SWNOVELS Chapter 82: Do You Think You Can Run Away from Me?
All the Virtuosos whom had concealed their presence ceased to breath for a few seconds after spotting the elder's surprising appearance as they were in shock. None of them were ignorant enough to not know the elder's identity and background.
The elder in the spotlight was Spencer Goldsmith from the Goldsmith family in the capital city, and he was known to be a prominent and formidable figure who had attained late-stage Virtuoso!
He was known to have conquered an era with his indomitable power during the peak of his fame. He had not shown himself in front of the world for many years, and it was rumoured that he had isolated himself to undergo training in hopes of achieving the culmination of the Virtuoso Phase.
The fact that he had shown up at this place proved only one thing as Ronald and the others had come to their realization.
Boyce was a naturally gifted genius which was extremely rare to come about even in a few hundred years. It could be said that his monstrous talent was beyond the Goldsmith family and even the whole of China.
His formidable power and his background as a son of the Goldsmith family would never have given anyone the chance to put him in a dire situation during his southbound trip. Even so, Spencer had decided to follow him covertly in order to protect him against the long odds of any disaster happening to him. However, the odds of Boyce being beaten into a pulp had unfortunately happened right at this moment.
Ronald and the other Virtuosos whom were in hiding had all shown their faces as they trod to the middle of the field.
"I am Ronald Parker from the South Riverside Province, and it's my honour to meet you, Mr. Goldsmith!"
"Jerome Lester from City Y here, and it's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Goldsmith!"
"My name is Mortimer Osborn and I came from City X, the honor of meeting you are mine, Mr. Goldsmith!"
"I am Caesar Bennett from the Cloud City, and I'm glad to be able to see you in person, Mr. Goldsmith!"
Every Virtuoso had revealed themselves upon seeing Spencer's arrival at the scene with all of them holding their fists in front of them to pay their respect whether they like it or not. Spencer's expression was clouded with menace and dissatisfaction, but he proceeded to nod as a gesture to return the salute.
Some of the Virtuosos-to-be whom were outside the field had managed to recognize Spencer's identity as well, and upon seeing all the Virtuosos whom had shown their faces, they had decided to come out from hiding. Even though they wished to step forward to pay their tributes, they could only halt their steps while wry smiles broke out on their faces as the recognition of their lack of entitlement had hit them badly.
The remaining were puzzled by the progression of the current situation as they were in the dark about Spencer's identity. Everything that had occurred today had been extremely staggering and mind-boggling to the masses that were at the scene. Cornell, who was ever confident that Jacob would triumph over Boyce, finally showed hints of alarming anxiety on his face.
Despite the lack of any up-and-coming Virtuoso in the Shaw family after the passing of their great ancestor, Cornell, who was a Virtuoso-to-be, had still remained in touch with the happenings in the martial arts realm due to the Shaws' hundred years of martial arts ancestry.
He certainly could recognize the prominence and the monstrous capability of the elder who was standing in front of his eyes.
It was evident from the salutes given by the Virtuosos whom had all ditched their concealment that Spencer was not an ordinary elder.
Spencer's effect on the masses was apparent to the kinds like Kaley and Lena whom were non martial artists as well. Even though they were incognizant of his identity, they could certainly sense his overpowering strength and might.
Consternation started to sprout in their hearts as they worry about what would happen to Jacob.
Only Edwin, the Lecherous Demon, and Grizzly Bear showed gazes and determination that were as firm as a rock while looking at Jacob. Being the staunch supporters of Jacob, they had absolute faith that their master was omnipotent and unconquerable!
"You have finally showed up, old man. Here I am still wondering how long your patience will last?" Jacob sneered with contempt at Spencer.
"You knew that I was here right from the start?" A flash of astonishment streaked across Spencer's darkened face.
"Don't tell me that you think it is very clever of you to hide in the dark with your invisibility technique. It's just a very insignificant skill!" Jacob scoffed with disdain.
