Chapter 1835: Chapter 1835: Forced To Kill

By now, Zen realized that his involvement with these men would be a never-ending battle.

Even if he defeated Sheridan, someone else would inevitably take his place to continue harassing him.

Harder still, it was verging on impossible for Zen to fight against a True God, even if it was a low-rank one. At his current level, he would definitely lose if he fought with a mid-rank one.

His only chance was to hold Sheridan hostage. That was the most realistic strategy he could adopt.

Although the disciples of the wealthy clans were cruel, they cherished their lives above all else. In their eyes, everyone outside the Floating Islands was worthless. They would never sacrifice themselves for Zen.

And he was right.

At the sight of the fierce expression on Zen's face, silence fell upon the crowd like a giant blanket.

Out of the almost oppressive silence, a purple-haired young man near Zen at the edge of the crowd narrowed his eyes and said in a harsh voice, “Do you have any idea who you're going up against?”

“Of course!” Zen answered, a smirk curling the edge of his lips. “He is from the Xie Clan. That is all the information I need.”

“You are naive. His surname is unimportant. What you don't know is that his grandfather is a Holy Being,” replied the purple-haired man, visibly frustrated at Zen's complacence. “You know the consequences of killing him, don't you?” he said, louder this time. Zen didn't have to say anything. The purple-haired young man sneered victoriously. He knew Zen wouldn't dare to do anything to harm Sheridan.

After this exchange, the tense atmosphere relaxed slightly. It was like a bomb had been disarmed. The crowd knew that Zen's intentions were nonviolent.

Zen blinked, his expression wide-eyed and somewhat disturbed. “If I don't kill him today, will you let me go? Sheridan has been trying to kill me time and time again, and every time he has acted without mercy. Why can't I have the chance to kill him since he already wants to kill me? It's just a matter of survival. Of self-defense. Anyone can relate to that! Is his life so precious that it is worth exchanging mine for?”

Having said his piece, Zen stomped on Sheridan, whose chest caved in because of the impact. Sheridan spluttered and groaned, gasping for breath as Zen's boot pressed into his chest. It sounded as though Sheridan was barely clinging onto life.

Many True Gods in the divine land had existed for countless years. It was not in their nature and practice to show emotions. Emotions were always seen as a sign of weakness, even if it was compassion or pity towards someone who was dying in front of them. For instance, when Master Evil, whose remnant soul was in Zen's mind currently, saw this scene, he wouldn't even blink his eyes. He had been so used to such kind of situations.

However, these disciples of wealthy clans were quite young. Experienced as they were in the countless battles in the Arena of Legends, those battles were simulated and were certainly not fights to the death. The disputes among these disciples from the big clans on the Floating Islands often left room for negotiations. Being skilled and all having a high status, they just felt it was more practical that way. And if they really killed each other, the result wouldn't be favorable.

Now, it seemed that the disciples had greatly underestimated Zen's abilities as well as cruelty.

The disciples exchanged confused and scared glances, not knowing how to answer Zen's question. The purple-haired young man who had spoken before also fell into silence. The illusion of nonviolence was shattered, and tension charged the atmosphere once again. It was obvious that Zen would absolutely kill Sheridan at the slightest hint that fighting would begin.

However, by killing Sheridan, Zen would inadvertently sign his own death sentence too. And this group of disciples would also get into trouble. They might be not severely punished, but they would be admonished and grounded by their respective clans. After all, they weren't free to do what they wanted: each clan had their own set of rules and restrictions for such situations.

Two of the three girls, Kelsey and Aleyna, were overjoyed, in stark contrast to the scared and confused crowd. They wore proud smiles on their faces. This young proving godly warrior named Thad alone was enough to hold these disciples in awe. If the news got out, the Han Clan would gain widespread respect. After all, he came from the Floating Island of the Han Clan and was now protecting the princesses of this clan.

However, Laquisha's eyes were as clear and deep as a still mountain pond on a clear and crisp winter day. Those eyes were fixed on Zen. She sighed deeply, and felt her heart flutter with admiration. This man was so strong. He was never scared of anything, not even his own death. And he had always triumphed over everyone in the Divine Refinement Forbidden Land, using only his own strength. Now that he was on the Floating Island, where the Han Clan lived, he was showing strength of character despite being faced with a situation so terrifying most would flee. Ṟ𝒶ＮÔ𝖇ËŠ

Beside Laquisha stood Langston, her fiance. Noticing her expression, he could not help but feel helplessly jealous seeing her eyes fill with admiration for another man.

It was an arranged engagement, and they only met twice. Needless to say they did not know each other very well. However, Langston could not contain his jealousy as, distant as she was, she had nevertheless been promised to him.

Langston came to visit Laquisha often, but she had refused to see him every time. Her rejection made him rather angry, and now his anger was compounded by his jealousy.

What kind of person was Langston?

His status, cultivation level and talent were on par with Laquisha's. He could find a partner of her level easily. It was not as if he didn't have other options. Countless girls with the same breeding wanted to marry him.

