THE MARTIAL KING - Season 7 Episode 57

The soul pressure from the Owl Beast’s ghost in the black sphere would cover the cultivators’ souls. However, the soul pressure was not distributed evenly.

A practitioner would suffer less soul pressure when they got to the edge of the black sphere. But as they moved towards the center of the sphere, the soul pressure would become more overwhelming.

There were six circles of the sphere. Each circle had a different level of soul pressure, and this pressure would exponentially increase as the circle became closer to the center of the sphere. In other words, the closer the circle to the center of the sphere, the strongest the soul pressure would become. Zen, like most of the cultivators in the black sphere, was now at the outermost circle.

After repeatedly practicing at the outermost circle for half of the day, Zen could feel his soul becoming stronger.

He was now ready for the second circle. When he had finally regenerated his soul once more, he went straight for the second circle.

The cultivators regenerating their soul around the oil lamp were stunned to see Zen’s next action. Some of them had been in the black sphere for months now but still didn’t dare to advance to the center. But Zen, who had only practiced for half a day, was already going for the second circle.

The speed of Zen’s progress could be attributed to his current soul strength before he had entered the black sphere. It could be noted that his soul was tougher than an average practitioner.

Also, he didn’t waste any time. He could have opted to stay within the protected area longer, but he chose not to. Once he felt that his soul had regenerated, he would immediately go back to the outermost sphere. The time he spent strengthening himself in the outermost sphere was longer than the time he spent regenerating his soul.

On the other hand, most cultivators would spend most of their time resting near the little lamps than struggling on the outermost circle. Their souls could not stay in the outermost circle longer because of the pain and agony. It would take them two to three hours to complete a run, while Zen could complete dozens of runs in the same period.

As Zen was about to enter the second circle, two pairs of men and women approached the edge of the black sphere. Actually, Zen knew these four people. They were the group he had met in the area of the obelisks. One of them was called Christopher.

Christopher was considered one of the best among those ascended from the Lower World. With his remarkable talent, he was able to work his way from the Lower World to the Upper World. In the process of understanding the laws, he had climbed both the obelisks of the Space Law and the Fire Law. Given this accomplishment, Zack considered Christopher as an elite disciple who deserved the highest commendation.

However, all of those had changed when Zen arrived. He had gained the favor of Zack when he was able to comprehend the Original Laws, except the Time Law, in just three days after he went through the baptism by laws. It was the fastest comprehension ever recorded in history.

With Zen’s existence, Christopher’s confidence was trampled. His light had become a firefly compared with Zen’s sun. Since then, Christopher had held a grudge against Zen.

Christopher had never felt this humiliated in his life before. He grew up being constantly praised for his wit and talent. Thus, he developed an arrogant and self-righteous character. So, after Zen stole his thunder, he blamed Zen instead of reflecting on his own shortcomings.

Christopher would probably have taken his revenge on Zen immediately if he hadn’t just arrived in the place. If he had arrived earlier enough, he could have familiarized himself with the place and strengthened his soul ahead of Zen. This way, he could have stricken Zen as soon as he met him. However, that was not the situation.

As soon as he walked into the black sphere, the surging soul pressure of the Owl Beast’s ghost enveloped him. “So this is the soul pressure, huh?” A cyan light suddenly appeared on the surface of Christopher’s soul and completely covered him. The soul pressure of the Owl Beast’s ghost had hit the cyan light continuously, but it remained stable and blocked all the soul pressure.

The three cultivators who had come in with Christopher were also covered with a layer of cyan light. The cyan light acted as their protective shield from the tormenting soul pressure from the Owl Beast’s ghost.

Christopher was associated with a powerful force that excelled in practicing soul and had secret methods for it. As the core of the force, Christopher took pride in his great achievements in soul cultivating. It was the feather on his hat. He had never met anyone who had a stronger soul than his.

When the other cultivators sitting around the oil lamps saw the entrance of Christopher and his group, they were stunned. These cultivators’ souls were not strong enough to enter the second circle even though they had been here for a long time. But the four who just came in and hadn’t practiced yet were leisurely walking towards the next circle.
When Christopher entered the second circle, he felt that the power of the soul pressure had doubled. He was surprised but adjusted very quickly. Despite the stronger soul pressure, the cyan light that covered him remained stable and firm. The other three, on the other hand, were unable to resist the overbearing soul pressure. The cyan light around them began to shake, and cracks started to appear on its surface. But before the cyan light finally broke open, the three walked up to the nearest little oil lamp in the second circle.

