Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 244 Rewards

The moment Darren finished speaking, blade intent and sword intent burst out from his body andcharged at the spear shadows.

"His blade intent... and his sword intent..."

The superior talents standing beside the stage, especially Violet, who was a swordsman,immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Ah, he has cultivated premium blade intent and sword intent!" Violet shouted as astonishmentcoursed through her.

Even all the grand warriors would be envious if they had seen this scene. They longed to reach thepremium stage with their blade intent and sword intent because it was hundreds of thousands oftimes stronger than the preliminary stage. As she watched the two talents battle on stage, Violetrealized how terrifying their gifts were. The two men were undoubtedly superior to her.

Premium blade intent and sword intent burst out from Darren's body and headed straight forBowen's spear shadows.

The whole world seemed to collapse at that moment. Even the superior talents beside the stage hadto mobilize their strength to withstand the aftermath of the collision between Darren and Bowen'sforces.

The shock was so powerful that another crack appeared in the reinforced protection spell aroundthe battle stage.

A brilliant flash of light exploded in the middle of the stage. It sparkled with such intensity that theaudience could not open their eyes. No one knew what exactly happened on the battle stage aseven the spiritual sense released by the superior talents to detect the situation had been forcefullydispersed.

After a long time, the light dissipated and everyone could finally see the stage. Now the time hadcome to decide the winner of the battle.

No one dared to close their eyes or shift their attention from the stage as they were curious aboutthe result. With bated breaths, they gazed in the direction of the stage where a figure with long hair,like a black waterfall, levitated in the air. The figure emitted a stunningly powerful aura as he lookedat the audience below him.

On the stage stood a young man in ragged clothes. Anguish reflected in his eyes as he looked up atthe figure. He found it hard to accept that he had been defeated.

"I lost..." The sense of loss in Bowen's voice was so tangible that the audience felt his sorrow."Actually, you were not that bad. You pressured me to utilize more than half of my power,” Darrensaid drily as he flew away from the battle stage.

"More than half of your power?” Bowen smiled bitterly and said, "No wonder history is alwayswritten by the winners. Those who are defeated deserve to be humiliated. We both clearly foughtwith all our strength, but you sound as if you could do much more than that. How interesting.”Bowen felt that Darren's blade intent and sword intent were only slightly stronger than hislegendary martial skill. If he had been given three more days to grasp the subtleties of the skill,Bowen would have snatched the victory in this battle.

However, Darren had openly declared that Bowen had only forced him to use half his strength.Bowen found this difficult to believe. He thought that Darren was just showing off.

Bowen was not the only person to think so. The superior talents beside the stage also deemed thatDarren was bragging pretentiously.

"I know that you are unwilling to admit defeat. However, my statement was not intended toembarrass you further. I was trying to be respectful by telling you the truth. Think about it and youwill understand.” After finishing the explanation, Darren pulled out his blade and sword. In a flash,enormous blade intent and sword intent filled the air.

Boom!

Everyone heard a loud buzzing sound before pain exploded in their ears.

"Legendary... legendary martial skill!"

"Oh my god! What an incomparably gifted person he is!"

"He has mastered a legendary martial skill along with premium blade intent and sword intent!Darren deserves to be worshiped.”

Meanwhile, Darren's blade intent and sword intent, together with his elementary legendary martialskill, threatened to crack open the sky. Although everyone present was horrified, they wanted toprostrate themselves before Darren in admiration.

Overwhelmed by this display of power, Bowen fell to his knees on the battle stage. At first, helaughed hysterically. Then his body shuddered as he broke into sobs. Finally, he murmured, "Ha! Idid not know that I was so inferior to him. His mastery of a legendary martial skill in both blade andsword cultivation is much better than my legendary martial skill. Why did I think that I couldcontend with him?

Alas! I made a complete fool of myself."

Bowen laughed and cried intermittently, like a lunatic person. He recollected what he said tointimidate Darren and could not help but feel as though he had embarrassed himself. To think hehad urged Darren to give up on the competition. How hilarious!

