Free Web NovelLi Yu sat near the bubbling hot spring within his private courtyard and reviewed the intricate teachings of the Culinary Sovereign. The morning air carried a crisp chill but the area around the young warrior radiated a steady and comforting heat. He set up a heavy iron grill over a stone fire pit and procured a thick cut of spiritual boar meat from the storage ring Amunet had provided.
Feeling deeply inspired by the philosophical concepts detailed within the glowing slip, he decided to test the theories using his own understanding and infusing her teachings into them. He summoned a wisp of his orange natal flame and held it hovering above his palm. The fire danced with a fierce intensity and looked as if it was alive.
Instead of tossing the meat immediately over a blazing campfire like he usually did, Li Yu closed his eyes and sent his divine sense into the raw ingredient. He mapped the dense muscle fibers, the intricate energy pathways and the tough layers of connective tissue hidden beneath the surface.
Li Yu then seasoned the meat as he had always done but then he applied the Radiant Crust method first. He pushed a sudden burst of the intense orange fire directly against the exterior of the boar meat. The high temperature caused the natural sugars to caramelize in a fraction of a second while the spiritual proteins fused together. A loud sizzle echoed through the garden as a rich dark crust formed over the outside.
Once the exterior was sealed tight, Li Yu dialed the heat back and carefully threaded thin wisps of his natal flame through the internal meridians of the cut. He cooked the meat from the inside out while breaking down the stubborn fibers with his flames. He then pulled the food away from the heat and forced himself to practice patience. He let the roasted boar rest on a wooden board while the agitated juices settled and the frantic Qi calmed down into a stable state.
After waiting for a bit, he took a sharp knife and sliced into the meat. A bit of clear juice pooled slightly on the wood but the vast majority of the moisture remained locked inside the tender flesh. The aroma was rich and intoxicating, smelling even better than before. He took a bite and his eyes widened in delight. The dark crust offered a satisfying crunch and favor while the interior melted on his tongue. The spiritual energy of the beast washed over his palate without any sour or burned notes.
The crust was noticeably improved and the meat felt far juicier than anything he had ever prepared before. It wasn’t as if he had been cooking dry meat before, the level of his cooking had improved due to the teachings he had received. The increase was gradual but it made the difference.
Almost every single aspect of the meal got slightly better just by following the principles of the text with his own understanding of cooking. Li Yu felt super excited by the tangible progress and eagerly dove back into the life's work of the Culinary Sovereign to uncover more intricate techniques and teachings.
He spent the next two days oscillating between intense culinary study and taking brief walks to eat around the town to further his inspiration. However, while his mood soared, the mood within Redcliff grew worse and worse as the day of the death match approached. The usually vibrant gambling dens fell quiet while many merchants packed their stalls early to avoid the impending chaos. The citizens walked with their heads down and cast worried glances toward the high sandstone walls as the heavy shadow of Voss loomed over their daily routines.
Li Yu and Amunet shared several meals together during this tense period. Li Yu believed it was best to get to know this strange person a bit better. She had completely pulled him in with bribes but it was because she could that he wanted to know more about her. They sat in quiet corners of the market and chatted quite a bit about the local powers, location for various goods and the general flow of the Mosaic Realm. During these casual conversations, he caught the winged woman looking above his head several times. Her amber eyes would dart upward to look at the empty air before quickly returning to her plate.
He noted the strange behavior every single time but he said nothing about it. He harbored his own strong suspicions regarding what was truly going on with her unnatural wealth and her uncanny foresight. If his theories regarding what it was were accurate, he knew she would never admit it anyway.
Every cultivator held tight to their life saving secrets and he was no different. They formed a silent understanding to not ask and not tell. They simply enjoyed the food and the company as they were not enemies but people on the same side. That was good enough for now.
When they were not eating, Li Yu spent his time observing her martial routines and giving a bit of guidance for her. He sat on the porch of his courtyard and watched her train with relentless dedication. He quickly noted she possessed quite a few rare treasures equipped on her person.
She wore glowing pendants that stabilized her Qi, etched bracers that amplified her physical strength and lightweight boots that clearly enhanced her agility. A person must have lived a very eventful life to collect all those high tier artifacts before even reaching the Law Integration stage or it was something else entirely, Li Yu believed it was the something else entirely.
Her martial techniques proved to be very varied as well. She wielded a heavy double bladed axe but she moved with the flowing grace of a rogue wielding daggers. She blended brutal sweeping strikes with elegant footwork that left afterimages in the dirt.
