《Nobilis of War》 Chapter 1 The Assimilation Skill Chapter 1 The Assimtion Skill Great significance was given to martial arts cultivation in the Lotnn Continent. It was, thus, natural that the higher a person''s innate talent in martial arts, the more respect they earned. ording to one''s talent for martial arts, people could be graded at the Heaven Degree, the Earth Degree, the ck Degree, and the Yellow Degree. In each of these degrees, people were ranked from level one to level nine based on their aptitude level. It was said that if someone reached the Heaven Degree, centuries of cultivation would turn him or her into the lord of martial arts, the legendary being. But the fact was that ny-nine percent of people in this continent only had the talent of the Ordinary Degree, which was inferior to level one of the Yellow Degree. In Valmar, Doriath. "Have you heard the news? The chief of Chu n has been killed. It''s shocking!" "Yeah! It''s fucking unbelievable! I guess there is still an unknown strong presence in the world. I heard that it took only one attack from a de to kill the chief. Can you believe this? He''s a cultivator of the Spirit Realm! Millions of cultivators practice desperately to reach his level, and yet, he died so easily." "The chief is gone now, but his property and rare books on martial arts didn''t go with him. The Chu n must be in chaos." ... "Please! Please don''t kill me!" Darren Chu cried out as he woke from his dream. When he looked around, Darren Chu saw that he was in a woodshed. His nightmare had left him soaked to the skin in sweat. Darren Chu was the seventh son of Gavin Chu, the chief of the Chu n. The Chu n was ranked topmost among the martial arts ns in Valmar. A masked man in ck had killed Gavin Chu, the legendary cultivator, three days ago. The whole country had been shocked by the news of Gavin Chu''s death. Three dayster, infighting began and the Chu n was in mayhem and disorder. Darren Chu, the son of the chief, had only the Ordinary Degree. Everyone thought of him as a loser. That was why he became the first target for the members of the Chu n. In such a big n, it was easier to target the weakest member. Although Darren promised his abductors that he would give up his right of inheritance several times, they didn''t release him. "Am I still alive?" Darren remembered that his brother, the sixth son of Gavin, tried to provoke him with any excuse he could find. No matter how tolerant Darren was towards his brother''s insults, his brother had never stopped. Instead, he kept pushing Darren into a corner. In the end, he fabricated an excuse to kill Darren. He used Darren of neglecting his filial duties because of his mediocre talent for martial arts. At the critical moment, a fireball fell from the sky and hit Darren on the head. His brother assumed that the fireball had killed Darren, and so, he stopped attacking. What he didn''t know was that Darren had narrowly escaped because of the fireball. "Damn it!" Darren threw a hard fist on the ground as he thought of everything that had transpired between him and his brother. "Wait!" Despite his anger, Darren remembered the pain he felt when the fireball struck his head. Shortly after, the world had turned dark as Darren lost consciousness. ''Why am I still alive?'' Darren wondered. When Darren stroked his forehead, he felt the scab from the injury after being hit by the fireball. He was surprised when he didn''t feel any pain. "That''s so strange! Why doesn''t it hurt? And the fireball, what''s that?" As Darren was racking his brains for a usible exnation, he heard barking outside the door. In the next instant, he heard people speaking. "Oh, it''s Miss Belle! I knew it. You must be here to guard the loser''s corpse." "Miss Belle, the loser and you must have umted lots of treasures over the years, right? Mr. Evan has ordered us to reim all the property you own. You''d better hand them to us quickly. Otherwise, your brother''s body will be fed to the dogs. These bad guys have been hungry for many days. Be quick! Do you want your brother''s corpse to turn into chops?" Belle Chu, who was only thirteen years old, paled when she saw the vicious dogs. She had been made to stand outside the woodshed, where her brother''s body had been stored. She was terrified as she knew that these dogs had evolved from a kind of ferocious beast. Darren''s death had struck Belle Chu a significant blow. And now, she had to ept the possibility that she would lose her brother''s corpse. "My brother is dead! Why don''t you leave him be? Why?" Tears poured down her cheeks. Belle Chu felt nothing but desperation. Greed had led to a terrible fight for power in her family after the death of her father. Now, with Darren gone, she felt as though she was all alone. "Please! Please! Let him be! We have nothing of value. Please believe me! I''m telling the truth," Belle sobbed. Belle Chu was Darren''s only little sister. Their mother had passed away after she gave birth to Belle. Since then, Darren and Belle had been bullied by the rest of the Chu n. No matter how much injustice they suffered, both Darren and Belle refused to tell their father about it because they knew that if their father helped them, it would only earn them more torment from their siblings. Darren''s other siblings were influential factions in the Chu n because of their mother''s family background or their powerful sects. Darren, however, had no advantages in terms of both. "Bastard!" Darren, who had been listening from inside the woodshed, screamed with fury when he heard their conversation. Evan Chu, the sixth son of Gavin Chu, was Darren''s half-blood brother. Evan''s mother was the daughter of the Yue n in Valmar. Although the power of Evan''s mother''s family was inferior to Gavin''s other wives, Evan''s family background was superior to Darren''s. Evan Chu would be at a disadvantage if he went against the other siblings in the family strife. That was why Evan had chosen Darren as his target. The fewer the inheritors, the more property Evan would gain. Darren wanted to rush out to kill the two bastards Evan had left as guards, but he restrained his anger. He knew that his enemies were not only Evan''s subordinates but also from his faction. They could perhaps, even be all of his half-blood siblings. So Darren told himself that he could not take any actions without careful consideration. "Miss Belle, have you decided yet? Are you going to follow Evan''s orders or not?" One of the men screamed at Belle. "I''ve told you before that we have nothing. I''m not lying!" Belle cried. "Well! You have had your chance. Go now! Boys!" The fierce dogs barked at Belle before rushing into the woodshed. "Stop! You two assholes! Stop!" Belle covered her face with her hands as she wept. She wanted to rush into the room to protect her brother''s body, but the two subordinates blocked her path. Belle fell to the ground and cried as helplessness coursed through her. The dogs'' green eyes fixed on Darren''s body. As they neared their prey, smelly saliva escaped their mouths. Since the dogs had evolved from ferocious beasts, they were unusually aggressive. "Shoop! Shoop! Shoop!" The dogs pounced on Darren. Darren had heard the conversation between Belle and the two subordinates. Prepared for the attack, he threw a hard fist at the closest dog. "Bang!" The dog''s head smashed into pieces. Darren had begun his cultivation when he had been three years old. Although his talent for martial arts was mediocre, it was easy for him to kill a fierce dog. The remaining dogs stepped back after they saw the scene. "Wait! What''s that? Why is a ball of yellow light flying toward me?" The yellow light moved so quickly that Darren failed to dodge it. The light flew into his head in the blink of an eye. Darren was expecting to be injured by the light. On the contrary, he felt refreshed. He strode toward the rest of the dogs. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Darren had moved so quickly that the dogs didn''t even have time to whine before their death. As before, a ball of yellow light appeared and flew into Darren''s head after each dog died. Darren had never experienced such a feeling before. The whole world was fresh and clear to him now. He could tell that he had gained significant improvement in his senses, including eyesight, hearing, and perception. "I''ve read about this before. This feeling is simr to the description of the Yellow Degree. Did I get an upgrade?" Darren was thrilled. He spected that his upgrade was because of the fireball. "I read that all the creatures in this world have a talent for martial arts. Did that fireball empower me with the ability to assimte other creatures'' talent?" Since a yellow light had flown into his head after each dog had died, Darren knew that his theory had been correct. Now, he had acquired the Assimtion Skill. What an incredible skill! As long as he had enough targets, Darren''s talent for martial arts would gain endless upgrades. He might even reach level nine of the Heaven Degree! Darren wondered what would happen after he surpassed the Heaven Degree through the Assimtion Skill. Such a skill was an invaluable gift sent from heaven. When Darren thought of this, his eyes became Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. moist. "All of you will regret what you''ve done to me. Evan, you will see!" Outside the woodshed. "Hey! Jim! Why is it so quiet inside? Have they already eaten the loser''s body? Ha-ha!" "It''s highly possible. Ha-ha!" Then Jim turned to the other subordinate and said to him, "Ted, look at Miss Belle! What a pretty girl! Look at her body! So attractive! Are you wondering what she feels like?" "Jim! Are you out of your mind? She''s the chief''s daughter. Anyway, Mr. Evan didn''t give us such permission. We''d better behave ourselves." "You are such a wuss! Don''t you want to try? We can exin that she killed herself because she couldn''t take the loser''s death. Come on! It''s a rare chance for us to share such a beauty." Belle broke down when she heard the two men speak about her in such a wicked way. She felt that everything around her was spinning. "That makes sense. Even if the Elders Cab tries to find out who is to me, we will have Mr. Evan as our support. Ha-ha! My little Belle! I''ming for you!" Ted stared at Belle obscenely. "No! Get away!" As they forced Belle into a corner, she shivered with fear. Helplessness filled her eyes. Chapter 2 Breakthrough Chapter 2 Breakthrough Bang! A loud bang was heard just as the woodshed''s door was smashed into smithereens. The two men exchanged somewhat worried nces, both probably thinking the same thing: who could possibly be at the door? As they approached the door, or at least what was left of it anyway, they were met by Darren''s face. The looks of worry on the two men''s face were instantaneously changed to looks ofplete and utter surprise. "It''s you!" Ted eximed. "Impossible! How are you still alive?" Darren glowered at them, seething with fury, chest heaving with anger. Belle was the only family he had left in the world. He would have done anything for her. He would have even sacrificed his life for her safety. "You bastards will regret what you''ve done to my little sister!" he bellowed. The two men were without a doubt astounded by what they saw. Darren was alive. He looked exhausted and weary, but undeniably alive. "Darren?" came a soft cry from the corner. Belle was initially frozen on the spot, her brain not processing what she was seeing. It took her a few seconds to realize that what she was seeing were actual facts and that her brother really was alive. Ovee by the intense happiness, she ran towards Darren and leapt up in his arms. "You''re alive. You''re alive. You''re alive." Almost a whisper, she kept repeating the words, afraid that if she didn''t, it would suddenly not be true. "Thank God." "It''s alright now, little sister. Don''t cry," he reassured her. "I''m here, I''m alright." Darren then turned to look at the two men who dared hurt his sister. "I''m going to give you two choices. End your life now or I will help you end it," he casually proposed all the two while looking daggers at them. Jim guffawed at Darren''s bold statement. "Ha! That''s so hrious! You''re still alive, so what? The chief is dead. There''s no one else in the Chu n who would protect you!" he stated as a matter-of-factly. "Ted, seize this loser. Let''s show him the ways we could enjoy his beloved little sister. Ha-ha!" Jim didn''t care at all whether Darren was alive or not. He knew that the boy was only at the first stage of the Primary Realm. And although he and Ted were also still at the first stage of the Primary Realm, with both of them working together, they had the advantage. Killing Darren would be a piece of cake. "You''re so screwed!" Darren roared. His heart thumped, the anger continuing to build up inside him. Whoosh, whoosh! Darren leaped into the air and in just a matter of a split second, he was hovering beside Jim. Bang! Darren drew out his hand into a hard fist. The next second, Jim''s head was exploding. Then a ball of yellow light was sucked into Darren''s head. Ted, with a devilish smile still stered on his face, was seemingly frozen and at a loss for words - too shocked to process what just happened. After a few moments, his body finally reacted and his jaw dropped. "Y-you! You broke through the first stage! You''ve reached the second stage of the Primary Realm! How is that even possible?" he eximed disbelievingly. ''How could it even be possible that a loser of the Ordinary Degree made a breakthrough and had now reached the second stage of the Primary Realm?'' Ted kept racking his brain for all the possible reasons, but he kept on failing toe up with something. He clearly remembered that Darren was only at the first stage of the Primary Realm before his death. "Mr. Darren! I''m so sorry! Please, please forgive me!" Ted pleaded. "It''s-it''s Mr. Evan''s order! I have no choice but follow his order!" Seeing the gap between two different stages in the cultivation base that he and Darren were in intimidated him to the core. He didn''t want to end up like Jim. After all, he wasn''t dumb. ''It''s better to be safe than sorry, '' he thought. "It''s Evan''s order?" Darren asked the pleading man. "Did he also give you the order to molest my sister?" he added, the anger inside him building up more and more. This left Ted speechless, sweat trickling down his forehead. "Well, it''s...I-" Ted was still trying toe up with an excuse, but without a warning... Bang! A fist killed him before he spoke out his next word. Darren would never let assholes like them go off so easily. He could not even imagine what would have happened to his little sister if he actually did pass away. Darren turned back and looked at his sister. "Belle, are you all right?" he asked, a mix of worry and relief painted his face. In return, he was greeted by a dumbfounded look on Belle''s face. It wasn''t every day that the girl witnesses bloody scenes, after all. Belle realized how terrifying her brother could be. It was terrifying watching someone killing people, let alone watching her own brother doing the killing. "I-I''m y-yeah! I''m all right!" she finally said. "Anyway, the most important thing is that you are still miraculously alive! And you''ve be so powerful!" She hopped over to Darren and hugged him. "I''m so happy for you!" she added. Belle understood how difficult it must have been for Darren, a cultivator of the Ordinary Degree, to make a breakthrough in cultivation base. The cultivation base was made up of the Primary Realm, the Spirit Realm, the Mysterious Realm and the Wonder Realm. People of every realm were ranked from the first stage through the ninth stage. The more talented a cultivator was, the more quickly he or she broke through the stage. Of course, the breakthrough in cultivation base also required a cultivator''s effort and resourcefulness no matter how naturally talented he or she was. ording to the legend, what came next to the Wonder Realm were the Grand Realm and the Holy Realm. But the cultivators with such a premium cultivation base were almost like legendary beings, a myth. Only a few people had had the chance to meet one of them. Although Darren was not a naturally talented cultivator, he was more diligent than anyone. He had always tried hard and given his all. Darren''s martial arts talent was the topmost level of the Ordinary Degree. After he killed the dogs and adopted their talent, he reached level one of the Yellow Degree. The recent upgrade in his martial art skills was most probably brought about by his higher talent. That was why he could make a breakthrough in cultivation base so suddenly. Darren sensed that his talent for martial arts had a great improvement after he adopted the two men''s talents. He guessed that he had reached level two of the Yellow Degree. He was delighted about this, but he decided not to tell his little sister about this recent upgrade. The Chu n was the supreme n in Valmar, and there were lots of talented cultivators among the n. Four of Gavin''s seven sons were level six of the Yellow Degree, and all the four had joined famous sects in order to further their cultivation base. And Nichs Chu, who was hailed as the super genius of the Chu n, was level seven of the Yellow Degree. Each of them was absolutely far beyond Darren''s cultivation base. "Evan is in level three of the Yellow Degree. Years of cultivation has got him into the fourth stage of the Primary Realm. Plus, besides Evan, there are other cultivators who are probably level six or seven of the Yellow Degree in the Chu n. Their cultivation base is far beyond mine. I have to work harder to be able to defeat them." "Darren, what are you whispering to yourself?" Belle asked. Tears started to swell into Belle''s eyes. Seeing her brother muttering to himself made her feel worried that the injuries he acquired was affecting him in some way. "No - it''s nothing! Belle, you go on and head home. I need to stop by the Elders Cab first." "Darren, that ce is not our home anymore," Belle said, the tears from her eyes threatening to fall all at once. Fear crept inside her. Just the mere mention of going home frightened her. "Darren, let''s leave this ce. We could run away to some unknown vige for safety. I don''t want toe back!" Belle eximed. "Or did you forget that our siblings want to kill you and expel me from the Chu n?" "No! Listen to me, Belle. Evan is a cruel man! He would never leave us alone no matter where we fled N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. to. But I have a n. Just trust me, Belle! I will survive and I will protect you." Through clenched fists, Darren silently swore that he would never forgive them. He would definitely make them regret what they had done to him and his sister for all those years. There were two reasons why Darren wanted to stay in the Chu n. Firstly, he was now qualified for the guaranteed protection of the Elders Cab since he was now level two of the Yellow Degree. With that, Evan would at least stop explicitlyshing out against him and Belle. The second reason was the more important one. Darren was hoping to grasp the rare opportunity of being a disciple at the Ilmen Sect. The Ilmen Sect was the top sect, surpassing all the other sects of Doriath. They recruited new disciples every ten years and as long as he became one of the disciples, he would gain a powerful support. With that support, he would be able to take revenge. But the test was not an easy one to pass. It was almost impossible, even. Only a super genius would be able to pass it. Even Nichs Chu''s ns to join the sect had faint results, and he was considered the number one genius of the Chu n, not to mention he was level seven of the Yellow Degree. If Nichs didn''t have any luck in joining the sect, what more for Darren who was only level two of the Yellow Degree? There were only two months left for Darren to prepare for the test, and the pressure was starting to dawn on him. "Talent! I have to upgrade my talent as soon as possible. The higher, the better!" he blurted out. Chapter 3 Elders Attitude Chapter 3 Elders'' Attitude The outer disciples of the Chu n murmured among themselves when they saw Darren heading toward the Elders Cab. The very fact that Darren was still alive shocked them. After all, they had heard that Evan had killed Darren. The outer disciples could not figure out how Darren had survived. Darren, however, just ignored them. Darren had arranged for Belle to return home. He wasn''t worried about her safety now. ording to the family rules, females didn''t have the right of inheritance. Since Belle was not a threat to any of them, none of the Chu n members saw her as a target. After a while, Darren arrived at the Elders Cab. The Elders Cab was a unique ce within the Chu n. No one, except the chief, had the right to enter without permission. It was said that all the elders in the Elders Cab were cultivators of the Spirit Realm. Only major family events could bring them out of the cab. However, the elders took no action when they heard the news of the death of the chief. That was strange. Darren knocked on the in gate and shouted, "Darren Chu, a ninth generation member of the Chu n, requests permission to meet the elders." A great n, like the Chu n, had strict rules and could be cruel if the rules were not followed. For example, why did the Elders Cab disregard the fact that others had preyed on Darren, the son of the chief? Because members whose talent for martial arts was lower than the Yellow Degree would never gain the recognition of the family. What was worse, such members would be expelled from the Chu n as soon as they were sixteen. Darren was only fifteen now. So, despite his inferior martial arts talent, he had the right of inheritance. That was why Evan had attacked him. The gate opened with a creak. A disciple in grey walked out. When he saw Darren, he frowned and asked, "Why are you here?" "I''m here to request the Elders Cab to protect Belle and me." Darren shared his purpose bluntly. "You are not qualified. As you are inferior to the Yellow Degree, you are not considered as a member of the Chu n," the disciple replied to Darren with a disdainful look. The disciple, as a servant of the elders, had lived in the Elders Cab for years. Although he had few chances to go out, he had heard that Darren was only a mediocre talent in martial arts. "And you are unqualified to make this decision. You are only a servant. What gives you the right to decide on behalf of the elders? What''s more, even the elders don''t dare to vite the rules of the Chu n. Did you think that a servant like you can change the rules now?" Darren retorted harshly. "You!" The disciple turned grim-faced with anger. He wondered when this untalented martial artist had changed into this confident man. "Well! You will see." After a moment, a voice came from inside. "Go back to where you came from. You are inferior to the Yellow Degree, so your life or death is of no concern to the Chu n." The voice was as loud as thunder, although the speaker couldn''t be seen. Darren marveled in his mind as stories of the powerful level of the elder''s cultivation base were, indeed, true. Darren bowed respectfully and said, "Sir, I''ve reached the Yellow Degree. People of the Chu n are preying on me. As the son of the chief, I ask for the elders'' protection." "Oh?" In the blink of an eye, an elder with a frail build appeared in front of the gate. He looked at Darren doubtfully. The talent of every immediate family member was on record in the Elders Cab. The elders knew that Darren was only a cultivator of the Ordinary Degree. Why did Darren say that he had reached the Yellow Degree? The possibility that his talent for martial arts had changed was as unrealistic as fairy tales. The elder thought that Darren was lying. "Hey! You! Don''t you know that lying to the elders will only bring you severe punishment? Everyone knows that you are only a loser of the Ordinary Degree. And now, you have the nerve to cheat the elders," the disciple, standing beside the elder, sharply rebuked Darren. He used Darren of being untruthful. He thought that Darren was scared enough to make up a lie to seek the Elders Cab''s protection. "Well, don''t you know that being irreverent toward your young master will lead to your death?" Darren retorted with a sharp re. "Ha-ha! You are only a dying loser. Young master? You don''t evenpare with a dog. Bah!" the disciple said to Darren, scornfully. He thought to himself, ''Only a person''s talent, not background, matters in this world. A loser like you is a nobody.'' N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. "Shut up!" the elder reproached the disciple as he could not stand the disciple''s taunts. The disciple trembled with fear and kept silent. "Kid! Although we are the elders of the Chu n, we can''t do whatever we want. Of course, we don''t want to see our family members prey on each other. But this is how this world works. This is thew of the jungle. Since you are the son of the chief, I will provide you with protection for three days. You can run as far away as you can during these three days. You can go now, kid." Then the elder intended to walk away. He had broken the rules by providing Darren with protection for three days. "Sir! I''m telling the truth. I''ve reached the Yellow Degree. Please carry out your duty to check my talent for martial arts, sir," Darren pleaded again. "You!" Apparently, the elder had lost his patience. He yelled at Darren, "You have had your chance, but you threw it away. If I check and find out that you are lying, you won''t even survive six hours." Darren could tell that the elder was not bluffing. If Darren failed to get any protection, Evan would resume his attacks at once. The second the elder finished his words, he hovered in front of Darren. Then he stretched his hand over Darren''s head. The disciple said nothing but smiled. ''He''s so screwed this time, '' he thought with a smirk. However, the elder didn''t say a word for a while. During the silence, his facial expression changed fast. The eyebrows on his dismissive face frowned. Then he widened his eyes with a shocked look. "You are at level two of the Yellow Degree!" The elder, staring at Darren, was struck dumb with amazement. He could not believe the result. Darren was at level two of the Yellow Degree. ''Is there a mistake in the former record?'' he wondered. Only nature''s gifts or rare elixirs could upgrade a person''s talent for martial arts, but both were challenging to acquire. "Sir, please carry out your duty to protect my sister and me," Darren said, calmly. The protection of the Elders Cab covered the whole faction. If Darren got their protection, his sister would be included as well. Although the elder still had many doubts, the rules didn''t allow him to refuse Darren''s request. "epted. I, Abner Chu, the elder of the Chu n will carry out the duty to protect you. But the protection will expire in two months. After two months, your life depends on your fate. Don''t ask me the reason. You should go now." The Elder Abner, with a mixture of emotions on his face, turned and disappeared behind the gate. The disciple, however, was stunned to hear that Darren was at level two of the Yellow Degree. And, he had seeded in gaining the protection of the elder. ''Damn it! I fucked up this time. I''d better run for my life.'' Then the disciple turned and slid behind the gate. Darren didn''t follow him. After all, he had no right to walk into the Elders Cab. Besides, Darren knew that he would have many opportunities in the future to teach the disciple a lesson. "Two months?" Darren wanted to ask the elder about the reason, but he controlled his curiosity. Everything that had happened recently was bizarre. The Elders Cab did nothing to avenge the death of his father. There must be an extraordinary reason for theirck of action. "Two monthster, the Ilmen Sect will start recruitment among the ns. Once I pass the test, no one in the Chu n will prey on me anymore. Even the royal members have to show respect to the Ilmen Sect." Darren had made his n, but he was not highly confident about whether he would pass the test. After all, the Ilmen Sect wanted super-geniuses. However, he was only at level two of the Yellow Degree. His only tiny chance to pass the test was to reach level seven of the Yellow Degree, like Nichs Chu. In the adytum of the Elders Cab. "What happened, Abner?" the Chief Elder with white hair asked with his eyes closed. "This is so weird. How''s this even possible? A cultivator of the Ordinary Degree upgrades to level two of the Yellow Degree," Abner Chu said. Upon hearing him, the other two elders opened their eyes at the same time. Doubt reflected in their expressions. "What? Is this real?" The Chief Elder could not believe it as well. "Yeah! It''s true. I''ve checked it out," Abner Chu said reverently. "Never mind! Perhaps he gained rare elixirs by chance. Although he has upgraded his talent, he is only at level two of the Yellow Degree. There''s no great future for him. This is a critical period. You two also felt the aura of the man in ck that day. I think you will remember his power. We would all have died with his first attack had we also been his target that day." "I guess he is a strong cultivator of the Mysterious Realm." "Yeah, I agree with you. Our chief was at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm, but he was beheaded with only one blow. The man in ck may be a cultivator of the Mysterious Realm. Such a powerful being is rare to see. It''s even few and far among the royal members. The man in ck perhapses from one of the foreign sects. The best alternative for us is to wait out this critical period. If one of the members from our young generation passes the test and bes a disciple of the Ilmen Sect in two months, we will gain a little more assistance." "Yes, Chief Elder! We should provide Nichs, ke, and Leo with as many resources as we can offer. As long as one of them passes the test, it will be a great relief for us." "All right! Let''s focus on our cultivation instead of such a little deal. Only those three geniuses deserve our attention. They are the future of the Chu n." Then the three elders began their meditation. Chapter 4 Further Upgrade Chapter 4 Further Upgrade Darren headed home after he left the Elders Cab. When he arrived home, he found Belle had fallen in a deep and sweet sleep. She must feel so secure with the knowledge that her brother was still alive. Looking at her serene expression, Darren swore that he would protect his little sister with his life. Then Darren went to the training room that contained several books on martial skills. "I couldn''t understand these skills when my talent was only at the Ordinary Degree. How would it feel to learn these skills now?" Darren casually picked several books on the skills that he had found challenging to understand before, and leafed through the books. "Hepta-Punch? Easy one! Why couldn''t I understand it before? Is this how it feels to be talented?" "Shooting