The Supreme God of Martial Arts

He waved Austin away. "What are you saying? You can't do that. I'm sorry, young man, but as | said before, this is a private place.

No outsiders allowed!"

"What nonsense," Austin said cheekily. "One would expect a great sect like yours to welcanyone.

Besides, Mount Emerald itself is considered a public spot in this kingdom, open for anyone to cand go and look around as they

please. Would you care to tellsince when, then, has it beca private property of your sect?"

The old man looked taken aback at Austin's gall, and before he could say anything in reply, Austin had already taken a few steps

forward, towards the temples up ahead. "Stop where you are, young man!" the Taoist priest huffed. "How dare you be so rude? We

won't tolerate your insolence!"

Austin paid him no mind and kept trudging forward.

It only served to fuel the priest's fury, and the old man reached out with both hands to make a grab at Austin.

His action was accompanied by a terrible force that stopped Austin in his tracks before the priest could even touch him.

In a split second, Austin was able to surmise that the old Taoist priest was a cultivator at the preliminary stage of the Earth Realm;

that is, the Expert Realm as people in the Brilliant Kingdom called it.

There was no way for Austin to let this old man stop him, much less touch him.

With Omnipotent Lightness, he swerved from where he was standing, and was instantly dozens of steps away from the priest.

The old man grew more irritated by the second.

"You brat!" he shouted, shaking a fist. "You didn't foolfor a second! | knew the second | laid eyes on you that you are by no

means a tourist!"

He lunged at the young man with an outstretched hand.

His open palm was aimed to hit Austin, and as he raised his hand, the sand and stone around them stirred with the force it

beckoned.

Austin was quick to dodge a second time, and he was once again a hundred meters away from the priest.

"You must be joking!" the priest yelled after Austin in visible frustration, since the young man was now utterly out of his reach.

"How can a young man like you possibly master such a brilliant skill?"

Glad of getting rid of the annoying old man, Austin took his twandering around.

His spiritual sense was activated the entire time, and he used it along with his physical senses to explore the surroundings.

"Brat, | said stop!" It was the Taoist priest yet again.

He hadn't given up his pursuit, and was now panting well behind Austin.

His face was flushed with his exertion, or maybe anger, or maybe both.

He drew out a sword, which was gleaming white as snow.

He used the sword to draw smysterious patterns, and immediately his body was floating in air.

He gave his sword another wave and, driven by sword intent, was instantly charging towards Austin with alarming speed.

Austin being Austin, he took a moment to marvel at this unique move, quietly taking note of this special skill of the Emerald Sect.

Then he stretched out a hand and caught the sword between two of his fingers.

He hadn't even fully turned around, just his upper body, to meet the attack.

Bang!

The old man felt a terrifying energy crawl its way along the sword towards the hilt, and in the next moment, he was flung away

with a powerful force.

As he hit the ground, pieces of his now shattered sword fell beside him.

Austin cand stood before him.

"Please calm down, sir. | bear no ill will to you or your sect. Like | said, | only want to look around.

Please don't forceinto a fight."

Then for good measure, Austin released a wave of his physical strength towards the old man.

It overwhelmed the priest, making him feel like he was being swept into a violent storm, and he struggled to catch his breath.

It was over in an instant, as Austin pulled his energy back and turned away from the old man.

He continued on his way to the heart of this hidden settlement.

"Oh my! | thought | was going to die right there and then!"

The Taoist priest sank further to the ground, his face beaded with sweat and his heart pounding furiously with fear.

Too late he realized that he'd just met an expert of martial arts.

The young man was now out of sight, but his presence was prominent in the old man's mind.

The youngster had undeniably unfathomable depths to him, and it was impossible for the priest to defeat him by himself.

He had his doubts that even the present leader of the Emerald Sect could be a match for the young stranger.

'This can't be good. That brat is a peerless master. His sudden appearance here must mean he has bad intentions." After mulling it

over, the priest rushed over to a nearby mountain.

'Oh, are you going to alert the others and call for help?" Austin thought to himself with an amused smile. His spiritual sense was

still activated and keeping stock of his environment.

He carried on with his exploration without a care. Earlier, he had shown mercy to the Taoist priest because he had no enmity with

the Emerald Sect anyway. Austin was not one to kill or harm others without reason.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A bell rang out forty-nine times. Austin trudged on.

Unbeknownst to him, the villagers of this headquarters were scrambling to answer to the alarm.

People from the lowest disciples, to the sect leader, and even the superior leaders who were cultivating in seclusion all year

around, all left what they were doing to pay heed to the emergency call.

Forty-nine tolls meant that a severe event in history was taking place, and it even concerned the fate and survival of their sect.

The entire place was in an uproar, and soon people were flooding into the spot where Austin and the old Taoist priest had last faced

each other.