Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 435

Chapter 435: Strange Movement
Swoosh~

Wind gushed throughout the forest and blew Maximilian’s hair like a hair dryer on high heat.

It didn’t seem to bother him, as he was in perfect concentration, sitting on a rock, and painting a beautiful landscape in front of him.

He was sitting on a cliff, a stretching landscape before him, and he had a brush in hand with the sun shining brightly in the sky.

With the wave of the brush, he moved it across the painting, adding intricate details that brought the scene to life.

At that moment, his stomach churned, his eyes bulged, and he coughed uncontrollably. After the third cough, blood sprayed from his mouth and splattered across the painting.

The blood trickled down the painting, washing it all off into a dark, murky mess.

“Damn it.”

Maximilian wiped the blood off his mouth, scowling at the ruined masterpiece, and then kicked the easel over in frustration.

A painful throb pulsated inside his body.

He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but he had a hunch that it was coming from wherever his martial soul was located.

Crack~

At that moment, he heard someone step on a twig, snapping it in half under the boot’s weight, and when he turned around, he saw Master Raju walking over to him.

He noticed the blood on Maximilian’s lips and frowned deeply.

“Your foolishness is truly remarkable.”

Master Raju said, and stopped by the cliff, looking at the kicked-over easel, and picked up the failed painting from the ground.

“You tried to push yourself towards Martial Grandmaster rank that you Overtrained yourself, and greatly damaged your future talent.”

Master Raju said with a serious tone.

“If you had been patient, one day you could’ve succeeded me as Wraith Dojo’s master. That’s off the table now. Your impatience has cost you your future.

“While you struggle to become Martial Grandmaster in the future, everyone will pass you and leave you in the dust.”

He said.

“You taught us to go beyond our limits. I did exactly what you said.”

Maximilian said with a pained gaze.

“How dare you talk back to me? You reached High Stage Martial Master. You were the greatest talent! I did not tell you to throw all that away!”

Master Raju screamed angrily.

“You weren’t ready to become Martial Grandmaster. Nowhere close. It’s like you were trying to carve through a steel wall with a plastic spoon!”

Master Raju shouted and tossed the ruined painting off the cliff.

The painting smashed into the jagged rocks and splintered into a thousand pieces.

“I am sorry, master.”

Maximilian said with an expressionless tone.

“Enjoy the martial arts festival while you still can. This will be the last time you’re the strongest talent around.

“Cian will overtake you in months to come. Then Amelia. Then Rein. Then Li. Then Lucas. Then Jaden. Until you’re last.”

Master Raju said and started walking back to his dojo through the forest path.

“Haa…”

Maximilian let out a breath that he had been holding in.

…

Within the training room of the Yokai Dojo.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?”

Aoi asked with a smile while she stood in her fighting stance. Her arms were up. Feet in position, and she was slightly leaning forward.

“Yeah. I’ll need to get used to a gentle fighting style.”

Kiernan said while standing in his Iron Style’s offensive stance.

“Okay~”

Aoi said.

With the clock reaching the top of the hour, Kiernan suddenly slid across the floor and threw a punch over his shoulder.

Aoi touched his fist and stopped in its tracks, but then Kiernan stomped towards her left foot, but she quickly pulled it back and narrowly avoided being hit.

“Ah?”

Kiernan followed up with a series of swift punches, aiming for Aoi’s face, but she weaved through, then circled around him, and kicked towards his back.

At that moment, he turned around, grabbed her leg, hooked his leg around her other leg, and swept her off her feet.

She fell down on her back, and he then pinned her down with his knee on her chest.

“Ah!”

Aoi exclaimed in surprise and looked at him with round eyes.

“How did you do that?”

She asked.

While it wouldn’t be clear to onlookers, Kiernan moved in a way that shouldn’t have been possible to do on land.

It was a hard thing to describe, and even Aoi couldn’t really explain it, but he moved in a way that seemed to defy reality.

“I think I got it now. Thank you.”

Kiernan offered her his hand, and she grabbed it but then pulled him down to the ground with her and kissed him passionately.

“Ahem…”

At that moment, they heard someone clear his throat, and when they looked over, they saw Master Arakawa looking at them with a twitching eyebrow.

“G-grandfather!”

Aoi stood up with a blush on her cheeks and bowed so that he wouldn’t see her look of embarrassment.

“Ahem.”

Kiernan stood up and cleared his throat with an awkward look.

“I thought you asked Aoi to spar with you because there was something you wanted to test…”

Master Arakawa said with a sharp glance.

“Yes, I did. She was a great help, actually. I think I know how I can defeat Maximilian now.”

Kiernan said.

“Oh? Please enlighten me.”

Master Arakawa said and crossed his arms.

“It’s a little hard to explain. Just give me a chance against Maximilian, and I won’t disappoint you.”

Kiernan said.

“Sigh. Very well then, but first of all, we need to reach Maximilian in the first place. We believe that he will be their last fighter, and we have to somehow defeat three other students of theirs.”

Master Arakawa said.

Kiernan nodded.

“Well… I leave you to it. I don’t want to see any playing around. Take the sparring seriously, do you get it, Aoi?”

Master Arakawa asked with a look so sharp that Aoi shuddered in response.

“Yes, grandfather… I mean, master!”

Aoi replied hastily.

“Good.”

Master Arakawa nodded and walked out of the training room, the sound of his wooden sandals hitting the floor echoing in the distance.

“That was so embarrassing…”

Aoi crouched close to the ground and hid her face in her hands.

“Shall we continue sparring? I want to master this before we leave.”

Kiernan asked.

“Mm, sure!”

Aoi jumped to her feet, faced him, and then attacked him, but he kept moving strangely…