Nobilis of War

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 is comparable 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, Darren complied and decided not to continue the fight anymore.

"Haha! You want to leave now? No way!" Their opponents, however, had other plans. 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 accustomed 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. 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 it lasts. 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 incoming 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 accident?" 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 the coming 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 exclaimed 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 flash, 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 Black 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 flaw.

'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 plan all along.

"You! How can you play the trick?" The boy turned grimly.

Then he reached into his back pocket and took out a blade. Yelling, he said, "You asked for this--"

"Calm down, Karl! Put your blade down!"