However, as a male member of the Leng Clan, Langston had factors other than breeding and talent to consider when choosing a future wife. He knew why his father wanted him to marry a girl from the Han Clan. He also knew that a great earthquake was due to hit the Time Sea. After careful evaluation of the overall situation, he was determined to marry Laquisha. It had not been a difficult decision to make, however, as he happened to like her. After all, she was beautiful and elegant.

Now, a murderous intent formed in his mind. His entire being filled with fury as he saw his fiancee being attracted to another man. Deliberately, he walked towards Zen, with a cold smile on his face, and said, “I've seen a lot of people who look tough in the outside, but actually turn out to be cowards! Do you want to exchange your life with his? Do you dare?”

“Lang?” someone shouted. The crowd stirred, shocked.

“That guy is a little crazy. You'd better...” someone warned.

“Don't provoke him. Just let the matter go, okay?” yelled another voice.

Upon seeing Zen being so serious, the crowd didn't want to provoke him to do something stupid. Seeing Langston make his move made them uneasy.

They didn't expect Langston's reaction either. Instead of backing down, he walked slowly and deliberately towards Zen and pointed at him. “Humph!” he said, addressing the crowd. “This kind of person probably had a hard time climbing up from the bottom of society. I'm pretty sure he won't have the guts to push through with this and risk losing everything.” As he spoke, his eyes followed the changes in Zen's expression.

Of course, Langston didn't care a smidge about Sheridan's safety. He only wanted Zen to die and at least be humiliated.

If Zen dared kill Sheridan, he was doomed. Everyone knew that. Even if Langston himself didn't kill him, the Xie Clan would never let him go. If Zen managed to solve the problem by words and threats alone without spilling any blood, things would be a lot less complicated. That was exactly what Langston wanted to do.

As Langston kept moving forward, Zen saw through his mind. He sneered, “Some people are so arrogant that they think they can read other people's minds.” As he spoke, Zen stumbled forward slightly, his feet unstable on the uneven surface and the squirming Sheridan.

Langston took that as a sign to make a move. He rushed towards Zen at a lightning speed, shouting, “How dare you!”

The rest of the crowd looked at Zen in disbelief. In their eyes, it seemed as though Sheridan had been hit with an enormous, invisible blunt object. The skin all over his body seemed to be stretched taut, and bleeding cracks began to appear.

Puff!

Sheridan appeared to have been crushed by a powerful force from head to toe. His body collapsed, almost flattening against the floor, as if he had turned into a piece of paper. A huge amount of blood splashed around his collapsed body, spreading out like the petals of some grotesque flower.

“Ahhhh!” he shouted in enormous pain. The entire crowd gasped in horror.

Aleyna and Kelsey covered their mouths at the same time. They were trying not to scream. Staring blankly at the blood stains on the floor, Laquisha bit her lips sharply as her face turned deathly pale. Langston had provoked Zen to kill Sheridan. She realized that had been his ultimate goal. He wanted to send Zen to his own death.

Langston turned to address the crowd once again, triumphant. His plan had worked. “What a cruel man! You all saw what he just did, every one of you! Let me kill him now! If we spare him, he will surely become an evil warrior and destroy us in the future. He must be killed, for the good of us and our clans!”

Zen's eyes still exuded murderous intent. At the same time, something inside him seemed to shift. A ray of golden light began to flicker on the surface of his soul.

However, the golden light flickered and died.

He knew that if he were to use his Emotion Closing Godly Way, he would definitely fight to the death with his enemies. He might have the tiniest chance of winning, but he would still have to suffer after this fight. Was he going to use such a forbidden Godly Way in front of so many warriors who all had powerful backgrounds?

Zen had been very restrained from the beginning. He had been careful not to displease the group of disciples from the wealthy clans on the Floating Islands. There had been too many responsibilities on his shoulders, and that had made his resolve occasionally waiver after he entered the Divine Land. Moreover, since the moment he entered the Floating Island of the Han Clan, he had been making doubly sure to not act as arrogantly and practice the utmost restraint.

But sometimes, situations can get out of control no matter how hard one tries to maintain it.

Whoosh!

As soon as he had crushed Sheridan with his feet, Zen moved backwards. As he retreated, he pulled out his Great Weighty Sword. Without looking, he swung his sword left and right at everything and anything coming at him.

On the list of the Arena of Legends, Langston ranked fifth among all the mid-rank True Gods of the divine land.

Master Evil was a top-level warrior among the mid-rank True Gods. But compared to Langston, Master Evil was far inferior in skills and capabilities.

The Arena of Legends wasn't the ultimate test of ability. Outside the Time Sea, Langston could easily overpower and even kill some of the top-rank True Gods from the second tier clans.

Zen was unable to resist such a strong enemy.

He didn't use the Emotion Closing Godly Way, but a considerable amount of strength source was poured into the sword strike.

Whoosh!

With a blast of wind, Zen's sword didn't land on his enemy, but swayed off course and cut through the empty air.

Langston's speed was beyond Zen's imagination.