Embarrassment swiftly crept up onto Ronald and the other Virtuosos' faces after hearing his statement as they realized Jacob must have been aware of their presence from the beginning. Self-consciousness was not the only emotion that had struck them as deep fear had also manifested itself in their gaze on Jacob.
Even Ronald whom had attained intermediate-stage Virtuoso was not able to discern Spencer's existence before he had revealed himself in front of the crowd.
The crowd immediately picked up on the fact that Jacob was able to detect Spencer's unperceivable presence while none of them could. It only meant one thing: Jacob was on a higher level than the rest of them.
"You are immensely strong, and I give it to you that you have overpowered Boyce, little brat! He was not wronged to have lost to you, but you shouldn't have tried to kill him and envisaged to temper with his body for Gasification! You're digging your own grave by provoking the Goldsmith family's pride!"
"That leaves me no choice but to kill you and nip you in the bud!" Spencer snarled while his face was as black as thunder.
If Boyce had only lost to Jacob, he would not even shown his face here. Since Boyce's departure from the capital city, Spencer had been tailing him covertly without his knowledge as his concern was that Boyce would place reliance on him, thinking that he would not suffer any harm in any circumstances. His Invincible Heart would not be perfected if he knew that someone was protecting him.
Spencer had only decided on the spur of the moment to take a break and come out from his overdue isolated training to trail Boyce secretly as he had not accomplished any breakthrough moment yet. Boy, and how glad he was to have followed Boyce in his journey. He felt relieved that he had made the right decision, or else the Goldsmith family would have lost their only precious hope in a few hundred years who actually had the highest chance to attain the Divinity Phase right here in the North Riverside Province.
The Virtuosos present in the field would never pick sides and get themselves involved in this enmity even though they had decided to show up. All of them had retreated hurriedly after giving their respect to Spencer.
The only persons left on the field were Jacob and Spencer who were in a hostile predicament.
As soon as he waved his hand, Spencer's tremendous aura streaked across the sky and shot towards the coffin.
Jacob's lips turned into a mirthless smile and with just a mere flick of his fingers, Spencer's aura exploded in the air the next instant.
"No one can save you today, you brat!"
Spencer's face darkened as his move was nullified immediately by Jacob, and he proceeded to growl in anger, "I will let you know how the real 'Confinement' looks like today!"
After he finished his sentence, a terrifying and encapsulating aura had exploded on the ground.
"Get back!" Ronald instantly ordered everyone to retreat from the danger zone.
However, it was too late as the air around his body had solidified swiftly when he was just about to recoil in horror.
Ronald's movement became extremely slow as if he had fallen into a quagmire of mud, his actions were put on slow-motion mode regardless of his capability as an intermediate-stage Virtuoso.
Those who had only attained preliminary-stage Virtuoso had to make even more arduous effort to move around but to no avail.
The remaining who had not achieved the accomplishment of being a Virtuoso were downright frozen on the spot, unable to move even an inch of their body.
It was as if the world had transformed into an amber, and everyone whom was static on the ground was sealed in it as its perfect specimen!
Ronald eyes widen with extreme fear seeping into them as he stared at Spencer in confoundment. Was this the real extent of power possessed by a late-stage Virtuoso? If this was the case, it seemed very likely that he would reach the pinnacle of the Virtuoso Phase sooner or later.
It would only require one move from him to kill Jacob under this 'Confinement' state of circumstances.
The chasm between each Virtuoso's stages was enormous to begin with, and it took someone as unrivalled and stellar as Boyce whom had only achieved the preliminary-stage Virtuoso to be able to reach a dead-heat in a fight with a Virtuoso in the intermediate-stage. The odds are extremely rare to be able to win over someone who was on a higher level of Virtuoso stage than oneself.
It was a pity that Jacob would undoubtedly face a certain death today. The thought had led Ronald to sigh heavily in his heart.
