Chapter 1308: Chapter 1308: Carve Out A Path
It wasn't strange for Zen to activate two Purple Stars.
Most people would be able to activate their second Purple Star after consuming all of their Illusion Points.
But not everyone could make the third Purple Star appear.
In fact, only the top twenty warriors of the Illusion Battlefield had enough Illusion Points to activate this third Purple Star.
Taking that into consideration, there were only around seven or eight warriors that could activate it in this blood-red castle.
“Look! That brat has activated the third Purple Star!”
a warrior remarked after noticing the statue beside Zen.
All eyes were immediately on him when they heard what the warrior said. There were quite a few gasps of surprise once they noticed that there was indeed a third Purple Star on Zen's statue.
“This guy... isn't he only around 70th in the rankings?”
“He's 77th to be more exact.”
“That can't be right. His ranking is even below mine. He definitely has less Illusion Points than me but why can't I activate my third Purple Star?”
These martial artists had keen observations and had remembered clearly each other's rankings. The rankings were all based on the number of Illusion Points one had. All of them were aware and understood how the system worked.
There were a lot of warriors that were ranked higher than Zen but they weren't able to activate their third Purple Star. How was Zen able to do it then?
Unfortunately, not even Zen would be able to answer their questions.
Because even he, himself, had no idea how he did it.
Regardless, he did not really care what others thought. Zen remained unbothered as he continued injecting Illusion Points into the bamboo slips to strengthen his statue.
He had poured in a little over forty million Illusion Points before the purple light flared up once again!
Buzz…
A fourth Purple Star made its appearance on the statue's chest!
“There's a fourth one!”
“No way! How did he do it?!”
“He hasn't seemed to have injected that much Illusion Points...”
Karl also cast his gaze over at Zen's statue.
In fact, almost everyone was currently looking at Zen.
“Is he cheating?”
“Cheating?” “Cheating in the Illusion Battlefield? Are you kidding?”
“Well, if he didn't cheat, then how was he able to make a fourth Purple Star appear...”
Before they could even finish their words, another Purple Star appeared on Zen's statue.
Five Purple Stars!
In conventional conditions, condensing a fifth Purple Star would require roughly 250 million Illusion Points.
Not even the Godly Genius of the Celestial Position, who was ranked seventh, could achieve such a feat. How in the world was Zen able to do it?
Everyone stared at the young man in combined awe and intrigue. None of them really knew what to say at this point.
“There won't be a sixth...”
But before they could even finish their words, another purple light flashed and a sixth Purple Star appeared.
Zen remained expressionless as he stared at the sixth Purple Star that appeared on his statue.
He had a rough guess as to what was causing all this and it involved a certain mysterious girl.
“This girl is too willful...”
he murmured to himself but knew he had no choice in the matter. He couldn't just throw his hard-earned Illusion Points to waste after all.
The more Illusion Points he injected into his statue, the more Purple Stars appeared.
The seventh Purple Star…
The eighth Purple Star…
The ninth Purple Star….
Zen now had ten Purple Stars after consuming all of his Illusion Points!
By then, a vigorous aura emanated from his statue. This aura was even a little stronger than Zen's.
Every time a Purple Star appeared, the astonishment in everyone's eyes increased At this moment, the entire hall was silent, not really knowing what to make of this ridiculous yet also amazing occurrence. 𝑅áΝȎ𐌱Ê𝘴
Zen, on the other hand, looked terribly pleased with his creation. He raised his head to look at the circle of light on top of the castle and found that it had already disappeared by ninety percent. Their time was about to run out and they should all get ready for the siege. With this in mind, Zen quickly manipulated his statue to take their leave.
A warrior blocked his way, “You... How did you do it?” he asked.
Zen merely shrugged, “I don't know.”
He left with his ridiculously overpowered statue in tow. The moment he disappeared, the hall was abuzz with discussion.
“Who was that guy?”
“He can't be a nobody considering he is in the 77th place. His looks are new to me though.”
“Ah, enough about him! Our time is almost up. We all need to prepare.”
Zen and his statue arrived at the platform by the blood-red castle's entrance. From there, he could make out the distant plains that lay before them.
According to the mysterious girl, they would face an endless onslaught of beasts for this round...
