The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Most people just thought it was curious but shrugged it off. This included the youngsters from the Righteous Path. Even the martial artists from the Assassin Unit, who were at the Peak or the Absolute realms, were unaware.

What did it mean to be a Peak martial artist? It was a fundamentally different realm from the Westerners’ superficial power; it was something acquired by going through long periods of ascetic practices and rigorous training, all the way from infancy. Barely one in a hundred martial artists ever reached that level in their lifetime. As for people reaching the Absolute realm, those were far fewer still.

And the Assassin Unit was rumored to be a gathering place for such rare talents.

"Well, either the swords were unaffected by the magnetic forces or… he truly had the incredible insight to understand the nature of this test." They were completely oblivious to what was happening beneath the ground they stood upon.

"What do you all think?"

"..."

"Do you think it's possible for the junior martial artists from the Righteous Path to pass the examination so quickly?"

The Assassin Unit members fell silent to his question.

Suddenly, a group of people appeared in front of them.

"Wh-What are you guys doing here?"

The Black Wind Squadron, a special unit from the Country of Yu, had arrived. THey had been tasked with testing the Evil Path's youngsters. The leader of the Assassin Unit looked at them without saying anything..

"There was an amazing talent."

"An amazing talent?"

"How quickly did the youngsters of the Evil Path pass the test?"

The leader of the Black Wind Squadron furrowed his brow at the question. "Hmm. One or two hours."

"Well, on our side, it was all over in fifteen minutes."

"What?" The leader of the Black Wind Squadron looked surprised. "You are saying the youngsters from the Righteous Path all passed in fifteen minutes?"

"Seventeen passed, and two who tried petty tricks and one who lacked talent failed. Fewer people passed from the Righteous Path than the Evil Path, but the average time it took them was fifteen minutes.”

The Assassin Unit was from Hwan, and the Black Wind Squadron was from Yu. They were cooperating to oversee this martial arts contest, so it was normal to exchange some information.

Everyone was aware that the Evil Path's youngsters had superior talent and expected them to pass quickly…. As for the Central Martial Alliance’s representatives finishing the test in fifteen minutes, that was not just surprising, it was inconceivable.

"Was there a problem with the testing grounds?" The leader of the Black Wind Squadron thought that even if they had a poor relationship with the opposing side, they had to look at things objectively.

"The examination was completely twisted because of one person."

"One person?"

"Yes. A monstrous individual has entered."

With these words, the Assassin Unit leader swiftly drew his sword.

Zeeek!!

One slash opened a wide gash in the ground, presenting everyone with a surprising sight.

"Magnetic diamond…"

The Assassin Unit had told the juniors that the underground layer was normal magnetite. In fact, this place harbored a substantial amount of a heavenly resource called magnetic diamond. It was overwhelmingly tough, and even sword qi had a hard time going through it. And yet, this underground layer of magnetic diamond was now completely fractured.

"Others quickly drew their swords, taking advantage of the chaos caused by this person."

"What in the world did he do?"

"What do you think? He drew out his sword."

Hearing these words, the Black Wind Squadron leader's expression contorted. "Is that even possible? It's impossible to just draw out a sword embedded more than halfway into magnetic diamond…. Hold on a second, you don’t mean to tell me…"

Realizing what that meant, the Black Wind Squadron leader's eyes widened. "Did he fight the force within the ground with sheer power?"

"Yes. The attraction of the magnetic diamond could not withstand his strength and it completely collapsed."

‘Nonsense!’ Well, he wanted to call it nonsense, but no one could open their mouth when the fractures in the ground served as ironclad proof.

"There was an experiment in the past with magnetic diamond. We tried to counter it using superior power."

The more magnetic diamond buried, the stronger its attraction became. When such an intense force was counteracted by a stronger force, the magnetic diamond crumbled from the inside. The resulting force scattered in all directions, and the result of it was precisely what they had in front of their eyes.

"Who is this person?" asked the Assassin Unit leader.

The Black Wind Squadron leader did not reply—not because he didn’t want to, but because he simply could not think of any youngster being capable of such a feat. In any case, regardless of who it was…

"Hmph. Seems we had a hidden dragon among us."

"Are you smelling victory now? Does it feel good?"

"Pitiful, isn't it? Not like the leader of the Assassin Unit, who always boasts of having highly talented youngsters."

