Chapter Twenty-One: The Brutal Act of Forcing Growth

"Crack," "crack"—some disciples, startled by the earlier scene, involuntarily gaped open-mouthed, and when they finally managed to collect their jaws, there came the sound of dislocated bones as if their tendons had caught.

All in all, as the disciples below the stage gradually recovered from their shock, murmurs and the clamor of indignation rose anew.

"Poor little junior sister, she lost without even making a move."

"It's all that shameless Gu Chubby's fault—I never got to witness her elegance in both word and deed."

"That damned fatso, he dared to embrace—no, desecrate the fairy I've admired for so long! Unforgivable!"

"Who fights like that?"

"Late arrival, disheveled clothes, covered in blood—now even his methods are so indecent."

"What a pity. In the last round, I lost to a senior sister after struggling so hard. If I'd known this was allowed, I'd have hugged her too. At least I'd have lost with honor."

...

The hubbub swelled; everywhere was talk of Gu Chubby and the little junior sister. Even the fierce competitions on the other hundred dueling platforms paled in comparison at that moment!

Because of the late arrival, the last to start, the earliest to finish, and the most ‘affectionate’ display, Gu Chubby, following Ouyang Handsome, once again successfully diverted and eased the tense, anxious moods of all the disciples.

The little junior sister, released from Gu Chubby’s arms and dropped from the stage, seemed still to feel the ‘wild’ aura clinging to him. She didn’t care the least about losing the match—her face was flushed red, burning all the way to her ears.

After all, the little junior sister was still a girl, and easily embarrassed.

Once she came to herself and heard the crowd calling her ‘poor little junior sister,’ ‘beloved fairy,’ ‘shamelessly desecrated by Gu Chubby,’ she was so mortified she wished she could vanish from sight.

She couldn't even recall how she made her way back to her seat, her heart still pounding wildly.

...

Though outsiders might see the duel as a lucky, even shameless victory, only Gu Chubby himself knew it was not mere luck.

Meanwhile, the commentary from the disciples below, especially those from the outer sect, made him feel deeply, deeply wronged.

As for Gu Old Five, the instigator, and the other high-ranking stewards and elders, they could judge from the thick aura of blood and fiendish energy that the victory was beyond reproach.

"Old Five, where did your grandson come from?"

"Indeed, he was so mysterious before!"

"How does he have so much blood energy? Even if it’s all from fierce beasts and spirit birds, how many would one have to slaughter in such a short time to accumulate that?"

...

In truth, Gu Chubby had not had an easy time during his two-day disappearance.

Gu Old Five had inexplicably thrown him to a corner of the Spirit Beast Forest, a thousand miles from the sect.

Then, Gu Old Five herded and corralled an uncountable number of first-rank spirit beasts and fierce birds, encircling him.

Next came the ‘draw a prison by marking the ground’—a thousand-foot enclosure, trapping him so he couldn’t escape far.

After that... there was nothing more.

Gu Old Five, having finished his preparations, slipped away, leaving not even a single ordinary weapon behind.

Gu Chubby was left alone in the encirclement of spirit beasts, forced to face them with nothing but his bare hands.

At first, everywhere he turned were spirit beasts and fierce birds, not even a place to hide—countless brushes with death, wounds upon wounds.

Gradually, he learned the attack patterns of most beasts within the enclosure, and his Misty Steps grew ever more adept under pressure.

Eventually, he managed to slay a Firehorned Rhino, forcibly pulling out its two tough, fire-tinted horns.

From bare hands, he progressed to reinforcing his body with earth elemental energy, then imbuing the rhino horns with fire spirit energy, and began to counterattack.

Though the wounds on his body multiplied, so too did the corpses of beasts felled by his hand.

He lost count of how long he had to scramble, treat his wounds, fend off attacks... until exhaustion nearly rendered him unable to lift the rhino horns. Even the beasts around him collapsed, panting, and only then did he gain a precious respite.

When both sides were spent, they tacitly rested and recovered.

Once restored, the battle resumed, life-or-death.

When hunger and thirst became unbearable, they tore into the flesh and blood of nearby beast corpses for sustenance.

While fighting and feeding, there was no mercy.

At first, everywhere was packed with spirit beasts, not even room to stand.

But gradually, Gu Chubby deliberately used the corpses of slain beasts to carve out a small patch of territory for himself.

From being actively besieged from sky and earth, he started to regain the initiative, launching preemptive hunts.

For two days and three nights, Gu Chubby cursed Gu Old Five countless times; even if the ancestral graves never smoked, he’d curse them, never mind if he cursed himself in the process.

