THE MARTIAL KING - Season 9 Episode 8

The ogre governor was humongous and his size was comparable to that of a small mountain. He rode astride a horse, further adding to his intimidating height.
The ogre let out a deep growl before rushing headfirst towards Zen. The speed at which he and his horse ran was even made more daunting by the red forceful energy that emanated from his body and surrounded him. As he got close, the ogre leaped off from his horse, flying through the air as he brandished his long spear viciously towards Zen.

Zen had been rooted to his spot the entire time and even when the spear’s point had gotten so close, he still stood his ground.

That didn’t mean that the force of the forceful energy the ogre had unleashed was light. In fact, its strike would be able to raze a small mountain to the ground instantly! Despite this, however, Zen remained unyielding.

“Go to hell!”

An earthshaking rage burst forth from the ogre. The strange human brat in front of him had actually managed to kill half of his soldiers and his blood was thirsty for revenge.

His spear reached Zen, backed with a raging force that was sure to flatten any opponent. However, instead of killing Zen, something strange happened. Zen’s soul had shot out from the spot between his eyebrows and rushed towards the mind of the ogre governor.

However, before Zen could reach his opponent’s head, a faint yellow light flashed and a protective barrier suddenly wrapped itself around the ogre governor’s body.

Zen scoffed mockingly. “Is it a treasure used to defend soul attacks? Too bad its grade is too low!” he said, smiling faintly.
He assumed that the governor’s treasure was a top-grade spiritual weapon. Had it been a top-grade fairy or sacred weapon, it might’ve succeeded in blocking Zen’s soul attack, but it was merely a spiritual weapon and stood no chance against his soul which was in the Fighting Soul Realm.

“Crack!”

“Pah!”

It was the sound of two things breaking. The faint yellow protective barrier had been rendered useless and quickly shattered against Zen’s soul attack.

Without the barrier, Zen’s soul had been able to fully penetrate deep into the ogre governor’s mind and shatter his fragile soul into pieces.

The other sound had been the ogre governor’s spear hitting Zen’s body. The spear, thrown by the ogre’s mighty strength and forceful energy, struck Zen with an explosive force so loud it was as if a giant firecracker had just set itself off in front of him.

The sound was deafening and frightened everyone present. Meanwhile, Zen’s body slid along the grassland violently, leaving a ditch ten feet deep and a thousand feet long on the grassland.

Zen snorted indifferently. “Your strength is not too bad,” he remarked lightly.

He then pushed himself off the ground and flipped his body in the air. He jumped out of the ditch effortlessly and even brushed off the dirt on his body.

The power of space within his body had still not been completely expelled so he could only move his arms and legs awkwardly.

The ogre governor, on the other hand, now stood deathly still with his spear as if he was a clay figurine.

Seeing their governor like this, the other ogres completely fell silent. Their governor, who had been in the middle of dealing a strong attack, suddenly halted and froze still as if he was under a spell. They had no idea of what had just transpired between their governor and his strange, human opponent.

At that moment, a gust of wind blew across the grassland and the ogre governor’s body fell to the ground with an echoing thud. The ogre army rose in an uproar.

“The governor… The governor is dead!” “He had just become the tenth level war fighter this year! How can he die at the hands of a human kid?”

“That kid is not human! He’s the incarnation of the devil!”

“Even the Thunder Rhinoceros would’ve fractured its skull if it was hit by our governor. Look at the human kid! He’s virtually unharmed! It’s incredible!”

Their governor’s death made them all tremble in fear, but what was more terrifying was that even after being supposedly hit by the powerful blow from their now-deceased governor, Zen still stood completely unharmed.

To Zen, on the other hand, these ogres were like moths and he was the dangerous flame. Anyone that came close would surely be killed by him.

However, despite being simple-minded, these ogres knew the concept of self-preservation. After witnessing their commander’s death, all of them turned their horses and ran away.

The ogre army had arrived so aggressively but left so cowardly, only leaving dead, unwounded corpses in their wake.

“He… He defeated the entire army of ogres all on his own…”

“He is our True God…”

The humans had all gotten on their knees and prostrated themselves on the ground, all groveling in front of Zen. The only ones who did not kneel were the two children that had found him at the beginning. The little boy and girl hid in the corner and only looked at Zen curiously from afar. They were still too young to understand what had happened and what exactly a “god” was. All they knew was that Zen was an extraordinary person.

