THE MARTIAL KING - Season 7 Episode 75

The sound of screams ripped through the wind, and at once the Septuplets of the Ethereal Spirit stopped, placing their sword sidewards, their lights disconnecting and waning slowly.

On the other hand, Letitia quickly put her ice halberd behind. Curling her legs, she sat down on it, the phoenix feathers falling down like a gorgeous curtain.

It was almost unbelievable that the three fat men’s breathing changed so much after running around. They looked like any other common person. In fact, they appeared to be even lower than warriors. But the leaders present knew better. None of them dared look down upon these three men.

Of the three, the lovely one was called Dillon Shi. The vicious-looking one was named Hobbes Yan, and the red-faced one was Haber Mo.

These seemingly feeble men were the three managers of the World Business Alliance.

The alliance didn’t belong to any particular sect. It had started off as an organization established by a group of businessmen who had control of over seventy percent of the life vitality mines and eighty percent of all the businesses in the Central Region.

With this much power and resources at their disposal, it was an unspoken but uncontested knowledge that their members were the strongest force in the Central Region. They were comparable to the sixth grade sect and were on the level of a sacred place, a destination that many warriors yearned for, but only a few handful reached.

A sect that was able to achieve a sixth grade level could be bestowed the title of a sacred place.

Such knowledge about the World Commercial Alliance was accepted as fact. Their power had even been compared to the sacred place. There were none disputed word about their strength, but the most astonishing fact was that it developed so quietly, far from people’s notice.

The three fat men, for instance, who were also old masters at the Virtual Tribulation Realm, looked like weak, defenseless bumpkins who could be bullied by just anyone. There was no power emanating from them at all.

Despite this, no one could lay a hand on them. Not Cloud Hall, not the Ethereal Spirit Sect……

Since Letitia had arrived, the area around Dragon Soar Arena had become the center of Oracle City.

The two old men in the Ethereal Spirit Sect, Letitia’s master, and many more warriors- both those who belonged to sects and those who did not- all kept a close watch on this place.

Oracle City was a big city, but even its breadth couldn’t stop these old geezers from coming here in a flash. But they had other motives in mind.

The one called Dillon made a respectful bow in front of the Septuplets of Ethereal Spirit and Letitia. A smile lit up his face as he said, “Everyone, you all came here as guests of Oracle City. It is really not a becoming behavior to fight with one another. How about sitting down and discussing it peacefully, like the esteemed men that you all surely are?”

Letitia looked at Dillon, and shaking her head, said, “Mr. Shi, Zen belongs to Cloud Hall. He will be leaving with me.”

“So what if he belongs to Cloud Hall?” Lady Poison-blood cut in. “If that guy continues to be selfish and won’t tell the secret of Dragon Soar Arena, this Martial Arts Contest in Oracle City will be all for nothing! What’s the use of a Dragon Soar Arena without the function of sending people to the Upper World?” she spat, her eyes burning with contempt.

The leader of the Septuplets of Ethereal Spirit chimed in agreement. “Lady Poison-blood was quite right. In my opinion, Zen is not only the disciple of Cloud Hall, but also the key to the prize. He is the sole person who possesses the secret of Dragon Soar Arena,” he said while nodding his head.

Dillon laughed and said, “It does make sense. People are gathered here today for the Dragon Soar Arena, through which they could soar up to the Upper World. But victory would indeed be useless if one does not know the secret of the arena.” He paused, seemingly in thought before turning to Zen. “In that case, it would be good for everyone if the young man tells us all the truth behind it.”

At Dillon’s words, everyone’s eyes were fixed on Zen once more.

Dillon had spoken like a true arbitrator. It was the World Commercial Alliance who held the Martial Arts Contest. To some degree, they did have the obligation to ensure the function and use of the Dragon Soar Arena to the victors..

Zen blinked and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a word, Letitia had already moved in front of him, stubbornness written in her face. “Zen, don’t tell them anything,” she said sternly.

“But……” Zen attempted to argue. He was a mere disciple of Cloud Hall, but he understood what was going on at that moment. Even the three managers of World Commercial Alliance were here. Dillon, the naive-looking one of the three fat men, spoke in a gentle manner but Zen knew that his real aim was to coax the truth out of him. Under the scrutiny of everyone at present, Zen felt as if he was facing a wall. He had no choice but to speak the truth.

