Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 502: Got Caned

Survival of the fittest ruled everyone in the world of warriors, exhibiting itself in every possible facet of life.

If you possessed enough strength, then you'd have the potential to be revered by the people, much like they would worship God; all the people around you would kneel down and bow their heads to you; and even if you did something as irrational as calling a deer a horse, there was bound to be a couple of them who would still blindly go along with you.

Fame, fortune, and authority could only be attained through possessing immense power.

Let's say that a certain warrior had a younger sister who held a Purple Power Body, that person would surely be more than willing to offer her to Eddie. For as long as they could guarantee receiving Eddie's protection, or maybe even just a meager reward, they could make use of it for all eternity.

But on this day, Zen, who appeared to be just as feeble as an ant, up on his feet on the ruins of the arena, had proven to everyone how worthy he was of his dignity.

In spite of the fact that Eddie was widely known as the strongest warrior residing in Central Region, Zen wasn't fazed at all; he didn't even flinch a bit. When he did away with Marilyn, he had no qualms about doing it at all.

In the face of Eddie, who had been fuming with intense rage, Zen retained his composure. He had his gaze fixated on Yan, his younger sister, the only person who meant the world to him.

The gusts of wind were steadily getting heavier and heavier.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was growing much more frenzied and uncontrollable.

Crack!

The basalt beneath Eddie's feet had already been loaded with fissures, and at that moment, it was beginning to collapse bit by bit.

The murderous aura was looming deep inside Eddie's body, like a volcano that was about to flare up. Yan's face had gotten flushed red a little. This was caused by Eddie's hand unconsciously tightening its grip around her neck. In desperate need of breathing in more air, her chest started gasping frantically.

Eddie was in a bit of a shock, for he hadn't thought that Zen would really have the guts to try and kill Marilyn. 'It seems to me this puny brat has no idea what fear truly is, ' he pondered.

Being the strongest and mightiest warrior in Central Region, not to mention, a Life and Death Realm warrior, and most importantly, after being at the jaws of death three times already, he had been utterly astonished that he had fallen at the hands of a little kid who was merely a warrior in the Illuminating Soul Realm. That puny human was just around 18 years old. To someone like Eddie who had been living for hundreds of years, he was nothing but a child!

Eddie instinctively wanted to crush something with his bare hands. If he so much as exerted a little more force into it, Yan was going to end up having a fractured neck. Be that as it might, for the sake of gathering all three Purple Power Bodies, he had already exhausted several decades of his time.

Now that Marilyn was gone, he knew full well that he couldn't kill Yan no matter what, because if he did that, then it would take close to forever for him to achieve the Lustful Demon Array.

Every single warrior from the Life and Death Realm had to experience heavenly tribulations. The Lustful Demon Array was supposed to be the foundation for him to be able to force his way through the Life and Death Realm and make it to the Soul Sea Realm. If he somehow failed to acquire three Purple Power Bodies, there was a good chance that he'd meet his end on one of the heavenly tribulations without ever stepping foot inside the Soul Sea Realm in his lifetime!

“For killing Marilyn with your own two hands, I sentence you to die right here as well!” Eddie shoved Yan over to the side, and proceeded to walk off the high platform straight away, pacing in the air heading toward the battle arena.

“Eddie, I know you're angry, but you really need to think this through!” There wasn't any hint of amusement left on Dillon's face at that point.

“Anyone who is foolish enough to get in my way will meet his maker,” Eddie clearly stated, stripped of any emotion, as he paced heavily in the air.

Zing…

A huge wall of ice about 50 feet high materialized on the bounds of the battle arena. With the mysterious ice halberd she had behind her, Letitia said in a resolute voice, “Zen is a disciple of Cloud Hall.” ℞ΆƝọ𝔟Ěʂ

Eddie, furiously jeering at Letitia, looked her in the eye. “Little girl, I suggest that you not get yourself involved in this matter. You… do not possess the strength to be worthy of opposing me!”

“So what? That is but a trivial matter.” Letitia had no intention to back down at all. In a second, an ice phoenix soared from somewhere far away and perched on her shoulder, cautiously glaring at Eddie.

“Considering that you said something about my disciple not being strong enough, I suppose I wouldn't suffice to be your opponent either, isn't that right?” An old voice appeared without warning. Thereafter, the figure of a stooped woman emerged out of the blue, pacing her way with the aid of a walking cane. Notwithstanding her age, the woman walked surprisingly fast. That being said, in just a couple of strides, she had already gotten in front of Letitia.

“Master...” Letitia anxiously called out upon seeing her master.

The old woman shot Letitia a threatening glare. The fact was that the old woman had been utterly disappointed in the actions Letitia had taken. In any case, the thing she just casually said indicated that she had been following Zen and putting Cloud hall at risk.

When all was said and done, Letitia was still her beloved disciple. She honestly couldn't care less what would happen to Zen, but she just couldn't let anything bad happen to Letitia.

“Imogen.” Eddie shook his head in disapproval. “That is indeed true. You are also not strong enough to stand against me.”

Imogen, Letitia's master, who was a former leader of Cloud Hall, was one of the strongest amongst the Life and Death Realm warriors. Having said that, upon entering the Life and Death Realm, she was only able to go through a single heavenly tribulation. Apart from that, she had gotten much too old that the vital energy and blood she had were both already deteriorating, so there was no way she could possibly be a match for Eddie.

