The Supreme God of Martial Arts

Standing in the open, Austin, Tyler, and Caroline were nervously staring at the void above them. Through the thick clouds, corpses were plummeting towards the ground. They examined the bodies, noticing their twisted faces and bloodied clothes. Each time, they let out a sigh of relief when they did not see the old man's face among them.

If the old man were dead, the three, who were much weaker than him, would be killed at any moment.

They needed his protection from the enemies that were far more skilled than they were. He was the wisest, most powerful warrior they had met and even so, they feared that he could be defeated.

Minutes continued to pass and the three still did not know who was winning the fight. The thick clouds were impenetrable by their vision; the void was just too high up. Gradually, the sound of fighting lessened. All three of them stood on their toes, straining to see the old man approaching from the void.

When no one appeared, they once again becnervous, fearing they had missed something. Counting silently, they realized a dozen masters had been killed by the old man during the battle.

Whoosh! Their heads snapped upwards. The clouds were parting and the old man was falling from the sky with increasing speed. He landed near them within a few seconds.

The corner of the old man's mouth was dripping blood and his face was pale.

"There are too many enemies! We need to go now!" The old man waved his hand and a giant vital energy palm formed. He continued running while scooping the tup with the palm. They headed for the land in the distance that was covered in mountains. It was the sspot where the man had created an array earlier.

Once the four of them had reached the mountainous land, it only took seconds for a dazzling, white light to appear. It surrounded them, causing them to squeeze their eyes shut.

The light began to flash, consuming them one by one.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...

The old man was the last to disappear and the moment he flickered away, several figures swooped down from the void and hovered above the mountainous land where the four had disappeared just now.

All of the figures were wrapped in layers of vital energy force, making it impossible to distinguish their faces. The leader of the small group scowled through his own misty appearance.

"Damn it! I didn't think the Mad Old Man could create such a powerful array. Not only can it launch attacks but it also has the function of space teleportation.

Now, he could be more than ten thousand kilometers away from us," one of the figures said, casting a disappointed look at the land. The leader shot him a threatening look that made the figure cringe. "Keep chasing! The Mad Old Man managed to slip from our grasp every time. We may not get another chance to see him anytsoon. We have to catch him! We don't give up!" the leader ordered, yelling so loudly that his voice echoed through the mountains. Without another word, the leader turned and faced the horizon. With a whoosh, he disappeared on the spot. The followers stared at the spot where he had disappeared. Clearly, he meant business.

Immediately, the space filled with the sound of whooshing as the followers also left to chase the old man.

One hundred thousand kilometers away from the mountainous land where the array was deployed, somewhere in the void, a few loud whooshing sounds disrupted the silence.

Four figures appeared at the stime, steadying their posture. They were the old man, and the trio.

The tturned and looked at the old man who was panting heavily and bent over.

Puff... Puff...

The old man walked a few paces before he vomited blood on the sandy ground. His face looked even more pale and terrible than it had been before and his breathing was shallow. He held up his hand at the trio. He had to take a break from the teleportation before he passed out from overexertion.

"Elder Brendan, are you okay?" Tyler asked anxiously. He proceeded to step forward to help the old man. The old man took a step backwards and shook his head. "Don't worry! I am fine. Just givea few seconds to rest. When I deployed the array, I had to burn my original blood essence. Then, during the battle, I had to activate our sect's holy weapon in order to kill the enemies. I have consumed a lot of my vital energy.

All right. I have rested enough. We don't have much time. We need to continue.

Our enemies will not give up easily. They are already on our tails," the old man said and then waved his hand again.

Out of the ground, a demonic beast skeleton rose. Piece by piece, it grew until it stood around 60 meters high and more than 100 meters long. It stood perfectly still, as if it was waiting for them.

The demonic beast skeleton looked like something that had lived a million years ago. There was something wise and mysterious about it. As they stared at it, a black glow seeped from it and surrounded it like a halo.

"It is the power of space teleportation!" Austin blurted out. His hands covered his mouth in surprise. The other two appeared confused.

Austin was a step ahead because he already had a preliminary understanding of space teleportation power. Also, there was a tingling in his fingers, like he could feel it moving through the air.

"Well, you are quite right. It is the power of space teleportation. I'm impressed that you could feel it as well." The old man smiled at Austin but, on the inside, he felt taken aback.

The spatial power was very esoteric and difficult to cultivate.

With his weak cultivation base, Austin should not be able to feel the power.

