Chapter 2729: Chapter 2729: The Flame Of Soul

“No one has ever received a 'Poor' evaluation for two consecutive months, right?”

“A man with such a personality is not suitable to stay in the Flow Sword Sect...”

“If he is expelled, I'll have a chance of obtaining an entry token.”

Those who were about to leave turned around to watch what was going to happen to Zen.

Since they didn't know him, they began to inquire of their respective servant girls about him.

“The master served by Trish and Carrie...”

“I heard he had been cultivating in seclusion ever since he came to the Flow Sword Sect!”

“Maybe he is too stubborn to know how to love a woman...”

The women spoke without fear because they had the support of their masters. They continued to spite Zen with a look of disdain on their faces.

It was not hard to relate to their emotions. As servants, their purpose was to serve and please their masters. But Zen had completely broken the rules and denied them of their mission, which rendered Carrie's and Trish's existences meaningless.

Zen listened to all judgments that were being passed on him and continued to diffuse them.

Then suddenly, a sharp voice from the back of the crowd resounded in the place. “What are you talking about? Mr. Luo is not the kind of person you are portraying him to be!”

The crisp voice belonged to Trish.

Although Zen was about to be expelled from the mountain along with her and Carrie, she felt the need to protect him against these allegations. In her eyes, he was a righteous man who did not deserve the heat from all the girls.

“Well, well, well, you're going to be kicked out soon, and you still argue for him. Trish, you really do stand up for your master, huh?”

“Poor Trish! You tried your best, but all your efforts were in vain.”

“……”

The women continued to brutally taunt her with their barbed words.

The disciples watched from the sidelines as they felt the women should sort their issues out among themselves.

As for Zen, since he was new, they didn't take him seriously.

But now all their attention was directed at Zen since they anticipated his dismissal would happen soon. Getting a “Poor” evaluation for two months in a row meant there was a high probability of him being expelled.

Preparing herself to retaliate, Trish bit her lip anxiously. But then Zen gestured her to stop and said, “Don't mind them...”

“But Mr. Luo...” Trish insisted.

“I will promise you one thing: I won't be expelled by the Flow Sword Sect, and you won't have to leave the mountain either,” Zen interrupted her with a confident smile.

After hearing his kind words, the two girls were at a loss for words. Carrie's eyes widened, and Trish stood in utter disbelief.

“Just do whatever you can, Mr. Luo. I... I have nothing else to ask of you,” Trish added as she felt moved by his words.

“Yes! Do what you can, Mr. Luo!” Carrie encouraged him while punching the air excitedly.

The glamorous woman watched all this unravel with curiosity, and then she gestured Zen to enter the tower. With an assuring nod to the two girls, he made his way inside the Flow Tower. ɽ𝔞N𝐎ꞖΕS̩

While waiting, Zen had a lot of time to reflect on things from the past.

When he fought against Fergus, he felt a strange sensation in his swordsmanship theurgy.

This feeling was strikingly similar to that of the Emotion Closing Godly Way... Since then, Zen had made up his mind that he would go to the Flow Sword Sect. The Flow Strike piqued his interest.

He also managed to deduce something else.

That day when he met Athemar at the Mountain Viewing Province, he seemed to be lecherous. Zen couldn't help but feel appalled by his actions as he didn't seem to keep his hands to himself from Elizabeth. Zen had expected him to show some decency as an elder.

It turned out that Athemar was probably another master from the Flow Sword Sect. This explained his actions from that day.

Since Zen came up to the mountain, Athemar hadn't shown up. But given his previous attitude, he should have known that Zen had chosen the Flow Sword Sect.

Him failing to show up meant he had complete faith in Zen that he would be successful in challenging the Flow Tower.

Zen felt stirred in him as he shortened the distance between himself and the tower.

Skillfully, he suppressed his emotions and strode into the Flow Tower.

“Bang!”

The door of the Flow Tower slammed shut behind him.

Compared to the outside, the tower was not that big on the inside, and he felt no magic array surrounding him either.

There was one exquisite thing in the tower that caught his attention. In the center of the room there was a pillar, which appeared to have flames surrounding it. The menacing flames danced on all sides of the pillar and diffused in the air, causing the temperature to rise to a notable degree inside the Flow Tower.

But for Zen, the temperature was barely noticeable since he was immune to all kinds of flames.

Just as Zen was about to move forward, a voice coming from inside the Flow Tower stopped him in his tracks. “Show me your entry token.”

Zen tapped the space ring lightly and took out a golden square token in his hand.

“Swish, swish...”

The golden square token seemed to be made of ice and it melted under the high temperature of the Flow Tower.

“You can stay at the first floor for now. But you can also use your strength and ability to climb up...” The voice seemed to know that Zen was a newcomer to the Flow Tower. Politely, it instructed him on what he had to do to progress further.

As soon as the voice disappeared, the surface of the pillar began to glow with a blinking red light. There were wild flares of fire coming out from it.

“Hot. It's too hot...”

Suddenly, Zen felt the temperature in his body rise up to an alarming degree as his chest began to boil up.

The heat of the flames did not frighten him. Even if the entire Flow Tower was cloaked in the fire, it would not get in his way.

But, something was different this time.

As he lifted his feet to continue ahead, they were burdened by the weight of his body and the pain in his chest. Strong emotions now flooded his thoughts as he tried to ignore them.

The more steps he took, the more overwhelming the pain got for him. His mind was now a mixture of all his concealed emotions welling up inside of him and affecting his mood.

'Anxiety, failure, fear, greed, desire...'

Everyone harbored these negative emotions, but they all kept them buried in a deep corner of their existence. If a strong-willed person was able to dispose of them, so could Zen.

But even if somehow he was successful in compressing them, their presences could not be denied. Within the Flow Tower, all his emotions were ignited by the restless flame.

Tenacious as he was, he refused to give up. But every time he forced himself to progress, the pain grew gradually.

Suddenly, Zen felt a sharp sting in his chest when a bright red flame began burning from within it!

“The Flame of Soul can devour one's heart and mind. Young man, the stronger your obsession is, the stronger the counterattack of the Flame of Soul is. If you can't endure it, you can leave by yourself.” The voice in the Flow Tower echoed again.

“The Flame of Soul?”

Her words made him stop in his tracks. Zen clenched his chest as he bore the pain.

As he felt his chest where the fire was with his hand, the red flame did not burn it.

The temperature of the fire was normal, but the pain he was experiencing was no illusion. It was real.

'If I could just climb up to the second floor...' Zen raised his head in agony and looked up.

Yet, there was no staircase up to the second floor in the Flow Tower. It appeared the only way was to leap towards it.

Making his mind up, he stomped his feet on the ground and flew up.

However, the moment Zen jumped up, the red Flame of Soul in his chest abruptly swelled up, like a giant silk cocoon, enwrapping him. The pain it caused was multiplied over a hundred times!

The unbearable pain mixed with all the negative emotions made it hard for him to focus.

When a myriad of negative emotions broke out, he sensed that he was orphaned and shunned by the world, making him feel more worthless than ever.

“Plop...”

He just jumped five feet high and then planted face-first on the ground.

Outside the Flow Tower, everyone saw the golden light spot on the surface of the tower jump once and return to where it was.