Chapter 2800: Chapter 2800: Invitation To Vastness Mountain

Zen headed straight towards the Dragon Path, ignoring the group of strangers.

He was walking past the old man in black when one of the young men called out to him. “Pardon me, but are you Zen Luo?”

Zen stopped, instantly alert. But he believed it was relatively safe here on Oneness Mountain, so he nodded. “Yes, I am.”

The young man smiled coldly at him. “Zen Luo, we'd like to extend you an invitation. Come with us to Vastness Mountain.”

At the mention of Vastness Mountain, Zen's eyes narrowed slightly. He said, matching the young man's cold tone, “No. I have no interest in going there.”

After he had killed Marco at Clear Lake, Zen had known that there would be retribution from Vastness Mountain.

But despite what had happened between him and Marco, Zen was a disciple of the Oneness Sky Palace and an elite disciple of the Flow Sword Sect. The Vastness Mountain would not dare to go openly against him. To get their revenge, they would have to operate in secrecy. He had not expected representatives of Vastness Mountain to be so bold as to wait for him at this place, in broad daylight. They must have known he would refuse their invitation.

Zen had absolutely no intention of agreeing to go with them to Vastness Mountain. He decided not to engage these strangers any further. He turned away from the young man and started to walk away.

The young man and his companion quickly moved forward, blocking his way. He faced Zen and said, still in that icy tone, “I'm afraid it's not up to you.”

“Do you plan to try and force me? Do you want to fight me right now?” Zen said incredulously, speaking as loudly as possible. The Cloudy Mountain Palace was nearby and he wanted the palace to hear the trouble taking place. He believed Calum would not just stand by and watch.

The old man in black heaved a sigh, and Zen turned back to look at him. The old man stared at Zen and said, “It seems you truly don't realize the gravity of what you did. We have every reason to kill you where you stand, without even engaging you in a fair fight. But as you can see, we are not here to kill you. We are only obeying orders.”

As he spoke, he released a strand of his aura, which quickly reached Zen.

The aura did not seem particularly strong, so at first Zen was not worried. But as he perceived the aura and tried to resist it, he realized he couldn't.

'This man is more powerful than I am!'

Zen thought, his eyes widening with astonishment. He decided his best course of action was to flee and take stock of the situation. But before he could choose between going to the Cloudy Mountain Palace or taking the Dragon Path, a gleaming circle of silvery light suddenly opened beneath his feet. There was a dark, ominous space in the depths of the silver circle.

Zen instantly knew that something was wrong. As his one foot slipped into the hole, he attempted to push off from the ground with his other foot, trying to leap up and take flight.

But the mysterious power in the dark space within the circle pulled on him, refusing to let him fly away. Zen lost his balance and fell into the darkness. It swallowed him instantly.

As Zen vanished, the old man waved his hand gently, and a little golden monkey appeared above his head.

The golden monkey emitted a strong, distinctive Other Shore Power. It was obviously a living Other Shore Token.

The old man held out his hand and a few divine crystals appeared in his palm. The golden monkey crawled gently along his arm and grabbed the divine crystals from his hand, throwing them into its mouth and starting to gnaw with relish.

“Put away the ring,” the old man ordered.

The small monkey squeaked in reply.

In response to the monkey's squeak, the silver circle of light on the ground shrank and disappeared, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

No sooner had the circle vanished than a loud thud was heard from the Cloudy Mountain Palace nearby.

The bang was deafening.

Shadows emerged around the Cloudy Mountain Palace, which dissipated as Calum stepped out of the palace entrance. Calum ignored the young men and zeroed in on the old man in black, his expression thunderous. “Holden! How dare you engage in this kind of treacherous behavior? You go too far! How dare you abduct a disciple right here at Oneness Mountain!” ℞𝔞𝐍ộ𝖇Ë𝒮

Early that morning, Holden, the old man in black, had visited the Cloudy Mountain Palace with his two disciples.

Holden was well-known in many circles as a powerful warrior. While he did not have the reputation of Athemar and Goran, he was equally as strong as them.

Calum had been bewildered by the sudden, unexpected visit. After all, there was rarely any communication between the Vastness Mountain and the Oneness Mountain. However, since Holden was a respected master, Calum welcomed them properly.