While it was true that Cloud Hall possessed much power, keeping the knowledge of the Dragon Soar Arena would mean making an enemy of the World Commercial Alliance- an undoubtedly formidable group. There was no telling what chaos would ensue if the Cloud Hall and the World Commercial Alliance would engage in battle.

What was more…… It would not be a big deal if he told the truth, because what he was about to say would undoubtedly be terrible knowledge even to wizened ears.

“I said no. There would be no buts!” Letitia seethed at his attempt to do otherwise.

“Letitia, do you really think Cloud Hall would be able to fight with so many Sects?” Lady Poison-blood sneered.

Raven also threatened them. “Stop being stubborn. Do you want to see Cloud Hall fall into ruins?”

Lady Poison-blood and Raven knew that the World Commercial Alliance was on their side. Emboldened by this knowledge, they threatened Letitia flagrantly.

Letitia’s eyes blazed in rage, her knuckles white from the pressure of her fingers. Curled marks were appearing on her palms as she tried to restrain her temper.

It was at this moment that she felt a tug at her dress. Turning around, she found Zen grinning at her with a sly twinkle in his eyes.

‘What is this guy going to do?’ Letitia thought, not understanding his intentions.

“Stop acting like a spoiled child. Let me tell them……” Zen said.

“Like a spoiled child?!” she snapped. It seemed that Zen was forgetting who he was talking to. She was the leader of Cloud Hall! She had hidden her real identity on Cloud Road, so she could forgive Zen’s disrespect to her then. But now was a different matter altogether. How dare he talk to her like this in front of so many people?

However, Zen ignored Letitia’s anger and turned to the others. “Respected Leaders, if you had only talked to me civilly like Mr. Shi here did, I would have told you the truth without hesitation.

Actually…… Dragon Soar Arena has got back to normal.”

“What? We can soar up through the Dragon Soar Arena now?” Lady Poison-blood asked, looking at Dragon Soar Arena at the distance.

“What do you mean? Explain it. How did the arena get back to normal?” Raven questioned, reluctant to believe Zen’s words.

Letitia looked at Zen with her eyes wide open. She didn’t understand what Zen was plotting. She had done all she could to help Zen carry the weight of the secret, but in the end, he still spoke the truth out so easily. What was he thinking?

The Zen that Letitia knew would never have done such a thing. There must be something else behind his actions.

“Zen, can you explain it in clearer terms?” Dillon asked, his face now serious. “Dragon Soar Arena couldn’t function well before. How can it be back to normal now?”

“That day, I was hunted by a young man at the level of the Internal Elixir Realm.” Zen began. “In desperation, I altered the runes on the sixth floor of Dragon Soar Arena. You were unable to soar up after then. But I have put things back in place just now, and it would be just as before.”
“Altered the runes? Humph. You are making irresponsible remarks! Even the top runic experts in the Central Region cannot alter the arena’s runes. They are far too abstruse. So how could a mere disciple have done it?” Raven sneered.

Several leading sects had already inferred that the problem was in the runes of the sixth floor. After reaching this conclusion, they had sent for the best runic experts in the Central Region to try to fix the problem. However, all their efforts had been in vain. Not one from the experts was able to decipher the runes. It was far too sophisticated for current knowledge to understand.

Zen shrugged, then looked at Dillon and said, “The World Commercial Alliance’s branch in Cloudy City must have failed to pass the message to you. If they had, you should have surely known my ability on runes.”

Zen said this nonchalantly, and then everyone turned to Dillon.

Dillon stared blankly for a moment, shook his round head, then suddenly patted his head with his hand and said, “Zen? Zen Luo! I have totally forgotten about it!”

A couple of months ago, Michael, the leader of the branch of the World Commercial Alliance in Cloudy City delivered a message. A runic expert with the perfect brushwork had appeared. From then on, Zen would be someone that they kept under close watch. But Dillon did not connect the Zen in front of him to that Zen who was a runic expert.

How could he have failed to remember this? Squinting his eyes, Dillon nodded to the people of Virtual Tribulation Realm and said, “Zen was right. In terms of mastery of runes, no one but Arnold could compare to him in the whole Central Region!”

As soon as he finished, an astonished silence befell upon the gathered crowd.