They all call me Great Master

Arthur had heard the boasts that Marinda had made on his behalf.

But Arthur did not refute them.

Because—

Arthur had thick skin.

Of course, aside from his thick skin, Arthur also had a sliver of confidence.

He had just completed an upgrade upon his return to South Los.

Specifically for [Swift Bird Swordsmanship Lv5]!

The 3000 experience points he had obtained were entirely spent, but the change they brought was immense.

Even Arthur, recalling the scene he 'saw' when he had just upgraded, still felt an internal tremor—

Violent winds ravaged the earth.

The smooth ground was torn into thousands of ravines.

Flowers, plants, trees, along with pebbles were all swept into the sky.

This tempest, it brought despair.

This tempest, it severed all life.

But this tempest was merely the wind brought about by the flapping wings of a passing bird.

It was unconscious.

It had never paid attention to the earth.

It longed only for the sky.

It chased the sun and saw above it a three-legged creature of its kind.

It frolicked with the moon and saw a woman hugging the moon to sleep.

It soared through the starry sky, and it saw the uniqueness atop each star; a monster with a pig's head and a human body using countless stars as a bed, snoring loudly and mumbling in a dream, 'Cilan, Cilan.'

Some called stars their offspring, remorselessly playing chess but deeply grieved, continuously muttering, 'Oh vast heavens, why have you wronged me!'

Others feasted on stars, devouring heartily, incessantly mumbling, 'Delicious, this one is tasty, that one is also tasty!'

Yet others, like it, with sword shadows like lotuses, roamed among the stars, singing boldly and loudly proclaiming, 'The light boat has passed through thousands of mountains!'

It saw so much, so very much.

Sometime along the way, it felt lonely.

It hoped to find its own kind.

But it could not find its kin.

It wanted to find its kin.

Not the three-legged kind, but those identical to itself.

But there were none.

It had gone to many, many places.

And yet, it never found any of its kind, exactly like itself.

Until one day, it found an egg in the darkness.

Instinctively, it sheltered the egg under its body.

It did not know how to incubate an egg, but it had seen birds of a similar kind incubating eggs.

It learned to incubate the egg.

Time passed until the egg cracked open.

Inside was…

A serpent!

Golden eyes, confused, unknowing.

Black scales, hard, sharp.

A body that grew with the wind, just a day passed and it grew to 16,000 kilometers, another day passed, and the serpent grew to 125,765 kilometers.

It was thrilled, for its 'offspring' had finally grown fluffy down as fine as that on one of its feathers.

It traveled with its 'offspring' in the boundless stream of time.

Its 'offspring' was also growing rapidly.

When its 'offspring' had grown as long as one of its feathers, its 'offspring' wanted to venture into the world alone.

It thought its 'offspring' was still weak.

But, perhaps due to a rebellious phase, the obedient 'offspring' not only disregarded its advice but also ran away secretly.

It searched, but could not find.

Because its 'offspring' knew it all too well.

So, it plucked a feather and allowed it to transform into two trillion avatars to search for its 'offspring.'

It called these two trillion avatars 'Swift Birds.'

It hoped the 'Swift Birds' would bring good news.

And it chose to wait in a moment in time, the moment it landed, it heard a series of exclamations—

'Destiny Profound Bird!'

'Destiny Profound Bird!'

...

Those 'Swift Birds' are so annoying!

Father always lets these 'Swift Birds' disturb me!

I won't go back!

I want to, like my father, traverse the long river of time, trace back to the end of time!

After the Golden-eyed Black Snake devoured a 'Swift Bird,' a look of helplessness flashed in its eyes before it turned around and swam towards the end of that long river.

It wanted to figure out what exactly was there!

It didn't care about the blood left behind.

That was the blood shed when it devoured the 'Swift Bird,' both its own and that of the 'Swift Bird.'

Although it was only one of Father's two trillion incarnations, it was really strong, and the eight-year-old snake had to be somewhat serious to consume one.

The Golden-eyed Black Snake was gone.

But a small, unremarkable gray snake appeared here.

Its whole body hurt.

It didn't know why it was here.

It only remembered being pulled out of the river by a very kind old lady, and then it found itself here.

Memories from before?

Gone.

But it was so hungry!

It licked the drop of fresh blood.

It hoped to feel full.

Really full!

A bit sleepy!

Maybe sleep a bit!

Oblivious to its surroundings, the little gray snake succumbed to its instincts and fell into a deep sleep, its body began to grow rapidly, especially as fine fuzz started to emerge between its scales. Once that fuzz took shape, a pair of wings appeared on its body.

It was completely unaware of this.

It, so sleepy.

Unable to help himself, Arthur yawned widely.

Rubbing the tears from the corners of his eyes, the text before him blurred for a moment before becoming clear—

[Swift Bird Swordsmanship Lv5: The essence of swordsmanship lies in imitation. An ancestor of the nobles in South County, during the Empire Era, had once seen the divine 'Swift Bird.' Upon witnessing the 'Swift Bird' fly effortlessly through shadows, he was deeply shocked and marvelled at the impossibility, then began to emulate the 'Swift Bird's movements to create the rudimentary form of this swordsmanship.

As time went by, this swordsmanship continued to be refined, but it was universally acknowledged that one would never reach the highest level. Even among millions of geniuses, none could take the final step, but everyone recognized its helpfulness to the bloodline. Therefore, the nobles of South County spared no effort to use the original sword techniques as a foundation to create a more suitable 'Swift Bird Swordsmanship.'

However, they underestimated the tenacity and awakening of their descendants. Most people, after starting, finding it useless, chose to give up—compared to endless hours of practicing swordsmanship, indulging in pleasure suited them better.

Time has already covered everything.

But you are not among them. With your diligence and hard work, you've brought it to a very high level, and your bloodline has started to bring out its unique effects]

[Effects: 1, Extreme Speed; 2, Quick Strike; 3, Blood Enhancement; 4, Bird-Snake Sword Intent]

[Extreme Speed: When you use the Swift Bird Sword Posture, your sword strike speed will be +5 on top of your inherent physique]

[Quick Strike: When you use the Swift Bird Sword Posture, your next sword strike's speed will be increased by +2.0, up to 3 consecutive times]

[Blood Enhancement: The power within your bloodline is being slowly awakened, it will become purer over time. This is a lengthy process, but you, who pursue the 'Swordsmanship Truth,' have accelerated this speed. However, during this period, your appetite will increase significantly, and your sleep quality will be enviable]

[Bird-Snake Sword Intent: 'Swift Bird' sword intent speeds you up while 'Dark Serpent' sword intent makes your attacks unpredictable. When you display sword intent, a corresponding physical reference will automatically appear behind you, adding +1 to your Intimidation Level. When you wield both sword intents at the same time, your physical strength will be greatly exhausted, but you will gain a +3 Intimidation Level and a faster, more bizarre method of attack]

...

[Physique, Spirituality +1.5 (0.3X5)]

...

(Note: You have reached the limit of this skill)

'Limit?'

How could Arthur, having seen the 'Mysterious Bird' and the 'Golden-eyed Black Snake,' ever believe in this so-called limit?

Without a doubt, this limit was merely his current stage limit.

Just that he...

Wasn't qualified yet.

Afterwards?

He would gradually make himself qualified.

And now?

Arthur looked towards Glast.

Arthur always maintained his confidence, not merely from the Lv5 'Swift Bird Swordsmanship.'

There was another more important factor—

'Death Intuition'!