THE MARTIAL KING - Season 8 Episode 44

“One is a fifteen-year-old at the ultimate level of the Illuminating Soul Realm,” the crowd whispered conspicuously. “The other one is a seventeen-year-old at the fourth grade of Illuminating Soul Realm,” more of them muttered privately.

Judging by the disgruntled expressions of the people who had come to watch the fights, it was not just Brent who had been let down. The two warriors were amazingly powerful and no one could deny it.

“Maybe Zen did have his reservations, fighting with Brent? So far into the battles, I don’t think he would be that kind of a coward, though.”

Most cultivators present at the arena expressed their disappointment at the refusal of Zen to accept Brent’s challenge. Just when they altogether predicted that the two would be in a match eventually, they regained some of their sense of anticipation back.

The officiator of the battles, Xiao, drew lots and lo and behold, Zen’s name appeared on the board once again.

“Zen Luo of Cloud Hall is now hereby called to fight Davis Meng of Black Mountain Sect!” Xiao announced.

A grin adorned the face of Davis Meng, for he was satisfied with the person he was about to battle. Just before he jumped off the platform, Zen’s melodic voice resounded. “Wait!”

Without taking a step forward, Zen raised his voice again in order to be heard. “I refuse!” Reaching into his pocket once again, Zen waved his second exemption card to the baffled gasps of many.

“Why did he refuse again?” some of the cultivators murmured, scratching their nape in bewilderment.

“Is it his plan to turn down all challenges he deems unworthy?” Glancing towards the uncaring man, Zen idly took out the cards in his pocket, showcasing the several exemption cards in his hands.

“Refusing to fight seems to be his only method since it looks like he has many exemption cards,” one of them pondered.

“Davis Meng of Black Mountain Sect is a cultivator at the primary level of Internal Elixir. He is not a formidable opponent and definitely much weaker than Eden or Brent.” Leaning his head to one side with a puzzled look on his face, a cultivator tried to guess Zen’s intentions.

What happened next made all the spectators of the battles more perplexed and surprised. On the span of thirteen fights afterwards, Zen’s name had popped up twice. However, he had kept on waving his exemption cards even though a sure victory was in his hands due to the opponents being weak independent warriors.

During the flummoxing period, Marilyn herself had participated in two matches and undoubtedly defeated her opponents. After her victories, she had chosen both an exemption card and a challenge card.

Weighing her options, Marilyn decided not to use her challenge card just yet. She returned to her platform with a plan in her mind.

Noting that Zen had no exemption cards left, Marilyn subtly smiled before raising her hand in the air, the challenge card waving with the wind. As the grounds became significantly quiet at the silent challenge, Marilyn spoke in a gentle and melodious voice. “I choose to challenge Zen Luo. Now you can’t refuse to fight, eh?” the woman remarked. The intention to confront was clear in her eyes.

As the words left Marilyn’s mouth, Zen smiled back at her faintly. Unbeknownst to the cultivators and to Marilyn, he had purposefully and deliberately used up all of his exemption cards for this moment. In order to be chosen by her, he needed to refuse challenges until it was her turn to use her challenge card without anyone unworthy meddling.

“Of course,” the man shrugged his shoulders and started to walk towards the ring. “In fact,” he continued while calmly advancing. “I was not planning to refuse your challenge in the first place.”

As Zen approached, the tension became palpable in the air as the anticipation of the cultivators grew higher at the upcoming promise of a good fight.

As he left the platform to face the confident woman, a wary voice suddenly spoke behind him, making him halt his movements.

“Zen, wait.. Be careful, something tells me winning would not be so easy this time.”

Letitia said.

As he turned to face her directly, Zen found a thin layer of icy mist covering her features which made it difficult for him to comprehend her seriousness.

However veiled and hidden she was, the worry in her usually airy voice could not be mistaken by Zen. It would do him good to listen to Letitia; she usually knew what was best. Nodding softly, Zen carefully spoke an assent. “Yes, I will.”

