Chapter 965: Chapter 965: Difficult Steps

Something was amiss. Their master was enormous in size, so it was impossible for him to leave small footprints behind. He must've left them there on purpose.

“Why did he leave behind such footprints?” Saul asked curiously. “What's more, these footprints are exactly the same size as a human's. Maybe he'd already known that this day would come,” he added.

Just after thousands of books had reacted to Zen, a special cultivation method appeared. And no matter how one looked at it, it didn't seem to have appeared coincidentally at all but was specially arranged.

“I think so, too. Our master knows everything in this world, thanks to his great theurgy. He should know what would happen today.” “I believe our head already knew that one day Zen would enter the library. That was why he made this arrangement. We didn't know what he'd done until today,” Immortal Book said in agreement. However, he said those words to comfort himself as well.

But on second thought, it was odd.

Of course, Zen wouldn't question the power of the fairy palace's owner. Someone like him who had transcended the universe possessed great theurgy, without doubt.

However, the old man from the Celestial Position and Yolande had already said that he was a man with no destiny, and no one in the universe could tell his fortune. Even if Immortal Mist tried to, it wouldn't be genuine.

Thus, it might be because of two things: either the owner of the fairy palace improved his ability to a certain level, and could even predict what Zen, a man with no destiny, would do; or it just so happened to be a coincidence.

Right now, nothing seemed to matter anymore. The most important thing was to open this book.

As Zen thought of it, he quickly flew towards the other end of the bookshelf. The faint footprints extended from the bookshelf's center all the way to its end, and directly faced the huge book.

Dust scattered as Zen stepped forward and followed the steps on the bookshelf.

Never had he expected that just as his feet landed on the footprint, a powerful gravitational force reeled him in. It felt like his feet were welded onto the shelf, and made it hard for him to move a step.

“How could this be?” he said with a frown. He tried to activate the forceful energy within his body and raise his feet.

However, he wasn't able to make even the slightest movement. The power that held his feet was so strong that he couldn't even move an inch.

When Immortal Book, Saul, and the three girls saw Zen, they all rushed and gathered around him.

“Can't you move?” Saul asked. He stared at Zen's feet, which looked quite normal.

Zen nodded. “It's alright. I can walk!” he said with a smile plastered on his face.

He felt confident in his own strength. With gritted teeth, he activated the power of three thousand dragon scales. Once he was ready, he forcefully lifted both his feet.

Alas, he still couldn't move them at all.

“Why?” He sucked in a breath of cold air. He never thought that the gravitational force attached to the footprints was so strong, but his face suddenly twisted in a thoughtful expression.

4, 000 dragon scales.

5, 000 ones.

Even though Zen's strength had been raised to the limit, both of his feet were still motionless.

A light flickered in Zen's eyes. He never thought that it would be so hard to follow these footprints--he couldn't even move a single step!

Zen had almost reached his limit when he used the power of 5, 000 dragon scales. He felt a burning sensation when he poured the power into his feet and forcefully lifted them up. If he pushed a little more, his feet might break.

'If I can't get my feet out, I may have to spend the rest of my life here.' With that thought, Zen attempted to retreat.

As he retreated, his feet were easily lifted out of the blue. But because he overexerted himself, he staggered a few steps back and almost fell down.

After he steadied himself, he gradually calmed down and looked at the row of footprints.

“It's exactly our master's usual style. Although I don't know why he made such an arrangement, I guess every one of us has learned that it's difficult to advance but easy to retreat,” said Immortal Book. ȐＡ𝐍Ổ𝐛Ëś

It was difficult to advance but easy to retreat.

While that was a true and plain fact, how many people had actually put it into practice? Most people understood this, but during a critical moment, they chose to beat a retreat in the face of difficulties.

As Zen thought of it, his eyes glinted slightly. He was filled with resolution and once again, he stepped on the footprints.

The three girls did not speak.

They were well aware that they should not speak now, but they were still a little worried.

On the other hand, Margaret looked at Zen with joy. Zen's serious expression always drew her in, for he looked like the most enchanting creature in her eyes.

Zen's feet were once again firmly fixed onto the footprints. Since the owner had set such a path, there was no way he would be completely unable to resolve it. And this time, Zen was fully prepared. He first relaxed his whole body, and then held in a deep breath.

Since he couldn't move his feet with the power of 5, 000 dragon scales, he would use 6, 000 ones.

His cultivation had greatly increased, and so was his ability to bear the power of the dragon scales when he had broken through to the Life and Death Realm. However, his body had reached its limit when he used 6, 000 dragon scales.

Because of the sudden increase in size, more bloody wounds etched themselves on his body.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Three separate wounds appeared on Zen's chest and his back. The blood shot out like an arrow.

“Rise!”

Zen tried to lift a foot.

“It doesn't work, either.”

“6, 100 scales!”

Puff!

A fourth wound burst on his skin.

“Rise again!”

His feet didn't move at all.

“6, 200 scales!”

Puff!

Still, his feet weren't able to move at all.

“6, 300 scales!”

6, 400.

6, 500

6, 600.

More and more wounds ruptured on his body as he continued to increase the number of dragon scales.

Immortal Book stared in a mix of awe and confusion. “Where did he get such powerful strength? It has exceeded the limits of what his physical body can handle.”

Meanwhile, Saul shook his head and looked rather aloof.

Beside him, the three girls became more and more anxious. Aura looked deeply regretful. If she had known earlier, she wouldn't have warned Zen about the footprints on the ground. But then again, he would've still discovered them sooner or later even if she didn't tell him.

“6, 700 scales! Rise!”

This time, Zen had finally lifted his right foot. Then he took a step forward, and his right foot was now firmly planted on the next footprint in front of him.

Once again, he accumulated the power of the dragon scales and raised his left foot.

“Step forward!”

The immense force pressed down on all his body's blood vessels, which naturally ruptured them, including the small ones in his eyes. It made him look like a creature with blood-red orbs.

One step…

Two steps…

Three steps..

Zen knew that he could have the strongest fighting strength when exerting the power of 5, 000 dragon scales. If he raised it to 6, 000 dragon scales by force, his body would be near its limit.

Therefore, Zen advanced extremely slow. He walked even slower than an ordinary person. It was as if he had the weight of a mountain on his back.

Four steps, five steps, six steps…

With every single step he took, a gash appeared on his body and blood gushed out of it. Blood arrows shot out from the wounds and pierced through his clothes.

One of the blood arrows shot towards Aura. Letitia reacted quickly. She waved her hand, and an ice crystal shield blocked the arrow. The blood arrow's power had dented her shield, which made Letitia look at it with fear.

How tremendous was the energy that filled Zen's body?

Aura reached out her hand and touched the dent on the ice crystal shield. The blood was frozen solid by the cold air when the blood arrow hit the shield. Aura was speechless as her finger touched the cold bloodstain.

Seven steps, eight steps, nine steps.

It was now that Zen had reached his limit.

A breath of air escaped his mouth, which was stained with blood from his body. It then became a cloudy red mist. His internal organs couldn't withstand such a powerful force and had gotten injured.

Puff! Puff!

More heavy pants came from Zen as blood seeped heavily from his wounds. He had only taken nine steps, but the footprints in front of him extended all the way to the other side of the bookshelf. It only took the palace master two to three steps to walk from one side of the shelf to the other, but it was thousands of steps for Zen.