Nobilis of War novel Chapter 38

His words made Darren think about the situation more. 'Jimmy is the elite of the School of Boxing Skill, but he got beaten up like this. Why didn't the Elder of the School of Boxing Skill, Ezra, stand up for him?' he wondered, confused.

After mulling it over for a few minutes, he had come to a conclusion: Alan had used Jimmy as a pawn and Ezra gave his assent.

'This is so horrible. The relationships among the elders are complicated.

To weaken the strength of their enemies and to gain more profits, the leaders are willing to sacrifice their disciples. They don't value other people's lives as long as they can get what they want.

I learned an important lesson from this. This world is dominated by the strong, and the weak are nothing but disposable pieces, ' he grudgingly thought.

This realization made Darren long for power more than ever. He wanted to become so strong that nothing could ever threaten him again.

"Come back to Sword Mountain right now and go to the cave to reflect upon the mistakes you've made for half a year. This is your punishment," Thomas said, his tone making it obvious that it was his final decision.

"Elder Thomas!" With an evil smile on his face, William stepped forward and stopped in front of Thomas. He said, "Darren and I agreed to fight in the Life and Death Valley. According to the rule, no one can back out once an agreement has been established."

Without warning, Thomas swung his arm and gave William a slap. He thundered, "How dare you pressure my disciple to enter the Life and Death Valley?"

Terrified and with one hand touching his sore cheek, William immediately knelt down and explained, "I have been misunderstood, Elder Thomas. I have not pressured Darren. In fact, he was the one who proposed to fight in the Life and Death Valley. If my words are not enough to prove that I am saying the truth, perhaps the words of the people around us are. They heard everything. They know what I am talking about."

"It's true," someone from the crowd said. "He speaks no lie. Darren even threatened to kill him and his brother."

Thomas snorted and said coldly, "So what? I'm calling off the fight. You got any problem with that?"

"We..." The crowd closed their mouths and thought, 'He is an Elder, so he is the boss.'

"Thank you for looking out for me, but I must enter the Life and Death Valley," Darren said, approaching Elder Thomas with a firm look in his eyes. "These bastards don't deserve to live. I will end them once and for all."

"You idiot! You think too highly of yourself. It's your business if you want to go and get yourself killed, but I can't let you disgrace me." Thomas couldn't believe Darren's impudence. 'I attempted to save his life, but he still wants to get killed. What a fool!'

"I'm sorry, Elder Thomas, but I've already made up my mind." Darren gazed at William and said, "I'll meet you at the Life and Death Valley." He also gave Karl and several disciples on their side a meaningful look.

"Darren is so stubborn and arrogant. He even bragged that he would kill several disciples of the Spirit Realm. A fool on a suicide mission!"

"I agree with you. I have never met someone who wants to die as much as he does. Elder Thomas stood up for him, but he still wanted to fight them. He is really a dumb ass."

The whispers among the crowds reflected what they thought of Darren.

"Thomas, he is nothing but a moron. Are you still going to take his side? Don't get too worked up. He doesn't deserve that," Alan said, feigning concern.

Thomas ignored him. He gave Darren an icy stare and huffed, "You've made up your mind. No one can stop you. I am not needed here anymore."

He then vanished into thin air.

Darren lifted the weak Jimmy and walked away under the derisive gazes of the crowd. He didn't care about their opinion. He only cared about Jimmy and the unfair treatment his friend suffered under the ruthless leaders.

"William, he took Jimmy with him. What should we do?" Karl asked nervously.

"Don't worry, Jimmy is going to die anyway. He is no longer a threat to us. Just let them leave," William replied.

...

When Darren returned to Sword Mountain, he placed Jimmy on his bed and helped him take several pills.

He then started to practice the Profound Nine Sword Skills and Grand Thirteen Blade Skills. He had mastered the first move of the two superior martial arts. In a blink of an eye, half a day passed.

"I haven't entered the Spirit Realm yet. Can I defeat William with the two martial skills I have learned?" he murmured, unable to stop his doubt from spreading.

In the afternoon, Darren strode towards the north of the Ilmen Sect, where the Life and Death Valley was.

When he arrived at his destination, several hundred disciples of Ilmen Sect had already gathered there. It was evident that they looked quite eager to witness this so called suicide mission.

There were disciples of the School of Sword Skill as well, including Cody Qi.

"Darren, you shouldn't have made such a stupid decision. What were you thinking about when you challenged the people of Spirit Realm?" Cody berated with evident concern in his voice.

"Pursuing martial arts is a tough path. If I always choose to run away from problems, I will never make any progress. So I decided not to run anymore. I'd like to give this a shot. Everyone thinks I'm going to die. If I make it out of here alive, I'll be able to prove them wrong, and I'll be able to prove to myself that I have what it takes to carry on this path," Darren replied calmly.

He then jumped off the cliff and entered the valley below.

William laughed loudly and said, "The bastard is there. Let's go." He and other disciples of the School of Blade Skill followed Darren and jumped off the cliff, too.

Once people entered the Life and Death Valley, one of their feet was already in the grave. Their lives were at the mercy of the stronger party.

"Guess how long it will take for those guys to slay Darren?"

"Is that even a question? Come on! Haven't you noticed that he hasn't entered the Spirit Realm? Besides, he has refined the sword intent seed and blade intent seed, so he doesn't stand a chance. This is a losing battle for him. I bet he will get killed within a few minutes."

"Look, the fight has finally begun!"

Everyone looked down below the valley and watched the battle unfold.