Six months later.
A little over three years had passed since the Mystic Realm expedition.
Dozens of kilometers south of the top-grade spirit stone mine.
Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom!
Two figures clashed fiercely, their blows echoing across the barren land. One figure towered over the other, his size alone enough to shake the ground whenever he moved.
The surrounding area was a wasteland of destruction, craters, shattered rocks, deep gouges in the earth, and swirling clouds of dust. It was clear this place had been used as their training ground for a long time. The earth never had a chance to recover.
"Dohoho! Brother Leyvi, this is so fun! A few months ago, your Spiritual Touch couldn't harm me at all. But now I'm getting a lot of bruises!" Bodo shouted with laughter as he blocked a huge, brown-glowing fist flying toward him.
"Hahaha! Be careful. Very soon you'll start coughing blood from my attack!" Leyvi, clad in his Volcanic Armor, pulled his massive fist back and slammed another strike from above.
Boom!
The impact buried Bodo deep into the ground, shaking the land. A moment later, the earth erupted violently, debris blasting into the air.
Leyvi leapt back to avoid the flying rocks, but before he could regain balance, a hulking figure burst through the dust and closed the distance in an instant. A powerful kick shot toward his shoulder. Leyvi raised his arm in time to block it, but the force was overwhelming, it sent him spinning through the air and crashing into the ground. The two glowing brown hands beside him flickered and dissipated upon impact.
Moments later, Leyvi climbed out of the rubble, his breathing heavy. Most of his Volcanic Armor had shattered, fragments falling away to reveal his body underneath.
"Whew. My armor broke. I lost again," he said, releasing the remaining fragments to the ground.
"Brother Leyvi, are we done for today? I still can fight," Bodo asked, his body covered in bruises but his grin unbroken.
"Right. That's all for today. If you still want to fight, you can look for Ava, Valenia, or Cempaka," Leyvi said, catching his breath with a faint smile.
In the past six months, the five of them had been sparring regularly, but Leyvi and Bodo fought together the most. Since Leyvi had achieved his goal of storing the Spiritual Vein, he decided it was time to get used to using his Spiritual Touch in real combat. So, day after day, he sought out sparring sessions with the others.
Because he intended to conceal the fact that he was a Spiritual Cultivator, Leyvi wrapped his invisible hands with earth-element Qi, making them appear as though they were part of an earth-element martial skill.
At first, his purpose was only to camouflage his ability. But to his surprise, he discovered that he could actually infuse his Qi into the invisible hands, greatly increasing their strength. That revelation led him to experiment with various approaches during battle, refining his technique and diversifying his fighting style. The more tools he had in combat, the better.
During this period, his proficiency with Spiritual Touch had advanced tremendously. He could now form many different shapes and constructs, but for actual battle, he still preferred the giant hands, simply because they were what he felt most comfortable with.
"Their attacks are strong, but their bodies are too fragile. I have to hold back a lot so I don't seriously injure them. But I don't have to do that with Brother Leyvi. I can punch or kick you however I like. More fun! That armor of yours is really tough! Dohoho!" Bodo said honestly.
Leyvi chuckled. "My armor's gotten much tougher compared to half a year ago, you know? But you still smash it easily."
He wasn't exaggerating. Sparring with the Volcanic Armor almost every day had refined his control and increased its defensive power tremendously. He could now summon it faster and maintain it longer. He'd thought that would help him last longer against Bodo, but somehow, Bodo always managed to destroy the armor with every solid hit.
It didn't take long for Leyvi to realize that he wasn't the only one improving. Bodo, too, was progressing at an incredible pace.
That was why Leyvi decided each session would end the moment his armor broke. It was his way of conceding defeat. Bodo's physical strength was terrifying, and Leyvi had no desire to get seriously injured while they were still living in this world.
