Chapter 584: Chapter 584: The Highest Authority

In that instant, Zen utilized his comprehension on the general principles of the Transcendent Divine Might and subsequently channeled the power of the stars into his body.

There happened to be a total of eight moves in the first part of the Stellar Body. According to what the red dragon had stated before, the eight moves in the first part corresponded with the eight Path Platforms.

Every time Zen managed to build a Path Platform, he would then be able to strike a move against his foe.

However, as of the moment, Zen had only unlocked only one Path Platform. It was a fortunate thing that the Hundred Meetings Platform corresponded to the first move of the Stellar Body, which was the “star shakes the earth”!

If someone happened to take a glimpse of the sky, they would immediately observe that in the vast and distant darkness that stretched across the skies, a glowing star all of a sudden emitted an intense sort of bright starlight. From a great distance, the starlight which was initially the size of a speck of dust now appeared like a small pigeon egg. Needless to say, it seemed as if the light had magnified over a hundred times in an astonishingly short moment.

This was the exceptional ability of the Stellar Body. Such an amazing power enabled any cultivator to absorb the force of the star into his own body and simply enhance the cultivator's own abilities.

At the present, it was indeed a marvelous thing to see as Zen's own body was enveloped in a faint glow reminiscent of starlight.

Considering that he had only managed to be connected with one star thus far, the starlight that emitted from his frame was rather dim. Nonetheless, it would be significantly better if he were to be connected with more stars in order that the starlight around his body could gradually become brighter. In the end, the goal was to make him give the impression of a shining star!

Realistically speaking, the power of the star condensed by the Stellar Body was fundamentally different from the star power formed by the Sun Moon Stars Picture. After all, the spiritual projection method of the Sun Moon Stars Picture presented him a more concrete and tangible feeling as the power needed to be obtained by relying on the act of visualizing the stars. On the other hand, the Stellar Body itself could directly utilize the real power of the star!

Evidently, Zen could not simply judge which method was better just by weighing their differences. This was due to the fact that the Stellar Body was known as the Transcendent Divine Might, while the Sun Moon Stars Picture was an inheritance from the fairy palace. Another palpable difference was that the former was a supreme unique technique for body refiners, whereas the latter represented the pinnacle of the life vitality system. Even though he had cultivated both these two skills, he could not easily mention which was better for him to use. Moreover, he had thought that both of these methods had great potential and that he ought to maximize their capabilities.

Then again, he was currently located in the Sea God Continent and the desire to focus on his body refinement was still there. Therefore, it was ultimately necessary for him to experiment and assess the full power of the Stellar Body.

As soon as the starlight condensed around Zen's form, he wasted no time at all as he suddenly charged towards his opponent.

In the beginning, Zen did not have a single clue as to which level the owner of the Tower of Sin had reached in terms of strength--it was not something Zen could simply guess or imagine. Furthermore, it was similar to that situation wherein he had no idea regarding the strength mobilized by the leader of the Dragon Abyss Palace in the Genuine Dragon world. This was attributed to the untimely fact that they were both much more powerful than him and it was beyond his capabilities to figure out their cultivation levels.

However, the kind of strength this person in front of him possessed did not matter to him at all, owing it to the fact that he had suppressed his cultivation level to that of a tenth level war fighter. With a determined expression on his face, Zen was confident that he would be able to defeat him.

Witnessing the movements of the person facing him, he noticed that his opponent's fist flashed with a hazy beam as his forceful energy continuously swirled and condensed, eventually forming a vortex at his fingertips. If he were not in this empty space, Zen suspected that he could have been capable of absorbing every material thing in this world.

