THE MARTIAL KING - Season 8 Episode 55

Under such an unprecedented pressure, Letitia, Imogen, and Zen were in no mood to be interested in the rest of the Martial Arts Contest. With their hearts beating loudly, they could have sworn they felt a faint ringing in their ears. The trio looked each other warily and grimly nodded; they had no other choice.

One of the strongest fighters in the competition, Brent, was presently in the battle ring, fighting with an independent warrior. Although the battle could have been interesting with the latter being at the middle stage of the Internal Elixir Realm, he could not pose a threat to Brent. The warrior was merely a plaything to him, as Brent continued to be formidable with his divine-level talent. ‘Well, this is kind of boring, ‘ the boy thought with a pout, as he quite easily evaded the other’s jab and countered with quick flicks of his hand.

When Brent had felt that their feeble fight had gone long enough, he sighed to himself and casually threw out a last attack that defeated the independent warrior. Looking over carelessly at the crumpled form of his previous opponent laying on the ground of the arena, Brent shrugged his shoulders and fixed his clothes momentarily before leaping off the arena. The talented fighter was once again excited at the prospect of drawing cards, and when he peered over and saw the word “Challenge” carved on the wooden card, his eyes were alight with elation and a grin sneaked onto his face.

Just seconds after he had drawn the card that he had wanted, he immediately waved his challenge card in the air vigorously as the crowd watching cheered with him. Fixing his gaze on the elevated platform where the members of the Cloud Hall were situated in, he smiled wider at the prospect of finally having the battle he had wanted ever since the competition had started.

‘Nothing can stop me from challenging Zen now!’ the young fighter exclaimed in his mind as he started to stretch his arms in preparation.

However, luck appeared not to be on his side at that moment due to the sudden voice that rose above all and fleetingly stopped everyone from moving. “Wait!”

the voice of a woman declared amidst the noise of the arena. As multiple heads turned towards her, Letitia continued to announce in a leveled tone, “The Cloud Hall wishes to quit the competition.” “What?!”

The ecstatic grin disappeared from Brent’s face and was then replaced with shock and disbelief. An uproar of emotions swelled in his chest, as his hopes of battling Zen were crushed. “How can this be?!” he wailed as he put his head in hands.

Even though the crowd appeared to be awfully displeased by the sudden announcement with their loud complaints, Letitia continued, “I apologize to everyone. We have some important matters that we need to attend to in the Cloud Hall, so we need to take our leave right now.”

Several of the elite disciples from the Cloud Hall present in the tournament also sported surprised looks and looked at one another confusedly. As they did not hear the conversation among Letitia, Imogen, and Zen, they felt displeased upon listening to her words. ‘Why are we withdrawing at such a time?’ they all thought unanimously with discontentment. It was clear to everyone present in the arena—the Cloud Hall was obviously more than qualified to compete for the Dragon Soar Arena.

With the hasty declaration from the representative of Cloud Hall, the spectators of the event discussed animatedly among each other. Some were complaining about what a waste it was, as the Cloud Hall had an incredible fighter in their team and they were immensely looking forward to more epic battles with stronger opponents. Sounds of restlessness and displeasure from the crowd echoed throughout the arena with little to no hopes of dying down soon.

“Why? Why did the Cloud Hall quit just like that?” some of them complained. Whining, several of the audience said, “Damn! I still wanted to watch the battle between Zen and Brent. Why on earth did he quit?”

“This is too much! Why are they giving up their chances of getting the Dragon Soar Arena?”

What these warriors did not realize in the current situation was that the Cloud Hall needed to regroup and prepare for what could be a grievous threat. The leaders of the large sects were well aware that being threatened by Eddie who vowed to destroy their sect was not something to just put aside and disregard. If the other sects were also placed in the same position, they would not be in the right mood to participate in the competition any further either.

After the unforeseen announcement, Letitia hastily stood up and walked towards the exit, with Imogen and the elite disciples of the Cloud Sect following closely behind her. As they privately muttered with hushed tones and sharp eyes, some of the spectators near their platform wondered what was going on and why they looked so serious. A figure purposefully trailed behind them, seemingly conflicted with what he was about to do next. Making up his mind, Zen flew towards Xiao, who appeared to be bewildered at his sudden emergence. Landing delicately in front of him, he grabbed Xiao’s hand and pressed a small piece of paper on his palm before closing it tightly. “Please give this note to Master Shi!” Zen said as he gave him a significant look.

Brent, who stood at the side of the arena watching the exchange, shook out of his disorientation and suddenly jumped to where Zen was. Settling beside the man, he immediately pressed him with demands. “Zen, can you not leave right now? Fight me first and you can leave then!” the brave fighter pleaded with a desperate face.

Smiling slightly at the eagerness of the younger boy to prove himself against him, Zen tilted his head to the side and offered him a sympathetic smile before he addressed him, “I am sorry I can’t, but if our paths happen to cross again, I will definitely agree to spar with you.”

The young warrior’s shoulders visibly slumped in defeat and resignation. Although he initially wanted to provoke and force Zen to fight with him right there and then, he was more concerned about the possibility that his master would scold him about his recklessness—he was always too brash when he wanted something. As he watched Zen leave and catch up with the members of the Cloud Hall, he reassured himself with the fact that they were going to meet again eventually.

Xiao promptly turned around and handed the tiny piece of parchment to Dillon. As the other man curiously opened the folded paper and peered at the content, his eyes marginally widened with surprise. With his heart rapidly thudding in his chest, Dillon blinked his eyes and read the written words once more as he felt beads of sweat gathering on his forehead from nervousness.

As it turned out, Zen had shared with him the terrible secret of the Dragon Soar Arena through the small piece of paper. With trepidation, it dawned on him that anyone who did not have the Genuine Dragon blood running through their veins would be rightfully imprisoned for a thousand years after entering the Dragon Soar Arena.

“No wonder the warriors who have entered the Dragon Soar Arena in the past have yet to return. This is a huge secret,” Dillon mumbled to himself as he gulped inaudibly at his realization.

Ever since Zen resurfaced from the Upper World, the Black Mountain Sect had sent a disciple named Jordan to travel to the Upper World. The sect had even hung the disciple’s life jade card on the Dragon Soar Arena as a reminder that Jordan was indeed inside. Although the life jade card never broke or vanished, the disciple was never seen again. Bizarrely, no one was assured of what had happened, but the only thing they were certain of was their belief that Jordan was still alive.