Chapter 154 Ball Skills Counterattack

In fact, it was not just Fatty Gu; even the thousands, nearly ten thousand, mysterious beast cubs had personally tried it several times themselves.

Yet, without exception, every attempt ended in failure.

Fatty Gu was unsure where the dense fog in this region came from, or which supreme expert had created it, but he was certain of one thing: being escorted here meant he was undergoing a test.

On one hand, through his prolonged contact with the beast cubs, he was being tested on whether his intentions to befriend the mysterious beasts were sincere and unforced, or if he harbored ulterior motives.

On the other hand, whether he could successfully break through the fog barrier and how long it took would serve as a measure of his true capabilities in certain aspects.

At the same time, the crafty and intelligent Fatty Gu knew that if he successfully passed the test set by the beast elders, these nearly ten thousand beast cubs of the highest innate talent would inevitably become the most reliable foundation for his future pursuit of dominance in the world.

Additionally, the elder relatives of these beast cubs, those supreme powerhouses, would implicitly become his most formidable backing.

At the very least, as long as he remained within the Endless Forest, within the domain of the mysterious beasts, they would undoubtedly ensure that he never suffered any fatal calamities.

Having figured all this out, Fatty Gu gradually grew calm and composed.

He was sincere in befriending the beasts, harboring no prejudices whatsoever.

Similarly, although he indeed sought to use the power of the beast forest to protect himself, it was at most a relationship of mutual benefit rather than a one-sided, endless extraction.

As for the dense fog, although Fatty Gu did not achieve his wish this time, he firmly believed that it would not be long before he successfully broke through.

This trial, he accepted entirely and with complete willingness.

Meanwhile, sitting in front of the wooden house on the massive tree fork, swinging their jade-white legs in the air, the two young women appeared leisurely on the outside while deep in thought on the inside.

As a disciple of the master divine diviner of the Tianshu Pavilion, Bai Ling'er could vaguely sense certain things from the scene before her even without expending vital energy on divination.

At this moment, her mind seemed to envision a magnificent scene in the near future: with a single wave of Fatty Gu's arm, nearly ten thousand supreme experts among the mysterious beasts with boundless talents would respond in unison...

Therefore, for Bai Ling'er, being dropped into this foggy barrier alongside Fatty Gu brought not a shred of displeasure. Instead, a charming smile curved her lips as she made up her mind that she, too, would frequently venture into the foggy circle in the future to test herself.

Beside her, Lü Xinrou watched Fatty Gu attempting to breach the fog amidst the incessant teasing of the beast cubs, and a wave of warmth seemed to flow through her heart.

About a year ago, driven by curiosity about the mortal world of humanity, she had slipped out of the mysterious beast forest on her own, only to be forcibly imprisoned by passing human experts. Through a series of transfers, she was eventually sent to the Five Domains Auction House in the imperial capital of the Zijin Royal Court.

Recalling that past scene, Lü Xinrou still felt a lingering fear.

The powerlessness after her cultivation was sealed, the chilling specially-made cage, the countless bidders with lecherous and evil gazes...

Had Fatty Gu not coincidentally appeared and saved her life, she would likely have long since fallen into the status of a plaything beneath the crotch of some aristocratic prodigal son, or simply ended her own life right then and there.

During the time he rescued her, she could sense that Fatty Gu was different from other humans. He saved her truly without selfish motives and did not show the slightest bit of offense toward her. Even when he escorted her through space to leave the Murong Estate, his hands and feet remained proper, and his heartbeat had never once fluttered erratically.

This made her trust Fatty Gu completely. While she harbored the intention to repay the debt of gratitude for saving her life, she also felt a sliver of vexation.

Was she not beautiful? Not seductive enough? Lacking in charm? ...

Why did her benefactor react to her, a peerless fairy, without a trace of lust or even the slightest stirring of emotion?

After she finally managed to escape back to the mysterious beast forest, it was not as though she had never considered asking the supreme elders to annihilate the Murong family, or even the entire Zijin Royal Court, or perhaps wipe out the Five Domains Chamber of Commerce as well.

