On top of a building towering hundreds of meters over the city, an old man could be seen standing at the edge of the roof. Despite his age, his face only had a few wrinkles.
At this moment, his face, displaying a bit of his age and ancientness, could be seen as calm and composed. His eyes were open as he gazed beyond the city before him, specifically at the forest behind it.
The old man's body radiated no pressure whatsoever, yet the kneeling middle-aged man behind him didn't dare to raise his head, fearful of the consequences of such actions. It reached even a point where he didn't dare to breathe loudly in his presence, only waiting for this legendary figure's words.
After all, the old man in front of him, although he appeared ordinary, it was only on the surface.
His true identity was Eldred Arnold, the sole grandmaster of this era, the pioneer of martial arts, and the legendary man who single-handedly suppressed the dark forest surrounding their city, keeping all demonic beasts at bay.
They would never dare to enter or attack as long as he lived.
The next second, Eldred said," Speak your business."
"Martial Arts Grandmaster, are you sure you want to go to that part of the dark forest alone?" a middle-aged man asked the old man before him. Grinning his teeth, he continued," I can order a few martial arts masters to accompany you on your journey to search for your friends. You don't have to risk your life; our whole city depends on you."
Sigh...
Eldred sighed as he looked at the sky, his white martial arts cape fluttering with the wind, showcasing the imposing title written on it: ' Martial Arts Grandmaster' on full display.
"My old friends went to venture into the dark forest a year ago, but they still didn't come back. This has never happened before, and I'll have to personally investigate what happened to them," Eldred paused for a moment as he gazed at the city one more time, a tear subconsciously escaping his eyes.
"I'm confident that they have died, but all this old man is asking for is to meet their killer, gauge his heart, eat his flesh, and drink his blood!" With each sentence, Eldred's killing intent rose, but his voice was still calm as ever, displaying no rage whatsoever.
For a moment, even the middle-aged man wondered if their grandmaster was truly angry, but sensing the other party's killing intent that sent daggers his way, he confirmed his suspicion.
'Even if his killing intent was kept in check and wasn't even directed at me, I still felt my body and very soul being torn apart. Grandmaster Eldred's strength is truly unfathomable,' As the middle-aged man thought of that, he quickly calmed his shuddering body and wiped the sweat off of his forehead; he then looked up to continue speaking in hopes of convincing Eldred to at least take one bodyguard with him.
Alas, the moment he raised his head, the middle-aged man could faintly see the body of their grandmaster falling from the edge of the towering building, his white hair accompanied by his white martial arts cape fluttering with the wind right behind him.
"Sigh, if something bad goes wrong with our grandmaster, our city will most likely not see peace for the next few decades." As he thought about that, the middle-aged man leaped onto the edge as he struck out his head, wanting to see probably his grandmaster's figure for the last time.
Although he trusted Grandmaster Eldred's strength, he knew that the place where Eldred's old friends had perished was not somewhere anyone should ever visit. After all, even the last era's grandmaster had ventured there and vanished, never to be seen again.
Falling at a speed that could easily crush any human body before reaching the ground, Eldred gave a slight tap of his right foot in mid-air, his gaze locked on the dark forest beyond the city.
"Although I've spoken of my old friends and shared these seemingly random thoughts, my true goal is to test my strength and uncover what lies in that place. I refuse to believe my current abilities haven't greatly surpassed those of the last era's grandmaster. To prove it, I'll go there and return alive," Eldred declared, setting a bold objective for himself. Despite his eighty years of age, his pride and arrogance hadn't waned; instead, they burned even more fiercely within his soul.
In an instant, as Eldred's foot touched the violent wind, his body shifted direction, shooting forward into the dark forest at a blinding speed. Even martial artists at the master level wouldn't have been able to keep up. Yet to Eldred, this movement felt effortless, as if the turbulent wind were no more than a gentle breeze.
After a few hours of continuous running through the dark forest, Eldred finally spotted a thick red line drawn on the ground. Each tree in the vicinity had a warning sign placed on its thick trunk to warn anyone from steeping any further.
"Hmph, it seems like you won't ever man up and fight me face to face. Well, you're lucky that my target isn't you today!" Eldred snorted coldly. Although he appeared to be talking to no one, he and the person his words were meant to reach knew what he was saying.
Hidden tens of meters behind a massive ancient tree, a figure cloaked in pitch-dark scales with glowing red eyes faintly smiled as he overheard the old man's words. He thought, 'Afraid of fighting? You're mistaken, old man. I'm not worried about taking you head on—it's that your current location and destination are places I wouldn't dare to step into.'
Feeling no movement whatsoever from the area around him, Eldred ignored the eyeing king of beasts and stepped beyond the red line, his aura getting stronger and stronger as faint white could be seen cloaking his figure, it almost appeared like an illusory shield, yet that was merely the intensity of his aura being manifested.
With each step Eldred took, the frown on his face deepened and his aura grew even stronger, his senses were high on alert and his body was ready to fight at any given moment. Yet, even after an hour of continuous walking, Eldred spotted no beast whatsoever, in fact, Eldred could swear that he felt the whole forest beyond the red line had no signs of life.
"Hmm? Is it a special beast that lives off of life energy? Or else, why would this part of the forest be so dead?" Eldred had several thoughts on his mind as he kept walking and walking. Although he knew the grandmaster of the last era had died in this exact place, his heart and soul didn't waver in the slightest; instead, they were brimming with confidence and fighting spirit.
Crack!
As Eldred walked, he suddenly heard a crackling sound coming from a few steps to his right. Turning his head, he spotted two ancient trees of unknown age and origin. Between them, a faint crack appeared, as if a pane of glass were on the verge of shattering.
Noticing the abnormal situation, Eldred placed his hands behind his back and walked over. He knew that if he wanted to find his friend and the grandmaster killer of the last era, he had to check every abnormal scene, and the one he was currently seeing was one of them.
As Eldred was a meter away from the crack, he slowly moved his eyes around him scrutinizing the place, in the next second, he spotted a ring of one of his old friends positioned right under the crack, "I see now."
Crack! Crack!
"Haha! Do you think a few sounds will bait me into curiosity and draw me closer? Think again, damnable beast," Eldred laughed aloud, now certain the creature had a stealth ability and was setting traps.
But just as Eldred turned his head, taking a step back to continue deeper into the forest, the crack between the two ancient trees expanded, forming a gigantic maw of unknown energy. In an instant, it was as if a tidal wave engulfed him from all directions.
In the next moment, the entire forest beyond the red line fell silent, and Eldred Arnold's figure vanished into thin air. Only a torn piece of his white martial arts attire drifted to the ground, marking the place where he once stood.