Chapter 7: You can laugh at my brother, but you can't laugh at me!
This was the first time the disciples had seen Yu Xiaolie's martial spirit at such close range.
They discovered that it was less like a pig and more like a hybrid of a pig and a dog.
It had a round body, four short legs, and long ears.
Such an adorable appearance was hard to associate with combat; it was more like a pet kept by royalty and noble ladies for amusement.
In the tense atmosphere, the appearance of such a cute creature made it hard not to laugh.
"Hahahaha, Second Young Master, your martial spirit is really powerful. I'm really afraid that if it gets angry, it will seriously injure us."
Yu Xiaolie calmly waited for them to finish laughing and said lightly,
"Whether it's strong or not, we'll know after we fight. How about we make a bet?"
Private duels were actually forbidden within the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect.
However, to stimulate the disciples' competitive spirit, several types of challenges are permissible.
These include sparring, wagers, and life-or-death contracts.
Sparring is the most common, with both sides stopping short of defeat, primarily for the purpose of verifying each other's cultivation levels.
It is frequently seen in training courses, such as the sparring between Yu Xiaolie and his second grandfather.
Wages, on the other hand, are used to settle grudges between disciples. Usually, various prizes are offered by both sides depending on the outcome of the duel.
The winner takes all.
If the grudges between the two sides are difficult to resolve, a life-or-death contract can be used after reporting to the sect.
Usually, this level of duel requires supervision from a senior elder, and even if there are deaths or injuries during the process, the losing side is not allowed to retaliate afterwards.
The wager that Yu Xiaolie mentioned is a wager.
Seeing the wager that he was sure to win, the pockmarked-faced group naturally had no reason to refuse.
"What are we betting on?"
"If I lose, all my cultivation resources for the next year, including beast meat, tonics, etc., are yours."
This sentence made the pockmarked-faced group swallow hard.
That was an astronomical sum! As outer disciples, they probably wouldn't receive so many resources from the sect in their entire lives.
With these resources, breaking through to the Great Soul Master level, or even the higher Soul Venerable level, would only be a matter of time.
Seeing the burning desire in their eyes, Yu Xiaolie continued,
"If you lose, I won't take your things..."
"From now on, you'll serve me as your master, like a slave."
This request made the outer disciples exchange bewildered glances. On one side were countless cultivation resources, and on the other, a "contract of servitude." Even the pockmarked leader hesitated.
At this moment, one of the disciples, clearly blinded by greed, eagerly spoke up: "Senior brother, let's bet with him! We toil away every day gathering herbs and hunting, isn't it all for our future?"
The other disciples echoed, which made the pockmarked man make up his mind.
The opponent was a useless piece of trash without even a single Soul Ring, so they would bet!
The bet was made, and the duel was about to begin.
Looking at the positions of the people opposite him, Yu Xiaolie knew they looked down on him.
From a practical standpoint, when outnumbered, the best strategy is to surround the weaker opponent with superior numbers.
If they attack simultaneously from the front and rear, it can be quite troublesome.
However, perhaps Yu Xiaogang's swift defeat gave them the illusion that "the older brother is weaker than the younger."
The four opponents all possessed soul power around level twelve or thirteen, and three of them had the common Azure Wolf beast soul.
The only troublesome one was the leader's Brown Bear beast soul; this type of martial soul possessed innate divine strength and considerable defensive power.
He decided to defeat them one by one.
Taking advantage of the opponent's unstable footing, Yu Xiaolie made the first move! His target was the outer disciple on the far left.
Before the man could react, a fist carrying the whoosh of wind was already aimed straight at his jaw.
Logically, with the Azure Wolf beast soul's enhancement, he should have been able to dodge it with speed alone.
But just as he tried to sidestep the fist, he was suddenly struck in the lower back.
This force caused him to lose his balance, forcing him to crouch down instead of sidestep.
Changing his stance in time was clearly too late; the punch, originally aimed at the jaw, landed squarely between the eyebrows!
