Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 75 The First Floor Of The Starry Tower

Darren was struck dumb with astonishment. He followed the powerful voice and looked up.

He was greeted with a pair of formidable eyes full of power. In one of the two eyes, there was ablack sword, and in another, there was a white sword. They sparkled with a fearsome and cold aura.Darren gazed in awe at the giant human-shaped shadow.

"I... I'm afraid I'm not qualified, sir,” Darren stammered.

The sword intent shooting from the pair of eyes was strong enough to tear Darren apart into piecesDarren knew the moment he accepted the challenge, it could kill him.

"Fight with me! Now!"

the shadow, however, ignored Darren's answer and merely repeated his request. In a flash, anothershadow appeared. It was like a copy of the giant one. Then the two increased to four, and then toeight... In a matter of minutes, Darren found himself in a sea of a thousand shadows.

"What? He also has that skill of making clones of himself?"

Darren said in shock. He had been learning such a skill but it was not yet something he was able tomaster.

On the other hand, Darren noticed something very important. The giant shadow's vital energyseemed weakened after he exerted the skill. Suddenly, the giant one did not seem so powerfulanymore.

'The skill he masters is different from the one I haven't succeeded in learning from the dragon race.His vital energy decreases as his clones increase, ' Darren concluded.

At that very moment, the giant shadow’s clones faded and disappeared one by one until only onewas left.

Darren knew what this meant. The cultivation base of the giant shadow was impossible to besurpassed by anyone in the world. Even his clones were a million times stronger than Darren. Thatwas why the giant shadow did it. He created a clone whose cultivation base was more comparableto Darren's. The one in front of him was what fulfilled the requirement.

Darren activated his vital energy, ready to fight against it. When he was about to launch his attack,an unexpected change happened to him.

The clone attacked first. Before Darren could even react, a fierce force from the clone's blade intentflew into Darren's head.

When it reached his meridians, the blade intent started to merge with his sword intent with the aidof some unknown power. It was like magic. When that ended, a dark golden aura of internal forceappeared.

“How, how did that happen?’ Darren thought, surprised to feel the aura in his body. He could tellthat the power of the aura was extremely aggressive. "Is that the fusion of my sword intent and theclone’s blade intent? Unbelievable!"

The strength of the internal force, however, began to surge in Darren's body.

At the same time, the clone took action. Two rays of his sword intent, a black one and a white one,projected from his eyes and started gathering in the air. The two rays formed a colossal sword andtargeted Darren.

Darren looked up and drowned in the mass of desperation as he watched the approaching weapon.Even though his cultivation base was as strong as the clone’s, Darren froze with fear when he sawthe sword attack. The pressure also made it hard to breathe.

Despite his fear, Darren's instinct made him raise his sword to defend himself against theapproaching sword. If he did not move, he surely would have died.

Unexpectedly, the dark golden aura of internal force broke out. It was as powerful as theapproaching sword.

The impact of the two aggressive forces put the world in absolute silence.

In what felt like an eternity, the two forces exploded and turned to dust, fading into the wind.Suddenly, the earth began to crack from the power of the forces. The cracks extended to ten milesin several directions.

The ground on which Darren stood parted and sent him falling until he landed.

In the new place he found himself in, he saw that the ground was also cracked.

Darren vomited cups of blood.

"That was so powerful! It's too much for me to take,” Darren said weakly.

The giant shadow followed as he gracefully fell from the air. He stared at Darren with intense eyes."The power of the clone was beyond your abilities but you were able to handle it well.Congratulations! You have succeeded,” he declared

"If you still manage to live after eight thousand years, you may have the honor of joining my armyto fight against fiends and fight for our race!" he continued. Then, he faded.

The shadow disappeared as soon as he finished speaking. Darren, on the other hand, was leftpuzzled and bewildered.

The ground started shaking again. Then, a dazzling white light appeared. It was so bright thatDarren had to shield his eyes with his arm.

When everything stopped shaking, Darren slowly put down his arm and opened his eyes. He wasback at the scenic place. The fragrance of the flowers around him filled his nostrils. It was refreshing.The great lake was as peaceful as it was when he left it.

