THE MARTIAL KING - Season 9 Episode 34

Not a long moment had passed when their ears picked up on loud stomps rapidly approaching the room. An ogre war lord dressed in a cloak appeared at the entrance and while erratically breathing, the ogre stated, “The order to assassinate Zen has been sent out!”

“What do you mean!? Assassinate that guy?”

Boris, who had been quietly sitting on the corner of the room up until that moment, suddenly stood up and exclaimed.

A couple of sighs could be heard from a few of the ogres in the room as they glanced at Boris with an indifferent look. Just then, another ogre emerged from beside the ogre war lord dressed in a cloak. Without much preamble, the ogre spoke with a frigid tone, “Boris, you do not have the right to speak here!”

Even though the ogre had an implicit threatening tone, Boris showed no fear in retaliating with his own response. “When that guy enters the tenth floor, I will naturally end his life.” He gritted his teeth with an obvious twitch on his eyebrow. “Why do we have to assassinate him?”

The ogre war lord dressed in a cloak continued to stare stonily at Boris. Now that Boris was considered as the divine-level talent in the Flaming Ogre Sacred Place, he dared to retort brashly to the war lord. If someone else were in his shoes, like an ordinary ogre war general for instance, he would definitely not risk the act of interrupting the war lord in the middle of him speaking.

“I understand your feelings, but this is an order from the top of the tower,” the ogre war lord stated in a calm voice, barely suppressing the irritation from his voice. “This guy only has the cultivation base of a war fighter, but he has already caused enough trouble by bringing the war lords so much pressure.” He crossed his arms against his brawny chest while he chastised Boris, looking at him pointedly. “If he were to be promoted to a human war general, I’m afraid it would be too difficult for us to suppress him then. Are you sure you are his match?” The ogre war lord finished as he tapped his foot impatiently.

“I can defeat him!”

Boris gritted his teeth as he spoke, balling his fists at his sides in agitation. ‘Why couldn’t they trust me just this once? I am certain I can kill him with my bare hands!’ he thought to himself, furious at the idea of his fellow ogres underestimating his capabilities.

The ogre war lord sneered at the blatant protest Boris was displaying. “I believe your words, but it is useless. Zen shall be killed by the Night Group’s death warriors!” he persistently declared and huffed before walking out of the room full of ogres.

The Night Group was a race that ranked sixth among all races on the Sea God Continent. Interestingly, their name was based on their members’ movements, as they typically lurked during the day and only took action when the stillness of the night was upon them. Furthermore, the members themselves lived in perpetual darkness even if the sun shone brightly during the day.

Although the members of the Night Group were not particularly powerful or extraordinary when they happened to formally battle with others, they were undoubtedly adept at their secret skill.

This was derived from the fact that their members were naturally good at assassination and could silently take the lives of others without being noticed.

Since that particular race was slightly incompetent when it came to battling against others, it could not develop and prosper on the Sea God Continent without the protection of more powerful races. Consequently, the Night Group managed to rank sixth among the races on the continent mainly because of the protection of the ogre over them.

To a substantial degree, the entire Night Group was controlled by the ogre!

As a form of payment for being under the protection for so long, the Night Group had specially cultivated numerous daredevils for the ogres’ use. Sending them to the Tower of Sin to assassinate the targets that needed to be eliminated was a common procedure for them upon the demands of the ogre.

In fact, all the races from the continent were well aware of what went down every time a warrior who had potential was suddenly murdered in cold blood.

Despite this, the others tolerated such behavior with tight expressions on their faces as long as the ogre race did not go overboard and did not offend the geniuses of the few huge races. The rest of them kept mum, for they reconciled it as a necessary evil that was needed to maintain the balance and peace inside the Tower of Sin.

Back in the day, the ogre had never bothered to send a daredevil to kill human beings.

As the cost of cultivating a daredevil assassin was particularly too high and the human beings were weak to begin with, they did not deserve such a special treatment.

Albeit it was vastly different this time around, because Zen had extraordinary skills and strength that undeniably attracted the attention of other living creatures in the tower. From the moment he had stepped into the Tower of Sin, he even gained the interest of the masters at the top of the tower and promptly left them speechless.

In former times, there had been geniuses from other races who had appeared with a great potential and swiftly enhanced their skills, as they continuously climbed up to the higher floors in the Tower of Sin. However, all of them had been strong war generals! By the complete surprise of everyone, Zen started as a mere war fighter and effortlessly kept on rising to the higher floors. In addition, the Tower of Sin subsisted also as a sacred place for cultivation. Every single living creature of every race was well informed that the cultivation base could be exponentially increased by taking advantage of the Lucky Light.

Once Zen managed to climb his way to the top of the tower, the consequences would be unimaginable—an upset of the hierarchy would definitely happen.

Visible disappointment was painted across the face of Boris. Although he was immensely looking forward to fighting with Zen, the words uttered by the war lord enabled him to understand that he could not obtain such a chance.

Although it left a bitter taste in his mouth, he silently acquiesced upon knowing well that the Night Group assassins were indeed a force to be reckoned with.

Given the fact that none of those who had become the targets of the Night Group assassins were able to escape their fate of being assassinated, it was safe to assume the same would happen with Zen; the assassins had been successful for so many years after all.

Clenching his fists tightly, Boris felt a faint sense of anticipation deep in his chest. A part of him wanted Zen to be quickly eliminated, but a bigger part of him surreptitiously hoped that the assassination attempt would not succeed.

Way down below, a man was seen sighing for the hundredth time, seemingly unaware of the danger approaching him. Zen was leaning against a wall with a bored expression on his face; passing the third floor without even breaking a sweat was admittedly a little too easy. ‘Hmm, no one has challenged me for three days straight. Is it supposed to be like this?’

Zen mused to himself, tapping his finger against his chin. Moreover, he obtained the promotion with ease and was therefore eligible to advance to the fourth floor.

Unluckily for him, the downside of no one challenging him was the failure of acquiring the Lucky Light.

At the time, Zen considered it as a problem. Earning the Lucky Light had been an important goal for Zen, but after some reflection, he shrugged nonchalantly and ultimately decided on proceeding to the upper floors to seize the Lucky Light from those war generals.

Upon discovering that Zen had been recently qualified to go up to the fourth floor, Teresa, who stayed on the second floor, felt pessimistic at her chances. If Zen kept on climbing up at such an alarmingly fast speed, she was uncertain of the possibility that she could catch up to him. Just as she had obtained the qualification for going up to the third floor, she learned that Zen had already entered the fourth floor. Frowning, she also realized that even if she did manage to enter the fourth floor, Zen would probably have reached the fifth floor.

Letting out a desperate sigh, she only hoped that someone would suddenly appear to stop Zen momentarily, or at the very least, slow him down. Otherwise, she would never get the chance to challenge him again.

On the first day that Zen strode into the fourth floor, he was disappointed but not surprised by no one coming to challenge him. Shaking his head, he raised his eyebrows and smiled wryly; no one even made eye contact with him anymore.

The young man continued to rent a secluded training room for his cultivation.

Moreover, what made Zen ultimately despondent was another reason altogether. Since he did not battle with anyone for three consecutive days, not only did he not obtain the Lucky Light, he did not even get any sliver of points. Zen was unhappily walking by himself and his mood worsened upon realizing he had to use the life vitality crystal to pay for the training room he had rented.

The exact moment Zen stepped foot into the training room, he paused at the doorway as his skin prickled with the sudden change of aura in the air.

Scanning his eyes suspiciously, he swore he sensed a peculiar feeling coming from the room.