CHAPTER 244 REWARDS

The moment Darren finished speaking, blade intent and sword intent burst out from his body and

charged at the spear shadows.

"His blade intent... and his sword intent..."

The superior talents standing beside the stage, especially Violet, who was a swordsman, immediately

sensed that something was wrong.

"Ah, he has cultivated premium blade intent and sword intent!" Violet shouted as astonishment coursed

through her.

Even all the grand warriors would be envious if they had seen this scene. They longed to reach the

premium stage with their blade intent and sword intent because it was hundreds of thousands of times

stronger than the preliminary stage. As she watched the two talents battle on stage, Violet realized how

terrifying their gifts were. The two men were undoubtedly superior to her.

Premium blade intent and sword intent burst out from Darren's body and headed straight for Bowen's

spear shadows.

The whole world seemed to collapse at that moment. Even the superior talents beside the stage had to

mobilize their strength to withstand the aftermath of the collision between Darren and Bowen's forces.

The shock was so powerful that another crack appeared in the reinforced protection spell around the

battle stage.

A brilliant flash of light exploded in the middle of the stage. It sparkled with such intensity that the

audience could not open their eyes. No one knew what exactly happened on the battle stage as even Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

the spiritual sense released by the superior talents to detect the situation had been forcefully dispersed.

After a long time, the light dissipated and everyone could finally see the stage. Now the time had come

to decide the winner of the battle.

No one dared to close their eyes or shift their attention from the stage as they were curious about the

result. With bated breaths, they gazed in the direction of the stage where a figure with long hair, like a

black waterfall, levitated in the air. The figure emitted a stunningly powerful aura as he looked at the

audience below him.

On the stage stood a young man in ragged clothes. Anguish reflected in his eyes as he looked up at

the figure. He found it hard to accept that he had been defeated.

"I lost..." The sense of loss in Bowen's voice was so tangible that the audience felt his sorrow.

"Actually, you were not that bad. You pressured me to utilize more than half of my power," Darren said

drily as he flew away from the battle stage.

"More than half of your power?" Bowen smiled bitterly and said, "No wonder history is always written by

the winners. Those who are defeated deserve to be humiliated. We both clearly fought with all our

strength, but you sound as if you could do much more than that. How interesting."

Bowen felt that Darren's blade intent and sword intent were only slightly stronger than his legendary

martial skill. If he had been given three more days to grasp the subtleties of the skill, Bowen would

have snatched the victory in this battle.

However, Darren had openly declared that Bowen had only forced him to use half his strength. Bowen

found this difficult to believe. He thought that Darren was just showing off.

Bowen was not the only person to think so. The superior talents beside the stage also deemed that

Darren was bragging pretentiously.

"I know that you are unwilling to admit defeat. However, my statement was not intended to embarrass

you further. I was trying to be respectful by telling you the truth. Think about it and you will understand."

After finishing the explanation, Darren pulled out his blade and sword. In a flash, enormous blade intent

and sword intent filled the air.

Boom!

Everyone heard a loud buzzing sound before pain exploded in their ears.

"Legendary... legendary martial skill!"

"Oh my god! What an incomparably gifted person he is!"

"He has mastered a legendary martial skill along with premium blade intent and sword intent! Darren

deserves to be worshiped."

Meanwhile, Darren's blade intent and sword intent, together with his elementary legendary martial skill,

threatened to crack open the sky. Although everyone present was horrified, they wanted to prostrate

themselves before Darren in admiration.

Overwhelmed by this display of power, Bowen fell to his knees on the battle stage. At first, he laughed

hysterically. Then his body shuddered as he broke into sobs. Finally, he murmured, "Ha! I did not know

that I was so inferior to him. His mastery of a legendary martial skill in both blade and sword cultivation

is much better than my legendary martial skill. Why did I think that I could contend with him?

Alas! I made a complete fool of myself."

Bowen laughed and cried intermittently, like a lunatic person. He recollected what he said to intimidate

Darren and could not help but feel as though he had embarrassed himself. To think he had urged

Darren to give up on the competition. How hilarious!

