The Supreme God of Martial Arts

The young man, handsome as ever, felt annoyed that his opponent was condescending him. He gritted his teeth at the sheer amount of contempt directed towards him.

With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and clasped his hands into a fist. Then he felt the vital energy gaining pace, its surges rushing through his veins as he felt vital and energetic inside. His confidence began to rise. He felt his spirits lifting, and he waited for this vital energy force to completely engulf him. He took a step back and let his veins throb with energy and power. He was itching to go straight for the opponent. He waited a moment, and then charged towards his opponent.

The handsome young man's opponent stood on the other end. He watched this young lad clasping his hands. He knew this was going to be a battle he would enjoy. A cold, cunning smile ran across his swarthy, stout face.

The stout man leaned forward a little, in anticipation of the pace he was about to gather. As his torso bent forward, his legs gave way to a muffled explosion and he burst towards his opponent—leaving behind just a flash of black light.

The handsome young man was out of wits for a moment. For a second his opponent was far away, and the next there was just a flash of black light. A moment later, he found the stout man upon him. Before he could react, his opponent was ready with his fists, about to thunder down a punch at him.

The young man did not expect such pace, and before he could make a defensive move, his opponent's hand punched right onto his chest. The strong vital energy force burst like a volcano from the stout man's palm.

Bang! The punch roared.

A massive thump echoed across the ring. The handsome young man, who was moments ago ready to attack, was struck by the punch. This blow was so powerful that he staggered to gather his feet. Blood spewed from his mouth all over the ground, making a long trail of the damage.

The crowd was alive with excitement. They were here to see drama and they were going to get it.

The swarthy man's dexterity and power were appreciated by the crowd. Yet, they knew there was a massive gap between the talents of these young men. The stout one was extremely powerful, and could crush his opponent in moments.

The handsome young man took support at the edge of the ring and steadied himself. He looked pitiful and cut a sorry figure—standing there and whimpering. He wiped blood from his face, looking mentally dejected. He knew it wasn't possible for him to win here. Without a word, he jumped out of the ring.

"Huh! That's very sensible of you, sissy,” the swarthy man mocked.

The swarthy man was elated! All it had taken was one punch to beat his opponent.

Three battles took place next. All these duels were a fight for a place in the top three—the three strongest men in the whole outer sect. There were not many disciples who took part in this prestigious competition. In the end, an expert sword-wielding disciple Luther Hua remained standing in the ring. He had already defeated two disciples. Moreover, his swordsmanship was a grade four sword skill, the Surging Swordsmanship. For reference, the vast majority of disciples did not even have access to grade four martial skills.

His grade four sword skill was not acquired from the Sun Sect. Instead, he had chanced upon a teacher while traveling and had acquired this skill.

Luther Hua was not only a master of the high-grade sword skill, but had also gained a level one sword intent.

The caliber of the intent of a high-grade martial skill was considerably more lethal than that of a low-grade martial skill.

For example, a cultivators level one sword intent that he understood with a grade three sword skill was much weaker than his level one sword intent that he understood with a grade four sword skill.

Luther Hua's cultivation base of the vital energy was in the peak of level nine of Energy Gathering Realm. With his grade four sword skill and level one sword intent, his strength was almost unmatched in the entire outer sect.

After Luther Hua had entered the ring and defeated those two challengers in a row, silence had spread through the Martial Arts Square. Everyone was waiting to see if there would be another challenger.

However, there was no movement for a long time. Everyone thought that Luther Hua was now qualified to challenge the former third-best disciple.

Fair stood up slowly, about to speak out the results.

"I'l try," a voice rang out somewhere from the crowd.

Fair was about to speak, when he heard the voice. An emaciated young man dressed in gray clothes appeared in front of the ring.

He stepped inside the ring and gave Luther Hua a courteous smile. . . "Violet, does your method of concealing the breath of vital energy's fluctuations work?"

"Don't worry, my Magical Aura-changing Skill is marvelous. Once you have performed it, even the cultivator of the Mysterious Realm would not be able to see your real cultivation base without coming close to you."

"Okay, that's exactly what I need.”

The young man in the gray clothes, who had just shown up, was Austin! Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Immediately, many outer disciples in the crowd recognized the young man in the gray clothes as Austin.

The audience turned restless because Austin was a famous figure. He was the number one among the outer disciples three years ago, and had recently become a sensational figure after he had defeated Billy and Marvin.

Marvin was in the allotted space for the top ten, and he watched Austin intently as he entered the ring.

Marvin had assumed Austin was afraid of him and hence hadn't responded to his open challenge. But that wasn't the case as Austin prepared to challenge Luther Hua for the third place.

Austin had planned everything to his strengths. He had absolutely no interest in challenging Marvin, but was eyeing the third place itself.

“A conceited and arrogant man!" thought Marvin in a fit of rage. Marvin's face twisted in anger as he looked at Austin, the man who had humiliated him multiple times.

Meanwhile, another man, who was also seated in the allotted space for the top ten, was also watching Austin intently. This man, however average he looked, was the cultivator ranked first among the outer disciples.

"Haha, that's funny! I thought he would challenge me, but he instead chooses to challenge for the third place. He still seems to want to hide his strength and keep a low profile.”

"Austin Lin," a voice came from the other end of the ring

Luther Hua simply called out Austin's name. It turned out that he knew Austin too

"Wow, looks like I am really famous.”, Austin remarked

Austin was resigned to the situation, and his cover was all but blown. Judging from the atmosphere, most people present knew him.

"Of course, as the number one in the outer sect three years ago, you were the one who all the disciples looked up to. Then quite unexpectedly, you disappeared for three years, came back to become an outer disciple again. Besides, you just defeated Billy and Marvin. How can someone with such complex experiences like yours not be famous?" Luther Hua said.

Luther Hua's eyes fixated on Austin.

"Well, you've got a point there.”

Unable to refute him, Austin nodded approvingly.

"But you do know that to qualify to challenge the third place you have to defeat me,” Luther pointed out.

"I understand.”

Austin flashed him a wry, all-knowing smile.

"Let's make it quick then," Luther Hua said.

He raised his long sword and pointed it at Austin. At the same time a steady stream of vital energy force flew to the pointy end of the sword, and rays of shapeless yet significant amounts of sword aura began to diffuse.

Austin’s battle with Marvin was not long ago, and Luther Hua was there observing him. He knew that Austin was also in the level nine of Energy Gathering Realm and possessed amazing physical strength. What was more, Austin had practiced the violent and formidable Grand Pagoda Summoning Skill that was well-known throughout the Sun Sect. Therefore, as soon as Austin came to the ring, Luther Hua immediately became determined and focused. It was an important battle. If he didn't try his best, he was likely to lose.