Punch? A piece of cake! It''s just an ordinary skill." After he finished all the books he had selected, Darren shook his head andughed. The skills that he had racked his brain to understand but failed to were as easy as blinking an eye. But these skills were only for beginners, which offered no help to Darren. The talented cultivators had the advantage of absorbing spiritual energy from Heaven and Earth. They not only made a quick breakthrough in their cultivation base but also had a good grasp of martial skills. "s! These are only some basic skills. None of them are beneficial to me. I''d better go to the Martial Skill Library to select better ones." Darren didn''t want to waste his time studying basic martial skills. "With my current talent level and a solid foundation, I should be able to make a further upgrade in my cultivation base." Darren was at the second stage of the Primary Realm now. Evan, however, was at the fourth stage of the Primary Realm. Darren couldn''tpare with Evan in terms of cultivation base. If Darren wanted to survive, he had to make a further breakthrough in his cultivation base as soon as possible. A stage further would mean a quantum leap in cultivation base. The gap between two different stages of a person''s cultivation base was as wide as the Milky Way. For example, Darren could kill anyone at the first stage of the Primary Realm within a few seconds, like Evan''s subordinates. That was why the breakthrough in his cultivation base was vital for Darren now. Then Darren sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to absorb spiritual energy. As soon as Darren entered a stage of deep meditation, he could feel quintuple spiritual energy gathering in his body, which refreshed him tremendously. "That''s so great. I can''t believe that I can absorb spiritual energy at such a quick speed. And I am only at level two of the Yellow Degree. Nichs is at level seven of the Yellow Degree. How would it feel like at that level? ke, the son of my elder uncle, and Leo, the son of my third uncle, are also at level seven of the Yellow Degree. Those geniuses are far beyond me. But my Assimtion Skill will empower me with the talent to be superior to them. I just need time." This thought cheered Darren up immediately. Spiritual energy gradually gathered into Darren''s body, nourishing his energy meridians and strengthening his bones. This was a sign of the breakthrough in Darren''s cultivation base. The night was over. When the first ray of sunlight appeared, Darren opened his eyes all of a sudden. "I did it! I''m at the third stage of the Primary Realm now." In a seemingly instantaneous burst, Darren jumped up. Then he threw a hard fist at the training stone next to him. The three-inch-depth hollow on the surface was hard evidence of the improvement in his cultivation base. "I have reached a stage further. This is a significant improvement in my cultivation base. The saying is true. My power has strengthened tenfold overnight. Finally! Finally, all my hard work pays off. Otherwise, I would never have broken through the stage overnight without my previous persistent practice." Darren was joyful that he didn''t give up his practice before. His persistence finally bore fruit. After his talent had been upgraded, he would make quicker progress in his cultivation base than others. A loud noise came from outside. "Come on! Come on! Be careful! These are expensive. Move faster!" Darren heard people talking and the dull sound of objects rattling in the early morning. "What''s going on outside?" Darren frowned, then he walked out of the training room. He was greeted with the scene of a dozen servants moving furniture and other things out of his room. All his belongings were lying around the yard in a mess. "What the hell are you doing?" Darren eximed with anger as he clutched a servant''s cor. "Oh! It''s Mr. Darren, who just survived death. The things Mr. Evan doesn''t want, of course, belong to me. Well, do you have any problem with this?" A young man with a scornful look walked toward Darren, showing no respect to him. Darren knew this young man. He was Jay, the only son of the butler. "Go back to where you came from, bastard! Otherwise, you will regret what you have said to me." The mes of anger were burning in Darren''s chest. None of the servants had shown any respect to him. But he didn''t want to teach them a lesson before the uing test. "Ha-ha! Really? What do you want to do to me, loser? Have you forgotten how I beat you before? Yeah, you are the son of the chief. But, so what? You are nothing in this family. You can''t evenpare with a dog. My father is the butler of the Chu n, a decision-maker in this family. What can you do to me, loser?" "Ha-ha, ha-ha!" All the other servants burst intoughter. They had been a little scared to see Darren at first. But after they heard what their leader said, all their worries disappeared. Jay reminded them that Darren was only a mediocre talent in the Chu n. They had no reason to be afraid of Darren. "I will give you thest chance. Fuck off!" Darren roared. ''What the hell? How did his voice be so powerful?'' Jay was shocked. But he could not act like a wuss in front of his subordinates. If they saw that he was frightened by a loser, how could he continue to be their leader? "I guess you must have missed my fist very much, loser! Well, let me remind you of what it felt like," Jay said disdainfully, as he raised his fist. ''That''s enough!'' Before Jay could swing his fist at him, Darren took action. "You have had your chance, asshole!" Darren shed in front of Jay andnded several ps on his face. Jay''s cheeks swelled immediately. In the next second, Darren threw a hard fist at Jay''s chest. As his chest sank inwards because of the power in Darren''s fist, Jay felt that everything around him was spinning. Agonizing pain spread throughout his body. Before he could react to what had just happened, Jay began vomiting blood. "How, how''s this even possible? Why is this loser so strong? I didn''t even have the chance to fight back. I''m at the second stage of the Primary Realm. That''s impossible! Impossible!" Jay found it hard to believe what had just happened to him. "Darren, how dare you? You are so screwed this time!" Although he couldn''t even get up, Jay''s words N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. were still harsh. "Oh? Really? You are partly right because you are the one who is screwed," Darren retorted as he walked closer to Jay. Fear spread through the air. The servants beside Jay were too scared to breathe. Meanwhile, beads of sweat trickled down from Jay''s forehead. At this very moment, he realized that he was like a trapped rabbit, out on a limb. "You! You! What are you doing? I''m the son of the butler! My father would never let you off if you kill me! Back off!" The hands of fear almost chocked Jay to death. "Oh! That''s right! Your father is the butler! The decision-maker! But, so what?" Darren sneered at Jay. "You are lucky to remember that! I''ll forgive you if you kowtow to me and apologize. Be quick! Then take me to a doctor! If my father learns of what you''ve done, you will be dead meat!" Jay didn''t understand what was behind Darren''s smile, so he spoke arrogantly. However, he was knocking at death''s door. "Swoosh!" In a sh, Darren threw a fist, as powerful as a thousand-pound stone falling from the sky. "Bang!" A ball of yellow light flew into Darren''s head. He had gained Jay''s talent. ''Why did I only gain a little talent this time? Is it because this bastard is only at level one of the Yellow Degree? I got it. His talent for martial arts is inferior to mine. If I want rapid growth in my talent, I have to choose superior cultivators as my targets.'' Darren concluded after he assimted Jay''s talent. The remaining servants, however, turned pale at the bloody scene. They knelt and shivered with fear. "Fuck off!" It was a waste of time for Darren to kill these untalented servants. All the servants, having obtained amnesty, kowtowed to Darren to show their appreciation. Then they cried and ran away. Chapter 5 Martial Arts Skill Library (Part One) Chapter 5 Martial Arts Skill Library (Part One) The next day. "Not only can I absorb talent from people, I can also take it from wild beasts. Like the two dogs that day." Darren remembered he had read in a book that every creature in this world was born with the talent for martial arts, but the talent was ranked from different levels. "The Barren Wastnd! That''s a great choice!" There were hills called the Barren Wastnd one hundred and eighty miles away from Acqua City. Those hills, covered by miasmas throughout the year, were the habitat of various strong beasts. "If I can catch a few strong beasts, I will gain a rapid upgrade in my talent. But I must go to the Martial Arts Skill Library before I leave for the Barren Wastnd." Darren decided to head the Barren Wastnd alone and hunt wild beasts for more talent. The Barren Wastnd was an extremely dangerous ce. It was hard for Darren, considering his current cultivation base, to kill wild beasts on his own. So he needed to go to the Martial Arts Skill Library, where he could first enhance his power by learning and practicing some superior martial skills. Darren entered quickly upon arrival at the Martial Arts Skill Library. He started his research on the first floor of the building. Darren casually picked some books and leafed through them. However, what he found were only basic martial skills for beginners. It was as easy as blinking an eye for Darren to learn those skills, but he didn''t need such weak and basic skills. So he headed directly for the second floor. The books on the second floor were all on important martial skills of the Chu n. These skills were difficult to learn. Generally speaking, the second floor was where the outstanding members of the Chu n came to choose the martial skills they wished to learn. "The Fierce Punch? This seems to be a great one. If I mastered this skill, the power of my punch at my current cultivation base would be equal to the force of two thousand pounds. It''s almost as strong as a cultivator of the fourth stage of the Primary Realm." Darren picked up another book. "Premium de Skill... This one is aggressive. There are thirteen moves of it. Each one is a murderous attack. It''s an excellent martial skill, but it will take me half a year to have a good grasp of it." ... Darren hadn''t made a decision yet after he walked around for a while. ording to the family rule of Chu n, every member of the immediate family was allowed to choose only one book from the Martial Arts Skill Library every half a year. "Oh my god! Haven''t you decided yet? Any book here is going to take you almost a year to learn. Come on, just pick one and go away." Darren turned to the voice and saw an elderly man next to the bookshelf. He could tell from the old man''s squinting eyes that he had just woken up from a nap. The elder was the guard of the Martial Arts Skill Library. "I''m sorry, sir! Could you give me a few more minutes to think about it, please?" Darren answered politely. He knew well that the elder in Martial Arts Skill Library was as powerful as the ones in the Elders Cab, both in status and cultivation base. "Come on, kid! It''s not about time. If you really want something good, why don''t you go to the third floor? The books upstairs are all masterpieces. Go and pick one! I bet you will find the one you want. Or are you afraid?" Apparently, the elder had lost his patience. Darren was not the first one who took his time to make a choice. The elder, as the guard of the Martial Arts Skill Library, had met lots of disciples like Darren over the years, but Darren was the disciple who spent the most time here. He had leafed through almost every book on the second floor, which annoyed the elder. None of the disciples had the talent to master any of the books here, but they always took their sweet time while choosing. Darren''s eyes widened with delight when he heard what the elder said. He didn''t go to the third floor before, because he had never gained permission to enter. "Thank you so much, sir!" Then Darren rushed upstairs as soon as his words left his mouth. "What an idiot!" The elder opened his eyes with anger, blowing heated breath from his beard. "How can he be so stupid? Those are top martial skills! You really think highly of yourself, kid!" He didn''t expect Darren to take what he sneered at him seriously. Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org. Only a superior genius was qualified to practice the top martial skills. Even the three super martial geniuses didn''t have the nerve to touch the books on the third floor. They were afraid of a deviation of the energy flow in their body. The room on the third floor was not a big one. There were two wooden boxes covered with dust on the front desk. "Those must be the top martial skills." Darren went forward and opened one of the boxes. There was a roll of ancient parchment in it. "The Profound Nine Sword Skills! It sounds distinctly powerful." When Darren opened the parchment and cast a nce at it, theplicated movements on the pictures swept Darren into the vortex of its magic power. He felt light-headed at once. But he didn''t give up because of this. He tried to understand the first move of the Profound Nine Sword Skills. However, he immediately felt his head was about to explode when he tried to gain their meaning. "Oho!" Darren closed his eyes and his dizziness left him as quickly as it came. "That''s really a difficult one. If I keep trying to learn it, it''ll only turn me into an idiot. My current talent is not strong enough to understand such a top martial skill." Although he was still in shock, he put down the parchment and opened another box. He had learned from what just happened, so he only watched the pictures on it instead of trying to understanding the scroll''s meaning. Everything went smoothly this time. "The Grand Thirteen de Skills! What an invincible one! If I had the ability to master it, I could even cut a mountain into two pieces," Darren marveled. The Grand Thirteen de Skills was as obscure and difficult as the Profound Nine Sword Skills, so Darren didn''t try to understand it. He didn''t want to have another dizzy spell. ''A top de skill and an excellent sword skill! Only one of them will enable the one who has mastered it tounch invincible attacks. What would happen if someone learned both of them at the same time? I cannot even imagine it!'' A thought appeared in Darren''s mind. Darren knew well that sword skills and de skills were ipatible as fire and water. If he forced himself to practice the two at the same time, not only would he gain nothing beneficial, but he would break into pieces. "Get out of here!" The elder roared at Darren with fury. "How dare you?" Darren''s pale face proved that he had tried to understand the top martial skills. It was very lucky for him that his mind hadn''t turned to mush. Chapter 6 Martial Arts Skill Library (Part Two) Chapter 6 Martial Arts Skill Library (Part Two) "Yes, sir!" Darren answered, humbly. "But, sir, can I ask for your permission to borrow the two books for two months? I will give them back as soon as the time expires." "Are you out of your mind? Get out of here! You little bastard! I''m kicking you out for your own good. As someone inferior to the ninth stage of the Yellow Degree, the only result of learning top martial skills is death. Of course, I want someone of our family to learn the two top skills, but it''s not you. Have you understood what I mean, you naive fool? You will be a heap of useless pulp if you try to understand the two skills, even only one of their moves!" The elder barked at Darren. Darren shook his head with resignation. The possibility of him borrowing the two books today was zero, so he sat down and crossed his legs with the two books in hand. Then he opened the two books and began reading them carefully. Darren was trying to remember every move in detail. He copied every picture in his mind, which was not a risk for him as long as he wasn''t actively trying to learn what he was copying. "What a helpless idiot!" The elder gave up in the end. He thought, ''You little bastard, if you want to make such a stupid mistake, I will not stop you. It''s none of my business anyway. I have never given you the permission to borrow the books. It will not be my responsibility if you die because of this.'' Time shed by. Sixty hours passed. "Finally!" Darren took a deep breath and said with relief, "I''m finally done with it." Darren copied every move of the two top skills. This included nine moves of the Profound Nine Sword Skills and thirteen moves of the Grand Thirteen de Skills. Darren found no omissions during his final check of what he remembered and the scrolls themselves. Then he went downstairs. "I wille back two monthster, sir. Then you can check my progress then, sir." Darren made a bow towards the elder. That was the rule of the Martial Arts Skill Library. Every disciple who had read or borrowed the skill books had toe back two monthster to get checked by the elder. And the ones who made poor progress would get punished. The elder, still scowling, didn''t even look at Darren as he said, "Two monthster? I''m afraid I''d only meet your tombstone by then. Now get out of here, you fool!" Darren smiled with resignation and walked out of the Martial Arts Skill Library. Although the two top skills were hard to understand, Darren had the Assimtion Skill. That was his biggest advantage. He was confident that he would be qualified to have a grasp of them sooner or the first move of the top skills. Darren even began wondering how the elder would react to his progress two monthster. After Darren left the Martial Arts Skill Library, he chose a fast horse from the stable. Then he rode over to the west side of the city. As the sun was going down, barren hills retreated at his backside. Darren now approached a ck forest as wide as the sea. "I''ve arrived, but I didn''t expect it would be so crowded." Darren got off the horse. There were lots of people outside the Barren Wastnd although it waste and the sun was setting. Darren knew that they were from other ns and infamous sects. They were here to seek improvement in cultivation and to hunt for wild beasts or treasures along the way. "Hey guys! Liu n needs you to join us! We wee all the cultivators who are superior to the fourth stage of the Primary Realm. We offer a very generous deal. Come on, guys! Who wants in?" "Listen here! We need teammates who are superior to the fifth stage of the Primary Realm. We will wee you as one of the Luna Sect!" More than ten teams were recruiting teammates. It was dangerous even outside the Barren Wastnd because it was highly possible that the beasts superior to level five would appear at night. It would be risky to stayte without teammates. Darren observed that the basic requirement to join any of the teams was a cultivator superior to the N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. fourth stage of the Primary Realm, but he was only at the third stage. No teams would want him as a member. It would be too dangerous to stay here alone. Darren had no choice but to casually pick a team that was still recruiting teammates. "Hey guys. May I join you?" There were four members in this team. They were looking for one more teammate before they set off. "What''s your cultivation base, man?" a young man asked humbly. "The third stage of the Primary Realm," Darren answered. The young man''s expression darkened at once. "What the hell is wrong with you? Haven''t you heard what we want is a cultivator of the fifth stage? Go away, trash!" Darren became angry as well, and he retorted, "Watch your mouth! You don''t have to turn me down in such a rude manner." "Fuck off! Trash! I say you are trash. Do you have a problem with it? If you do, you can discuss it with my fist. Go to hell!" The young man raised his fist towards Darren. "Wait! Would you like to be our teammate, man? We need a helper to pack dead beasts," a graceful young man in luxury clothes said to Darren. "Who the hell-" Once he saw who had spoken, the arrogant young man swallowed down all the vicious words he was ready to spout just moments earlier. He apologized at once, "I''m sorry! I''m so sorry, my lord! I didn''t realize who you were, Mr. Jared." The graceful young man shot a fierce look at him, and the man turned tail and ran. "Yes!" Darren answered without a second thought. Then Jared Qi leaded Darren to his party. Darren found that there were five members in Jared''s team, including two beautiful girls. "Let me introduce everyone! This is Kyle Zhang, Marvin Zhou, Phil Li, Corrine Gu, and Elsa Gongsun," Jared said to Darren. "Hello everyone, my name is Darren Chu." "Nice to meet you, Darren! Wee to our team. We need you to pack dead beasts and carry some necessities for us," the girl named Corrine Gu said to Darren with a smile. "Okay! No problem," Darren answered with a nod. He didn''t mind doing the manualbor for them. His real purpose was not the dead beasts for sale but to absorb the wild beasts'' talent. The five members were all strong cultivators. The team leader, Jared Qi, was at least a cultivator of the sixth stage of the Primary Realm. And the other four were all at least at the fifth stage. There was no harm for Darren to follow them. "All right, guys! Let''s set off right now. Your work will pay off after we leave here safely," Jared Qi, the strongest cultivator in the team, said to Darren. Then they followed Jared''s lead and headed into the ck forest of the Barren Wastnd. Chapter 7 The Barren Wasteland (Part One) Chapter 7 The Barren Wastnd (Part One) The darkness in the forest and the roar of wild beasts terrified everyone. "Catch up, guys! Our targets are high-level beasts that aren''t ustomed to walking around at night. However, many wild beasts prefer to hunt at night. We must be careful now!" It was a big risk to walk into the Barren Wastnd at this time of the night, but it was also the best time to hunt high-level beasts, as they preferred to rest at night. "Whoosh!" After a while, several figures jumped out of bushes and stared at the cultivators with green eyes. With the light of the luminescent stone, they recognized the figures to be Spectral Wolves. "Deal with them quickly!" As soon as Jared Qi gave the order, Kyle Zhang and Phil Li rushed toward the two Spectral Wolves and killed them in a sh. "They are only at level three. It''s not a big deal!" In a blink of an eye, they had fulfilled their task. "You! Remove their cardiac cores and put them in this bag. Their fur is worth nothing. That saves you a lot of trouble, pal," Marvin Zhou ordered Darren. Darren remained silent as he walked to the dead beasts without hesitation. Two balls of yellow light flew into Darren''s head. ''Got it! It''s much better to assimte the talent of a level three beast than a level one cultivator of the Yellow Degree. Way to go, Darren!'' Darren was delighted. After Darren absorbed their talent, he took out a knife to cut open their chests. In a few minutes, he had removed their hearts. And soon, he packed the two cardiac cores into the bag. "He''s not a talented cultivator, but he is a diligent man." The team restarted their journey in the forest. They were cautious about their every movement for fear that they would wake fierce beasts or step on snakes or poisonous insects. Kyle Zhang and Phil Li, two cultivators of the fifth stage of the Primary Realm, had killed a dozen level Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. three beasts in two hours. The main beneficiary, of course, was Darren. He could absorb the dead beasts'' talent without any effort. He could also feel that he was closer to level three of the Yellow Degree. "Jared, why are all the beasts we''ve met low-level ones? None of them are any worth." "Be patient! Cheer up, guys! We will make a fortune if we find a Neb Beast. They are at least at level six. What''s more, they are in a deep sleep at this hour." All the members whispered among themselves while walking, except the girl named Elsa Gongsun. She had been silent all along. "Be careful, guys! We''vee across a level five beast this time," Jared stopped and warned the others. "Come on! It''s just a level five creature. What''s the big deal? Phil and I can handle it easily." Kyle Zhang was a bold cultivator. Actually, a level five beast was much stronger than a cultivator at the same stage of the Primary Realm. "I know you two can work together to battle one creature. But what about five? Ten? Try to think before you speak," Corrine Gu said. "Oops! I had forgotten about this! Ha-ha!" Kyle Zhang giggled as he turned to Corrine Gu. Apparently, he had a crush on her. "Marvin, you are at the sixth stage. I need you to check," Jared ordered Marvin Zhou, who hadn''t participated in any fight so far. "A piece of cake." Marvin leaped into the air and flew forward. "They are three Giant Fury Bears," Marvin said from a distance. "Do you need my help?" Jared was worried about him. Three Giant Fury Bears were freakily ferocious, and they were not easily defeated by a cultivator at the sixth stage, like Marvin Zhou. "Thank you, Jared! But I can manage them alone." Marvin Zhou was fearless when facing the three bears. He hovered, like a ghost, between the three bears. The bears, however, were injured when Marvin shed past. "It''s the Phantom Punch! That''s a high-level martial arts skill. No wonder he''s so confident." Darren also noticed Marvin Zhou''s move. He had thought that three Giant Fury Bears were far beyond Marvin Zhou''s cultivation base. But, the second Marvin Zhou summoned his martial arts skill, he put the three bears at a disadvantage. ''That''s the power of martial arts skills. What a great leap! I haven''t expected that a martial arts skill could improve one''s cultivation base to such a degree. If I mastered the two top skills, how much would it enhance my cultivation base?'' Darren wondered. "Let me give you a hand," Jared said. In the next second, he jumped into the air. Jared didn''t want to waste their time in this fight. Instantly, Jared''s sword sliced through the three bears. They didn''t even have the time to whine before their death. "Bravo!" The others marveled. "That''s the power of the seventh stage! Brilliant, Jared! What superb swordsmanship!" "Way to go, Jared!" Corrine looked at Jared with gentleness sparkling in her eyes. She was wild with joy. Darren didn''t have the time to think about anything. He rushed forward at once for fear that he would fail to absorb the talent of the three bears from far away. He could not afford such a significant loss. ''That''s it!'' Their talent gathered into one ball of yellow light and flew into Darren''s head. After a booming sensation between his ears, Darren felt refreshed from his brain to his feet. He had never had such a free feeling before in his entire life. ''I''ve got an upgrade! Am I at level four of the Yellow Degree now?'' This thought gave Darren a thrill, but he still needed a test to confirm his spection. "Hey, man! You don''t have to run like a hunting dog. The bears are dead meat. You don''t have to worry that they will run away, ha-ha!" Kyle Zhangughed at Darren when he saw how anxious Darren was. "I am just carrying out my duty," Darren answered as he removed the cardiac cores from the level five dead beasts'' chests and ced them in the bag. Chapter 8 The Barren Wasteland (Part Two) Chapter 8 The Barren Wastnd (Part Two) "Our efforts have finally paid off! A cardiac core of the level five beast is worth three thousand dors." A growl echoed through the forest. An unexpected change happened. A beast covered in mes jumped out from the bushes. The team was startled to see this beast. They didn''t know what this strange creature was. "It''s me Tiger!" Elsa Gongsun, the girl who had been quiet all this while, spoke. "What? me Tiger! It is at least at level eight! We''d better run now!" "No! me Tiger is a sadistic beast. It would hunt each of us if we ran," Jared said calmly. Darren looked at the me Tiger as well. The fire around it ented its imperial aura, thus making it all the more terrifying. Darren was not scared, but he did wonder how much his talent would upgrade after he absorbed such a powerful beast''s talent. But a level eight beast was far beyond Jared''s cultivation base, the top cultivator in the team, not to mention Darren''s. The current situation put all of them in danger. "Miss Elsa, could you give me a hand? We might have a small chance of winning if we work together." N?velDrama.Org owns this text. Jared looked at Elsa Gongsun and asked for her help. "Nope! I can deal with it alone," Elsa Gongsun answered, coldly. "But..." The others were all too shocked to answer. None of them knew what stage she was at, but they guessed that Elsa''s stage was lower than Jared. Did she have secret weapons to empower herself with? Is that why she was so confident? A level eight beast, especially a strong variant, was impossible to defeat. Jared wanted to discourage Elsa Gongsun from fighting along. But before he could speak, she had rushed toward the me Tiger. "She''s like lightning! Is her cultivation base higher than Jared''s base?" Corrine Gu marveled. "How can wepare with a disciple of the Ilmen Sect? They are the top sect." Jared shook his head. Although he was the best in his sect, he had no way topare with a disciple of the Ilmen Sect. "Elsa is a disciple of the Ilmen Sect? That exins so much! Every disciple of the top sect is also a top cultivator." But some of them couldn''t figure out why a disciple of the Ilmen Sect had joined them on this hunt. An Ilmen Sect disciple didn''tck money or cultivation resources. Then what did she need? The intense fight between Elsa Gongsun and the me Tiger began. The strong force around the two The me Tiger released an angry roar. Its fury forced Elsa Gongsun to back down several steps. "Oh, no! The beast is angry now! Elsa needs our help! Let''s go!" Jared shouted. Then he and the others, except Marvin Zhou, rushed forward together. Darren, as a cultivator of the third stage, could offer no help. So, he made no move. This scene, however, annoyed Darren. He could notpare with any of them in terms of his cultivation base. While the upgrade in his talent enabled him to grow stronger, it did not allow him to make immediate progress. Darren, unexpectedly, sat cross-legged and began to meditate. Spiritual energy gathered into Darren''s body, nourishing his energy meridians and bones. ''What''s happening? The spiritual energy I can absorb has increased tenfold since yesterday.'' Darren was surprised. Although he was at level four of the Yellow Degree, the speed with which he could absorb spiritual energy was much faster. Darren wondered during his meditation. His keen senses gave him the answer after a while. Eighty percent of the intensive spiritual energy came from the bag behind him. "I got it! I can absorb the spiritual energy from the cardiac cores!" Darren opened the bag at once and held a few cardiac cores in his hands. He restarted