Everyone at the place, including the people from Celestial Circle Gate, Red Obsidian Gate, and other Martial Artists around, felt the ringing in their ears. They were suddenly paralyzed and lost all their strength.
Waves rose in the pond, and several red goldfish jumped out of the water.
BOOM!
The two in the courtyard separated.
One man was blown away toward the wall at a high speed, but he quickly shifted his position mid-air, landing on his feet against the wall to reduce the impact. He reached the top of the wall and stood on it firmly.
It was Andrela, a sword held in his right hand, which was trembling. Blood was dripping down its sleeve, and it fell to the ground quietly.
"They don't call you the strongest Martial Artist of the Southern Twelve Gate for nothing." Andrela's voice was low, and he sounded excited.
"You are pretty good too." Garen stretched his arms. There were two narrow sword cuts on the outer side of his arms, and blood was spurting out of them in two red lines.
"Secret Sword Art Bright Moon, huh? Impressive." Garen licked the blood off his arms with a ferocious expression on his face. "I am surprised… However, it's not enough."
"True." Andrela smiled. "You are a worthy opponent, and I will show you the second skill of my Secret Sword Arts."
The people watching the fight were still in shock. The fight between the two were on a different level, a level that human beings could not even imagine. Garen's body was incredibly strong, while Andrela's Secrect Sword Arts were terrifying. In addition, the two's speed was so fast that the crowd could barely see their actions.
Everything happening in the fight was new to the Martial Artists here.
They heard the two's conversation and realized that they hadn't yet shown their true power. Even though, the skills the two displayed made most of the strong Martial Artists here speechless.
"They are… so strong!"
"I thought I was strong, but I never knew there were Martial Arts with such power!" Seven Moon Gate's Shia looked at the two, and the passion in his eyes could almost melt iron.
"Those are the Grandmasters of Combat." The Second Elder spoke in a light tone.
"Shia, Rampas, you two are the hope of the Seven Moon Gate. Watch how they fight carefully, and I am sure it will help you a lot in the future."
In the courtyard.
Andrela slightly swung his blade.
It suddenly started to vibrate, many silver light dots appearing at the point of the blade, and they were bouncing in the air. Andrela jumped off the high wall and charged toward Garen. He was slower than before but still much faster than Garen.
There were many silver light dots floating around Andrela, and as he charged forward, those silver light dots started to gather together. They converged at the point of the blade and became three large silver dots.
"Three Star Convergence!"
The three dots at the point of the blade became one, and the final dot was flashing. Andrela stopped charging when he was two meters away from Garen. Strangely, the silver light did not stop and went straight toward Garen.
A silver tiny light dot appeared on Garen's chest and disappeared in a second. Andrela's attack penetrated his skin and muscle, a drop of blood appeared on Garen's chest, but started to flood with red right after. Garen held the wound with his hand, feeling a severe pain coming from his chest.
"What a strike…" Garen looked surprised. "I didn't even have time to defend. The burst of speed at the last second was unbelievable."
"Unfortunately… It is still not enough…" Garen inhaled deeply and a great amount of heat started to come out of his body.
His body was getting larger, and taller!
His height increased from 1.9 meters to about 2.3, and he was much taller than Andrela after the transformation. Some of his muscles changed to black, while the rest became green. He turned into a giant within seconds, and his arm had the size of a normal person's leg.
Veins twisted in his body, and they looked like numerous venomous green snakes.
After seeing Garen's transformation, everyone's expression changed.
The Martial Artists, girls from the Circling Dance Gate, and people from the Red Obsidian Gate, the Celestial Circle Gate, the Seven Moon Gate, were all staring at the horrifying black-green giant, Garen.
"This is the Master level of Body Hardening Techniques… I only heard about it from the tales…" One of the Martial Artists in the crowd said in a shaky tone since not many people in the world could recognize the changes happening to Garen.
"Changes like this will only happen to people that master Body Hardening Techniques!"
"Garen from the Southern Twelve Gates! This battle will become his masterpiece!"
The crowd got noisy and excited.
The Three Circles and Elders of the Celestial Circle Gate looked nervous. They thought that the one from the Seven Moon Gate was strong and Garen was just an average Martial Artist, but they did not expect him to be so strong.
