Chapter 3154: Chapter 3154: Rocco Zheng
Upon saying those words, Elvinia threw the scroll she held behind her.
Like an arrow being released from its bow, the golden scroll was nailed to the door. Its contents were revealed for all to see.
Of course, the imperial edict on the scroll that Eastern Emperor Taiyi had personally issued was not as straight forward as what Elvinia had said. But they almost had the same meaning.
While Zen was busy with his cultivation over the past few days, Elvinia spent that time staying in the Myriad Spirits City. This allowed her to get in contact more frequently and better with the disciples of the Land of Sword Grief.
As for the problem regarding resource distribution, it was one that she had already expected.
Despite Stage Fourteen being at the bottom of the Desire World, the rules it enforced were not to be ignored. Otherwise, everything would fall into utter chaos.
Once Elvinia secretly made her return to the Phoenix Palace, she went straight to Eastern Emperor Taiyi to request that he issue an imperial edict.
The jaws of the disciples on the first floor dropped once they saw the imperial edict.
They were hoping for more. Elvinia's move caught them all by surprise. No one could disobey Eastern Emperor Taiyi's order.
The noisy crowd fell silent.
If what Elvinia said was true, they wouldn't be able to secure the resources they wanted.
“According to Eastern Emperor Taiyi, you're able to distribute the resources as you like. I'm curious as to how you plan to do that?” someone asked in a low voice.
Elvinia shrugged and then nodded towards Zen.
The disciples were met with his indifferent glance.
He had already tried his best to satisfy them before. But of course, as was human nature, they always longed for more. “As I've said before,” Zen sneered, “Chaim will be distributing the resources on my behalf.”
In fact, the imperial edict that Elvinia took out served as a “stick”—a part of the “carrot and stick”. Once the reckless disciples recieved the “carrot” Zen gave them, they would thank him profusely.
“If you have any requests, you can approach me. Now, line up!” Chaim announced with a smile.
Now that the resource distribution problem was settled, no further complications would arise under Chaim's supervision.
Soon, a few disciples proceeded to jump onto the arena to compete for their rankings.
They all chose to challenge their equals. None of them dared to challenge Zen.
There were two reasons for this. First, Zen was known for his high position on the Other Shore. Second, the image of him defeating Cleon was still vivid in their minds. They all agreed that Zen was anything but weak.
Zen took his time and silently observed the arena.
More than 10 matches were held before he finally walked up to the arena.
Although none of them dared to walk up to meet him, he could always choose an opponent to challenge.
The crowd watching had an expectant look on all their faces as they focused on Zen standing in the center of the arena.
“Zen plans on challenging someone from the second floor this time, right?”
“Once he joined the Land of Sword Grief, he bagged first place. Do you think his second battle will be enough to get him to the second floor?”
“That's impossible! But maybe he'll be different…”
Zen became famous among the crowd for the skills he showed in the Land of Sword Grief and on the Other Shore.
Just as Zen was about to reveal who he was about to challenge next, those who were on the second floor looked down into the arena below them.
Two hundred and three people occupied the entire second floor.
They were much stronger than those disciples on the first floor.
Even the lowest-ranking member of the second floor, Ronnie, was stronger than Cleon.
Cleon had challenged Ronnie several times before to try and reach the second floor. Each time, however, he was met with a miserable defeat.
A single place was what separated Cleon and Ronnie, but it was a rather large gap between the first floor and second floor.
“I'm guessing Zen's planning on challenging you, Ronnie,” a fair-skinned man hinted with a smile.
Next to the man stood Yusuf who nodded in agreement and added, “If he defeats you, he'll make it to the second floor. That'll be his first step!”
Ronnie, with his dark complexion, stood next to the two. He garnered the last position among those on the second floor.
“Let's be honest,” Ronnie began to say with pride, “he doesn't have enough strength to withstand the second floor.”
“Don't get too cocky now, Ronnie. That might not be the case,” Yusuf warned with the shake of his head. “Don't forget that he's occupied Stage Fourteen due to his exceptional capabilities!” ŖᴀƝ𝙤ᛒЁș
“Regardless, he's still not strong enough to challenge me,” Ronnie retorted. “Besides, the fact that he reached the Chaotic Source Realm not too long ago just tells me that he might have relied on some unorthodox skills to get this far. I will surely defeat him if he decides to challenge me!”
As luck would have it, Zen pointed towards Ronnie from the arena.
“So he does want to challenge me?” A cold expression flashed across Ronnie's face. Despite being on the second floor, he didn't take much pride in being the last place because it constantly concerned him. Now that Zen challenged him, he felt somehow upset. “Well then, I guess it's time to show him the true strength of a disciple on the second floor…”
As Ronnie began to prepare himself for the upcoming battle, Zen said, “I want to challenge Rocco Zheng of the second floor!” It turned out he was not pointing towards Ronnie but the second floor he was on.
A wave of silence swept over the arena before a deafening uproar broke it—an ocean wave crashing on the sandy shore.
“Zen wants to challenge Rocco!”
“Oh my goodness!”
“First he challenged Cleon, the top contender on the first floor. Now he wants to challenge the top contender on the second floor? This guy is nuts! Does that mean he'll challenge Libby, who ranks first in the Land of Sword Grief, next time?”
“He will sooner or later. But he's only been in the Land of Sword Grief for less than two months…”
Who exactly was Rocco?
He challenged someone from the third floor seven years ago. Once he failed, he had no intention of committing the same mistake ever again. All of the disciples on the second floor continued to challenge him, but none was successful in taking him down.
While all two hundred and two disciples were on the same level, they knew that he'd always be one level higher—for now, at least.
The faces of everyone on the second floor, including the fair-skinned man, Yusuf, and Ronnie, were incomprehensible. With the flick of his wrist, the fair-skinned man unraveled his folding fan before turning to Ronnie. “I'm afraid we guessed wrong. He doesn't consider you a worthy opponent.”
“He doesn't consider you as one, either,” Ronnie retorted.
“We're all on the same boat, then,” Yusuf voiced out with a chuckle.
None of them expected Zen to skip them and go ahead for the all-powerful Rocco.
Chaim, Milo, and Dorothy were just as dumbfounded as the others. Was Zen planning to activate the Inheritance of World here? If he wasn't, then challenging Rocco would be asking for a death wish. The gap between their levels of power was too wide.
“Rocco is somewhere else, at the moment. I'll relay your challenge right now!” one of the bystanders announced.
Many of those on the second floor started to mumble and buzz like bees in a hive, keeping themselves busy to fill in the awkward silence. They hoped that it wouldn't be too difficult for the bystander to find Rocco. Then, the real challenge would begin.