Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood Chapter 389: A Secret Left Untold

Chapter 389: A Secret Left Untold

Several leaders along with the elder Fernandez Fei were waiting anxiously under an arch.
Among the five leaders, the most anxious one was surely Kenneth.
Three disciples of Cloud Sect had taken the Death Road and he had heard nothing from them ever since. He didn't know what happened to them, but the first thing that came to his mind was they didn't make it.
Auspice Sect, Iridescence Sect and Cloud Hall had one elite disciple each that took the Death Road. The Cloud Sect, on the other hand, might lose all his elites in the Death Road. So compared to Cloud Sect, the two sects were still fortunate.
At first, Kenneth had high hopes for these three disciples.
The three disciples could rank first or second in the other sects.
So, he had thought that in the Cloud Road test, the Cloud Sect disciples would be able to make a splash and bring honor to the sect and himself.
But he did not expect that they would suffer heavy losses on the Death Road.
Aside from Kenneth, several leaders of the other sects and Fernandez also looked worried.
The death of Frank might not affect the status of Elder Fernandez, but how could he explain it to Frank's father, Emanuel?
Just as their faces were clouded with worry, the crystals on the arch suddenly lit up and the cyclone whirled faster.
“Eh?” Fernandez was surprised, “What is going on? Has someone come out?”
“How could it be possible? No one could ever pass the test so quickly!” Kenneth was startled to see that as well.
But they soon calmed down and thought about it in their minds: Through the Picture Slab, they got to know that most of their disciples were still struggling in the fourth stage and that there was still a whole fifth stage of the Cloud Road waiting for them. They estimated it to be at least a few more hours before they could get out.
But if anyone was to come out at this time, it could only be the group led by Frank.
So, did they pass the Death Road?
Just as when the leaders were expecting to see Frank and his team, a figure suddenly emerged from the cyclone.
“Zen!” Kenneth suddenly called out with great excitement and agitation at the same time.
It was hard for the other leaders to fathom what Kenneth was feeling at that moment.
He had always believed that Zen had good luck on his side and that his fate was already arranged by the heavens. After he found out that Yan was Zen's sister, he had an intuition that Yan was guiding Zen all the way. Even after the martial artists stepped into the Internal Elixir Realm, most of them still believed in the disembodied thing called fate.
In Kenneth's opinion, Yan's tragic experience was fated by the heavens to push Zen to run toward the peak of martial arts.
Although it sounded like nonsense, he still believed in it. Somehow, he had confidence in Zen and believed that he would not die easily in the Cloud Road.
At that moment, his expectation became reality, and of course, he got excited. And what made it more exciting for Kenneth was that Zen got the first place in the Cloud Road test!
In the past, the first place had always belonged to the Cloud Hall disciples and there had been no exception.
Until then, Kenneth couldn't even imagine a Cloud Sect disciple winning the first place. But Zen indeed broke the tradition and even completed the Cloud Road with astonishing speed.
Normally, the first disciple would not come out until 150 or more supreme crystals with life vitality were consumed. But this time, only after a hundred supreme crystals were consumed, Zen came out. Did he find a shortcut?
At the sight of Zen, the leader of Iridescence Sect, Lady Long, and the leader of Auspice Sect, an old man in white, craned their necks to look behind Zen hoping to find their disciples.
But even after waiting for a long time, no one came out after Zen.
Lady Long's face suddenly darkened. She rushed toward Zen like a ghost and put her stick to Zen's throat. With one wrong move, Zen would die. She then snapped, “Hey, you! Tell me where Lois is?”
Lady Long was at Internal Elixir Realm. She had great strength and power.
As a martial artist, her strength was on a par with Kenneth's. She released strong energy that overwhelmed Zen like a mountain. Her presence made him unable to breathe properly. If disciples with weaker strength were suppressed by the energy, then at best, they would feel their spiritual energy and blood being obstructed; or worst, they would get injured and fall to the ground.
After passing the Cloud Road, Zen's spiritual energy had become stronger. He had not only soaked his body in the flood dragon's blood but also had eaten the blood vigor of that nine-headed dragon. So, in the face of the overwhelming power, he suffered an energy stasis but quickly recovered.
Lady Long's arrogance annoyed Zen. He was a stubborn person with instinctive obstinacy. If she had asked him nicely, he would tell her the news about Lois. But she didn't. Therefore, Zen replied plainly, “I have no idea.”
“You have no idea? How can it be possible?” Lady Long sneered, “You took the Death Road with Frank and the others. I have seen it with my own eyes! How dare you lie to me? If you don't tell me the truth, I'm afraid that your good luck won't help you today! So, you'd better…”
Lady Long was in the middle of ranting when she suddenly felt a dangerous force approaching.