Darren had not even used his legendary martial skill when he secured absolute victory in this battle.And to think that he was not yet at the middle stage of the Wonder Realm. Bowen suddenly realizedthat the gap between their levels was like the difference between heaven and the earth.

"All right, the assessment is officially over. Kudos to Darren for taking the first place. He is thewinner!

Although you have obtained good grades in the assessment for the first test, you should not becomplacent. Those talents whose grades are not as per expectation should not be self-abased,either. The first round is only for testing inherent gifts, and the journey of martial skill cultivation isfilled with hardships. None of you should expect that you would achieve profoundly by relyingsolely on your gifts.

Now, let's give out your respective rewards.”

When the guardian said these words, his eyes were on Bowen as he wanted to comfort andencourage the defeated teenager. After all, had Darren not chosen to cultivate conflicting martialskills, Bowen, as a gifted talent who surpassed all others, would have had a chance to be as good ashim.

On hearing this, Bowen's sorrow began to subside. His pensive mood was replaced withdetermination, inspiration, and the courage to work harder.

"Congratulations to you, Darren. I admit that I am mediocre in comparison to you. But I will nevergive up. I believe we will have the chance to fight against each other in the future.” Bowen walkedover and held out his hand to Darren while smiling.

"You have reason to be proud, Bowen. You are very strong." Darren nodded as he shook hands withhis opponent.

"Hey, Darren, what prize are you going to choose?" Excitement reflected in his expression as Boycewalked toward Darren.

"Hum, it depends. I can choose eight objects. So... I will take one of the three keys and five runepapers. Then, I will be able to pick two more items. If you want something specific, let me know. Ican help you get them.” Darren glanced at the objects hovering in mid-air as he spoke.

"I... I do not think I should do so, Darren." Boyce could only pick one object, but Darren offered togive him two. Although he was secretly ecstatic, he still had to be courteous.

"You do not need to be so courteous in front of me. Please, just pick.” Darren smiled.

"Hah, you are such a nice person. It will be impolite to decline your gifts then.”

Soon, Boyce picked two martial skill books of supernatural level for Darren to claim for him. From allthe rewards available, Darren was tempted by only a key and the five rune papers. Nothing else wasmeaningful to him.

After a few moments, the people who had been qualified for prizes had picked whatever they liked.Of the two remaining keys, Bowen and Violet claimed one each.

The guardian of these keys had shared earlier that the keys were necessary to break into theeleventh stage.

Now that the first stage assessment was over and the talents had selected their rewards, the onlypeople who stood a chance to cross into the eleventh stage were Darren, Bowen, and Violet.

After the prize distribution was over, Boyce recollected that he had not requested Darren to keepTom. Now, Boyce didn't have the courage to ask Darren. After all, Darren had given him two of hisprizes, and Boyce was worried that if he asked for more, he would seem greedy and annoying. Hewas afraid that Darren would replace him repugnant for this.

While Boyce debated over this dilemma, the guardian's voice was heard in the sky, "Darren, youhave a chance to request for anything from me. There are many alternatives. Think about what youmight want."

This chance was precious as Darren could ask the guardian for one weapon, one book on legendarymartial skills, or any other valuable equivalent.

Although Tom was standing nearby, he could not bring himself to approach Darren with his request.Meanwhile, Boyce watched anxiously and hoped that Tom would tell Darren as soon as possible.

"I see. So..."

Darren paused for a while as he glanced at Tom.

"Mr. Guardian, I wonder if I can request to retain a superior talent who has been knocked out of theassessment.”

"Of course, you can.”

"Okay. Then please give the superior talent, Tom, another chance, Mr. Guardian. I wish to keep him."After Darren put forward his request, both Tom and Boyce were stunned.

Boyce had not mentioned Tom's request to Darren. To his surprise, Darren asked voluntarily.Darren's thoughtfulness touched both Boyce and Tom. In that instance, they felt a sudden surge ofemotions, which brought them to tears.