his meditation and the spiritual energy of the cardiac cores, like brooks, trickled into his body. In the blink of an eye, Darren could feel an obvious upgrade in his talent. "It''s the fourth stage! And it''s continuing to upgrade!" After an hour, Darren had consumed dozens of cardiac cores. Only some residue was left from the cores. "The fifth stage! The sixth stage!" The powerful energy in his body shocked Darren. His punch could smash a mountain now. "Finally, I''ve reached the sixth stage of the Primary Realm!" Darren could not believe that he had achieved such a quantum leap in such a short interval. It would shock everyone if they knew Darren''s talent had upgraded three times in session. At this very moment, he found that the fight had be more intense. Everyone had been injured from the fight, and Elsa Gongsun looked exhausted as well. But the me Tiger was still vigorous, and its attack was even fiercer. Marvin, however, stood aside with a poker face. It seemed that he had no interest in joining the fight. Fortunately, Marvin Zhou paid no attention to Darren, so he didn''t see that Darren had absorbed the energy of all the cardiac cores. "Lotus Sword Attack!" Elsa Gongsun summoned her martial arts skill. The next second, thousands of swords, like raindrops, enveloped the me Tiger and stabbed it simultaneously. The injured teammates summoned their martial arts skills as well and rushed toward the tiger. The me Tiger whined painfully. The mes around the tiger extinguished, revealing deep gashes all over its body. Meanwhile, the injured teammates jumped backward. The cultivators at the fifth stage, like Kyle Zhang, could not stand the pain anymore and passed out. Jared could not even stand straight because of his serious injury. And blood was oozing from Elsa Gongsun''s mouth. "It''s time!" Marvin smirked. Then he jumped into the air in a sh and flew toward the me Tiger. "What?" Darren felt as though something was strange. "How is he so powerful?" Darren could tell that Marvin Zhou was higher than the sixth stage. The me Tiger, who was now severely injured, died after one strike from Marvin Zhou''s palm. Chapter 9 A Great Harvest (Part One) Chapter 9 A Great Harvest (Part One) "Ha-ha! Not bad! Thank you, everyone!" Marvin let out a big, energeticugh. "What do you mean, Marvin?" Jared asked as he looked at theughing man. Caution coursed through Jared as he felt as though something was strange. "Haven''t you heard of the Wastnd Hustler?" Marvin turned to Jared with sharp eyes, like a snake that was ready to strike. Jared felt his senses heighten as he came to a grim realization. "It''s you!" Jared pointed his finger at him, while Marvin just stood there with a menacing grin on his face. Jared was shocked speechless, still in disbelief of what he had discerned. Elsa could only react the same way, barely able to do anything else. They had heard of a hustler, who was unmatched with his camouge technique, outside the Barren Wastnd. With a camouge so perfect, he was able to join teams who came here to hunt. However, his camouge technique had been used for heinous crimes. Murder, rape, robbery¡ªthe hustler was a dangerous man. None of them had suspected Marvin until he refused to join their fight. Once they had realized who he was, they were astonished. "A level eight strange beast!" Marvin awed at the creature trapped in their snare. "Who would''ve expected that this team could defeat such a powerful beast?" He then turned his gaze toward the two women, his grin teasing and wicked. "What''s more, these two beauties are readily avable to me. Ha- ha! It''s so perfect!" "How dare you!" Elsa screamed, mad and disgusted at Marvin. Her usually expressionless face was filled with fury. Still, she was frightened. Hearing his voice, she knew that he was ready to kill. "Don''t say that, beauty! You and I are also at the eighth stage. Unfortunately, you have a serious internal injury. Your meridians are out of control. What can you do to me now? Ha-ha!" Marvin''s lustful eyes trailed over the curves of Elsa''s body. He turned his attention to the beast in the trap. "I''ll collect this great harvest first," Marvin said before turning to Elsa with a sly grin. "After that, I''ll y a little game with you." Marvin then nced at Darren. "You! Little asshole! Come and deal with the dead beast. I want every piece of the me Tiger to be packed into the bag. You hear me? If you lose even a single tiny fur, you will be dead meat. Get over here!" Marvin shouted at Darren. Darren had walked toward the tiger to absorb its talent before Marvin had given the order. The talent of the me Tiger was different from what Darren had encountered before. It was a ball of green light. Darren achieved a quantum leap in his talent, but he didn''t know what his current level had reached. ''Wow! Everything in the world is so refreshing and new to me!'' Darren could see everything within thirty miles. ''It''s higher than level seven of the Yellow Degree. This is what it probably feels like to reach level eight.'' Darren''s heart thumped ecstatically. Darren suddenly remembered the hustler, a cultivator at the eighth stage. He was not an easy opponent for Darren to take down. After considering his options, Darren decided not to fight Marvin. Instead, Darren began dealing with the dead beast. "What the hell are you doing, asshole? Be quick!" "Yes, sir!" Darren feigned being scared, and his expression reflected the terror he felt. Then he began dissecting the me Tiger''s body. As he cut into the tiger''s heart, Darren saw a crimson cardiac core and a white object as big as an egg. "Wait! It''s the Variant Beast Elixir!" Marvin''s eyes brightened. The Variant Beast Elixir, born inside some variant beasts, could not only help someone to make a breakthrough in their cultivation base but also refresh his or her energy meridians to upgrade their talent for martial arts. It was a once in a lifetime chance to see such a rare elixir. "I''ve made a fortune this time. This elixir is worth a trillion." Marvin was thrilled. He yelled at Darren, "Little asshole! Pack it quickly!" Darren could tell that the elixir in his hand was extraordinary. When he heard Marvin''s order, his lips curved with satisfaction secretly. ''What a great gift for me!'' Darren thought. "Yes, sir!" When Marvin saw how dutiful Darren was being, he dropped his guard. After all, Marvin believed that Darren was only a loser at the third stage of the Primary Realm. Darren couldn''t challenge him. After Darren ced the cardiac core and white elixir into the bag, he didn''t remove his hand. Instead, he clutched the white elixir tightly. "What the hell are you doing? Don''t try anything foolish! Otherwise, you will be dead meat!" Marvin yelled at Darren when he noticed that Darren had put his hand in the bag. "I''m sorry, sir! I just wanted to check that I had put it right. After all, I can''t afford to take responsibility for such a big loss," Darren exined. Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. "Go away! It''s time for me to enjoy the beauties, ha-ha!" Darren could feel enormous spiritual energy nourishing his body as he absorbed the energy from the white elixir. ''Wow! This is so much better than absorbing a dead beast''s talent.'' Darren could feel that a significant change was happening in his body. He was in the process of metamorphosis. Marvin, meanwhile, was walking toward the three unconscious teammates. "Fuck off! You assholes!" Marvin kicked Kyle Zhang, and Phil Li, breaking their bones. Then he crouched and his eyes roamed lecherously over Corrine''s figure. "What a great ass. What a pity that she has passed out. It would be better to ride her when she''s awake." Then Marvin turned to Elsa. "Ha-ha! My beauty! I have been dreaming about you since first sight. I''ve fantasized about the pleasing sounds you''ll make when I am all over you. And now, it''s time to realize my fantasy. Ha-ha!" Marvin said with a depraved smirk as he walked toward Elsa. "Marvin! Let her go! You can take all the valuable things that I have," said Jared, who had been severely injured. "You must be kidding! Bastard! You think I will let go of a beauty like her? That''s so ridiculous! But you are a good boy. How about this? You can be my subordinate, and we can enjoy this beauty together. What do you think, pal?" Marvin asked. Chapter 10 A Great Harvest (Part Two) Chapter 10 A Great Harvest (Part Two) "Well..." After a momentary hesitation, Jared answered, "Are you serious?" Elsa turned grim-faced at once. She could not believe that Jared would consider it. He had been a gentleman all this while. "Of course, I mean it! I need a partner anyway, and you are a good choice for me. We can work together and enjoy our free time. What do you say?" "Yes! I want to join you, sir! I am tired of all the rules I have to follow. I yearn for the way you live. And I''ve been dreaming about Corrine for a long time. I want her so much. This gentleman facade is really exhausting." "Wow! I didn''t expect you to be a lewdster. We are so like-minded. Ha-ha!" "I just regret that we didn''t meet sooner. How about this, my buddy? I''m taking Corrine, and Elsa is yours. She is not my type, anyway." Marvin nodded with satisfaction. After Jared got permission, he walked to Corrine. Darren, who had been standing beside them, thought that Jared was being deceitful, but what happened in the next second proved that Darren''s spection was wrong. Jared was totally a scumbag. N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. He walked over and spanked Corrine with an indecent look. Darren felt that his talent for martial arts had been upgraded to a shocking level after he had absorbed the energy of the elixir. Then he began assimting the cardiac core of the level eight beast. His speed of assimtion had surged as well. It took Darren only a moment to absorb half of the spiritual energy from the cardiac core. And his cultivation base improved to the topmost level of the sixth stage. In a general way, a cultivator, at level seven of the Yellow Degree, had to spend more than half a year to upgrade to the sixth stage of the Primary Realm. But Darren had made such a breakthrough in the blink of an eye. ''It''s so close now! When I''m at the seventh stage, I will have the power to fight against Marvin, '' Darren thought. "Come on! My beauty! Why do you run away? I promise I will be gentle, ha-ha!" Marvin chased Elsa. Since he was not injured, he was a formidable opponent for Elsa who had been severely wounded. "You shameless bastard! I will tear you to pieces when my cultivation base has recovered," Elsa yelled at Marvin. She had never expected that such a thing would happen to her. "You won''t have the chance after today, my baby! I will take every inch of you, ha-ha!" Marvin was more excited. Darren, who had been standing beside them, was trying his best to absorb the energy from the cardiac core. ''I''ve reached the seventh stage of the Primary Realm!'' Darren was thrilled about his rapid breakthrough. ''I''m not sure about my current talent level, and my cultivation base is still rising sharply. Maybe I should grasp top martial skills before I take action, '' Darren nned in his mind. If he seeded, his cultivation base would make another remarkable progress. He tried to remember the first move of the Profound Nine Sword Skills. ''Destructive Sword Attack!'' Darren practiced the first move in his mind. He was pleased when his head didn''t hurt this time. ''What an abstruse martial arts skill! Even the first move is soplicated, but its power is really aggressive.'' Although Darren had achieved a significant leap in his talent, it was still hard for him to grasp the first move. Jared, however, was touching every inch of Corrine''s body with a scious expression. "What are you doing?" Corrine was woken up by Jared''s actions. Her face paled. "What am I doing? What do you think I am doing?" Jared shouted at Corrine as he pped her face several times. Then he ripped her clothes and continued, "I''m enjoying my freedom. I can do whatever I want, ha-ha!" Now that the gentleman facade had been removed, everyone could see Jared''s true nature. Corrine, who had a crush on Jared before, saw his real character through his actions. She could not take such humiliation, so she killed herself by biting off her tongue. "Fuck! She''s dead! You think this will stop me? Ha-ha! No fucking way!" Jared, like an estrous dog, continued his actions. "You son of a bitch!" Darren shouted at Jared. He stood up, regretting not having taken action earlier. "What? You loser! What can you do to me? Save your nonsense! Otherwise, you will be dead meat," Jared warned Darren. However, Darren''s outburst didn''t stop Jared. "Fuck! You shameless asshole!" Darren roared. A bastard like Jared should live in the hell. In an instantaneous burst, Darren shed toward Jared and aimed an attack at him. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three punches broke Jared''s chest bones. "You son of a bitch! How could you do this to her? She''s dead! Asshole!" Darren pped Jared, who was screaming in agony from the pain of the broken bones. Soon, Jared''s face swelled like a pig. "I''m sorry! I''m so sorry! Please stop!" Jared begged with a lisp. "Go to hell!" His begging didn''t stop Darren. With the next punch, Darren killed Jared. Marvin and Elsa froze when they saw this scene. Marvin frowned in anger. "Damn it! You little asshole! You concealed your real cultivation base as well. That''s beyond my expectation." Marvin looked at Darren without any vignce, and continued, "But so what? You are still nothing in front of me. I''m a cultivator at the eighth stage. What can you do to me, asshole?" "That''s hard to say!" Darren shot a cold re at Marvin. He had reached the topmost level of the seventh stage and had an initial understanding of the first move of the Profound Nine Sword Skills. The fight against Marvin offered Darren a good chance to figure out his current cultivation base. "You are going to die!" Marvin rushed toward Darren. Elsa''s expression changed to reflect the concern she felt. She screamed, "Be careful! He has the top martial arts skill." Chapter 11 Strength (Part One) Chapter 11 Strength (Part One) Darren had to be cautious because hecked the battle experience. He had not been able to properly train and use his power in ount of him having just reached the seventh stage from the third stage within one day. "The power of his fists is indeed strong." Darren dodged and avoided Marvin''s attack. But as soon as Marvin''s fist failed tond on Darren, another fist quickly followed. This time, he used all the force he could muster. Seeing that he had nowhere to hide, Darren clenched his hand into a fist and punched back. Boom! The impact created by both of their fists was too powerful that Darren was thrown several strides backwards and Marvin a few couple of paces opposite. "I haven''t expected that you''ve already reached the peak of the seventh stage! That''s great and all, but there obviously still is an impassable gap between our stages, and you haven''t been able to defeat me. Now, let me show you how powerful I am." Marvin felt much relieved after having witnessed Darren''s real strength. The difference between the seventh stage and the eighth stage seemed to be little to non-existent, but in reality, there was still an immenselyrge disparity between the two stages. "He is in danger," Elsa stated, apanied by a worried scowl on her face. But Darren wasposed. He knew that the difference between him and Marvin was not impossible to ovee. He was just learning how to adjust himself to the fight, that''s all. "I will kill you!" he shouted. Marvin started to storm towards Darren again. He extended out his fists and took a hack at him. The attack was so powerful that it felt as though his fists alone could break the mountain into pieces. Darren dodged the attack as much as he could. Although he was not stronger than Marvin in terms of strength in the battle, he had enough wits about him to remain unhurt by Marvin''s barrage of attacks. Even at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm, Marvin still hasn¡¯t seeded in trying to defeat Darren. The fight dragged on and before they knew it, half an hour had passed as they arrived at a deadlock. Marvin''s initial anger morphed into shocked frustration after he came to the realization that even though Darren has just reached the seventh stage, he still was not able to defeat the boy. He started to get fatigued and he grew more exhausted with every second that passed. He kept thinking that things would have been a lot of easier if he had used his full strength from the very beginning of the fight. "He quickly gained experience in the battle. He is such a fast learner," Elsa remarked. She felt a sensation in the pit of her stomach as she stood beside them. She was astounded by Darren''s ability to learn so much in just a short amount of time. Even though she herself was at level nine of the Yellow Degree, it took her a while and experienced difficulty in achieving it. Theoretically speaking, it should have been more difficult for Darren to do that when he was inferior to others in stage. ''Is he more talented than me in cultivation?'' she thought bitterly. The thought of it made Elsa feel a constriction in her chest. ''How could such an average-looking young man be so talented? What is this?'' Unbelievable is what it was. Elsa continued observing him and focused on every move he made, even down to the most miniscule actions. "He''s using his opponent to gain knowledge in battle and use it against them! One could even say he is almost as well-versed in battle as those seasoned masters who have practiced a long time." A mix of astonishment and envy washed over Elsa''s face after she had thought about how Darren, who was still just a rookie in the first ce, was able to turn into a powerful and fairlypetent fighter so instantly. "Talent, he must have been a talent," she told herself. As much as she''d hate to admit it, she was genuinely impressed. "Ah! I will kill you! Die, you scum!" Darren shouted. He had just found an opening against Marvin and gave his vital part a good kick. This made Marvin more furious than ever. "You are forcing me to use my saber!" Marvin eximed. As he uttered those words, a saber suddenly appeared in his hands out of nowhere. He wielded the saber expertly, showing off his every gesture and every motion, moving almost as if he was one with the weapon. "Wrath Sword Skill, the top martial arts skill in the world." Elsa fixed her eyes on Marvin. "You hustler," Darren shouted. Almost unexpectedly, Darren saw the sword Jared left lying on the ground. Without hesitation, he casually picked it up and dashed toward Marvin head-on. Darren felt the extreme power that the sword emitted. It was so intense, that he felt the power run through his veins and rip out into the air. Next thing he knew, he was wielding the sword like a natural. "Well, what do you know, even his swordsmanship is freaking perfect!" Elsa eximed disbelievingly. Every time, Darren did something remarkable. And every single time, without fail, she was left bbergasted. She still couldn''tprehend how such a rare talent lived in such a secluded ce. "Ah!" Marvin screamed frantically as he charged toward Darren with all the force he could muster. He reached the peak of his strength after hebined the cultivation base of the eighth stage and the saber skill together. "Destructive Sword Attack!" Without hesitation, Darren used the first move of the Profound Nine Sword Skills immediately. Through the sword, his strength manifested into numerous shadows. This got him worked up as he flew towards Marvin. The shadows emitted such a tremendous power that Marvin felt genuine fear. N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. "What kind of swordsmanship is that? It''s so ferocious. What should I do now? I''m totally screwed!" Marvin cried out. His boldness had stared to waver. A ripple of panic suddenly passed through him. But it was toote to retreat. Bang! Waves of invisible circles were formed and spread out from the ce where the sword and the saber had met. All the towering trees in the area were easily cut off by the destructive power. Elsa hurriedly ducked to search for a ce to hide, fearing that it might be dangerous if the power spread to her. Chapter 12 Strength (Part Two) Chapter 12 Strength (Part Two) Once the outburst had died down and what was left was only the silence, Darren turned his back away from Marvin. "That sword is possibly one of the most powerful I''ve ever seen!" Marvin resented admitting it. He couldn''t help feeling a tiny bit amazed by Darren''s superb talent. Just as he was about toe to terms to the fact that he can''t beat Darren, numerous injuries on his skin came into view and every inch of his body began to crack and crumble away. He started to copse, and died before he even hit the ground. "How is it possible that only one move of your sword was able to easily defeat someone at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm? You cut through him just like a piece of steak!" Elsa blurted out a few momentster. She had no words to describe Darren, especially when it came to his exceptional swordsmanship. It might have taken her months topletely grasp the skill as efficiently as he had. Watching the ball of light as it flew out of Marvin''s head, Darren absorbed his talent and walked towards where Elsa was. "Are you alright?" he awkwardly asked. Darren was perplexed at seeing Elsa absolutely dumbfounded by what had just taken ce. He had no idea how the whole fight must have looked like from her perspective. He had no idea how impressed Elsa currently was. It was unlike anything she had ever seen from someone of his cultivation base, even from someone like her who came from a prestigious sect. Although, in a blink of an eye, Elsa fell back to her usual apathetic self. "I''m fine, thanks," she nonchntly replied. Soon afterward, Kyle and Phil woke up from theira to the sight of spilled blood and corpses all over the ground. Darren filled them in on everything that happened. They were understandably shocked to hear about Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. the events that took ce while they were out cold. "Jared, that son of a bitch! Poor Corrine did not deserve that," Kyle said. The two men grew furious just thinking about it. "We had not expected that you are such a powerful guy. It is our mistake. Please forgive us if we''ve ever done something against you," Phil humbly said. Darren epted the apology and nodded his head. "Why did you hide your strength from us? If you had told us about it, if you had used it sooner, Corrine would still be alive and wouldn''t have killed herself!" Elsa wasn''t able to stop the emotions that burst out of her. She clearly had a bone to pick with Darren. She needed him to know that he was partly to me for what happened. What Elsa said did have some truth to it. Darren just stood by as his friends were injured by the me Tiger; he just stood by while Corrine endured humiliation which led her to kill herself; he just stood by and let it all happen. If he was a good man, he should have used his power to help them, he should have done something. "It was beyond my power to be able to help at that time. I can''t tell you the reason why right now. All I could say is that I''m really sorry," Darren exined. "Humph!" Elsa sneered, frustrated at Darren. She believed no one could possibly be able to level up to such a high stage from the third stage of the Primary Realm in just a short amount of time. Elsa turned around without saying anything and left. A mix of guilt, shame, and awkwardness washed over Darren, Kyle, and Phil as they watched Elsa walk away. "Darren, this Barren Wastnd proved to be dangerous especially for us who basically had no fighting experience. We realized that we still need to improve our skills. We''ll get going now, see you next time," said Phil. After saying those words, the two men cupped their own hands, raised them in front of their chests in a salute. They then turned around and walked away, still limping from the injuries they sustained. Unlike them, though, Darren decided that he didn''t want to leave immediately. Fighting in the battle greatly empowered him and he didn''t want to lose time in improving his cultivation base and his talent. He has decided to stay in the Barren Wastnd and continue fight those fierce beasts. A whole month has passed. While taking a small repose near ake, Darren saw his reflection in the water. Drying blood covered his skin and his clothes were ripped off - he was a mess. "I''ve been fighting fierce level six and seven beasts left and right for the past month. I wonder how much my skills have improved. I wasn''t able to keep track of what stage I''ve reached, but I did just feel that I was able to quickly absorb the spiritual energy of the earth and heaven. I must probably at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm by now, after I spent more than a month in practicing skills and absorbing the spiritual energy of the cardiac core," he said to himself. He recalled that Nichs had stopped at the seventh stage of the Primary Realm, and after receiving a lot of resources from his father and spending three years practicing, he was finally able to break through that barrier. "Unlike him, It only took me a very short time to figure out the solution to the problem. This achievement was unprecedented in history!" Darren was ecstatic as he thought about how after years of being the underdog. He finally reached a higher stage and didn''t have to fear the younger generation in the n. "They''re all going to taste my revenge. The first one to be served will be Evan!" Darren was confident that he would be able to easily defeat Evan who was currently only at the fourth stage. The only thing that he was worried about was the n power of Evan''s mother. But once Darren became a disciple of the Ilmen Sect, he would not have to worry about any kind of n power. "The Ilmen Sect will choose disciples from each n soon. I should head back." Darren soaked himself in the pool to wash out the blood stains and all the grime off of his body. As soon as he finished up, he headed over to Acqua City. Chapter 13 Fury Chapter 13 Fury The gate opened with a creak. Darren arrived at the Chu n residence several hourster. When he opened the door, he noticed that many people turned to watch him. "Look! It''s Darren! He has been missing for two months. I thought he had died." "Yeah, he is still alive. But so what? The protection the elders promised him has expired. He will die sooner orter." "That''s hard to say now. Can you feel his aura? It''s much stronger than before." "You must be kidding me! Okay! Let''s say you are right and that he has be stronger. However, he is still nothing inparison to Mr. Evan and the other geniuses in our family." They murmured among themselves about Darren scornfully. They all agreed that Darren was making a huge mistake by returning. But Darren just ignored them. The Ilmen Sect woulde to the Chu n for recruitment today, which provided him with an opportunity to prove himself. Darren walked toward his courtyard. As he stepped in front of the door, he heard a loud p. "Spill it! Where is the little asshole?" "Hit her! Don''t stop till she tells the truth!" Darren trembled with anger when he heard the conversation. He regretted leaving his little sister at home when he journeyed to the Barren Wastnd to improve his cultivation base. But his sister was included in the elders'' protection. ''Who has the nerve to bully my sister?'' "Bang!" One kick from Darren shattered the door. Then a tall man turned to him and red at him. "That''s great! You''re here now! I thought you would never return." Darren recognized the tall man who had spoken to be Bob Lin, the butler of the Chu n. And the person who was standing beside Bob Lin was Darren''s enemy, Evan. "Ha-ha! Long time no see, my brother! If you had returned earlier, nothing would have happened to Belle. Where have you been hiding? Look at this poor girl! Oh, her face is bleeding. What if her pretty face is scarred because of this? What a pity that would be!" Evan was thrilled to see Darren. He finally had the chance to kill this loser now. "Sons of bitches! Go to hell!" Darren widened his eyes as burning anger coursed through his body. When he saw what they had done to his only little sister, he could no longer control his fury. "Catch him! He will regret returning. Soon, he will know that death is the only way to get rid of my torment. Get him now!" When Bob learned that Darren had killed his son, he began searching for Darren. Two months had passed, and yet, no one knew of Darren''s whereabouts. All this while, he had been dreaming of tearing Darren to pieces. "Darren! Run! Run away now! Don''t worry about me!" Tears escaped from her eyes when Belle heard her brother''s name. Although she had almost lost consciousness from the blows, her first instinct was to tell her brother to run and save himself. Darren felt sorry for his little sister. "Ah! All of you! Go to hell!" Darren, who was now out of control, threw his fists at Bob''s subordinates. Darren had summoned such tremendous power in each punch that he severely injured every enemy who wasing at him, with just one blow. "How is this even possible? How could he be so strong now?" At once, Evan could feel something was strange. Bob squinted at Darren when he noticed the change. Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. "Surround him. Attack him together! Kill him! Now!" Then Bob rushed toward Darren with his remaining subordinates. He was highly confident about this fight. After all, his cultivation base was at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm. "Ha-ha!" Evanughed with satisfaction. He was relieved to see that Bob, a strong cultivator of the eighth stage, was ready to join the fight. But Evan was struck dumb with amazement by what happened in the next second. As soon as Bob had rushed over, Darren threw a dozen sessive fists at him. Bob was forced to take several steps back. "What? What the hell?" Evan froze when he saw this scene. ''How, how could this even be possible? Bob is at the eighth stage! How could Darren injure him?'' He could not believe what his eyes were seeing. ''Why is Darren so strong? Did he just defeat Bob, a cultivator at the eighth stage? What happened to him?'' While Evan was racking his brain for an exnation, he was greeted with a hard fist. "Bang!" The blow broke Evan''s bones. "Mom! Mom! Uncle! Help me!" Evan cried out. Although Darren was about to throw another fist at Evan to end his life, Bob continued the fight against Darren, despite the acute pain he felt. "No matter how strong you are, you are going to die today!" Bob, anger burning in his chest, took out a in iron canister and pressed the button on it. Then, thousands of tiny arrows shot out simultaneously. "Thunder Arrow Attack! Go to hell! Asshole!" Darren didn''t make a move even though numerous powerful arrows were aimed at him. A sword, carrying an icy aura, appeared in Darren''s hand. He brandished the sword and left perfect arcs in the air. A secondter, all the arrows around Darren fell to the ground. Then Darren, with the sword pointing at Bob''s throat, rushed forward. Before anyone could react, a thin line appeared on Bob''s neck. As the line spurted blood, the tall figure fell to the ground. "Shit! I''m so screwed this time!" Like seeing a death devil, Evan shivered with fear in front of Darren. Darren brandished his sword again. This time, he pointed it at Evan. Evan was on the edge of death! "ng!" "Wait!" All of a sudden, an elder hovered in front of Darren. He had used his sword to block Darren''s attack. "You have mastered the Profound Nine Sword Skills!" The old man was surprised. He hadn''t noticed Darren''s skill level while blocking his attack. It had been so powerful that his hand felt numb from the impact. "Go away! This asshole is going to die today. Nobody can stop me," Darren shouted. Darren turned to the elder and recognized that he was Abner Chu, who had promised to protect him and his sister. "Mind your attitude! You''d better show respect to an elder of the Chu n." Abner Chu frowned. "Fuck you! What kind of an elder are you? You can''t even keep your promise. Look at what they have done to my little sister! But you did nothing about it. You are an ipetent elder!" Darren was so furious that he had lostplete control. He didn''t care who he was talking to. "Enough!" Abner Chu berated Darren. However, Darren''s usation reminded Abner that he had failed to carry out his duty this time. All of his attention had been directed toward his cultivation in the Elders Cab. If the servant hadn''t reported this intense fight to Abner, he would not know anything about what was happening outside. He had rushed to Darren''s courtyard as soon as possible after hearing the servant''s report. "Go away, kid! I''ll forgive what you have done today," Abner Chu said after some contemtion. "And I say fuck you!" Darren was insane with fury. In the next instant, he swung his sword at Evan. "Help me, please! Help me, Elder! Help!" Evan cried as he ran to hide behind the elder. Abner had not expected Darren to take action in front of him. The attack from Darren''s sword was too quick for Evan to dodge. Even Abner was slow to react. Evan lost an arm. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" Evan cried out with pain as he rolled on the ground. "I''ll give you onest chance. Fuck off!" Abner activated his spiritual energy of the Spirit Realm and pressed Darren to the ground. Darren felt it hard to breathe under the tremendous pressure, which was akin to carrying a mountain on his back. Finally, he calmed down a little. He cast a nce at Evan, who was crying with pain. Then he walked to Belle and hugged her before leaving the yard. "You fucking bastard! You think you can leave here after what you have done to my nephew? There is no way I will let that happen." Several people rushed into the yard just as Darren was leaving. Darren looked around and found that three geniuses of the Chu n, his two uncles, and a few strong cultivators were blocking his way. The person who was talking to Darren was Evan''s maternal uncle, who now glowered at Darren. "It''s toote! I can''t do anything to help you now." Abner sighed regretfully. He med himself for his dereliction of duty. If he had noticed what was happening earlier and hade to stop Evan, Darren would not have lost control. Since the chief''s death, the Chu n had undergone immense strife. Since this was a challenging time, other ns'' attitude toward them was vital. Although Abner wanted to protect Darren, the other elders of the Elders Cab would never agree with his decision. ''If I protect Darren, the whole Yue n would feel offended. I can''t sacrifice the Chu n''s future for an untalented loser like him, '' Abner rationalized. "Come on! Come kill me!" Darren screamed with widened eyes. An invincible power exploded in the next second. Chapter 14 Pressures Coming From The Clan Chapter 14 Pressures Coming From The n People found Darren presumptuous and arrogant. That was the impression he left with almost everyone present. "Evan, are you all right?" Evan''s mother asked with concern as she picked him up. He was crying. "My arm is broken, Mom. Help me. You must let uncle kill that bastard! Huhuhu," he replied. "That''s enough! A true man doesn''t cry like a baby when he gets injured!" Evan''s uncle, Stan, said as he red at him. He was Evan''s mother''s brother and they were both descendants of the Yue n. "But since you are my nephew, I don''t allow anybody to bully you like this," he continued, "Darren, as you broke Evan''s arm, it''s fair for you to break both your arms yourself!" "Haha," Darrenughed at Stan''s words. "He deserved that. I''d kill him without hesitation if I were given the chance," he said. His words surprised everyone who heard. He did not seem to fear anyone. This was a mystery that no one understood. It was well known that Stan was at the second stage in the Spirit Realm, making him the most powerful cultivator in the Yue n. "You arrogant little prick! Who do you think you are?" Stan eximed. Then, he turned to the n elders. "As elders of Chu n, do you think that it is right to punish the person who broke his brother''s arm or not? The rude does not deserve mercy!" Stan asked, showing a reasonable look. "ording to our n rules, it''s proper to do that, yes," an old man from Chu n confirmed. "Proper? What bullshit is that?" Darren shot dismissively. "Evan bullied me and my younger sister ever since we were children. He beat and scolded us whenever he felt like it. Shouldn''t he pay the price for what he has done? After my father''s death, he provoked me again and again. I was tolerant of him but he still wanted to kill me. Shouldn''t he pay price for that? He, together with Bob the butler, beat my younger sister just now. Shouldn''t he pay price for that? When Evan caused us distress, nobody showed up to help us. How dare you speak of n rules now!" he eximed. Everyone fell silent when Darren finished speaking. Everything was true. "Humph, know your ce, loser! Nothing you say will stop me from breaking your arms!" said Stan. Unable to respond to what Darren said, he decided to ignore it and resort to force. "Do you want to take charge in our n, outsider?" another man spoke. It was Darren''s elder uncle, Reed. Darren cast a nce at him. He knew that although his so-called elder uncle said this, it was not because he supported him. Instead, this was his way of unting his status. "Oh, my brother, why do you keep embarrassing yourself?" another remarked. "Stan is protecting his nephew and that''s reasonable. He is Evan''s uncle. Since his father, our brother, died, the responsibility to do so has fallen on Stan. Also, isn''t it a little too early for you to speak with that tone? You''re not even chief," Mark, Darren''s younger uncle said sarcastically. "Does that mean you are taking Stan''s side? As your elder brother, it is then my responsibility to teach you a lesson, you rude bastard!" Reed replied angrily. "You want to teach me a lesson? Really? Okay, let me see you try. Come on!" Mark said. "Bullshit, let''s fight then!" ... Suddenly, all the people wanted to fight each other and Darren stood in the background of it all, forgotten. There were many rival factions within the Chu n and they had never been harmonious. "Stop!" A thunderous sound roared. With it appeared several old men. They all were calm and steady like hills. They were the elders of the Chu n. Among them was the Chief Elder. "Chief Elder!" "Chief Elder!" Everyone in attendance, including outside cultivators invited by different factions, acknowledged the presence of the Chief Elder. Everyone knew of the strength he possessed. He was the strongest in the Chu n and had gotten to stage seven in the Spirit Realm. "Stop arguing. The man who will be in charge of our n will not be decided by you all!" he dered. He nced at the people in the crowd. "We have all decided that the junior who will be qualified to enter the Ilmen Sect will be appointed as the chief. Do you all agree with that?" he asked. Hearing this, Reed, Mark, and the genius Nichs, allughed in triumph. It was exactly what they wanted. N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. "No way! I think it would be unfair to decide the chief based on the qualifications of bing a disciple of Ilmen Sect," a woman said. She was married to a man in Chu n from Zhou n and she thought it was unjust because her son''s talent was only at the sixth level. "I also think so!" "It shouldn''t be like this!" Other people whose sons had mediocre talent in martial arts all opposed the idea. "I have an idea. Although talent is important, a man who wants to gain immense strength is required to show more perseverance and resourcefulness. Only young, powerful men can protect our n. That said, I would like to suggest a contest for junior members on the annual meeting that will happen in 6 months. Whoever wins first ce will be chief. What do you think?" someone suggested. The Chief Elder nodded, "It''s reasonable. The one who passes the test for the Ilmen Sect can also directly challenge the strongest contender." Nobody opposed it. The Chief Elder then turned to Darren. "Evan is protected by the Elders Cab during his whole lifetime. As Darren broke the family rules, you can deal with him ording to n rules," he dered. "Brother, there is something I have to say," the elder named Abner who was standing beside the Chief Elder said. He somehow saw a little bit of hope for Darren. He felt like there was more to him that met the eye. "There is nothing to speak! Nobody is allowed to challenge the family rules," the Chief Elder interrupted. In the Chief Elder''s mind, talent, strength and background were what mattered in the Chu n. Darren was not worth supporting because hecked all of those. This disappointed Darren. "Don''t pretend to be impartial, Chief Elder. You think I don''t have a future because of my mediocre talent for martial arts. You think I don''t have background because my mother''s n is poor. Stop talking about n rules, will you? You''re such a hypocrite!" Darren felt like he had nothing to lose anymore. "You disrespectful little bastard," the Chief Elder said angrily. "What, isn''t it true, though? Honestly, if it were Nichs who broke Evan''s arm, you wouldn''t treat him the same way, right?" Darren continued. "Nonsense! Anyone who breaks the rules of the n will be treated equally. Dare to say one more word and I will punish you myself!" the Chief Elder boomed. "Hahaha!" Darren burst intoughter. "You are such a hypocrite! Everyone knows the truth! Even if Nichs kills Evan, you will not even say a word! This is such a joke! Everyone knows that!" Darren said. "Shut up, loser! Do you want to die?" Nichs came out and said. Darren''s words infuriated him. The Chief Elder didn''t know what to say anymore so he kept silent. "He is a loser --a mean dog that barks wildly at anyone! He dares to talk about Nichs because he knows he''s going to die!" "He is crazy! He should know his ce! How dare he answer back to the Chief Elder!" More people started to despise and curse Darren. "And you, Nichs, don''t think you are extraordinary because of your so-called talent. To me, level seven talent is as useless as rubbish. Oh no, wait, it''s even lower than rubbish," Darren said. "What did you say? I dare you repeat that!" Leo and ke were now angry as well. They also possessed level seven talent in Yellow Degree. "Did you just say that level seven talent is rubbish? You really want to die, don''t you?" "That''s just what I said. In fact, you all are rubbish in my eyes, real rubbish," Darren remarked. Darren did not care much about what he said. He knew that everyone would hate him sooner orter. He might as well speak his mind right now. "I will kill you, little loser!" Nichs rushed at Darren first, throwing his fist to Darren''s head. Darren easily summoned his internal energy and quietlyunched a cold sword. In the next instant, the same sword disappeared leaving only a trace of force in the air. Most of the people present did not see what happened. They only found Nichs suddenly retreated. Nichs was shocked because the sword skill was so fast and so perfect. There was no w in it. ''Maybe it''s because of my carelessness, '' he thought. This made him feel a little better. ''That was the first move in the Profound Nine Sword Skills, '' thought an old man behind the crowd. The events did not interest him initially, but Darren caught his attention at that moment. Apparently, the man was the guard of the Martial Skill Library. He did not expect to see anything extraordinary when he came but Darren gave him a big surprise. ''He sessfully executed it. But how?'' The guard of the Martial Skill Library thought in disbelief. He could still remember clearly how the silly boy in front of him had only mediocre talent. "You clown!" Now, it was Stan who was approaching Darren fast. Bearing the pressuresing from a Spirit Realm warrior, Darren couldn''t breathe and even react. Chapter 15 The Test Began Chapter 15 The Test Began "Boom!" Dust rose as the palms hit. As the dust settled, the crowd saw a skinny old man standing opposite Stan. "It''s the guard of the Martial Skill Library!" "Why is he helping this loser?" The audience was baffled. "The masters from Ilmen Sect will arrive in a minute. It will be rude and indecent for them to see the strife among the Chu n members. They might forbid the Chu n members from participating in the selection. Let us finish the test first." The guard of the Martial Skill Library did not exin why he defended Darren, but he spoke with good reason. "That makes sense. We''ll let this loser live a little longer." At that moment, Darren thought he was doomed. He was going to be killed by an outsider in front of his so-called family. A shiver went down his spine. In this world, no one cared about the weak and the incapable. "Boy, I made a mistake. Try your best in the test. I will protect you with my life regardless of whether you win or lose," whispered the guard of the Martial Skill Library. "Thanks," replied Darren dryly. "Here, theye! The masters from Ilmen Sect have arrived!" Several figures descended from the sky; each of them appeared distinguished and impressive. "s! Look! The masters from Ilmen Sect are so young!" "I heard that they are elite disciples of Ilmen Sect! How fortunate to enter the Spirit Realm at such a young age!" "We warmly wee you, masters!" The Chu nsmen, regardless of their level of power, bowed to salute the Ilmen Sect masters while the high-ranking elders of the Spirit Realm cupped their hands. The Ilmen Sect had always been held in high public esteem. "You are too polite. We havee for the selection. Let us begin." The disciples of Ilmen Sect were men of action. From the moment they arrived, they got straight to business. Everyone was impressed. "All juniors under the age of 17 should head to the training ground now,"manded an elder. Many figures ran to the training ground, one by one, excitement written all over their faces. They all had high hopes of passing the test. Darren made his way to the training ground after the crowd had dispersed. Stan had arranged for several men to watch him in case he thought about escaping. Yet, Darren did not have the slightest inclination to escape. Who, of the young generation, could stop him after he had entered the eighth stage of the Primary Realm? "Here are the test rules," started a young disciple from the Ilmen Sect, who was now standing on a high tform in the arena. Everyone held their breath. They listened intently as they did not want to miss a single word. "The testprises of three parts. Whoever passes all three will be a disciple of the Ilmen Sect." After a moment of silence, the young disciple from Ilmen Sect continued speaking, "Part one is the Insight test. All candidates will learn the same cultivation method. The quicker you learn and the more you master, the better result you will get. Part two is the Talent test. Upon clearing the first test, candidates will enter the Ilmen Sect''s test dimension. The sooner you exit the dimension, the better your score in the test. Part three is not a significant part of the test. Candidates'' results from the first two tests will decide whether or not you will be a disciple of Ilmen Sect. However, you will need to choose one from the five lines of Ilmen Sect to begin your cultivation. Besides, every disciple who passes the tests will be rewarded with one chance to get support from a Mysterious Realm master during their lifespan. This alone is of great benefit." The announcement created a heated discussion among the Chu n members. The support from a Mysterious Realm master meant a lifesaving chance if a person was in danger. Since a master''s advice was priceless, this reward was highly coveted. The eyes of the Chief Elder of the Chu n brightened suddenly. This was the opportunity he had wanted. If any Chu n member got the reward, there would be no trouble like the assassination of the former Chief of the Chu n. "OK, announce the candidates'' names now." "As you wish," replied a Chu n elder. "Nichs Chu, Leo Chu, ke Chu, Hank Chu¡­¡­, there are twenty-one in total." Darren''s name was not on the list. However, any immediate family members could join the test ording to tradition. "Dear master, I, Darren Chu, will participate in the test as well." Darren stepped forward and added respectfully. "How dare you! Get out!" All elders turned pale as they feared that Darren had offended the master. "As an immediate member of the Chu n, I have the right to partake in the selection. It is the master who makes the decision. On what basis do you banish me?" Darren questioned. "All right, I have no patience for this nonsense. Let him join," said the disciple from Ilmen Sect. "Yes!" someone answered. "How dare he speak with a master like this?" They cursed Darren. Twenty-two Chu n members, including Darren, marched up to the tform. Everyone red at Darren contemptuously. A stone tablet about 10 meters high, densely inscribed with small characters, was carried on to the tform. "You have six hours to learn the Meridians Refining Scripture starting from this moment. There are six levels in the Meridians Refining Scripture. The more you understand, the better your result. A gentle reminder, do not force yourself if you find it too challenging. The consequence will be a risk you cannot afford." "Now, let''s begin." Twenty-two Chu n members concentrated on the scripture. Darren also focused on the inscription, one level at a time. After the first round, Darren concluded that it was very advanced. The Meridians Refining Scripture was very ambiguous andplicatedpared with martial arts cultivation methods. "The Meridians Refining Scripture is not an ordinary martial arts skill, and itsprehension does not directly strengthen a person''s power. But if one can master it fully and practice it daily, he then can refine his meridians and strengthen his essence, which will help forge the body in the long term." Darren analyzed as he wondered how many levels he could master. At this thought, Darren returned his focus to the scripture. He followed the description and began meditating on the first level. The remaining Chu n members also began to meditate after reading. A quarter of an hourter, three Chu n members on the tform began sweating profusely. For them, the first level was a daunting task. Another quarter of an hour passed. One disciple fainted, while another wept andughed and screamed before losing consciousness. "Get them off the tform. They are useless." The Chief Elder looked disappointed. These young men could not even pass the first level. To everyone''s astonishment, Darren closed his eyes tightly and did not behave unusually. "Ha-ha, the loser is not meditating. He is just pretending." "Perhaps he is sleeping. Otherwise, he would have shown some signs of difort." "Ha-ha!" The crowd roared withughter. "Shut up!" shouted an elder, and the crowd silenced. They did not dare to disturb the geniuses on the tform. Mazes showed up in Darren''s mind, one after another. He searched them for the exit. "This is the way. It must be." Darren felt enlightened all of a sudden. He seeded in understanding the first level. Then he continued with the second level. Darren found itplicated and difficult in the beginning because he had never read about meridians. Now, after his probing at the first level, he found the second level even simpler. Then the third level, the fourth level¡­ Darren meditated on one level after another, smoothly without stopping. One hour passed. Hepleted the meditation of the sixth level. Darren opened his eyes and looked down from the tform. "Ha-ha! Look, the loser has woken." "Get off and stop pretending." Someone from the crowd taunted. Darren felt something unusual just as he was going to tell the disciple from Ilmen Sect that he had He noticed several words at the bottom of the stone tablet. "There are seven levels in this scripture." Darren closed his eyes and engaged himself in meditation. Meanwhile, several other Chu n members climbed down from the tform. "How did it go, babe?" "I have mastered the third level. But I could not go on. My head is aching." "Well done. You''ve done enough to pass the first test. Take rest now." Nichs, ke, and Leo frowned. Obviously, they had encountered difficulties as well and were struggling to ovee them. Darren''s forehead beaded with sweat. The seventh level was so tricky that he felt as if he were lost in endless darkness, unable to get out by any means. The clock continued ticking. Four hours passed. At this moment, only four youngsters remained on the tform. Everyone gazed at the three geniuses, whilepletely ignoring Darren. "Ah!" shouted Leo as he woke from the meditation, his face pale. At this time, Nichs'' mother and ke''s father smiled at the thought that their sons had done better. Another quarter of an hourter, Nichs and ke both woke and panted heavily. They looked even worse than Leo. "My son must have mastered all six levels, Ha-ha!" "Humph, maybe not. He is just forcing himself. Only the master can tell us." Darren was the only one left on the tform now. Everyone grew impatient. It was a pure waste of time for the idiot to pretend and posture. After a little while, Darren stood. A sharp light shone in his eyes. The crowd burst into a guffaw at the sight of Darren in an energized mood. "Now,e here to test your degree of mastery. The first one is York Chu." York walked forward with his head high and began to practice his mastery of the Meridians Refining Scripture, one level after another. "York has mastered four levels, although his degree of understanding is low. He can take the next text." The degree of mastery for each level was categorized as low, medium, high, and perfect. The next person was not that lucky. He had mastered three levels at a low degree and was taken away after he cried. "Nichs Chu is next." As he walked past Darren, Nichs scorned at him contemptuously. "Idiot, you are making such a scene here. Let me show you what a true genius can do!" Nichs began to practice his mastery of the scripture. For the first level, he achieved a high degree of mastery. In the second level as well, Nichs had reached a high degree of mastery. ¡­... For the fifth level, he had acquired a medium degree of mastery. Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. And for the sixth level, Nichs had a low degree of mastery. Amotion arose in the crowd. The audience felt as if their blood was boiling. Nichs had achievedplete mastery of all six levels, but for the sixth level, he had reached a low degree. It was impressive. He was a very talented genius, indeed. Even the master from Ilmen Sect nodded with satisfaction. Then ke and Leo continued. Neither was as good as Nichs. Their mastery of the fifth and sixth was adjudged at a low degree. "Darren Chu is next." The crowd burst intoughter when Darren''s name was called. This fool had slept for hours on the tform, and it was time for him to humiliate himself. Chapter 16 Shock Chapter 16 Shock "Get your ass down here, you useless bastard!" "Shame you. You just tarnished our family name!" A massive amount of scolding came at Darren in waves. Not far away, several elders also noticed Darren''s performance. Although their facescked any emotion, they were watching in disbelief. Darren did not seem to show any trace of exhaustion despite everything that he had been doing. This was impossible. Abner actually got a glimmer of hope when he learned that Darren''s talent had been promoted. He always felt that there was something more to this young man. But now, it seemed that he was even more than what he expected. Only the guard of the Martial Skill Libraryughed quietly as he watched him on the stage because he knew how difficult it was to understand the Profound Nine Sword Skills. "Darren, do you really have to bring so much shame to the Chu family? If you drop out now, I, Nichs, give you a personal guarantee that I will help save your ass from Evan''s uncle," Nichs pretended to be looking after the interests of the Chu family. "No need," Darren stepped forward and responded faintly. "Don''t be too stubborn!" Darren''s refusal made Nichs angry. ''How dare you publicly oppose me, the future chief? Do you want to die?'' he thought but decided to keep it to himself. "Okay, show us what you''ve learned now so that we can move on to the next test soon," a disciple of the Ilmen Sect urged. Darren went to the particr dummy and found that it had the same meridians as that of a real person. Darren''s hands were like that of a phantom wandering around the dummy and filling it with spiritual energy that spread through the dummy''s meridians in the most perfect trajectories. "So skillful," one disciple of Ilmen Sectmented as he watched by the sidelines. His eyes lit up, "The firstyer, perfectprehension. Great!" Everyone was astonished when they heard him. "What? He did nothing wrong? Perfectprehension?" "Yeah, that''s what I heard too! Perfectprehension!" Someone whispered. "Brother, look..." Several elders also started watching. "Maybe he just got lucky. Perhaps his knowledge ends at the firstyer. It also could be a beginner''s luck. He still has no future. We shouldn''t be too impressed." The Chief Elder wasn''t swayed. He was firm in his own view. Then, Darren began to realize the secondyer of the Meridians Refining Scripture to wash the impurities left in the meridians. Just seven or eight minutester, drops of ck liquid came out from the dummy''s body. After using water to wash it away, the dummy started to give off a different light. "The secondyer, perfectprehension!" Everyone was surprised again. The secondyer was also realized? ''Still perfect! The loser was just sleeping on the tform. How did he do it? He also achieved perfectprehension on the secondyer! He just surpassed the abilities of the majority of the people who took the test. He''ll pass and qualify for the next test just as long as he has managed toprehend the thirdyer!'' everyone watching thought. The disciples of Ilmen Sect seemed satisfied. ''Achieving perfectprehension of the first twoyers already shows that this juvenile is actually quite talented. How fascinating. Let''s see how far he can go, '' they thought. Chu n members and other bystanders, however, were starting to feel angry. ''How can this piece of shit realize twoyers and achieve perfectprehension?'' "Darren, I don''t care what method you are using to cheat. Get out of there or else, we''ll have a problem!" Nichs and the other two geniuses from the Chu family shot at Darren. They were still skeptical about his ability to realize the twoyers with perfectprehension. "What''s the matter? Are you scared? Scared that I''ll be better than you?" Darren was defiant. "Let''s see who''s the loser." The three geniuses became nervous. Darren was right. "You can only win in your dreams!" In his rage, Nichs stepped forward and confronted the disciples of the Ilmen Sect, "Brothers, this guy is surely cheating! Do everything you can to find out how he is doing it!" "Yes! We have known this kid all his life. Everyone knows how mediocre he is. It''s impossible for him to understand the Meridians Refining Scripture without cheating!" the other two added. "How dare you! Do you doubt Jimmy''s judgment? No one dares to cheat under his watch!" An Ilmen Sect disciple shouted from the other side. "And do not call us ''Brother''. From what I know, it''s still unknown whether your talent is enough to enter Ilmen Sect," he added. The man''s words silenced Nichs. Feeling helpless, cold sweat came out of his forehead. "Continue," Jimmy Li, the leader of these disciples from Ilmen Sect, told Darren. Results were starting to show. The audience watched in silence as Darren exerted the Meridians Refining Scriptureyer byyer. "The third level, perfectprehension." "The fourth and fifthyers, perfectprehension!" The results of Darren''s test were so shocking! No one spoke. Everyone watched. Now, Darren could say that he surpassed Nichs. For the fifthyer, Nichs had only a middle-level ''That''s incredible!'' thought everyone who was there. In the distance, the few Chu family elders who watched were also stunned. ''How did that happen?'' they thought in disbelief. "Perfectprehension of five levels? Wow!" they eximed. "How incredible! Even the young master Nichs only had high-levelprehension for the first few "Am I dreaming?" The formerly quiet training ground suddenly started to grow noisy. Seeing this, the Chief Elder''s vision was suddenly blurred and his lips started trembling. "He..." The Chief Elder wanted to speak but could not seem to find the words. The other families in the Chu n were also in a state of shock, especially Evan''s family. "Brother, how can this little bastard be so talented? Would you know if he cheated?" Evan''s mother asked Stan. Stan''s brows were wrinkled but there was nothing he could say. He knew that Darren could not have cheated. On stage, the three so-called geniuses were the most dumbfounded of them all. The disciples of Ilmen Sect were very excited. Darren''s achievement of doing fiveyers of perfect n. Jimmy, the leader, seemed to be the most pleased. "I did not expect Chu to have such a genius. Darren will have a very promising future!" Jimmy was an excellent disciple who joined Ilmen Sect with a level nine talent of the Yellow Degree. At that time, he only achieved perfectprehension for the first fiveyers. The sixth level was highly It seemed that Darren''s martial arts talent was no worse than his. "Brother, did you get toprehend the sixthyer?" Jimmy''s question echoed throughout the hall turning everyone''s attention back to Darren. Jimmy just called Darren ''Brother'', which meant that Darren was just invited to join the Ilmen Sect! "Yes, Brother," Darren replied, returning the title in eptance. "Brother Darren, show us!" The Ilmen Sect disciples who watched Darren were so eager to see how he did the sixthyer. Darren then hurried to