Chapter 1694: Chapter 1694: The Valley Token
These Sacred warriors looked no different from real people.
The only difference was that they were all created by Bromley using the Dark and Light energies. In short, they were nothing but mere puppets.
Zen, who had already explored the True Path a couple of times, had already figured out how these warriors moved.
The only person on the True Path with his own consciousness was Gus.
Some of the warriors would take the initiative to attack but most of them only reacted when Zen made the first move.
This was exactly how the two ancient cultivators in front of him acted. Neither of them would make the first move unless prompted by an attack by their opponent.
Whenever Zen challenged the warrior on the right, the one on the left would simply stand in a daze and watch.
Whoosh!
With the whistling of the wind, the ancient cultivator charged towards Zen once again.
Zen knew there was no way he could dodge but he still tried to move to the other side, albeit with great difficulty.
Crack!
The warrior snapped his fingers and Zen found himself returning to the place he had been six seconds earlier, as per what was dictated by the Time Law.
Bang!
He didn't have any time to react as a powerful punch struck him on his abdomen.
An ordinary world lord would find it hard to fight against this ancient opponent, however, Zen was no ordinary world lord. Others might survive these punches, but it might cost them half their lives.
But for Zen, this ancient cultivator couldn't cause any harm to him, and he still had the luxury of making a few mistakes here and there.
“I was right! He can only reverse time to exactly six seconds earlier,” he muttered to himself. Though winded, Zen managed to stand up and feel a bit more confident in this fight.
The True Path was difficult but there was surely a way to pass it.
As Zen continued to challenge the ancient cultivator, his opponent simply repeated his trick of turning back time to six seconds earlier. The technique was incredibly precise, not a half-second too much or too little.
It was after receiving a dozen punches in a row that Zen finally got the confidence to defeat this warrior.
“Master, are you alright?”
Saul asked, the worry evident in his voice.
“I'm fine!” Zen roared back with full energy.
It felt as if the True Path was a game set for him by Bromley. This wasn't just a trial of his strength and willpower, but also of his intelligence.
Whoosh!
The ancient cultivator charged towards him once again. This time, Zen unsheathed his sword and swung it in front of him.
His target wasn't his opponent, but the empty air in front of him.
Outside the True Path, Saul saw this scene and felt a bit of momentary confusion about his master's intentions. However, he quickly remembered that Zen had already suffered through so many powerful blows. He wouldn't be so confident if he didn't have a plan. ȑἈＮＯ₿Ê𝓢
As Zen stabbed the air, he stomped his feet and quickly rushed towards his opponent head-on!
The timing was perfect. It wasn't fast but he managed to finish his actions in just six seconds.
Crack!
Just as he had anticipated, the ancient cultivator snapped his finger and applied the Time Law on Zen's body. As Zen was returned to six seconds earlier, the ancient cultivator changed his direction and charged towards the other side — back to where Zen had been.
However, just six seconds earlier, Zen had thrust his sword forward!
As Zen was returned to his place, his sword charged towards his opponent and penetrated his body.
Puff!
The Great Weighty Sword wasn't sharp but it was very powerful due to its weight. The blade easily pierced through the ancient cultivator's body and killed him.
Hiss...
Impaled by Zen's sword, the ancient cultivator's body began to disintegrate into the Dark and Light energies that had once created him. The energies fused into the two sides of the True Path.
“Great! That's impressive!”
Saul praised, clapping his hands. He finally understood the intention behind Zen's earlier attack.
If used properly, Time Law would've been extremely difficult to deal with.
Warriors who could compress time were not rare in the divine land but only few had the ability to reverse it. Even some of the powerful True Gods could only reverse time by a short while.
If his opponent was no mere puppet created by Bromley and was instead a true, living world lord of the Sacred race then the fight would've been much more difficult for Zen.
With one of his opponents dealt with, Zen turned his gaze upon the other ancient cultivator.
If the first one used the Timing Godly Way, then what about the other one?
With constant vigilance, Zen slowly made his way towards the second ancient cultivator.
His opponent showed no intention of attacking him when he was far away but the ancient cultivator's posture visibly changed as Zen got closer.
In order to pass the True Path more quickly, Zen had to pay extremely close attention to his opponent's movements.
Noticing the slight change in the ancient cultivator's demeanor, Zen halted his approach and even took a step back.
His retreat had the ancient cultivator straighten up and return to his original standing posture, only staring at Zen coldly.
Zen took a step forward and the ancient cultivator once again bent his body in a stance, ready to unleash an attack at any time.
Seeing this, Zen couldn't help but smile.
He repeatedly took a step forward and then back. It was a bit amusing to see his opponent change his stance every time Zen moved. The only thing that didn't change was the ancient cultivator's poker face.
“What is Master doing now?” Saul muttered in confusion. Earlier, Zen insisted that he should pass through the True Path as soon as possible. He didn't seem to be in any hurry now. On the contrary, he seemed to be playing a strange game with the ancient cultivator.
“One hundred and twenty feet,” Zen muttered to himself, estimating the distance between him and his opponent. Keeping this distance would keep his opponent at rest, but just one step closer would make the ancient cultivator launch a counterattack.
A normal battle usually entailed alertness from both parties whether the distance between them be two or ten thousand feet. There was always too much uncertainty on who would choose to attack after all.
However, his opponent right now was a puppet who did not have his own consciousness. Zen was definitely going to take advantage of this loophole.
Taking a deep breath, Zen retreated a certain distance before launching himself onto a full-on sprint. On his hand was the Great Weighty Sword that he spun like a windmill.
More than twenty percent of his Nine Divine Stars had been restored and Zen's sword was now full of power!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
His speed was extremely fast as he dashed forward towards his opponent. When he was about to reach his opponent, Zen quickly leaped to the sky which also added to his momentum.
He did not care what kind of Godly Way this ancient cultivator used. All he needed to do was to kill him before he had any chance to react.
Just as Zen had predicted, the ancient cultivator would only be on guard at a distance of one hundred and twenty feet. The reaction, however, required a bit of time before he launched a counterattack. Giving his opponent no chance to react, Zen's Great Weighty Sword was already crashing down!
Boom!
The explosion was massive as Zen's heavy sword slashed down with tremendous power.
Although the ancient cultivator was just about to parry Zen's attack, it was already too late.
A beam of sword light cleaved through the ancient cultivator's body and even left behind a long crack that extended into the depths of the True Path.
“Master...”
Saul murmured. He was currently rendered speechless by what he had just witnessed. He couldn't help but wonder what Bromley would say once he found out how Zen took advantage of the loophole and somewhat cheated his way into winning.
It couldn't be denied though that Zen finally managed to pass through this part of the True Path.
As the Dark and Light energies slowly dispersed, Zen once again followed the path in front of him and returned to the starting point.
The moment he landed on the shore, the sky started to flicker. A speck of light slowly floated in the air and fell towards Zen's hand.
As the light reached him, Zen suddenly felt his pulse throb in his throat. What he wanted the most was the heaven token which would allow him to save the Evolutionary Universe. He was extremely nervous at that moment.
When the spot of light finally landed on his hand, he quickly turned over his palm to take a look. Disappointment filled his belly as he realized what was bestowed upon him: a valley token which was used to open the pill refining workshop.