Yohan's companions had been left behind. They didn't even make it past the 30th step and had to turn back, though he didn't care about them. It was better to go alone rather than drag along those bootlickers.
Seeing the others hesitate, Yohan started to get pissed. If they weren't going to fight each other, then they should fight him! With this in mind, without any warning, he jumped into the air and unleashed a transparent light blue fist! Since they were lower than him, his shadow cast over some of them, making them look up.
When they saw the oncoming attack, they hurriedly mobilized their own techniques.
A spectacle of lights erupted. Sword slashes, a dragon's roar, a whip made of fire, and more slammed against the incoming translucent fist.
Apollo, who was watching all this, couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. That's too f*cking wonderful! Especially the explosion after the attacks collided. A strong wind blew everywhere, sending his hair and clothes flying chaotically.
The beggar suddenly felt jealous of their techniques. Ah, I wish I could also do flashy moves! The only battle technique he knew was the Simple Sword Technique, which he could use to cut through other techniques, but compared to them, his sword skills were very mediocre!
Squinting to peer through the smoke and dust raised by the impact, Apollo shook his head at the result. He wasn't surprised at all to see Yohan standing still while the martial students below were either passed out or thrown towards the foot of the mountain.
Yohan was at the 4th-Step of the Foundation Building stage, and the cultivators he fought were at the 3rd-Step Foundation Building stage or below. The result was expected.
"The fun's over," Apollo muttered, seeing that no more martial students were challenging Yohan. He turned around and was about to continue walking up the mountain when suddenly, his instincts warned him of incoming danger! Using his Simple Movement Technique, he jumped into the air and did a couple of flips before landing a few steps higher.
He glanced back and saw that his previous spot had exploded, raising small clouds of dust as some of the rocks rolled down.
Apollo turned to Yohan, who was looking at him with a smirk.
"You're good!" Yohan shouted. "You were just watching the fight, so why not join?"
"Nah, thanks for the invite, but I'm fine," Apollo replied in his normal voice. If he wanted to change it, he'd have to buy a new voice from the System, which would cost him Alm points.
As the tension grew, the martial students watching from above hurriedly ran up the mountain, while those below them rushed down the stairs.
They knew who Yohan was—he was well-known among the martial students and considered a thug who always tried to pick fights. Now that he had reached the 4th-Step Foundation Building Stage, he had become even more brazen. The only ones who could probably handle him were his rival Michael or the other top students from each martial school.
The onlookers couldn't help but pity the non-uniform participant caught in Yohan's sights.
Seeing this, Yohan's expression darkened. This guy dares to reject me? "Sigh… Why did I even bother asking? I'll just defeat anyone I see!"
Apollo lowered his body slightly, assessing the situation. This guy's a dmbss who only uses his fists instead of his brain, the beggar thought. If Yohan really tried to eliminate the other participants just to have an easier time in the next exams, he'd become a target for everyone.
Apollo wouldn't be surprised if they teamed up just to take him down. What's more, if the stronger martial students joined the fight, Apollo believed that even Gail could defeat Yohan.
Shaking his head at the guy's foolishness, Apollo readied himself. He didn't bring his wooden sword, unsure if people would recognize it as the training sword from the training ground. Instead, he brought something else.
He reached under his robe and took out the weapon he planned to use for this Advancement Examination.
Yohan, who was about to raise his fist and send this 'outsider' back to where he came from, stopped in his tracks when he saw the 'thing' the masked man had pulled out. His tense muscles relaxed, and a second later, he looked to the sky and burst into loud laughter. "HAHAHA! What's that? A tree branch?! HAHAHA!"
His laughter echoed across the mountain, so loud that even those far away heard it clearly.
The nearby martial students glanced at the tree branch the masked man was holding. They couldn't help but chuckle as well.
What could a tree branch do? Tickle Yohan?
"Hey! Have you lost your mind?" Yohan asked the masked man. "If you intend to fight me with that thing, why don't you just jump down the mountain?"
As the laughter of this two-meter muscle man echoed in his ears, the beggar couldn't help but sigh. They don't know how great you are, Apollo thought while staring at the half-arm-length tree branch he had picked up from the side of the road.
In the past two days, before he mastered his Simple Movement Technique, Apollo discovered that the Simple Sword Technique didn't only apply to literal swords.
The sword was no longer just a sword but a tool to use a sword—it was the enlightenment he gained after perfecting the Simple Sword Technique. Ever since that day, he'd had the feeling that once he touched something and thought of it as a sword, then it was indeed a sword, no matter its shape or form. Out of curiosity and boredom, he first tried using this insight with a spoon.
Using the spoon as a sword, he slashed the wall beside his Beggar Spot, and the spoon cut through it like a knife through tofu. When he pulled his hand back, he saw a deep cut in the wall.
Excited, he tried it multiple times, changing the 'weapon' a few times as well.
Thinking back to that time, Apollo couldn't help but smile bitterly at the state of the wall after he practiced on it. Hopefully, no one would notice.
"Yohan, right?" Apollo pointed the tree branch at the muscle-bound man. "Why don't you come over here and find out the true strength of a tree branch?"