Both the Assassin Unit and the Black Wind Squadron members could only sigh. "Son of a bitch…"

"What's the name of the kid?"

"Davey…they say he's a descendant of the Westerners. Honestly, his qi was not perceivable at all, I actually doubted that he was even a martial artist."

"Is there a chance he used black magic?"

Nothing could be more shameful for the Righteous Path than one of its members being caught using black magic. If it indeed was black magic, then forget the Assassin Unit; the Black Wind Squadron would be the first to step forward and stop him.

"You think he would dare to use black magic in my presence? No chance. From what I saw, he simply pulled out the sword with sheer strength."

"If anything, that’s even more amazing."

"How do you think I feel, having seen it myself? Let's move. We have to prepare for the next test."

The Black Wind Squadron and the Assassin Unit glanced back at the unbelievable test ground once more and then moved on.

*

"You acted like a musclehead." Perserque chuckled, playfully tapping her feet on Davey’s shoulder.

The testing grounds were, originally, inaccessible to anyone but the participants in the martial arts contest. However, a married couple was essentially one unit. And if no one noticed her thanks to concealment magic, then no one would have anything to say about her being together with Davey. She had shrunk to the size of a palm and was now sitting on his shoulder, gazing around while Davey leisurely ascended the stairs. Even now, she seemed to be busy sightseeing.

"It seems like the youngsters are starting to come up."

"They owe me a drink."

According to his judgment, only about half would have passed the first test under normal circumstances, and among them, a few would have passed effortlessly. The others had just reaped the benefits of Davey’s actions.

When he first grabbed the sword, Davey could almost see the structure of the ground by spreading mana inside the sword, and he clearly felt that the sword could not be pulled out by mere strength. To extract a sword embedded halfway, he either had to break off the blade or turn the attraction of the magnetic diamond into repulsion. However, Davey simply wrapped the sword in mana and pulled it out with brute strength.

"Was there any need to go that far?"

"Kinda. The testers were going a bit too far themselves."

The idea of taking a test to qualify for a martial arts contest was laughable. Smiling wryly, he took a fleeting glance at the boys huffing and puffing their way up in the distance and continued on his way.

Around him, members of the Assassin Unit appeared. They all wore masks with the character “Kill” inscribed on them. He couldn’t tell what they looked like, but they were evidently masters at the Peak or even the Absolute realm.

"You arrived quickly, do you have the sword that serves as proof?"

A dull voice requested the sword, reaching out his hand.

Davey brought out the swords he had obtained, which coincidentally were j of similar size to the Red Ribbon and the Blue Ribbon.

"Two swords?"

"There's no rule saying that I can’t, is there?"

"… That's right. Take these scabbards."

The man quickly handed over two scabbards, and Davey silently sheathed the two swords in and tied them to his waist.

"The second test is to get to the venue. There’s a cave in the forest ahead of here. Get past the dangers in the forest and the cave and reach the contest venue. That’s it."

Davey silently nodded.

"A word of advice—don’t lose your sword under any circumstance. A martial artist’s weapon is a part of their body, and whoever loses it has no right to participate in the martial arts contest."

"Hmm… Is it first come, first served?"

"That is correct. Excelling in the test will raise your fame and the rewards will grow proportionally."

"I'm not particularly interested," Davey said indifferently as he passed by the member of the Assassin Unit.

"It would be wise to take things easy. Be humble." As Davey walked by, a member of The Assassin Unit warned softly, with a hint of anger in his voice, "Even if someone dies inside, no one will know."

"If I kill all of you here, will anyone know?"

"..."

"If there's no one to see, it's an assassination." With these calm words, Davey patted the man’s shoulder lightly. At the same time, he lightly infused mana into the man's body, suppressing his qi in an instant.

These assassins were Peak and Absolute martial artists. They were a formidable group, but compared to the dangers Davey had faced till now, they were hardly a threat.

[Heavenly Destroyer Divine Art]

[Suppression]

‘The Heavenly Destroyer Divine Art can do even this. Your martial arts don't have techniques like this, do they?’

Thump!!!

The man felt his body stiffen.

"Don't bring personal opinions into this."

"… Gasp!" The man found it difficult to breathe, and he shivered.

