Overseeing the beast was the ancient form of Spine. He stood unmoving at the back of the hall, a frail old man who no one paid any mind. Yet, whenever one of Li Yu's beasts was about to be struck by a particularly vicious or coordinated attack, Spine would simply lift a finger. A subtle, invisible ripple of power would wash over the battlefield, causing the bandit's attack to inexplicably miss, their footing to slip, or their spiritual energy to falter for a crucial, fatal second. He was a silent, invisible conductor, ensuring his master's assets were not unduly harmed in their training exercise.
But the true heart of the storm was the duel in the center of the hall.
The Bandit King, his portly human form a blur of surprising speed, charged at Li Yu, his nine-pronged demonic rake held high. "Nine Streams of Plunder!" he shrieked, his voice a high-pitched sound of pure fury. The nine prongs of the rake glowed with a sickly, brown light, and with a single, powerful swing, he unleashed nine distinct waves of heavy, muddy-looking energy that sought to tear and pull at Li Yu from all directions, a technique designed to overwhelm and dismember.
Li Yu's expression was one of calm, joyful excitement. His week of intense, skill-focused training was about to be put to the ultimate test. He spun his heavy staff of Condensed Sea Iron Ore, its black form a stark contrast to the chaotic energies of the hall. He did not retreat. He met the attack head-on.
His style, once just an application of overwhelming force, was now tempered with a bit of newfound grace. He moved forward, his feet tracing a fluid, river-like path. His staff became a whirlwind of motion, not just blocking, but redirecting. With a series of precise, perfectly timed taps and parries, he struck each of the nine muddy energy waves, not with brute force, but at their weakest points, causing them to dissipate harmlessly.
He flowed through the remnants of the technique and appeared before the shocked Bandit King, his staff a black blur as it aimed for the King's shoulder.
The Bandit King was, however, a true Core Formation expert who had earned his throne through countless bloody battles. His body was incredibly tough, and his instincts were sharp. He let out a grunt, twisting his portly frame with an agility that defied his size, the staff grazing his robes as he brought his rake up in a defensive block.
The clash of heavy sea iron ore on demonic metal sent a deafening clang and a shower of sparks through the hall. The force of the blow sent both men staggering back a few steps.
The Bandit King stared, his small, shrewd eyes wide with disbelief. He was renowned for his immense physical strength, the very reason the Iron Heart Sect's leader had been so easily crushed. Yet this boy… this slender, unassuming youth had just met his full-powered block and had not budged an inch more than he had.
"Impressive strength, little one," the Bandit King growled, his confidence shaken but not yet broken. "Let's see you handle this! Mountain-Crushing Charge!"
He stomped his foot, and the stone floor cracked. His entire body was enveloped in a thick, earthy-yellow aura, and he charged forward, not as a man, but as a living cannonball, his rake held before him like a battering ram's tusk. It was a simple, direct, and overwhelmingly powerful attack.
Li Yu's smile widened. He did not sidestep. He did not retreat. He met power with power. He took a single, firm step forward, planting his feet, and brought his staff around in a powerful, horizontal swing, pouring a fraction more of the condensed power from his body into the blow.
The collision was like a thunderclap. The bandit's charge was stopped dead. The king was sent stumbling back, his arms numb, a look of pure shock on his face. Li Yu, on the other hand, had not moved a single inch.
This was the first true test of his newly forged foundation, and the results were exhilarating. His condensed power was every bit as potent as he had hoped.
"My turn," Li Yu said, his voice calm.
He went on the offensive. His movements, which had started as a fluid dance, now became a raging river. He unleashed a relentless, overwhelming barrage of strikes, each blow with his staff heavier and faster than the last. He was no longer just testing his skills; he was testing his limits, slowly, deliberately, increasing the amount of pure Qi he channeled from his spiritual sea into each attack.
The Bandit King, who had built his empire on his own overwhelming strength, was now, for the first time, on the receiving end. He was forced back, step by step, his rake a desperate, clanging shield against the storm. He could feel the terrifying truth with every blow: his opponent was getting stronger. The boy was not fighting at his limit; he was warming up.
Finally, Li Yu decided the test was over. He kept increasing the strength behind his blows until he was channeling a fearsome amount of power into a single, devastating overhead strike. The Bandit King let out a desperate roar, bringing his demonic rake up to block.
The staff of Condensed Sea Iron Ore struck the rake. And the high-grade demonic weapon simply… shattered. It exploded into a dozen pieces of twisted metal.
