal Elixir Realm and he had intense willpower to win. The only thing that occupied his mind at that very moment was how to end Zen's life.

Realizing his blood flame was now being controlled by Zen, Brody had to think fast. He immediately bit the tip of his tongue and broke the skin. The familiar metallic taste of blood filled his mouth and he spat, the red liquid oozing from his tongue to his blade. The blood flames soared and managed to break free from Zen's fire circle. With his fire back, Brody roared, rushing forward with his scimitar, ready to swing down on his opponent.

Thanks to the time he took to refine his body, Zen was able to move swiftly, quickly moving aside to avoid Brody's strike.

Having avoided his opponent, Zen took a step backward and gave himself some distance as he steadied himself.

The failure did not frustrate Brody. Rushing quickly towards Zen, he once again swung his scimitar. “Blood Flame Hacking!” he shouted in fury.

Seeing Brody's rushing figure, Zen focused power on his legs. Looking up at his opponent, Zen zoomed forward to meet him halfway, his right fist raised at the ready.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Each punch pierced and echoed through the air as Zen attacked Brody with full strength.

His punches were calculated and extremely strong, so strong that the sound of Brody's bones breaking could be heard as his fists landed upon his body.

This went on for a bit before Zen was satisfied and stopped punching Brody. He stood up and retreated from where he had originally been standing. Meanwhile, Brody was on his knees, struggling to rise after Zen's assault. He clutched at his chest in pain and sent a resentful glare full of bitterness to Zen.

However, glaring was all he managed to do as Brody suddenly collapsed on the ground a few seconds later.

“Zen won,” Rocher, who was among the audience, said with a subtle smile.

Lewis heaved a long sigh of relief. “He scared the heck out of me! I'm so glad he won. If he lost, I would lose everything,” he said, patting his chest.

Rocher shook his head and remarked, “He's much stronger than I have imagined. He even mastered the Fire Law. Ah, really, this guy…”

In the eyes of many, Rocher was already considered a terrifying genius, but he suddenly regarded Zen as a more talented cultivator than him.

“I don't know whether Zen intends to win first place, but as far as I know, he is very much likely to get into the top ten,” Patrick claimed.

After having defeated his opponent, Zen remained still and composed. Once Mr. Xiao announced the results and summoned him, he came forward to draw a card.

'Please God… I hope I can choose. Please let me choose my next opponent!' Zen prayed to himself. Slowly, he turned the card over and almost shouted for joy. It seemed God was listening and answered his prayer. He was very much eager to end Marilyn's life, and according to the match rules, he could now fight with her if he wanted to.

However, if he did that, Eddie might suspect his identity. It would be wiser to postpone his plans.

Reluctantly, Zen put the card aside and returned to the area for the independent warriors.

The contest continued on.

After several rounds, the difference between the independent warriors and sect disciples was evident in terms of real strength.

Most independent warriors were too weak to fight against the sect disciples.

Two of the independent warriors, however, captured the audience's attention with their excellent performance. One of them was Owen who was at the ultimate level of the Illuminating Soul Realm while the other was called Trevor Huangfu.

The two independent warriors were able to knock down two top talented disciples: one from the Mysterious Luna Hall and the other from the Black Mountain Sect.

The two of them did not belong to any sect.

Most of the cultivators that had passed the pre-qualifying match came from third-grade sects, but Owen and Trevor were different. They were not given any guidance or wisdom from their masters, nor did they learn any kind of secret refinement method from some sect. Both had entered the Martial Arts Contest armed only with their luck and real strength.

There were tons of independent cultivators in the Central Region but most of them were not even qualified to be disciples of the first-grade or second-grade sects. To think these two were strong enough to come out on top was truly astounding.

That was the reason why they caught the crowd's attention. Despite lacking resources and backing, they had managed to refine up to the Internal Elixir Realm. The amount of effort they spent was great and it was fortunate that they were blessed with such good destiny.

The disciples coming from the third-grade sects were the weakest in the Martial Arts Contest. None of them could ever hope to hold up against the strong independent warriors and they stood no chance of defeating the elites of the fourth-grade sects.

After the thirty-second round, Mr. Xiao came up to make an announcement. “Benson Xuanyuan of the Cloud Hall will battle against Eden Cui, an independent warrior.”

“Eden Cui! The son of the best cultivator in the Central Region! This is going to be interesting!” someone from the audience exclaimed.