There was no reason for Davey to show any compassion to someone who held animosity towards him from the outset. Of course, it was not the man's fault. It would have been more suspicious if the Assassin Unit, originating from the Country of Hwan, had been overly friendly with a participant from the Righteous Path.

Their exchange went unnoticed by the others.

Davey quietly walked past the Assassin Unit member, heading toward the colossal forest.

*

Davey did not immediately leave for the tournament venue. The reason was that being first in this test was not his goal. Whatever the results were, as long as he won the martial arts contest, it was all that mattered.

Unaware that Davey had suppressed their comrade’s qi with, some other Assassin Unit members guided him to the entrance of the testing area. However, Davey had no intention to pass through the forest right now.

Casting an illusion spell around him that prevented outsiders from observing him, he waited for quite some time. From the distant, loud noises, it seemed that the latecomers from the Righteous Path and their counterparts from the Evil Path were running through the forest.

Shortly after, Davey asked Rinne, "Have you checked?"

"Mission complete, Rinne's secret operation skills are highly praised by Davey."

"I haven't praised you yet."

In response to Davey’s words, Rinne stared intently at Davey’s face and spoke again, "Davey highly praises."

"Hey, now. At least wait until the job is done to seek praise..."

Before he could finish, Rinne's eyes widened. The next moment, she covered her face with both hands and started to cry, with her shoulders shaking. "Uwaaahhh…Uwaaahhh…"

Her sorrowful voice and sudden reaction confused not only Davey but also Perserque, and they momentarily stared at her in a daze.

"Davey! Hurry, talk to her!"

"Shit!"

Flustered, both Davey and Perserque hastened toward Rinne.

Davey grasped Rinne’s shoulders and stammered, "Well, um... Rinne, y-you know I'm not upset, right? It's just an important matter, so…"

Interrupted by his rambling, Rinne looked up from her covering hands and asked, "Rinne… ughhhh... is Rinne highly praised?"

"... Yes, you are highly praised."

‘Let's calm her down first,’ he thought.

Hearing that, Rinne slowly raised her head, and upon seeing her face, Davey and Perserque were relieved.

"Have you… learned to act too?"

"Rinne, highly praise the excellent acting ability."

Rinne's face was as plain as ever. There were no tears; instead, her mouth was curled into a slight smirk and the look in her eyes could almost be called gleeful. After triumphantly declaring "Mission complete" and hopping around, Rinne’s eyes sparkled, and she projected countless strands of text into the air.

Self-improving golem, indeed. With every passing moment, it grew more audacious.

Davey sighed heavily at Rinne's trick. He then briefly skimmed over the information Rinne had gathered.

The hologram displayed the results of Rinne's probe, using Kain's powers to investigate Isildi's case. The data suggested that Isildi had likely lost her memory as a side effect of the dimensional rule of this world. With his theory now confirmed, he felt rather strange.

"Rinne is highly praised?"

"Indeed, Rinne is highly praised. But Kain, not so much." Kain would be frothing at the mouth with rage if he heard Davey’s scornful tone as the latter pat Rinne's head firmly in approval.

"Return to the martial contest venue. If you detect any trace of the Abyssal powers, contact me immediately."

At his command, Rinne’s wings fluttered. She ascended slowly into the air and vanished from the spot with a swishing sound.

"Alright, my business here is done, let's go." Davey deactivated the illusion magic and moved on at a steady pace.

"Davey, do you know where you’re going?"

"Nope."

Wander the forest, reach the cave, and head to the martial contest venue. It seemed the last test would take place there, and since he had waited for Rinne, Davey was quite late.

"Well then..." Davey slowly raised his head and noticed a bird soaring in the sky. He put his index fingers and thumbs together in the shape of a rectangle and looked through it, framing the bird inside that space.

[3rd Circle Dark Magic]

[Familiar]

Bzzzz

A dark surge of mana eagerly left his body and entered the bird. Once his vision synchronized with the bird’s, Davey lightly moved forward.

The test involved traversing the forest and reaching the cave, then getting past whatever challenges were waiting there in order to reach the venue…by whatever means available. Davey knew that some of the youngsters could have already arrived, so it was high time for him to move.

The path seemed long, and with the forest trails too damp to traverse pleasantly, Davey quickly decided on his next step. After casting a wide-area illusion magic and making sure that the observers only saw what he wanted them to see, he released his mana without hesitation…

[8th Circle]

[Warp]

…to leap across space.