Nobilis of War novel Chapter 66

Looking around, Darren exclaimed in surprise, "Where are we?"

He also noticed that the wounds on his body disappeared and he was back to his original human form.

In front of him was a cliff. Behind him was a vast wasteland where a great number of huge living creatures strolled and where fights took place occasionally.

'I have only read about these things in books about the ancient world, ' he thought with astonishment.

"Darren, this is the Black Cliff of Sword Intent. I have been here before," Elsa introduced, a trace of terror flashing in her eyes. It had never crossed her mind that she would return to the place where her nightmare began.

Darren nodded then said in a surprised tone, "I'm guessing this is an independent space. The images in the distance look so real."

"You think those are illusions, don't you? But the truth is they are all real."

Her words left Darren dumbfounded. He looked at the demonic monsters. 'I thought they were visions, ' he exclaimed inside.

Upon seeing the skeptical look on Darren's face, Elsa explained further, "I'm telling you the truth. Look at that cliff. There are signs left by swords. If you can't comprehend enough things in three days, the cliff will remain closed and the huge demonic monsters will attack us."

"I see!" The thought of those demonic monsters coming at them gave Darren goosebumps.

"Where is Mr. Xiao?" Elsa muttered as she looked around.

"What did you just say?" Darren asked curiously.

Before she could answer, an elder's shadow that exuded a powerful aura appeared in front of Darren.

"Welcome to the trial, my 34652nd visitor," the shadow said flatly.

"Who, who are you?" Darren asked, with shock in his eyes. Elsa bowed to the shadow calmly as if she had met it before.

"I was Mathew Xiao, a sword cultivator at the Grand Realm. I died 7000 years ago. You can call me Mr. Xiao," the old man replied with a smile.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Xiao," Darren greeted, bowing to the shadow. 'Cultivators at the Grand Realm are stronger than those at the Wonder Realm. They are the rightful rulers of the world, ' he thought in awe.

The shadow of Mathew nodded and then turned to Elsa who was standing beside Darren. "Missy, you were able to escape this place. What brings you here again? You know I am just a shadow and I can't help you. I can't change the test my master created."

Upon hearing this, Elsa felt a bit embarrassed. She explained, "Sir, we had no choice but to break in because we were pursued."

"Looks like luck isn't on your side. Master sent 108000 fragments which bear the sword intent to the outside world, so there are only a few left in here. I remember you failed to open the door of the cliff back then, and the fragment which led you here is still in your hands. Looks like you're doomed to take the test again.

Well, I will not waste more of your time. Hurry up and study the signs on the cliff. Once you have mastered three of them, you can go through the door. That way, you can probably live for another day.

Lots of young men and girls come here by chance, and many of them lose their lives in here. Even those geniuses chosen by the fragments of sword intent failed to leave here alive. Master, do you still want to select your successor by this way? I don't know how many years it would take before someone can inherit what you left behind..."

Listening to the old man silently, Darren had gotten bits of information. But what astonished him most was that the legendary elder who had entered the Grand Realm had an even higher master. 'How strong could his master be? How precious is the treasure he left behind?' he wondered.

Darren shook off those doubts and without a word, looked at the signs on the wall.

Those complicated signs each had a terrifying power. Anyone who caught a glimpse of them would feel as if someone was putting an invisible sword down their throat.

After giving the sign a glance, Elsa suffered from headache. When her talent was at the Black Degree back then, she felt that her head was about to explode as she watched the signs on the wall. She spent three days working on one sign. She was only able to make it by regressing both in her cultivation base and talent. This time, she gave up comprehending the marks.

"Darren, you can give it a shot. But don't force it if it's too much for you. Otherwise you will end up being hurt by the sword intent just like me," Elsa reminded.

Paying no attention to what she said, Darren focused on the marks on the wall.

Staring at the signs, Darren felt like a strong cultivator was waving his sword around him. He recognized that the master was practicing the moves those marks carried.

"I was wrong," Darren murmured as he shook his head after an hour.

"What is it, Darren?" She had kept silent to avoid disturbing him as he studied the signs on the wall.

"I made a mistake. At first, I thought those signs were some kind of sword skill that I could learn. But it turns out I got it all wrong," Darren replied.

"No way. I thought that those signs were sword skills too. I thought I could pass the test by learning those moves," Elsa responded, surprised and bewildered.

"We all got it wrong. They aren't moves of sword skill at all. Someone just improvised them. The one who left them was very powerful, that's why he was able to use his sword to leave these clear marks on the wall. As a result, we mistook these signs for moves of some sword technique. In fact, the real purpose of the master who had left these marks was to teach us to control our strength when we use our sword instead of focusing on these so-called moves," Darren explained.

Elsa was confused by his explanation.

Darren closed his eyes quietly.

Mathew's shadow turned up and stood next to Elsa. With a hint of delight in his voice, he remarked, "I'm surprised to see this lad has grasped that. Looks like you will be able to enter the door on the wall soon. Ha-ha."

Upon hearing this, Elsa cast Darren a glance subconsciously. This lad brought her too many surprises with his strength and talents. She was beginning to see him as some kind of mysterious genius.

As Darren cleared his mind, the marks appeared in his head. He concentrated on studying their intent rather than how they looked.

'Deep and perfect, ' Darren defined the intent of the signs on the wall internally.

He took a breath.

The next second, he opened his eyes and started wielding his sword.

The moves he played looked random as if they didn't make any sense but they all showed great power.

Darren repeated the same moves over and over again. Six hours later, he flew towards the cliff and started carving patterns on it with his sword.

Mathew's shadow laughed and nodded approvingly. "Well done. This lad has started to understand sword intent."

"Oh? He has been able to carve marks with four different strengths. Good job," Mathew's shadow continued, astonished by what Darren accomplished. He thought that he had done a good job for he could copy three marks with different strengths. After all, he wasn't a genius led to there by the fragment.

"Now, I have to check his talent for martial arts," the shadow muttered. Even though it was just Mathew's shadow, it could still sense the talents of other people which were below the Heaven Degree. This might be because he had reached the Grand Realm.

Mathew's shadow began to detect Darren's talent. He was taken aback by the results.

"This boy..."

"What's wrong with him, Mr. Xiao?" Elsa asked in confusion.