The bandit's lair had an oppressive air to it. The gates of the fortress was closed, and formations were covering the entire place, prohibiting entrance from the sky.
Many of the multi-eyed experts were puzzled as to what they should do. If the bandits decided to hole up within their fortress, it was likely that there was nothing they could do.
The gate had been fortified with formations that blocked spiritual energy, so that it was impossible to just barge in – or so they thought.
There was one thing which the bandits had not taken into account, and that was the fact that all of the students had increased their Qi level to the Ordinary Knight rank, an increase that could not be disregarded.
Even without martial arts, their strength was now more than double what it had been before. If they each used a basic punch infused with Qi, the gate would crumble under the combined attack.
The first to realize this was Xue Wei and a smile appeared on his lips. On top of the gates there were bandits jeering at them. They all thought that they were safe and that the ones at their gate were incapable of attacking them.
"All of you, show them what physical strength can do!" Xue Wei called out happily and advanced towards the gate, followed by the many experts from the Garden of Shadows.
They all threw out a punch, one at a time, and before all of them could finish their attacks, the gates emitted a cracking sound as they shattered into thousands of pieces of wood that spread through the air.
The bandits on top of the gates were staring with gaping mouths, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
How could these experts suddenly have such strength?! They specialized in spiritual energy, so why on earth were they suddenly so strong?
The bandits were not the only ones in shock. Although those below had gotten used to their newfound strength, they had not seen their actual strength in an attack. So when they saw it, they were floored with amazement.
Their performance had boosted their morale. The faces of the students were filled with smiles and excitement.
As soon as the gate was shattered, all of them rushed inside the fortress. What met them was a horde of bandits. It was clear that when the students had gathered for the final battle, the bandits had done the same and returned to their lair.
Most of these experts had three eyes. There were a few with two eyes, but there were none with four eyes in the entire courtyard of the fortress.
The bandits had the advantage of sheer numbers, but they were inferior in quality
The experts from the academy were all filled with excitement and intent to do battle and they threw themselves into the fighting the moment their eyes locked on an enemy.
The morale was high in the group. Their bodies were capable of withstanding much more damage than before, and they were all eager to display this change in their bodies.
Xue Wei, Lin Xiao, Hei Gou, and Bai Tianyi were all great at mingling with the rest of the academy students and inched closer to their targets, managing to end their lives with simple attacks.
They were all eager to kill as many as possible to increase their own score.
Xue Wei had promised to focus on the leader of the bandit group alongside his friends. The reason was simple: their leader was a Primordial Beast who specialized in Qi.
Although the students had managed to step into the Ordinary Knight with their Qi levels, many of them would have to sacrifice their lives before they would be able to really cause problems for him.
They would need to hold him in place and have someone specialized in soul attacks attack him. As a Primordial Beast, his weakest point would be his soul, but they needed both luck and skills to get that opportunity.
This was why Xue Wei, Hei Gou, Lin Xiao, and Bai Tianyi were chosen as the ones to face him.
The bandit leader was a high ranked Earth Knight. He was higher ranked than the four of them, but they had the highest chance of success in the entire group of bracelet-wearers - even the other Primordial Beasts could not compare to Hei Gou's strength. His physical strength at the ninth layer of the Earth Knight rank was enough to fully challenge the bandit leader.
Unfortunately, one could not immediately judge another's physical strength levels. When they looked at Hei Gou, they could only sense his Qi level, which was at the fourth layer of the Earth Warrior rank, but this was already enough to cause these students to be in awe.
Hei Gou looked so young, but he was already this strong! Even the Primordial Beasts in the academy were stunned by it.
The Primordial Beasts were also stunned by Xue Wei. They could feel a pressure and danger from his body that made them all have an urge to bow down in front of him, but he claimed that he was no Primordial Beast. Then what could he be? What was nobler than a Primordial Beast when it came to the density of bloodlines?
The Primordial Beats were all slightly uncomfortable around Xue Wei, but they also looked up to him. Still, it was easier to just hide away from him than to actually meet and talk with him.
The multi-eyed cultivators could not sense the same pressure that the beasts could, and thus the beasts knew that there was a pressure solely made for the beasts. Was it someone who had power over beasts?
They somewhat hoped this, as they wished for someone to be able to deal with the bandit leader.
"Hey guys," Lin Xiao suddenly called out, and not only Xue Wei, Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi listened in, everyone within hearing range had their ears perked up and was ready to listen to what was being said.
