Even before Zen joined in the Oneness Sky Palace, Winchell had competed with Athemar to win him over to the Origin Mountain.
Although Winchell was joking now, he felt regretful on the inside. After watching Zen's impeccable performance at the Seven Mountains eting, he realized the Origin Mountain shouldn't have compromised on it back then.
“It's not that I had no faith in Zen, but be honest, did you ever anticipate such a performance out of them in the beginning?” Athemar retorted in a defensive tone.
The thods Zen and Elvinia had used at the Seven Mountains eting had never been witnessed before. Therefore, it rendered forecasting the result based on past experiences useless.
No one, including Athemar, Goran and Winchell, had imagined Elvinia and Zen would control the runes in such a new way. But it was inappropriate to express their doubts on them now.
As for Zen, since he had used the Truth Enlightennt that Elvinia had ntioned, he had already made ntal preparations. If Athemar really was going to ask him about it, he would know how to respond.
Since they were surrounded by many disciples at this mont, it was not the right ti to inquire about such things. Suddenly, Goran's loud voice echoed in everyone's ears as he announced, “The Flow Sword Sect has taken the top rank at this year's Seven Mountains eting. The Origin Mountain finished second and the Ivory Mountain third. You may co to and receive your prizes now.”
As soon as the announcent of the victors was made, the elite disciples of the Flow Sword Sect, Origin Mountain, and Ivory Mountain, who had been thrown off their respective stones, flew up towards the top of the tal mountain.
“Ivory Mountain disciples, co forth and take your prizes first!” Goran announced.
One after the other, the twenty Ivory Mountain disciples assembled by the side of Goran and reached out their palms towards him.
Goran began to move his lips as he chanted words under his breath; then he reached out to clap their palms with his.
Every ti Goran repeated this gesture, so simple lines would be seen as an effect on a disciple's palm.
When Zen noticed these lines, his eyes instantly widened. “Are these soul marks?” he asked.
“Yes, they are. With the soul mark I give you, you can go to the temple within three days and get the soul crystal,” Goran answered as he chuckled at Zen's expressive astonishnt.
The soul mark Zen got from the Flow Sword Sect was a small token that recorded syllables, which required him to recite for it to work. Never did he expect Goran was able to give the soul marks to the disciples with a simple gesture of slapping their palms.
Sothing as ordinary as a soul mark was common sense for these elite disciples. Had it been soone else who asked such a simple question, the Ivory Mountain disciples would have made fun of them.
However, it was Zen, and they knew better than to mock soone like him. But they still couldn't help but let out light giggles to themselves.
Soon after, all the twenty disciples of the Ivory Mountain had gotten their respective soul marks. They tightened their fists securely and stepped back. Now, it was the Origin Mountain's turn Once the Origin Mountain disciples got their soul marks, it was now the turn of the reigning champion, the Flow Sword Sect. With careful steps, Konnor led the other disciples from the Flow Sword Sect and approached Goran. He bowed respectfully towards him and said, “Master Goran, please give Zen half of our soul crystal.”
The soul crystal was rare, and even direct descendants of the mountain heads like Dorothy and Marco expressed great importance towards obtaining it. Hearing that Konnor suddenly raised such a request, Goran couldn't help but feel shocked. He asked back, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes, I'm sure. When we tried to convince Zen to join us, we had this agreent,” Konnor said while keeping his gaze lowered respectfully.
At the last Seven Mountains eting, Milo had led the Flow Sword Sect and ranked the first, and Konnor and the other disciples had contributed their strength and wisdom for the victory too. But this ti, the situation was totally different. It could be said that Zen achieved first place all by himself as a one-man army. Konnor and the others would even go so far as to give Zen all their soul crystal.
“Alright, in that case, I will do it.” Goran nodded towards Konnor, who now lifted his gaze with a satisfied expression. He then focused on his palm and slightly changed the soul mark on it.
Then, Konnor and the disciples raised their palms, and Goran slapped them gently with his.
When it was Zen's turn, Goran changed the soul mark on his palm again. He slapped Zen's palm, and the soul mark reflected on it.
“Although we don't have much soul crystal stored in our Oneness Sky Palace, the crystal the Seven Mountains eting has provided this year is more than the last ti. You took nearly half of it alone, Zen. I trust you to make good use of it.” Goran laughed while patting Zen on his shoulder.
The disciples from the Ivory Mountain and the Origin Mountain reflected different expressions of admiration and envy on their faces when they heard this. Zen might go through a significant change and improve his soul from absorbing so much soul crystal.
After everyone received their prizes, they remained where they were.
Seizing the mont, Goran tapped his space ring and took out three swords from it. “These three Other Shore Treasures will be rewarded to you from .”
The three swords in Goran's hands were premium, interdiate, and primary Other Shore Treasures, respectively.
The conditions for crafting an Other Shore Treasure were hard. As a result, not many disciples had Other Shore Treasures, and most of them only possessed Profound Blood Treasures.
Goran gave the primary and interdiate Other Shore Treasures to the disciples of the Ivory Mountain and the Origin Mountain, respectively. The last sword, from the hilt to the blade, had a dark appeal to it. There were several faint patterns of flying birds carved on the black sword.
'It's the premium Other Shore Treasure made of Shade Stone!' Zen thought to himself as he stared at the black sword with his mouth agape.
“I have been using the Shade Phoenix Sword for many years, and now I'm giving you this sword as the prize of the Seven Mountains eting,” said Goran, while gently touching the body of his sword a few tis as if admiring it for one last ti. Then he handed the sword to Konnor.
Without any hesitation, Konnor tossed the sword to Zen.
“Wow, Zen is taking the prize again!” Dorothy giggled as she watched Konnor hand over the sword. “Konnor, it seems Zen didn't co cheap!”
Embarrassed by her remark, Konnor scratched his head and laughed wholeheartedly. “It seems we had a good eye in picking only the best for our team. Haha...”
For the elite disciples of the Flow Sword Sect, winning the prizes wasn't everything; they also cared about maintaining their honor. It was an unprecedented feat for their Flow Sword Sect to win the first place of the Seven Mountains eting twice in a row.
Seeing how Zen stroked the Shade Phoenix Sword gently, Athemar was a little surprised. It was common for others to think so highly of an Other Shore Treasure. However, Zen was different; he owned a Grand Nature Treasure himself. Athemar didn't expect him to have attached such great importance to the sword.
After the rewards ceremony was over, Goran asked the disciples to leave the cave. On top of the mountain, a feast was prepared for them, which was supervised by Tacy and her companions.
Just as everyone began to walk back the sa way they ca from, Goran asked Zen and Elvinia to stay behind.
Elvinia frowned bitterly at this gesture. With her status, if she wanted to leave, Goran and the others wouldn't be able to stop her. Besides, she knew the reason why she was asked to stay.
However, she was also curious about how Zen had managed to master the Truth Enlightennt. Moreover, he seed to have grasped the technique better than her, so she stayed in the cave.
After the disciples left one after the other, only six people remained in the cave.
Athemar raised his hand and made so gestures. Those giant stones began to fly up from all directions of the cave. At the sa ti, all the runes on the stones started to glow, and soon the stones gathered around the tal mountain.
“The runes on the stones were made by with the help of the Imperial Sword Seal. But even I cannot compete with the two of you in making use of them. I'm really curious. Has your father made any breakthrough, Princess Elvinia?” Athemar asked as he leaned in closer.
Zen nodded secretly when he heard what Athemar had to say, which was similar to his thoughts.
“I don't know. I haven't seen my father in a long ti.” As she said this, she lowered her gaze to the ground as a hint of depression appeared on her calm face.
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