The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion

The guild master didn't even wait for an answer.

But before he could react further, Damian's figure blurred and appeared right in front of him, sword slashing toward his target.

"That's more like it," the guild master grinned, meeting Damian's attack.

When their swords met, they released a small shockwave that sent vibrations through their arms, but neither of them was pushed back.

"It seems we are equally strong," the guild master smiled, seemingly satisfied.

Damian remained silent.

He didn't even want to talk; he just wanted to end this.

He no longer felt like he could gain anything useful here, or by going through the gate in the basement of the United Sword Guild to go to China in search of a Qi cultivation method.

From what he could tell, the guild had long been in communication with martial artists and martial artist families.

If that was true, they must have been exchanging resources from their respective countries, and that likely included cultivation techniques.

Even if they were sharing techniques, the guild members should be stronger than they were, but they weren't.

This made Damian wonder if the techniques they had received from China weren't worth the effort of going through all this trouble.

Not to mention, Damian could easily obtain many techniques once he entered the first tower realm.

Right now, Damian regretted coming here to ask for help from the guild.

He considered it a waste of time.

Damian continued exchanging sword slashes with the guild master, though he wasn't using his full strength.

If he had, the guild master would have been defeated in a single blow.

"This man should be around level 35, but unfortunately, my stats are comparable to level 45. There's no way he could beat me," Damian thought, shaking his head mid-battle with the guild master.

The guild master raised an eyebrow, unable to believe that this man dared to shake his head in the middle of a fight with such a strong opponent.

Just how arrogant must he be?

"You must be hiding your true strength if you dare provoke me so arrogantly," the guild master said with a grin, jumping back into a stance, preparing to attack Damian.

Damian tilted his head in confusion. "What the hell is he talking about? When the fuck did I provoke him?"

"I'll show you my true strength!" The guild master held his sword in both hands, his gaze sharp.

"Oh, he's going to bring out the big guns," Damian thought with a smile as he also got into a stance.

His eyes narrowed as he sensed a strange energy emanating from the guild master.

The guild master's body was surrounded by a light blue energy that quickly flowed into the sword, making the entire blade glow with an intense blue light.

"You're a Qi cultivator, huh?" Damian muttered, preparing to defend himself.

"Let me see how long you can keep up that arrogant facade," the guild master said, launching himself at Damian with his sword raised.

Damian narrowed his eyes.

He might be physically stronger than the guild master, but he didn't know how much of a difference the Qi covering his sword would make.

The guild master slashed at Damian.

He didn't use any complicated techniques to increase the power, speed, or explosiveness of his strike; it was just a simple sword slash with Qi enveloping his body.

Damian raised his [Monster Slayer] sword to defend.

When the guild master's Qi-covered sword collided with his blade, a booming sound resonated throughout the room.

Unable to withstand the impact, Damian was sent flying, crashing through the receptionist desk, which broke in two, and he slammed into the brick wall, leaving spiderweb-like cracks.

Damian slowly raised his head and looked at the guild master again, his sword still covered in Qi.

"This is what you get for messing with the United Sword Guild," the guild master said, his voice filled with arrogance.

"As expected, he was all talk and no action. He can never win against the guild master."

"Win? Pfft... He can't even handle a single Qi-covered strike from the guild master."

A vein popped in Damian's forehead.

He would even accept being defeated, but he couldn't stand the trash talkers.

It made him want to punch them right in the nose.

"Want to accept defeat? You can never win against me. A normal sword can never hold against a Qi-covered sword. Although it seems your sword is holding up well… I guess it has special properties and is made from rare metal?" the guild master said, looking down at Damian with curiosity.

"How about you accept defeat and hand over that sword to me as compensation for damaging things in my office, and I'll let you go?" the guild master smiled.

"Don't think you've won just because you landed a blow... Actually, I let you land that blow," Damian said, getting back on his feet and glancing at the guild master with a small smile.

"You LET me land the blow? Did I hear that right?" the guild master chuckled, thinking Damian was still acting arrogantly, refusing to accept defeat.

Then, a bad feeling started to rise in the guild master's chest.

He blinked and found Damian had disappeared from his spot, only to appear right in front of him, slashing his sword.

The guild master quickly raised his Qi-covered sword to defend, but unlike what he anticipated, Damian's sword didn't land on his Qi-covered sword.

Instead, Damian's sword struck him directly in the gut.

The force sent the guild master tumbling to the ground.

"You bastard!" The guild master's face turned red with pain.

He immediately slashed his sword horizontally, releasing a ray of sword Qi that rushed at Damian.

"So, you can also use it as a projectile weapon, huh?" Damian said, a smile forming on his lips. "Well, you're not the only one who can do that."

Damian's [Monster Slayer] sword began to glow with blue energy.

"This bastard… He was hiding his abilities. He can also use Qi!"

"I can't believe this," the onlookers muttered, clearly displeased.

Most people here had hoped to rise through the ranks within the guild and earn the privilege of learning Qi cultivation techniques, but this man had somehow gotten his hands on it on his own.

"No… it's not Qi. This feels different," the guild master muttered to himself.

The blue energy soon covered Damian's sword, turning into a reddish-orange hue.

As soon as it did, Damian slashed his sword.

A reddish-orange ray of energy shot out, colliding with the guild master's sword Qi.

When the two energies clashed, a small explosion erupted, canceling each other out.

Damian didn't wait.

He quickly covered his sword with mana, turning it into a flame element.

Moving at top speed, he vanished from everyone's sight and appeared before the guild master, slashing his sword.

The guild master barely had time to react but was still able to raise his sword to defend.

Damian's flame-covered sword collided with the guild master's sword, and the impact exploded on the spot, sending the guild master flying.

The force of the blow was similar to the one earlier when Damian had allowed the guild master to land a blow on him.

The guild master crashed into the wall.

The guild master's sword broke into dozens of pieces, and when he stood up, burn marks all over his body, he glanced at Damian's burning hot sword, now dangerously close to his neck, ready to burn and cut his flesh.

"I... I accept defeat," the guild master stammered, his voice trembling.

...

[A/N: Come on, everyone! You've made it this far, so why not add my novel to your favorites? And if it's not too much trouble, please leave a review or drop some POWER STONES!]