Degrade from Nobility to a Humble Slave

If it were up to Dick, Mack would be called a great talent as he was well accomplished in terms of magic arrays. The problem, however, was that he was also known to be a bloodthirsty butcher with a cruel propensity to kill.

The Cloud Sect valued its disciples' compliance with the sect's rules and submission to its strength without having any moral constraints on their behavior. Despite his dislike of the sect's doctrine, Dick felt powerless to change it. Instead of acting out against it, he would make sure to stick to his own principles when faced with a moral dilemma.

After some pondering, Dick thought to be grateful for Master Yu's mentorship in Blackrock Peak and it helped him make the choice to not directly refuse his Master's request. Nonetheless, he could still avoid a full-on fight with Zen by persuading him to surrender—he didn't want to hurt his rival so cruelly just to win like what Mack did.

A hint of surprise flashed in Zen's eyes as he never would have expected Dick to be such a righteous man. With a gentle nod and smile, he said, "The Cloud Sect is gathered with practitioners from all over the world. This is a place where the strong speak without any regard for moral conduct. Though many fellow disciples are talented and powerful, many are also as cruel and murderous as beasts. Compared to them, your righteousness is admirable. You're a diamond in the rough, truly. Still, I won't surrender to you!"

"But if you don't give in, I might have to hurt you after I defeat you…" Dick insisted.

Unable to refuse Master Yu's request, Dick promised him that he would teach Zen a lesson unless he surrendered beforehand.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. After all, we don't know who will come out the winner before we have a real fight. Besides, even if I start losing to you during the battle, you can pull your punches and leave chances for me to give in. I don't believe your master would blame you for that," Zen explained carefully.

Upon hearing his words, Dick replied with a smile. "Well, sounds like a good idea. Alright, let's get this over with."

With that, he pulled out an ink brush from his sleeve.

In the world of martial arts, there were many kinds of weapons. Only a few practitioners would choose a pen to specialize with, and among those who did, most of them used a "Judge's Brush"—a metal pen in the shape of a writing brush, similar to a piercer, and could be used to stab enemies.

As for Dick's weapon, it had a wooden stalk and a bundle of wolf hair at the tip—a real ink brush.

It was astonishing in Zen's eyes. Seeing a writing tool be used as a weapon was quite rare.

Still, Zen didn't dare lower his guard. After all, Dick was a top disciple of the Blackrock Peak—the second strongest peak among thirty-three peaks—and he was undoubtedly powerful, having defeated several people consecutively.

Being a strong contender himself, Zen understood that underestimating his rival would lead to deep regret.

After Dick pulled out his weapon, his black life vitality began flowing from his hands and drifting in the air around him. Gradually, it concentrated together and slowly transformed into a dense cloud of mist before turning into some mysterious black liquid.

When Dick held up his sleeve and dipped the brush into the matter, Zen realized that it was his ink.

His opponent just transformed his life vitality into a kind of magical ink.

Zen's brows shot up in surprise at Dick's special weapon. Although he couldn't tell what his rival was about to do with his tools, he prepped himself for his simple countermeasure—Zen would throw his punches.

not to make use of his life vitality unless defeating his rival with his fists turned out to be

Zoom!

the short distance until he was right in front of his rival. From either side, he readied his fists and

attack, Dick's expression remained calm in the face of Zen's aggressive motions and the

few who wanted to speculate took the risk of betting

Dick took a beating in the first round, many of the

him aggressively, Dick leisurely lifted his inked brush and pointed his brush at his opponent. As soon as

in the direction of Zen's left hand that read:

also

strength

his right fist was still on track, only a few feet away from Dick's

Dick's expression remained the same. In another swift motion, he dipped his brush in ink once again and wrote: "defend".

was much thicker and heavier in

Bang!

smashed his fist into the heavy word which seemed to have taken on a real, solid

hit the object, Zen's face visibly

bother to save his strength and employed ninety percent of his physical strength and all the power in his

"Again!"

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

word that acted as a shield. With another strike, Zen shattered it

stroke of his brush, another "defend" appeared in front of him. Continuously this time, he dipped his brush in the ink and wrote the "defend" word in the air a number of times until he

my 'defense song.' It can take on the damage five times before it breaks, no matter how powerful your attack is. As for that word which seals the strength in your left hand, it's my 'seal song.' It can stop you from exerting your strength or life vitality, so your left hand will remain useless for some time," Dick explained the defense he arranged.

left

enemies about his own skills and their functions because his enemies would be able to come up with countermeasures with the information given. It was because Dick

"Seal song?"

his left arm, Zen could feel how torpid and sluggish it had become. The "seal" word's influence seemed to have shut off the whole

The seal's effect will fade in two hours," Dick added slowly.

you certain?" Zen asked, raising

exerted the power of the Emerald Crystal in his left arm with his mind. Suddenly, the effective power against enchantments burst out and flooded into the word around his hand. After a few seconds, a red crack appeared on the word before it completely broke the word to pieces and vanished in thin air.