Chapter 971: Chapter 971: The Chaotic Energy

Of all human sensations, pain demands the most tolerance. The fact that Zen was able to endure such intense torture for a long time without losing his mind was testament enough to the strength of his will.

When all the pain left his body, relief flooded his senses.

Half a year had passed, and he had overcome the torture.

Margaret and Letitia did not know that the pain had gone. As Zen straightened himself slowly, Margaret halted playing the zither while Letitia asked him softly, her voice expressing her deep concern, “Zen, are you alright?”

A mischievous thought came to his mind as he looked at the two women's faces. Deciding to play a trick, he shook his head slightly and affected an air of being in pain. “I...I'm afraid I can't make it this time,” he coughed out.

Shadows immediately fell upon Letitia's and Margaret's faces at his words. Not far away, Aura, who had been praying for Zen, ran over to him in haste and held his hand.

The three women hovered over him in somber silence. Suddenly, Zen's arms shot out and pulled the three of them into his embrace. Margaret and Aura screamed; surprised gasps tickled his ears as he flew up into the sky and burst into laughter. He took them and jumped out of the Ice Palace's roof with them in his embrace.

Their worries fled as they floated in the air.

Aura's eyes were bright as she marveled at him. Zen's strong arms were wrapped around her securely, and she felt the warmth of his skin on her own. Margaret laughed as she pummeled his chest, playfully castigating him for playing such a dirty trick. It was only Letitia who was different. Her eyes were as sharp as daggers as she glared at him, anger written all over her face. The next moment, a white, cold mist rose up in the air.

“Hey! It's freezing,” Margaret complained, her mood going sour at Letitia's actions.

The cold draft touched them with its icy fingers and the other two women shivered.

Letitia only let out a defiant “Humph” and slipped out from Zen's arms, returning to the Ice Palace.

The three women had been at peace for the past few months. It had been a standstill among them when Zed was unconscious, but now that he had recovered, the old discord had come to life once more. Jealousy was an emotion that could only be suppressed at most, but never dispelled or forgotten.

Zen could only smile wryly before he let go of Margaret and Aura. He then followed Letitia and entered the Ice Palace, wanting to soothe her.

That night, after he had bathed and changed his clothes, he sat alone on a platform in Cloud Hall. Letitia had calmed down after some time of coaxing, and he had some time in his hands. For the past months, he had not been able to check on himself in the midst of the extreme pain.

His first instinct was to scrutinize the changes in his body.

Zen crossed his legs, adapting a posture for meditation and focusing his energy on his belly. A shocked expression appeared on his face as he entered into a state of introspection.

Before, his body had been filled with liquefied life energy. It had been a unique kind—viscous and malleable. But now, there was not even a single drop. Ŕ𝖆₦ꝋᛒĚŠ

None of his previous life vitality was present. Instead, he found the chaotic energy which looked dusky in its place.

“Is it done? Has the chaotic energy replaced my life vitality?” Zen muttered.

The cyan dragon said in his mind, “Chaotic energy! Your master has indeed surpassed the natural law. The chaotic energy inside you is proof of that. Warriors use their own life vitality to cultivate—that is the law of nature. Even Supreme Lords have no power over this. But your master was able to create such a unique cultivation method, replacing the life vitality with chaotic energy. This is truly an amazing feat.” The cyan dragon couldn't help but shake his head as he spoke.

Zen's forehead furrowed in confusion. “But you said it yourself. Warriors use their life vitality to cultivate. The life vitality will be liquefied when a warrior reaches the Life and Death Realm. Then a deep sea of life vitality will be opened up in his body when he reaches the Soul Sea Realm. When he reaches the Spirit Supreme Realm, the life vitality will be solidified and creatures will be created within the world in his body. But now, I no longer have any life vitality. So how am I supposed to progress?” he asked.

The cyan dragon shook his head grimly. “Such a thing has never happened in my life. It is beyond me. Therefore, I cannot possibly answer you.”

There was no guarantee that Zen's master, the creator of this cultivation method, would be able to answer his question. It was a newly-carved path in the world of warriors, and there was no one who could possibly offer him guidance.

Sensing Zen's loss, the cyan dragon continued, “However, there is one thing I can say. This chaotic energy is something that exists outside of the universe. All creatures had been born from primal chaos. It is an extremely powerful but equally dangerous existence for all creatures. And yet, you have it inside your body, which is a very strange occurrence. Even I am not sure whether the chaotic energy can really replace life vitality.”

Warriors relied primarily on their life vitality for cultivation. It was an indispensable element, as an arrow is to a bow.

However, Zen's life vitality had completely disappeared. There was nothing but the chaotic energy inside him. Did this mean that the known cultivation methods were now completely unsuitable for him?

As he listened to the cyan dragon, Zen's heart skipped a beat. What he said made perfect sense.

Zen started to manipulate his belly the usual way, using his meridians to extract life vitality from his body. However, under this kind of extraction, the chaotic energy was drawn out instead of the life vitality.

As the chaotic energy followed his meridians, he felt a sudden and intense pain.

“Again?”

Zen clenched his teeth as he thought of the implications. For half a year, he had endured the unthinkable pain, and now it was as if the pain had only shifted its position and began to target his meridians next.

To his relief, the overwhelming sensation only lasted for a few brief moments before it subsided. Then, Zen began to test the newfound chaotic energy. With a gentle wave of his hand, a streak of vigorous chaotic energy gushed out from his palm.

“The Fire Law!”

Zen was unfamiliar with any fire-system cultivation method, but he had no problem activating the Fire Law.

Boom!

At first, there had only been complete silence in the darkness. It was deep in the night, and people in Cloudy City had already fallen into a deep slumber.

In the midst of the quiet, a violent explosion suddenly rang in the air, wrenching people away from the arms of sleep. At the same time, they looked outside their windows with stupefied expressions. It was the middle of the night, and dawn was still far off, so where did all the light come from?

A huge sun-like flare was in the sky, lighting up the surroundings with a brilliance that was akin to sunlight.

All Zen did was casually throw out a fireball based on the first layer of the Fire Law. He had never imagined that it would have that much power. The fireball spread out and was eventually covered by the circular “Light of Water.” The light reflected and took the form of the sun.

“What unbelievable power!” Zen marveled at the sight.

He had been right to direct the fireball towards the sky. The lingering flames had ignited quite a number of parts of the Cloud Hall, but left everyone unharmed. After the fireball exploded, the light remained for some more moments before disappearing. The Cloud Hall was awake, with disciples running around in haste to put out the fire.

Zen gazed into the sky for some time even after all the light had disappeared. The cyan dragon's words about primal chaos lingered in his mind.

Other warriors trained their life vitality, which was a kind of energy created and bound by nature. What Zen possessed now was chaotic energy, created by the primal chaos.

Just now, he had only used the chaotic energy to activate the Fire Law. How much more powerful would it be if he used the methods in the manual that his master had created? As Zen became more and more familiar with the chaotic energy inside him, his future achievement might exceed his master's expectations.

His master had created the Primal Chaos Technique, but he had not practiced it himself. At present, chaotic energy had completely replaced the life vitality within Zen's body. With this, he would be able to create his own cultivation method far beyond his master's limits.

Zen's chest beat wildly in anticipation. The future held endless possibilities. No one had walked this path before, and it would be incredibly difficult for Zen to learn on his own. But he believed that once he completed his journey, a new era would open up by his own hands.