THE MARTIAL KING - Season 8 Episode 52

Despite having failed to take Yan back, Zen had still been able to achieve his goal of killing Marilyn. Her death would be a huge drawback to Eddie’s plans for achieving the Lustful Demon Array.

Eddie had spent decades looking for women with the extremely rare Purple Power Body and just as he thought he had finally completed the whole set, his prized person was suddenly killed by Zen. It would take him a long, long time before he could find another person that fulfilled his requirements.

It could take years, decades, perhaps even centuries.

He might never be able to find one. Nonetheless, Zen was now racing against time. He might have been able to buy himself a couple of decades with Marilyn’s death, but there was no telling when the next Purple Power Body would appear or when, and if, Eddie would find it. For now, he had to give it his all to get stronger and quickly take Yan back from Eddie.

It was truly unfortunate that he had been unable to communicate with her in any way back then. Her six senses had been blocked and she was completely numbed from everything. Not even the sight of her brother elicited any response from her sealed body.

Back to the arena, the fighting platform had collapsed entirely upon Eddie’s departure, leaving nothing but dust and destruction in the once prestigious battlefield.

A lot of the warriors that had chosen to remain in the stands were still trembling in shock from the events prior. A few, however, sized Zen up.

“This Zen is probably the craziest warrior in the history of the Central Region,” they whispered to each other. “To think that he actually dared to pull a stunt like that in front of Eddie. I mean, killing Marilyn? What was he thinking?”

“Even a Virtual Tribulation Realm warrior would tremble in fear just standing in front of Eddie, imagine how an Illuminating Soul Realm practitioner would react,” someone murmured. “But Zen not only threatened Eddie, he even killed Marilyn right in front of him.”

“What’s even more amazing is that Eddie actually sucked it up and left! My God, is he still the Evil East Lord?!”

For everyone present, Eddie was once someone that had both been feared and worshiped. His might and status as the strongest made this a given. However, just moments before, he had been humiliated by a young man less powerful than him. Not only that, but this same young man had also been able to kill one of his subordinates right in front of him. It was disrespect of the highest level and yet this young man had lived.

If it hadn’t happened in front of so many people, no one would’ve ever believed it was true.

Rocher smiled at the results, “I was right! Zen did it!”

Lewis nodded, “It’s a pity there was no one willing to bet with you, otherwise you could’ve earned a fortune once again.”

Rocher had won a great deal by using Lewis’ life vitality crystals to bet on the previous matches. Unfortunately, Rocher hadn’t given Lewis a dime and this made him a bit grumpy.

“Zen did it,” Patrick agreed, but he had a frown on his face. “But he still has a long way to go if he really wants to save Yan.”
Rocher shifted his gaze from Zen towards the cloudless sky. Patrick’s words had roused a strange feeling inside of him. “The path of a warrior is always a long one…” he murmured.

Becoming a warrior, pursuing immortality, surpassing the peak, roaming the great world…

A lot of martial artists had set and visualized a path like that for themselves from the very start, but only a few had ever truly achieved it. It was not a path for everyone. A vast majority of warriors fell in pursuit of the peak of martial arts.

It was either they became piles of bones buried underground, forgotten forever, becoming stepping stones for the advancement of others, or they became dominated with greed and lust—turning into horrible monsters that only knew how to indulge themselves.

Several sect heads walked down the high platforms.

Lady Poison-blood gave Imogen a gentle smile. “Zen has only done what he should’ve. He is also a disciple of Cloud Hall,” she said. “Why did you beat him up?”

Imogen did not bother putting on a cordial face and immediately glared at Lady Poison-blood. “I am teaching a disciple of Cloud Hall a lesson,” she snapped. “This matter does not concern you.”

Lady Poison-blood raised an eyebrow in amusement. Shaking her head with a smile she looked down at Zen and cooed, “Zen, come and let me have a look. It wouldn’t be good if there’s anything wrong with you. I have a type of pill in Bloodwood Cliff…”

Hearing her words, Zen suddenly felt goosebumps rise all over his body. He shook his head and instinctively backed away, “N-No….it’s okay. It’s just a walking stick. It won’t hurt me.”

The only reason the sect heads were paying attention to him was because of his rune technique. However, the sect heads of Bloodwood Cliff, Ethereal Spirit Sect and Black Mountain Sect couldn’t just ask him for it. They could only wait for the leaders of the World Commercial Alliance to bring it up.

After witnessing his ability to block an attack from a Life and Death Realm expert like Eddie, no sect would give up on this opportunity. There would be no price too high to pay. Even the World Commercial Alliance wouldn’t be able to simply stay on the sidelines.

“Zen, that enchanted barrier… What exactly was that?” Dillon asked seriously.

