Chapter 983: Chapter 971: Ridicule and Praise Chapter 983: Chapter 971: Ridicule and Praise “Butler Paris.” Muria was sitting in the car, and he had contacted the butler of the Douglas Family. Currently, all resource allocations he received from the family were coordinated by this butler, and he would also directly contact him for any questions.

“Young Master Jelos, what can I help you with?” A respectful yet dignified elderly voice came from the other end of the communicator.

“…” Muria fell silent for a moment, glanced at Susanna, who was driving in the front seat, and then slowly spoke, “There should be Martial Arts secrets for cultivation within the family, right?”

“Uh,” Even the experienced old butler was momentarily stunned by Muria’s question, but he quickly recovered and said,
“Of course, there are. But why do you ask this, Young Master Jelos?”

“I want to become a Martial Artist!” Muria stated his ambition straightforwardly.

Hum———
As soon as Muria uttered these words, the luxury car promptly and swiftly pulled over to the side of the road. Susanna, sitting in the driver’s seat, turned her head to stare at Muria, but she said nothing.

“Haha, Young Master Jelos, why would you have such a thought? Could you tell this old man who told you about the existence of Martial Artists?” The butler’s questions came from the other end of the communicator, inquiring what Susanna also wanted to know.

“I had already deduced the existence of Martial Artists long ago, but it was only recently that I learned this term for them.”

“Oh? Young Master Jelos, how did you come to deduce their existence?”

“Deducing this was not difficult. Different Species are divided into three categories. Among them, the Mutated Species and the Native Species appeared alongside the Meteor Shower 300 years ago. And the Native species are the monsters that have always existed in our world!

Powerful Native species could easily destroy cities. Before the advent of Star Armor Masters, these terrible monsters roamed freely in our world, yet our human race could still prevail. This indicates that before Star Armor Masters, there was an existence that could contend with these monsters.

Now I know that before Star Armor Masters, the guardians of humanity were called Martial Artists, and they could fight against the powerful Native species. Now I want to become an existence like them.”

“Young Master, although I do not know from whom you have learned about the existence of Martial Artists, I feel obliged to warn you that Martial Artists have declined. Star Armor Masters have completely replaced the role of Martial Artists. In this era, with your superior Star Talent, thinking of becoming a Martial Artist, I must say that it is a very foolish choice.”

“Superior Star Talent?” Muria laughed, “Butler Paris, you do have a sense of humor. My compatibility may be enough to astound and be envied by commoners, but such a talent within the entire Douglas family is probably just the lowest!”

“So, is this your reason for wanting to become a Martial Artist?” Butler Paris looked at the young face on the communicator screen, his own face betraying no emotion and wearing his standard smile.

“I want to stand at the pinnacle of the world, to look down upon everything, to watch the winds and clouds change. I want to become an existence that stands alongside, even surpasses, Titled Star Armor Masters!”

Muria narrated the most arrogant of words with the calmest tone, fully displaying what is called the recklessness of youth, but after he finished speaking, his words turned, and his eyes revealed a sense of loss,
“However, my mere 64.68% adaptability is completely inadequate to support my dream. Therefore, I want to try a different path!”

“I understand your thoughts. Please hold on for a moment.” Butler Paris’s face disappeared from the communicator for a few minutes, and soon his face reappeared,
“In principle, the Douglas family does not interfere with the thoughts and actions of each member and will still provide appropriate support. Therefore, regarding your desire to become a Martial Artist, we will not stop you.”

“Would the family be willing to support me?” Muria’s gaze flickered, then he asked with a hopeful look.

“We can provide some support, but if you want to obtain the secrets of Martial Artist cultivation through the family channels and resources to aid the cultivation, then the family has the right to make certain demands of you!”

“What demands? Just say them.”

“Firstly, you must not neglect your training and studies as a Star Armor Master. You cannot give up on becoming a Star Armor Master. Secondly, the family will pay close attention to your performance at school. If the family finds that your grades are slipping, we will cut off the supply of Martial Artist resources to you at any time.”

“No problem.” After hearing the conditions posed by Butler Paris, Muria immediately nodded in agreement.