start disying the sixthyer of the Meridians Refining Scripture. The sixthyer of the Meridians Refining Scripture was the essence. This was more difficult to level nine of Yellow Degree could not perfectlyprehend. For people like Nichs whose talent was at seventh level or even lower levels, it would be even more difficult toprehend. N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. With Darren''s techniques, white fog floated above the meridians on the dummy. Darren actually turned the spiritual energy into fog. "Ah..." Both the audience and the disciples of Ilmen Sect were in awe. "The meridians are connected. This is definitely a perfectprehension!" Jimmy dered excitedly. "Perfectprehension, perfectprehension!" Bang! Cheers broke out in the Chu¡¯s training ground. Momentum soared. Offstage, the strongest representatives of each family also looked dumbfounded. Why didn''t they see Darren''s talent before? The Chief Elder''s facial muscles twitched recalling how he oppressed Darren. Regret filled him for what he did. "Brother, I have already reminded you that there is more to Darren than you have expected. Now, he got the chance to prove himself. How about I give him an apology on your behalf?" Abner looked at Darren. It was clear that Darren never felt like he belonged to the Chu n. Now, he could sense that the Chu n had lost himpletely after what had happened today. "Bullshit!" The Chief Elder cursed. "I have always dealt with the Chu family matters with fairness. Why will I apologize to a young boy? He is guilty of treason for hiding his talent from the family. I will not punish him only if he makes amends by entering the Ilmen Sect!" "Hey, brother..." Abner said anxiously. He understood the Chief Elder well. He would never admit being wrong. "Everybody!" Jimmy eximed, getting everyone''s attention. "As an elite disciple of the School of Boxing Skill in Ilmen Sect, I hereby announce that Darren no longer needs to participate in any more tests. Instead, he can directly enter the Ilmen Sect and choose a school of martial arts skill three days After the announcement, the Chu family felt all sorts of emotions. Nichs and other geniuses felt so defeated. The boy they looked down on just got qualified to join the Ilmen Sect even withoutpleting all the tests! This was a big shock to them. The others felt that the contention for the chief of Chu n suddenly became moreplicated. The elders of the Chu family were all resentful that they did not know how to win the heart of this super genius that just slipped through their fingers. Darren, however, looked indifferent. He eyed the audience and looked at everyone, both friends and enemies. ''I wille back someday, '' he thought. "Brother, the seventhyer of the Meridians Refining Scripture is too difficult. It is something I cannot fullyprehend. I need your advice," Darren said. "What? The seventhyer?" Jimmy asked, puzzled. And then, he reacted. "Ah? You..." Chapter 17 Darrens Talent (Part One) Chapter 17 Darren''s Talent (Part One) Jimmy grew delighted over Darren''s mention of the seventh level of the Meridians Refining Scripture. ''Have I just discovered a genius who has the talent of the ck Degree for the sect?'' he excitedly thought. ''If this is true, I will certainly be rewarded for it. Moreover, it would also be beneficial for me to make friends with such a genius.'' "Brother, do you need me to practice the seventh level of the Meridians Refining Scripture for you to see?" Darren asked. Jimmy was still recovering from being so worked up by his thoughts that he was a bit caught by surprise with Darren. "There''s no need, Darren," he said, smiling as he waved his hands. "Let me just report this to the elders and ask for their instructions." Having discovered a genius who seemed to have the talent of the ck Degree was important news that needed to be immediately delivered to the elders. Jimmy took out a Jade Slip and sent a message to the Ilmen Sect. A few momentster, Jimmy got a reply saying that an elder from the Ilmen Sect would be sent out to check and confirm whether his im was true or not. Expecting that it would most likely take some time for the elder to arrive at the Chu n, Jimmy turned to the rest of the disciple candidates from the Chu n and said to them, "You guys continue to do the next test first." Soon after, an ancient door appeared next to them. It was the door that led to the one-of-a-kind test room of the Ilmen Sect. The door opened with a creaking sound. The room was dark and pitch ck. One couldn''t help but be mystified. "Amazing! How extraordinary! What a treasure! By going through the door, people can get into another space which has been specially set up for the test of the Ilmen Sect," came a candidate''s amazed remarks. They couldn''t help feeling surprised by the greatness of the whole thing. "Go through the door. Although, you should all know that not everyone would be fortunate to pass the test. Good luck, candidates," Jimmy indifferently said to the rest of the disciple candidates from the Chu n. He didn''t care about whether they would pass the test or not anymore. Nichs and the other candidates all walked into the test room with low spirits. They knew that even if they were able to pass the test, they would not be able to attract people''s attention as much as Darren did. They just couldn''t ept it. Not at all. The second test had not even started and yet Darren had already got the qualification to enter the sect. They had no idea how he came from being a good-for- nothing to basically a genius. There wasn''t any doubt that this fact made them feel depressed. "And as for you, Darren, there will be an eldering over to test you. Just try to give it your best. It''s entirely possible that you might have the talent of the ck Degree!" Jimmy said, grinning from ear to ear. Hearing this from Jimmy, the other members of the Chu n started to chatter among themselves, each of them getting restless. "An Ilmen Sect elder makes an appearance at the Chu n! This has never happened before!" A group of Chu n elders nearby were having a discussion. Several of them kept stealing nces over at Darren every now and then as it went on. After a few more moments of discussion among them, Kenny Chu, the n''s third elder, walked through the crowd and approached Darren. "Well done, Darren. Be sure to do your best to impress the elder from the Ilmen Sect. Bring more glory to the Chu n ¨C your n," the third elder said, trying to gain favour from the boy. His sugar-coated words undoubtedly showed the Chu n''s sudden acknowledgement and approval of Darren, and his talents in particr. Finding out that the boy was most likely possessing the talent of the ck Degree, even the Chief Elder, along with the Chu n elders, wasn''t able to keep himself at a standstill. But Darren knew better than to trust the half-hearted condescendence. "Oh, really? I had no idea until today that I''m regarded as a member of the Chu n. Silly me," Darren replied sarcastically. "Hey. Don''t you say that Darren," Kenny Chu said as he gave Darren a reassuring smile. Darren was surprised to find no trace of annoyance on the third elder''s face. "No matter what happened in the past and no matter what happens in the future, you are always a member of the Chu n. We are all d to see you have such a great talent." Kenny Chu continued. Darren just snorted in response. The third elder''s reassuring smile turned into an awkward grimace. He realized that there was no use in Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. trying to sweet talk his way to gain Darren''s good opinion. Feeling dejected, he walked back to the ce where the other elders were. "s, my dear brother, Darren seems to have harbored deep resentment towards us," he sighed out to them. "You depraved, high-handed old men!" came a cry from the side. "You never once cared about Darren! You even tormented him back when he was weak! But now that you''ve seen he has talent that you could use to your advantage, you start patronizing him? Shame on you." It was Tyler Chu, the guard of the Martial Skill Library. He was probably the only person who dared talk to the Chu n elders in this manner. "Tyler Chu, what the hell do you mean by that?" The elders were not happy about this. "Oh, it''s nothing special. You old men are extremely shameless, is what I mean by that. Is it clear now?" Tyler Chu boldly stated at the elders. He didn''t care about whether they were happy or not. "How dare you, Tyler Chu!" the Chief Elder''s face blew up in anger. "I know you have learned the third part of the Profound Nine Sword Skills, but that doesn''t give you the right to talk back to me, the Chief Elder! If you continue with this behaviour, I will not hesitate to engage in a fight with you. You best believe I won''t go easy on you," the Chief Elder bellowed. His force of the Spirit Realm was just on the verge of being released. "Don''t you dare act all high and mighty!" Tyler bellowed back. "I heard that when the chief was killed, you people were too frightened to show up. Instead ofing out to defend the n, you hid in the Elders Cab, trembling like little leaves. What brave men you all are!" What the guard of the Martial Skill Library said was somewhat exaggerated, but it was still basically true. None of them from the Elders Cab showed up at the time when the n was under attack. "Stop being so self-righteous. You are also an elder. Where were you during that time? The attacker was a strong cultivator of the Mysterious Realm. He could have easily killed us in a single second with just one finger! Besides, are you an idiot? Why would we risk fighting him and dying for nothing when we could have just saved our strength?" the third elder said, stroking his beard as he tried to make himself look wise. Chapter 18 Darrens Talent (Part Two) Chapter 18 Darren''s Talent (Part Two) Instead of replying, the guard of the Martial Skill Library directly tore open his upper garment, revealing a horrendous scar on his body. "I got this scar from fighting the strong cultivator. Even if I was not strong enough, I bravely fought him at the risk of my own life, not like you cowards," Tyler proudly said. Silence fell over them. The other elders were left speechless. They had not known that Tyler Chu fought the strong cultivator of the Mysterious Realm. What had them even more bewildered about the revtion was the fact that he had not been killed in the fight. ''Has he already learned the fourth part of the Profound Nine Sword Skills?'' the Chief Elder thought. ''Tyler Chu is currently only in the sixth stage of the Spirit Realm. However, with the force of the Profound Nine Sword Skills, he was able to fight the strong cultivator of the Mysterious Realm for quite a while. That''s fairly powerful.'' A sudden st of strong wind distracted the Chief Elder from his thoughts. It was so strong that even the clouds were stirred. There was a sh and the next thing, a figure appeared on the test stage. Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. As the figure stood upright, more people began to take notice of the other person present on the stage. The person was wearing a grey robe that reached the floor. He appeared to be middle-aged and his eyes were as bright as stars. He had a severemanding presence and gave off an air of mysteriousness. "It''s Elder Thomas!" Jimmy eximed. He hastily saluted and urged all the other Ilmen Sect disciples to salute as well. "Wee, Elder Thomas," he continued. The man was Thomas Gongsun, an elder in the School of Sword Skill in the Ilmen Sect. "Oh, it''s the elder from the Ilmen Sect. Salute now. Quickly!" A tinymotion had started to build up among the Chu n elders. Most of the Chu n members knelt directly to show their respects to the man whom they had only heard about in stories. The elders held a fist in their other hand and bowed submissively. "Please stand up," Thomas Gongsun began. "I heard that there is a genius among the Chu n who possesses the talent of the ck Degree. I''vee here to see him." His voice was as loud as the sound of thunder. Even his words seemed to hold the same force as that of a sword. "He is a strong man of the Mysterious Realm. He may have already learned about the sword intent. Amazing,"plimented Tyler Chu, who was a fairly good swordsman himself. He couldn''t help feeling astounded by the man''s presence. "Elder Thomas, this is Darren. I guess he might have the talent of the ck Degree," Jimmy said as he pointed towards Darren. "You guess? Jimmy, you have been in the School of Boxing Skill for a long time. How can you judge somebody''s talent just by guessing?" Thomas Gongsun remarked. Jimmy''s statement had clearly irked him. "My apologies," a flustered Jimmy said. He cleared his throat. "Darren imed that he has learned the seventh level of the Meridians Refining Scripture. But I''m not able to confirm it myself. So I sent a message back to the sect for instructions. I''m sorry to bother you, Elder Thomas. Please forgive me," he continued. "Oh? The seventh level?" Thomas Gongsun said, his interest returning. "Well, all right. Let me have a check." Thomas Gongsun prompted Darren to approach him on the stage. "Elder Thomas, it is an honor to meet you," Darren greeted. He held a fist with his other hand and gave the elder a salute. Thomas Gongsun nodded and pressed his hand on the meridians on Darren''s wrist. A peculiar energy was instantaneously spread all over Darren''s body. With his strength and knowledge, he had the power to handily test Darren''s talent. It was just like how Darren was tested that day back when he had the talent only at level two of the Yellow Degree. "Ha-ha!" Thomas Gongsunughed aloud. "Wonderful. Your talent has reached the level one of the ck Degree. You are a super genius," he stated. The elder was extremely pleased. "You have made a great contribution to the sect," he said as he turned to Jimmy. "As a reward, you will receive three Dragon Herbs and a chance to stay in the Mysterious Spiritual Pool to get meridians refining for three days." "Thank you, Elder Thomas!" Jimmy delightedly eximed. ''The three Dragon Herbs are the highest- grade herbs. They can help me increase my strength to at least one more stage. As for the Mysterious Spiritual Pool, only super geniuses are allowed to get in. I have definitely earned a lot this time, '' he thought. Thomas Gongsun turned to Darren and looked at him with satisfaction. "Your name is Darren Chu, isn''t it?" he asked "Yes, Elder Thomas," Darren replied. "All right. Darren, you will be wee to join our sect. Three days from now, you must choose a school of martial arts skill. My school, the School of Sword Skill, is in need of talented people such as you. Please consider it while making your choice," the elder said. Hearing those words gave Darren the impression that Thomas Gongsun wanted him to attend the School of Sword Skill. "I would really like to be a swordsman. I will consider my options carefully and make a good choice." The elder chuckled at Darren''s response. "Very well. I should get going now. I have confidence in you, my boy," he said and vanished away in a sh just as he did when he arrived. A few scattered ps from the crowd started to be heard. It then burst into arge apuse. Darren had been confirmed a genius with a talent of the ck Degree by an Ilmen Sect elder. It was now official, then. It couldn''t possibly be fake. The people who used to look down on and tease him ¨C all of them were now admiring him. ~ After about two hours had passed, Nichs and the other candidates gloomily stepped out of the test room. All of them looked dejected. "Failed. All of you," Jimmy frankly said. All those so-called talented people spent too much time inside the test room. They had a hard time trying to pass the test for the Ilmen Sect. The level of their talents was just too low, after all. Everyone had their eyes focused on Darren. Compared to the others who went out with no luck, he was the star of the moment. "Darren, I''ll see you in three days," Jimmy said as he walked over to the other Ilmen Sect disciples who were preparing to leave. "See you, brothers," Darren politely called out. Jimmy waved goodbye and left with the others. Darren then started to climb down from the test stage one step at a time. He felt everyone''s eyes on him with every step that he took. As thest of the Ilmen Sect disciples left, Stan stood up and blocked Darren''s way. He looked terribly furious. He looked like he was ready to kill Darren. "Your talent doesn''t make you strong. No matter how talented you are, I will never let you go so easily, Darren." Chapter 19 Challenge Chapter 19 Challenge Darren frowned, anger burning in his chest. The atmosphere throughout the training ground was tense. "Stan Yue, shame on you! Why do you always bully this teenager? Are you proud of this?" An elder of the Chu n stood up aggressively and confronted Stan. "Don''t spout such bullshit! He cut off my nephew''s arm. Don''t I have the right to ask for justice for my nephew?" His jaw was set, a sign of holding back his emotions. The sound of a sob broke through the conversation. "My poor son! My baby! He''s such a good boy, but the bastard cut off his arm. How can my son live with this in future? After my husband passed away, all of you began bullying me and my son. How can you do this to us?" Evan''s mother attempted to appeal to their sympathy with her tears, but she was exaggerating the whole story. "She''s lying! I''m a witness. It''s Evan who has been preying on Darren. Two months ago, I heard him say in public that he would kill Darren, so he could share more property." "Yes! I''ve heard that as well. Evan even wounded Mr. Darren''s little sister. He deserves the punishment he got. Mr. Darren did nothing wrong." "I agree. It has nothing to do with Darren. Evan deserves that!" Nodding heads were seen all around the training ground. All of them supported Darren now. Darren sneered at the sight of it. This was how this world worked. A few minutes ago, he was still a loser in their eyes. Who else would stand up for him then? But when they had learned about his real talent, they all changed their attitude. "Stan, this is our family issue. We don''t need you to take part in this. We will carry out our duty just and fair," Abner said with an authoritative voice. He tried to discourage Stan''s speech as a Chu n Elder. "Fine. Do what you want. You''ll see! You will regret what you''ve said to me. Our Yue n is not a paper tiger!" "Save your nonsense! Get out of here, now!" The three Elders showed no respect to Stan. Now they had the talent of the ck Degree in the Chu n, and the Yue n had be insignificant Despite their support for him, Darren didn''t feel grateful at all. They only backed him because of his talent for martial arts and how it would benefit them. However, he did not vocalize his thoughts. "I can''t believe this. Why does nobody ever help us? My poor son! Nobody in this damned family wants to ask for justice for you. My poor son!" Evan''s mother had draped her body on the ground and was yelling like a lunatic. Tears continued to stream down her face. "Stop this! Don''t embarrass our family!" Even Stan could not stand to see her act in such an inappropriate manner. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up off the floor. Evan''s mother stood and shot ferocious eyes at Darren. There was clear loathing in her stare. Then she turned to leave. "Wait! Who says you are allowed to leave now? I''ve said I want Evan''s life." Darren shot them an angry re full of great killing intent. "Darren, don''t push it! I know you are a talented cultivator now, but that doesn''t mean your cultivation base is good. There are millions of martial arts geniuses throughout history, but most of them passed away before they became a legend. You''d better take back what you''ve said," said Mark, the younger brother of Darren''s father. "That''s right. You think talent is everything? You''re kidding yourself, Darren! You can''t even take one attack from me. You''re going to regret your arrogance, you fool!" Leo said. The talent contest had frustrated him beyond all reason, but he was highly confident about his cultivation base, sometimes to the point of being boastful. "You really think highly of yourself, Leo," Darren said with a smirk. Darren, at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm, had the confidence to defeat anyone among the young generation of the Chu n. Leoughed. "Do you dare to ept my challenge? If I can''t knock you out with just one attack, I will go eat shit." Leo was at the peak of the eighth stage of Primary Realm, on a higher level than Darren. His assumptions about his abilities weren''t unfounded, but his ego was too big to be charming. "Way to go, my boy! Cultivation base is more powerful in this world," Mark shouted energetically. He This content belongs to N?/velDra/ma.Org . looked at his son with pride. Leo raised an eyebrow, a cocky smile on his face. "Well? What do you say, Darren? Are you scared you''ll lose? If you aren''t man enough to challenge me, you''d better behave yourself and stop walking around like you own the ce. If you were found dead because of some ident today, the Ilmen Sect couldn''t me any of us anyway." His father''s encouragement only strengthened Leo''s arrogance. When Nichs and ke heard what a ruckus Leo was making, they came over and joined in the conversation. Both of them also wanted to regain their confidence in the matter of cultivation base. Nichs sneered, "I agree with you, Leo. Darren''s looking for a fight. How else would you exin why he behaves so aggressively?" Nichs reached out his hand toward Darren''s face, but Darren immediately pped his hand away. "Damn you, asshole!" Nichs screamed with fury, clutching his hand in pain. ke stood beside them with his hands folded over his chest. Heughed, enjoying the show. "Nichs, you say you are the future of our Chu n, but Darren obviously doesn''t take you seriously. After all, he is the most talented one among our generation." Nichs narrowed his eyes, knowing full well that ke was goading him into action. It was hard to control his anger, but he wasn''t about to fall into ke''s trap. He wouldn''t give him the satisfaction. "That''s enough!" The Chief Elder came over with a grim-faced look. He addressed all of them as he continued, "No matter who dares to begin the fight, he will only earn himself severe punishment." Darren cast a cold look at the Chief Elder and answered, "Our Chief Elder is really doing a great job in protecting every member of our family. I sincerely admire your diligence in your duty, sir." The Chief Elder''s face darkened at Darren''s sarcastic words. "Don''t push it, Darren," he warned. "You can rx. I don''t have the nerve to do so, sir." Then Darren turned to the crowd and announced loudly, "Attention! I, Darren Chu, want to challenge the three geniuses of our family." He had to strain himself to say ''geniuses'' genuinely. Leo, Nichs, and ke were thrilled to hear this. They were itching to fight. "You''ll regret what you just said, Darren! Don''t me me if you be permanently disabled from the fight," Leo said with a smirk. "Hell no! You won''t even get the chance after I''m through with him! I''m going to teach this asshole a lesson," Nichs yelled, turning the hand that had been pped before into a fist and making a punching motion. "You''ve heard it, guys. It''s Darren who wants to challenge us. We aren''t bullying him. We have given him the chance to back down but he ignored it," Leo addressed the crowd theatrically. A voice rang out from the crowd. "Please, calm down, Mr. Darren. It''s a trap! That''s exactly what they want!" "He''s right, Mr. Darren. Why don''t you wait a few more years before challenging them? That''s not a fair game!" Darren''s supporters all shouted for him to stop. "Darren, did you think before you said those words? Leo is at the eighth stage. Just one attack from him can kill you. I''m not bluffing, bro!" ke prodded. Darren was unaffected. "You don''t have to y that with me, ke. The one I want to challenge is not Leo." At these words, Nichs stepped in. "You are such a wuss, Darren!" he teased. "For a loser like you, your talent''s a waste!" He was about to say something else, but Darren grabbed him by the cor and pulled him up to his face. "Listen to me carefully!" Darren said threateningly. "I want to challenge all three of you, together." He red at Nichs for a moment before shoving him away. Darren''s words caused an uproar among the audience. They all began talking excitedly. "What? Mr. Darren wants to challenge the three geniuses at the same time? Is he crazy?" "Mr. Darren must have lost his mind. He''ll get plenty of opportunities to take his revenge on them in the future. If I were him, I would work on my cultivation for a few years first, and then beat the shit out of them. Wouldn''t that be a better way?" "He won''t do well in this fight. All three of them are at the eighth stage of Primary Realm. Mr. Darren made a bad choice." Meanwhile, the three other men were turning red with rage. Darren''s words ignited the mes of anger within them. Making such a bold statement in front of all these people was humiliating for them. They had to act fast to save face. "I ept your challenge! I''ll beat the shit out of you any way, Darren!" Leo snapped. On the other side of the training ground, Abner, the second elder, whispered, "What should we do now? Should I try to stop them?" He watched the scene unfold before him with worry. "No, now is not the time," the Chief Elder responded. "It''s a good opportunity to teach him a lesson. The arrogant child should learn that the whole world does not revolve around him." The other elders nodded. They understood what the Chief Elder was saying. Darren was filled with the grievance he had umted for years back at the Chu n. What the Chief Elder wanted was to stand up for Darren when he was in danger. And it was time for the Elders to exin that the situation left them no choice then, although they wanted to help him and his sister. As a result, the tension between them and Darren lessened, as they hoped it would. When Leo saw that none of the three Elders made a move to stop the challenge, he squinted his eyes and rushed Darren with an all-out attack. "You are going to die now, asshole!" he shouted. "I''ll teach you a lesson the hard way!" Nichs and ke decided to stand back and enjoy the show. Both of them refrained from replying to Darren''s challenge. But, defying everyone''s expectations, Darrennded a hard punch in Leo''s chest, causing him to get thrown back to the ground. Leo staggered to his feet, trying to retain his strong stance. Darren, however, remained unfazed. "No way... You''re also at the eighth stage of Primary Realm!" Leo said, bewildered. The realization caused him to lower his guard for a moment, but he quickly recovered. Everyone watching was shocked at this sudden revtion. It seemed like this challenge was more evenly matched than they thought. Chapter 20 Destructive Sword Attack Chapter 20 Destructive Sword Attack At this very moment, Nichs and the others were reminded of the death of Bob, the butler of the Chu n. When they arrived at Darren''s courtyard that day, Bob had already been dead. Evan and the servants imed that it was Darren who killed him. Bob was an experienced cultivator, although he was not a talented one. But Darren could kill such a strong cultivator, which was hard evidence of his powerful cultivation base. When Nichs thought of that, he swallowed in fear. The teenager in front of him had changed. Darren was not the former loser that everyone had thought him to be. Nichs now felt like prey at the mercy of his predator. "Darren, you''d better keep your word. You said that you would challenge all three of us. Don''t change your mind now!" Nichs walked forward and exchanged nces with the other two. He wanted to ensure that they would fight with him. In the next instant, their vital energies surged, ready to work together. All three people targeted their killing intent at Darren. "Shame on you! You three are shameless! How can you work together to fight against one? It''s so unfair for Mr. Darren!" "Boo! The three so-called geniuses of our Chu n. Shame on you! Only Mr. Darren is our family''s true genius, the top talent." Many of the members of the Chu n scorned Nichs and the other two. Darren, who had been standing with his hands crossed behind his back, said, "And I also remember that someone imed to be able to defeat me with only one attack. Otherwise, he will eat shit. Well, it''s time for him to fulfill his promise." Leo''s face darkened when he heard Darren. He felt so embarrassed that he wished the earth would open and swallow him. "It''s all bullshit! Winner takes all! Nichs, let''s go!" Leo let go of his pride and dignity. Defeating Darren was the only thing on his mind. Leo rushed forward again and stretched his fists. His strong fists moved like lightning as they darted through the sky and headed straight for Darren. Darren, however, stayed motionless. As a cultivator with the talent at level one of the ck Degree, his senses were much acuter than that of inferior cultivators. He could clearly see Leo''s movements. ''Well, his right fist is a distraction. But his left fist is aimed at my throat. Nice try, Leo!'' Darren knew Leo''s every move, including the ws in his martial arts skill, of course. "Big deal." Darren aimed a kick at Leo and sessfully defended against his attack. Simultaneously, Darren "Bang!" The sound of the fighting echoed in the air. Leo retreated a few meters after Darren''s attack, and his face went deathly pale. When Leo''s father saw this scene, his face turned grim. He could not believe that Darren had triumphed over his son with only one attack. The Elders were awestruck to see that as well. They found it hard to believe that Darren''s cultivation base was at the peak of the eighth stage of the Primary Realm. Obviously, he was an invincible cultivator among the ones at the eighth stage. But martial arts skill was also a vital part of someone''s cultivation base. So, Nichs and ke summoned the top martial arts skills they had learned at once before rushing toward Darren. A sneer cracked Darren''s lips. In the Barren Wastnd, he had killed Marvin single-handedly. Marvin, the bloodthirsty and murderous hustler, was more experienced at fighting than Nichs and ke. Darren remained unshakable now that he was facing their attacks. In a split second, he delivered his attacks on his enemies. The three men burst into an intensive fight, and the strong force between thempelled the audience around them to step back. "Oh my! Mr. Darren is freakishly strong! He has a big advantage over them, even though his opponents are working together." Leo, after a break, joined Nichs and ke as well. N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. Darren felt a little challenged now that he was fighting the three together, especially Nichs as his cultivation base was much higher than the other two. Their vital energy, targeting Darren, burst out at the same time. The force of the impact between the three and