"Why don't I try to tame him? Then they can run a trial for him if they want," he said casually. "I kind of want to see if my taming abilities work here in the other continent."
"You think they might not?" Xue Wei asked curiously. Lin Xiao shook his head. "I really don't know," he answered seriously.
"There are some secrets for the Diviners." Lin Xiao sighed. "I can't really go into detail since I swore a heavenly oath, but it might be possible that it only works on Chang'an."
"In that case, give it a try," Xue Wei said with a nod of his head. "We will not lose anything from you testing your abilities here."
The many people eavesdropping were confused. What abilities? Was it really possible to tame Primordial Beasts? They were as intellectual as humans, and they were seen as equals here in Yan Dalu. The ability to tame them would be a power that none of them could imagine.
But the fight continued. The students were easily disposing of their enemies and the ground was littered with corpses. All of them were bandits; not a single student had lost their life just yet.
The group poured deeper into the fortress, no longer fighting in the open courtyard but entering the actual fortress building.
The further in they got, the more people they encountered, and these people became increasingly stronger. Xue Wei was astonished. This was the biggest bandit group he had ever encountered. It made perfect sense that the government was in need of taking action against them.
Xue Wei was not in a rush when they moved into the building. He and his friends were around the middle of the pack, observing everything in their path.
The many bandits were being killed one after another, which lasted until the fortress started trembling.
A three meter tall boar appeared in the main hall of the fortress; its tusks were massive and sharp, filled with power. One hit of those and even these experts with Ordinary Knight strength of the first layer would be severely injured.
This was their target. This was the leader of the bandits. Seeing him, Xue Wei glanced at Lin Xiao who was frowning and shook his head. He could not tell at the current point if he could tame him or not.
"We need to beat him down," he said seriously. "Beat him down until he forgets from which direction the sun rises. Then I should have a chance."
"In that case, let us move," Xue Wei said. He, Hei Gou, Bai Tianyi, and Lin Xiao were all eager to fight this boar.
"Gou, you take care of blocking his attacks. Your body is much stronger than ours, so you will have to keep him busy for us!" Xue Wei called out directions.
"Xiao and Tianyi, the two of you are going to add support from behind. Whenever the boar is locked down by Gou, you launch your own attacks and bring him down."
"I will ensure that no one is allowed to interrupt us, and I’ll launch attacks on my own whenever I see a chance to do so!"
Forbidden Rush!
Having given out the directions, Xue Wei activated his movement technique alongside the other two, and Bai Tianyi made a flying sword which he stood on.
While everyone else was shying away from the large boar, Xue Wei and his friends moved straight towards him. On the way, Hei Gou's body started changing.
His body grew in size. It was no longer the size of a Celestial Dog; instead it was the size of a great dragon, five meters long and three meters tall.
The fur was still black, but it had streaks of silver and gold within, and big wings were flapping behind his back, the feathers also having a few silver and gold feathers amongst the many black ones.
In a way, it seemed very much the same as before, but much bigger and with a few golden and silver colors mixed in between.
Hei Gou's shape was awe-inspiring. Even the students of the academy were stunned when they saw Hei Gou transform.
All the experts from the academy that were Primordial Beasts felt their hearts tremble. This was a Primordial Beast with a very pure bloodline. This was a king amongst beasts!
It was not only the beasts of the academy who could feel the oppressive air, the small eyes of the bandit leader in his boar form narrowed as he felt the pressure bearing down upon him.
The two massive figures facing off against each other, were not backing down at all. One was a predator by nature, a dog that had mutated and become so very powerful, while the other was a boar, a beast that would never back down if it felt threatened, bearing tusks that could cause serious damage.
The first to lose his patience was the bandit leader. He and Hei Gou had been observing each other for some time but found no apparent weaknesses in the other, so he charged out with all his might.
Hei Gou was fast and dodged the charge of the bandit leader. He sidestepped him, causing the bandit leader to run straight into the wall, which resulted in the entire building shaking, dust falling from the ceiling.
The moment he ran into the wall, he became slightly dizzy, and neither Lin Xiao nor Bai Tianyi wanted to waste any opportunities. Swords made from the grey energy descended down onto the back of the boar, slicing through the thick hide and flesh.
Bai Tianyi fought from the distance, and Lin Xiao rushed up to him, bringing down his sword for numerous quick slashes.