Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 436

Chapter 436: Playful Man vs. Cowardly Man
“…”

With silence reigning in the martial arts temple, everyone held their hands in prayer, and inside their minds, they each recited the sacred oath of the old martial gods.

“We, the children of the martial gods, have gathered here to crown the strongest children of the current generation.”

The temple priest said and drew an ancient cross on his chest in ash to signify the beginning of the final round.

Only two dojos remain.

The temple’s gates were firmly shut—the two defeated dojos of yesterday weren’t allowed to enter these grounds for the rest of the year.

They had their third-place fight earlier this morning, and Ghoul Dojo came victorious.

Silent and cold-looking, the students of Wraith Dojo stared down their opponents with a lack of joy in their eyes.

Returning the gaze, Yokai Dojo looked at them with several different kinds of expressions—nervousness, fear, and expectation.

Some of them didn’t believe that they had any chance against Wraith Dojo, as they heard about their dominating victory yesterday.

They also looked very… very strong.

However, some believed that there was a chance and didn’t cower down.

“Amen to the ol’ Gods, and Kings of the Old Age.”

The temple priest finished drawing the cross, then picked up the gold coin from his pocket and placed it on his palm.

“…”

With silent, tight-lipped expressions, the two masters met near the temple priest and exchanged a quick glance.

“Master Raju.”

Master Arakawa said in a cold tone.

“Master Arakawa.”

Master Raju met the coldness with a tone as cold as his, if not colder.

“It has been a year since we last spoke. I didn’t expect you to have changed so drastically.”

Master Arakawa said.

“…It was about time to change. My old self was weak and far too kind. I’ve learned that kindness can be a weakness in this world, and to survive, I had to toughen up.”

Master Raju said coldly.

“You… You’re eyeing the realm of Martial Legend?”

Master Arakawa with rounded eyes.

“It has been five decades since I reached High Stage Martial King, but the door of the Legend hasn’t even budged.

“I realized a harsh truth—the kind can’t be strong. You must be tough and ruthless. When I realized that, for the first time in five decades, I saw a glimmer of the door of Legends starting to crack.”

Master Raju spat out.

“And that’s the reason why you ruined the careers of so many promising young martial artists? You know it will take years for them to get past of Overtraining, and when they have, the damage is already done to their martial souls.”

Master Arakawa said coldly.

“I did them a favor. Those who couldn’t handle that training would never get far in martial arts. They would just waste their time for nothing.

“Now they can be useful somewhere else.”

Master Raju said.

“You don’t believe in late bloomers, huh? Did you ask your students what they wanted to do? Maybe they didn’t even realize that they were Overtraining, and when they did, it was already too late.

“The damage was done.

“Their martial arts careers came to an end.”

Master Arakawa looked at him with a sense of disappointment.

It was almost like he was looking at a completely different person from the Master Raju he once knew.

Both of them were the children of Dusk Town—they learned under the same roof, fought together, and grew up as friends.

They had known each other for about a hundred years, but in just a span of one year, they had become so distant.

“Master Arakawa—it will be your choice first.”

The temple priest said.

“Heads.”

Master Arakawa said and turned his gaze to the gold coin.

The temple priest tossed the gold coin into the air, waited for it to come down, and then snatched it from the air.

It landed on heads.

“It is heads—Master Raju will choose his fighter first.”

He said.

“I’ll choose Jaden Carter.”

Master Raju said, and with his arms behind his back, walked back to his students.

Hearing his name come from his master’s mouth, Jaden rose to his feet and, with a playful smile, walked to the center of the battle sand.

He won yesterday with a dominating performance and didn’t even need to sweat.

“I wonder who my opponent shall be~”

He looked around Yokai Dojo’s fighters with a playful glint in his eyes.

“…”

Master Arakawa looked at his fighters, who met his gaze with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

They knew that their opponents were really strong, but they had some confidence after this morning’s talks.

They talked about possible weaknesses of Wraith Dojo’s fighters—they didn’t know the strengths of three of their fighters, but they knew four.

Which was good enough for now!

‘The belief is that Wraith Dojo didn’t bother to study our strengths that much because their confidence in victory is extremely high.

‘That might be the case.’

Kiernan thought to himself.

“We’re changing the fight order—Ren, you’re first.”

Master Arakawa said and looked into Ren’s deep eyes, who nodded briefly and stood up.

This decision surprised many because Ren was one of the riskiest fighters to use because of his fear of pain.

While Ren was powerful and brought a victory in the previous round against a powerful opponent, it was risky to put him out as the first fighter.

Whoever won the first round would bring momentum on their side, and that’s why being the first fighter had a lot of pressure.

If Ren couldn’t perform at his best, he would lose.

Ren walked to the center of the battle sand, met Jaden’s playful gaze, and moved into his fighting stance.

“They sent a coward against me? They must really be underestimating my skills.”

Jaden said with a laugh.

“Fearing pain is not cowardly. It’s being smart. If you do not fear pain, you’re foolish.”

Ren said.

“Whatever you say, coward~”

Jaden grinned and raised his arms in an attacking stance.

“Jaden Carter vs. Ren Saelim—FIGHT!”

The temple priest shouted and swung his arm down.