As the vortex persistently absorbed the forceful energy and transformed it into a glowing beam of radiance that blanketed his fist, the man turned his head to glance at Zen's frame with indifference painting his features. Upon noticing the faint light covering Zen's body, he raised an eyebrow in surprise and said, “No wonder you are able to arrive at the stage of the ultimate test. I expected less from a mere human war fighter, but you actually possess the Transcendent Divine Might..” The man's voice faded away as if he was deep in thought before speaking up once again, “Furthermore, it seems to be the case that what you are using is the Transcendent Divine Might of Lord of Stars…”

Just before that moment, Zen had been saving up his strength and was prepared to strike the first move of the Stellar Body. Upon hearing the words the other man had uttered, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and hesitantly asked, “The Transcendent Divine Might of Lord of Stars?” “Who is that Lord of Stars?” he tilted his head to one side as he addressed his opponent.

According to what the red dragon had explained to him before, he was not the one responsible for creating the Stellar Body. Because of this, the red dragon only retained the first part of the book with the additional warning to Zen that the Stellar Body that he taught him was actually incomplete. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the other man, Zen did not expect that the owner of the Tower of Sin was able to distinguish that the cultivation method he used was the Stellar Body.

With a faint smile that stretched across his lips, the man talked to him once more, “You are lucky to be able to possess the Transcendent Divine Might when you are merely a war fighter. As for your question, you have to find the answer yourself.” he dramatically paused before looking at him in challenge. “If you want to pass the ultimate test, you have to resist my punch first.”

As soon as he had finished speaking, the man clenched his fist in preparation. The moment he tightened his grip, the meridians on his fist bulged on one by one. In normal circumstances, a human's meridians would appear to take on a greenish hue, but this man was certainly not ordinary as his meridians reflected the color of a brilliant gold.

“Celestial Position Devour!” he yelled.

Within the span of a second, the forceful energy that the man harbored for a long time suddenly erupted. Although the man had lowered himself to a tenth level war fighter, the power that exuded from the man still shocked Zen and left him speechless.

The reason why Zen momentarily halted his offensive move just now was because he was curious about the origin of the Stellar Body and he wanted to ask the other man what he knew about it. Judging from the way the man spoke and replied to his inquiries, it was crystal clear to Zen just then that he did not plan to discuss it with him. Huffing to himself, Zen promptly dropped the matter and went all out to strike his move.

“Star shakes the earth!”

If there happened to be spectators present to watch how the battle unfolded, they would have been terribly stunned and taken aback upon seeing the intense scene of their fight. ŕåɴꝊᛒÊṥ

Since both of them were now tenth level war fighters, it was unexpected for them to release powers that seemed far beyond the abilities of warrior generals. Furthermore, it was even almost a frightening sight to behold, given the fact that it was impossible even for an ordinary war lord to unleash such an explosive power of forceful energy like they had just done.

The potent forceful energy within Zen's body unceasingly exploded and the power of the star flooded into his fist at the same time. After the brightness dimmed a little, his fist flashed with dazzling starlight, as if Zen was holding a small star on the palm of his hand. In the blink of an eye, Zen powerfully threw a punch at his opponent.

On the other side of the battle, his opponent's punch was also something to be reckoned with. Just as the potent forceful energy abruptly surged out violently from his fist and created a huge vortex, the center of it was immediately noticeable--the radiance of his fist was strikingly similar to the image of a raging seawater.

“Swish!”

The sound of an uncontrolled flood of water was loud enough for it to leave a faint ringing in their ears. As the two powerful energies collided with each other, they consequently emitted rays of brilliant light that could have been able to make other people's eyes go blind.

At this moment, it seemed to be no longer a confrontation of the fists. Rather, the battle of forceful energies had just begun; the man who rose as the victor would have won the contest of strength.

Blinking rapidly as a result from the vivid brightness, Zen struggled to see his surroundings clearly. However, he understood right at that very moment that what he needed to do was to keep moving forward and tear the Soul Symbol in front of him into pieces!

It was in that instance when he realized that the power of the star was far beyond what Zen could ever imagine.

Upon facing the punch of the man who owned the Tower of Sin, he deliberated by himself a couple of things he had observed. Firstly, if Zen employed the Malicious Wheel of Life and Death and unleashed all of the malicious aura that was enclosed within, it might not be enough to shatter this vortex in front of him.