The statues would be the first target and the warriors second. It was fine if the warrior died since they could be revived but if their statues were destroyed then they would automatically be eliminated.
Once all of them made the necessary augmentations to their statues, the warriors then began to choose their spots.
A few climbed on top of the castle while others utilized hard-to-find corners. Most, however, chose to scatter within the castle walls.
The circle's light inevitably disappeared, signaling the start of the siege.
The instant it dissipated, a blood-red light abruptly spread out across the land.
“Huff…”
Zen stood together with his statue and saw a black mist rise up from the endless plain all the way towards the blood-red castle's entrance.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck…”
The sound of the approaching beasts could be heard even from afar.
A cyan film of light appeared over Zen's eyes and a grim expression flashed on his face.
“Pangolins?”
he murmured as a horde of black pangolins came into view.
These animals were roughly the size of an adult wolf and each one of them had a pair of extremely sharp wings. However, despite being winged creatures, these pangolins mostly relied on their thick legs to run wildly on the ground.
“Yes...”
“These Nether Pangolins grew up in the darkest of places. They have a drum-like stomach that hides an explosive bladder. A pangolin's death would entail a violent explosion of its entrails!”
“This is the first wave!”
As these formidable Nether Pangolins approached, Zen's body fired up with an intense will to fight.
Regardless of whether or not that mysterious girl did something to strengthen his statue, he must still do his best to pass this test.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck…”
The clamor was getting closer as the Nether Pangolins made their way into the castle.
The warriors were also getting fired up, sporting serious faces as they prepared to face their first wave.
It was very clear to everyone that the first stage of the Illusion Battlefield was to filter out the best from the trillions of Soul Sea Realm warriors.
The second stage was different and perhaps the most crucial phase. They would have to prove their strength in the presence of other elite warriors in order not to be wiped out.
“They're coming!”
The sky and the earth went dark as the oncoming Nether Pangolins covered the entire landscape. They arrived quickly at the castle gates and swarmed into the castles.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck…”
The majority of the horde headed straight for the castles. A few, however, noticed Zen on the platform and quickly took this chance to charge at him.
Or, perhaps it was more accurate that they were rushing towards his statue.
“Go die!”
Zen roared without the slightest hesitation. He quickly slashed at these pesky pangolins with his Thunder Wind Divine Sword and let the wind blades do their work.
“Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!...”
The wind blades formed a protective circular ring around Zen and his statue, insulating them from the Nether Pangolins that were rushing to take their heads.
The first Nether Pangolin that was sliced by the wind blades immediately exploded, generating a powerful impact!
Bam!
As it exploded, its spikes also shot out and flew towards Zen like secret projectiles.
Zen had been a bit worried at first, not really sure if the reinforcements on his statue would really work. However, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the spikes hit his statue yet not leave any trace on it.
It seemed the ten Purple Stars on his statue were not just for show.
With this fact in mind, Zen controlled his statue, ordering it to rush out of the wind blades' protection and crush these Nether Pangolins.
It was relatively easy for Zen as he watched his statue clear a path from the castle's entrance all the way to the main hall without even lifting a finger.
The amount of Nether Pangolins was no joke as they quickly occupied the entire castle like a sudden tidal wave!
All the martial artists were busy protecting their statues, choosing to endure the impact of a pangolin's explosion rather than let their precious statues suffer any damage.
An unlucky warrior had accidentally driven himself to a corner and had his statue surrounded by dozens of Nether Pangolins. A chain explosion caused his statue to be blown into pieces, thus eliminating him from the battlefield.
Karl, on the other hand, was flourishing.
His statue was still fragile since he used all of his Illusion Points to reinforce its strength only.
However, it was currently protected by a translucent shield of light.
This light was Karl's “Sacred Shield of the Heart.” It was a skill he comprehended wherein as long as his mind and heart lived, then his shield would never be broken.
With the Sacred Shield of the Heart protecting his statue, he could focus on brandishing the gigantic sword in his hand to slash at the Nether Pangolins that constantly came at him.
With everyone busy protecting their own statues, the sight of Zen's statue rendered them all speechless.
Zen hadn't taken any special measures to protect his statue, in fact, it was the opposite. He was using his statue to fight the Nether Pangolins and carve out a path for him to get through!