CHAPTER 172 THE TENTH BATTLE

Standing in the arena, the middle-aged drunk man was well prepared, sending out an invincible power

fiercely, much like a king of beasts baring his teeth.

'I have to say… there's no doubt he's a strong opponent.

Fine, then. Let us fight and see who will be left laughing in the end, ' Darren thought to himself as he

wholly felt his rival's power.

Though the drunk man could be considered a strong cultivator, Darren could tell that he was still

weaker than Bruce. With that in mind, Darren made his move. The moment he launched his attack with

the blade, overwhelming blade intent darted toward his opponent violently. The next moment, Darren

flashed in the air and disappeared entirely.

The man, still seemingly drunk, continued waving his jug casually and taking swigs out of it.

Little did the crowd know that it was exactly those seemingly casual waving movements that blocked

Darren's blade intent.

Since Darren had already predicted that the man wouldn't get hurt easily by his blade intent, the attack

was never his main intention. While the blade intent stalled him, Darren secretly sneaked up behind his

opponent.

"Cracking Attack!

Profound Nine Sword Skills!"

Without any reservation, Darren attacked using blade and sword—he had the best timing.

The power utilizing blade and sword intents together was at least a ten times more formidable attack

than using any of them alone.

Surprise flashed across the middle-aged man's face. The overwhelming power shocked him enough

into finally taking the battle seriously.

In an instantaneous burst, the man darted forward and kicked the jug into the air. With that, the burning

fire surrounded the jug, splitting in the air before gathering together above the arena like streams

merging into a river.

The man then began changing his position and launching various strikes in almost every corner of the

stage, much like an invisible spirit. His every strike summoned such strong power that it could even kill

a cultivator at the top level of the Mysterious Realm.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deafening noises resounded in the air, loud and clear.

Countless collisions between sword and blade flashed as the middle-aged man transformed. It was a

truly violent and fierce fight. Although the protection set around the arena had diminished the impact,

the surrounding building was still shaking under the immense power.

"You sure are looking for death!" the man shouted angrily. It was made evident that Darren was a tough

guy to deal with. In this way, his determination to kill Darren was stronger more than ever.

"Stop speaking nonsense! Let's see who'll be laughing at the end!"

Covered by his black armor, Darren shouted back. Apart from continuing to summon blade and sword

intent in a frenzy, Darren secretly summoned a trace of demonic internal force.

With that, he moved forward to fight face-to-face. Boom! The two vague shadows collided violently.

An enormous force struck them both from the collision.

The man was forced to take a few steps back until he was right on the edge of the stage before he

regained his balance.

At that moment, his casual attitude disappeared completely. There was no longer any sign of Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

intoxication on his face—he stared at Darren with a puzzled frown.

Though Darren had great power, that didn't scare him at all. What intimidated him was something

unusual—something dark, cold, and spiritual that attacked and destroyed his energy meridians.

Although he could feel the pain from it, he couldn't tell what exactly it was.

While Darren retreated several steps because of the collision, he bounced off in a blink of an eye and

landed another strike.

Darren's strength had been entirely generated—in the next thirty minutes, he didn't stop attacking, not

allowing his opponent to take a breath in the barrage.

Having accumulated much power internally, Darren, in some way, was akin to a tremendous stream

with inexhaustible water. On the contrary, the middle-aged man's vital energy was reduced from every

attack. As time went by, his breath got far weaker than the last.

It was clear to the man that he wouldn't be able to stand Darren's relentless attack any longer. If the

battle continued as it did, he would die of exhaustion—he had to do something to shift the scene.

''Omnipotent Talent Skill!'' Finally, he managed to shout with a fire burning in his eyes.

"Oh no… shit! He has Omnipotent Talent Skill!" Even someone as strong as Darren knew that it was

never good news.

Suddenly, the burning jug floating in the air exploded, turning into a flaming dragon dancing on the

stage.

Everyone in the stands was stunned at the sight.

"Seriously? That is the strongest hit of Wonder Realm!" The crowd went wild—the seemingly ordinary

middle-aged man had completely exceeded their expectations. It was the skill of Wonder Realm. With

that, they had already speculated Darren's inevitable doom. How unlucky it was for Darren to be paired

with such a man. Some even started to feel sorry for Darren.

But Darren didn't seem to think so. "Humph! Just so-so. I expect something better. Turns out, it's

merely another flop!"

Having witnessed what the genuine Omnipotent Talent Skill of Wonder Realm was capable of, Darren

could tell that the flaming dragon's strength was a mere one-thousandth of that at most. The difference

between the two was that of a drop of water to a huge stream—it wasn't even worth making a

comparison.

Assuming that the middle-aged man did master the integral Omnipotent Talent Skill, how come he

flopped so quickly from Wonder Realm?

The flaming dragon was merely a fundamental hit of supernatural martial skill—it was definitely not all

that scary or formidable as others thought it was.

