THE MARTIAL KING, VOLUME 6 - Season 14 Episode 91

For both Zen and Layla, the first few rounds of the trial were hardly challenging.

But the observing crowd outside measured the strength of the two by how fast they passed the trial.

“Zen is still a bit weaker than Layla—he’s naturally faster than the other warriors, but he’s still inferior to her.”

“Is there any point in comparing their speed, though? I believe that Zen can do it too, but it’s not really necessary. It’s not like whoever’s the fastest can always win.”

“It’s still a significant factor to consider. Speed and strength should be proportional. Some warriors will slow down after passing the fifth round, making it even more difficult to pass through the sixth round—they’ll barely make it through the seventh round and probably fail at the eighth round.”

The palace leaders had no comments to make at present.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

As the formidable sword beam swept across the area, Zen swiftly cut the bronze-armored soldiers to pieces.

By then, Layla had already passed the third round of the trial. She could have easily stepped on the fourth disk, but she decided to wait for Zen to pass the third round as well before stepping onto the fourth disc.

It was a form of provocation—every time she opened a new round of trial at the same time with Zen, she could finish it faster than he could.

Then, the fourth round was activated.

Suddenly, many strange-looking white beasts appeared on the platform.

Perhaps Zen had felt Layla’s provocation and purposely sped up his movements.

As soon as the fourth round began, Zen infused a sliver of chaotic energy into the Thunder Wind Divine Sword, triggering the sword in his hand to thrust forward rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he had thrust out over ten stabs.

Crack!

At this moment, about a dozen sword lights that brought along with wind and thunder aggressively shot out.

In an instant, all the white beasts on the stone platform were defeated by Zen. He passed the fourth round!

The white beasts appeared stronger than the warriors from before. When Layla raised her sword to make use of the same method, the white beasts only spat out blood. After the second vibration of the sword, they fell to the ground.

In the fourth round, Zen worked faster than Layla. After she finished off the white beasts, she intended to start the fifth round after Zen had finished the fourth. But this time, he was calm and composed, standing in the middle of the platform. The corners of his lips tugged up as he stared at her.

“Humph!”

Layla snorted, pursing her lips in annoyance as she immediately began the fifth round.

Since the two were competing in terms of speed, the tempo of the round sped up increasingly.

In the usual practice, the further they went, the slower they would get—the increasing difficulty of each round of the trial would slow them down.

Previously, some strong warriors had also pursued speed in the earlier rounds, but they would eventually slow down. However, not only did Zen and Layla refuse to slow down, but they both also increased their speed dramatically.

In the fifth round of the trial, Layla spent twelve seconds, whereas Zen spent thirteen.

In the sixth round, Zen spent nine seconds, while Layla spent ten.

As for the seventh round, both of them spent nine seconds. Their speed was still about the same.

In the eighth round, they spent six seconds.

Then, the ninth round…

The palace leaders were still calm. Zen’s and Layla’s speed increased as the strength inside them exploded, growing stronger.

The rest of the warriors were all left flabbergasted.

Layla’s and Zen’s results were already enough to make them stand out.

Still, a number of warriors were still not convinced enough. The first factor among warriors to measure strength was always their difference in combat strength.

Perhaps the two had managed to grasp some method to walk further in the Law Storm, but that didn’t mean they were stronger in combat when faced with the others.

But no one could use any tricks to pass the trial in the Illusion Space—only those with truly formidable strength could stand out.

As for Layla and Zen, both were at the Life and Death Realm, one in the fifth grade and the other in the ninth grade. It was unlikely that either could manage to go any further.

But after these nine rounds, the battle strength displayed by the two would be too difficult for the warriors to accept.

The first six rounds wouldn’t be too much for the warriors to handle, but after that, they would all need to get serious. In spite of that, Zen and Layla acted like their opponents were mere infants—they didn’t seem to take their enemies seriously at all. They were moving at lightning speed.

Both of them had barely spent six seconds passing the tenth round.

“They’re monsters! I’m no match for Layla,” one of the warriors said as he shook his head.

“Haha! Are you kidding? You want to fight her? I heard that the moment she entered the Mist Palace, she already defeated all the other talents. Even she is at the Life and Death Realm, her real strength can’t be overlooked.”

“Zen is even more terrifying. He is only at the fifth grade of the Life and Death Realm, but he’s so strong.”

The first ten rounds took them a total of only about five minutes. For the previous batches of warriors, if they wanted to pass through the first ten rounds, they needed at least thirty minutes.

But in the eleventh round, even those two slowed down.

Originally, Zen planned to increase his speed during the eleventh round. Since Layla had the guts to compete with him in speed, he decided that he wouldn’t lose to her.

But the opponents in the eleventh round were completely different.

In the first ten rounds, all the opponents were created by the magic array—they weren’t considered real-life forms.

But the warriors in the eleventh round all wore different expressions. Some had cold smiles plastered on their faces while others wore calm gazes.

It was startling, even for Zen. Although he had observed the trial through the Picture Slab earlier, he hadn’t taken close enough look at them. “Are you also the warriors who have entered the Illusion Space?” he asked.

“Yes,” one of them answered with a smile. “We are at the other side of Willow Island. This is a different kind of trial for all for us!”

Not every warrior had the chance to enter the thirteen palaces, after all. In fact, there were many warriors in the alliance that wanted to make it. But only the most elite warriors could enter the thirty palaces.

Some warriors couldn’t grab their chance to do so, so they had to grapple at every other means they could find to get close.

While they were unable to participate in Passing the Torch, they were qualified to serve as sparring partners, waiting on the other side of Willow Island. When the warriors participating in Passing the Torch opened up the Illusion Space and passed the first ten rounds of the trial, the sparring partners would be able to enter the Illusion Space and serve as opponents of the warriors from the thirteen palaces.

The warriors in the thirteen palaces who performed well could go through about fifteen to sixteen rounds of trial. In each round after the tenth, over ten sparring partners would be assigned to enter the Illusion Space and fight against a warrior. Each time, two hundred warriors would accept the trial in the Illusion Space.

So on the other side of Willow Island, there were over 30, 000 sparring partners on standby. Every time a warrior entered the eleventh round, the sparring partners would enter the Illusion Space and surround the warrior within to attack.

With this arrangement, not all sparring partners had the chance to enter the Illusion Space. Even as sparring partners, they still had to fight for the position.

Every sparring partner had to work especially hard. And because in the Illusion Space, ultimately, no one died, the sparring partners could try all means to defeat their opponents without limit.
These sparring partners were talents of many sacred places—it was only that their talent wasn’t quite enough for them to enter the thirteen palaces. Their hearts yearned for it and they couldn’t help but be filled with envy toward the warriors of the thirteen palaces.

Since they had the opportunity to fight with a warrior from the thirteen palaces, even if they weren’t a good match and were likely to be killed, they would still try to inflict as many blows on him as possible.

In this way, they were exceptionally vicious.

Zen nodded slightly as he heard it. The arrangement might be rather troublesome, but it wasn’t anything Zen couldn’t handle.

“Guys, he’s only at the fifth grade of Life and Death Realm—this is an opportunity! We must finish him in the eleventh round to get a good reward out of this!”

The dozen or so sparring partners turned into something like a pack of hungry wolves as they discovered a sheep strolling on the prairie. With that, they surged forward and began attacking Zen mercilessly.