Cailen couldn't hide the nervousness in his face. Noticing his expression, Zen gave him a slight, soothing smile. “This is a reward from Master Goran,” he said lightly.
“A—a reward?”
Cailen stamred. Instead of being reassured, his doubts intensified. Even Gant looked disbelieving.
Although the Seven Mountains eting had been a heated and intense event, only warriors of the mountains belonging to the Oneness Sky Palace were allowed to attend. Most of the people in Dragon City simply weren't qualified to know anything about the eting.
So while Gant and Cailen had both heard of the Seven Mountains eting, neither of them was familiar with what happened during the event. They didn't know who won first place.
Naturally, they didn't believe that Goran would just give Zen a premium Other Shore Treasure.
“A premium Other Shore Treasure is precious, even to soone like Master Goran. Why should he give it to you?” asked Cailen in a bewildered tone.
Dozens of ideas crossed his mind one after the other.
The Shade Stone was solid and all but indestructible. Indeed, across the entire Bloom Divine Province, no one but the Su Clan had the ability to lt the stone and remake it into a weapon. If Zen had gotten this sword in an unethical way, he could only ask the Su Clan for help.
Cailen could help Zen. But if his suspicion was true and Goran knew about it, how could the Su Clan be able to survive the consequences?
Zen could tell from their anxious expressions what they were worried about. He smiled again and said, “I won the championship during the Seven Mountains eting. This sword is the reward given to by Goran for my victory. Do you doubt my word?”
“You won first place at Seven Mountains eting?” Cailen said incredulously, his eyes opening wide.
Gant opened and closed his mouth like a fish, looking astonished. “Flag Master, you participated in the Seven Mountains eting? And won?”
So mbers of the Su Clan were also disciples of the Oneness Sky Palace, but none of them had been qualified to participate in the Seven Mountains eting.
Cailen and Gant were amazed. Zen had been a disciple of the palace for a much shorter period of ti compared to the Su Clan mbers, but now he had been invited to the Seven Mountains eting, and he had even won first place! It was incredible.
“My master was well qualified not only to attend the Seven Mountains eting, but to win first place against everyone else. Why are you so surprised?” Trish interjected, grinning.
Cailen coughed to cover his awkwardness.
He gazed at Zen and felt that he had to revise his entire opinion of him.
However, he could not quell the last tiny shred of doubt in his mind. He believed Zen was much more powerful than himself, but these claims were all just based on Zen's words. He could have planned an elaborate lie in advance.
However, Zen's next words instantly banished all his doubts.
“In addition to this Shade Phoenix Sword, I also have a hamr made from the Shade Stone. I'm hoping you can help lt these two treasures,” Zen said, showing them the hamr. He gave them a pleading look.
“So... you have another treasure made from the Shade Stone? You have two in your possession?”
“Isn't it said that there's only one treasure made from the Shade Stone in the entire Bloom Divine Province?”
Cailen and Gant stared at the precious hamr Zen had brought to them. They could tell that the hamr had been forged poorly, yet what Zen said was true: it was made from the Shade Stone.
“It was Master Hai who gave this hamr. I want to accumulate more, but unfortunately I was only able to obtain two such treasures in this brief period of ti,” Zen said ruefully, shaking his head.
'Only two? Only?'
Cailen could see that Zen was serious, and he almost felt like crying. He recalled the long, hard work the Su Clan had done in order to forge a single weapon from the stone, the Shade Phoenix Sword. What Zen said made it sound so easy to get such a weapon.
Then sothing else occurred to him.
“Maybe it would be fine to just lt this hamr to form a new Other Shore Treasure. After all, the Shade Phoenix Sword is already a top-tier weapon. You can't imagine the hours of labor spent into crafting that. It's too precious to destroy,” Cailen said, hoping to persuade Zen.
What he didn't know was that Zen didn't need either of these two weapons at all. Zen only wanted the Shade Stones.
Zen said firmly, “I'm not here to ask you for help with making new weapons. I only need you to help lt these two treasures.”
“lt? Do you an to destroy them and turn them into Shade Stone liquid?” Cailen asked, finally understanding Zen's plan.
“Yes. The only way to do that is by using your Nine Edges Weapon Refining Array,” Zen replied.
