Talented Martial Hero

Five colossal bodies of the flood dragon dashed swiftly and violently towards Darren.

Darren groaned inwardly. His ultimate attack that had channeled all his internal force of blade and sword only managed to smash four of its avatars! The diabolic beast had grown impressively more powerful after the transformation.

Darren found it difficult to breathe under such enormous pressure.

"It seems that the only possible way to kill the beast is to mobilize my demonic internal force together with my internal force of blade and sword!"

Just as Darren was about to launch another attack and use up all his strength, several long, plaintive wails echoed through the air. The diabolic beast was transforming again!

"Oink-oink!"

The five colossal avatar bodies seemed to be suffering great agony. One avatar opened its large bloody mouth to assimilate the other four. In the blink of an eye, it had swallowed the other four avatars alive! Now, it swelled to several times its original size-- its body lengthened to one hundred meters!

The shadow of the Death loomed over Darren.

"What a terrifying skill! It can create nine avatars with each having exactly the same strength of the original one! Astounding! When the nine avatars merge into one, its strength becomes exponentially stronger! This is awfully scary,” Darren murmured. His eyes froze and his face grew taut with solemnness.

This was going to be a do-or-die combat.

Darren mobilized his pyramidal demonic core from cinnabar field without hesitation and revolved it rapidly. Massive demonic internal force raged powerfully in his body. The internal force of blade and sword surged turbulently at the same time.

"Ah-ah!"

Driven to the brink of explosion, Darren was overwhelmed with an uninhibited burst of several combined internal forces.

"Go to hell!"

Darren waved his blade and sword upward at a lightning speed, his body channeling the apex of his power. The blade and sword swung so quickly that they produced a phantom effect.

Tremendous momentum of strength spurted out like an endless flood towards the flood dragon. Roaring angrily at this attack, it nose-dived towards Darren. Blood flames burnt all over its inflated body.

To the observers, Darren's figure looked rather insignificant and tiny compared with the gigantic flood dragon.

When the two battling creatures collided, a large amount of blood burst forth. With it came an explosive noise that was almost enough to rouse the dead.

"How terrifying it is..." The three survivors behind the giant rock trembled in terror. They did not expect such a fierce attack coming from someone whom they assumed was dead!

Cracks spread near the hundred-meter-deep crater. The tremendous forces of Darren and the beast were enough to rip everything nearby to shreds. Heavy smoke billowed straight up into the sky.

A long while passed, and the three survivors held their breath.

"l am still alive..."

murmured Darren as he struggled to his feet. He felt sharp, shooting pain from head to toe

The giant flood dragon, however, had been severed into many pieces, which still wriggled on the ground.

Darren looked over his body and let forth a bitter smile. As he had over-consumed his demonic internal force, black scales now spread all over his skin and countless sharp thorns began to peek out of his spine.

But Darren knew that he otherwise would have been smashed into pieces without the protection of the scales. It was lucky that he had managed to transform so quickly.

"It is unbelievable that my body grows even stronger than the flood dragon after transformation!” Darren was stupefied for a moment.

But he had to keep the transformation as a secret. Otherwise superior masters would hunt him relentlessly. Darren was determined not to use his demonic internal force unless it was a situation that called for its absolute necessity.

Darren looked at the colossal body, which were his spoils of battle now. He would not waste such an opportunity, so he concentrated his spiritual power and began to absorb the talent of the flood dragon

"Buzz!"

Darren's head throbbed. The world was changing radically in his dizziness.

"Talent upgrading?"

The feeling was familiar. It was similar to when he had upgraded his talent to the Black Degree, only this time it was even more intense.

"I guess my talent must be at the Earth Degree now!" Darren was overwhelmed with joy.

Then something even more jaw-dropping took place!

A message suddenly echoed mysteriously into Darren's mind. To him, it felt like it was un-tapped knowledge he had been born with.

"An Omnipotent Talent Skill!? Blood Dragon Phantom!?" Darren was astonished. “This must be the skill which the diabolic beast displayed before its death!"

The description of the skill was clearly and deeply inscribed into Darren's memory.

Darren learnt from his inherent knowledge that the Blood Dragon Phantom was an ancient skill. In times of crisis, it could clone powerful phantoms using one's essence and blood. An authentic dragon descendant could produce millions of avatars with each having equivalent strength. It meant having the ability to challenge masters millions of times stronger!

