Leyvi decided to test the water even further.
He charged forward again and again, his Big Bang attacks growing stronger with every attempt. Fiery Qi roared around his fists as he closed the distance.
Each time, Bardan responded with effortless precision. Multiple thick water pillars erupted from the ground like angry serpents, forcing Leyvi to twist and dodge midair. The pillars exploded into sprays of water wherever they missed, turning the battlefield into a chaotic mist-filled zone.
Whenever Leyvi slipped through the barrage and got close enough to strike, a large water dome instantly materialized around Bardan.
BOOM!
Leyvi's punch slammed into the dome with devastating force. The explosion sent massive clouds of steam billowing outward, and the dome warped deeply inward from the impact. For a brief moment, Leyvi could see Bardan's calm, smiling face through the rippling water.
But that smile was always the same. The smile of someone who had already prepared the counter.
The instant the dome cracked, a razor-sharp water jet shot from Bardan's fingers and slammed straight into Leyvi's abdomen. The impact felt like being hit by a speeding boulder. Pain flared across his midsection as he was launched hundreds of meters backward through the air.
This exact pattern repeated over and over.
Bardan had not taken a single step from his original spot. The only untouched area left was the small circle protected by his water dome. Everywhere else, the ground was a mess of craters, charred black earth, and scattered rubble from Leyvi's increasingly powerful explosions.
Leyvi landed heavily and let out a long sigh. No matter how many times he tried, he could not break through that simple, repetitive defense. If Bardan actually started using different tactics, things would become even harder.
The realm gap truly felt like an enormous chasm.
Even so, Leyvi was not discouraged. With each repetition, he grew more familiar with the timing of the water jets. He was learning how to brace his toughened body against the impact and how to read the subtle movements of Bardan's fingers.
Meanwhile, Bardan watched Leyvi closely between each exchange. A faint look of surprise crossed his face. Even after so many powerful explosions, Leyvi showed no signs of Qi depletion. If anything, his attacks were growing stronger and more refined.
This kid… Just how much Qi does he have? How many explosion attacks has he already thrown? Each one consumes a massive amount of Qi, yet he keeps coming back with an even stronger one. Other cultivators in the same realm would have depleted their reserves several times over by now.
Bardan's eyes narrowed slightly as he continued observing. He had finally spotted Leyvi's weakness. The boy had no effective long-range attacks. Every time he wanted to strike, he had to close the distance himself.
No matter how powerful his close-range explosions were, if he ever faced an opponent he simply could not reach, he would be in serious trouble.
While Bardan was pondering how Leyvi planned to overcome this limitation, the young man did something completely unexpected.
Instead of channeling Qi into his fist as usual, Leyvi began gathering energy across his entire body at a terrifying rate. The air around him distorted from the sheer density of Qi swirling violently within him.
If Bardan had not been using his ocular technique to see the flow of Qi inside Leyvi's body, he might have thought the boy was attempting to self-destruct his own core.
Even so, this did not make any sense. What exactly is your plan with this move? Are you trying to launch an incredibly strong explosion to destroy both the water dome and me at the same time? Even at the cost of severely injuring yourself? Aren't you being too extreme?
Bardan squinted his eyes, a mix of concern and curiosity on his face. Leyvi's style of combat felt far too reckless, trading damage to his own body for greater destructive power. There was no way he could come out unscathed from an explosion of that magnitude. He could even die.
Leyvi, completely unaware of Bardan's thoughts, remained fully focused on completing this final challenge.
After charging his body for some time, the fiery Qi accumulated all over Leyvi reached its peak. Any more and he could easily lose control of it and explode wastefully.
He appeared like a living inferno, fiery Qi burning fiercely around him. The air distorted and shimmered from the intense heat, waves of scorching energy rolling off his body.
Boom!
Leyvi burst toward Bardan way faster than before. He weaved through the barrage of water pillars and closed the distance in an instant. With a powerful swing, his Big Bang Punch smashed a gaping hole straight through the water dome.