The Bandit King stared at the broken shards of his prized weapon, and a look of genuine, soul-crushing anguish appeared on his face. The staff, its momentum barely slowed, continued its path and slammed into the Bandit King's shoulder. There was a sickening crunch of bone, and the King was sent flying across the hall, crashing into his own iron throne with enough force to shatter it into a heap of wreckage.
"My Treasure Rake!" he wailed, his voice cracking with grief. "That cost me a fortune of spirit stones! My beautiful rake!" He seemed more devastated by the financial loss than by the imminent physical threat.
He lay there, groaning, his arm broken, his robes torn, weeping not for his injury, but for his destroyed weapon. He had been beaten. He had been completely, utterly, and hopelessly outmatched in his greatest strength.
It was in this moment of desperation, his pride shattered, that his bestial nature took over. "You think you have won?" he screamed, his voice a guttural roar of pure, primal fury. "You have not yet seen my true power!"
His portly, human form began to swell and distort. His skin turned a tough, leathery grey, a pair of sharp, wicked-looking tusks sprouted from his mouth, and his cheerful face contorted into a mask of bestial rage. In seconds, he had transformed into his true form: a colossal Deep-Tusked River Boar, its eyes burning with a furious, red light.
The transformed Bandit King roared, a sound of pure, unrestrained violence, and charged again, this time a true, four-legged demon of immense size and power.
Li Yu met the charge, and what followed was not a battle, but a beating.
The colossal boar was strong, its hide was tough, but Li Yu, now using a level of power that far surpassed his opponent, was simply on another plane of existence. He sidestepped the beast's furious charge, and with a resounding THWACK, brought his staff down on its back. The boar squealed in pain and surprise. It spun around, its tusks aiming to gut him, but he was already gone, appearing on its other side to deliver another, resounding THWACK to its flank.
The grand hall was filled with the comical, yet terrifying, scene of a slender young man relentlessly, almost casually, beating a big demonic boar with a big stick. Every time the boar charged, Li Yu would sidestep and deliver another painful, bone-jarring blow. Every time it tried to use a technique, he would interrupt it with a sharp crack to its snout or a heavy thump on its head.
Finally, the great beast, bruised, battered, and utterly humiliated, stumbled to a halt, its great body heaving, its red eyes now filled not with rage, but with a dawning, terrified understanding. It had made a terrible, terrible mistake.
Li Yu saw his chance. He raised his staff high, a final, crushing blow gathering at its tip, aimed directly at the beast's great, horned head.
"Wise Host, wait!"
The cheerful, booming voice cut through the chaos. A shimmering, watery portal opened in the middle of the hall. From it, Kui waddled out, his hands held up in a placating gesture, a wide, merchant's smile on his face.
The Bandit King, in his boar form, froze. He stared at the newcomer, his furious, terrified eyes suddenly widening in pure, unadulterated shock. He looked at the portly, cheerfully dressed figure, at the small, shrewd eyes, at the magnificent mustache. He looked at Kui, and it was like looking in a mirror.
A single, confused, and utterly baffling sound, a mixture of a grunt and a word, escaped his great, tusked maw.
"...Big… Brother?"
Kui let out a hearty, booming laugh. "Hahaha! Of course we are not related, you foolish pig! But I must admit, the resemblance is uncanny. You truly do look like you could be my own greedy younger brother!"
He waddled over, patting the colossal, demonic boar on its bruised snout as if it were a disobedient puppy. He looked the great beast up and down. "You have made quite a mess of things, haven't you, you greedy, fat pig?"
He looked at Li Yu. "Wise Host, to kill such a fine, if misguided, specimen would be a terrible waste of a valuable asset! With a little… re-education, I believe this Fat Pig could become a very productive member of our Guild!"
The Bandit King, hearing his new name, could only let out a low, defeated whimper.
Kui placed a hand on the beast's great head, and a complex, glowing seal, a master-servant contract, sank into its forehead. The great beast shuddered, and then, a new, profound understanding entered its eyes. It lowered its head to the ground in a gesture of absolute, final submission.
The remaining bandits, who had been systematically crushed by Li Yu's beasts, with the help of spine of course, saw this final, impossible scene. Their invincible King, their Core Formation powerhouse, had been beaten like a disobedient dog and was now kneeling before a cheerful, portly old man who had appeared from nowhere.
Their last shred of fighting spirit vanished. They dropped their weapons and fell to their knees, their heads bowed to the floor, surrendering completely to their new, terrifyingly powerful masters.