Bing wasn’t the type of person to get angry over most matters. He would describe himself as quite a reasonable and understanding individual. There were very few things in this world that could truly make him upset. Seeing the greedy looks from his fellow disciples didn’t make him angry, as he understood exactly why they were the way they were. If Ying wasn’t here and someone pulled out some very delicious-smelling food, perhaps he would be the exact same as everyone else here. Those two days of eating pills to fill his hunger really did leave an impact on him. Before the Grand Tournament, Bing took Ying’s cakes for granted but now he knows how foolish he was.
It didn’t take but one or two bites of Ying’s cake for one’s hunger to be filled somehow. That was also the same number of bites that it took for the effects of the spiritual cakes to take effect. In the future when he wouldn’t be able to eat Ying’s cake as his leisure, he must store them for later. Take a single bite or two, then place inside his void world until he was hungry again.
As Bing was about to step forward to defend his cakes and Ying, it turns out his determination to step forward was unneeded. Once Ying realized that Bing wasn’t admiring the cakes like he usually does before eating, she realized that something was off. Who was disturbing her precious time to admire Bing while he’s eating!? Her head turned as her pupils burned with blazing flames.
A mighty eruption of flames towered into the air above Ying’s figure as she turned her attention to the rest of the disciples. The flaming heat torched everyone’s skin except for Bing and Jie’s. Ying’s control over her flames has improved somewhat through the shadow in her void world improving her martial arts and being forced into restraining her flames to capture ghosts. But it has only been two days since she’s arrived here. Not that much progress has been made.
Ying didn’t even bother grabbing Hao Gang to use against the disciples in front of her. Ever since Ying was rewarded that golden ring for annihilating the Fearsome Garden, it didn’t take long for her to find out how to use it and what it could do. It turns out, Jing gave her an ancient ghost that knew long and forgotten martial arts. Each martial art being comparable to sky-ranked and heaven-ranked techniques known today. To say she was surprised by the gift was an understatement, to say the least. A ring like this was something that entire empires and kingdoms would go to war over. And she got it just for taking care of some faction in a sect. While she almost died in that fight, she still felt that it was far too good for her to receive as a reward.
But because of this reward, she’s learned several new martial arts with the help of the shadow in her void world. That shadow’s purpose is to aid her in perfecting whatever martial art she shows in front of it. So, Ying was quite confident in being able to use these new techniques in practice. Starting with her fist art, Infinite Heaven Fist Style.
“She’s quite confident for just a 1st stage Qi Consolidation cultivator.”
“I wonder where she gets all this confidence even though she’s outnumbered.”
“Things don’t have to get violent beauty. Just share some cakes with us just like you did with that fatty and nothing bad will happen.”
“How is it fair that he’s the only one to get cakes? I’m much more handsome than he is.”
Ying rolled her eyes. Not even the most handsome man in the world could compare to the Bing in her heart right now. A young girl’s first love is not something to be underestimated. Some are willing to take their own lives, abandon the mothers and fathers that raised them since birth, and even cut all ties with friends and family for their first love. While Ying wouldn’t say her love for Bing has reached such levels, she certainly didn’t have any other man in mind right now.
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Ying took the first move. Her eyes already locked onto the men eyeing her and Bing. It took one only to blink their eyes before Ying disappeared from her previous location. A scream and a body flying through the air were the next sights seen by the large group.
Ying’s fist smashed into a man’s chest, the state of his condition was unknown as he disappeared beyond the fog. All those threatening Ying from before quickly readied themselves for a fight. It looked like she wasn’t all talk if she could take out the 5th stage Qi Consolidation disciple in one punch. But even a genius had their limits.
There were several of them and only one of her. While none of them may be outstanding in their own right, ants were stronger together than alone in the first place. Even an elephant could be felled by a large enough group of ants. All the disciples who wanted to take Ying’s food charged together instead of taking her on one at a time. While no one was starving to say as it's only been two days, who would pass up a chance for free food when it's right in front of them?
“You bastards! Who do you think you are trying to attack my friend!?” Bing would’ve normally left Ying to sort this out on her own.
As a person who frequently advocates peace and friendship, Bing usually avoids all signs of conflict if he could help it. But he did notice the giant cave that everyone has gathered around after his excitement of seeing Ying again wore off. Since everyone was gathered outside of it, there must be a condition necessary to enter inside the cave and if there was a condition necessary to enter the cave, that meant there was definitely something valuable inside the cave worth taking. Meaning, he couldn’t just take Ying and Jie then run away in the forest despite how much he wanted to. By running away with Ying and Jie, he’d still get his cake, group back up with his friends, and not have to engage in a fight with a bunch of strangers.
Bing jumped in front of Ying and Jie with his shield that has grown quite a bit since he’s first got it. Previously it wasn’t even large enough to cover his stomach but now it was huge enough for him to plant into the ground and hide behind. Since it grew on blood, Bing tried feeding it his own blood once after the Empress gave him the Golden Blood Elixir. That one time was all it took to drastically change the size of the shield. It was also at that time that Bing realized that his golden blood was very powerful.
“Haha! Kill the fatty first and leave the women alive!”
Multiple swords landed on Bing’s shield. He was slightly pushed back from the combined strength of all the higher staged cultivators attacking him at once but soon regained his footing by utilizing Devil’s Arms. Behind his shield where the disciples couldn’t see, Bing’s flesh began to weave into itself. His fat began to be forcefully condensed into extra layers of muscle that was reinforced with his qi, improving his physical strength far more than just altering his body normally.
Ying’s eyes glowed as if she was staring at a dreamy prince that all noble girls dream about during their teen years. Stepping in to protect her when she’s in danger, willing to take on the world just to see her safe, and courageously proving himself not helpless against the overwhelming odds. Seeing this side of Bing again nearly made her gush. But she soon shook her head and stopped such distracting thoughts. Ying's fists lit on fire.
Jie’s thoughts on Bing’s transformation were far different from Ying’s thoughts. She saw nothing of the sort that resembled any of the princes she’s heard of or dreamed of in her youth. Instead, she saw a horrific terrifying monster being born through the creation of tearing flesh being mixed and moved as if it had its own will. The harmless-looking fatty from before was now something she could barely recognize. Bulging veins and muscles, additional arms shot out from his torso, and a demeanor that was far different from the innocent young man she thought she knew. He was a monster. Through and through.
A monster that was now capable of competing in strength against multiple cultivators far higher than him in realm despite just being a 9th stage Qi Gatherer. It was a sight like this that made Jie really understand just how outclassed she was and at the same time, how abnormal those from Hu Tao’s group were. If she was trained by Jing, would she too become a freak? Could such a thing even be avoided if one wanted to be strong?
‘For my unfortunate choice of love... I have to be willing to do anything... Even if I have to turn out like these people.’ Jie’s resolve only momentarily wavered seeing Ying and Bing’s reckless behavior. After all, it was nothing more than suicide trying to face up against opponents stronger in the cultivation stage and had more numbers than you.
“Beat em until they’re almost dead! With all of us here, they don’t stand a chance!”