Cailen took a deep breath.
This was probably the strangest request that he had ever heard.
Zen only wanted these weapons lted. He didn't need them to be improved or transford. Just lted.
Cailen wondered why Zen wanted the Shade Stone liquid. Was he going to drink it?
He rembered the Shade Stone liquid he had thrown to Zen in the Mountain Viewing Province. But of course he couldn't figure out the connection between Shade Stone and his body.
“What are you going to do with the Shade Stone after lting it?” Cailen asked cautiously.
“I'm afraid I can't answer that right now,” Zen said politely.
He had decided not to share with others his practice of using the Shade Stone liquid. Moreover, he did not want to invite further questions. If he explained his motives to Cailen, then Cailen would ask him about the Shade Stone liquid in the Mountain Viewing Province.
Cailen sighed. He explained to Zen, “I will try to help you, but I can't set the Nine Edges Weapon Refining Array on my own. I must speak with the other mbers of my clan and see what they decide.”
“Before that, Flag Master, you can stay here tonight,” Gant offered quickly.
Zen wasn't in a hurry. He accepted Gant's invitation and stayed at the Su Clan's house that night.
anwhile, that sa evening, Cailen gathered several mbers of the clan and explained Zen's request to them.
When they heard what Zen wanted, several people furrowed their brows and exchanged solemn glances. Gant's uncles, in particular, looked quite severe.
“Of course, we respect the talents of Zen. It's very impressive how he has already participated in the Seven Mountains eting after being in the mountain for less than half a year.”
“My son Nevyn has been in the mountain for thirteen years. He is still not qualified to be invited!”
“We don't know what Zen plans to do with the Shade Stone liquid. He is only telling us one part of the story. It's better not to get involved with this!”
As everyone spoke up, it beca evident that the Su Clan was united—they did not want to grant Zen's request.
Cailen's initial misgivings resurfaced at the vehent refusal of his fellow clan mbers. He wondered anxiously if he should tell Zen his request had been turned down.
Raphael sat in a corner of the room and listened to the others talk. When there was a lull in the discussion, he took the opportunity to speak. He looked around at everyone and said, “The Ripple Pavilion competition is about to begin. Nevyn, Irving, and Osrid will be returning in a few days. They must know about the Seven Mountains eting. Why don't we just ask them about it when they arrive?”
Although Cailen had invited him to join the discussion, Raphael held a low position in the Su Clan. Most of the ti, no one took anything Raphael said seriously.
But Cailen looked interested. He scratched his head, thinking, 'That's true, I didn't think of that...'
The next day, Cailen went to Zen and asked him if he could wait for a little while. Cailen told him he needed a few days to prepare the Nine Edges Weapon Refining Array.
Zen agreed. He could afford to be patient, and he knew that lting the Shade Stone would be a long and slow process.
While Zen waited, Gant took him and Trish to see the best places in Su City. They enjoyed their impromptu tour very much, although they were also eager to get updates from Cailen.
Three days later, the transmission array located in the northern area of the Dragon City beca very busy.
During the first days of May, every year, the disciples of the great clans in the Bloom Divine Province returned ho.
So would the disciples of the seven mountains.
Marco knew his arrival in the Clear Lake would be unexpected. Though so mbers of Marco's clan were still in Clear Lake, their main line had its roots in the Oneness Sky Palace. Those who remained in Clear Lake were from the insignificant branches of the clan.
Marco had only visited Clear Lake once, when he was young. When he ca to visit this ti, all the Xu Clan's branches in the city gathered to give him a proper greeting.
It was a grand scene, but Marco did not seem to be enjoying the attention. His face was cold as frost. His three gloomy guards were equally stone-faced.
He wasn't here for the Ripple Pavilion competition.
In the wake of his humiliating defeat in the Flow Sword Sect, Marco began regretting the impulse that had driven him there. Of course, Zen was a mber of the Flow Sword Sect now and they would stand united against outsiders. It had been very foolish of him to go to that sect to make trouble for Zen.
Yet, upon discovering that Zen was also at Clear Lake, all the old resentnt flared up again. He realized that fate had given him another opportunity, one he couldn't pass up.
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