The Supreme God of Martial Arts

"Young man, don't worry. We'll shoulder the consequences of you destroying those swords.

We value a promising swordsman like you more than those treasured swords.

Besides, when they were being made, the souls of famous swordsmen who had been heroes before their deaths were merged into those swords. | guess they'd rather be defeated and vanish than stay stuck inside the swords forever.

Actually, we have long wanted to smash these swords into pieces. But since we are responsible for guarding this place, we can't do that.

We're glad you destroyed the swords and did the swordsmen's souls a big favor by freeing them," one of the three old men explained as he smiled from ear to ear.

"Oh, really?" Austin gave them an embarrassed smile.

He thought they would punish him when they saw the broken swords, but he was wrong. It was interesting for Austin to see them glad rather than mad.

"Young man, how old are you?" "Seventeen," Austin answered.

"Wow, so young, yet promising! You will make an outstanding swordsman in the future.

We've rarely seen such young cultivators like you in recent years." The three old men gathered around Austin, eyeing him from head to toe. The more they studied him, the more they liked him, as if he was srare treasure.

"Oh, by the way, who's your master? He must be a man of discernment, with an eye for talent, to have found you." "Gentlemen, to be honest, | used to be an outer disciple of the Sun Sect, and no one taughthow to use a sword," Austin answered honestly.

"What?! So you mean you've acquired these achievements all by yourself? Wow, you are indeed a born swordsman.

Young man, | really like you.

How about this? Since you don't have a master, why not be our apprentice?" suggested one of the three old men.

The rest of them nodded in approval. They all looked at Austin with great enthusiasm, expecting a positive response from him.

"Young man, you've mastered level 1 sword potential.

But do you know this is just the beginning of your swordsmanship cultivation? Also, even though you are a talented cultivator, you still need a good master to guide you so that you can avoid diversions as you progress in your swordsmanship cultivation. Not to brag, but we are second to none in swordsmanship in the entire Violet Orchid Empire.

We are much more experienced than you in swordsmanship cultivation. With our guidance and advice, you will be a top swordsman in the future.

What do you think? You may kneel if you wish to formally acknowledge us as your masters," one of them urged impatiently.

It was not easy to find a good master, but it was more challenging to find a great disciple.

Obviously, the three old men liked Austin so much that they wanted to be his masters as soon as possible.

Austin, on the other hand, thought it was a good idea too.

He could tell from the intense sword aura surrounding their bodies that they were all excellent swordsmen. He had never met such powerful swordsmen before.

One of them even stated that Emperor Arthur wouldn't dare to mess with them, so they might really be respected swordsmen.

'If they becmy masters, | will have a strong foundation, and my swordsmanship will surely be greatly improved with their guidance." Thinking of it, Austin made up his mind.

He dropped to his knees and bowed to them.

"Masters, please acceptas your disciple." "Excellent, Austin. We now proclaim you as our disciple. Now, please rise." The three of them approached Austin and helped him to his feet.

"Now that you are our disciple, we should give you something as a gift.

How about this? Each of us has a notebook recording what we've gained from swordsmanship cultivation. Although they are not swordsmanship skills, we believe they will help you a lot in your swordsmanship cultivation." Each of them took out a thin notebook and handed it to Austin.

"Do you like them?" "| like them a lot. Thank you!" Austin was happy to receive the notebooks bequeathed to him.

The notebooks recorded the three old men's experiences and lessons learned in their swordsmanship cultivation.

He believed that he would benefit a lot from them.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Austin, you are here under Emperor Arthur's permission, right? What did he promise to you?" The three old men were responsible for guarding the imperial treasure house and had seldom left the place for decades. They knew nothing about the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games or Austin's identity—the champion of the competition.

So Austin told them the whole story of the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games and that Emperor Arthur promised three martial arts manuals to him as a reward.

"Wow, you are the champion! That means we didn't bet on the wrong horse.

Since you're here to pick out martial arts manuals, we won't take up too much of your time.

Unfortunately, there are only few swordsmanship manuals in this imperial treasure house, and the best one is only of fourth-grade. | don't think you should pick those rubbishes.

But since you're already here, why don't you take a look around? Remember, the most crucial thing in swordsmanship cultivation is concentration. Faith will move mountains. You might need to practice a single move of your swordsmanship for ten years, or even a hundred years, to make a breakthrough.

When you encounter any problems on swordsmanship cultivation, read those notebooks we gave you. | believe you will find the answers there.

All right. You may take a look around now.

Remember, do not let anyone else know that we are your masters.

We've been living in seclusion for years, and we don't like to be disturbed.

If you want to see us in the future, just chere at any time." Then the three old men instructed the eunuch to lead Austin to the second floor of the imperial treasure house.

The first floor of the imperial treasure house contained the weapons, while the martial arts manuals were stored on the second floor.

The manuals were of various types--palm manuals, fist manuals, formula manuals, blade manuals, and spear manuals.

Austin fondled through the martial arts manuals while murmuring, "Mount Tai Fist... Grade four fist skill...

Green Wood Formula... Grade four energy-refining formula...

Strong Wind Foot... Grade four foot skill...

Overlord Soil-split Spear... Grade five spear manual...

Magic Fire Blade... Grade five blade skill..." All the martial arts manuals were almost grade four or grade five. They were much better than those collected by the Sun Sect.

However, to Austin's disappointment, he only found several grade three and one grade four swordsmanship manuals.

The grade four swordsmanship manual was called "Flying Eagle Swordsmanship." He browsed through it and found that it was even worse than his Illusory Swordsmanship. So he decided not to take it and put it back on the shelf.

"Damn it. Only swordsmanship manuals are useful to me, yet there are no powerful ones here. What a bad luck!" he complained, clearly disappointed not to find any manuals he wished for.

Left with no choice, Austin decided not to pick out martial arts manuals for himself.

Instead, he chose a grade five energy-refining formula, a grade five fist martial arts manual, and a grade four blade manual.

He picked the three manuals for his good buddies, Evan and Herbert.

In Austin's mind, Evan and Herbert were not talented cultivators, but they were not the worst ones.

Evan and Herbert had average gifts for cultivation.

Being outer disciples of the Sun Sect, they didn't have useful cultivation resources or martial arts manuals.

Austin believed that his closest friends would make massive progress if he gave them those manuals.

After he was done, Austin left the imperial treasure house. Knowing that his masters disliked being disturbed, he decided not to say his farewell.

With the eunuch leading the way, Austin went on his way outside of the grand imperial palace.

After bidding goodbye to the eunuch, Austin was about to go back home.

However, before he could even leave the place, a group of people led by Reuben, the youngest prince, cover to him.

"Austin, here you are! I've been looking for you.

Are you free now? The celebration party hasn't started yet as we're waiting for you. Cand celebrate your victory with us!" he said invitingly.