On the afternoon before the duel, she wiped the sweat from her brow and challenged him to a friendly spar. She wanted to test her abilities against a superior opponent to warm up her muscles and build confidence. Li Yu agreed to the request and stepped into the center of the garden.
To make the exchange fair, he actively suppressed his cultivation base down to the Law Seed realm to match her exact stage. He sealed away his vast reserves of Qi and restricted the flow of his meridians as best as he could.
Amunet offered a respectful bow and surged forward with a burst of crimson Qi. She swung her heavy axe in a tight horizontal arc aimed at his ribs. Li Yu did not draw his glaive, he simply raised his bare arm to block the blow. The sharp metal blade crashed into his forearm with a deafening ring.
The impact sent a shockwave through the garden and scattered the loose leaves across the grass as Amunet stumbled backward from the violent recoil while her hands went numb. Li Yu remained firmly planted in the dirt without taking a single step back.
He looked down at his arm and felt a wave of surprise, he had predicted this but the results were surprising. Even with his cultivation restricted to the same level as hers, he was simply too monstrous. His physical body was much stronger than hers due to his grueling foundation that was built up along his journey through the cultivation world. His Qi felt far more bountiful and significantly denser than the energy flowing through her meridians due to his techniques and advantages.
Amunet gritted her teeth and launched a flurry of rapid strikes. She attacked from blind angles and utilized her vibrant red wings to change her momentum mid air. Li Yu parried the attacks with casual palm strikes and sweeping kicks. He did not use any special techniques or martial arts as it wasn’t necessary to do so. He relied entirely on his physical attributes to overwhelm her varied arsenal of techniques.
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Realizing her physical attacks were ineffective, the Ignari ruler distanced herself and activated a unique technique. Her amber eyes glowed with a piercing light as she unleashed an innate soul attack specific to her winged race. An invisible spear of mental energy shot across the courtyard and struck Li Yu directly between the eyes.
The soul attack entered his inner world and vanished like a pebble falling into a deep ocean. His five Nascent Souls did not even bother to stir from their activities. His soul strength was just staggering compared to another cultivator. The innate technique proved harmless against his fortified mind.
Amunet lowered her axe and let out a heavy sigh as she observed the vast canyon between their foundations. She was a recognized genius who had fought bloody battles to claim her throne yet she could not even scratch a man resting at her exact same cultivation stage.
Of course, it wasn’t fair to say it was her exact cultivation stage, regardless of how much he was suppressed, he held innate advantages over her that couldn’t be suppressed down accurately. Her own pride took a noticeable hit as she realized the true depth of his power.
However, her confidence for the coming day skyrocketed. She knew that if Voss brought hidden experts to secure the aftermath, Li Yu would crush them without much issue. While her own confidence for victory in her fight went down slightly, her overall confidence in the situation as a whole was now unshakable.
"There are true monsters wandering this cosmos," Amunet said while storing her axe away. She wiped her face with a silk cloth and offered him a determined smile. "I see the difference in our foundations but I do not despair. I have my own path to walk and my own hidden advantages to rely upon. I will carve my destiny just as you have carved yours and perhaps I will be standing on the same stage as you one day."
Li Yu nodded and deactivated his suppression. He too felt a bit stunned by his own abilities. He had spent so long fighting against overwhelming numbers or those stronger than him that after the incident with Bai Yun and now Amunet, that he forgot how terrifying his base foundation truly was to other cultivators. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
The day before the event faded into a tense and quiet evening. Li Yu sat near his hot spring and saw her taking out her leather armor to prepare for the battle tomorrow. She carefully polished the dark metal plates and dragged a fine whetstone along the curved edge of her large axe until the steel gleamed under the moonlight. She was focused and ready for the storm to come.
Noon arrived the following day with a blistering sun beating down on the sandstone town. The citizens of Redcliff gathered around a wide circular arena formed from crushed rock located in the center of the market plaza. The air felt heavy with anticipation as the guards of the Crimson Hawks secured the perimeter to ensure no one interfered with the sacred duel.
Li Yu stood near the front of the crowd wearing his simple black martial robes as he kept his presence concealed while blending in with the anxious merchants and nervous smiths. A heavy thud echoed across the stones as the challenger arrived. Voss stepped into the ring and the crowd instinctively shrank back from his oppressive aura.