"Bang!"
Years of martial arts training had imbued this punch with a force far exceeding a hundred pounds!
If Yu Xiaolie hadn't held back, he likely would have knocked this disciple unconscious with a single blow.
Although he didn't faint, he lay on the ground, his vision blurring and his ears ringing.
The closest disciple, barely blinking, saw one of his men fall, causing him to instinctively take a step back.
Unexpectedly, in that instant, a sharp pain shot through his left ankle, his trouser leg feeling like it was nailed to the ground.
Iron Mountain Thrust!
The immense force from his chest sent him flying, landing with a sharp pain in his chest; his ribs were likely broken or fractured.
Two opponents instantly eliminated!
"It's that pig! It was it that attacked from behind, causing our men to fall."
With two men down, the remaining outer disciple finally realized what had happened.
The pockmarked man's expression turned serious. He had never heard of a beast soul that could move freely outside the body and cooperate with a soul master.
"Be careful, his beast soul is strange."
Did he even need to remind him? The remaining man was already itching to turn and run.
But it was clearly too late. Constantly on guard against a sneak attack from behind, he was gradually being forced into a disadvantageous position by Yu Xiaolie's fighting techniques.
The pockmarked man was frantic. His side, which had clearly the upper hand, had been halved in just a few moves; his opponent was far too cunning.
He channeled his soul power to grab at Yu Xiaolie, but the kid was like a slippery eel; he couldn't keep up with his speed.
The remaining disciple not only had to face Yu Xiaolie's relentless barrage of punches and kicks, but Luo Sanpao behind him was also finding opportunities to bite and ram him with his buttocks, his attacks always targeting the lower body.
He said he had never seen such a vicious martial soul!
With his last helper defeated, the pockmarked man was left fighting alone.
He cursed inwardly, "A bunch of useless trash," and began to take Yu Xiaolie seriously as his opponent.
Whether in combat experience or coordination with spirit beasts, he was clearly far superior to Yu Xiaogang.
Of course, despite his caution, he didn't believe he would lose this battle.
With less than level one spirit power and no spirit rings, even if he stood there and let Yu Xiaogang attack, he probably wouldn't be able to break through his defenses.
The moment they exchanged blows, the pockmarked man breathed a sigh of relief; it was exactly as he had predicted.
Yu Xiaolie's punches and kicks landed on him; he couldn't feel them completely, but he could withstand them.
He could endure a couple of blows, and if he could grab his opponent's body, he could quickly decide the outcome using his "Bear Hug" skill.
Just then, Yu Xiaolie couldn't dodge in time, revealing an opening. The pockmarked man seized the opportunity and grabbed his shoulder.
Caught off guard, Yu Xiaolie panicked. He desperately tried to break free, but how could he escape the immense strength of a brown bear spirit?
The pockmarked man secretly rejoiced, suddenly channeling his spirit power and pulling Yu Xiaolie towards his chest.
The next moment, he would unleash his ultimate technique, the "Bear Hug"!
He seemed to see Yu Xiaolie, forced to surrender by his arms.
But to his surprise, just as he exerted his maximum strength, Yu Xiaolie suddenly released all his force.
Having pulled at nothing with all his might, the pockmarked man's body involuntarily staggered backward.
Just as he lost his balance, his foot suddenly tripped over something fleshy.
Thump—the perfectly timed resistance caused the pockmarked man to lose his balance and fall flat on his back.
He immediately raised his arms to protect his head and face, preparing to receive Yu Xiaolie's punches.
But the expected punches and kicks didn't come. He looked around through the gaps in his arms, and Yu Xiaolie had vanished.
Soon, the pockmarked man felt a shadow loom over him; Yu Xiaolie had already taken to the air!
Trying to use his weight to deliver a blow from above?
Too naive. How much could a child of a few years old weigh?
But when he saw Yu Xiaolie holding that fat pig in his arms, the pockmarked face finally showed a look of despair…
(End of this chapter)