CHAPTER 98 THE TALENT ROLL

The wind howled and the thunder roared. The intense sword intent from the fight tore everything apart

as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood.

The crowd on the ground looked up at the young man. He had become a legend.

"That is Darren..."

"The genius of this world, at least within our range of cognition."

"Just look at him. Looks like God played favorites and showered him with blessings. How dazzling!"

Murmuring sounds dissipated in the wind.

Above the sky, Simon's Void Divine Fist was smashed into pieces. All of a sudden, his pupils dilated

and darkened. His body disappeared into thin air as if it had never existed, as if he were merely sand

blown away by the wind, and just like that, he was gone.

The crowd went mute for a while. Then they roared loudly in sorrow and rage.

They screamed at Darren like a roaring ocean with a wild current.

Darren instantly fell from above the moment his sword intent vanished. His face was as pale as a

sheet, and grey film covered his eyes. At the sight of his face, the crowd's cheers turned into worry and

fear.

Everyone could see that he was clearly on the brink of death. He had consumed all his blood essence

after he was injured seriously, and now it seemed like there was nothing anyone could do.

The crowd ran to catch him when they saw his figure falling.

The people could not help but sob at the sight of his pale face. He was their savior, the legendary figure

they knew, and there was a big chance they might lose him.

"No, please, please do not die..."

Everyone prayed from the bottom of their hearts.

"Take me to him," Michael moved his dry mouth and said to Wayne softly.

Michael's tears trickled down his cheek when he cast his eyes upon Darren and saw what he looked

like.

"Let us try to save his life, Wayne." Michael pleaded in a very weak voice.

"I will do my best to save his life even if you do not demand it. You and I have known each other for life

and I would like for us to continue our brotherhood in the Netherworld."

The two old men stopped moaning and smiled at each other, "To die for the unparalleled genius is to

die a worthy death."

"Burn! Burn our corrupted bodies into the spring of life to the boy's rescue!"

Runes flashed, one after another, as Wayne muttered his words. A green flame full of the energy of life

came out of the old men's bodies and into Darren's body.

Darren's cheeks gradually became rosy as the two old men's bodies faded into ashes. His broken body

recovered quickly and a beam of light once again shone at the deep darkness in his soul.

He had come back from the brink of death.

But by then, the two old men had vanished completely. They had traded their lives for his.

The crowd fell upon their knees in tribute to the two masters.

The torrential rain stopped, and a cold raindrop fell on Darren's face, waking him up.

Darren opened his eyes as if he was only waking up from a dream. He looked at the bright world

curiously with tears in his eyes. It was as if he had been born again.

"Darren, it is good to have you back. It is, however, the two masters have left us forever," Thomas said,

choking as he tried to hold back his sobs. No matter what he did though, he could not stop the tears

from falling from his eyes.

"I see," Darren replied in a sad and hoarse voice. He stood up and knelt like the others. "Farewell to

you, masters. I swear to take you back from the Netherland if there is one. God bless your souls and

may you rest in peace."

Three Wonder Realm warriors and one rule cultivator died in this combat. What a tragedy.

But what about the initiator of this combat?

The crowd turned its attention and glared furiously at the two people who had brought about their

suffering. They had collapsed on the ground from the strength of Darren's sword intent.

"Darren, it is time for you to deal with the two beasts. They are yours now. You can do whatever you

want with them," Elder Clark commented.

As if on cue, a beam of golden light flashed in the sky, and two ancient golden rolls appeared from high

above.

"Oh, look! The Talent Roll of this era!"

Closely inscribed on the rolls were the names of talents of their time, men of unsurpassed excellence.

"Look! Darren is in the eighteenth place on the roll!" an elder exclaimed loudly.

But soon Darren's name quickly moved downwards on the roll.

"The contemporary Talent Roll only records the current status of one's power. Now that the fight is over

and he became weak, his rank is going down." owns this text.