Darren was so tremendous that itpelled both sides to step back. "This bastard is fucking strong!" Nichs, ke, and Leo were stunned by Darren''s cultivation base. None of them could believe that even though they had worked together against Darren, the fight ended in a tie. That was humiliating for them. "All right! We have the winner now! The game is over," said the guard of the Martial Skill Library, who had observed the fight for a while. "What? Is the game over? So who''s the winner?" "They are all at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm. Darren fought against three people alone, but the match ended in a draw. It is obvious who the winner is," said the guard of the Martial Skill Library, airily. "What? He wins? No! We can''t ept such a result!" None of the three were convinced by the elder. They nned to consume Darren''s energy in further rounds. One thing would have led to another, and they would have gained an advantage over Darren in terms of vital energy eventually. Then, they would only need one strike to defeat Darren. The guard of the Martial Skill Library, knew what they had nned, which was why he hade to stop the fight. Then the elder walked toward Darren and whispered to him, "Go now, kid! You need to rest. Don''t let them bother you." After Darren thanked the elder, he turned to Nichs and the other two and said, "Since you can''t ept such a result, my fist will discuss this issue with you. I will deal with all three of you, once and for all, until you all admit defeat. Come on, three assholes! All together!" What an arrogant deration! Nichs and the other two were thrilled to hear that Darren wanted to continue the fight, but his words infuriated them to the core. "Once and for all? All three? Mr. Darren overestimates his abilities this time." "That''s hard to say. Mr. Darren has made lots of things possible. Didn''t you notice that? Everything he has said today hase true in the end." "Yeah! I agree with you. Mr. Darren has been hiding his true strength for unknown reasons. He''s a real master, a supreme master. Way to go, Mr. Darren!" Nichs, ke, and Leo activated their vital energy at the same time. Nichs clenched his teeth and yelled, "Well, it''s time to show you the power of our martial arts skills." "Burst Punch Attack!" That was the martial arts skill Nichs was proud of the most, for he had mastered this top martial skill. ke took a saber from the training ground and yelled, "Mighty de Attack!" That was also a top martial arts skill. Although ke had not mastered it, he was close to the perfect stage. "Indestructible Golden Dome!" Leo shouted. The Indestructible Golden Dome was one of the top defensive methods. When Leo summoned the skill, a light golden dome appeared around him. "Nichs, ke, I will go first. My dome will shield us from his attacks. Then you two should strike him." They nned to use Leo''s Indestructible Golden Dome as their shield so that Nichs and ke could safelyunch their top martial arts skills at Darren. They were highly confident that they would defeat Darren with this n. The three, aiming at Darren, leaped into the air like shooting arrows. When they activated their martial arts skills, the people around them also felt the power and found it hard to breathe under the pressure. Instantly, clouds rolled in the clear sky. The weather had changed because of the intensity of the fight between the two sides! Darren frowned. Then a sword, carrying an icy aura, appeared in Darren''s hand. When the guard of the Martial Skill Library saw the sword, he knew how this fight would end. "I have forgotten that he has mastered the Profound Nine Sword Skills." Abner, who had been watching from a distance, had already witnessed the power of Darren''s sword skills. He still remembered how Darren''s attack had numbed his hand earlier, as he had underestimated Darren and his sword then. The power of his sword was impressive. Reed and Mark, however, looked confident. They had taught their sons every move of the martial arts skills, and Leo and ke had practiced those for years. They thought it would be as easy as blinking an eye for their sons to defeat Darren. "What do you think of this?" the Third Elder asked the Chief Elder. "It''s so obvious. Of course, Darren will not win. You can assist him when he is about to lose the game. If the other factions have a problem with this, I will appease them. I believe Darren will stop After all, Darren was only a teenager. It was easy to persuade him. "I don''t think so. Darren will definitely win this game," Abner, the Second Elder said. When the Third Elder heard this, he shot a disdainful look at Abner. "What''s wrong with you, Abner? I know he has learned some top martial arts skills, but he is fighting against the three geniuses of our family. How''s it even possible for him to win the game?" said the Third Elder, confidently. ... The three opponents shot toward Darren simultaneously. Their movements summoned a strong wind, and the leaves on the ground whirled in the air. Although the roiling cloud had covered the sun, several sword-lights cut through the dark sky. Darren closed his eyes as he activated his vital energy. All of a sudden, he opened his eyes, and rays of light sparkled in his eyes. "Destructive Sword Attack!" The guard of the Martial Skill Library, nodded with satisfaction. Hemented, "Way to go, kid! Your grasp of the first move is as good as mine." Nichs, ke, and Leo were highly confident about themselves. It seemed that they couldn''t imagine a scenario other than Darren being defeated by them. "Go to hell!" Leo was the first to receive Darren''s sword attack. "This is the Indestructible Golden Dome. Nothing can break it. Not even your damn sword." But what happened next proved that Leo was wrong about this. "How''s this even possible! No fucking way! No! No! My dome! Ah!" Darren''s sword attack cut open Leo''s defensive dome as easily as a knife through tofu. And in a sh, Leo received hundreds of injuries from Darren''s sword attack. Meanwhile, the attacks from Nichs and ke were inching closer to Darren. "Damn it! We have lost our defense!" Nichs and ke were dumbstruck with amazement. However, they had no choice now, but to continue their attacks. "Boom!" The whole Chu n mansion shook. Their fight left numerous punch forces, de-silhouettes, and sword-lights around the air, which injured many people present. Everyone in the audience had witnessed the mighty power of both sides. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" Nichs and ke were thrown into the air. Serious injuries covered their bodies. The cultivators of the Spirit Realm reacted quickly by leaping into the air and catching them before they fell to the ground. "Nichs, are you all right?" "How do you feel, ke?" "Wake up! Leo!" The three so-called geniuses passed out when Darren attacked them. All the witnesses, however, were astonished. Moments after the fight ended, thunderous apuse burst out from the audience. Those young disciples were too shocked to speak. They had just witnessed a miracle, a legend. What a powerful sword attack! The sword light of the Destructive Sword Attack stunned everyone to the core. Chapter 21 Belles Leaving Chapter 21 Belle''s Leaving The ending was really unexpected. Nobody had thought that Darren would be so strong. Nichs and the others were quickly carried away to be treated. To be honest, Darren had actually held back in throwing his punches. If he hadn''t, he could have killed all of them. Darren was strong, but he was not stupid. He knew that they all had powerful forces backing them up, and if he had actually killed them, then those forces would gang up on him and eventually overpower and kill him, even if he was a disciple of the Ilmen Sect. "Darren, don''t you think you went too far?" Darren''s uncle Reed was so furious that his face actually turned a shade of purple. His son was badly hurt and was still in aa because of Darren, and there was no way he was going to let him get away with that. "They''re the ones who have gone too far," Darren replied with no fear. Nichs and his gang had showed aggressive behaviors a couple of times, and everyone knew that. They were all well aware of who was right and who was wrong. "Reed, no more about this matter. It''s just a game. A little injury is not a big deal," said the Chief Elder as he stood up. "Humph." Despite his anger, Reed couldn''t contradict the Chief Elder, and so he kept his silence after letting out a light snort. Mark, on the other hand, looked awful but didn''t utter a word as well. They all lost face entirely in front of the elders. "Well, now we, the Chu n, have a genius like Darren. It''s a great honor that is worth celebrating. This is a call for celebration! Lay out a great three-day feast starting from tomorrow immediately," the Chief Elder ordered. The elder''s words also signified the end of the event. The Chief Elder approached Darren and said, "It was my wrong judgment that caused you to be treated unkindly. I hope you don''t mind it too much, Darren." The others around them could only stare. None of them could believe what was happening, so they could only stand there with their mouths agape. Given how powerful and noble the Chief Elder was, was he actually apologizing to Darren himself? How could that even be possible? The Chief Elder''s words only proved even further how in that world, only the geniuses were rewarded with respect. Darren''s expression rxed a little bit, then he said coldly, "If you have nothing else to say, I should go back. My sister is still seriously hurt." Without saying another word, he turned his back on the elder, leaving everyone there speechless and astonished. "Sure. Hurry up, take some healing medicines. And escort Evan Chu to the criminal office. I will judge him myself," the Chief Elder said. He hoped that this way, he could clear away some of Darren''s resentment towards the Chu n. ... Standing in the chill courtyard, Darren looked up at the sky and sighed with endless emotion. If he didn''t have the experience from that adventure, the talent, and the strength, he would have surely died defenseless and oppressed. Ever since his talent was unfolded before the public''s eyes, the people around him all began to hide their true colors and started to change their attitudes towards him. Even the Chief Elder apologized to him. Despite the benefits he was getting from the special treatment, it all felt rather ironic and disgusting to Darren. ''In the world of martial arts, talent is everything. Strength is everything. I still have to remain vignt. There are countless talented people in the Ilmen Sect, and there still might be people who can surpass me.'' Darren was well aware that gaining the Assimtion Skill was just another opportunity. The real goal was to keep striving and growing stronger until nobody could surpass him. What was more, he believed that his father''s death could not have been a coincidence. Therefore, he resolved to find out the truth the moment he had the chance. Almost unconsciously, Darren opened the door to the room where his sister was. The moment heid his eyes on his sister, he could not help but think that his sister had only been sleeping. He entered the room, looked at his scarred sister, and felt a pang of sadness. "Unfortunately, my sister''s talent for martial arts is too low. From now on, the only way I can protect her is to have her by my side all the time." ''''Rat-tat." Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Darren muttered, turning his face towards the door. "Mr. Darren, these are healing medicines. The elder ordered us to bring them to you. Each one of them is invaluable. Would you please take them? Elder also added that you can rest assured. Evan won''t get away without a heavy punishment." A couple of servants, who had once spoken ill of Darren and treated him badly, looked at this super genius and trembled in fear, scared that he would remember what they had done to him. "I got it. Now get out," Darren said, paying little attention to them. To him, they were irrelevant. All that mattered in that moment was his sister. The servants retreated and scurried away. Darren picked up one pill and looked at it with contempt, "What a priceless pill! Not only can it cure the injury, but it also contains enormous spiritual energy. Well, well, so this is what they use. There is no way I could have had ess to this before. Not to mention that the elder even asked someone to bring it to me." How obvious the disparity was. People with great talent were always considered superior and given the special treatment. Darren hurriedly got one medicine out and helped his younger sister take it. He then mobilized his internal strength to help her digest the medicine. "Gosh, what''s this? Belle''s meridians are badly blocked." Darren perfectly understood the Meridians Refining Scripture, and so he could easily tell when something was wrong, and something was definitely wrong with her sister. "Is that the reason why my sister''s talent is so poor? I guess it''s worth a shot. I''ll try the Meridians Refining Scripture." Darren then began to take action. At once, he performed the Meridians Refining Scripture on his sister. Darren concentrated as much as he could. He inspected Belle''s meridians one by one. And then he let out a stream of vital energy that flowed in her body and began to refine her meridians. "Gosh. More than 700 meridians are blocked, no wonder Belle''s talent in martial arts is so poor." Darren then began to use the Meridians Refining Scripture to unblock Belle''s meridians gradually. Like the dummy from that day, drops of ck filth came out from her body. Darren then transfused a stream of vital energy and made it repair his sister''s meridians. After four hours of refining, her meridians finally started to be unblocked. "Ah." Suddenly, Darren felt something unusual. As he was performing the Meridians Refining Scripture on his sister, his own vital energy began to pass into his sister''s body. Suddenly the vital energy''s flowing speed became faster and faster, just like an actual stream. "Wow, Belle''s meridians are so broad. I can''t believe this. So how strong could she actually be?" Darren muttered to himself, "She must be extremely powerful as well." While Darren was lost in thought, Belle started to wake up. The medicine''s healing effect was actually pretty good. In only four hours, almost all of the scars on her body had almost disappeared. "Brother..." The moment Belle opened her eyes, she immediately saw her brother. She was so happy and relieved that she almost burst out crying. "Belle, don''t move. It''s okay. I''m here. I''m here now," Darrenforted tenderly. In that moment, Belle became aware that there was a stream of vital energy flowing inside her body. Knowing that her brother was healing her, she did not dare to move. As Darren continued his healing, he got more and more confused. He went as far as absorbing spiritual energy in order to transform it into vital energy that he could use for Belle. But her absorption rate of his vital energy was too fast for him to be able to provide an adequate supply. ''Does my sister also have the talent of the ck Degree?'' Darren thought. ... Darren felt immensely drained. ''I have to stop for a moment. At this rate, my own meridians will get impaired too," Darren thought to himself. Darren stopped healing his sister. He gave Belle the pills brought by the servant, and helped her take them one by one. Thankfully, the vast spiritual energy the medicines contained was exactly enough to supply the energy needed, given Belle''s absorption speed. "Belle, close your eyes and adjust your breath. Quickly," Darren urged. Belle didn''t know what had happened. But her brother''s tone made it seem like it was important, so she did as she was told. In that moment, Belle looked like a stunning fairy who had extraordinary charm and an otherworldly transcendence. "What... What''s going on?" Darren asked. He was astonished, but he had the feeling that something good was about to happen. nk, nk, nk... Suddenly, a vast surge of spiritual energy from heaven and earth poured down and refined Belle''s body. ... At this moment, a delicate figure appeared from the clouds, its eyes focusing on the Chu n. "Wow, it seems like someone''s gotten refined by spiritual energy! Congrattions!" The figure wearing a white dress flew down gracefully. She looked extraordinarily beautiful. So beautiful that the people looking at her could barely believe their eyes. From where he was standing, Darren watched his sister undergo some changes. Before he could say anything, his sister vanished from his sight. Shocked and confused, Darren ran out of the door to find his sister. And then, Darren saw his sister floating above the clouds. "Hello, my little friend, I''m so lucky to have met such a gifted girl today. Don''t worry. I''ll never hurt her. She''s going to have a great future with me. If you want to see her at any point in the future, you are more than wee to visit the Lotus Holy Land." Even though those words echoed in Darren''s head, it seemed like he was the only one who could hear them. Outside his head, everything remained quiet. Darren felt deeply depressed as he gazed after Belle''s receding figure. He was sad, but he was not too worried about Belle. Based on that person''s voice, it seemed to him that she would treat Belle with kindness. Even more than that, Darren knew that it could be an amazing opportunity for his beloved sister. "Thanks for your help," Darren said out loud to show his appreciation. He was quite unsure whether she heard him or not, but he knew of no other way. Darren knew that it was a good opportunity. He was also aware that if Belle had stayed with him Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. forever, she might be in even more danger. This way, she could live a much safer life. "Lotus Holynd - I''ll keep that ce in my heart forever. Belle, please wait for me. I promise that I will do everything it takes so that I can visit you in three years'' time." Darren felt a loss deep in his heart. But as long as it would be for his sister''s good, he didn''t mind the temporary separation. Chapter 22 Leave For The Ilmen Sect (Part One) Chapter 22 Leave For The Ilmen Sect (Part One) After the mysterious woman took Belle away, Darren let it out of his mind. He went back to his room and began absorbing the spiritual energy from heaven and earth. The next morning, Darren woke from his meditation. When he opened his eyes, light radiated from his pupils, and he found that his vital energy had sharply increased. "Wow! That''s incredible! Now I can absorb spiritual energy at such a fast speed. But I''m still at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm. s, one cannot make a stage breakthrough overnight." The higher cultivation base was, the more difficult a breakthrough would be. For example, if the spiritual energy Darren needed to make a breakthrough from the seventh stage to the eighth stage equaled a pot of water, the spiritual energy he needed to move from eighth to ninth would be a pond. The difficulty in upgrading one''s cultivation base was more evidence of the great gap between different stages. This was why the chance for a cultivator to defeat one at a higher stage was close to zero. "After two days, it''s time to choose a school of martial arts. I have to leave for the Ilmen Sect now. Otherwise, I will miss that." Darren started off after he packed up. His cultivation journey in the Ilmen Sect wasing soon. As the preeminent sect of this country, the Ilmen Sect possessed plenty of cultivation resources and rare books on martial arts skills. It was the sacred ce that every cultivator yearned to enter, including Darren. When Darren passed by the central yard of the Chu n, the young men watched him with admiration and envy. "Have you heard thetest news? The rule for selecting our family chief after half a year has been changed." "Yeah! Of course! I read the bulletin in the morning. I''m guessing the rule was changed to deter Mr. Darren. After all, nobody among the younger generation has the skill to defeat Mr. Darren." "I agree with you. I heard that some strong cultivators of the other factions came to meet the Chief Elderst night. They staged a demonstration and stated they would stop supporting the Chu n if the Chief Elder didn''t change the rule, leaving him no choice but to reach apromise with them." Those people murmured among themselves. Darren heard part of their conversation when he passed by them. When he saw the bulletin in the training ground, the fragments of their conversation came together like puzzle pieces and formed the whole story. Darren frowned deeply after he finished reading the bulletin. It was obvious the rules were changed because of him. As the bulletin said, thepetition for selecting the Chief of the Chu n half a year from now allows the elder generation to join. The maternal rtives are allowed to participate in thepetition on behalf of the members of the direct family." In other words, Reed, Mark, and strong cultivators that were maternal rtives of other factions had the right to join thepetition. They were all strong cultivators of the Spirit Realm, and most of them were at the second or third stage. Although Darren''s talent was the ck Degree, it was impossible for his cultivation base to reach the Spirit Realm in half a year. "Darren, are you heading for the Ilmen Sect now?" an elder with a frail build said as he walked up to Darren. "Yes, sir!" The elder was the guard of the Martial Skill Library, whom Darren respected deeply. "I guess you have read the bulletin. Don''t let this bother you, kid! Focus your attention on the Ilmen Sect, and the martial arts skills you choose to learn in the future. Being one of their disciples, you will N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. improve your cultivation base greatly. That''s the most important thing for you now. Remember this, kid. The so-called chief of this family is nothing at all. It doesn''t deserve your time and effort. What matters is your cultivation base. The higher, the better. Got it?" Darren understood the elder''s underlying meaning. The elder was trying to tell Darren that his cultivation base couldn''t reach the same level as the elder generation in just half a year. "Yes, sir! I will keep this in mind. Thank you so much, sir!" Darren answered humbly. Then he changed the topic, "I have no interest in being the chief, but I can''t forgive the insults and humiliation my sister and I have endured for years and pretend nothing has happened. I want to get even." From the determination sparkling in Darren''s eyes, the elder knew that nothing could change his mind now. After all, Darren was the son of the Chief and had suffered much scorn and humiliation since his father''s death. It was, thus, natural that he wanted to get revenge. And thepetition for selecting the chief of the Chu n offered him a perfect opportunity. "So you''ve decided to join thepetition after half a year?" the elder said with a deep sigh. "Yes, sir," Darren answered calmly. "Well, that''s your call to make. I know you are a talented kid, but you should keep up your discipline when you begin your cultivation in the Ilmen Sect. The progress in cultivation base requires persistence and diligence. There are millions of strong cultivators beyond our standing, but I believe you will be one of them sooner orter. Work hard, kid!" Then the elder took out a roll of parchment and handed it to Darren. The elder said, "Although I''m not as talented as you, my knowledge about the Profound Nine Sword Skills is much better than yours. After all, I''ve studied this skill for as long as I can remember. This is my note about the first four moves. I hope this will be helpful for you to understand the Profound Nine Sword Skills. Here you are." Darren took the parchment, which was an incredible gift to him. Darren''s talent was at the ck Degree, but he still had difficulty understanding the Profound Nine Sword Skills. The parchment would be a great help for Darren to have a better grasp of the top martial arts skill. Chapter 23 Leave For The Ilmen Sect (Part Two) Chapter 23 Leave For The Ilmen Sect (Part Two) "Thank you so much, sir!" The elder nodded at Darren, then he walked away. Darren wasted no time and chose a fast horse from the stable. He mounted quickly and rode out, heading east. ... Sand and dust flew past as Darren rushed forward on his horse. After half a day, they had traveled more than a thousand miles, where Darren was greeted with towering hills and boundless dense forests. But as Darren pushed to keep going, the horse became worn out. "All right! Go now! Go back to your natural home." Darren stepped off the horse and released the bridle, freeing the horse in the forest. After walking for some time, Darren saw a luxury carriage appearing on the road ahead. Darren, standing from a distance, saw a girl in purple cloth and a maid sitting in the carriage. Following behind the carriage, there was a stocky teenager, riding on a horse. The carriage was heading in the same direction as Darren, so he decided to ask them if they could give him a ride to the east. He swept around the carriage to get their attention. When the carriage''s driver saw Darren, he stopped their horse at once. The driver was surprised to see Darren and thought he was a robber, so he eximed, "We are the Su n from Ossiriand. Mydy is heading for the Ilmen Sect for the new disciples'' register. You are blocking our path. I beg your pardon." The driver was a clever man. He told Darren the two pieces of key information about the girl in the carriage. Generally speaking, a robber would never want to get involved with a disciple of the Ilmen Sect, the most prestigious sect of the country. Darren smiled and answered, "Ha-ha! I''m sorry to make you misunderstand that I''m a robber. I''m here to ask for your assistance, Miss Su. Could you give me a ride? Please?" "What''s going on?" said the stocky teenager, who was sleepy at first. When the carriage stopped, he got annoyed and dismounted from the horse at once. He rushed over and yelled at Darren, "Leave now! Do you know who she is? My cousin is the talented disciple of the Ilmen Sect. Go away now! Otherwise, I will teach you a lesson you won''t forget!" "Come on! Don''t be so rude! Where are your manners?" The girl in purple stepped out of the carriage. Her delicate face would lure any man. The gauzy purple dress ented her slender figure and her snow-white skin, striking a captivating presence. "Where do you head for, mister?" the girl asked. Her voice was sweet and pleasing. "The Ilmen Sect. For the new disciples'' register as well. But my horse was worn out. Would you give me a ride, Miss Su?" Although there were hundreds of miles away from the Ilmen Sect, Darren could make it in half a day by walking. But he could save this time for cultivation if he managed to get a ride. So naturally, he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. "You are also heading for the Ilmen Sect? That''s so great. It looks like we are disciples of the same sect. Come on in!" The girl in purple politely invited Darren to get in the carriage. "You? A disciple of the Ilmen Sect? Ha-ha! There''s no fucking way!" the stocky teenager sneered at Darren. "That''s right!" said the chubby maid beside the girl, in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "Mydy, the N?velDrama.Org owns this text. Ilmen Sect only wants geniuses. But look at him!" After some thought, the girl in purple asked Darren, "I''m sorry, mister. Which n do youe from?" "The Chu n from Valmar," Darren answered politely. "The Chu n? The same n where Darren Chu is from?" the girl asked excitedly. She widened her eyes and waited for Darren''s answer. Darren deflected her question and asked, "You know Darren Chu?" "Of course we do!" interrupted the chubby maid. "His name is well known to the whole of Valmar and its neighboring cities. He is a talent of the ck Degree. Don''t tell me you are Darren Chu. It would be such an obvious lie." Darren was dumbstruck with amazement. Although Valmar and Ossiriand were close, the distance between the two was at least hundreds of miles far. Darren could not believe that he became a celebrity in another city overnight. "No! I''m not! I''m one of his rtives. I see him once in a while, '' Darren said, making up a random lie. A sh of disappointment crossed the girl''s face when she heard Darren''s answer. Then she gently said to him, "Please get in the carriage, mister. I beg your pardon, mister. Could you introduce me to Darren Chu in the future?" "Yeah! Of course! No problem!" Darren said with a bright smile. "That''s a trick, mydy! We know nothing about him!" the chubby maid said, squinting at Darren. "What if he lied about being Darren''s rtive to win your trust? Then he could take advantage of you, my "Mind your manner, Susan!" warned the girl in purple. Somehow, the girl could tell that Darren was a special and righteous man right from setting her eyes on him. She trusted him and her own instinct. Then she waved at Darren to have him get in the carriage. The stocky teenager looked at Darren with fury. "Damn it! The little bastard! If I find out you are lying to my little cousin, I will tear you up. Bastard!" The girl in purple watched out through the window and murmured to herself, "When will I be able to arrive at the Ilmen Sect? I can''t wait to meet Darren Chu. I wonder what the super genius looks like?" Darren smiled and shook his head. He had never expected that he would run into a fan of his along the way, and she was such a pretty one too. But it was not the right time to tell her his real name. So Darren sat cross-legged and began his cultivation meditation. Even if he had only a few seconds avable, Darren would utilize the time to improve his cultivation. Chapter 24 A Fight Chapter 24 A Fight On their way to the Ilmen Sect, Darren concentrated on cultivation in the carriage and did not bother chatting with the others. "This guy must be kidding. He''s surely pretending that he can improve a lot in such a short period," She immediately shut her mouth when the girl in purple, Fiona, shot her a nce. "Isn''t it obvious, my dear cousin Fiona? This guy isn''t one of the geniuses who can pass the test and be disciples of the Ilmen Sect. I mean, think about it! Even I, your cousin who is handsome, wise and powerful, was still rejected by the Ilmen Sect. Let alone that guy?" Fiona''s cousin said as he Fiona, the girl in purple, looked at her conceited cousin skeptically. ''Handsome? Hell no! Like a winter melon? Yes!'' she thought to herself. "Dear cousin, Kim, why don''t youe and sit with us in the carriage? You must be tired and exhausted. I told you not toe with us but you still insisted oning along! It''s going to be a long way to the Ilmen Sect," said Fiona who was sitting in the carriage. "Quite right! Cousin Kim,e and sit next to me. I can massage your legs to help you rx," urged the fat servant girl. Her eyes glittered with enthusiasm but her cheeks were flushed. "Don''t you have no shame, Susan? You''ve been wanting to take advantage of me this whole time!" said the conceited man scornfully. "I offered help because I think you''re handsome," the servant girl replied. Hearing the conversation, Darren almost wanted to throw up and was distracted from cultivation. On their way to the Ilmen Sect, the man and the fat servant girl kept chatting until Darren could bear no more. In his annoyance, he opened his eyes and stopped his cultivation. "Oh, Mister, you are so diligent! You spend so much of your spare time improving your realm. I almost feel bad about myself just watching you," Fiona Su remarked in admiration when she noticed Darren. "Well Miss, as the saying goes ''A slow sparrow should make an early start''. Naturally, those with inferior innate talent need to cultivate harder to achieve the same goal. Unlike you, Miss, you possess the innate talent of a level nine of the Yellow Degree. Enhancing your realm is just a piece of cake to you. As it is, it would be impossible for the guy over there to catch up," the fat servant girl remarked proudly as if she were the one who had a talent of level nine of the Yellow Degree. "Shut up!" hissed Fiona, noticing that Darren paid no extra attention to the conversation when Susan mentioned her innate talent. Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop... Several horses galloped across the dirt road as clouds of dust trailed off behind them. "God damn it! Ugh, ugh, ugh..." barked the conceited man who was still outside the carriage. He seemed to have gotten dust in his lungs. "Whoa!" Suddenly, a young man on one of the tall horses stopped. He yelled at the conceited man, "How dare you speak like that? Son of bitch!" "Damn!" The conceited man cursed realizing that he identally offended the tough guys passing by. In fear, he shrugged and kept silent feeling guilty for what he did. However, seeing the carriage that his cousin Fiona and the rest were sitting in, Kim felt braver. He talked to himself, ''Are you kidding me? I can''t look like a coward at my cousin''s presence.'' "Damn you! Your damn horses'' dust almost choked me to death. Go to hell!" the conceited man shouted back with one hand on his hip. Although the well-dressed, armed and noble crew intimidated him, he managed to put on an impression that he did not give a shit about their status. "You are dead meat!" one of the crew members remarked as he leaped into the air from horseback and flew right towards the conceited man. Pa, pa, pa, pa! The conceited man suddenly received dozens of ps on his face before he could even react. In a few seconds, his head started to closely resemble a watermelon. Almost frightened to death, his feet froze and his hands shivered. "What happened?" asked Fiona as she leaned out her head from the window of the carriage and caught sight of the scene. "Discipline your servant! Else, the next time we see him, we will cut his head off! He won''t be so lucky then," the young man from the crew threatened her ruthlessly. "Sir, it was simply a quarrel, I see no need to start a fight," Fiona''s face clouded over. Her cousin, Kim, though a bit conceited, was rather nice to her. Otherwise, she wouldn''t have chosen him as a guard andpanion on the way to the Ilmen Sect. "So, what? Do you want to stand up for your servant?" The young man dared. "Hey, Karl, how can you be so rude to this beauty?" Soon, the young man''spanions came over to them. "You are a servant! Everyone in your family is a servant," Fiona''s cousin, Kim, murmured vaguely. "Screw you!" The young man who pped Kim suddenly disappeared from where he stood. Bang, bang, bang! A majority of Kim''s teeth fell to the ground. "Agh! Ahhh! It hurts! Help me, Fiona! Huhuhu, help me!" Kim screamed in agony. "How dare you p my Kim? I''ll fight you!" Susan, the fat servant girl who stood beside Fiona, dashed towards the young man. Before she even got to touch him, he kicked her with one solid blow. "Now, you''ve gone too far," Fiona leaped out from the carriage and threw the men a cold, icy re. The young men were stunned at the sight of her. ''How elegant! She looks like a fairy from the Nine Heavens, '' they thought. Only the young man who pped Kim didn''t get distracted by her beauty. "Well, well, well! You''re a pretty little thing, aren''t you?" One of the young men came over to Fiona. "Darling, everyone here is the genius who passed the test of the Ilmen Sect. Who do you want? Choose one! Anyone!" "Aha, ha, ha! Pick me! I''m strong enough for you!" "Go away, Shawn! I am the one who has the strongest sex appeal here, ha-ha!" "Screw you all, bastards!" Fiona burst with anger. She felt as if she were about to explode. Her charming face turned red thoroughly. "You really push it too far! I am also a new disciple of the Ilmen Sect. We might even go to the same school!" Finally, Fiona revealed her identity hoping that it would help them avoid trouble. She could tell that the young men bore a high cultivation base. And right now, they were at a remote ce. "Wow! Our little sect-mate! Come and embrace your senior fellow disciple. Ha, ha, ha!" they continued This content belongs to N?/velDra/ma.Org . to mock her. Fiona felt disappointed. This was not how she expected things to turn out. After revealing her true identity, the young men pushed her even further. "Shame on you!" Fiona finally exploded with anger. She raised her palm with fingers gathering and chopped right towards the young man who pped Kim. Darren sat in the carriage and did not even move. He observed the strength of the young men. All of them looked like they were at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm, more or less. The young man who pped Kim, on the other hand, looked like a master of the ninth stage of the Primary Realm. Interestingly, his face was covered with make-up and he seemed to have little interest in girls. As Fiona started to fight, Darren could tell that her strength was not very different from those of the young men. The young men sneaked around Fiona and tried to touch her body in a dirty way from time to time. Fortunately, Fiona managed to narrowly avoid them every time. "Yee dare who bully Heona, ah hight yee! (You dare to bully Fiona, I''ll fight you!)" unable to express himself clearly, Kim dashed into the fight. Bang! Like the servant girl, he was thrown away with a single kick. But he struggled to his feet and returned to the fight. "Ah hight oh wee yee! ( I''ll fight it out with you!)" he could hardly speak clearly. Bang! Thrown back by another fist, Kim could barely open his eyes. He was on his hands and knees struggling towards them. "Ah hight oh...(I''ll fight it out) wee yee...(with you)!" He scrambled towards a young man and held his leg firmly. "Damn it! You are dead meat!" shouted the young man who was trapped by Kim. "Kim, go, just go!" Fiona yelled at her cousin. She was being held by several of the men. She could not seem to do anything to help. "Go to hell!" the young man cursed as he gave Kim a heavy punch. This time, Darren moved right in front of Kim and managed to block the young man''s fist with his palm just in time to save Kim''s life. "You pushed it too far!" Darren said coldly. Hearing his statement, everyone came to a halt. Darren spoke with so much authority, they sensed a hint of an intention to kill. "Hey! Kid! Back off! This is none of your business!" the young man said to Darren. He was being cautious. Still, he realized that they outnumbered them and were likely to win the fight anyway. "I didn''t want to poke my nose into your business but you pushed it too far! Shame on you for ganging up to bully a girl and beat a man on the third stage of the Primary Realm," Darren replied indifferently. "Hahaha! What bullshit! If we can''t bully her, what''s the point in meeting a girl?" a young man said. "What else? To fuck!" teased another young man as heughed to himself. "Since you are also disciples who are about to enter the Ilmen Sect, I will let you go. Now, get out of my sight or I''ll make you pay for your foolish behavior," Darren warned. "Fuck off! Moron! What the hell do you think you are doing? Who the hell do you think you are! Let''s show him who the boss is, guys. Let''s go!" Now, the whole group of young men charged at Darren savagely. Chapter 25 Im Darren Chu (Part One) Chapter 25 I''m Darren Chu (Part One) Darren managed to distract the opponents, giving Fiona the opportunity to take a breath. The fight against them consumed half of her energy already. Fiona walked up to Darren and whispered, "Thanks a lot, mister. I appreciate your help. Their cultivation base isparable with our base so it won''t make sense for us to continue fighting. We''d better set off now. We can tell the sect elders about this and ask for justice after we get to the Ilmen Sect." Since Darren was also a disciple of the Ilmen Sect, Fiona assumed that he was also a strong and talented cultivator. But since their opponents were the disciples of the Ilmen Sect, Fiona had doubted if she and Darren could defeat them. After all, they were severely outnumbered as well. Fiona then helped her elder cousin stand up. She walked him to the carriage and asked her maid to look after him. After she made sure he''d be taken care of, she ordered the carter to rush back to Ossiriand as soon as possible. She then walked back to Darren and took hold of his arm in an attempt to draw him away to leave. "Let''s go, mister!" she said to Darren. There were only about ten miles away from the Ilmen Sect. It would have been easy for them if they started walking. Darren immediately eased up when he heard Fiona''s instruction. Since Fiona had decided to spare them, Darrenplied and decided not to continue the fight anymore. "Haha! You want to leave now? No way!" Their opponents, however, had other ns. They continued pestering them and determined to push through with the fight. "What else do you want? Look what you have done to my cousin! Stop it! I will tell the sect elders about it as soon as I get there. They will teach you a lesson!" Fiona said defiantly. She had never been treated like this before. This was not something she was ustomed to. Still, the current situation forced her to deal with it. The mention of the sect leaders made the boys feel uneasy. They did not want to ruin their records. Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. They''d be in trouble if the sect leaders found out about what they did especially since they were new disciples. "Let''s go! We don''t have to be stuck here," one of them suggested. His teammates exchanged agreeing looks with each other until another one of them addressed Daren and Fiona. "It''s your lucky day, bastard! Enjoy it while itsts. You''ll see." Then, some of them proceeded to walk toward their horses, ready to leave. "Fine, go. That''s your decision. I never said I wanted to quit," said the young man who beat up Kim. His eyes were fixed on Darren because of his air of strength and confidence. "That''s interesting!" The others had mounted their horses already, but when they heard what the young man said, they led their horses around to watch the iing fight between him and Darren. "Karl, let it go. Don''t let that bastard bother you. I''m sure you''ll have plenty of opportunities to teach him a lesson in the future. He will regret what he has done today," one of them tried to reason. "Yeah, Karl! After all, you are at the ninth stage. What if you kill him by ident?" another one said. Darren actually wanted to know if he could win against the man named Karl who was at the ninth stage of the Primary Realm. In an instantaneous burst, he activated his vital energy, ready for theing fight. "Look! Desperate little idiot! He''s already activating his vital energy!" one guy noticed. "Wow, you really overestimate yourself, man! Do you seriously think you can take me on? You can barely survive one attack, bastard!" As soon as the young man named Karl finished his words, he attacked. His surging vital energy swept over Darren. Sure enough, a cultivator at the ninth stage was much stronger than one at the eighth stage. Still, Darren stood unfazed. After all, Darren''s cultivation base was also close to the ninth stage. If he exerted his whole power, he was pretty sure he could still end the fight on a draw. "Bang!" The impact echoed through a sound in the air. The sound made both of the contenders step back a bit simultaneously. The audience, however, doubted if the fight could end in a draw. ''He just reached the ninth stage a few days ago, so our cultivation base should almost be equal in strength, '' Darren assumed in his mind. "You''re also at the ninth stage!" the young man eximed in surprise. The boys on horses were also dumbstruck with what they saw. They could not believe that an undistinguished man like him was at the ninth stage. "Great! That''s great! Things are getting exciting now," he said to Darren as his lips spread into a satisfied grin. Knowing that Darren was just about as strong as he was made Karl more enthused with their fight. It felt better for him to challenge a formidable opponent. "Wow! He''s great!" Fiona, who had been observing from the side, marveled. She didn''t expect that Darren was such a powerful cultivator. ''If I were him, I definitely would have been injured by that attack. But him, he''s still intact!'' Fiona thought. "Variable Transformation Bloom!" Karl summoned his martial arts skill. In a split second, Darren was enveloped by the boy''s vital energy. Facing his powerful attack, Darren stayed motionless. In a sh, he already managed to analyze his martial arts skills. Although Karl was at the ninth stage and had already mastered a great martial arts skill, Darren''s talent was the ck Degree which gave him the keen senses. So to his eyes, Karl''s movements were happening in slow motion. With this, he quickly managed to spot his technique''s w. ''His martial skill is to gather up his vital energy into his fingertips. Then, his concentrated energy could transform into any shape he wants to make. An attack using his concentrated energy is invincible and indestructible. His only vulnerable part would be his lower body.'' In a split second, a thorough analysis had been done in Darren''s mind. With an impressive speed to the naked eye, Darren dodged the boy''s attack. Then, he gathered his vital energy to his legs and tried to sweep the boy''s legs. He, however, managed to avoid the attack. A smirk appeared on Darren''s lips. "Got you!" Apparently, the former attack was a trap. Darren jumped into air and whirled around. He then extended his right leg from behind and kicked the boy to the ground. That was Darren''s n all along. "You! How can you y the trick?" The boy turned grimly. Then he reached into his back pocket and took out a de. Yelling, he said, "You asked for this--" "Calm down, Karl! Put your de down!" Chapter 26 Im Darren Chu (Part Two) Chapter 26 I''m Darren Chu (Part Two) His teammates interrupted and did their best to keep things from getting out of hand. Knowing Karl, they knew how dangerous he could be if he started using his de. The fight would end with a bloody mess and this was thest thing they wanted to see. None of them wanted anyone to die in this fight. After all, they were all new disciples. If the sect elders found out about this, they would definitely have bad records. They didn''t want such thing to happen especially before the school-choosing convention. That would be a huge obstacle not only for their cultivation in the Ilmen Sect, but also for their future. "Karl! Don''t let an asshole like him provoke you!" They all panicked. "No fucking way! He''s so screwed!" mes of anger burned in Karl''s eyes. "You''re pushing it! How could you use your de? That''s unfair!" Fiona spoke up as well for Darren''s N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. sake when she saw Karl take out his de. "Fuck off, bitch!" Karl shouted with fury. This infuriated her. Although she already decided on staying out of the fight, she found it hard to control herself when she heard Karl call her a bitch. At once, she took out her saber and attacked Karl. "ng!" An intense streak of his de shone in the air. With that, Fiona was thrown back with blood on her mouth. ''Mighty force!'' Darren marveled in mind. He assumed that the attack from Karl''s de was stronger than a great martial arts skill. Darren walked over to Fiona and helped her stand up. "Are you all right?" he asked. Fiona, with a pale face, answered, "Yeah! I''m fine!" Although she felt as if there were powerful explosions taking in her body because of the attack, she did her best to endure the seemingly unbearable pain. "What a phony bitch! You think all the men in the world would fall for a girl like you, don''t you? You are not that pretty, bitch!" Karl sneered at Fiona. "What''s the hell wrong with you? You sissy!" Fiona refuted out of anger. "What did you say? You bitch!" What Karl hated most was being called a sissy. He carried his de with fury and rushed to attack once again. Darren, raising his eyebrows, took Fiona''s saber and rushed forth as well. ''Awesome! I''ve been yearning for an opportunity to exert the Grand Thirteen de Skills, '' Darren remembered every move of the Grand Thirteen de Skills but he hadn''t ever tried to understand it before. Although he had to learn it quickly, his talent reaching the ck Degree enabled him to do so. After a quick recollection of the first move, he was able to immediatelyunch his attack at Karl. They gathered up their vital energy into their weapons andunched attacks. They were as motionless as statues after the first round. And after several rounds, neither of the two sides was at an advantage. The audience, however, suffered from the loud noises from the fight. "Oh my! They''re both fucking strong! Their vital energies are so powerful!" Karl''s teammates murmured among themselves. "What? He''s also a de cultivator? Unbelievable! And his de skill is so impressive," Fiona eximed with surprise. Darren was still learning the first move of the Grand Thirteen de Skills during the fight, but after several rounds, he already mastered it. "It''s time!" Darren eximed. "Cloud de Attack!" In an instantaneous burst, the saber shimmered with a bright light along with a loud howling of the wind that lingered in the air. A strong sand storm appeared, and suddenly, the saber seemed attached to an extremely thick, vital energy force. The constantly turning saber formed a cyclone with its swift speed. The attacks from Darren''s saber were too challenging for Karl to take. And when Darren''s vital energy force swept over him, Karl failed to resist it causing him to be thrown into the air. What were left after the sand storm disappeared were Karl''s broken de smashed into pieces and several wounds on Karl''s body. The horrible scene frightened everyone watching. Everyone''s jaw dropped. They were surprised to see the mighty power of Darren''s de skill. "Hell no!" Karl wept like a little girl. "You''ll regret what you''ve done to me!" "Oh my! Do you know who Karl''s brother is? You have no idea about the trouble you''re in now, bastard. It doesn''t matter that you''re a strong cultivator. His brother is also a disciple of the Ilmen Sect. What''s more, he is one of the elites of the School of de Skill. You''re screwed now!" said one of Karl''spanions. "Oh yeah? So what?" Darren sneered. "You have the nerve, man! What''s your name?" said the guy. Darren shot him a cold re and answered on a rxed stance with his hands behind him, "I''m Darren Chu from Valmar. I''ll take you on anytime." "What?! He is Darren Chu!" eximed someone who heard him. "I heard that there are only two talents of the ck Degree among the new disciples, and one of them is Darren Chu!" "That exins so much! No wonder he is so powerful!" The fact that Darren was a talent of the ck Degree was well known among the neighboring cities. "Let''s go!" Karl''s teammates helped him mount his horse at once. Darren jumped into the air and kicked two off their horses. "You think you can get away that easily? Come on, guys, you need to pay for what you''ve done. I''ll take your horses in exchange for your lives and you can leave. What do you say?" Darren said, as he proceeded to lead the two horses away. "You! You''ll see!" The two teenagers who owned the two horses were so infuriated. Still there was not much that they could do. After all, Darren was a talent of the ck Degree. The Ilmen Sect would treat him better than them. They also saw how strong he was. Wordlessly, they mounted the horses of their other teammates and rode away. "So... you are Darren Chu? Oh my!" Fiona looked at Darren with surprise, her heart thumping fast. Darren smiled and answered, "Yeah! But that doesn''t really matter right now. Take this healing elixir. We need to leave for the Ilmen Sect as soon as possible." Darren took out a healing elixir of the Chu n from his pocket and handed it to Fiona. Then, he mounted one of the horses and went off. Fiona felt so grateful for the elixir she got from Darren. She admired him very much. After eating it, she mounted her own horse and followed. "Wait for me! Darren!" Fiona yelled as she set off after Darren. She almost forgot the pain when she looked at the man in front of her. He was the one she had been dreaming about. Chapter 27 The School-choosing Convention (Part One) Chapter 27 The School-choosing Convention (Part One) After about an hour of riding without a break, he and Fiona arrived at the foot of the Five-spirit Mountains. He raised his head and looked up. The Five-spirit Mountains were vast and beautiful, and he couldn''t help but be impressed by the sight. Each of the five mountains was shaped differently. One of them was the shape of a sword, and another was the shape of a de. There was even a mountain shaped like a fist. They represented the five N?velDrama.Org owns this text. schools of the Five-Spirit Mountains. "Darren, the spiritual energy here is so abundant," Fiona said and took a deep breath, her body rxing. Darren nodded in agreement. He too could feel that the spiritual energy here was thicker than usual, and he immediately began to circte his internal energy to absorb the surrounding power. After a short moment, the aura around Darren suddenly changed. He unconsciously released the energy he had been circting. "Oh, my God! You broke through, Darren!" Of course, Fiona immediately realized what the sudden change of Darren''s energy meant. It was the sign of breaking through a stage. "It''s just the ninth stage," Darren said with indifference. "You were at the eighth stage before? My God, I can''t believe it! You just beat a man who was at the ninth stage while you were only at the eighth stage! Now I know that I can neverpare to a talent of the ck Degree. Darren, you are really something else." Fiona felt happy for him, but at the same time, she couldn''t help but feel a bit disappointed about herself. She truly was not a match for his prowess. Hearing her praise, Darren merely smiled and said, "Enough of that. Let''s head into the mountains now. The School-Choosing Convention is about to begin." "Yeah, you are right." Fiona nodded her head adorably, looking at Darren. Then she added, "By the way, which school do you want to join, Darren?" "I''m leaning towards the School of Sword Skill," Darren answered. He thought that the sword skill was powerfulpared to the others. Besides, Elder Thomas of the School of Sword Skill had alsoe to test his talent the other day. That was why he was now inclined to choose the School of Sword Skill. Hearing his answer, Fiona felt a bit unhappy, but she didn''t let it show. She had, in fact, been practicing the de skill ever since she was a child, and she knew nothing about the sword. What was more, the sword and the de were like the fire and the water. One could never practice the two skills at the same time. It meant that she and Darren would not be able to go to the same school. As Darren and Fiona conversed with each other, a pompous young man with a puffed chest also arrived at the foot of the Ilmen Sect. He, too, was one of the talented disciples who had passed the test. "Now, everyone, pleasee with me." In a sudden sh, a disciple of the Ilmen Sect flew down and disciple. "Whoa! The Flying Skill! It seems that he is an excellent martial artist!" Some of the disciples gasped admiringly. Darren immediately recognized him. He was Jimmy, the one who hade to the Chu family to select new disciples. "Jimmy, nice to see you again," Darren greeted politely. "Oh, it''s you, Darren! Come on in!" Jimmy was also very polite towards him. "He''s Darren? The disciple of the ck Degree?" Someone blurted out. "What a handsome young man! I feel like falling in love!" One of the girls gasped giddily. The others all turned their heads toward Darren, looking at him with eyes filled with envy. Jimmy led the way as they entered the ancient gate to the mountains and arrived at the main mountain. In the open yard in front of the main mountain, there were hundreds of talents gathering there, each patiently waiting for the School-choosing Convention tomence. As soon as Darren entered the yard, the crowd around him all kept ncing at him because the people who knew who he was had spread word about his identity. Everyone was wondering which school the famous talent would choose. "Alright, the disciples who are going to choose a school of martial arts skill are all here. Now please wee the elders of each school!" announced a disciple of the Ilmen Sect who was standing on a high stage at the front. With his words, a few figures materialized on the stage. None looked ordinary and each radiated a quiet power... The disciples immediately realized that they were the elders of each school by just one look at them. But surprisingly, there was a young woman among them. "Oh, my God! I can feel their strong aura! It makes me want to kneel in front of them right now. The elders of the Ilmen Sect are so powerful and strong!" "Of course! The elders are all outstanding martial artists who are at the peak of the Mysterious Realm. Of course, they are very powerful!" All the disciples could feel the terrifying aura radiating from the elders. Even Darren, who was very talented, felt his breath quicken when the elders appeared. Martial artists in the Mysterious Realm were really something else. Then, the elders began to introduce themselves one by one. "I am Elder rk of the School of Spear Skill. I wee all of you to join the School of Spear Skill!" With these words, rk Wu walked up and brandished the ck spear in his hand. The tip of the spear was pointed at the sky. Suddenly, a sh of strong, vital energy shot from the spear into the sky and exploded, shaking the Five-spirit Mountains. The disciples off the stage burst into cheers and apuse. They all felt shocked at the power of the spear. It could even split the sky! "Wow! It''s so impressive! I''d like to join the School of Spear Skill!" said a disciple near the front of the stage. "Yeah! It''s so powerful! I like it!" said another. Some of the disciples looked at the elder with eager eyes, hoping that they could join the School of Spear Skill. Then, it was time for the elder of the School of Arrow Skill to show his skills. He didn''t say anything at first. Instead, he drew an arrow into his bow and released it at a half-invisible mountain, covered in mist, and miles away. The arrow punctured a hole in the clouds and the mountains exploded with a thunderous bang. Several disciples now looked up at him with admiring eyes. "Why do they have to make it such a big deal? Why couldn''t we just go straight to the school we want to join?" a disciple couldn''t help but mumble, feeling confused. "Ha. It seems that you know nothing about this convention. The School-choosing Convention is very important. I heard that each school would even offer some enticing things to invite the most talented disciples. Well, as for the reason behind it..." the disciple trailed off. He clearly knew more information, which could draw the attention of the others. Darren stood beside them, listening to their words silently. To be honest, he was curious too. "Come on! Just tell us! Why is that?" "Alright, alright. Let me tell you. It has something to do with the Five Schools Competition of the Five- spirit Mountains that is held every seven years. All the schools think highly of it and are heavily invested in the oues. It''s only two years till the nextpetition, and only young disciples can join it. That''s why they are all going to try everything to recruit more talents." Chapter 28 The School-choosing Convention (Part Two) Chapter 28 The School-choosing Convention (Part Two) "Well, in my opinion, the schools will do everything they can to fight for Nelson and Darren. They will offer the most precious resources to draw their attention and win their selection.". Darren caught the disciple''s words and understood their meaning. Though he was inclined to choose the School of Sword Skill for now, he could still wait and see what other schools were going to offer. This way, he could have more resources for his cultivation in the future if there was a school that would offer him a better deal. A littleter, the elders of the School of Spear Skill, the School of Arrow Skill, the School of Boxing Skill and the School of de Skill all showed their skills. Only the School of Sword Skill remained. "Look! That''s Elsa!" Darren looked up at the stage and didn''t find Elder Thomas there. Standing on the stage instead was Elsa Gongsun, who he had met at the Barren Wastnd the other day. "Everyone, my father is in a closed-door cultivation right now, and he will be out in a day or two. So I, Elsa Gongsun, will recruit new disciples for him this time." With these words, Elsa walked a step up. The look on her face was still cold and indifferent like before. "Wow! She''s the daughter of Elder Thomas. She is so pretty! I''ve decided to join the School of Sword Skill and be her fellow disciple." "You are clearly cultivating the boxing skill! How could you give up your future just for a pretty girl? I''ll be the one to join the School of Sword Skill and win her heart! Hahaha!" "Damn you! You just told me that you would join the School of Spear Skill!". The appearance of Elsa caused much excitement. Many disciples were attracted by her beauty and her cold persona. "My sword skill can''tpare to other elders'' skills, so I won''t show it," Elsa said in an efficient manner. "Everyone, you can start choosing a school of martial arts skill now." Hearing her words, the disciples all started moving, going to the school they wanted to join. On the stage, the elders told their disciples to wee the talents who wanted to be their new fellow disciples and to give an introduction of the resources they would enjoy after joining them. "Calum, your talent is at the eighth stage of the Yellow Degree. If you join our School of de Skill, we will offer you a superior spiritual herb each month. And you will be allowed one trip to the Mysterious Spiritual Pool for meridian refining after three years. What do you think?" "Of course! Thank you for giving me the opportunity!" Some