Talented Martial Hero novel Chapter 759

"Oh, crap!" Darren yelled.

The sight before him was enough to break through even his stoic demeanor. If the Dark Rule and the Primitive Fighting Force collided, Nate's body could be disintegrated outright.

There was a whoosh as Darren moved.

In a flash, he put himself before the black runes. His blade and sword intents surged, as did his dark gold internal force.

But the runes deftly went around the obstruction and continued toward Nate, barely slowing down at all.

"Damn it! I have to try to assimilate the attack."

Saying this, Darren activated his assimilation skill. The black stone in his head buzzed, and the flying runes reversed course, coming back and disappearing into his body.

"Well, that's good. It actually worked!" he remarked.

Normally such a gambit wouldn't have worked for him, and in fact he wasn't sure why it had this time. Perhaps the fact that the runes' owner had been dead for a long time somehow left them vulnerable to assimilation.

In any case, the runes were inside Darren's body, soaring and roiling about. Regathering his blade and sword intents, he took a moment to suppress them in his elixir field.

The black runes integrated with one another, forming a black esoteric symbol within the elixir field.

Darren was surprised. 'Have I discovered how to cultivate the Dark Rule?' he wondered aloud.

That, however, was a question for another time.

Leaving it alone for the moment, he went over to Nate and asked if he was all right.

"I'm fine, thanks to you," Nate answered with a sigh of relief.

"Then let's get going," his rescuer said. "You'll need to try cultivating according to the method I taught you, combined with your own understanding."

Nate nodded. "I understand."

With that, the two prepared to leave.

But that, of course, was not going to be so easy.

There was a terrific boom as a massive stone fell over the entrance of the chamber, sealing it completely.

"What's happening?!" Nate exclaimed, staring.

Darren was no less shocked, but said nothing.

A moment later they found that they weren't alone when three other figures appeared in the chamber.

"Darren! Who are they?" Nate asked, his voice shaking.

"Don't panic," Darren hissed, studying their adversaries. Even as he watched, the three slowly levitated off the ground.

In appearance, they closely resembled the three corpses from earlier, except that they were full-muscled and powerful, full of an eerie vitality.

The middle of the three, a fierce figure dressed in black, addressed Nate in a frigid, menacing voice.

"Young man, you have received your inheritance. But you must pass a test here, now, or else you will not be allowed to leave this place."

Nate shivered and struggled to master his voice. "What is the test, my ancestor?"

"It's quite simple," the one in black replied. "You must defeat the three of us."

"That's impossible!" the man cried in dismay. The ancestors were very powerful, and he couldn't imagine standing any real chance of defeating them.

He was answered by another one of the phantoms, a cyan-armored figure who roared contemptuously. "Coward! Yet you dare to think yourself worthy of our inheritance? If you cannot pass the test, then you deserve to die!"

Seeing his companion's floundering spirit, Darren decided to encourage him. "Don't be afraid, Nate. They are just phantoms left by the ancestors."

Hearing this, the one in black glared at him for the first time. "You there—outsider! How dare you trespass within this place?"

Darren did not respond, adding to his friend, "Nate, go on and kill them. Don't be afraid!"

These words steadied Nate's soul, for he trusted Darren from the bottom of his soul. If he said not to be afraid, that would be enough.

"All right. Prepare to die!"

With that, Nate rushed over, fiercely swinging his fists, ready to dash the three challengers to pieces.

He was in for a nasty surprise.

None of his blows had any effect. In fact, everything passed through the phantoms as though they were made of air.

'I can't even touch them!' he thought to himself, his courage wavering again. 'How am I supposed to win?'

"Nate!" Darren called to him. "Use the Primitive Fighting Force!"

"The Primitive Fighting Force?" echoed Nate. He didn't know much about this skill yet. Darren had in fact transferred a little of this force into his body, but he still couldn't use it very effectively.

"Bah, weakling!" scoffed the cyan-armored phantom. "You are not worthy of any inheritance! Now die and rid us of your presence!" With that, he rushed forward, throwing a devastating palm strike.

It hit Nate square in the chest, sending him flying.