"Master level in Body Hardening Techniques! We are in trouble!" The Elder said and stared at Andrela. "Andrela… How are you going to deal with his legendary Body Hardening Techniques?"
"Senior Brother will never lose!" A tall girl of the Three Circles said in a serious tone.
"Fight! Senior Brother!" Xin Luo yelled.
The Second Elder of the Seven Moon Gate was surprised, but he looked full of excitement.
"Master level in Body Hardening Techniques. I didn't expect that…"
"Let's see what Andrela is going to do! Garen is invincible!" The Junior Brothers, Senior Brothers, and the Elders were all surprised. Rampas finally felt elated.
At the entrance of the Circling Dance Gate, several girls just recovered from the shock and saw Garen's changes.
"Get him! Garen is the best!"
Imogen Lillette yelled excitedly.
"What are you going to do now? Andrela." Jaimea Lilliette was looking forward to seeing Andrela's next action, so she stared at him.
Everyone at the place was staring at Andrela, wanting to know what he was going to do next.
Andrela was wearing black, and he looked like a kid in front of Garen. It was like a kid trying to fight an adult: weak.
Although the sword in Andrela's hand was about 1.5 meters long, but it looked like a toothpick when compared to Garen's body, about to break at any moment.
Bam!
Garen clapped, creating a loud sound. He was also staring at Andrela, looking forward to his opponent's next skill.
"This is my true form, Andrela! Come get me, for your brother, for the fame of the Celestial Gate, and for the Extreme Martial Arts you're always pursuing!"
Andrela had a surprised look on his face, but unlike the others, he did not fear Garen, not at all! He was just surprised and excited to see something he had never seen before.
"The Master level in Body Hardening Techniques… Garen... Your name will be heard in the whole Southern Martial Artist World!
"You are right. Even though it's a pity, but one of us has to die today. It's either you or me." Andrela calmed down. "I thought I'd never meet a worthy opponent, and then I met you…"
Andrela raised his sword in the air.
"I will show you the strongest Sword Art created by myself!"
"Secret Sword Art!"
"Blink!"
Chi!
After hearing the light noise, Garen felt pain coming from his back, and Andrela had disappeared from in front of him.
He turned back immediately and saw Andrela standing there firmly. Andrela lowered his sword slowly, and there was blood on the point of his blade.
"Such speed…" Garen's pupils constricted. "My eyes can't catch movements like that… but I don't think you can use that skill with ease."
Garen could still feel the pain coming from the centre of his back, but it was not a big deal.
"If you'd used it on someone else, he would be dead for sure. Unfortunately..."
"... it's you." There was a bitter smile on Andrela's face.
Garen nodded. "When I'm in this form, any damage I take will be partially reflected. Your Blink was done at full speed and strength, so the reflected damage must be high. I guess your wrist bones have already fractured a bit, right?"
Andrela's bitter smile disappeared. "I can still try one more time."
"Your last attack was at full speed and strength, but it barely hurt me, and you want to try again?" Garen looked at Andrela calmly. "Also, I can't promise you will survive my next attack when I'm in this form. Each of my attacks come with vibration, and it is the essence of my Mammoth Secret Technique."
Garen shook his head. "Stop. I don't want to kill you."
"It's fine. I'm willing to give up my life as long as it's worth it. The Extreme Martial Arts are the purpose of my life." Andrela raised his sword again, and Garen could see the passion in his eyes.
"I will respect your choice." It was the first time Garen had met someone who would give up his life to pursue the Extreme Martial Arts.
Garen closed his eyes, and his body started to tremble. It looked like he could move to any angle he wanted, and he was trying to prevent Andrela from attacking his weaknesses, such as ears and eyes. He focused his defense on those parts.
"Secret Sword Arts… Blink!" Andrela disappeared with the last word.
Garen's muscles suddenly retracted and became very dense. He also raised his arms.
"Consecutive Swing Form!"
His body started turning, and his arms were swinging like a wheel. He was chopping at all the angles with his hands.
Chi!
Andrea's sword appeared in front of Garen's eyes and ears, but he did not find any chance. He then aimed at Garen's right armpit, trying to stab his sword into it.
Boom!
At that moment, Garen hit Andrela's left shoulder with his hand, and Andrela was blown away by the impact.
"Celestial Circle Gate lost!"
Everyone had that one thought in their mind after seeing what had just happened.