Letitia’s and Imogen’s eyes flickered in brief panic. They didn’t really want Zen to share his skill out loud.

And Zen wasn’t stupid. How could he just admit the existence of divine textures? He smiled at Dillon. “I was lucky enough to meet a senior willing to teach me runes,” he said. “It was only pure luck that I was able to block Eddie’s punch.”

As he spoke, Nate and his companions had already begun to make their move. Among everyone present, the three of them were the ones that had been shocked the most by the enchanted barrier.

After witnessing his ability to block an attack from a Life and Death Realm expert like Eddie, no sect would give up on this opportunity. There would be no price too high to pay. Even the World Commercial Alliance wouldn’t be able to simply stay on the sidelines. “Zen, that enchanted barrier… What exactly was that?” Dillon asked seriously. Letitia’s and Imogen’s eyes flickered in brief panic. They didn’t really want Zen to share his skill out loud. And Zen wasn’t stupid.

How could he just admit the existence of divine textures? He smiled at Dillon. “I was lucky enough to meet a senior willing to teach me runes,” he said. “It was only pure luck that I was able to block Eddie’s punch.” As he spoke, Nate and his companions had already begun to make their move. Among everyone present, the three of them were the ones that had been shocked the most by the enchanted barrier.

The rune technique had already formed a perfect system in the Central Region due to so many years of development. It had already reached its peak and there was no pushing it any further.

Over the last few years, new runes had become rarer and rarer, and even a talented runic expert found it hard to innovate in such times. This was the primary reason why Arnold was such a legend in the rune world. Only his sect-protecting array had the capacity to resist an attack from a Virtual Tribulation Realm expert.

However, the tiny skill Zen had displayed today completely overturned the very concepts Nate’s and the others’ minds had been founded on.

In just two hours, he had been able to draw over a hundred runes and block an attack from someone powerful and mighty like Eddie.

Nate was half-convinced that he was only dreaming but the other half had a feeling that the young man in front of them right now had the capacity to once again develop runic skills and raise them to new heights.

The peak of runic skills had reached a bottleneck which had resulted in runic experts being less respected than alchemists and weapon refiners.

An alchemist could refine top-grade pills to help martial artists heal their injuries quickly or even break through their cultivation realm.

Weapon refiners, on the other hand, could refine all sorts of spiritual, fairy, and even sacred weapons.

Meanwhile, a runic expert and his runes could only serve to block the attacks of an Internal Elixir Realm martial artist, at most. Other than the ones used in the sect-protecting array of Ethereal Spirit Sect, other runes were primarily useless. Runic techniques now mainly focused on assisting in cultivation, helping sects set up “magic arrays” that could be used to hone their elites. However, these arrays weren’t nearly as important as medicinal pills or weapons.

But here was Zen who had just proven the might of runes and their capabilities.
Nate knelt down and dug out the recently buried runes with his bare hands. Having unearthed three large stone labs, he almost dropped them after seeing the engraved and complicated four-star runes.

Taking a slab each, the three of them immediately poured their soul force into the stone.

In no time at all, the three of them sported extremely shocked expressions on their faces.

“These runes are completely different from those in Central Region!”

“The vein splits in the middle, which is a taboo in runic techniques. So how is it that these runes are so exquisite?”

“There seem to be a lot of unnecessary strokes in the first half of the work, but when one’s eyes reach the bottom, everything makes sense. How can the human mind even think of this?”

The three of them were lost and completely immersed in the unique runes, each of them trying to comprehend the profoundness of the divine textures.

The sophistication and complexity of the runes on the stone slabs were beyond what the runic expects in the Central Region could ever imagine. The development of divine textures in the Upper World had, after all, taken billions of years to complete and had experienced countless cycles of reincarnation.

The divine textures were likewise, old men who had lived for millennia while the runes of the Central Region were mere newborn babies. The disparity was simply impossible to measure.

The three four-star runes were enough to enlighten Nate and the other two. In the next ten years, the three of them would venture forth and be able to figure out a trace of the divine texture’s essence.

They would, later on, get rid of the Central Region’s rune patterns and bring them up to a new level. Although it would be impossible for them to surpass Zen’s divine texture techniques, it would still create an era where they could surpass Arnold.

Seeing that Nate and the other two had directly dismantled Zen’s runes, Xander and the other sect leaders were all eager to get a piece to bring back with them and study thoroughly. However, the thoughts of the World Commercial Alliance and how they would never let them go with the slabs made them reconsider. Perhaps it would be easier to just ask Zen for help and quickly began to think of ways on how they could bargain with him.

Just then, however, Xiao brought up a very obvious problem and immediate cause for concern. “What should we do about the remaining matches?”