The Supreme God of Martial Arts

Austin was beaten back one more time. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and looked up at Marvin. Seeing the powerful energy around him and the yellow shadow of palm, Austin was aware that his thousand-pound punch was still unable to break through the Giant Magic Palm that Marvin had mastered.

"lt seems that the force of his fourth grade martial arts skill is extraordinary. And my punches aren't enough to confront it. | need to practice harder. If | can reach the second level of the Overlord Body-refining Formula, | can easily defeat Marvin with a force of five thousand pounds, * he thought.

He was barely lost in thought for a moment when an idea struck him like a silver dagger.

‘Okay, let's try this!" Austin prepared himself, rolling up his sleeves and squaring his elbows.

He brought his hands together, intertwining his fingers into an unfathomable but awe-striking gesture. Meanwhile, his energy was gathering into a solid ball within him. Moments later, several threads of golden vital energy emerged from his palms, twisting at the center like little golden snakes in time with Austin's fingers and their movements.

The energy flowed strongly with the force of a tidal wave. Gradually, a glowing three-storied golden pagoda came into being. All the vital energy surrounding Austin seemed to be waiting in the wings.

"Oh good Lord! The Grand Pagoda Summoning Skill!" The appearance of the Grand Pagoda caused a disturbance among the outer ring of disciples who had started gathering around them to watch the fighting. They instantly recognized what was on Austin's palms.

Every disciple knew that the Grand Pagoda had contributed towards Austin defeating Billy the last time.

And now, Billy went white as a sheet when he saw it again. Although he had tried cultivating his energy these past days, he was well aware that it was still beyond his capacity and that it was impossible for him to defeat Austin this time too.

Besides, Billy had the feeling that it was much easier and faster for Austin to generate it this time. And it looked like the energy contained within the Pagoda was more aggressive than the previous energy.

"I cannot believe this!" Billy yelled. 'Oh my God! It's the fluctuation of ninth level of the Energy Gathering Realm!" Billy thought frantically, like a duck in a thunderstorm.

Marvin looked the Grand pagoda up and down, and suddenly, he felt his heart give a great throb. His color changed as he found out how much energy it actually contained. It was clearly much stronger than when Austin was challenging Billy.

He could see that the vital energy emanating off Austin's Grand Pagoda was much more powerful than his.

He also could tell that it was the ninth level of the Energy Gathering Realm.

"It cannot be! Austin! How could you reach the ninth level in such a short time?" Marvin snapped.

He couldn't believe the sight that he beheld with his own two eyes.

It was common sense that the real strength of a fighter depended on the level of his vital energy, not the movement of martial arts.

If what Marvin now assumed about Austin was true, then it would be a wholly different situation altogether—something that veered to the opposite of what he was expecting. To avoid this, he needed to straighten out this mess before doing anything else.

He tried to regain his composure and ready himself for any misfortune.

Although Marvin's voice was not loud, the disciples around heard him clearly and it caused an uproar among them.

It had only been just over half a month. It was not possible.

All of them had witnessed Austin's fight with Billy the last time around and they had seen it with their own eyes that Austin pulling out his vital energy at the seventh level.

As cultivators, they never would have made stupid mistakes like misjudging people's cultivation bases. But they also couldn't believe that Austin had reached the ninth level in such a short time. None of them had ever heard of such a thing before. It was plain ridiculous.

If it was true, they would have no idea how to treat Austin in the future. Things would go south if they became extreme. And there was no telling at the moment whether he would be a demon or an angel.

It normally took a year for an outer disciple to break through a level, and each level needed diligent study and strenuous training.

If a fighter reached the next level in half a year, they would be regarded as a martial arts marvel.

But if a fighter managed to jump two levels in half a month, he HAD to be a wizard! It was a miracle! There was no other word to describe it.

The bystanders craned their necks to see what would happen next. Austin smiled at Marvin, as though confirming his suspicions.

"No way! How could you?" Marvin's voice was trembling.

And then he lost the power to know the truth.

He remembered that Austin was at the fifth level of the Energy Gathering Realm when they met at Beast Mountain.

And when they returned to the Sun Mountain, he was shocked to find that Austin had reached the seventh level. But since Austin had taken the fruit of the earth spirit, he had believed it to be normal. After all, the effect of the fruit was too powerful to not attribute it to luck.

Later, Marvin troubled Austin to no end, mostly because he didn't seem to be able to let go of the fruit.

But now, Austin had jumped two more levels to the highest level of Energy Gathering Realm.

He wasn't so stupid to regard it as a result of taking the fruit, but he had begun suspecting that Austin was doing magic and was unable to find another way to explain it.

As far as he was concerned, there was no such thing that had the power to help fighters jump four levels over the span of just a month.

"I'd just waste my breath just trying to tell you. And even if | did tell you, you might not be able to comprehend it in this lifetime as an ordinary fighter!" Austin snorted.

Marvin's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. It was almost exactly what he had said to Austin what felt like a moment ago, and now he was at the receiving end of the return volley.

Getting impatient, he cast a fierce glance combined with a ferocious smile at Austin, and pulled out all his vital energy.

As his vital energy poured out of him and his hands gave out one flash of shadow after another, the sky darkened. Shadows were traveling lightning-fast through the air towards Austin.

Bang-bang, bang-bang! Impacted by the force of Marvin's fist, the surrounding air exploded and was galloping ahead, interweaving with the said shadows.

Austin had expected this to happen before he had generated the Grand Pagoda. The moment he saw Marvin pulling in and directing his vital energy, he calmed himself down and concentrated. He lifted his right palm up and slammed his right foot on the ground at the same time, propelling himself towards Marvin with the swiftness of an arrow. The Grand Pagoda was radiating so much brightness in all directions that nobody dared look directly at it.

As the light glowed brighter and brighter, surges of vital energy came pelting out one after the other like a series of mountainous, rolling waves. In addition to the waves of energy, an almost suffocating pressure was sweeping over them and even the people standing some distance away could feel the freezing cold.

The Grand Pagoda made sure to chill the air as it spread.

The way the Grand Pagoda swept away all the obstacles in its path would be imprinted in every witness's memory and it would be a legend that they would tell their children about in complete awe.

As the golden energy of the Grand Pagoda met the shadow of Marvin's palm, the shock wave formed a cone of pressurized air molecules that moved in all directions and extended to the ground.

A grand thump was ringing in everyone's ears.

Before the shock wave disappeared, all the people heard a low, scary voice.

"Fuck off!" It was Austin's voice. And the Grand Pagoda kept growing higher. It was weird that it was still glowing as if supported by a steady flow of vital energy. It soon overwhelmed Marvin's palm shadow, which gradually petered out until it finally disappeared.

A thud against the ground showed that Marvin was forced to retreat.

He was finally able to stop a hundred meters away, trembling and still staggering from the impact.

His face was red as a cooked shrimp because of suffocation. Moments later, he spat out a large glop of blood, unable to take it anymore.

"Wow!" The bystanders were silent for a moment before they erupted. Nothing had been as surprising as what had transpired today.

When Marvin had started to perform his Giant Magic Palm, all of them thought that it would be impossible for Austin to escape his doom. They thought that Marvin would grind him into ashes. But now that Austin had defeated Marvin, they had difficulty scraping their jaws off the ground.