Setting his eyes on the stage fiercely, Darren saw there wasn't anything visible in the fire.

"Maybe this is a good chance…" Sensing the opportunity arising, Darren immediately practiced the

demon core and covered his entire body with black armor.

"What? No!" The middle-aged man stared at Darren in disbelief. A familiar cold and overwhelming

pressure was emitted from Darren's body and intimidated the man terribly—every cell in his body told

him to "run away," but he was frozen in place.

When Darren moved, he summoned his strength in the blade and landed a strike on his motionless

opponent.

Instantaneously, the man was smashed into pieces, along with the flaming dragon.

Returning to his original form, Darren flew away. "What happens?

Huh? Where does the older guy go… that drunk guy?"

"Who wins?"

The moment Darren walked out, curiosity erupted in the crowd.

"Fetch someone to collect the body!" As he stood in front of the stands, Darren shouted at the

audience.

After a while, the many strong cultivators of Mysterious Realm managed to put out the seemingly

endless fire on stage.

The platform had become a sheer black because of the violent fight and the man's scattered body parts

were prominent in the bareness.

"What? He's dead!"

"The drunk is dead!"

The audience uttered their exclamations of disbelief. How was it possible?

Of course, Darren felt no sense of remorse for killing the middle-aged man. Anyway, why should he

have felt any? The man tried to kill him as well—he used Omnipotent Talent Skill, destructive enough to

kill Darren had he been even slightly weaker. And Darren was no saint who would forgive someone

trying to take his life. There could be only one survivor.

On top of that, it was the kind of battle where there could only be a single winner and survivor. Losers

were hardly ever left—most of them died in the arena.

"Darren wins! Ha! I bet all forty thousand ink stones on him. I knew it! I told you he would win!"

"Holy shit, I lost everything… no… it can't be true. Damn!"

After the contest some screamed happily for making a big fortune—they had luckily bet on Darren

earlier. The rest whined, realizing that they had made an awful choice too early.

Regardless, everyone was shocked by Darren's strength—he was even more eye-catching compared

to the genius they witnessed yesterday.

That one took up two hours in the ninth battle and got slightly wounded. Still, it was a gorgeous victory.

But Darren won all too easily, presenting a stunning performance. The fighter from yesterday looked

too ordinary compared to Darren.

"Oh my god, he wins! He keeps winning like every battle is a piece of cake. What a talent!" A man in

the stands marveled at Darren's strength.

"It's unbelievable! I have no clue how he managed it!" Stunned speechless, Eva couldn't even give a

proper response as the shock overcame her.

"Jaya, do you think he'll continue the fight or not?" Harvey asked in curiosity about Darren's choice.

"I bet he will.

In the tenth battle, he will encounter the genius of the Ancient Family… wow! So exciting! A fight

between two strong cultivators… I can't wait!

Guess who the final winner will be?"

Indeed, Darren planned to keep on fighting. He flew straight to the stands and got ready to sign his

name on the life-and-death contract, clearly exonerating the contestant's responsibility in causing

another's death as well.

"Darren, this is your reward and the money you won. Five million two hundred and nine thousand ink

stones. Here you are!" Excitedly, Jaya gave Darren a purple golden card.

With that, Darren put it in his Space Ring, knowing he could have it changed to ink stones at any time.

Or perhaps he could use it the next day? The card circulated both in Prison Battle Arena and the

auction house since the two places ran under the same boss.

"Oh, Darren! You're so gorgeous and powerful. I'm Eva, it's wonderful to meet you!" Eva exclaimed, her

eyes sparkling with admiration.

Among all the strong cultivators Eva had met, no one was so powerful at such a young age—Darren

was undoubtedly a genius.

With a gentle nod, Darren turned to Harvey, "Please give me the contract of the tenth battle."

Harvey's shock was indescribable—the tenth battle? It was unbelievable to think that Darren still had

any energy to continue fighting.

The genius he saw yesterday was already the man of the hour… but Darren? He was even wilder and

more powerful.

With those two fighting, the battle scene would be spectacular—there must have been a sea of people

waiting to buy a ticket. It didn't hurt that the people could bet on two hot geniuses. The tickets and bet

commissions alone would add up to at least thirty million.

As if he saw the money fly toward him, Harvey was filled with excitement. "Darren! Please don't hold

back and fight! I promise you'll get your eight million ink stones whether you win or lose."

'Eight million ink stones?' Darren thought. That exceeded his expectations, indeed.

Apart from that, Harvey was determined to introduce Darren to Grunkle if he won the next battle.

Grunkle was the perfect elder of Heavenly Palace Sect. It was his existence that offered their family the

opportunity to build up such a huge business network in Lotus City. Even the Holy Land still honored

Grunkle—he was definitely a big deal!

A few moments later, Darren signed the contract and appeared on stage as the audience cheered.