Darren was more surprised at the following description. At the next level of the skill, an authentic dragon descendant could merge millions of avatars back into one at the cost of his holy soul. When the strength of millions of avatars combined into one, the main body would grow millions of times stronger in power.

"What an invincible skill!" Darren was gobsmacked.

He could not believe that he had the luck to absorb such an extraordinary ability!

But Darren had no time to spare for contemplation. He took the cardiac core out of the diabolic beast's body and began to assimilate.

Boundless spiritual energy transformed into three internal forces during the process of assimilation The demonic internal force was thus greatly enhanced and the abnormal changes on his body disappeared gradually.

An hour passed. The whirling smoke began to waft away and the sky's clarity was restored. Darren's body was in deep recovery after he absorbed the cardiac core. He stamped his feet, jumped high and sprinted out of the deep crater.

The three were in the process of lamenting over Darren's death on the edge of the crater when Darren shot up from the bottom. They stared at Darren with astonishment.

"Ma... Master, you, you are alive?" Toby stammered.

"I killed the beast by luck!" Darren said calmly.

Alison lowered her head, her cheeks blushing. She felt so shy that she dared not look at Darren or utter a word.

"Err, what's up Alison?"

"Ma, master, your clothes are gone,” murmured Alison.

Darren realized suddenly that his clothes had been torn into shreds during the combat and now he was naked. Embarrassment came over him.

Dale responded quickly. He took off all his clothes except his underwear and handed them to Darren. "Master, please wear my clothes if you don't mind.”

"How can I take your clothes while you have nothing else to wear..." Darren said awkwardly. "Master, please accept. This is the least Dale can do after you saved our lives!"

"Yes master, I would choose to be naked if it means I can pay you back even just a little!" Dale insisted

"Well then...” Darren took the clothes and swiftly donned them.

"Please, master... Could you kindly tell us your name?" Toby cupped his hands together.

Alison's flushed face shone with hope as she awaited his reply eagerly.

"Don't bother about the small favor. I need to go now," Darren shook his head.

He turned to leave

"Wait a moment master, can I make a special request?" Toby knelt upon one knee.

"What is it?" Darren asked warily.

"I am Toby, from the Yun Clan of Acqua City. Soon, a big clan in the city will select their chief and I will be the witness. But I'm afraid I'm nowhere near compelling or powerful enough to convince the other attending clans. Would you consider doing me a favor? Would you host the selection in my place?”

Toby was of course referring to the Chu Clan selection!

The Governor's office was the official agency to maintain public order of the city. On occasions like the Chu Clan selection, many other clans would attend the ceremony. The Governor's office usually sent a captain to host the ceremony and preserve order accordingly.

There were two reasons why Toby invited Darren. Firstly, he did so in order to express his gratitude and friendliness to Darren with a warm reception. Secondly, he could greatly strengthen the Governor's authority if he could invite such a superior master.

And of course, another important factor was that Toby feared that he could not convince strong elders from the attending clans.

Toby's heart raced wildly when he saw a weird expression come over Darren's face. How he wished he could slap himself! How dare he make such an unreasonable demand to this man of such a high status? Toby fitfully prayed that he had not offended the master with his careless and insatiable request. Irritating him after he had saved their lives was not his intention at all!

"Is it the Chu Clan selection?" asked Darren, to Toby's surprise.

Toby felt a little relieved. "Yes. It is exactly that. Have you heard about them, master?”

Alison's face filled with anticipation upon hearing this response.

"Ho-ho, I once got well acquainted with a Chu member in the Iimen Sect. I will go with you to have a look then!"

When Darren had reached this high stage of cultivation, he had not the slightest inclination of partaking in these so-called selections. The Chief of the Chu Clan was of no interest to him. Nowadays, memories of the humiliations he had received in the Chu Clan seldom crossed his mind. He chose to let bygones be bygones now that he was powerful enough to overpower all the Clan’s members.

Yet when the middle-aged man invited him to host the selection, Darren felt it might be the time to return to his childhood hometown. He'd never thought of participating in the selection as a candidate though!

The three rejoiced over Darren's acceptance of their request. They gathered their belongings, preparing to head to Acqua City.