"All of you, stand on the skeleton now," the old man said.

Before any of them could move, the man had jumped and landed on the back of the skeleton. They looked at each other in awe. Cracking his knuckles, Austin leaped onto the skeleton, joining the old man. He glanced down at his friends and nodded. At once, they all climbed up.

The old man looked towards the sky and spread his arms wide. A stream of vital energy force burst from the old man's body and was transferred into the demonic beast skeleton.

Whoosh! In an instant, the demonic beast skeleton disappeared. The landscape fell silent as if they had never been there.

The four warriors were flying through the void. Clouds and mist surrounded them, making them feel like they were riding through a tunnel.

Standing on the back of the demonic beast skeleton proved to be more difficult once they were off the ground. Austin felt his entire body rocking in place as a strong wind pushed against him. He knew he had to stand still or else he would risk falling.

He looked over his shoulder at Caroline who was battling even arder against the gusts of wind. Even Tyler was swaying, and his fee lanted like a surfer just to avoid stumbling. Austin looked ahead. There appeared to be no endin ight. Before he could think a hought, Caroline was gasping and alling backwards. Content belongs o englishAustin's hand shot out and grabbed hers. She looked up at him as he reeled her back in. Her eyes were emitting gratitude and her hand felt like a mass of soft cotton.

Seeing the three were having a rough time, the old man soon exuded a soft vital energy force around them. It felt like a warm hug was pressing down on them and they immediately ceased trembling.

Austin sighed in relief and although unwillingly, he released Caroline's hand. If the old man hadn't helped them, they would have been blown away by the terrible gusts of wind.

The demonic beast skeleton continued to travel through the void. However, instead of gliding along, it would appear and disappear. There were breaking points along the void that allowed it to teleport and move even faster.

Despite knowing it was a bad idea, Austin looked down. The void was whizzing past so fast that it made his head spin. His eyes widened as he looked at the old man who was steering with great precision.

Its speed was just too fast! This was his only feeling at that moment.

"We must travel fast so that our enemies cannot keep up with us. Don't worry. We're safe here.

After about a dozen days, we will be able to return to the base," the old man told the three.

'It still will take a dozen days to return to the base?!' Austin blinked hard. He couldn't help but feel stunned.

They were traveling faster than Austin had ever traveled in his life. Yet, it would still take them a dozen days before they could reach the base of the FlHoly Land. Thus, it was not hard for Austin to imagine how far away the base was from the Solamnia Kingdom.

After the old man finished speaking, e extended a finger and began .ne drawing lines in the air above the keleton Wherever his finger crossed, a stream of white light showed up abruptly. A few moment: ater, a mysterious pattern formed the streams of white light was eft in the air. ¡wThe old man waved his hand one more tand the pattern penetrated into the back of the demonic beast skeleton and disappeared.

"There we go. I have deployed a defense array to protect you all.

But our dozen days of travelling should not be wasted. You must use the tto practice your martial arts and improve your cultivation base.

Especially you, Austin. You and Howard from the Vasteras Holy Land will have a competition in a year's time. If you want to win the competition, then from now on, every day you must practice and no more tcan be wasted," the old man said seriously.

"Yes, sir!" the three replied obediently. Without the old man, not only would they be dead by now, but they also wouldn't have extra tto improve themselves. Now, in the following days, they would be stronger and more experienced than before.

After that, the old man sat cross-legged, took out spills, and put them in his mouth. He did not say any more as he closed his eyes to rest and heal.

Austin, Caroline, and Tyler also sat cross-legged and began practicing in silence.

As the demonic beast skeleton flew on, somewhere in the air, continuous whoosh sounds could be heard again.

The figures who were wrapped up by layers of strong vital energy appeared abruptly. They dashed forward but quickly stopped in their tracks. They were all alone in the void.

"I couldn't sense the presence of the Mad Old Man here. Where has he gone? We've lost him again!" one of the figures complained.

"Humph! I thought he did not bring Flare along the FlHoly Tower this tsince he had never activated its power during the last few battles Unexpectedly, he did have it and activate its power this time. If we knew he had it all along, we would have caught him a long tago!" one figure yelled, rather unwilling to admit their failure.

"The Mad Old Man is too skilled at creating arrays.

If it weren't for the array he deployed, we would have already caught him before," another figure said as he gnashed his teeth.

"Humph! It's not a big deal! Next time, we will bring more magic treasures-ones that can confine the space so that he can't teleport himself and run away!" someone said coldly.