Christopher looked at his companions with a mocking smile on his face. He was somehow glad to see his companions failing to bear this circle’s soul pressure. That felt like a confirmation that he was stronger than the three of them. Christopher then headed straight for the third circle. On his way to the third circle, he noticed Zen not far away from where he was.

“Great, I can finally catch this guy!” Christopher’s eyes gleamed almost wickedly; resentment seethed within him.

Christopher had many chances in the Upper World to take revenge on Zen. However, he didn’t want to offend the Dragon Lineage Human. Besides, he was in the Upper World where no one could save him if he got into trouble. Though his family was considered one of the elite clans, they had no influence in the Upper World. In the Upper World, they could be compared with small ants in a big world.

But in the black sphere, no one would care. After all, the practitioners in the black sphere were all from the Lower World that no one would pay attention to.

With his mind made up and hatred in his heart, Christopher hastily strode over to Zen.

Meanwhile, Zen was concentrating on honing his soul while he kept up with the soul pressure. He had no idea that Christopher was coming. As Zen moved forward in the second circle, he became a little closer to the center where the Owl Beast’s ghost was located. Although the pressure on the second circle was just twice the one on the first circle, it was still too much for Zen.

In the first circle, Zen was able to refine his soul to the point where he could move without the help of the little oil lamp. But as soon as he stepped into the second circle, he was back to the starting point. He could only endure the soul pressure for about a minute and then had to go back to the oil lamp to regenerate.

While Zen was regenerating near the oil lamp, he saw a cyan flash coming right behind him—a soul was attacking him!

Zen wasn’t expecting anyone to fight him in this place. He didn’t like the surprise attack while he was cultivating his soul. But without thinking, he quickly sidled away from the attacker at the crucial moment. Then, he immediately approached the nearest oil lamp to regenerate while keeping an eye on the attacker.

“It’s him!” Anger showed on Zen’s face as he recognized his attacker. He asked in a cold tone, “Hey, asshole! Why are you attacking me?”

Christopher shrugged his shoulders and cracked a ferocious grin. “I just don’t like your face, that’s all!”

Zen closed his eyes for a moment. As soon as the little oil lamp completely restored his soul, he opened his eyes again and fixed them on Christopher. “I know a lot of people who don’t like me.

You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last. But I must warn you, they all ended badly. So, are you sure you want to fight me?” he stated with a cold smile.

“Cut the crap!” Christopher sneered. Then his hands began to reshape and turned into knives.

Zen’s eyes narrowed as he watched Christopher’s hands turned into knives. It wasn’t a surprise at all. After mastering the Spiritual Thorn, Zen understood that a man could turn part of his soul into knives. As soon as Christopher’s hands transformed, he attacked Zen using his hands or knives without any hesitation.

Zen certainly wasn’t going to stand there and be slaughtered. He left the oil lamp and ran along the second circle towards the next oil lamp. It was annoying to be interrupted when one was concentrating on practicing. Unfortunately, Zen met a mindless, arrogant and unreasonable guy!

“Christopher’s fighting the guy again… ” “Of course he will fight that guy. You know Christopher, he has never been insulted in his life. So those who dare to humiliate him would surely suffer his wrath!”

“It’s his fault. He relentlessly took the spotlight from Christopher. Now, he’s meeting his doom!”

The three practitioners who had come with Christopher stood by the oil lamp and whispered to each other. Without Christopher’s help, they wouldn’t be able to come to the Upper World through the Dragon Soar Arena. So, it was just fitting that they would take his side.

The other practitioners in the black sphere watched as the two men fight. They momentarily forgot the reason they were here as they watched in amazement.

As it was already very painful to practice under the intense soul pressure, these practitioners were just grateful not to be trashed into idiots. The soul pressure was taking all their energies that they had to come to these little oil lamps to regenerate. However, it was incredible to see that some people could have that energy to even fight in this tormenting environment. It was ridiculous but surprising at the same time. However, these practitioners started to worry about Zen as he was being chased by Christopher.

It was dangerous to fight under the soul pressure. If Zen was to be killed by Christopher, he could become an idiot under the tormenting soul pressure.

The black sphere had turned some great cultivators into idiots. Because of their senseless arrogance, some cultivators had pushed themselves too far to tolerate the soul pressure. Their souls were eventually damaged that they didn’t have the energy to come back to the oil lamps. Hence, soul pressure crashed their souls and turned them into idiots.

“That guy is obviously running out of luck!”

“If I were him, I would take back my soul and stop practicing for a while!”

“You’re right. He’ll be fine if he leaves the black sphere. But why does he push himself too much?”

The cultivators talked while their backs were on the oil lamps. The fight between Zen and Christopher was a good excuse to stay near the oil lamps a little longer.

They watched the fight as if it was a leisure play.