Darren's name then stopped at the twenty eight thousand and four hundred and fiftieth slot.

Darren felt an indescribable emotion upon seeing his rank on the scroll.

If his ultimate attack which took all of his might to pull off only ranked eighteenth on the Talent Roll,

then it was hard for anyone to comprehend how immensely strong those other talents were.

There were two sheets of the golden roll, with only two words on the other sheet. The words were John

Doe.

'Wow, I didn't know that there were so many other geniuses who have out-powered me in talent and

strength. I really do have a long way to go, ' Darren thought to himself with a heavy heart.

The two golden rolls stayed in the air for nearly an hour and vanished once again.

Nobody knew the origin and the author of Talent Roll. It was a mystery. There were some elders,

however, who had heard of rumors about the Talent Roll. One of which was the saying that its

appearance would bring about a prosperous time in the world of martial arts.

...

Everything went quiet once again as the atmosphere turned peaceful. It was time to make a decision.

"Kill the two monsters, Darren!" The crowd looked at the young man and Alan with hate in their eyes.

There were only three elders of Ilmen Sect present there aside from Alan. The young man and Alan

were seriously injured from Darren's sword intent and were both on the brink of death.

Darren stood in front of the crowd, leading them.

"I want to know who on earth killed my son before I die!" Alan lay there, dying with his clothes in

shreds, looking like a beggar.

Darren paid no attention to him. He moved his eyes to the young man huddled on the floor.

"No! Don't you dare kill me. My father is the Holy Lord of the Blade Holy Land! He will kill you if you

dare to harm me," The young man said, trembling in trepidation.

"Do you really think you can scare me? After I killed a Wonder Realm master?" Darren replied coldly.

The young man fell upon his knees and pleaded, "I beg you. Please spare me. I can give you anything

you want. Superior spiritual herbs, top-level martial skills, beauties, just name it. Just spare my life,

please."

"Ho-ho, are you scared now? Are you actually begging me for your life? Why didn't you think about this

when you commanded the Wonder Realm master to slaughter people? Haven't you thought about the

pain these victims have been through all because of you?"

"They are nothing but ants to me. Master, you are destined to be a significant hero, let us swear to be

brothers so we can enjoy all the prosperity and indulgence this world has to offer together. We don't

have to ever think or care about those ants."

Darren's face froze upon hearing this. His words solidified his decision. He was going to die, and there

was nothing he could do about it.

"Whoosh!"

The young man's head fell on the ground as Darren's sword slashed at his head with a whistling sound.

"Whoever sets the value of human life at naught should die, even the son of the god."

"Thank God he killed that beast!""

Warm applause rose from the crowd.

"It is your turn now, Alan." Darren continued in a calmly terrifying tone.

"Ha-ha! I have nothing to live for anymore. I don't care if you kill me!" Alan howled with laughter.

"There is no quick death for somebody like you. There is no way I am giving you the easy way out.

Now, let me tell you something."

Darren approached Alan and whispered to his ear.

Alan stopped laughing immediately. His face became a mixture of anguish and anger.

"You! It was you!" He was so heartbroken upon hearing Darren's revelation that his fingers trembled

from the pain.

"He deserved it." Darren swung his sword and cut off Alan's meridians, depriving all of his cultivation

base.

"Why don't you just kill him, Darren?" The audience glared at Alan with intense hatred.

"Trust me. It would be more painful for him to live like this. This is the rightful punishment for such a

villain." Darren turned his back from Alan.

Alan huddled on the ground. The saliva drained from his mouth and tears trickled down on his face. He

hoped that he had never lived.

The crisis was over at last.

"What an extraordinary young man! I would have helped you if I were strong enough. Darren, Now that

the Talent Roll has appeared, I expect to see your name listed among the first hundred. Maybe you can

enter the Sky Chart in ten years,"

said a beautiful voice. All of a sudden, a figure of supernatural beauty appeared not far from the scene.