He was a towering beast resembling a minotaur with thick coarse fur covering his muscular chest. Two jagged horns curled out from his broad skull and a heavy iron ring pierced his bovine nose. He carried a crude but lethal axe resting on his broad shoulder and radiated the heavy pressure of the Law Integration realm.
Amunet walked into the arena a moment later, her red wings flared out behind her as she held her double bladed axe with a relaxed but ready grip. She looked small compared to the towering beast but her amber eyes burned with fierce determination that gave people confidence. Voss sneered at the winged woman and dragged his heavy weapon across the dirt.
"You have built a nice little town here, little bird," Voss rumbled with a deep voice that vibrated through the chests of the onlookers. "It is a shame you are throwing your life away. I will offer you a final chance at mercy. Forfeit the duel right now and you can become one of my concubines. I will let you live but only if you can please me well enough tonight."
Amunet narrowed her eyes and felt a surge of disgust wash over her. She raised her axe and pointed the sharp edge directly at his thick neck.
"Cut the crap, Voss," she declared with a voice loud enough for the entire plaza to hear. "You will die on these stones today."
Voss’s roaring laughter turned into anger as he lunged forward. The ground shook under his heavy hooves as he swung his axe in a devastating overhead chop. Li Yu could see the laws of severing and earth surrounding the axe.
Amunet sidestepped the brutal attack with a blur of speed. She used her winged footwork to slide past his guard and delivered a sweeping strike aimed at his ribs. The steel bit into his thick hide and drew a thin line of dark blood. Voss grunted and spun around with a backhand swing that forced her to raise her weapon in defense.
The loud clash of metal ringing against metal echoed across the town. They began to fight with savage intensity and it wasn’t clear who would walk away today. They appeared quite equally matched during the opening exchange even though he was a full realm ahead of her. Amunet utilized her superior footwork and varied martial techniques and treasures to deflect his power while landing precise counter attacks. Her foundation proved to be much more stable than his crude reliance on ambient law energy.
However, the weight of a Law Integration expert eventually began to tip the scales. Voss abandoned any attempt at defense and focused entirely on overwhelming offense to overwhelm her. He channeled a fiery red Qi into his weapon and unleashed a storm of heavy sweeping strikes that shook the entire place.
Amunet raised her axe to block a horizontal swing but the force sent a painful shock up her arms. She gritted her teeth and dug her boots into the dirt but she was being pushed back almost each time their weapons collided. Her disadvantage was beginning to show more and more as the fight went on. Voss laughed a cruel guttural laugh as he forced the Ignari ruler toward the edge of the crushed stone ring.
"You are fast but you lack true strength, true power to rule. Serve under me tonight and I will show you a whole new world!" the minotaur mocked while raising his weapon high above his horned head for a finishing blow.
Amunet did not retreat any further, she planted her feet and her eyes glowed with a terrifying crimson light while she activated a desperate blood essence burning technique. A veil of dark red fire erupted from her skin and her physical speed doubled in the blink of an eye. She sacrificed her own vitality to bridge the vast gap in power for this victory.
Before the heavy overhead strike could descend, Amunet surged forward like a crimson phantom. She slipped inside his guard and swung her axe in a blinding horizontal arc.
The sharp steel was able to finally slice through the thick muscles and shattered the bone. She cleanly cut off both of his arms right above the elbows with her attack.
Voss froze in shock as his severed limbs and his heavy weapon hit the dirt. A terrible bellow of agony ripped from his throat as dark blood sprayed out from his ruined arms. He stumbled backward while staring at the winged woman with wide and terrified eyes, not believing that the blood he saw was his own.
Amunet did not hesitate to push her advantage and end this death match. She spun her weapon in a tight circle and delivered a vicious upward strike that cleanly cut off his ability to ever have offspring again.
The minotaur collapsed onto the stones while screaming in unimaginable pain. He thrashed wildly on the ground and couldn’t even clutch his bleeding lower half with his now nonexistent hands. The crowd fell into a stunned silence as they witnessed the brutal dismantling of the infamous tyrant. Every single male in attendance and had witnessed Amunet’s last attack twitched backwards in recoil as if they had been the one struck.
Amunet stood over the crippled beast while her chest heaved with heavy breaths. Her red wings cast a long shadow over his bleeding form.
"I am sorry, Voss," she stated with a cold and mocking tone. "It seems no one will ever be able to please you now."
She raised her bloodied axe toward the bright sun and let out a fierce roar of victory. The citizens of Redcliff erupted into deafening cheers as their Bandit King secured her throne and claimed a new empire on top of it.
