Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 546 The Special Ordeal

Darren was quite thrilled by the discovery that the mountain was formed by Primitive Stones thatcontained the Heavenly Repression Rule.

Without wasting time, he brandished his sword and blade as he flew toward the vast lava lake. Afterseveral swift movements, he had chopped through the bottom of the Primitive Stone Mountain.Once the entire mountain had been separated from the lava lake, Darren placed it in his Space Ring."Now I can try to make a breakthrough and reach the Grand Realm,” Darren murmured to himself.As he was in possession of so many Primitive Stones, the first thing Darren thought of was reachingthe Grand Realm and improving his strength as fast as he could.

At that time, both his blade and sword intents were at the premium stage. If the two intents mergedagain, the power of his dark gold internal force would increase significantly.

Darren's realm was at the top level of the supreme stage of the Wonder Realm. He knew that byabsorbing a few spiritual crystals, he could break through to the Grand Realm in one fell swoop.

As he had met every condition for the breakthrough, Darren knew that he had to be quick. Thus, hedidn't search for the time turbulent flows on the fourth floor. Instead, he flew out of the lava lakeand started assimilating the spiritual crystals to facilitate his breakthrough.

After he assimilated the crystals, Darren felt as though a warm stream was spreading through hisbody, and that his realm was slowly improving. Soon, he reached a critical point in thebreakthrough.

"Stop!" A voice rang out at that precise moment.

Not only was Darren's breakthrough interrupted, but he also woke from his cultivation when heheard the voice.

"Don’t go any further in your process. I will keep the spiritual crystals for you temporarily,” the voicesaid.

Darren released his spiritual sense to look around, but he didn't see anybody. Just as he beganrationalizing what had happened, the spiritual crystals in his hand and Space Ring flew out anddisappeared in mid-air.

Stunned, Darren's eyes widened in surprise. He asked in disbelief, "What just happened?"

Before he could figure it out, a big palm reached out from the fifth floor and grabbed him. Soon,Darren found himself being dragged to the fifth floor.

By now, Darren was utterly baffled. "Who could be strong enough to forcibly haul me to the fifthfloor so easily? he wondered.

"Hey, young man, don't be surprised. Just go to the seventh floor, and you will understand whathappened,” the voice said again.

When Darren was lost in thoughts, a middle-aged man appeared before him. He seemed to be theguardian on the fifth floor. It was he who had spoken to Darren.

Darren returned to his senses when he heard the voice. Now that he was on the fifth floor, he hadno choice but to fight the middle-aged guardian. As long as this middle-aged man was not a six-star warrior at the middle or premium level, Darren was confident that he could defeat him.

"Then, let's fight now. It will be to my advantage if we conclude this test as soon as possible,”Darren said to the guardian with a frown.

As soon as he finished speaking, the dragon patterns on his divine sword and divine blade lit up,and his momentum was released at its peak level.

"Kill!" Darren blurted out.

In the meantime, he used the Hurricane Teleportation Skill to dash toward the guardian.

"Hmm."

The middle-aged man smiled slightly when he noticed Darren's actions. He didn't intend to dodgeDarren's attacks.

"You are impatient. Since you have wished for it, we shall fight,” the man said calmly. The middle-aged guardian then casually crossed his hands over his shoulders as he waited for Darren. He didn'tseem to mind Darren's attack.

"Huh?" Although Darren felt as though something was strange, he didn't stop. It didn't matter if theman didn't resist, as Darren knew that he couldn't kill him. As the guardian was much stronger thanhim, Darren's only focus was on trying his best to defeat the man to pass the ordeal on this floor.Darren's sword and blade attack drew nearer and finally came in front of the middle-aged man.Even though the guardian didn't move, Darren didn't stop until he had pierced the man’s body. Inthe next moment, something weird happened—Darren’s body passed through the middle-agedman's body as if he had just attacked a ghost.

Darren's momentum took him forward for quite a distance before he regained control of his body.He then turned, frowned at the middle-aged man, and asked, "You don't have a real body?"

The middle-aged man smiled and nodded

"What the hell? How will I defeat you if I can't touch you?" Darren yelled, grumpily. Frustration grewas Darren felt that the test on the fifth floor was too baffling.

"Did I tell you that we need to fight?" the middle-aged man asked with a light smile.

For a moment, Darren was stunned into silence. He thought, “Does this mean that I have to passanother form of the test instead of battling against the guardian?’

"If I don't need to fight you, then how will you decide whether I have passed the test on this floor ornot?" Darren asked, eagerly.