Yet, in the end, she took no action, because her benefactor was still there, seemingly connected to the Zijin Royal Court. Later on, she heard that her benefactor had actually become the prince consort of Zijin, which caused her to quell her battles with lingering grievances and dismiss any thoughts of revenge.

And now, her benefactor was right before her eyes, and he would likely live at her home for a considerable period. A sense of happiness welled up in her heart.

Consequently, Lü Xinrou later simply built another wooden house beside the two cabins on the giant tree fork, right next to Fatty Gu's room, becoming neighbors with her benefactor.

...

Speaking of which, after failing the fog barrier countless times in front of nearly ten thousand beast cubs, Fatty Gu felt he had lost too much face, and his little face turned somewhat unnatural.

Staring with slightly resentful eyes at the outer dense fog for a long time, he raised a hand to flick a strand of sweat-dampened hair from his temple, and turned around, instantly resuming his carefree demeanor.

"Ahem, well... your vice commander-in-chief asks you: how many meters did each of you manage to penetrate?"

"Aru, Amei, you two go first."

"Boss, I made it fifteen meters."

"Brother Gu, I made it sixteen meters."

"Boss Gu, Boss Gu, I'm the most awesome! I made it a whole twenty-eight meters,哈哈哈!"

"Stop bragging, you useless lump! Twenty-eight meters? Why don't you just say you successfully passed the trial?"

"I... I... well, the one I made it through in my dream last night doesn't count, right?"

"Hahaha, what a disgrace to the beasts! You're such a disgrace, get away, I disdain to be associated with you..."

Prompted by Fatty Gu's question, nearly ten thousand beast cubs opened their mouths wide to respond, boast, interrupt, or tear down each other's claims in an extremely lively manner.

Yet the more Fatty Gu listened, the brighter his eyes grew, and the more pleased his expression became.

As if his self-confidence had returned, Fatty Gu swept his large sleeve, puffed out his chest, tilted his head back, and suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"Quiet!"

Assuming the full demeanor of a high official, a grand elder, and a supreme expert, Fatty Gu raised a hand and pressed it downward in the air. Sure enough, the noisy crowd of beast cubs cooperated and instantly quieted down, all of them staring wide-eyed straight at Fatty Gu.

"Ahem, as your vice commander-in-chief, I shall first introduce myself to you all."

"This young master's surname is Gu, and my given name is Changqing. You may call me Big Brother Gu, Brother Changqing, or simply address me as Boss, just like Aru does."

"Although you are all juniors as well, this young master is only seventeen this year, whereas you lot... tsk tsk, compared to your boss here, your ages are already quite advanced."

"Your boss here is currently at the middle stage of the Golden Core realm, which is equivalent to your tier-three middle stage, but..."

Immediately, under the gaze of nearly ten thousand pairs of large eyeballs, Fatty Gu began to boast and sing his own praises with utmost smugness.

He claimed things like how his middle-stage Golden Core cultivation allowed him to sweep through all enemies invincible below the Transformation stage, which equated to tier-three middle stage being able to sweep through all enemies invincible below tier five;

And how he, with such cultivation, could forcefully charge into the dense fog and advance a full fifty-odd meters, whereas countless beast cubs of the exact same tier three could barely manage a measly ten-odd meters...

The faces of the nearly ten thousand beasts, covered in thick fur, looked somewhat unsightly. Their jaws dropped in an exaggerated fashion, and sparks of fury flickered within their bronze-bellied eyes.

Yet Fatty Gu seemed oblivious to this, continuing his non-stop chatter in that smug tone of "I am an expert, I am stronger than you, far stronger than you."

Even Aru and Amei, who had long been familiar with Fatty Gu, raised a paw to cover their faces in embarrassment and began stepping backward.

"Roar! This beast wants to challenge you!"

"Roar, roar, roar! This beast too!"

"Screech! Awooo!..."

Driven by an unknown roar from somewhere, ten thousand beasts responded in unison. Countless massive beast bodies began to charge forward, causing the earth to rumble and tremble violently. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded Fatty Gu completely.

"Beat him up!"

"Roar!"

Amidst the chorus of ten thousand roaring beasts, the beasts in the front rows directly raised their massive paws and swatted straight toward Fatty Gu in the center.

