Treasure Hunting

Just then, a tightly clenched fist suddenly appeared from the smoke and dust that had not settled down, and went for Gary's
chest. Then, a violent increase in the martial energy abruptly broke through the smoke and shot out.
Startled, Gary immediately gathered his martial energy to protect himself against the attack. But the fist, which was more
powerful than his, managed to break through his defense and hit his chest.
Bang!
He was thrown off balance in a second, and fell to the battle ring, unable to stand up.
When the Welkin Sect's members, including the sect leader and the stewards, saw that, they could not believe their eyes.
That was when a figure slowly stood up from the dust. It was none other than Zachary. Everyone present could see that his eyes
emitted a domineering aura, unlike anything else they had seen. Besides, the aura was blazing like a raging fire. Furthermore, a
white bracer was flickering with a faint light on his wrist.
"He... He defeated Gary with only one move!"
"No way! Did I make a mistake? A loser defeated Gary..."
"Gary could not take that fist. Does that mean Zachary is stronger than a warrior at the medium stage of Earth Level?"
Immediately, the spectators started saying all kinds of things. But most of all, they were suspicious regarding what they had
seen, and broke out in an uproar.
'Did he just defeat Gary?' Elva opened her mouth slightly.
'Is that an OH weapon on his wrist?' Sara also noticed the Holy Bone Bracer Zachary was holding.
"Gary..." Seeing his defeated disciple, Albert, Gary's master, stood up and glared at Zachary, angrily.
"Master Lewis, how did Zachary manage to hit such a powerful punch, and that too with so much martial energy?" Herman said,
looking solemn.
The other stewards also turned around to look at Lewis.

"Has he already recovered from his broken meridians? But it should have been impossible for him to regain his health by himself.
And even if he has recovered, defeating Gary with one move should not have been possible. What the hell is going on?" Lewis
was also confused on seeing what had just happened.
Soon, two disciples reached the scene to treat Gary's wounds. On taking a closer look, they found that four of Gary's ribs were
broken and he was comatose. There was no way he could fight again.
It was obvious that Zachary was the winner.
Zachary's victory had even caused a sensation in the entire sect. No one could believe that a loser could defeat Gary, a warrior
at the medium stage of Earth Level, in one stroke, and reach the battle's final round.
Since Zachary had used the martial energy, he was called to the Heavenly Martial Hall.
Lewis, Sara, and the sect's stewards were sitting in their seats on one side, watching a calm and composed Zachary, who was
standing in front of them, on the other side.
"Zachary, do you have anything to explain to us?" Lewis asked purposefully.
"Master Lewis, are you talking about my meridians' recovery? Didn't I say that? Alas! My poor memory. In fact, three days ago,
my meridians recovered inexplicably. Perhaps the fourth-grade therapeutic pill that Master Sara gave me worked very well,"
Zachary responded, as if he had just thought of something. In fact, he had already planned to use Sara as an excuse.
"A fourth-grade therapeutic pill?" When Lewis and the stewards heard Zachary say that, they were surprised and looked at Sara.
It was apparent from their looks that they did not expect her to give Zachary a fourth-grade therapeutic pill.
"I did give him a fourth-grade therapeutic pill," Sara replied firmly.
"You were badly injured, and you shouldn't have been able to recover in such a short time. It was impossible even for a fourth-
grade therapeutic pill to heal you," said Lewis. He still could not believe what Zachary had said. According to him, what Zachary
had said was unbelievable, as his injuries had been so severe that even God would not have been able to cure them.
"Did you feign your injuries just to avoid being punished?" Albert asked. He did not trust Zachary and was the first to voice his
suspicion, since Gary, whom Zachary had defeated, was his personal disciple.
"Master Albert, do you mean that Master Lewis and several other stewards were also lying? They have personally checked my
injuries," Zachary replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Albert was speechless.
"I do not think you can defeat Gary with one move, given your strength, even if your meridians have recovered," Herman
doubted.
"How do I know? Maybe he is weak. I just gave him a punch," Zachary answered, stretching out his hands casually.
"You must be hiding something!" Hearing this, Albert could not help slapping the table and getting up. He was looking furious.
"Albert, calm down! Now that Zachary has beaten Gary in front of so many people, I do not think that he could have played any
tricks. Wouldn't the spectators and we have detected it, had he done it? Besides, Master Sara was also there. She did not notice
anything wrong, either," Lewis said calmly.
After hearing what Lewis said, the stewards also turned to look at Sara. Since she was the invigilator, she should have known, if
there was something wrong, and pointed it out.
"There was no problem." At this moment, Sara shook her head.
"But..." Albert wanted to say something more, but Sara's face suddenly turned dark.
"Are you doubting my judgment?" she questioned.
Seeing Sara's angry expression, Albert swallowed his anger, as he had no evidence, and he dared not offend her.
Seeing Sara's firm attitude, the stewards and Lewis exchanged glances. They shared the feeling that she seemed to be
protecting Zachary. That was not the first time she had treated Zachary in a special way. They remembered that during the
intermediary contest, she had seemed partial toward him.
"In fact, I think highly of him," Sara added suddenly.
The stewards and Lewis were at a loss for words, and could not understand why Sara said so.
"All right, Zachary, you may leave now." Seeing that neither he nor anyone else had anything to ask Zachary, Lewis ordered him
to leave, as he waved his hand.
Before leaving the Heavenly Martial Hall, Zachary stole a glance at Sara.

"If there's nothing else, I will leave now." Saying that Sara too got up and left.
"Master Lewis, there must be something wrong with Zachary. His meridians couldn't have healed so fast," Albert said, the instant
Sara left.
"That's right! It is so weird! Maybe Zachary has cultivated some strange cultivation method to make his meridians heal quickly. In
case he has done that, I am sure he will go astray!" Herman added.
"No matter what caused his meridians to heal so quickly, his performance was there for everyone to see. Since his meridians
have recovered, his previous performance then, makes sense. If you are all okay with it, let us wait and see the last battle. Then
everything will be clear!" Lewis went on in a serious voice, barely smiling.
The stewards were all confused.