From Cellar to Throne: Zen's Quest for Immortality

Chapter 22 Refining The Body With Fire (Part Two)

Add to that, the fact that there was still a considerable gap between how far along he'd progressed next Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

to what Evil Lan and Bryson could do. His growth had been too slow.

Fate could be a cruel mistress! It was only recently, Zen had finally gotten the chance to hone his skills,

practice and strengthen himself, and he was hopeful that he could go so much further, becoming more

powerful. Now, he was at the mercy of Evil Lan, and his situation was desperate.

While Zen bemoaned his predicament, Evil Lan was busy in the cave. Whatever he was preparing, it

took a long time and was loud. First, Evil Lan was in the corner, hammering away, and then he

disappeared into the weapon refining furnace carrying some object. Zen couldn't see what he was

doing in there. After a while, Evil Lan came out, sat in front of the stove in an odd pose and clapped his

hands.

As Evil Lan sat clapping, the dark weapon refining furnace was lit up. Complex yet elegant runes

appeared one after another, as though blooming along the surface of the furnace wall, emitting a

dazzling red glow, and lighting up the entire cave.

Hanging, skewered by spears on the walls, living creatures contorted in pain. Their anguished screams

filled the room as their blood flowed along the spikes, while it was all sucked into the weapon refining

furnace.

The blood flowed along the currents on the weapon refining furnace wall and filled the fragments,

making the red light more vivid and fascinating.

After he fired up the furnace, Evil Lan picked up a sword. The black and white sword in Evil Lan's

hands must be the Hell Fire Sword which was a top grade of the mysterious weapon.

Evil Lan held the Hell Fire Sword for a while, gazing with pride and tenderness like the cold metal

object were a son. His eyes softened, and his stance relaxed as he stroked it as though he were

touching a lover. Watching the scene unnoticed from the off to the side, Zen observed Evil Lan's

reaction. It startled Zen to see such fondness on such an evil face. Zen's heart lurched, and he had an

unshakable feeling that trouble lay ahead. Evil Lan was a madman.

After taking his time polishing the mysterious weapon, Evil Lan turned his head toward Zen. There was

a peculiar smile on his face, and he gave Zen an odd look. He walked over, and as he pulled Zen out of

the cage, he said," You should feel honored to be integrated into my Hell Fire Sword."

Realizing it was senseless to respond to this madman, Evil Lan, Zen just shook his head slowly and

followed his insane captor. Given how much more powerful Evil Lan was, Zen thought of himself as

unlucky. Seeing no way out, Zen sighed thinking that soon he would be consumed by the fire until

nothing but ashes remained. It was a pity that his hatred had not been reported, and he was not even

capable of revenge. Zen was helpless to anything and felt resentment at the injustice of God. Damn,

his weak skills!

At least he wouldn't make it easy for Evil Lan, who had to drag Zen the entire way. They stopped in

front of the weapon refining furnace, and Evil Lan repositioned himself before forcing Zen into the

furnace.

Within the bowels of the refinery, the hearth was dark; all Zen could see were remnants burning in the

fire, and a table sitting in the center of the furnace.

Coming in behind Zen, Evil Lan placed his Hell Fire Sword on the table, turned, giving Zen a ruthless

smile before leaving.

When Evil Lan reached the mouth of the furnace, he stopped suddenly as though he'd forgotten

something. He turned back, and with a flick of his fingers, some yellow powder appeared and covered

Zen.

As Zen breathed in, he inhaled a small amount of the fragrant yellow powder, and even though it was a

tiny portion, it made Zen feel weak all over. He recognized the dust as the Bone-smashing Powder with

Ten Flavors. This was a truly vile drug that overpowered a victim paralyzing tendons, muscles, and

bones in a short time, resulting in weak limbs.

Rather than give up and be burned alive, Zen had decided that at the chance, he would steal the Hell

Fire Sword, smash the weapons refining furnace and do all he could to defeat Evil Lan. 'Damn it all to

hell!' he thought, as he watched his plan go up in smoke, all because of the damned Bone-smashing

Powder with Ten Flavors. Zen felt like his body turning weak, soft and worse, it affected his internal life

energy, leaving him unable to lift a finger.

'Is this it? Does my life end here?

Once a predator, now the prey. I have only myself to blame for being this weak! My flaw was I let

myself be bullied, and now I can't even reconcile myself with events.'

He gritted his teeth, and a desperate look was on his face. In the midst of his thoughts, a flame burst up

in the middle of the weapons refining furnace.

The bright, yellow flames reminded Zen of a fiery yellow lotus, and Zen realized they must be the fire of

Evil Lan.

The fire spread almost instantly when it appeared, filling the space of the weapon refining furnace. Zen

felt the heat on his face, and quickly realized he was enveloped in the flames.

"Ss-izz-zle!"

He heard the sound as his clothes ignited, and instantly burned to ashes.

As the flames engulfed his flesh, he felt the heat, and as he began to sweat, Zen shut his eyes, bit

down preparing for pain. After what felt like a long time, he didn't feel any pain and wondered, 'What's

going on?

That's strange!' There was a slight amount of heat, not even enough to make him feel more than minor

discomfort.