Absolute Martial Arts: Book of Legends

Atop a towering building, hundreds of meters above the city, an old man stood at the edge of the roof. Despite his age, only a few wrinkles marked his face.

He remained still, his expression calm and composed; only his sharp gaze betrayed his thoughts as it lingered beyond the city, fixed on the forest behind it.

Though he radiated no pressure, the middle-aged man kneeling behind him didn't dare to lift his head. Even breathing too loudly felt like a risk. He simply waited, silent, motionless, for the words of this legendary figure.

After all, the old man in front of him, although he appeared ordinary, it was only on the surface.

His true identity? Eldred Arnold. The sole Grandmaster of this era. A pioneer of martial arts. The legend who single-handedly suppressed the Dark Forest, holding back the tide of demonic beasts that threatened the city.

As long as he lived, they would never dare to attack.

Eldred spoke, his tone calm. "Speak your business."

"Martial Arts Grandmaster, are you certain you want to enter that part of the Dark Forest alone?" the middle-aged man asked, his voice tight with concern.

Gritting his teeth, he pressed on. "I can send a few Martial Arts Masters to accompany you. There's no need to risk your life; our entire city depends on you."

Sigh…

Eldred exhaled as he looked at the sky, his white martial arts cape fluttering in the wind, showcasing the imposing title written on it: Martial Arts Grandmaster in 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 the Grandmaster was truly angry; but as the sharp weight of killing intent pressed against him, he had his answer.

'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, fluttered 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 one no man should ever tread. After all, even the Grandmaster of the last era had ventured there—only to vanish, never to be seen again.

Falling at a speed that would shatter any ordinary body on impact, Eldred gave a slight tap of his right foot in midair, his gaze fixed 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 met the violent wind, his body shifted, shooting toward the Dark Forest at blinding speed. Even master-level martial artists wouldn't have been able to keep up. Yet to Eldred, the turbulent wind felt like nothing 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, 'Afraid of fighting? You're mistaken, old man. I'm not worried about going against you head-on; it's only 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's frown 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.