"Damn! You can't do this! This boss isn't ready yet!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

Taking several solid blows to his formidable physical body, Fatty Gu grimaced and hissed in pain. Taking advantage of the moment, he successfully projected spiritual energy around his entire body, finally managing to condense a spherical shield of true Qi.

The moment this spherical barrier formed, the atmosphere of the entire scene underwent a drastic change.

Nearly ten thousand beast cubs scrambled eagerly, taking turns kicking a 'ball'.

Watch this beast's whirlwind kick—the ball is sent sweeping several hundred meters away with a resounding crash!

Watch this beast's interception—the ball's momentum is instantly reversed and sent crashing elsewhere!

Watch this beast's soaring cannon shot—the ball is instantly blasted high into the air!

Watch this beast's Mount Tai press with wings outspread—the ball's upward momentum is halted, and it is slammed back down toward the ground!

...

Inside the spherical true Qi barrier, Fatty Gu was shaken left and right by the beasts' continuous kicking, slapping, and bashing, drifting like a withered leaf in the autumn wind completely out of his own control.

Bai Ling'er and Lü Xinrou in front of the wooden house laughed so heartily that their branches swayed like flowers, stunningly captivating.

Even Aru and Amei, who had previously retreated to the back of the main formation, excitedly joined the football-playing army at some point.

This ball alternated between being a soccer ball, a basketball, a tennis ball, a volleyball, a bowling ball, and a rugby ball...

Viewing from a distance, the supreme experts who noticed the commotion were nearly moved to laughter from their various hiding spots.

The massive hordes of mysterious beasts living near or passing by the outer perimeter of the dense fog were filled with endless curiosity as they heard the succession of joyful roars and ping-pong sounds emanating from within the foggy ring.

Among the massive horde of beast cubs, many who had yet to get a single turn to kick the ball roared frantically, squeezing desperately toward wherever the ball traveled.

With a bitter expression, Fatty Gu's brain raced furiously until—ding!—an idea struck him.

All the beast cubs saw the wretched grin spread across Fatty Gu's face inside the sphere, his large eyes sparkling with shrewd intent as he looked back at them.

Before the cubs could react or guess his intentions, the moment the sphere landed on the ground once more, it suddenly swelled several times in size, forcibly swallowing dozens of nearby beast cubs inside along with him.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

"Roar, roar, roar..."

The ball continued to be kicked, stomped, and batted into chaotic flight. But inside the ball, Fatty Gu was no longer alone; dozens of upside-down cubs tumbled about in irregular motion, utterly bewildered.

True to their nature as cubs, their playfulness was even greater now, and they scrambled for the ball with a fervor several times more intense than before.

By the time the dozens of beast cubs inside the sphere felt their internal organs churning like turning rivers and seas and were on the verge of vomiting, Fatty Gu decisively tossed them out of the true Qi barrier, immediately drawing another dozens of cubs inside to fall into a new round of chaos.

"How is it, my brothers? This one is the Ferris wheel, this one is the roller coaster, and hmm, this one? Let's barely call it a pendulum... Feels awesome, right?! Hehehe... Hahaha!"

"Don't rush, those bastards out there will all have a chance to experience it firsthand!"

After throwing out another batch of cubs on the verge of vomiting, Fatty Gu channeled all the spiritual energy in his body, and the true Qi barrier instantly expanded by several dozen times over.

Forcibly engulfing hundreds to nearly a thousand mysterious beasts once again, Fatty Gu immediately controlled the giant sphere to roll rapidly.

"Little ones, witness your boss's ultimate counterattack! Gahaha!"

The nearly a thousand cubs inside the sphere lost all balance, beginning to tumble over mountains and across waters as the giant sphere spun wildly;

The thousands of cubs outside were either flattened and forced to eat dirt by the giant sphere, sent flying by its glancing blows, or slammed squarely in their large rears...

The already chaotic grounds were now thrown into utter pandemonium.

After a bout of disorientation, the thousand cubs inside were ruthlessly ejected, only to be replaced by another thousand cubs sucked into the sphere.

A new round of ultimate counterattack began anew.

Throughout the entire process, Fatty Gu cackled with strange laughter without stopping.