"Ha-ha, do you think that a victory or defeat can't be decided without a fight? Truth be told, I cankill you in a few seconds if you decide to fight me. I am telling you that you should not be impulsiveand act hastily,”

the middle-aged man explained. Then, without warning, the man took one step and reachedDarren's side. Before Darren could react, the man suspended his arm over Darren's head for a briefmoment before withdrawing.

Although such a simple and abrupt act happened within a few seconds, Darren began sweatingprofusely all over his head. When the man's palm passed over Darren, he felt pressure equivalent tothe weight of a tremendous mountain on his head. He did not doubt that if the palm gently pattedhis head, Darren would crumble into powder immediately.

He concluded that the middle-aged person was powerful, at least at the top level of a seven-starwarrior.

"Sir, you are so formidable. I shouldn't have attacked you. Please forgive my rudeness. However, Istill need to know how to pass your test. Please give me a clue,” Darren said politely as he archedhis hand at the middle-aged man.

"Well, it's very simple. I will open the passage to the sixth floor. As long as you can walk up to thesixth floor through the passage, you will pass my test,” replied the middle-aged man.

"Walk up to the sixth floor? I will never reach if you try to block my way!" Darren said withdisappointment.

As the man was a super-strong guardian, Darren knew that if he waved his hand casually to stophim, he could never be able to climb along the passage smoothly.

"There is no alternative way to pass this test. Since you replace the test to be too difficult, you canchoose to give up. I will not kill you if you stay on this floor,” the middle-aged man saidindifferently.

Darren was silent for a moment. After careful consideration, he knew that he had no other choicebut to accept the challenge. Thus, he said, "Well, sir, I accept the test.”

The middle-aged man nodded faintly, and soon, a ladder that connected the sixth floor emerged.He reminded Darren, "Remember, you only have one year, and if you haven't passed my test in thattime, you will have failed.”

"Sir, I understand. Thank you," Darren responded and turned away.

"Huh?' The man was surprised by Darren's reaction. He thought, "This young man is interesting. Theprevious participants flew to the ladder as soon as possible to attempt the test. Even though theywere repeatedly driven down by me, they continued to try. This young man just turned and left.Perhaps he wants to improve his strength first."

In fact, at that very moment, Darren was at a loss. He knew that if he went to the ladder now, therewould be no chance for him to go up at all. Another dilemma plagued Darren. If he chose not toattempt the test soon, how could his strength be improved to the level where he could confront themiddle-aged man?

He couldn't be more aware that one year was impossible for him to reach such an improvement!Even if Darren found a time turbulent flow and cultivated in it for a few years, it would be useless forhim because his cultivation level wouldn't reach the Grand Realm.

"It's not a big deal to have lost my spiritual crystals. However, my Space Ring that is full of thePrimitive Stones is now sealed. No matter how hard I cultivate, it won't help me to break through tothe Grand Realm,” Darren mumbled. Desperation laced his voice. He had planned to use his talentto absorb more spiritual energy and forcibly make a breakthrough to the Grand Realm. However,when he wanted to take some Primitive Stones, he discovered that his Space Ring had been sealed.Thus, his plan wouldn't work.

As he wandered in the empty space, Darren felt restless. Soon, he became a little bit dizzy.

A month later, he still hadn't thought of a solution. He became increasingly upset and worried. Fromtime to time, he would explode a barren mountain to vent his pent up frustration.

"Since I can't pass the test by improving my strength, what other methods can I use?" Darrenroared. His eyes were bloodshot.

"Kill, kill, kill," he snarled as he felt overwhelmed by this tricky situation. In the meantime, hebrandished his sword and blade wildly and bombarded the space around him randomly.

It appeared as though the dilemma Darren faced had driven him crazy.

In the sky not far away from Darren, the middle-aged man watched the whole scene. Then, heshook his head and said with great disappointment, "It turns out that he is an impetuous guy. Ibelieve it will be hard for him to pass my test.”

The middle-aged man sighed and flew away without looking back. Such an impetuous warrior wasnot worthy of his attention as he had a high possibility of failing the test.

Another month went by in the blink of an eye.

Darren was no longer crazy. He had calmed himself gradually.

"Ha-ha-ha, I am really foolish. Since this floor is not about testing my strength, it must be a test ofmy wisdom and attitude. I have been so impatient before that I would never pass the test of thisfloor," Darren said to himself as he felt enlightened all of a sudden.

Pursuing martial arts was challenging. A warrior couldn't just rely on his talent. His wisdom andcharacter were also essential for improvement in martial arts. As Darren was more capable thanother warriors, he was able to understand this.

'If this challenge is really about testing wisdom and mentality, then I believe that I may have comeacross the clue of such a method before. So, where was the clue? How could I replace it?" Darren wasnow completely calm and began to rack his brain for a possible solution.