Darren had not even used his legendary martial skill when he secured absolute victory in this battle.

And to think that he was not yet at the middle stage of the Wonder Realm. Bowen suddenly realized

that the gap between their levels was like the difference between heaven and the earth.

"All right, the assessment is officially over. Kudos to Darren for taking the first place. He is the winner!

Although you have obtained good grades in the assessment for the first test, you should not be

complacent. Those talents whose grades are not as per expectation should not be self-abased, either.

The first round is only for testing inherent gifts, and the journey of martial skill cultivation is filled with

hardships. None of you should expect that you would achieve profoundly by relying solely on your gifts.

Now, let's give out your respective rewards."

When the guardian said these words, his eyes were on Bowen as he wanted to comfort and encourage

the defeated teenager. After all, had Darren not chosen to cultivate conflicting martial skills, Bowen, as

a gifted talent who surpassed all others, would have had a chance to be as good as him.

On hearing this, Bowen's sorrow began to subside. His pensive mood was replaced with determination,

inspiration, and the courage to work harder.

"Congratulations to you, Darren. I admit that I am mediocre in comparison to you. But I will never give

up. I believe we will have the chance to fight against each other in the future." Bowen walked over and

held out his hand to Darren while smiling.

"You have reason to be proud, Bowen. You are very strong." Darren nodded as he shook hands with

his opponent.

"Hey, Darren, what prize are you going to choose?" Excitement reflected in his expression as Boyce

walked toward Darren.

"Hum, it depends. I can choose eight objects. So... I will take one of the three keys and five rune

papers. Then, I will be able to pick two more items. If you want something specific, let me know. I can

help you get them." Darren glanced at the objects hovering in mid-air as he spoke.

"I... I do not think I should do so, Darren." Boyce could only pick one object, but Darren offered to give

him two. Although he was secretly ecstatic, he still had to be courteous.

"You do not need to be so courteous in front of me. Please, just pick." Darren smiled.

"Hah, you are such a nice person. It will be impolite to decline your gifts then."

Soon, Boyce picked two martial skill books of supernatural level for Darren to claim for him. From all

the rewards available, Darren was tempted by only a key and the five rune papers. Nothing else was

meaningful to him.

After a few moments, the people who had been qualified for prizes had picked whatever they liked. Of

the two remaining keys, Bowen and Violet claimed one each.

The guardian of these keys had shared earlier that the keys were necessary to break into the eleventh

stage.

Now that the first stage assessment was over and the talents had selected their rewards, the only

people who stood a chance to cross into the eleventh stage were Darren, Bowen, and Violet.

After the prize distribution was over, Boyce recollected that he had not requested Darren to keep Tom.

Now, Boyce didn't have the courage to ask Darren. After all, Darren had given him two of his prizes,

and Boyce was worried that if he asked for more, he would seem greedy and annoying. He was afraid

that Darren would find him repugnant for this.

While Boyce debated over this dilemma, the guardian's voice was heard in the sky, "Darren, you have

a chance to request for anything from me. There are many alternatives. Think about what you might

want."

This chance was precious as Darren could ask the guardian for one weapon, one book on legendary

martial skills, or any other valuable equivalent.

Although Tom was standing nearby, he could not bring himself to approach Darren with his request.

Meanwhile, Boyce watched anxiously and hoped that Tom would tell Darren as soon as possible.

"I see. So..."

Darren paused for a while as he glanced at Tom.

"Mr. Guardian, I wonder if I can request to retain a superior talent who has been knocked out of the

assessment."

"Of course, you can."

"Okay. Then please give the superior talent, Tom, another chance, Mr. Guardian. I wish to keep him."

After Darren put forward his request, both Tom and Boyce were stunned.

Boyce had not mentioned Tom's request to Darren. To his surprise, Darren asked voluntarily. Darren's

thoughtfulness touched both Boyce and Tom. In that instance, they felt a sudden surge of emotions,

which brought them to tears.