“That’s settled then, Young Master Jelos. I will later grant you access to the family’s data archives. You will be able to enter the family’s database through your communicator and peruse all of the Martial Artist secrets that the family has collected.”

“Great!” Muria was stunned for a moment, then his face broke into a brilliant smile as he readily agreed. This outcome was many times better than what he had initially anticipated.

However, this also indirectly showed how much the Martial Artists had declined. The secrets of Martial Artists, which were revered hundreds of years ago, had now become something a young man could browse at will.

…

As Muria turned off the communicator, in the capital of the Zijing Federation, within a grandly scaled manor, an elder who had just turned off his communicator re-gripped the handle of the weed-whacker in front of him and began his weeding work, which was more leisurely than laborious.

“Sigh, every year there are always those who learn about the existence of Martial Artists, who are not content with mediocrity and wish to seek a different path. Do they not know that the glorious era belonging to Martial Artists has already ended?”

“Thinking that with some Martial Arts secrets and enough resources, they could achieve more than a Star Armor Master? To become a powerful Martial Artist requires significant more efforts than a Star Armor Master of the same level.”

“Young people, well, they always want to try something new, which is quite normal. Since the clan has the resources for it, letting them try it out a bit is not a bad idea. Just a little try and they’ll know if they are cut out to be Martial Artists.”

Hearing his old friend’s complaints, another elder dressed in a butler’s outfit and pushing a weed-whacker, chuckled in response.

“But most of these attempts are just a waste of resources!” A butler-clad elder spoke out.

“That can hardly be called a waste. If they have such aspirations, let them give it a shot. If they fail, it will help dismiss such thoughts and make them firmly continue on the path of Star Armor Masters!”

An elder in a butler’s outfit put forth a differing viewpoint, retorting.

“Speaking of which, the child who just contacted me, wanting to become a Martial Artist, says he wants to ascend to the pinnacle of the world. However, his compatibility is not enough to support his dreams, so he wishes to try the path of a Martial Artist.”

Now relaxing with the weeding, Butler Paris chuckled, sharing his recent encounter with his colleague.

“Hahaha, truly an ambitious and idealistic young man!” Upon hearing Butler Paris’ words, the group of butlers for the entire Douglas family burst into laughter.

“The young people of the Douglas family should indeed be ambitious, for ambition fuels motivation.”

“Unfortunately, ambition and talent don’t match. It seems this young master needs a reality check to recalibrate his position.”

“Don’t speak so absolutely. Just because he lacks Star talent doesn’t mean he’s lacking in Martial Arts talent. Perhaps this young master is a Martial Arts genius.”

“In this era, even Martial Arts geniuses are of no use without a Teacher’s guidance. How much can he really achieve on his own?”

“Actually, we from the Douglas clan do have a few Teachers, but unfortunately, the only one willing to show himself isn’t interested in this area.”

At these words, the butlers couldn’t help but glance towards the other end of the manor lawn, where an elderly man was leisurely sunbathing in a recliner, and he instantly came into their view.

Noticing their gaze, the sunbathing, white-haired old man turned his head and smiled at them. The nine butlers, not daring to be negligent, bowed in return, their faces colored with flattered surprise.

…

“Are you sure you want to become a Martial Artist?” Having restarted the car, Susanna tried to converse with Muria in an even tone.

“Sure, I want to give it a try.”

“Your Star talent is already sufficient. Actually, being too strong is not necessarily a good thing,” Susanna’s face showed concern, “The greater the power, the greater the burden one must bear.”

“Power will never be a burden,” Muria replied.

“Jelos, I can understand your desire for greater power, but you shouldn’t have spoken to Butler Paris that way.” Susanna turned to look at Muria, “You mustn’t make such rash statements anymore.”

“Hmm, what I say in the future won’t be rash,” Muria’s eyes looked out the window, knowing that if he didn’t achieve a certain level in Martial Arts, his actions would become a jest within the clan.

But inversely, if he were to achieve great Martial Arts success, then those very words would become something admirable.

Not judging heroes by success or failure is self-deceiving nonsense. In any world, in any matter, most things are judged solely by success, by the outcome.

“Martial Artist, I must become the strongest!” Muria whispered. With ample Martial Arts secrets as reference and a steady supply of resources, nothing could prevent him from becoming even stronger.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read