At that moment, several figures appeared and surrounded Zachary.
"You are lucky enough to escape from the fire. You think you are somebody with double martial speed? Bah!" A vicious voice was heard.
"Benjamin, it's you! You burned my treehouse. Are you starting a fight?" Zachary said through gritted teeth.
There were eight Welkin Sect's disciples, with Benjamin as their leader. Most of them was at the first grade or second grade of Mortal Level, and some were even at the third grade. It was clear that they were well prepared and way better than novices.
"Guys, Bruce gave his order and asked you to teach this bastard a lesson. If you do as he ordered, I am sure that he will recommend all of you to the stewards. There is a big possibility that they will take you as their personal disciples," Benjamin said in an encouraging manner to the disciples around him.
Hearing his words, the disciples looked excited, and it was clear that they had already bitten the bait. That was because they only had the original martial speed and were not that powerful. It would be so lucky for them to become any steward's personal disciples. Were that to happen, they would make significant progress.
Benjamin's false words could only deceive those disciples at a low cultivation level, while the others at a high level would not believe a single word of what he had just said. Only a talented disciple was able to became a steward's personal disciple.
Thus, except for those two disciples at the third grade, the disciples at the first and second grade rushed to Zachary, screaming and roaring before they had the time to mull over Benjamin's words and make a proper decision.
"He is no better than a disciple at the first grade of Mortal Level. I don't believe that he stands a chance against these disciples." Benjamin was plotting something. He could have killed Zachary by himself, and there was no need to encourage others to fight for him. However, he did not want to get into any trouble if the fight became ugly. Therefore, the best way for him was to incite some snobbish disciples to teach Zachary a lesson.
"Fuck off!" Zachary was very annoyed by those silly lads who had already come closer to him. Just when they enclosed him from all sides, Zachary's body emitted a dazzling purple light.
Instantaneously, three first-grade disciples lost their balance, staggered, and were sent a few steps back.
"This cannot be true," Benjamin murmured, shocked by what just happened. Nobody would have believed that Zachary was capable of pushing three first-grade disciples back in a heartbeat, until now.
Nevertheless, the other two second-grade disciples were better, and firmly stood their ground. The next moment, they threw their bodies upon Zachary, employed two moves, and attacked him fiercely.
Zachary was quick and lithe, and moving quickly, he averted their attacks in the blink of an eye. Zachary's easy dodge surprised the two second-grade disciples. They had never considered him as a serious and competent opponent. As far as they were concerned, he was as insignificant as a disciple at the first grade of Mortal Level.
But the fight had to continue. The two second-grade disciples, together with three first-grade disciples, exerted all their might to attack Zachary. However, no matter how hard they tried, they could not defeat him.
Deep down in his heart, Zachary knew that his strength would not be able to deal with the five disciples. Therefore, to play safe, he pretended to look confident, smirked coldly, and went all out. In that time, the purple light got brighter, and he made a breakthrough to the second grade of Mortal Level.
"What? He has just made a breakthrough and reached the second grade of Mortal Level! How did he accomplish that so quickly?" Benjamin and other disciples couldn't believe their eyes.
In no time, Zachary had wounded two first-grade disciples. Seeing how he had hurt them, the remaining disciples were petrified. They looked at one another, hesitated, and did not da
re to even take one step forward.
"Boys, move your fingers, or you can trust me to beat the shit out of you," Zachary mocked. From his vantage point, he looked cool, and did not care about danger, for he was ready to do anything to anybody who dared to threaten his safety.
"Don't be afraid of this bastard. Charge together and hack him to death. If you back down, Bruce will never forgive you." When Benjamin saw Zachary easily defeating the five disciples, he knew that he had mistakenly underestimated him. But he had to finish what he had started, and Zachary had to be killed. Showing no mercy, he asked two disciples at the third grade of Mortal Level to join the fight.
The two third-grade followers charged at Zachary, and before long, Zachary found it hard to defend himself. He had already consumed a great deal of martial energy as well as physical energy in his fight with the previous disciples. Now, the situation had become really horrific for him.
Sure enough, in less than half an hour, Zachary had made mistakes.
Boom!
Two effective moves from the two disciples broke the ground where Zachary was standing into particles of fine dust. The explosion was so potent that it had a far-ranging impact on a vast expanse of land. Zachary was standing there weakly, with blood dripping from his mouth's corners.
"Kid, now you know who's the boss here, don't you?" Seeing Zachary weak and defeated, Benjamin laughed loudly.
Following up on their victory, the two third-grade disciples acted more aggressively, and planned to drive Zachary into a corner. Zachary hardened his heart, and made the purple light brighter, before he was injured even more. He knew that that was his last chance to win and survive the battle.
Meanwhile, several words from the God-slaying Formula were flashing in his mind: To slay God, hell would open a door for you to enter.
Once Zachary had recalled the words, he seemed to have suddenly understood something. After that, roaring with anger and anguish, he released all this martial energy. Voila! All his pores opened and fervently started absorbing energy from between heaven and earth.
Before long, the purple light flashed more brilliantly. He could feel that his aura had changed dramatically. Eventually, he made another breakthrough and reached the third grade of Mortal Level.
"The third grade of Mortal Level? You have got to be kidding me!" Benjamin and the other disciples were stunned by what was unfolding before their eyes. They could not believe that Zachary, of all the people, could somehow reach third grade of Mortal Level before they could either defeat him or destroy him.
However, he was a different person now—it seemed that he had been reborn! Even the color of his eyes had changed. They were an intense and deep purple, dazzlingly weird and terrifying in the dark.
"Although you have somehow succeeded in wounding me, I should thank all of you. Without your help, I would not have made another breakthrough so quickly." Zachary stared hard at Austin and the other disciples. He had developed a vision so penetrating that he could look into their hearts and minds and read their thoughts.
"Go! Finish off this bastard. You let him survive today and he surely will make a lot of trouble for all of you later!" Exasperated, Benjamin screamed hoarsely.
All the disciples threw themselves towards Zachary, on hearing his order.
But that did not frighten Zachary, especially now that he had reached the third level and had mastered much more strength. When he saw them coming toward him, he built his martial energy quickly.
Boom!
Before anyone knew what was happening, several columns of martial energy appeared from nowhere, collided with one another and wreaked havoc in the surrounding area, creating an enormous dust cloud.
When the dust cleared, all of the disciples, including the third-grade ones, were lying on the ground, struggling to breathe, screaming and yelling for help. Zachary stood firm and looked amazed by what he had done.