Zen sighed, “I’ve killed those ogres so I don’t think they’ll come back anytime soon. You can escape now,” he suggested.

The ogres that had come were most probably a garrison army of the ogre force. After the death of a governor of their army, the ogre force would surely send someone to investigate and, even if Zen was very confident with his own strength, he didn’t think that he’d be able to defeat the force of the entire ogre race all by himself.

“We’re not going anywhere!”

“We only follow the True Gods!”

“Right! Only God can guide us!”

It was important to take note that these humans had been kept within the designated pasture to reproduce and serve as food for the ogres. None of them knew where they were nor were they aware of other humans that lived outside the pasture. It was understandable that their ignorance and Zen’s display of extreme strength had led to the conclusion of him being their God.

Zen could feel a headache coming from the way his temples throbbed from annoyance.

He had pitied these humans at first because they belonged to the same race. However, the reason why he came to this chaotic continent was not to become a pseudo-God of a tribe but to find the Tower of Sin and accomplish his own mission. He didn’t even have the time nor the energy to care about them. Besides, even if he had wanted to protect them, Zen didn’t think that he actually had the ability to do so. He might be strong but he was only one man.

However, the way they prostrated themselves in front of him and groveled shook his resolve. He was a man of humanity after all. Zen sighed, “Let’s leave this place together then.”

Technically, it was none of his business whether these people lived or died but he was not a cold-hearted person. He couldn’t just leave them behind.

He was now like an oracle to them and his orders were the orders of God himself.

It was no problem mobilizing the tribe. They were nomadic and constantly migrated all over the pasture. Pretty soon, they had packed up their tents and belongings and started their journey.

Before they left, the head of the tribe and two strong men had presented a cart to Zen for him to sit on.

He did not refuse since he still had to get rid of the space force within his body and restore it to its peak. Apart from that, he had another more important thing to do, that was to unlock the Path Platforms.

After reaching a certain level in body refinement, one would then have to unlock the Path Platforms. There were eight Path Platforms, each extremely difficult and arduous to build. The red dragon had promised Zen that if he unlocked the Path Platforms, then he would teach him the Transcendent Divine Might.

Zen sat crossed-legged inside the cart, not really minding the constant rolling and jiggling over the uneven, grassy hills.

Life vitality constantly surged through his body and it took him half a day to get rid of all the space force within him.

Zen then gently pressed the space ring on his chest before a bone suddenly appeared on his hand. In the beginning, Zen had ventured inside Mist’s celestial tomb with the goal of obtaining the immortal’s bone to unlock the Eight Path Platforms. However, the celestial tomb wasn’t just a loot haven that he had initially thought but was actually a place Mist had specially designed to select someone with great destiny through the Wheel of Fortune.

Though he had won the Wheel of Fortune, Zen was unable to get the immortal’s bone but had managed to obtain a legendary beast’s bones instead.

The treasures in Mist’s celestial tomb were almost on par with the sacred weapons and each one had great value. Mist had told him that the bones he had chosen once belonged to a Cloud-chasing Lion.

The Cloud-chasing Lion and the super legendary beast kylin were close relatives, with the former being classified as an ordinary legendary beast. Regardless, it should be enough since Zen didn’t think he could use the bone of a super legendary beast for refinement anyway.

The eight Path Platforms were as follows: the Hundred Meetings Platform, the Divine Gate Platform, the Wind Gate Platform, the Energy Sea Platform, the Cyan Spirit Platform, the Shining Sea Platform, the Life Platform, and finally, the Death Platform.

The unlocking of the Eight Path Platforms served as the threshold for the mastery of the body refinement technique. Though Zen had tempered his body and was already able to form forceful energy, the unlocking of the Path Platforms shall take him to new heights and allow him to finally learn the Transcendent Divine Might from the red dragon.

Zen held the bone gently in his hand before willing the violent forceful energy to surge out from his body.

Life vitality and forceful energy were two completely different things.

Life vitality could be compared to a cloud of mist that became thicker and more refined as one ascended a level.

Forceful energy, on the other hand, was extremely viscous and flowed very slowly within the body. It was produced by the warrior himself and could not be transformed from the vitality between the heaven and the earth thus. It could not be replenished without limit.

The forceful energy infused itself onto the bone and, as it did, a sudden, violent roar echoed in Zen’s ears, shocking him greatly.