Now he realized that Holden had been lurking here with his disciples for several days for only one reason: to abduct Zen.

This deceit and abuse of his hospitality angered Calum greatly. As soon as Zen had arrived, Holden had set a magic array around the Cloudy Mountain Palace which concealed their acts from the people inside the palace. Fortunately, Calum had noticed something wrong through the array plate of the Dragon Path. Otherwise Zen would have been taken away without anyone ever knowing what had happened.

Holden remained imperturbable. “You should know, that man killed the son of our mountain head. He deserves to be punished. I was ordered to take him to Vastness Mountain to ensure that justice is served. Calm down, Calum.”

“Bring Zen back right now, and I will calm down,” Calum snapped back, glaring at Holden.

Like Sellers, Calum was a guide, although he was tasked with more important duties. In Oneness Mountain, he was in charge of the Dragon Path and part of the mountain protecting arrays.

As a member of Oneness Mountain, Calum was aware of the close relationship between Zen and Athemar. He had vowed to do everything in his power to keep Zen safe, so there was no way he would let Holden just walk away after abducting Zen.

Holden was not moved by Calum's anger. “What if I can't do that?”

His words were accompanied by a squeak.

It was his little monkey, who bared its teeth at Calum, trying to provoke him.

The most precious and powerful of all Other Shore Tokens took the form of living beings.

Calum couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear at the sight of the small golden monkey.

Holden saw his fear. He waved his hand at his two disciples, motioning for them to leave with him. He gazed solemnly at Calum and warned, “It was by the order of Gethin that I captured Zen. You shouldn't get involved in this matter. You'll just get yourself into trouble.”

With that, he and his disciples vanished from Calum's sight.

"Gethin is the head of the Vastness Mountain...

Why would Zen kill his son?"

Calum muttered. He wondered anxiously what he should do next.

Zen's excellent performance in the Dragon Path had greatly impressed Calum.

He believed this young man was destined to be a new star in the Oneness Mountain. He was better than Milo. He couldn't understand how or why Zen would provoke such a serious conflict with the powerful Vastness Mountain.

Holden was right—this matter exceeded Calum's authority. Calum thought it over and decided the best course of action was to report to Athemar as quickly as possible.

Zen, meanwhile, had been shocked as he fell into the darkness. It was like dropping down an infinite abyss, without any light, without any hope of reaching the bottom.

A mysterious force gripped Zen's body like an invisible shackle which prevented him from moving as he fell. It felt like he was trapped forever in the abyss.

Zen wondered with some despair if it would ever end. Then abruptly, after about an hour had passed, a silver light flashed in his vision, and he felt a surge of relief. A circle of silvery light appeared once more below his feet.

He slipped cleanly through the silver circle.

There was a crashing sound as he landed somewhere.

The dark space vanished behind Zen as he rolled onto a cold floor.

He tried to get up. He could move again! Instantly he jumped up and glanced around him.

He was in an unfamiliar, gloomy hall.

The room was dark, and several people were already there, apparently waiting for him. Men in black robes flanked a woman who sat facing him. She was very beautiful, dressed all in red, but she was looking at Zen with deep hatred.

Zen studied the woman. She had a red dot in the center of her eyebrows. Her eyes were full of bitterness and resentment as she stared back at Zen.

Zen did not move or speak. Finally the woman broke the silence. “Was it you who killed my son?” she demanded, gnashing her teeth.

Zen realized that this beautiful woman was Marco's mother.

The Vastness Mountain knew that Zen had killed Marco almost as soon as it had happened. They immediately sent people to Clear Lake to capture Zen, but he was no longer there when they arrived. Zen himself had not stayed any longer at Clear Lake once he had killed Marco. He returned as soon as possible to Dragon City with Trish and Gant.

The agents of Vastness Mountain had failed to intercept Marco's killer, but they quickly identified the killer as Zen. To abduct him, the Vastness Mountain sent Holden to wait for Zen on the only way into Oneness Mountain—right before the Dragon Path.

As soon as he understood what this was all about, Zen calmed down. He collected his thoughts and met the eyes of the beautiful woman in red. “Yes, it was me.”