White Wolf’s eyes tracked the lightning-infused sphere as it roared through the air, hurtling straight for Kayden. He sneered inwardly. Any moment now, Kayden would leap into the air to dodge the strike.
But White Wolf didn’t fear that. Even if Kayden took to the skies, there was no escape!
This was White Wolf’s ultimate technique. This technique drew its strength from the natural world.
There was no way this young man before him could withstand it!
White Wolf was sure of that. The only way Kayden could block such an attack was if his strength had reached the Master level!
And what did it mean to reach the Master level? The Master level meant that one’s power could rival that of the founding fathers of martial arts!
For someone as young as Kayden to have attained that level? Never in the cards. White Wolf concluded, at most, that this guy was at the Grand level.
It’s a level only slightly above his own! Nothing to be afraid of.
White Wolf thought in his heart.
But in the very next moment, something happened that shook him to his core.
Just as the lightning-infused sphere reached Kayden, it came to an abrupt halt, which was utterly inexplicable!
Yes, it stopped. Right in front of Kayden!
It was as if a powerful dam had been abruptly shut, halting a raging waterfall just before the water could crash down.
The bizarre sight stunned White Wolf.
What’s going on?
How could this happen?
His mind raced, and these two questions burst into his thoughts.
Could it be because of Kayden?
White Wolf couldn’t bring himself to doubt his own ability. His sphere could easily decimate targets hundreds of meters away, yet here it was, stalled less than ten meters from its intended target!
There was only one explanation. Kayden must have unleashed some invisible force that forcibly stopped the sphere in its tracks!
Was Kayden actually… already at the Master level?!
Only someone of the Master level could stop such a powerful move!
My god!
The Master level? He turned out to be at the Master level?!
And so young? Could he be a prodigy? A genius?
A genius from another world?
White Wolf’s entire worldview crumbled under the weight of this realization. It left his thoughts in a chaotic spiral. His mind buzzed like a struck gong.
Just as his thoughts teetered on the edge of collapse, Kayden’s indifferent voice broke the silence.
“Such sky-shaking power… is truly extraordinary!”
As the chilling voice echoed through the air, Kayden shot forward as fast as lightning, his movements as sharp and unstoppable as a blade. His feet barely grazed the jagged, broken ground as he appeared in front of White Wolf in a flash.
Swish! Kayden’s knife lashed out, cutting cleanly across White Wolf’s body. The impact sent White Wolf staggering backward. A deep gash tore open across his chest. Blood surged from the wound, staining his clothes in a growing crimson patch.
“Argh!” White Wolf roared in pain but refused to yield. His grip on the weapon in his hand tightened. His hand shook with suppressed desperation as he prepared to fight on.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Kayden’s movements were fluid and flexible. He’s like a serpent coiling for the kill. He darted around White Wolf, striking at blinding speed.
Each blow came with precision, forcing White Wolf to spin and block, but he could barely manage to fend off the relentless assault.
White Wolf was completely outmatched. No matter how tightly he defended, Kayden’s blade always found the cracks in his guard, slipping through like a venomous fang.
Another cut opened up on White Wolf’s arm!
The third slash.
The fourth.
By then, White Wolf could do nothing but stagger under the onslaught. His defenses crumbled completely, and finally, Kayden seized his wrist.
White Wolf froze. His breath hitched in terror. He stared up into Kayden’s eye. The corners of Kayden’s mouth curled into a smirk, a wicked glint flashing across his face. And then, White Wolf felt the blade slicing across his wrist. Pain shot through him, and the saber in his hand fell with a clang.
Before White Wolf could react, Kayden scooped up the fallen saber effortlessly. Then, with devastating force, his boot slammed into White Wolf’s chest.
It was such a powerful kick!
The kick sent White Wolf flying like a ragdoll. His body kept skidding across the ground until he crashed into the base of a towering tree and slumped against it. For a moment, he could only sit there, wide-eyed and stunned, staring blankly at Kayden. His breath came in short, panicked bursts.
