Chapter 256: The Aura of a Victor
The Aura of a Victor
Julian continued punching him.
The battlefield had long since turned into a storm of dust, shattered stone, and roaring shockwaves.
Every movement of Julian’s body left behind blurred afterimages. His black hair whipped wildly in the air, and his golden eyes shone with a sharp brilliance that made him seem almost untouchable.
Steffan could no longer remember how many punches he had endured.
All he knew was pain.
Relentless pain.
His body had been tempered through countless life-and-death battles. He had fought in the harshest environments of Kimora, survived ambushes, assassinations, and wars that would have broken ordinary martial artists.
Yet today, for the first time in years, he felt helpless.
Every time he tried to counterattack, Julian was already gone.
Every time he thought he had found an opening, another fist slammed into his body.
The hidden force contained within each strike was even more terrifying.
It wasn’t merely attacking his flesh.
It was invading his body.
Destroying him from the inside.
Boom!
Another punch landed against his ribs.
Steffan’s face twisted.
Boom!
A strike crashed into his shoulder.
Boom!
Another buried itself into his abdomen.
The surrounding Old Martial Arts experts watched with numb expressions.
The fight had completely exceeded their understanding.
A mid-Gold Realm battle was already beyond most of them.
A battle between two monstrous geniuses at the same realm was even more unimaginable.
Yana Tyson stood among the crowd.
Her bright orange eyes never left Julian.
The more she watched, the more absurd everything felt.
Yesterday.
Just yesterday.
This man had casually borrowed the Tyson Family’s martial arts manuals.
At the time, many people believed he was merely showing off.
Now?
The reality unfolding before her was enough to shake decades of common sense.
The man who should have been crushed was suppressing Steffan so completely that the latter could barely fight back.
Even Wren Tyson felt his heart trembling.
What kind of monster had the Tyson Family encountered?
A young Gold Realm expert.
Mastery over multiple supreme techniques.
Combat power capable of suppressing someone like Steffan.
Any one of those achievements would have been enough to make a person famous throughout Valemont.
Julian possessed all of them.
Meanwhile, Cheery quietly watched from the side.
Her large green eyes reflected Julian’s figure.
Others only saw his overwhelming strength.
She heard something more.
His thoughts.
And somehow, that made the scene even stranger.
Because while everyone viewed him as an invincible genius standing above his generation...
The thoughts she occasionally heard from him were often completely different.
That contrast made him strangely difficult to understand.
On the battlefield, the final seconds ticked away.
Julian could feel it.
The power granted by the experience card was beginning to destabilize.
Like a flame that had burned too fiercely.
Like a river that was rapidly drying up.
The tremendous Gold Realm energy surging through his meridians was becoming increasingly violent.
His body warned him that the borrowed power would not last much longer.
Ten seconds.
Five seconds.
Three.
Two.
One.
When the minute ended, Julian felt the energy in his body become violent, like a flame flickering before being extinguished.
Without hesitation, he swiftly retreated, putting some distance between them.
His figure flashed backward several dozen meters.
The sudden withdrawal surprised many spectators.
The battlefield finally fell silent.
The deafening sounds of combat disappeared.
Only the wind remained.
Julian slowly exhaled.
He felt the terrifying energy within him quickly dissipate.
The sensation was unpleasant.
It was like falling from the clouds back to the earth.
Moments ago, he had possessed power capable of overwhelming Steffan.
Now that power was rapidly fading.
Fortunately, his expression remained calm.
Not a single crack appeared in his composure.
Julian glanced at Steffan.
Steffan’s clothes were tattered from the assault of the energy.
Many sections had been completely shredded.
Dust covered his body.
Even the spot where Steffan had been standing bore several footprints.
The ground around him was filled with countless cracks.
Large sections of stone had collapsed inward.
The entire area looked as though it had suffered a natural disaster.
Everyone could see how difficult it had been for Steffan to defend.
Steffan’s face was pale, with blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, nose, and ears.
His breathing was uneven.
His body trembled slightly.
The calm confidence he had displayed earlier had completely disappeared.
He stared at Julian with a mix of shock and anger.
Yet beneath those emotions was something even more obvious.
Fear.
The crowd noticed it immediately.
Steffan was afraid.
This man had hidden his strength too well!
No wonder Lucas and Evan were so easily toyed with by him!
The realization struck Steffan harder than any punch.
He had entered this battle believing himself the hunter.
Instead, he had become the prey.
"A minute has passed, it seems you’ve lost," Julian said with a calm and composed smile.
The smile was faint.
Confident.
Elegant.
As though everything had unfolded exactly as he expected.
Pretentious?
I can do that too!
The surrounding martial artists stared at him with expressions filled with awe.
Many of them had never witnessed such a battle in their entire lives.
A young Gold Realm expert.
Someone capable of suppressing Steffan.
The image was deeply engraved into their minds.
Seeing the admiring gazes from those around him, Julian mentally gave them thirty-two likes, trying hard to exude his domineering aura.
[Yes, use that gaze, admire me even more.]
[Such a young Gold Realm expert must be your idol.]
[From now on, you know who the boss of Valemont is, right?]
The corners of Cheery’s lips twitched slightly.
If the crowd knew what was going through his mind right now, their expressions would probably be priceless.
Steffan opened his mouth to speak.
A metallic taste surged up his throat.
He almost spat out another mouthful of blood.
With visible effort, he swallowed it back down.
His eyes remained fixed on Julian.
"I underestimated you."
His voice was hoarse.
The words seemed difficult to say.
Because admitting such a thing was far more painful than the injuries covering his body.
"Does it matter?" Julian shook his head with a smile. "If you’re not convinced, you can ask him to help you. I don’t mind."
He pointed directly at Smith.
Instantly.
The atmosphere became strange.
Numerous gazes shifted toward Smith.
Even Steffan glanced in that direction.
For a brief moment, Julian appeared like a peerless master standing above everyone else.
As though he was inviting them all to attack together because he was in a hurry.
The crowd’s admiration rose even higher.
Some younger martial artists nearly looked ready to worship him.
Only Cheery heard something entirely different.
[Old man, if you agree, I curse you to have diarrhea every day.]
[See my deterrence? Just admit defeat, okay?]
[Otherwise, if you all come at me, I’ll really be done for.]
Cheery blinked.
Then blinked again.
For a moment, she genuinely didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The man standing there looked like an unrivaled grandmaster.
His thoughts sounded like someone desperately trying not to get exposed.
The contrast was almost absurd.
Despite his pretentious words, Young Master Julian was feeling quite insecure inside.
The experience card was gone.
If Smith and Steffan truly attacked together right now...
Things would become extremely troublesome.
Cheery glanced at Julian again.
The more she learned about him, the more impossible he became to predict.
One moment he looked like a terrifying genius destined to dominate the martial world.
The next moment he was internally praying for everyone to stop fighting.
What’s up with this guy?
With the terrifying combat power he just displayed, even if Elder Smith intervened, it wouldn’t change anything, right?
Smith’s face turned slightly pale after being pointed at by Julian D’Aurelius.
