He knew from his earlier encounter that these men wouldn't give up easily.
Straining his muscles to prepare against any potential attacks, Zen kept heading towards the next
stone tablet. As he drew closer to the four men, a young man dressed as a scholar approached him,
putting up his hand for Zen to stop. "Guy, you don't need to continue. Your initial exam is completed."
The scholar's words were no-nonsense, but Zen was surprised when they didn't attack him directly.
Assessing the situation, Zen decided to pretend to know nothing about their purpose and asked, "Why
is my exam over? Who asked you to stop me here?"
Chuckling, the scholar said, "I don't see any reason to answer your questions. All you need to know is
that this is the end of the initial exam for you. You shouldn't get your hopes up. The Cloud Sect is not a
place for people like you."
Usually, facing four marrow refining level adversaries, one should be scared. Even people at the top of
organ refining level couldn't compare to rivals who had reached the marrow refining level. Therefore,
the four men considered Zen an easy target.
Not hearing any answers, Zen was trying to think of how he could escape the four men. But his
expression and stance didn't give that away. Instead, he continued to pretend not to understand what
the scholar meant, his face gloomy and he murmured, "But, I haven't passed my initial exam, yet. What
should I do about that?"
"That's your problem!" declared the scholar as the four men glared mockingly at Zen. The four of them
exchanged glances, thinking, 'The boy is foolish if he still thinks he will pass the initial exam! Is he
dreaming?'
While the men were busy glancing at each other, Zen stared up into the sky behind them and cried
outman, look, here's an examiner coming now, on a flying chariot!"
Since the examiners at the Cloud Sect deterred most of the disciples from breaking the rules, Zen
knew the four men would be afraid to attack him in front of the examiners. So, when Zen shouted
happily, they automatically turned to see the chariot.
Simultaneously, Zen rushed forward.
Summoning every bit of his energy, he shot forward, like an arrow released from a bow. Almost
instantly, he passed his attackers, rushing at the stone tablet in sight.
The four men looked back at an empty sky. There was no flying chariot or any examiners. They
whipped their heads back, only to find Zen was no longer standing there.
Realizing Zen's trickery, the faces of the four men contorted angrily, and they chased after Zen,
shouting abusively.
"Sneaky simpleton!"
"Do you really think you can outrun us?"
"Cut his legs when we catch him! Without legs, he won't escape!"
With the evil expletives coming from behind, Zen smiled faintly and then turned a deaf ear. He drove
his whole body to the limit and pushed himself forward madly.
Only about one mile stood between Zen and the stone. He was sprinting into the stone tablet. With the
top speed, he would just need to take a few breaths.
Even though Zen was fast, the men chasing him weren't slow. Especially the scholar, whose body had
a blue light shining and feet moving like thunder. What kind of skill was the scholar refining? His speed
was far faster than Zen's, and the scholar was running close to Zen quickly.
"Hmm, simple man. You are barely at the organ refining level. How dare you try to trick us? In the face
of absolute strength, your plot is nothing! Taste my Toxic Smoky Palm! And go to hell!" The scholar
criticized, lunging at Zen's back. A green light flashed from his hands, as he reached out and smacked
Zen firmly on the back.
A full force strike from someone at the marrow refining level was monstrous.
The Toxic Smoky Palm didn't just knock the wind out of him but also released green smoke into Zen's
body, which was so toxic that it would kill an elephant immediately if the elephant inhaled a puff of this
green smoke. This smoke, however, was shot right into Zen's bloodstream.
"Ha! My toxic smoke has hurt you. You won't be able to run now and will fall to the ground soon." The
scholar proudly bragged about his victorious blow to Zen, and stopped, expecting Zen to drop to the
ground.
As he watched, he realized the scene he had imagined wasn't going to happen.
"H--how, How come he is still running? How is it possible?"
stammered the scholar, with his eyes widened in surprise.
He had summoned all his energy to make the blow just now. With his strength at the marrow refining
level, he should have smashed Zen's body into pieces. Not to mention the toxic smoke from his palm.
How could Zen continue like that as though he wasn't affected by the scholar's toxic palm at all? He
was running ahead as if he hadn't been poisoned! As a matter of fact, he sped up after the scholar
pushed him!
'What kind of monster is he?' he thought to himself.
The four people froze, staring at each other, mouths agape, with shocked looks on their faces. They
had never seen anyone could survive the toxic smoky palm strike.
Contrary to what should happen, at the moment, Zen was very comfortable, and his body felt warm all
over.
After Evil Lan's fire refined his body, the strength of Zen's body had significantly risen.
It was nearly impossible for a warm current to occur when people at the bone or organ refining levels
battered him.
Only after he was beaten by people at the level of marrow refining would Zen feel the warm current
course through his body again.
Just now, when his enemy used the toxic smoky palm to attack him, Zen felt the warm current flow
through him, and as it washed over his nervous system, his breathing improved, as if he ate a Magic
Pill.
As for the poison of the scholar's palm, it did not cause him any harm. His body was like a mysterious
weapon. Naturally, all toxins were harmless. Who had heard of a mysterious weapon harmed by
poison?
Opportunities were rare. Zen wanted to stop and let them beat him up when he thought about how
being thrashed by four people at the marrow refining level could help wash his internal organs.
However, the stone tablet was just ahead, and if he was right, it should be the goal for the organ
refining level. As soon as he reached the stone tablet, Zen would pass the initial exam.
'It would be better for me to turn jade pendant red and pass the initial exam first, before any other
unexpected things occur, ' thought Zen. He dismissed the idea of stopping to be beaten by the four
people and ran straight to the stone tablet.
Although the four men pursued Zen desperately, they could only watch him pass the stone in a few
seconds because of how close he was to it.
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