Chapter 2855: Chapter 2855: Argument

Everyone stared at Zen. Regardless of which race they belonged to, all of them had fear in their eyes.

The only exception was the Ear Mouse race, whose members let out sighs of relief. It seemed that the Soul of Light named Zen was right. He was this corporeal body's spokesperson.

One of the mice squeaked. “You are finally here!”

Three Ear Mice came up to Zen with an air of great respect and deference. It was their first time to see Zen's physical body.

Zen, of course, knew that they had been waiting for him, but he didn't want to talk about opening the door right now. “We'll discuss this later,” he said.

He walked past the mice and towards the disciples of the Oneness Sky Palace. Grimly he asked them, “Which races attacked you just now?”

At Zen's words, many warriors in the crowd looked shocked and nervous.

“The Bearing race, the Divine Farmer race, the Sun Crow race and the New Moon race,” answered Chaim in a cautious tone.

Zen nodded and turned to the crowd. His eyes swept over the warriors and landed on a flock of bird-shaped Souls of Light, belonging to the Sun Crow race. Coldly he said to them, “Don't even think about exploring the Grand Sky Temple. I give you a choice. Leave the Other Shore now, or I will kill you.”

At Zen's ultimatum, the Sun Crows shrank back and drew closer to each other.

While they felt fear at Zen's words, they were hesitant to leave right away. They wanted to see how the situation would develop. Even if the worst happened, they believed that they could escape from the Other Shore at any time.

The members of the Bearing race were thinking along similar lines. They stood a safe distance from Zen, observing him as he spoke, and they refused to give up on the chance that they might still find a way to explore the Grand Sky Temple. After all, they had already handed in their soul pills.

It was different if the Ear Mice were on Zen's side.

After they entered the Grand Sky Temple, they wouldn't be able to leave the Other Shore. By then, they would have no choice but to let their souls be slaughtered by him.

A warrior of the Divine Farmer race spoke up. “Are you willing to listen to the reason? The Bearing race asked us to help, and our only choice was to fight with them. Incidentally, not a single disciple from the Oneness Sky Palace was killed by us. Will you deny our entry just because we fought alongside our allies?”

“It was not your only choice. You could have refused to fight,” Zen said, sneering at the warrior. “Since you chose to follow the Bearing race, you must pay the price. That's not the first time you've played such a trick. You also allied with each other to kill the Nine Li race. There are consequences for your actions.”

The destruction of a superpower was a matter of great importance even in the Source World. All the races present were familiar with the history of the Bearing race and the Divine Farmer race. Their coordinated efforts had led to the destruction of the Nine Li race.

The crowd were curious and slightly anxious. They wondered why Zen had specifically mentioned the Nine Li race.

He had sounded genuinely indignant. Was Zen a member of the Nine Li race?

Elvinia, who was on the back of Zen, sensed the change in his aura, a shift towards darkness at the mention of the Nine Li race. She thought that this corporeal body's identity was probably more complicated than she had imagined.

The six people standing in the corner had also been jolted by the mention of the Nine Li race. They looked uneasily at each other.

“Brother, Why did he bring up the Nine Li race? Is he one of us?” murmured the human girl in a low voice.

“It could be... Otherwise, why did he mention the Nine Li race at all?” one of her companions whispered back.

The burliest man in the group shook his head. “It's hard to say. It could simply be that what happened today reminds him of what had happened to the Nine Li race. There are so few of us after entire branches of our race were killed off, and we keep ourselves hidden even now. How could someone like him come from the scattered survivors of our race?” ℞а₦ÒΒË𝙨

At present, the last survivors of the Nine Li race were struggling to survive, having lost most of their long-held resources. The younger generation found it hard to compete with other more powerful races, so the Nine Li race continued steadily to decline.

The human girl curled her lips, considering the matter. She did not contradict her brother, who was by nature suspicious, but she also made up her mind to ask Zen about this issue as soon as she got the chance.

The warrior of the Divine Farmer race had fallen silent, intimidated by Zen's unyielding stance. In contrast, a member of the Bearing race laughed out loud, stepping forward. He said to Zen cockily, “It's truly impressive that you've entered the Other Shore with your corporeal body, but I can't help wondering how you're going to deliver on all your threats. On your own? Or will the members of the Oneness Sky Palace help you out?”