She took a deep breath and backed away. Then, a shadow of a huge fist appeared at her feet. The impact of the fist shadow hitting the ground left a big hole on it. The ground tiles, the stones, and the mud under the ground tiles, were all wiped out by the force.
Kenneth gave it his best shot to exert the fist. At that moment, his face was overcast, and his eyes were wide open–he was extremely angry. But even if he was furious, he had precise control over the strength of the fist. Zen was only a few feet away from Lady Long, but the damage was only limited to Lady Long's location, and Zen was not hurt at all.
“Jerk! How dare you bully my disciple? Do you not know my presence in here?” Kenneth roared at Lady Long.
“You! How dare you threaten me? Do you think I'd be afraid of you?” Lady Long waved her stick, ready to hit Kenneth. She felt frightened and angry at the same time. The power of the fist was quite strong that if she hadn't dodged it in time, she would have been injured and possibly have been dead.
“Then bring it on!” Kenneth clenched his fists and stood straight with a sneer on his face.
“Calm down, everyone!” Fernandez stepped in and stood firmly between them. “Lady Long, don't be absurd,” he said coldly to the woman, “If you continue to make trouble, I'm afraid that I have to teach you a lesson myself!”
Amongst them, Fernandez was an elder. Compared to others, he had higher status and greater strength that even the likes Lady Long and Kenneth could not match.
Looking at Lady Long's vexatious behavior, he eventually ran out of patience.
Zen was only a junior who had just gone through a series of tests along the Cloud Road, but Lady Long treated him so mean. Fernandez couldn't stand her cruelty towards the young Zen. Furthermore, he thought very highly of Zen and favored the promising young man. Wherever he could be, he would always be outstanding. If ever he would come to Cloud Hall, he would surely be the hope of Cloud Hall.
“Elder Fernandez, I…” Lady Long tried to argue. But seeing the looks on Fernandez's face, she didn't dare to argue.
“That's enough of your nonsense, Floret Long. You shut up and stay there. Don't let me say it again!” His tone of voice held an unmistakable threat. There was no doubt that he would teach her a lesson if she continued to talk rubbish.
Zen burst into a snigger when he heard Fernandez call Lady Long's name—Floret.
He didn't expect such an old woman to have such a fancy name.
Looking at Lady Long's long and darkened face, Zen couldn't compare her with a flower even when she was young. Zen knew it was immoral to make fun of other people's names, so he tried to stifle a smile but failed.
In fact, Zen wasn't the only one. Several leaders also couldn't help laughing when they heard Fernandez call her by the name “Floret”. As for the old man from the Auspice Sect, he also smiled and shook his head.
On the other hand, Lady Long who had a well-developed instinct for anger got furious. She considered it so humiliating to be laughed at by a junior. She looked like she was about to explode, and her wrinkles became more visible. Her anger was about to simmer over.
But Fernandez was standing right in front of her now and he had just warned her, so she didn't dare to take any action.
Then Fernandez turned to Zen and said in all seriousness, “Zen, I know you, Frank, and the other six disciples have taken the Death Road. Why haven't I seen them come out yet?”
Hearing Fernandez's inquiry, Zen replied, “We have met some troubles in the Death Road and I fell into an abyss. But they have gone out of the Death Road safe and sound. I guess they should still be on the Cloud Road by now. Don't worry, I figure they will soon come out.”
The exit of the Death Road was right above that abyss. For Frank's group, they were all with powerful strength. If they passed the Death Road, the succeeding tests in the Cloud Road should not be too difficult for them.
Fernandez felt relieved to hear that the other disciples had also passed the Death Road. The long livid face of Lady Long finally relaxed. Although there were still many dangers in the Cloud Road, given the disciples' strength, they should be able to cope with them.
“You just said that you had fallen into an abyss, then how did you get through the Cloud Road so fast?” Fernandez found it strange and asked.
The other several leaders were also puzzled. It didn't make any sense that Zen could come out in such a short time. Did he find any shortcut in the abyss?
“Can I keep it as a secret?” asked Zen.
“If you don't want to tell me, I will respect your decision. You may leave the secret untold,” Fernandez smiled.
The other leaders also wanted to know whether there was a shortcut in the Cloud Road. If there was such a shortcut, then they could inform the next disciples who would take part in the next trial in another three years.
But since Zen had refused to tell them the truth, they couldn't force him to. They all had the same idea that they shall ask him about it in the future. In their view, Zen was sure to become a disciple of Cloud Hall. Once he was in Cloud Hall, they would have plenty of opportunities to inquire about the said shortcut.
Instead of waiting at the arch with the leaders, Zen then walked away. He sat on a small space and began to meditate.
Within two hours, the cyclone under the arch began to whirl again, and then Rocher came out of it.
The moment when Rocher appeared, the first person he saw was not Fernandez nor the other leaders. It was Zen who was meditating not far away. He froze as soon as he saw him.