Secondly, Zen was not certain whether the skill his opponent was using at that moment was the Transcendent Divine Might or not. Even if it were not, Zen fathomed that it was rather close to it. Moreover, the power of this vortex was not something the Malicious Wheel of Life and Death could withstand.

Fortunately for Zen, with the added boost from the power of the star, his punch was akin to a sharp and hot knife cutting through soft butter. Despite the fact that the light from the power of the star he emanated was considerably dim, it had never ceased to glow. Through the overwhelming energy the light spots continuously released, it did not take long before Zen finally broke the vortex and smashed his fist on the man.

As the man in front of him was only a Soul Symbol and his body was merely formed by the memories that remained from it, what Zen had just defeated was not a real person in the truest sense.

As a result, the exact moment Zen's fist first landed on him, his body was immediately torn into pieces, leaving behind only a head that hovered above in the air. As the floating head continued to stare at him coldly, the man managed to give Zen a calculating leer before declaring, “Good talent and strength. You can gain the recognition of the Celestial Position.”

“What is so good about getting the recognition of the Celestial Position?”

Zen asked, confused about what the other had meant.

The faintest of smiles appeared on the man's face, seemingly amused at something only he knew at the time. “Actually, there are no benefits. This is your fate now.”

“My fate?” he stared unblinkingly. “What fate are you talking about?”

Zen inquired with a frown, more puzzled than ever.

However, the floating head gradually dissipated, the sound of his voice slowly fading away into nothingness. Nevertheless, Zen's ears managed to pick up on the last sentence the man had uttered before disappearing completely, “When the time comes, you will know. Do not weep then...”

Upon hearing the parting words of his former opponent, Zen was perplexed by what the underlying meaning of his message could have been. “Do not weep when the time comes?” he repeated softly, crossing his arms against his chest. “What did that even mean?” Zen muttered to himself as he started to stroke his chin absentmindedly.

Alas, no one was present to directly answer Zen's questions. After the Soul Symbol had completely disappeared without a trace, Zen once again stood alone in the endless space.

Absorbed in his own thoughts, Zen almost missed the weapon spirit's voice as it suddenly resounded from everywhere. “Young man, you have passed the ultimate test,” the voice declared.

“What is my reward?” Even after having entered the test for so long, Zen still had trouble trying to understand what exactly was going on around him. Feeling bouts of irritation ever since it had started, he just wished that all these masters he had encountered just explicitly told him what they wanted to convey in the first place. Looking back at what he experienced, the owner of the Tower of Sin behaved in the exact same way as the immortal Mist did. Their tendency to suddenly drop the topic when it came to the most important and intriguing part, along with leaving Zen hanging in suspense, annoyed him to no end. Upon reminiscing on his past escapades, he rubbed his temples in frustration--if he could only curse them!

“After you pass the ultimate test, you can then enjoy being the highest authority in the Tower of Sin. You are now free to travel within the premises, as well as control everything that happens inside the tower,” the voice explained, addressing Zen's concerns.

“What!”

Emotions of surprise and satisfaction bubbled up in his chest at the news presented to him. “Doesn't this mean that the Tower of Sin now belongs to me?”

“Well, no. The Tower of Sin is not something you can refine as only the Celestial Position race can do so,” the weapon spirit started to clarify. “You have just gained the recognition of the Celestial Position. Since it is impossible for you to refine it with your current strength, you can only control the tower within a limited range with my help, of course.” the formless voice finished, patiently giving Zen a well-deserved explanation.

“What do you mean? Can you explain further? Give me an example perhaps?”

The young man persistently asked, fascinated by what he was currently hearing.

“For example, you can now freely travel through the walls and floors of the Tower of Sin without anyone or anything stopping you on your way. Also, you can kick any living creature out of the Tower of Sin,” the weapon spirit stated and completed its spiel.

As the voice finished talking, Zen's eyebrows immediately shot up and his mouth was agape at the implications of his new status. Grinning with unbridled excitement, Zen felt his heart pound in anticipation of his new privileges.

With a start, it dawned on him that he ultimately had the right to decide who got to live or die among all the creatures in the Tower of Sin.