While Kayden was holding the captured weapon, the saber, in his hand. He carried himself entirely with the air of a victor!
He examined the saber closely. The edge gleamed with a menacing brilliance. There were some vivid dragon carvings on it as if ready to spring forth at any time. It’s a masterpiece of craftsmanship, a truly exceptional weapon!
After appraising the saber with a satisfied nod, Kayden glanced down at the defeated White Wolf. “Your blade… is a nice one.”
“Give it back!” White Wolf pushed himself off the ground with a struggle. His voice trembled with rage as he spat out each word.
It wasn’t just the blade he’d lost-it was his pride. How could he call himself the Blade Master if he couldn’t even defend his own weapon? Losing his blade wasn’t just a failure; it was an insult to the very title he bore!
Kayden let out a low, derisive laugh. His smirk faded as his expression grew grim and ominous. “Didn’t you just say that you wanted one of my hands?”
As the words left his mouth, Kayden strode forward. His palm ignited with a fiery glow, tendrils of searing flame snaking into the blade he held. The weapon flared brilliantly. The once-ordinary blade now burned crimson.
“The Scarlet Blade!”
White Wolf gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief. The words burst from his mouth instinctively, as though he couldn’t contain the shock coursing through him.
“You’re at the Master level?” His voice cracked with a mix of awe and fear. “Are you truly a Master-level Warrior?”
He was at the Master level!
White Wolf had speculated that Kayden might belong to the Master level, but there were still doubts in his heart. Yet now, seeing the legendary Scarlet Blade, all the doubts faded. Kayden was a Warrior at the Master level!
Kayden’s lips curled into an enigmatic smile. “I suppose you could say I’m at the Master level, for now.”
White Wolf wrinkled his brows in concentration.
For now?
What did that mean? Was he implying that his strength surpassed even the Master level?
But before he could grapple with that thought, Kayden moved again. In an instant, his figure blurred, vanishing like smoke before White Wolf’s eyes. White Wolf didn’t even have time to react. By the time he realized what had happened, Kayden was already standing motionless a few paces behind him.
The night fell eerily silent. The world seemed to pause, time stretching endlessly.
The once chaotic battlefield was now completely still.
Both men stood motionless as if suspended in time, and their every movement halted.
One second.
Ten seconds.
A full minute.
Three minutes crept by in oppressive silence!
Then, finally, White Wolf’s lips moved. His voice sounded like a hoarse whisper. “That’s impossible…”
It had been severed!
His arm slipped from his shoulder and dropped to the ground with a sickening thud. Not until three minutes after the strike did the dismembered arm finally fall!
How could that be possible?! This was beyond comprehension!
At the point where the arm had been severed, blood erupted in a wild spray. It’s a sight so gruesome that it would strike terror into anyone watching.
Blade raised. Blade fell. And with it, an arm was chopped off.
The precision of Kayden’s strike was breathtaking.
White Wolf’s whole body went limp, and with a heavy thud, he dropped to his knees.
Beads of sweat poured down his face like a torrential rain. Only now, in the wake of the shock, did the searing pain consume him like a raging fire.
Clenching his teeth, he fought against the agony tearing through his body. His voice trembled with effort as he asked, “Who… Who are you? Are you some kind of genius? How can such a genius like you really exist in this world?!”
To be defeated at such a young Warrior’s hands and crushed so utterly-it was a torment worse than death for White Wolf. The pain wasn’t just physical. His spirit was broken, his pride ground to dust, and his very sense of self annihilated. The person standing before him hadn’t just defeated him but had also crushed his soul.
Listening to White Wolf’s words, Kayden couldn’t tell if they were meant as praise or mockery.
He wasn’t some innate genius. The strength he held was the product of time, forged in hardship. It was that brutal and relentless experience that had transformed him into the kind of genius who could dominate his era.
Of course, he owed much of his success to the teachings of the mysterious old man from Battlefield!
Without that old man, Kayden would never have achieved what he has today!
Even so, Kayden had no idea that his abilities had already reached peerless heights in the world of Warriors and Hermits!