Winning the competition against Dick was not easy for Zen. He didn't try his best during the fight and
merely relied on the skills from the Heavenly Ogre Fist, so he was still fortunate to have won.
The fighting effectiveness of the demonic phantom, one of the skills of the Heavenly Ogre Fist, was so
surprisingly good that even Zen was startled by it. While he had planned to use it when he entered the
next round of competition, fighting with someone of Dick's ability by depending only on corporeal body
and absolute power was no guarantee for victory.
As for the disciples of Drizzle Peak, while it came as a great surprise when Zen beat Dick, they were
becoming numb to his victories because of his successive wins and his consistency in overthrowing
their speculations.
Thus, when Zen descended from the ring, Master Wen found himself at a loss for words appropriate
and sincere enough to congratulate the warrior's astounding victory. Instead of platitudes, he only
laughed, grabbed Zen by the shoulders, and said, "You're clearly the lucky star of Drizzle Peak!"
Perhaps, because of Zen's efforts alone, the fate of Drizzle Peak would completely change. From the
last place among the 33 Peaks, it might be able to jump to the front rank, much like Yan who, at that
time, led the Lady Peak to surpass the other peaks all the way and pushed her team to the second
place among the 33 Peaks.
With Zen's victories, none of the disciples of Drizzle Peak doubted his strength.
Dick was a completely different warrior from Cecil, whom Zen fought previously.
While also a powerful warrior of the Illuminating Soul Realm, Cecil was a relatively weaker one.
How did he differ from Dick?
Dick was the top disciple of Blackrock Peak.
And it was this team that ranked second among the 33 Peaks. Beating Dick in the competition was an
indication that Zen had the strength and power to make the top ranking among inner disciples of the
Cloud Sect.
Despite his achievements, there were still those who doubted Zen.
"Maybe Dick allowed Zen to win on purpose," one disciple proposed.
He was among those unwilling to acknowledge Zen's victory.
But as soon as he uttered the words, a large group of people cast disdainful glances at him and
thought of the disciple as an idiot.
How could Dick even do that on purpose? And just supposing he lost deliberately, how could the
warrior be stupid enough to lose to a disciple whose nature level was merely at the second grade?
It just was not possible. Plus, Dick was practicing the art of righteousness. It was quite unthinkable for
him to deliberately let Zen beat him and accept his defeat in front of a very large audience.
Besides, Dick even used his strongest and deadly skill, the Righteousness Song, but still couldn't
defeat Zen. So, it was not hard to imagine how powerful Zen was.
After several rounds of competition, the group tournament finally drew to a close. Zen participated in
two other matches, one against an opponent whose nature level was at consummation grade, and the
second against a disciple with the strength of the Illuminating Soul Realm. Without any suspense, both
parties chose to admit defeat directly, and actually they didn't even start the fight.
These two opponents were smart enough not to tangle with Zen. 'Are you kidding me? Even Dick
couldn't defeat him! If I competed against him, I would certainly suffer a crushing defeat.' Such similar
thoughts crossed both their minds.
Besides, if it was an encounter with Dick, they would directly admit defeat. So with Zen, Dick's
conqueror, who was much stronger, they opted to concede immediately.
At the end of the group competitions, more than 600 disciples were eliminated. Of those who made the
cut, the number was fewer than 200.
The next round was a round-robin competition.
Rules of the round-robin phase were similar to those of the group competition. The main difference,
however, was that at this stage, personal disciples would participate in it.
The strength of personal disciples had always been a legend in the Cloud Sect.
Records showed that in a good number of All Peaks Competitions organized by Cloud Sect, personal
disciples almost often took the first place. And sometimes, what was more exaggerating was that the
first to tenth places were all won by personal disciples! Considering all these facts, it was not hard to
imagine how powerful and horrible personal disciples actually were!
After the fierce competitions earlier, Zen was sitting in situ to meditate and get a well-deserved rest.
Although Zen was in excellent physical condition, and his ability to recover was high, he still needed to
get rest to be able to fully display his strength at every match of the All Peaks Competition. With his
string of recent achievements, there was a big possibility that he would compete against the legendary
personal disciples.
In the first match of the round-robin competition, a personal disciple showed up on the ring.
It was a young man with sharp triangular eyes, garbed in a yellow robe, with short hair and a clear
forehead.
"Oh my God, it's Jacques!" someone, who recognized the young man, yelled excitedly while a hand
covered his mouth.
"Wow, they even arranged Jacques to participate in the first match! This year's All Peaks Competition
is truly full of fun and surprises," another disciple commented while looking very thrilled.
"Since Jacques joined the All Peaks Competition with the strength at the second grade of nature level
three years ago, he disappeared in the Cloud Sect. Now, three years later, he's back!
I'm quite curious as to how much improvement he's made during the three years of practice," another
one added with curiosity, eager to know more about Jacques.
"Ho, ho, ho! Even if he's made improvements, so what?
If Zen didn't show up, Jacques, who was at the second grade of nature level and included among the
top 100 rankings, would stay as a legend. That's a rather rare situation in the Cloud Sect. However, at
the same level, Zen could even beat Dick and jump into the top 50. I'm saying the gap between the top
100 and top 50 is quite huge. It's quite easy for anyone who enters the top 100 to make a few
improvements in their rankings. But for those entering the top 50, they have great difficulty in improving
even one place. In my opinion, Jacques' strength three years ago was much inferior to that of Zen's
today," a senior disciple gave a more specific analysis.
"You're right about Jacques not being as good as Zen three years ago. But now, after three years of
hard training, Jacques has also stepped into the Illuminating Soul Realm. And since he's been able to
compete with those beyond his level, and now that he's entered the Illuminating Soul Realm, won't his
strength be supposed during the competitions to be even more terrifying?
How can Zen be an equal opponent?" another senior disciple added his own positive analysis.
Those disciples were making comparisons between the two men because both Zen and Jacques
participated in the Competition while they were at the second grade of nature level.
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