The Bearing race were not afraid of offending Zen, especially since he had already dictated that they had no chance of entering the Grand Sky Temple.

They were not afraid of the Oneness Sky Palace, either. Although the members of the Oneness Sky Palace were arguably among the top three strongest forces of the human race, in terms of pure numbers, they simply couldn't compare with the Bearing race—and that was without factoring in the alliance of the Bearing race with the Divine Farmer race.

Zen replied calmly, “It's not just me or the Oneness Sky Palace. We are speaking of justice and fairness. I don't expect you to understand, but it is in the interests of most people to curb the actions of crooked groups like the Bearing race. Any power you have now is temporary. Eventually your strength will dwindle until you are nothing, less than the smallest grain of sand.”

Zen's words were powerful. It was true that he and the members of the Oneness Sky Palace couldn't stand alone against the Bearing race, but there were many other strong forces and superpowers in the Source World who had chosen the Finale Way. If it came down to war, these forces would side with the Oneness Sky Palace.

“Great speech!”

shouted a member of the Snake Goddess race, whose body was half human and half snake. Her words were met with applause from her companions.

“Yeah! The Finale Way leads to the right path!”

“Down with the Bearing race! We will fight those idiots who cheat, lie, and deceive others for their own benefit!”

“I've never trusted the Divine Farmer race!”

It was clear from the chorus of cries in the crowd that they supported Zen and also believed in the Finale Way.

Many of those from younger generations were not involved in the decision-making and path-choosing that were usually conducted by the elders of their races. However, they were not blind to the situation unfolding around them, and they were willing to take a stand.

Zen had only said what many of them were already thinking. They agreed wholeheartedly with his condemnation of the Bearing race.

Most of the Bearing race warriors looked offended and angry and began raising a clamor, trying to argue with what Zen said. But Zen had already lost interest in further arguments.

“You can clear up here and block this area. I don't want to see them again,” Zen said to the Ear Mice, ignoring the members of the Bearing race. There was no point in dragging out the argument any further—they believed in different ways, and there was no possibility of reconciling their competing beliefs.

The Ear Mice, of course, were even less interested in the Bearing race than Zen. Since Zen had arrived, they viewed all this discussion as a pure waste of time.

The Ear Mice rushed forward at Zen's prompting, squeaking. “Time to get to work! Let's clear up this place! The Bearing race, the Divine Farmer race, the Sun Crow race and the New Moon race are forbidden to enter. So are those who have not handed out their soul pills and gotten their soul marks. Everyone else, please gather in front of the Grand Sky Temple,” said an Ear Mouse in a high-pitched voice.

A group of ten Ear Mice stood nearby, holding watering cans. They sprayed out thin, pale blue liquid that spread out and covered the ground completely.

The blue liquid was the Soul Interdicting Water. Like the Soul Restraining Sand of the Oneness Sky Palace and the Soul Binding Thread of the Bearing race, it was intended to prevent Souls of Light from leaving the Other Shore.

After the ground had been covered with the Soul Interdicting Water, the Ear Mice continued to put some restrictions on it. The whole Grand Sky Temple was now a temporary impasse, and no Souls of Light would dare to enter without permission.

One of the members of the New Moon race stepped up to the Ear Mice. “Hey! If you won't let us enter the Grand Sky Temple, then return our soul pills to us. We've already paid and we want them back,” he said forcefully.

The Ear Mice squeaked, looking upset. The soul pills were already in their possession and it was very difficult to think of returning them.

But they couldn't renege on their debt in front of so many races, human and nonhuman.

The Ear Mice gathered and chattered, looking for a loophole. Finally an Ear Mouse turned to the man who had asked for their soul pills. “The members of the four races who have paid soul pills are free to try and enter the temple. But remember! We are not responsible for the consequences!”

The Ear Mouse rolled its eyes meaningfully towards Zen, who stood at the gate of the Grand Sky Temple, emanating an intimidating and powerful aura.

Because they stood a safe distance from Zen, the four races barred from entering the temple dared to argue with the Ear Mice. But none of them dared to move closer to the Grand Sky Temple.