While they were about to engage in hostilities, a voice that seemed much older than even Imogen's rang out. “In the Martial Arts Contest, competitors' life or death depends on their own strength. This is a rule that has been laid down by our World Commercial Alliance, one that has been adhered to for hundreds of years. Eddie, aren't you aware of that?”

Eddie's actual motive for pacing quite slowly

was to prod into it.

Out of everyone he knew, there were only two people that Eddie had always been truly heedful of. One of them was Imogen Yu, and the other was an Ancient Tycoon who was in World Commercial Alliance, someone who had lived for more than 1, 700 years! If it weren't for the Ancient Tycoon's existence, Imogen would be the sole being at the Martial Arts Contest that could make Eddie have some second thoughts.

Xander, along with the leader of the Mysterious Luna Hall, could pose a threat for Eddie to some degree, but given that the situation didn't really have anything to do with their sects, they would have no reason to get involved.

Unfortunately, the Ancient Tycoon from the World Commercial Alliance had unexpectedly shown himself.

Eddie had his eyebrows deeply knit.

If it turned out being a one-on-one battle, he was confident that he could defeat any of the leaders of these fourth and fifth-grade sects, and probably even the Ancient Tycoon in the World Commercial Alliance. But confronting all of those people at the same time would put him at a disadvantage.

Let's say that the three heads of the World Commercial Alliance were to team up against him, which would already give Eddie quite a hard time. But now, even Imogen had appeared and then to make it even worse, that millennia-old monster made an appearance.

“Do you mean to say no one has to bear the brunt for my disciple's death?” Eddie pried. Indeed, he might have been the mightiest warrior in Central Region, but here in Oracle City, a place that was brimming with lots of experts, he had been backed into a corner and forced to give in.

“An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But there's really no need for you to resolve the dispute caused in the fighting arena right here in Oracle City, right? No one would bat an eye whatever it is that you choose to do outside the city.” The elderly man from the World Commercial Alliance had his legs crossed as he hovered in the air, shrouded in a plain white garment without any embellishments. It had been patched up too much, making it apparent that it had been worn for a number of years.

“Is that how it is?” Eddie jeered at his answer. Promptly, he shot Letitia a quick glance and let out a big smile. “I've taken an interest in tearing down Cloud Hall. How does that sound?”

“That's none of our business,” the old man flatly said.

“Okay then.” Eddie turned his gaze over to two of his underlings and dispatched them to enter the fighting stage in order to retrieve Marilyn's body. Then, he picked Yan up along with another woman and was about to go his way.

“Wait just a second.” Zen finally talked again.

Eddie turned his head to look over at Zen, wearing a serious look on his face.

“You won't kill Yan, right?” Zen anxiously asked him.

Eddie simply sneered at him but didn't answer, acting as though Zen had no right to be asking him such a thing.

He had already been gone for a while, but the pressure he let out still lingered.

Eddie had no one to turn to. Cloud Hall and the World Commercial Alliance had deeply displeased him. For that reason, Eddie vowed to get his revenge in due time.

'Everything that happened has been caused by the young man in the Illuminating Soul Realm. Could this all be worth it? It better be.' This was what every single person out there had in mind.

The moment Xiao took off the enchanted barriers on the arena, he marveled at the ruins of the fighting stage with a dreadful look on his face. So much damage had befallen the arena. Could the following challenges proceed with the stage in this state?

That being the case, right after the enchanted barriers disappeared, Imogen Yu took a step forward, stumbling a little bit. With that, she had instantly gotten in front of Zen, and the walking stick she was holding had already swept Zen across his chest!

Bam!

Zen, who had been suddenly hit by the crutch without warning, was instantly sent flying, landing heavily over to the side of the platform. His body had been lodged into the platform and the ground surrounding him was teeming with cracks.

“Master...” Letitia screamed in surprise, watching as Zen had been rammed by her master.

“Eddie is certainly far from being a decent person. I can say for sure that Cloud Hall will be facing his eternal wrath in the future without question. With that, how will we be able to live in peace? How can we thrive?” Although her face had aged considerably, it had been filled with intense rage as she said that.

Zen got up from the platform and said with steeled resolve. “Weren't you the one who told me Marilyn would participate in this Martial Arts Contest?”

“I never asked Letitia to get herself involved and put everyone in Cloud Hall at risk!” Imogen furiously retorted.

That day, when Imogen got the idea that Zen would end up killing Marilyn, she honestly didn't think that Letitia would be there as well.

If Letitia didn't get herself involved by standing up to Eddie, Imogen had no plans of showing up whatsoever. Zen was indeed a remarkable guy, but Eddie was simply on a league of his own, and much, much more frightening. Cloud Hall was not capable of taking care of Eddie by themselves. The day Eddie finally came to take his revenge, how on earth could the Cloud Hall hope to deal with him?

However, it wasn't fair for Imogen to place all of the blame on Zen. When all was said and done, Zen did not ask Letitia for help at all. It was Letitia who decided that and ended up upsetting Eddie.

Truth be told, Imogen was fully aware that she had no right to blame Zen for what had transpired that day. Letitia was the one who was so stubborn and determined to make a stand, but she had always been indulging Letitia on everything, so there was no way she could go on and release her anger on her. And as a result, it was Zen who unfortunately ended up taking the blow instead.

This showed that Letitia had saved Zen's life in a way, and Zen had taken one for Letitia. At the end of it all, Zen still actually got something out of it. If the primordial energy that had been produced after he had gotten hit by the cane were to be taken into consideration, then he might have just made himself a fortune.