"Darren! You're back!" Elsa exclaimed excitedly when she found him. She rushed forth and huggedhim tightly. "Thank god! Thank god! I thought I'd never see you again! I thought..."

"I'm alright, Elsa! Don't cry! I'm back now!" Darren said, surprised by her unexpected embrace."Congratulations, Darren! For millenniums, no one has passed all the tests and come back alive.You're the first in a long time who succeeded in both! To be honest, even I doubted your success.Congratulations!” Mathew said. He was happy for Darren as well

Darren got out of Elsa's hug and turned to Mathew. "I guess I'm just really lucky today. Also, thankyou for your advice, sir. It was crucial information. Without it, I wouldn't have made it," he coughedand answered reverently.

"Haha, you are too modest, kid!" Mathew replied with a smile. He then turned serious again."Darren, although you have passed all the tests, you are still only allowed to enter the first andsecond floors of the Starry Tower. This is an order from my master. As for master's inheritance, youare not yet allowed to acquire it for now.

According to him, that inheritance will not yet be beneficial to you at present. You will only bequalified to possess it when your cultivation base reaches at least the Wonder Realm.”

Darren accepted the news calmly and quietly. Elsa, however, felt curious and confused.

She wanted to ask why, but before she could even open her mouth, Matthew cut her off. "No morequestions, little girl! I do not know why as well."

Elsa laughed. "Haha! Come on, sir! Sometimes, you can be such a killjoy," she said casually. Theyspoke like old friends.

The two got to talk a lot while Darren was out for the tests. Else found Matthew to be a very kindman who was very easy to talk to. She felt as if she were talking to her own grandpa.

"It's okay, Elsa. I understand the arrangement. I will come back here when my cultivation base is atleast at the Wonder Realm,” Darren replied calmly.

Darren could figure out part of the reason why Mathew's master would make such an arrangement.Only after he merged his blade and sword intents could he become qualified to acquire theinheritance. He could make it after he entered the Wonder Realm. If he went to get the inheritancenow, he might fail --or worse, die.

“The fusion of the blade and sword intents turns out to be very crucial. Mathew's master seems toattach a lot of importance to it, * Darren concluded.

"Alright, now! I will send you to the Starry Tower. You can visit the first and second floors. Explore itas much as you like! And you as well, little girl. I will send you into there as well. I think my mastershould have no problem with that.”

Mathew then activated his vital energy. In a split second, everything around them started to whirland fade away.

With a blink of an eye, Darren and Elsa found themselves in front of a tower seven stories high.Walking into the first floor, both Elsa and Darren were filled with awe. Instead of a regular room,inside was a vast expanse of land.

Darren could not help but marvel in it, “Mr. Xiao's master is so powerful!"

"Oh my goodness. No wonder it is called the Starry Tower! Look up, Darren! All the stars aretwinkling in the sky! What a beautiful view! It's so amazing!" Elsa exclaimed. Under the starry sky,she opened her arms and danced freely.

"Wow! These flowers smell so great!” Elsa wandered about like a little child.

"Flowers?" Darren picked one up and felt it in his hand. "It's a superior spiritual herb!"

"What?" Elsa's jaw dropped when she heard him. She picked a flower up and felt it as well. She frozewhen she realized that he was right.

"Oh my god! You are right! It's a superior spiritual herb! There are so many superior spiritual herbshere! What do we do now?" The boundless land of spiritual herbs filled her with awe and disbelief.Suddenly, they became more absorbed in picking up superior spiritual herbs than in appreciatingthe landscape.

"We are going to make a fortune!" Elsa cried out with excitement.

Since Elsa's talent recovered to her former level, her cultivation base had been improved and herpoker face had been removed. She was a cheerful and active girl now, just as good as new.

Elsa was overwhelmed with joy now. With a bunch of spiritual herbs in her arms, she began dancingagain under the starry sky.

Looking at her made Darren smile as well. Watching her was like watching a beautiful dream unfold.It seemed too good to be true. A part of him feared that the vision in front of him would disappearany second. So, he put all his attention on Elsa. He was determined to enjoy what was in front ofhim for as long as it would last.