“It is safe to say that Eden Cui and Brent Zong of the Ethereal Spirit Sect are the best cultivators in the contest. I bet one of them will become champion while the other will take second place!”

“I don't agree with you. Benson Xuanyuan is also an amazing cultivator. He comes from the Cloud Hall which ranks first among the fourth-grade sects. I think he can pose as a tough opponent.”

“Eden Cui?” Zen murmured, looking up at Eddie who was among the audience. He watched as the young man beside Eddie stood and walked towards the battlefield. Zen narrowed his eyes as the young man took center stage. 'So he's Eddie's son?' he thought to himself.

Truth be told, Zen wasn't in any way interested in Eddie's son.

He had entered the Martial Arts Contest with only two purposes in mind: to slay Marilyn, and to get the Dragon Soar Arena. Finding out Eddie's son's strength was of no value to him.

It was then that Eden jumped off the platform and floated in mid-air. He looked down at Mr. Xiao. “Please wait a minute, sir,” he said politely.

Mr. Xiao nodded in agreement. He had no problem with his request.

He soared and flew towards the platform of Cloud Hall, landing softly in front of Letitia.

The disciples of Cloud Hall, including Benson, looked at Eden with confusion. 'Delaying the match, flying through the air towards Cloud Hall, what exactly was this young man up to?' they wondered.

Letitia stared at Eden with bewilderment equal to that of her disciples. “You're supposed to fight with my disciple. What are you doing here?” she asked.

Eden did not reply and only gave her a faint smile. He then clapped his hands.

As he clapped, Eden concentrated some life vitality onto his hands. As a result, his claps could be heard loud and clear even from a great distance. Soon enough, four men suddenly appeared and flew towards Eden. What the men carried seemed to be a large package, wrapped in red silk fabric.

The four men stood next to Eden, their breathing a bit labored from having carried such a large parcel. “I got you a present, Lady,” he told Letitia as the men placed the package in front of her.

Letitia raised an eyebrow. 'Why did he give me a gift so suddenly?' she thought to herself. She wondered what game he was playing but did not show it in her face.

The disciples of the other sects, and even their leaders were focused with rapt attention at the scene.

Walking towards the package, Eden suddenly pulled on the red silk cloth, yanking it off to reveal a large block of ice.

“Isn't this… Arctic Mysterious Ice?” she asked, her eyes fixated onto the block.

'It is no wonder the four men looked so exhausted when they carried it. The Arctic Mysterious Ice is very heavy and will not melt at all, no matter the season. It can be made into a bed where I can cultivate. If I do that, I'll be able to reach a breakthrough much faster, ' she mused. Basically, this large ice block could be of great help to Letitia's cultivation.

However, this mysterious ice was rare and existed only under the thick ice of the Arctic where the temperature was extremely low. Even a cultivator who had reached the Virtual Tribulation Realm would succumb and freeze in the icy conditions which made the acquisition of the Arctic Mysterious Ice extremely difficult.

Cultivators who practiced refinement techniques with the ice attribute were transfixed at the sight of the ice block. If they could get it, they could double up their cultivation speed.

Turning to the leader of Cloud Hall, Eden began to speak, “Arctic Mysterious Ice may be considered a treasure to many people but I'm afraid that, for someone like you, it might actually be insulting to receive such a cheap present.” He reached out with his index finger and pointed at the Arctic Mysterious Ice, releasing a bit of life vitality.

“Crack!”

Everyone's eyes widened as cracks began to appear on the surface of the Arctic Mysterious Ice and there were a few gasps of horror as the block started to chip and break right in front of them.

“W-What has he done?! He broke the Arctic Mysterious Ice!”

“What a pity! Although his father is the number one in the Central Region, he shouldn't have wasted such a treasure.”

“I really wish he could've just given it to me. I would give him anything in exchange!”

A lot of the people present felt their hearts drop as they watched Eden destroy the rare and extremely valuable Arctic Mysterious Ice. Such a wonderful treasure had been destroyed so easily by a mere index finger, which was truly heartbreaking.

Eden, however, was oblivious to their remarks. It was only when the Arctic Mysterious Ice had been reduced to rubble did he sweep off the ice chunks to reveal a bright, glowing core. Since it was surrounded by ice debris, the crowd could not clearly see what it was. That glowing core, what could it be?