From Cellar to Throne: Zen's Quest for Immortality novel Chapter 3

Zen didn't care about being relegated to a slave, or being a punchbag for children of the Luo Clan, or even losing the Magical Pill, which he was robbed of by Perrin.

His biggest weakness was his sister, Yan Luo!

Yan Luo was the only hope for the oldest branch of the Luo family. Extraordinarily talented, she left home at the age of thirteen when Cloud Sect selected her as a disciple. She survived the coup within the Luo Clan for this reason.

In the past two years, Zen, as a slave, was unable to learn anything about his sister's whereabouts. Now that Perrin had commented about Yan's current situation, Zen found himself feeling anxious about her well-being.

Lost in thoughts of his sister, Zen was vulnerable and took several devastating blows from the Luo children. He finally gained control of his mind after several whacks.

In the evening, Zen returned to the cellar. He limped as excruciating pain flooded through his body.

"This drug will help you recover!" The steward for the Luo Clan threw the drug at Zen before turning to leave.

After all, human punchbags were not made of steel. If they didn't get the wound healing medicines, they would die from internal injuries after a few days. So the steward distributed drugs to the slaves to help them recover as soon as possible.

However, these healing drugs were not very effective.

Zen opened the paper bag and was astonished to see only one pill inside. "Darren Fang! Why do I only have one pill today?" Zen asked.

"You should be grateful for what you have now. What's the issue? Is it not enough for you?" The steward mocked.

"It is stipulated that three healing pills be distributed to each slave every day. But now there is only one. Obviously, you are embezzling the pills. It's a felony to embezzle from the Luo family. How dare you do that, Darren Fang? Aren't you afraid of death?" Zen shouted as he fixed his eyes on Darren Fang.

"Hey! Of course, I am afraid of death, but I'm not afraid of you. You are just a slave. What can you do? You want to rebel? I hate your attitude. Do you still think of yourself as the young master? Look in the mirror and face your reality, Zen. Ha ha ha!" Darren didn't quite like Zen and took this opportunity to inflict insult on the former young master.

After hearing these words, Zen calmed down instead of getting angry. Zen composed himself before glaring at Darren Fang. He intended to convey his hate through his clear eyes, unflinching glare, and expressionless face.

The effect was achieved as Darren Fang felt uncomfortable when he saw Zen's reaction. When he noted the fire dancing in Zen's eyes, he got scared. Instead of backing off, Darren walked up to Zen and poked Zen's chest as he said, "What are you staring at? You want a piece of me? Do you think you can take me?"

Zen emitted an intense power from his chest all of a sudden. Darren's body trembled as the power spread throughout his whole body. It wasn't long before Darren Fang's knees gave way and he staggered before falling to the ground.

"You ... You ... you are a slave. Do you want to rebel?" Darren Fang stood up and tried to be authoritative. However, his panicked expression conveyed his true feelings.

Zen took two steps forward, cracked his knuckles, and snapped back, "A steward who isn't even a member of the Luo Clan dares to be so arrogant? Do you think I will not beat you?"

Darren Fang did not want to stay in this situation any longer. So he turned and fled as soon as possible. He glared at Zen as soon as the cellar's iron gate snapped close.

"Villainous behavior!" "Villainous behavior?" Zen sneered as he shook his head. He didn't feel as though the steward was worth his time.

He sat down quietly, took out the fire starter to ignite the oil lamp, and turned a few pages of the book hastily. Zen was frustrated as he couldn't focus. His thoughts kept drifting back to his sister, Yan and what Perrin had said.

'I cannot stay here anymore.' Zen frowned as he thought about his dilemma. 'I have just reached the flesh refining level. It will be hard for me to leave this cellar, let alone go to Cloud Sect to rescue Yan.'

Zen paced in the small cellar. His chest tightened and his heart beat quickened. He looked like a restless beast trying to find a way out.

Over the past two years, Zen had come to accept his fate. He had not been motivated to think of alternatives. As time passed, he felt stripped of his talent and confidence.

This eventually led to complete disbelief in his powers. Zen stood in the center of the room rationalizing with himself. 'I'm a slave now. Years of being forced to be the human punchbag for children in the Luo Clan has weakened me. What's worse is that my daily injuries have prevented me from practicing when I return to the cellar. But if I stay here, I will be killed by one of these children sooner or later. I need to take drastic measures.'

The more he thought about it, the more anxious Zen became. He cast his gaze toward the table where the dreadful book, Heavenly Principles lay quietly.

"This damn book is nothing but a bunch of life theories. And so far, none have worked out for my father, nor me. Reading it does me no good. Why should I keep reading it?" Anger and helplessness consumed Zen. He stomped toward the book, grabbed it from the table, and held it over the lamp till it began to sizzle and crackle.

A smile grew on Zen's lips as the book was ignited.

However, a moment later, Zen regretted his action. He whispered in despair, "Zen, Zen, why did you bother to get angry at a book?" Looking at the burning book, Zen regretted, complaining, "This book teaches people to be good. It tells people what is shameful and wrong, as well as what is wise and right. The book cannot be blamed for adversities. You should blame yourself for not being strong enough, for being like a little lamb that is easily controlled by others."

Unfortunately, by then the book had become a pile of ashes.

Suddenly, Zen saw a ray of golden light flash from the ashes. For a moment, Zen was dumbstruck.

"What is that?"

Zen pushed the ashes aside, and picked up the small piece of gold that had emitted the ray of light. Zen studied the thin gold foil.

He hadn't come across this gold foil when he was reading this book. Presumably it had been hidden in the inner-layer of the book.

'What is the use of a piece of gold foil?

For a great family like the Luo Clan, gold is as worthless as clay.'

However, when Zen focused on the gold, a strange vision appeared!

The gold foil was engraved with countless words, shaped like tadpoles. Zen didn't understand any of them.

As his eyes swept across the gold foil, it disintegrated in his hands. Thousands of small pieces of gold, each carrying a word came flying toward him.

Face, eyes, neck, arms, body, legs ...

Every part of Zen's body was covered by these small gold fragments.