Her depravity, however, remained unaltered. As night fell, the restless Mary prowled about, a veritable beacon in the darkness. Unsurprisingly, her antics culminated in swollen cheeks and feverish affliction the next day, her inflamed visage impervious even to ice packs.Jason shook his head, unwilling to dwell on her plight. For the day had arrived - the long-awaited clash between him and Albert, the illustrious Northern Faction Martial Arts Master, a battle that had set the martial arts world abuzz.Serene amidst the swirling maelstrom, Jason's sole intent was to validate his prowess. Albert would prove a formidable adversary, and the impending contest beckoned.The clash had sent shockwaves through Emerald City, aristocratic families and financial titans converging in droves. An unforeseen boon, the city's GDP soaring higher than any celebrity could propel it.Yet opinions on the outcome were near-unanimous: the Martial Saint's impetuous disciple, overestimating his abilities, had
On Emerald Mountain's slopes, impatient spectators traded barbs over Jason's tardiness, deriding this so-called Martial Saint disciple's lack of courage. Among them, Benjamin Howard and Old Stewart fretted, the former's idle boast having snowballed into this spectacle.High above, Albert stood vigil, his eyes flashing open as if detecting a disturbance. A solitary figure ascended the dais, their arrival erupting in a fervent roar that shook the mountain. "Jason Gray?" Susan and Emily gasped in disbelieving unison, scarcely recognizing the imposing warrior before them as their unassuming friend. This day's battle would redefine their understanding of the man they thought they knew.The two women gasped in disbelief, eyes widening incredulously. Was this some waking dream? How could it be Jason? Could it be that the fabled disciple of the Martial Saint was indeed Jason himself?"This...this cannot be possible?" They racked their brains, unable to fathom the enigma before them.Especial
"So swift!" Jason's pupils contracted as two hurtling fists rapidly expanded in his vision. The fist techniques were hauntingly familiar - the very Arm Fist Boxing style Jeremy had mastered to such deadly effect.The same art that had set the dominoes toppling toward this very fateful clash, when Jason had been forced to extinguish that malignant life.Ah, so that explained Albert's zeal to represent the Arm Fist lineage in avenging its scion. For one of his Three Supreme Techniques was itself the Arm Fist Boxing style. Having assimilated their ultimate skills, he doubtless considered himself a member of that sect, honor-bound to retaliate.Yet Albert's mastery of Arm Fist Boxing eclipsed Jeremy's by a hundredfold in speed and ferocity. He truly lived up to his genius renown."Boom! Boom!" "Swish...swish...swish..."The audience cried out as the two combatants instantly erupted into a whirlwind of blurring strikes, an electrifying conflagration of close-quarters carnage. So this was
Another jeered, "If he somehow wins, I'll kneel and call him grandfather myself. Mark my words, he's spent - one more blow and it's over..."But the modest man only shook his head with a soft chuckle. "One cannot judge solely by appearances. Though he seems defenseless, he is in truth marshaling his strength, awaiting the opportune moment to launch a decisive counterattack."He nodded sagely. "Watch - that moment draws near.""Yeah right, pull the other one!" the others scoffed in mordant chorus.The bizarre exchange carried to many others, even reaching old Stewart's party - all of whom frowned and shook their heads in baffled dismissal. Such an outcome was patently impossible.To their discerning eyes, Jason's loss seemed a foregone conclusion - the blatant reality any clear-sighted observer could perceive. He had absorbed such a brutal battering, they should have moved heaven and earth to prevent him entering this hopeless duel.Matt Turner and Henry Murphy watched with feverish in
Among the Northern Faction's partisans, Christian Cox and his ilk had turned deathly pale, cold tendrils of dread gripping their cores."Sweet heavens...can this be real?"Benjamin Howard could only gape in stupefied awe. This whelp's ferocity knew no bounds! He had already witnessed Jason's prowess firsthand, yet never could he have fathomed such transcendent might. His power rivaled even his formidable brother Arthur!On the other side, old Stewart and Julia Stewart's expressions shone with ill-concealed elation as they scanned the crowds, seeking the unassuming stranger who had presaged this very outcome.Yet the prescient seer had long since vanished into the dispersing masses."Hack...cough...cough..."Albert choked out a thick gout of blood, his every ragged exhalation a tortuous strain. Agony lanced through his battered form, his bones all but shattered, his musculature turned to enervated gelatin.That single strike had nearly ended his life outright - he had been overwhelmed
"Swish...swish!"In a blurring whirlwind, Albert channeled the last dregs of his energy into an explosive charge, his legs turned to whip-crack springs propelling a blinding onslaught."This is...""The Fourth Killing Art - Whirlwind Taekwondo!""He speaks true!" the witnesses cried out in awe, for this was indeed the signature art of one of the Northern Faction's elite overlords, ranked among the hallowed Ten Supreme Masters. As the preeminent progenitor of the Taekwondo factions, his influence had extended even to Emerald City through now-exterminated offshoots.The culprit behind that massacre still remained an unsolved mystery.Jason too recognized the technique's formidable aura - yet Albert's crippling injuries rendered such a gambit pointless against his transcendent dominion."Futile fool!"Though Albert's velocity seemed blinding, Jason's explosive acceleration far outpaced his foe. With an arcing whipcord of sheer annihilating force, a single sweeping kick detonated against
Emily too scrubbed and blinked her eyes in a vain attempt to unseat the implausible mirage. She even tugged insistently at Jason's hair, as if reassuring herself of his substantive corporeality, earning her an exasperated glare and reproachful grimace.Only when the truth became incontrovertible did the two women exhale in relief, exchanging rueful shakes of their head at the unnerving episode. "Well, with identical appearances, I must say the similarities end there," Emily commented with a disdainful sniff towards Jason's disgruntled frown. "Just imagine if you had his prowess! How much more fortuitous that would be."Jason rolled his eyes, grinding his teeth in silent outrage. After the invaluable aid he had rendered her, she dared express such scathing ingratitude?But Susan only pursed her lips in gentle reproof. "He is himself, just as Jason is Jason. Whether mighty or meek, his worth outstrips all else - as yours does in my eyes." A teasing smile played over her lips. "If his a
Christian Cox and others couldn't help but break down in tears."Why? Ahhh..."Soon, this incident shook the martial arts world. Countless Martial Arts Masters were stunned, marveling at Martial Saint's discernment. The disciple he had chosen was indeed formidable!Possessing limitless potential and a promising future!Long after, when Albert awoke from his unconscious state and learned of this tragic, humiliating outcome, though his life was spared, his eyes were hollow, like a walking corpse. He had lost not just the match but all his arrogance, confidence, and perhaps even his soul!Representing Arm Fist Boxing, he no longer wished to continue. Forget being incapable, this single battle had repaid his dues. Martial Saint's disciple was indeed spectacular and formidable."Cough...cough!" Albert coughed up some blood. He knew that from this day forth, his martial path might be severed by half.Becoming one of the top ten Martial Arts Masters was now a distant dream!"Let's go. Hen