At last, Gu Chubby killed so much his arms grew numb, and even the surviving beasts were thoroughly cowed, huddling in a corner, none daring to provoke the blood-soaked, ragged figure.

With battle after wound, wound after medicine, he burned through a great deal of healing herbs.

Luckily, Old Fire Mu’s internal injury pills, given before, lasted him—otherwise, survival would have been doubtful.

...

Gu Chubby thought his hardship was over.

Little did he know, as dawn came, rays of hope shining, he was deceived yet again.

When Gu Old Five’s prison-circle opened at one corner, the surviving first-rank beasts and birds fled in a panic.

Gu Chubby couldn’t help but laugh aloud at the sight.

Yet to outsiders, the heaps of corpses and blood-soaked earth were terrifying, more like a scene from hell.

Gu Chubby, still laughing, soon found that when the prison-circle was about to close again, a new beast squeezed in—a creature very different in aura from the previous ones: a Ground Demon Bear.

Gu Chubby was nearly driven to tears.

He could sense that this bear had just advanced to second rank, equivalent to a human just entering the Foundation Establishment stage, and its physical strength far surpassed human peers.

The bear, stepping in, was immediately enraged by the carnage, baring its fangs and charging straight at Gu Chubby.

...

At that instant, Gu Chubby cursed Gu Old Five a thousand times in his heart, but he dared not slacken, fleeing around the thousand-foot enclosure with the Ground Demon Bear in hot pursuit.

As the saying goes, even a clay figurine has a temper—let alone Gu Chubby, wronged so many times.

"You damned stupid bear, enjoying the chase, are you?"

"You really think I’m afraid?"

"Not to scare you, but when I get serious, even I fear myself!"

"See all those corpses? All slaughtered by yours truly!"

...

Seeing Gu Chubby suddenly stop running and start ranting, spittle flying, the bear instinctively halted its chase.

"Your grandfather!"

Mistakenly thinking the bear understood and was intimidated by his words, Gu Chubby saw the bear bare its fangs again, claws out, lunging for a second attack. He let out another yell.

This time, Gu Chubby didn’t intend to run. He swiftly picked up the two rhino horns he’d thrown aside, bent low, and launched himself forward.

The horns held before him, he accelerated straight at the charging demon bear.

Though Foundation Establishment couldn’t yet fly like the Golden Core stage, it allowed true energy to be projected outward, forming a protective shield.

As expected, the two horns pierced the bear’s chest fur, but only barely—such wounds were negligible to the bear.

At the same time, the bear’s paws swung at Gu Chubby’s head.

Having fought for two days and three nights, Gu Chubby’s agility had been honed.

As the bear’s claws closed in, he abandoned the horns, gathered true energy into his arms, and blocked the attack at his head.

At the moment of successful block, he turned his fists into palms, lifting upwards, so that as the bear’s gaping jaws approached, his small hands clamped the upper and lower jaws, holding them apart.

Quick as thought, Gu Chubby bent his waist and drew up his legs, channeling true energy into his feet midair, and kicked hard at the rhino horns still lodged in the bear’s chest—

With a splatter, both horns were driven deep into the bear, blood spraying.

As the bear roared in pain, Gu Chubby took the chance to escape again.

Barely catching his breath, he saw the bear, maddened and heedless, yank out the horns, letting blood gush out, and charge at him once more.

Gu Chubby, now with the upper hand, gasped for air while continuing to skirmish, running around the enclosure again.

After nearly a quarter hour of pursuit, the bear howled, its blood flowing ever faster, smashing everything in its path.

Gu Chubby, anticipating this, kept up his escape, launching countless small fireballs to harass the bear, never giving it time to recover.

"Now’s the time."

After much more chase, the bear’s steps slowed, panting heavily. Gu Chubby knew his moment had come.

"You damned bear, tired yet? I still have all my strength!"

"Watch how I deal with you today!"

"I always heard bear paw is tasty—pity I never got the chance. Now it’s right here!"

"When I’m done roasting, I’ll give you one back. There's an old saying: eat what you need to replenish!"

...

Even as the newly advanced Foundation Establishment bear was in such dire straits, Gu Chubby continued to taunt him without restraint.

...

Finally, the demon bear collapsed with a thud, its huge eyes staring helplessly at the wild youth before it.

Just as Gu Chubby moved to finish off the fallen bear, the formation jade disk Old Gu had left him flashed with silver light...

"Little dumb bear, today I’m in a good mood, so I’ll spare your life."

...

And then, Gu Chubby was whisked away by the formation talisman, transported back to the sect—leading to the scene of his tardy arrival at the grand competition...