disciples were hesitant between two schools. "Please join the School of Boxing Skill! We can offer you two superior spiritual herbs a month, and you can go to the Mysterious Spiritual Pool every three years. What do you say?" "Don''t listen to him! Join the School of Spear Skill! We can give you three superior spiritual herbs every N?velDrama.Org owns this text. month, and..." The disciple they were fighting for had a talent at the ninth stage of the Yellow Degree. One could tell that the schools all wanted the best talents for themselves. In the yard, only Darren and a young man dressed in blue didn''t move. The gazes of the elders standing on the stage fell on them. "I heard that Darren is good at the de skill. It seems that he will surely join my school! Ha-ha!" The elder of the School of de Skill had already heard that Darren had fought with a pretty boy with a de on the way here. "Elder n, you can''t be certain. In my opinion, Darren is even better at the sword skill. I have a feeling that he will choose the School of Sword Skill," Elsa said confidently. In fact, she felt happily surprised to see Darren here. She didn''t expect the talented young man was the one she had met in the Barren Wastnd the other day. No wonder he seemed so talented that day. "Uh-huh, you are being ridiculous, Elsa. You know that one can''t cultivate the sword skill and the de skill at the same time. Now that he''s good at the de skill, how can he even cultivate the sword skill?" Elder n retorted in a tone matching Elsa''s confidence. "Ha-ha, Elder n, there''s no conflict between the two before he cultivates the de intent or the sword intent." It was not that easy for Elsa to back down. Hearing Elsa''s words, a faint cold smirk climbed up n Mo''s face. "Alright, you two. Maybe he will choose the School of Spear Skill. I came here prepared. No one will refuse my generous offer. So be careful," another elder interrupted. "Let''s wait and see," said the elder of the School of Boxing Skill, Ezra, joining their conversation. "Then the other talented young man Nelson must join my School of Boxing Skill. I stake my im on him.". The selection process moved along speedily. Soon, more than half of the disciples had chosen the school they wanted to join. But Darren still hadn''t moved yet. In the corner of the yard, a pretty boy with wounds all over his body was watching the people in the yard with another handsome and calm young man. "It''s him! He''s Darren, who scarred my face! How am I supposed to go outside looking like this?" the pretty boy wailed to his brother. "I see. All right, bring the little boy here!" Responding to the order, one of his subordinates brought a young boy who also had wounds over his body. The eyes of the boy were dull and unintelligent. There was also another man who was with him. "Jimmy, think wisely if you are going to do as I say. If you refuse me, your foolish brother will die!" "You evil bastards!" Jimmy shouted, his fury showing in the tightened, white knuckles of his fist. "What? Are you going to disobey us? Don''t forget that he''s at the third stage of the Spirit Realm. You don''t want to get yourself hurt, do you?" another man threatened. "What are you waiting for, Jimmy? Give me your answer! Will you do as I ask?" With these words, the man stepped on the hand of the foolish young boy. The bones in his hand shattered with a gruesome crack. "Brother, it hurts! It hurts so much!" The young boy cried out, holding the broken hand to his chest. "Let go of my brother!" Jimmy ran towards them but was fought back by the man. "If you don''t go, I will chop off your brother''s head!" With the threatening words, the young man held the boy''s head in his hand. He could easily kill the boy with little strength. "Wait!" Jimmy called, half kneeling in front of William Wang, "Please don''t hurt my brother, William! I will go immediately." "Ha-ha. That''s right. This is a sword intent seed and a de intent seed. You have to watch him cultivate them, do you hear me? And, act naturally. If Darren finds out what we''re up to, you will lose your dear little brother!" After this, the man called William Wang gave Jimmy two crystals, one was green, and one was purple. Then he gestured for him to go and find Darren immediately. Jimmy had a painful look on his face. He thought for a short moment before making up his mind finally. Then he mumbled to himself, "I am sorry, Darren. But I really have to save my little brother." He walked straight up to Darren, his resolve for his task hardening as he went. "Well, Darren, you still haven''t chosen a school?" Jimmy asked in a cool tone, his true intentions masked behind a calm demeanor. Darren smiled after seeing him, then said, "Yeah. I want to wait for a bit and see." "All the schools will be fighting for a talented young man like you." Then Jimmy changed the subject. "Oh right, Darren, I heard that you are cultivating both the sword skill and the de skill. This is for you," Jimmy said, extending his hand with the two seeds on it. "This is a de intent seed and a sword intent seed. They are priceless. The elders asked me to give them to you in secret. Even Nelson doesn''t have them. Go on, cultivate them quickly!" Darren stared at the two shining crystals, feeling a sudden curiosity. Chapter 29 Blade And Sword Intents Chapter 29 de And Sword Intents Jimmy saw that Darren looked strangely ufortable and his heartbeat pounded fast. Still, he kept a calm demeanor. "Darren, you should hurry and refine the seeds now in case someone sees us!" he said. Darren nodded, took the two crystals, and asked, "Jimmy, what are the de intent and sword intent seeds?" "Well, Darren, you might not know this, but the highest level of de cultivation and sword cultivation is the Intent Realm. The two seeds were created by two masters. After refining them, you will gain the ability to enter the Intent Realm of sword cultivation and de cultivation. They are both extremely valuable. I have never been able to get my hands on them for so many years in the sect," Jimmy exined. "But why give me both seeds? I have heard that one cannot cultivate both swordsmanship and de kills at the same time. Am I not going to get in trouble refining both?" Darren had heard of such rumors. "Hey, that''s just a rumor. Besides, that''s the elders'' idea. I''m sure there shouldn''t be a problem," Jimmy Darren had practiced both Profound Nine Sword Skills and Grand Thirteen de Skills, which were great swordsmanship and de skills respectively, and did not suffer any injury what so ever. So, it looked like the rumor saying that one could not practice both swordsmanship and de skills at the same time was very likely untrue. Immediately, he stopped hesitating, held the two seeds in his hands and mobilized his vital energy to begin refining. Only in the blink of an eye, Darren felt two tiny but different breaths of energy prating his veins. Seeing Darren refine the two seeds, Jimmy knew he could not stay with Darren any longer and left. As soon as he turned around, tears began to fall down his eyes. It made him feel terrible to hurt such a genius, but there was no other way for him to save his brother. In a short while, Jimmy returned to where William was. "I have finished what you wanted me to do. Now, let my brother go!" Jimmymanded as he looked sadly at his brother. He had been beaten up so badly he almost seemed lifeless. N?velDrama.Org owns this text. "Let him go? No way!" William''s sidekick looked at him viciously and then hit Jimmy''s brother on the head. Instantly, he was killed. "No!" Jimmy screamed and rushed over to his brother. "You bastards! I will tell the elders about what happened!" "Ha-ha! Tell the elders? Do you think I didn''t get approvals from above in order to get those two precious seeds? Only the elites of the Mysterious Realm have those! Use your brain, you idiot!" Karl and have him flogged!" Karlmanded. Several masters at the second stage of the Spirit Realm swarmed up, beat Jimmy, and took him away. "William, you didn''t do this just to get revenge for me," Karl said, pouting. He seemed dissatisfied. "Well, we have toplete the task given by the elders and avenge you at the same time. Darren will be a cripple from now on. You can do whatever you want with him," he replied. "That''s true. Thanks William!" ... In the square, hundreds of disciples had already chosen a school of martial arts skill that they were to pursue. Nelson Qin moved around, still undecided between the schools. "Nelson, if you join my School of Spear Skill, I will give you 50 superior spiritual herbs every month. Plus, you''ll get ess to the Mysterious Spiritual Pool to wash your meridians at any time. What do you think?" The elder of the School of Spear Skill made his personal and generous offers. He wanted so badly to recruit the genius. Every school must fulfill its promise of supplying resources to its disciples. This was the basis of the school''s relevance. Even if the disciple suffered great injury and became a cripple, the school still had to keep its promise. Nelson looked at him indifferently. Unmoved but polite, he replied, "Thank you for your kindness. I''ll consider it." rk, the elder of the School of Spear Skill, looked a little displeased that the offer was not good enough to attract Nelson. "Elder rk, with Nelson''s talent and background, I''m afraid he will not care too much about this," Ezra, the elder of the School of Boxing Skill, said. "Nelson, join my School of Boxing Skill. In addition to the resources promised by Elder rk, I''ll also give you a book on an extraordinary martial skill and a set of Spiritual Armour!" Ezra said. Nelson''s eyes brightened at once. That was exactly what he wanted. He immediately agreed. "Thank you, Elder Ezra. I would like to join the School of Boxing Skill!" "Ha-ha! Good!" Elder Ezra said happily. "Are you sure that you''re willing to give all of those to him, Ezra?" Several other elders asked, surprised with his generosity. "Geniuses with the ck Degree talent really get better treatment. I think Darren will get the same offer too. How lucky!" Nelson, a genius, had chosen the School of Boxing Skill. Now, everybody wondered what kind of offer Darren would get. Darren went up to the elders. "Darren, tell me what you want. As long as it is not too excessive, I would like to invite you to join the School of Arrow Skill," the elder of the School of Arrow Skill was the first to speak. n, the elder of the School of de Skill, interrupted and said, "Darren, join my School of de Skill. You can have any amount of superior spiritual herbs. I''ll pass on two extraordinary martial skills to you and you can choose two Spiritual Weapons at will." "Oh, how generous of n! He really wants Darren to join his school!" "This is unreasonable. Darren gets twice as many resources as Nelson but their talents are both of the ck Degree," a group of disciples suddenly shouted in unison. They thought the resources promised were too generous. Nelson also looked embarrassed. It was true, they were both holders of the ck Degree talent. Why did Darren get twice as many resources as him? "n, you really want Darren, huh?" The rest of the elders shook their heads one after another, thinking that the offer was too generous for a genius with the ck Degree talent. It really was not worth it. They gave up thepetition immediately. Darren did not immediately ept it. Instead, he looked at Elsa with a smile. n said to Elsa, "Elsa, I''m bound to get Darren. I''m sorry your father didn''t allow you to pay more resources than me, ha-ha!" Elsa looked frozen. It was true that her father had the intention of getting her to recruit Darren, but the budgeted resources she was allowed to give were far less than what n promised. This made her feel a little embarrassed. She didn''t know why, but she really wanted Darren to join the School of Sword Skill. "Darren, Join the School of Sword Skill. I''ll supply you with 50 superior spiritual herbs and one Holy Star Herb every month. I''ll give you a rare book on an extraordinary sword skill. What do you think?" Elsa struggled to give her offer. The elders looked shocked when they heard that the offer included the Holy Star Herb. Even the elders of the Ilmen Sect only had two Holy Star Herbs every month. They were extremely precious for the elders in Mysterious Realm. It was unbelievable that Thomas would give such a nt to Darren. "Elsa, I don''t think you can make such a decision. Thomas will never agree to that," Elder n said doubtfully. "I have full authority to represent my father this time and I mean what I said," Elsa said boldly. She felt a little uncertain but managed not to show it on her face. "I choose the School of Sword Skill." Darren didn''t hesitate. In fact, he had always been inclined to join the School of Sword Skill. Now that Elsa made such a generous offer, he didn''t have to wait any longer. "How bold of you Elsa! Ha-ha!" nughed loudly, "Now, report the list of entry to the sect and have the Chief Elder approve it." Once the list got handed over to the Chief Elder, it would be a done deal. The sect would distribute resources every month to the disciples. "Darren, wee to the School of Sword Skill!" Elsa said. She had a huge smile on her face. "Please teach me, Elsa," Darren said modestly. The choosing time for schools for martial arts skill wasing to an end. A disciple from the School of de Skill approached Elder n and whispered something in his ear. "Elsa, your school paid such a price for a cripple. Watch out for your father''s anger," he said slyly. "Elder n, just because Darren did not choose your school, it doesn''t mean you can say such things about students. Do you have no manners as an elder?" Elsa said angrily. "If you don''t believe me, feel free to check it out yourself. Darren has dug his own grave and has be a cripple!" The disciple from the School of de Skill announced loudly. Immediately, an elder stepped forward and went to Darren to check his meridians. "You refined both the sword and de intents at the same time! Youbined both de and sword intents in your body! I''m sorry, child. You have destroyed your own future as a martial artist!" the elder said with pity. Elsa looked horrified hearing this im. Chapter 30 Wrecked Chapter 30 Wrecked After hearing what happened, several elders came forward one after another to examine Darren''s vital energy in session. "Sure enough, he seems to have absorbed both the sword intent seed and the de intent seed!" Elder rk of the School of Spear Skill said in surprise, "You have ruined your future." Elsa felt extremely nervous. If Darren had really absorbed both the sword intent seed and the de intent seed, then she would have made a great mistake. She traded for a person with no improving possibilities at such a high cost. "Elders, may I ask what will happen to me after absorbing the two seeds?" Darren asked as he shifted nervously. He didn''t understand what was going on. "Are you sure you don''t know, boy? Or you are just pretending?" The elder of the School of Arrow Skill asked him coldly. Then, he exined, "Having a sword intent seed in your body means that the vital energy you cultivate in the future will be turned into the sword intent. The de intent seed, in the same way, will make the vital energy you cultivate into the de intent." Then, the elder of the School of Arrow Skill paused before he continued. "Although the sword skill and the de skille from the same origin, they are also like natural enemies to each other. If you bear both the sword intent and the de intent in your cultivation process at the same time, as you be stronger, your meridians fragment inch by inch because of the conflict between the sword intent and the de intent." He spoke slowly. It was also the first time for disciples who were surrounding the stage to hear the reason why the sword skill and de skill could not be cultivated at the same time. They all sighed deeply. "Darren''s future as a martial artist has just been ruined because he absorbed both seeds." "How are you so sure?. Darren''s talent is at the ck Degree! That''s extraordinary among our disciples. Maybe he can break this rule!" one of the disciples said. As the elders on the stage heard these words, they shook their heads with disappointment. "You boys are so ignorant. Even a Heaven Degree talent can''t break this rule. What more someone with the ck Degree talent?" the elder of the School of Arrow Skill argued. "I think all of you know something about Hanson Xiao. He was so talented and outstanding at the beginning. But s, he cultivated both sword skills and de skills and ended up dead. All his strength had gone with him." "Hanson Xiao? Isn''t that the legendary Grand Realm master? The book said that he was unfortunate in his twilight years. Apparently, that was what it meant!" Many disciples knew of the legendary story of Hanson Xiao. He was a man who entered the Grand Realm with his sword skills and was brilliant during his time. "Indeed, it was said that Hanson Xiao''s eldest disciple had tried to stop him but failed. At the beginning, Hanson''s strength surged, but this was only a false impression. Every time he used his sword, part of his meridians broke up. In the end, his body could no longer withstand such damage and it exploded into pieces." An elder told everyone what he knew. "Haha, from ancient to present, a lot of geniuses who were not afraid of death had tried such a path, but no one ended up with sess. From what I know, Darren''s whole life in cultivation has been ruined," an elder asserted. Hearing this, Darren suddenly realized that he had been deceived. ''Jimmy!'' Darren''s brows furrowed. ''Why did he do this to me?'' Among all the people, Elsa worried most. The list of entries had been reported and could not be changed. ording to the rules of the sect, the promised resources would not be changed either. She just made a huge mistake. "Elsa, congrattions! It''s really gratifying that you managed to recruit a genius like Darren for your School of Sword Skill," Elder n said sarcastically. The rest of the elders felt lucky for that Darren did not choose their school. Off the stage, some young geniuses sympathized with him while some rejoiced in the misfortune that such a ck Degree talent had been wrecked before he became a true master. At the end of the selection meeting, the new disciples followed their respective elders back to their assigned dormitories. Only Darren and Elsa stayed in the square. On the mountain of the School of de Skill, William said to Elder n, "You almost anticipated everything. Elsa really promised such rich and generous resources to that guy. Now, Thomas will be really pissed off. But I have a question. What made you certain that Darren would choose the School of Sword Skill?" William continually asked. "Hump," n snorted coldly. "I sent someone to spy on him. I found out that he defeated his three brothers with only one stroke of the sword in the Chu n. Then, he defeated your brother with a de halfway up the road to our sect indicating that he also cultivates de skills." "You are so brilliant, Sir. So, this is why you were able to make this n. This is such a huge loss for the School of Sword Skill, especially now that the Five Schools Competition ising. I think the School of Sword Skill will end up at the bottom of all the schools!" William said. "I owe it all to Elsa. If Thomas were here, he would have inspected Darren first himself. Things would not have been as easy then," n smiled smugly. He felt so lucky and blessed by the gods. There had always been disputes among the five schools of the Ilmen Sect. Only the rules of the sect prevented public fights, apart from the duels in the Life and Death Valley. Because of this, the secret fights became the main outlet of the five schools of the Ilmen Sect. This time, the elder of the School of de Skill tricked Darren into ruining himself so that the School of Sword Skill would waste arge amount of resources. Because of this, the School of Sword Skill would surely be defeated in the Five Schools Competition. ... On the square, the two looked at each other wordlessly. "Someone set me up," Darren told her calmly. "I know." Elsa replied. Elsa was not stupid. She knew that the elder of the School of de Skill was responsible for what happened to Darren. The School of de Skill had always resorted to dubious tactics just to gain an upper hand. "Come back to the school with me and meet our brothers," Elsa said as she turned and headed to the Sword Mountain with a distressed expression. Darren did not know what to say. He felt several mixed emotions. No matter what everyone said, a part of him felt like absorbing the sword intent seed and the de intent seed wasn''t much of a mistake. On the contrary, he felt like there was more to it. It even felt like an opportunity. He then realized that there was no use mulling it over right now. He first had to enter the school. He should just focus on going to the Sword Mountain first. Along the way, he saw the magnificent and majestic sword-shaped peak. It was probably because there were swordsmen living here that the whole mountain resonated with a fierce momentum of sword energy. As they arrived at the simple and unsophisticated mountain gate, he heard a loud shout. "What on earth do you think you are doing? You must have been living in a cloud this whole time. After wasting our resources for such a wreck, you daree here to see me? Starting today, you are to stay in your room and think about your mistake for the next three months. This is unbelievable!" Thomas'' furious voice echoed far and wide in the mountain along the sounds of rapping on the wooden This content belongs to N?/velDra/ma.Org . seat. Darren hid a bitter smile as he entered the gates. After several setbacks, he finally arrived at the Main Hall. Once he got in the hall, all eyes turned to him. Darren only saw pieces of a broken seat, and Elsa looked very aggrieved. It was clear that Thomas had already left. "I''m sorry, Elsa." Seeing the disappointment on Elsa''s face made Darren regret what he did. "It''s not your fault. In his eyes, everything I do is wrong," she said. Then, she stood up and left as well. There were more than 20 people in the hall. After seeing Darren, their expressions turned cold. "How dare youe in here? Don''t you know what you did? You should get out of here," one of the people said. "See what you did! Now, even Elsa is in trouble because of you," another said. "Well, spending so many resources on a hopeless case is so unlucky. No wonder the elder is so angry!" Every word was like a dagger. Soon, Darren''s expression turned cold as well. "Nonsense!" Suddenly, a tall young man in green stood up and shouted angrily. "The reason why the elder is so angry is because we were tricked by the School of de Skill. Darren is a victim. You are all so ridiculous!" After what he said, everyone''s faces began to change. It seemed that the speaker was someone respected by the disciples. "Darren, don''t feel bad. Since you have entered our school, we are brothers. We should take care of each other from now on. I''m Cody Qi. As the eldest disciple, I will do what I can so the elder will calm down. Don''t worry about it," Cody said as he patted Darren on the shoulder to reassure him. ''The eldest disciple is a good man, '' Darren thought. "Okay, Keller. Now, take Darren to his ce so he could rest," Codymanded. "Thank you, Cody." Darren held his fist and saluted Cody. "No problem. Go and rest. Tomorrow, I''ll find someone to go and get your resources and send them to your ce." Darren nodded and then left with the one called Keller Jiao. Chapter 31 The Unexpected Trouble (Part One) Chapter 31 The Unexpected Trouble (Part One) Keller led Darren to a rather remote and secluded wooden cottage that was situated at the corner of N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. Sword Mountain base and settled him down. Darren looked around the cottage. Although the space inside was limited, all of the essentials and other miscenies were present and would be able to provide its dweller with a cozy andfortable stay. Pleased with the good environment, Darren smiled politely at Keller. But just as Darren started to thank him, Keller went ahead and stopped him. "Don''t thank me, Darren. I still suggest that you leave this ce, for your safety. After what has happened today, I am very positive that they wille for trouble sooner rather thanter," he proposed solicitously. Keller was a short and stumpy young man. Although he was only in his twenties, the hardships and miserable experiences in the life had left imprints on his face. His face would always be scrunched up in worry, much like the one he was currently wearing on his face. Mismatching his age, his appearance looked more like that of a man in his forties. Darren didn''t respond but instead gave him a confused re. Keller instantly feared that Darren had misunderstood his meanings. Keller shook his head and waved his hands in the air. "Darren, please don''t get me wrong. I say this not to try to chase you away, but to help you. I had every intention to have you stay here, but I''m afraid that won''t be possible anymore. Given the recent turn of events, I thought I should let you know that it would not be safe for you to be here," he anxiously exined. Seeing how Keller was so concerned for his safety, a small smile formed on Darren''s lips. "I know you are concerned about me. But I don''t want to leave just because of what happened today. I don''t think running away would solve anything. Plus, I''m not exaggerating when I say that those bullies wouldn''t daree for trouble so recklessly," he said as he tried to console Keller. Darren seemed to have already made up his mind and Keller felt that he wouldn''t be able to change it anymore. There was no way around but to ept his decision. "All right then, I hope things will turn out for the best," he said, smiling awkwardly but sincerely at Darren. Keller gave the room onest cleaning. After the room had been organized and all the things positioned in their proper ces, he bade farewell to Darren and took his leave. As soon as Darren was left alone in the room, he did not take a respite. His mind had been upied by the current state of his cultivation. "I can''t just believe what they have said to me that easily. Why don''t I just have a try and see how hard it is to cultivate the sword skill and the de skill at the same time?" he pondered to himself. After he had taken those two seeds, Darren did not feel any side effects from it. He thought that this clear, lucid feeling devoid of any kind of dizziness must mean that his body had absorbed the seeds wlessly. He felt intrigued to practice his sword skill and see how far it had gotten. "Let me take a shot at trying the second move of the Profound Nine Sword Skills first," he said to himself earnestly, raring to find out the effect on himself. Concentrating his attention on the details of the second move of the skills, he had the whole procedure run down in his mind before putting the skill into action. Upon activating the sword skill, albeit gingerly, his vital energy was released and started to flow along his energy meridians like surging water. Everything had gone smoothly and just as he had expected, until he felt a sudden change in his vital energy an hourter. To his astonishment, the vital energy that had been swirling around in his energy meridians gradually transformed into streams of purple mist. "Can this be the sword intent they have been talking about?" Darren shouted out in wonder. As more of the vital energy turned into the purple mist, the mist began to emanate streaks of icy blue sword light and provided him with vigor and fresh energy. It was the most vivid and at the same time, the most indescribable kind of freshness that he had ever felt. However, while Darren was drowning with fascination over the feeling the sword intent had granted him, an ominous, almost menacing feeling struck his heart. "Damn it!" he eximed with terror. A strange gust of green vital energy mist emerged out of nowhere and began tussling with the purple mist. As the sh between the two mists became more and more intense, he started to feel intense pain in his energy meridians. And even more troubling, he felt a weak and fragile part in his energy meridians begin to crack which caused even more pain. "What the hell? How do I handle this situation?" he cried out in panic. Recognizing that it was his de intent that generated the green mist, he immediately ceased his sword cultivation and started to activate his de skill over again. The result was the same as his sword cultivation. About half an hour after he had started practicing his de, the vital energy started generating green mist and shed with the purple mist. Only this time, the damage it resulted in was even more painful than the first one. Unable to endure the pain any longer, he stopped practicing the de as well. "This is terrible! Does this mean that I can practice neither sword skill nor de skill from now on? How will this affect me if I use my fist power?" The thought prompted him to test out a simple boxing form from a martial arts book that he learned in the past. Growing frantic, Darren half expected the shing of the two internal forces would not also take ce even when he was not using swords or des. Much to his dismay, testing out a different skill determined that the confrontation of the shing forces had in fact nothing to do with whether or not he was using his swords or des. The real cause of the sh was his own vital energy. Every time he practiced, his vital energy would automatically convert into those two kinds of internal forces without any provocations, as if on impulse, causing his energy meridians to get harmed in the process. He was very much disappointed and utterly devastated by his finding. "Have I really gotten wrecked?" he wondered ruefully. The failure clouded his mind. He could not dare to imagine how things would turn out if he continued to be weak again ¨C he wouldn''t be able to defeat anyone in a fight. As Darren contemted over the extremely disadvantageous situation he now faced, trying and failing toe up with a solution, he heard a yammering. "Isn''t this the ck Degree talent disciple that has recently just joined our sect? Why am I getting the feeling that he is just an ordinary type? Have you caught anything outstanding out of his disy just now?" a shrill peculiar voice called out behind him, just outside his door. The remarks were followed by an obnoxious chortle that came from a second person. Darren turned around to see who it was. There were two young men who were standing at the door, observing him. Seeing that they were both wearing the same clothes as Keller''s, Darren assumed that they were attendant disciples of the School of Sword Skill. "Don''t say that, Shawn! He has the title of the super martial genius, after all. He may have deviated from my expectations, but I think he is still powerful enough to take you down," the other guy said in a same feminine voice. As the words escaped, both of them burst into a fit of loud convulsive