As expected, Bardan's water jet shot toward his abdomen.
But this time, Leyvi was ready. He released a powerful spiritual pressure right at the point of impact, clashing violently with the high-pressure jet.
Water sprayed everywhere in a chaotic explosion of mist and droplets.
For the first time, Leyvi was not sent flying. Even Bardan looked momentarily caught off guard by the successful counter.
Without wasting even a fraction of a second, Leyvi burst forward into the dome, heading straight for Bardan.
Big Bang Annihilation!
Leyvi detonated the rest of the charged Qi without hesitation.
BOOM!
The explosion was cataclysmic.
A blinding pillar of fire erupted skyward, roaring like an awakened volcano. The massive water dome evaporated instantly into nothing but steam. The ground beneath them shattered violently, sending huge chunks of earth flying in all directions.
A massive crater formed where the dome had stood, its edges glowing red from the extreme heat. Shockwaves rippled outward, flattening everything in a wide radius and kicking up a towering cloud of dust and debris that blotted out the sky.
The power of Leyvi's Big Bang Annihilation this time far exceeded the one he had used against the Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm before.
In the distance, Geezer Mallard hid inside his Qi barrier, utterly shocked by the scene before him. He had been observing closely, so he knew Leyvi had not used any external assistance. The destruction was purely from the raw power of his Qi.
He could not believe how strong that attack had been. A Core Formation Realm cultivator should not be able to cause this much damage, even if they detonated their own core. Their Qi simply did not have enough volume for something like this.
But somehow, Leyvi had done it.
"This kid… He isn't dead, is he?" Geezer Mallard muttered. The dust had not settled yet, so he could not tell if Leyvi had survived his own attack.
"Is he that desperate to marry his daughter?"
The next moment, bluish Qi surged across the battlefield. Heavy rain suddenly poured down over the area.
As the heavy rain swept away the thick smoke and dust, vision quickly returned to the battlefield.
Moments later, the heavy rain stopped.
"Brat! Are you trying to kill me or something?" Bardan yelled as he approached Leyvi, who was lying on the ground and panting heavily.
Leyvi was pretty injured from the aftershocks, but he was far from dying like the last time. Still, he could hardly move. His body trembled from overstraining himself.
With great difficulty, Leyvi raised his head, trying to see whether he had managed to make Bardan bleed.
To his disappointment, Bardan was perfectly fine. He was not affected in the slightest by the massive explosion.
Now Leyvi finally realized the true scale of the power chasm between two major realms. Even his strongest attack could not do any damage.
"Tch. Stop looking so disappointed. You won the challenge. I will reluctantly accept your proposal." Bardan said.
"Eh? I did?" Leyvi blinked in surprise. "Where's the injury?"
He narrowed his eyes and looked Bardan over from head to toe, trying to find even the smallest cut.
"Stop, stop. No need to look. I'm not injured." Bardan waved his hand. "I summoned my Soul Body at the last moment to protect myself. Don't even think about injuring me."
Leyvi was speechless.
Weren't you the one who told me to make you bleed?
"So... you're saying my attack would have injured you?" Leyvi asked.
"Probably not." Bardan answered calmly. "In any case, you didn't win because I bled. You won because I broke the rule. Remember that."
Leyvi's mouth twitched.
Don't tell me this guy never intended to let himself bleed in the first place.
How childish.
"Are you going to stay injured like that?" Bardan asked. "Drink your elixir quickly. We're returning to announce your engagement with my daughter."
"Cough, cough." Leyvi cleared his throat exaggeratedly. "Father-in-law, aren't you going to give me an elixir? If I remember correctly, you gave one to Roman and Monica."
Bardan glared at him.
"Drink your own elixir. Roman and Monica were the people I hired. That's a different story."
He snorted.
"You already snatched my daughter away, and now you want to snatch my elixirs too?"
"Keep dreaming."