The Supreme God of Martial Arts

Three burly men of middle age stood next to the young leader. Austin noted that ever since he laid eyes on them, the three had stayed close to the young man. They were never too far from him, and their eyes were on him at all times. While the rest of the men stood apart from the leader, these three were most likely his bodyguards.

Figuring out which realm these men were in wasn't all that hard after close observation. And it was quite surprising that all three men appeared to have the cultivation base above the vital energy Earth Realm.

Considering the young man had three exceptional bodyguards of the vital energy Earth Realm to protect him, Austin assumed he couldn't be someone just wealthy, but he probably had considerably strong backers to support him.

Austin thought that this young man must be holding a lot of grudges against himself as he killed some of his men although that never was his intent.

It was all about Fanny. Austin killed his men to protect the woman from danger. He never intended to offend anyone with his wealth and power and to get himself into trouble.

But it happened, and there was no way out of it. He had added a new name to his enemy list and got another person he had to pay attention to in case of danger.

Sighing helplessly, Austin glanced at Fanny, who had again brought a new form of danger to him.

Then his attention was diverted by a group of people standing on a rather big hill.

This hill, unlike all others, was filled with some strange, cold, and dark fog. The gray air loomed everywhere, making it impossible for outsiders to distinctly see what those people looked like and how they dressed.

But what was even more peculiar was Austin felt that he could not perceive the vitality of these people in the same way he previously sensed the others’ in the surrounding hills. Unlike regular people, each one seemed to have been smothered by corruption and death. They were like a walking corpse that had been manipulated by some unusual kind of force. Perhaps, it was because of fear, that no one went near them, and everyone kept them at arm's length.

Releasing his spiritual sense, Austin was able to perceive all the other fighters' strength, except for this group. They seemed to have developed some unique and dark cultivation methods, ones that Austin had never seen before, and which was far beyond his knowledge to understand its capability.

"Move! Get out of my way!" A gruff voice echoed in the valley.

The sound caught everyone's attention. It took away Austin's concentration from the spooky men and had him turned around to check out who had spoken.

He saw five persons rushing from the opposite direction. In the lead was a young man, probably about twenty years old. His body was muscular, his eyes sharp and arrogant, and he was quite rude. A huge blade hung from his waist, and it glowed like gold under the moonlight.

"Caden of the Bloody Hero Gang! These men are from the Bloody Hero Gang." Someone in the crowd recognized the man who was marching up and alerted everyone.

Caden Kuan was a core disciple of the Bloody Hero Gang. There had been reports that at seventeen years old, he had already reached the preliminary stage of the Earth Realm. And this was considered quite an impressive feat among all the disciples of the Violet Orchid Empire.

No one expected Caden to be ascending the Grand Desolation Mountains at that very moment.

The Bloody Hero Gang had a very nasty reputation. Every member of the group was notorious for being domineering and was known for harassing others ranked lower than them. As soon as they arrived, they caught sight of a hill relatively close to where the celestial energy ginseng grew, and where one could get a better view of the plant without anything blocking their sight. And it did not please them that there were others already occupying the advantageous location before the gang arrived.

Without a second thought, disciples from the Bloody Hero Gang rushed up the hill and started to chase away the people already there, hoping to get closer to the ginseng plant.

Since the hill was close to the celestial energy ginseng, anyone who occupied it stood a better chance of winning the plant in the competition expected to take place very soon. To seize the hill meant gaining a geographical advantage for the team. The disciples, known for being rude and wicked, began to use force to occupy the ridge.

Those originally occupying the hill were also from a prominent sect whose strength was renowned. Notwithstanding their powers, they didn't want to face Caden and hurt themselves before the actual competition of the celestial energy ginseng even started.

So without much resistance, they withdrew from the hill and went to seek another suitable location for them.

But their giving way made no difference to Caden. He didn't show the slightest bit of gratitude. Instead, he threw them a contemptuous look as they passed him. After they were gone, Caden climbed to the top of the hill and began checking out other hills nearby like a king of a mountain marking his territory.

What Caden and his Bloody Hero Gang did on that hill of throwing off previous occupants showed other fighters what to do. So they began to imitate them and started to occupy other hills forcefully, especially those located close to the celestial energy ginseng. And the struggle to get the best positions became extremely bitter.

Fighters with inferior strength were either killed because of their refusal to fight, or driven down the hill against their will.

The struggle for an advantageous spot had already begun even before the celestial energy ginseng could fully ripen. And several fighters competing for it had been killed.

Among those who were killed, aside from some weak and incompetent disciples, were capable fighters as well. They all perished challenging the mysterious group of people in the dark fog. They climbed the hill, attempted to take down the spooky men, and occupy their hill. But surprisingly, Austin didn't see anyone return after having disappeared into that cloud of fog.

After several failed attempts, no one seemed to dare sneak up on that hill again. And the fog that encompassed the hill thickened further.

Nearly two hours had elapsed before the competition for the advantageous spot was finally over.

At this point, strength determined the fighter positions. The circle that enclosed the celestial energy ginseng was for the strongest warriors. Occupying the second circle was the less powerful fighters. Finally, those who were considered weak formed the outer circle.

Since Austin and Fanny stood quite a distance from the celestial energy ginseng, a not so ideal place, their position did not arouse much interest among the other fighters.

With the spot being so inferior, they hardly expected anyone would want to take over the position except for the two guys from level six of the Energy Gathering Realm.

They came to check if they stood any chance of occupying Austin and Fanny's spot. But as soon as they saw that Austin's vital energy force was level seven of the Energy Gathering Realm, they realized their inferiority and went off.

"Look! Here comes Frank of the Flaming Sun Valley," Fanny suddenly cried out, pointing to the sky.

As Austin glanced up, he saw three men gliding over the hill where he stood. One of them was good-looking, with a well-built figure. He hovered in between the two others and stared down the hill filled with fighters.

The Flaming Sun Valley was the second strongest sect in the entire Violet Orchid Empire.

And Frank was the famous and talented disciple among all disciples of the Flaming Sun Valley.

He was said to be quite powerful and experienced enough to confront Caden.