After watching Zen walk out of the platform and into the battling ground, Letitia furrowed her eyebrows and bit her lip before speaking to herself inaudibly.

“Zen, do you really have any idea of what you are about to face?” With an uneasy expression, Letitia clasped her hands in front of her and sighed.

As soon as he stepped onto the field, it seemed like the atmosphere had changed as the howling wind and the darkening of clouds accompanied the foreboding battle. With the previous matches still warming his muscles and joints, Zen felt his heart begin to beat faster as he poised himself in best condition for the fight.

Time was in a perfect standstill as he remembered how long he had waited before this moment to fight Marilyn had come. As he exhaled, his senses and vision sharpened as he could even hear every whisper and connect with his spirit deeper. Perhaps, it was because this battle was significant to Owen and Zen.

‘Maybe Marilyn has also attached importance to our fight, ‘ the man thought, conscious of the woman’s intentions. ‘After all, I have ultimately crashed Eden’s resolve to pursue martial arts. Eddie must have instructed her to end my life after this.’

Just as Marilyn was about to jump down from her platform, Eddie frowned and leant into her space to squeeze in a last word. “Marilyn, do not show him any mercy.”

At the stern reminder from Eddie, Marilyn turned around and winked while showing him a sweet smile. “Are you doubting my strength? You do not have to worry. I will definitely avenge Eden. After all he has done to him.” The woman shook her head and schooled her expression into that of murderous intent, ridding herself of her earlier gentle persona. “That bastard needs to die.”

In reality, Eddie could actually find a way to help his son regain his warrior spirit, albeit doing so would be a difficult task. On the process of trying to help him become interested in martial arts again, Eden might become a completely different person with a separate personality. The worst part was the existence of the possibility that he might even lose a part of his memories.

This was because of the fact that the tumultuous process of regaining the warrior spirit in a cultivator involved a soul source or a glimpse of a memory.

Even the experts located in the four divine kingdoms did not have an abundant knowledge about the process, not to mention those situated in the Central Region.

Keeping his mouth shut, Eddie merely stared at the retreating figure of Marilyn as she determinedly walked into the battle ring.

Feeling his skin prickle and a sudden jolt on his spine, Eddie looked around wildly. The man sensed a strange presence that enabled him to feel targeted. As the strongest cultivator in the Central Region, it was nonsense that he could elicit such thoughts. There was no one who could stand a chance against him, and definitely no one strong enough to regard him as a prey. Shaking his head slightly, he focused once more to the battle ring.

The woman was in a new light yellow coat in replacement for her tattered one, ripped from her previous match. Staring at Zen with a fascinated look on her face, she ought to clarify something before they started fighting. “Hmm, you know, I really don’t get you.”

“What do you mean?”

Zen countered with a frown.

“Did you purposefully use all of your exemption cards to wait for me to challenge you?”

A teasing smile was etched on her face.
Acknowledging the intelligent observation of the woman, Zen noted that her quick wit made her admirable at some point. The man chuckled with mirth before speaking. “I cannot get a challenge card in order to challenge you myself.” With half-lidded eyes and a careful twitch of his mouth, he continued. “I had to wait for you to challenge me instead.”

“Are you not afraid of dying? Or do you have the same purpose here as that weakling.. Owen? Now that I think about it, you have the same surname as that beguiling little lady called Yan,” the woman teased him, seeing how far she could push his buttons before he snapped. “It’s not a coincidence, is it? You must be related.”

Eddie had not thoroughly explored Yan’s family background. After all, she used to live in the Eastern Region, far away from the Central Region. He had never paid a visit to the Cloud Sect to find out Yan’s family members.

More importantly, Eddie did not fathom that anyone could pose a threat to his position back then. His power and reign reached far and wide, therefore he did not give much importance to the lineage of Yan. Furthermore, the only thing that ever mattered to him was that Yan possessed a Purple Power Body.

In hindsight, this was the ultimate reason as to why Zen was familiar to him but he could not remember such a face or persona. After all, Zen was just an unremarkable existence to him back then, someone who did not stand out or attempted to rise among the ranks- a wallflower.