Talented Martial Hero novel Chapter 74

'What the hell? I just took care of one, and now another showed up. What if I use some secret skill to kill this one? Will another copy with the secret skill turn up? Will the runes keep making copies of me along with the techniques I use to kill the previous one?' Darren cursed, studying the replica of himself.

'If my assumption is right, I'm as good as dead.

I finally understand why so many geniuses lost their lives here. This is almost like a suicide task. There's no way anyone can keep fighting themselves no matter how strong they are. The runes will just make another stronger version of you.

In the past thousands of years, approximately 100, 000 talented cultivators had come here, but no one had gotten the so-called inheritance yet. Only a few had managed to get out of here alive. Elsa was lucky to survive.'

Darren started to regret his choices. After he passed the third test, he had the chance to back out, but since he easily passed the previous trials, he thought that he might be able to get through all the tests. Now, facing another copy of him wielding a sword and a blade, he realized how wrong he was. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to push through as there was no turning back at this point. He made up his mind to pull out all the stops to defeat his enemy.

Shaking off all the negative thoughts, he got up and fixed his eyes on his opponent—the second copy.

...

Meanwhile, Elsa looked at the lake from time to time, hoping to see a glance of Darren. Sadly, there was no sign of the man she was looking for, making her extremely worried.

"Sir, please check on Darren and see how he is doing," she pleaded, her eyes filled with concern.

"I told you more than once that I somehow couldn't check on Darren. Perhaps this is master's doing. I can't do anything about it," Mathew responded solemnly, shaking his head.

'Master has never sent his avatar until now. Does Darren have some special martial skills I don't know about?' he wondered.

"Please tell me what your master has told you. I'm really worried about my friend," Elsa continued worriedly, her voice breaking.

"Fine, I will let you know," Mathew said with an exasperated sigh. Even though he was usually easygoing and patient, he grew impatient for Elsa kept bothering him. "Master ordered me to not let Darren into the Starry Tower before he enters the Wonder Realm even if he passes the fifth trial."

"Why not?" Elsa almost shouted out. She didn't understand why Mathew's master was trying to prevent Darren from entering the Starry Tower.

"Why are you getting so worked up about it? And how do I know what master is thinking? It's not like I can read minds. All I know is that master plans to send his avatar to meet Darren after he gets through the fifth test. If Darren makes it out of there alive, I'll go ahead and ask master why he made such a decision," Mathew said.

"I see. I hope God will bless Darren," Elsa murmured as she calmed down. She could do nothing but pray and hope Darren would come back safe and sound.

The two fell into silence. After a while, Mathew glanced at Elsa and said abruptly, "If you and Darren make it, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it? I will do everything I can to help you. I'm sure Darren thinks the same way," Elsa responded. She was being sincere. After all, she thought highly of the elder.

"When I died, my soul was destroyed. Once you and Darren become stronger, I hope you could help me find my body. Perhaps I could come back to life someday with that," Mathew answered softly.

...

Having fought several rounds with the fake Darren, Darren had gotten another set of wounds.

On the other hand, even though his replica was covered in bruises, Darren knew that didn't affect him because he didn't feel any pain or fear. No matter how badly injured the replica was, he continued attacking Darren without any hesitation.

'Damn it! Looks like I should activate my demonic internal force, ' Darren thought for he felt that he couldn't keep this up any longer.

'He is as good at sword and blade as I am. If I continue to fight this way, I will get myself killed.'

As he concentrated, the demon core in his elixir field started to stir. An enormous demonic internal force flowed into his meridians, and he felt his strength increasing rapidly.

Once he got enough demonic internal force running through his body, he started to transform. Black scales covered his body like a tough armor.

Darren gave a shrill growl like a beast.

With bloodthirsty eyes, he walked towards his replica.

Noting that Darren was approaching him, the fake Darren waved his sword and blade and charged towards his target with incredible speed.

BANG!

Instead of using his sword, Darren resorted to his fist. He gave his opponent a punch packed with so much power that his clone was forced to step back.

Having sustained a fatal injury, the replica became weaker. Darren, on the other hand, was able to restore his former strength for he had activated demonic internal force. Through this power, he was sure he could beat his replica.

Darren dashed forward as fast as lightning and made his punch rain on his opponent's chest. He didn't stop until he could feel his fist tearing the fake's flesh and crushing his ribs. As a result, his replica got a big hole in his chest.

The fake Darren lay on the ground groaning as if he was unhappy with the result.