When Leyvi asked about the kind of body cultivation Bodo practiced a while back, the answer left him astonished. Bodo's cultivation method allowed him to grow stronger in a way similar to demonic beasts, by forming a demonic core inside his body. It was a method completely different from the one Ava and many other body cultivators in the Cloud Continent used, where they refined their bodies through alchemical solutions.
At first, Leyvi thought this kind of body cultivation was common in the Protogaea Continent. But it wasn't. It turned out to be something unique to Bodo and only a few others before him.
Leyvi recalled that Bodo was raised by multiple King-Level Demonic Beasts. Perhaps this cultivation method had been developed by them. Or to be more precise, Bodo might have been one of their experiments.
According to Bodo, his demonic core was currently at the High Level, yet his battle power was already strong enough to kill Commander-Level Demonic Beasts.
That made Leyvi intrigued. Since Bodo's cultivation mimicked that of demonic beasts, what would happen if he reached the Commander Level himself? Would he awaken a bloodline power of some kind? If so, how strong would he become? He was already unstoppable with just his physical strength. If he could wield bloodline power on top of that, it would be a terrifying sight to behold.
Leyvi was actually quite interested in Bodo's body cultivation method. He had plans to continue his own body cultivation in the future. Unfortunately, even Bodo didn't know how to start cultivating it. By the time he could remember anything, he already had a demonic core. This only made Leyvi more convinced that Bodo was the product of an experiment.
"Dohoho! I can always improve faster when I fight without holding back my strength!" Bodo said happily.
Leyvi blinked. Is that really how it is? That's pretty terrifying if true. If he keeps fighting stronger opponents every day and goes all out each time… wouldn't he just keep getting stronger and stronger?
During their sparring sessions, Leyvi had never once won against Bodo, but that was only because he'd been limiting himself to using Spiritual Touch and Volcanic Armor. He believed that if he went all out with everything at his disposal, he could defeat Bodo. However, that assumption only held true if Bodo had no other method of powering up mid-battle. Just because he said he wasn't holding back didn't mean he had shown all his cards. If Bodo could increase his strength further, then Leyvi doubted he stood a chance.
Leyvi looked at Bodo. After knowing him for six months, he had come to understand that Bodo was a very kind and loyal individual, but far too naive, often taken advantage of because of it.
It turned out that the Cockroach Villain Ori had once told Bodo that the Slavemaker Pill was a candy, and Bodo ate it without the slightest suspicion. When Leyvi heard about it, he couldn't help but facepalm. Too easy!
A month ago, Anda had inspected Bodo's body and confirmed that every trace of the pill's effect had completely disappeared. That meant Bodo was no longer a slave, so Leyvi also removed the Spiritual Imprint, restoring his full freedom.
Even so, Leyvi couldn't shake his concern that Bodo might someday be deceived and used for evil again. That's why he had a plan in mind. If someone's going to take advantage of him anyway, why not make sure it's for good?
"Brother Bodo, would you like to follow me back after the Mystic Realm is over?" Leyvi suggested. "My family can hire you and provide resources for your cultivation. How about it?"
Bodo's eyes lit up with pure joy. "Brother Leyvi, can I? They always said I'm stupid and useless, even though I tried my best to help. Are you really okay with me?"
Ever since leaving his home mountain, he felt that Leyvi and the others had treated him the best, so being valued like this filled him with happiness.
"Of course I'm okay with it!" Leyvi nodded with a bright smile. "What's wrong with being called stupid? I've been called a stupid idiot many times myself, and I'm still living happily. Come, Brother Bodo. My family welcomes stupid people as long as they're good people. We've got a few of them already, and I'm one of them. Hahaha!"
"Brother Leyvi, if I join your family, can I eat more of the Spirit Gourmet Maestro's heavenly food?" Bodo asked, drooling uncontrollably.
He had tasted a heavenly meal prepared by a Spirit Gourmet Maestro once before and never forgot the experience. Who would've thought that Leyvi would treat him to the same divine delicacy again in this place?