However, Ronald was soon thunderstruck by what had happened right in front of his eyes while they had almost popped out from its eye skull. What had he witnessed that was utterly dumbfounding to the mind?
Even he himself was stuck in Spencer's 'Confinement' and could not move as he please like he was drowning in a pool of mud; Jacob however could still move normally despite being only slightly affected. "This 'Confinement' of yours is still presentable!" Jacob's lips curled into a snarl while he continued, "If someone else is in my position, they would be dead right now!"
"Too bad your opponent is none other than me! You will never comprehend the being that you are facing at this moment!"
Jacob waved both his arms as he shouted, "Shatter!"
As soon as his command ended, all the surrounding trees started to shake vigorously, and the leaves on the tips of the branches quiver as if they were under spell.
After a few seconds, all the leaves were snapped off from the branches by an omnipotent force and went soaring into the sky.
The leaves were soon headed towards the boundary of the North and South Riverside Province in full force while blotting out the sky and impinging upon the earth with its sheer quantity.
While it had resulted in a magnificent sight to behold, the truth was every one of the leaves was razor-sharp and lethal.
Sough!
Sough!
Sough!
The 'Confinement' that was centered on Spencer was soon sliced apart by countless leaves into millions of shards, and the solidified air particles had broken instantaneously, resulting in everyone regaining their mobility in the next second.
All the razor-sharp leaves soon turned back into an ordinary foliage as if they had lost their magical effect, falling slowly to the ground in a graceful manner.
The masses' gaze was fixated on Jacob once again, and Spencer's glare at him now had extreme horror manifested in them as his move was busted by Jacob easily.
The 'Confinement' that he had demonstrated was on a whole different level than what Boyce had deployed earlier, but Jacob had managed to crack his constraint with such ease? Although he could yield his aura to move things around as well, but for him to be able to comfortably maneuver such an abundant amount of leaves at once was out of the question. Jacob's ability was outrageously terrifying to be able to achieve that feat.
Spencer forcefully held back the blood that was almost coming out from his mouth due to the impact of the rebounded force.
'You are unexpectedly frightening, you little brat! If I don't nip you in the bud today, you will become a great terror to the Goldsmith family in the future!"
Even though Spencer was stunned in horror, he had managed to choke back his fear as he was someone whom had almost achieved the pinnacle of the Virtuoso stage.
With his determination to continue the duel with Jacob, he threw out punches and hits that were tremendously powerful, aiming to take Jacob down once and for all.
However, Spencer was soon drowning in anxiety as a sense of forebodingness had struck him badly. Not only was he unable to have an upper hand on Jacob but instead he was slowly losing his ground as the fight went on.
"It's been a while since I have had some fun!" Jacob shouted in ecstasy.
Spencer was the first mortal being on earth that could narrowly withstand his might and cope with exchanging blows with him without passing out or dropping dead after a few seconds.
After a few more clashes with Spencer, Jacob finally decided to end the battle without giving the opponent any more chances by kicking right at his chest.
Spencer could not help but to spit out a mouthful of blood upon bracing the impact and his whole body was sent flying backwards immediately.
"Retreat!" His fight or flight instinct reared up as this was the only alarm that had sounded in his mind.
Despite his status as a late-stage Virtuoso and the fact that he had almost attained the pinnacle of the Virtuoso stage, he could not beat Jacob whom was overwhelmingly terrifying at such a tender age. Out of everyone in the Goldsmith family, perhaps only the head could stand a chance against Jacob.
Spencer had decided to withdraw at that very instant without a single hint of hesitation to save his own life.
"Do you think you could get away from me? You shall be the first target to face my first move from the Incarnation Phase!" Jacob roared with his feet still on the ground, and it seemed like he did not have any intention to chase after Spencer.
"Try my joint locking technique!" Jacob chanted as he raised his hand to perform a claw grip.
A silhouette of a ginormous claw materialized between the earth and the sky in a wink, and its target was Spencer whom had escaped far away as it reached towards him in a flash!00000000