From Cellar to Throne: Zen's Quest for Immortality
Chapter 9 Crisis (Part One)

The next morning, to Zen's surprise, no guard appeared to dress and escort him to the Martial ArtsHall. Since the beating process was crucial to his refinement as a mysterious weapon, Zen dressedand walked to the Hall.

As he marched, Zen thought over the disturbing behavior of his two uncles and their sons. Theyseemed to be defying the rules of the Luo Clan. Especially Perrin and Andrew never cared about thefamily rules. Perhaps this was the reason why some servants in the Luo Clan had dared to becomearrogant and haughty.

However, even if others disregarded the rules set by the Luo Clan, it didn't mean Zen would ignorethe values he grew up with. It also did not mean that others should expect Zen to look the otherway if they openly flaunted the Luo Clan's rules. He was not pedantic, but Zen did have morals andvalues that he respected.

When Zen reached the Hall, he noticed that the atmosphere was somewhat different from usual

By now word had spread that Zen had beaten Darren and Grey the previous day.

Two years ago, Zen had become a convicted person after false allegations were levied against himand his family. He then became a slave for the Luo Clan. Like other convicted slaves, he was made towork as a human punchbag in the Martial Arts Hall. He always stayed indifferent to violence. Nomatter how much the Luo children attacked and beat him, he endured, let go of his anger, andremained quiet, as if he were a docile sheep.

People had forgotten that Zen was the young master of the Luo Clan. They had also forgotten hisstrength. He was one of the youngest to reach the flesh refining level.

After the previous day's incident, the children realized that Zen would not always tolerate everythingthat came his way. The children could assault him without repercussion as they were members ofthe Luo Clan.

Other people who were not part of the Clan were not going to get away with treating Zen howeverthey chose.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The power of Melvin's fist passed from Zen's chest to his inner flesh. Zen fell to the floor andthrashed in agony until the warmth began flowing through his body. As this continued, Zen felt theimpurities in his bones being refined, like reeling silk from cocoons.

Each punch purified his bones. With an increase in his bone strength, Zen could feel that he wasgetting tougher.

Melvin's punches were like a Magical Pill for Zen's body. The joy of this qualitative change could notbe described with words. After each punch, Zen remembered to feign being in agony. Pain showedon his face, but secretly, he rejoiced in the refinement that his body was undergoing. It took all ofhis will power to stop from shouting 'let your fists hit me more violently!"

Zen smiled as the guards went to refill the copper pot. The copper pot was used to keep track oftime. The pot had a small opening from which water would trickle out. It took an hour for the pot toget empty. Zen had been eagerly counting how many times the guards had refilled it. Since the pothad been refilled three times, it meant that three hours had passed.

The thought brought joy to Zen as it meant that the Luo servants would be bringing food, both forthe children and their punchbags. Usually, Zen like all other punchbags was unhappy as the Luochildren were served delicious delicacies, while the punchbags got cold water and hard bread.

This time, however, Zen was too hungry to care about the food. After three hours of refining andpracticing, he was very starving. Since the refinement process used a lot of physical energy, hedidn't care that the food was unpalatable. Zen grabbed the bread and was about to stuff it into hismouth when he was interrupted.

A porcelain basin full of exquisite and fragrant meat suddenly appeared in front of Zen.

When he looked up, Zen was surprised to see that Melvin was standing before him. "Let's eattogether,” Melvin said as he handed his rice bowl to Zen.

Instead of refusing, Zen smiled gratefully and grabbed a handful of meat.

"You beat Grey. Young Master Andrew will get you into trouble for that,” Melvin whispered.

Zen gobbled his food. Since he was a punchbag, he didn't get good food. It had been a while sinceanyone offered him delicious meat. While chewing, Zen nodded. He knew that Melvin was simplyreminding him of what was going to happen.

After all, he was the former young master of the Luo Clan, and so he knew these rules better thananyone else.000000000000000