Establishing Authority

Since Lin Beiya did not know what was good for him, the slight shame Xiong Chumo felt for bullying someone younger quietly dissipated; now, he only wanted to teach the boy a lesson.

With a roar of a giant bear, Xiong Chumo entered the state of Martial Soul Possession, his optimal soul ring configuration of two yellows and one purple proving he was worthy of his status as the grandson of a Title Douluo.

"Second Soul Skill: Violent Strength."

After entering the state of Martial Soul Possession, Xiong Chumo's physique had already grown a size larger, and now, with his augmentation-type second soul skill activated, his muscles bulged like granite, radiating immense power.

Feeling the strength surging through his body after the activation, Xiong Chumo's confidence soared, and he lunged toward Lin Beiya, who remained standing opposite him with his eyes tightly shut.

In his view, a Lin Beiya who dared to be so arrogant was undoubtedly courting death.

"Go down, brat. It's better if I inherit this title of being peerless among your generation."

"Third Soul Skill: Fury Strike."

His plan was sound: use his full strength to take the opponent down while the other party was still underestimating him, so he did not hold back his third soul skill at all, nor did he care about being accused of bullying others with his superior soul power.

In his mind, failing to win would be the only truly shameful outcome.

A pair of bear claws imbued with crimson-gold light struck directly at Lin Beiya's face; in his imagination, this kid would be dead or at least severely injured by a single blow.

But the scene of Lin Beiya kneeling and wailing that he had imagined did not occur. The moment the bear claws were about to make contact, Lin Beiya appeared to his side as if he had teleported, easily dodging the strike.

Missing his mark, Xiong Chumo quickly suppressed the surprise in his eyes and turned to swipe at Lin Beiya again, but all his attacks returned empty-handed. After several dozen minutes, it was he, the one who had been exerting all his strength, who began to pant heavily.

"Bas... bastard! What 'peerless among your generation'? Are you planning to exhaust every soul master of our generation just by dodging?"

"Do you dare to face me head-on?"

Before Lin Beiya could speak, his classmates from the Elite Class below the stage could no longer hold back.

"Do you have any shame left? You're old enough to have finished primary academy twice over, and you're still making demands?"

"Exactly! Why don't you just have Beiya stand still and let you hit him?"

"You're the one who's clumsy, yet you blame your opponent? Isn't dodging a part of combat?"

"..."

Listening to the jeers from beneath the stage, Xiong Chumo became flustered and exasperated.

"Enough nonsense! Since this kid accepted the challenge, he should fight me head-on. Otherwise, how can he be called the academy's best? I don't accept this!"

Lin Beiya waved his hand to stop his classmates from retorting further. The Divine Statue Martial Soul appeared in his hand, and the purple soul ring transformed into golden light that shot straight into the sky.

The next moment, the Taurus Gold Cloth attached itself to his body, and Lin Beiya assumed a stance with his arms crossed, ready for an Iai draw.

"You don't accept it? Fine. From now on, we change the rules: if you can make me move even one step, you win."

"Is that a promise?"

Hearing Lin Beiya's confident declaration, Xiong Chumo was instantly overjoyed. What could be more satisfying than beating up a target that wouldn't move?

Compared to Xiong Chumo, Lin Beiya's classmates were jumping with anxiety. Why choose such a foolish method when he could have easily exhausted the opponent with his superior agility?

"Bei..."

Ignoring the shouts from below, Lin Beiya, still keeping his eyes tightly shut, hooked his finger at Xiong Chumo in a provocative gesture, signaling that the opponent could attack.

The anger of being looked down upon flooded Xiong Chumo's mind once more. I may not be able to hit you, but now that you've trapped yourself, don't blame me.

"Go to hell! Fury Strike!"

It was the same claw strike hidden with crimson-gold light, but the difference was that this time, Lin Beiya would not dodge.

As the pair of bear claws were about to touch Lin Beiya's body, the smile on Xiong Chumo's face turned arrogant, but before he could enjoy it for long, his expression instantly froze.

The claws that made contact with Lin Beiya's body felt as if they had struck empty air and were deflected to the side. At the same time, he felt countless fists raining down upon his body like a downpour, quickly sending him flying until he rolled dozens of meters and barely came to a stop at the edge of the stage.

"Ugh!"

Rolling over to lie on his back, Xiong Chumo's eyes were filled with disbelief; he hadn't even seen how Lin Beiya had thrown those punches.

Struggling to climb to his feet, Xiong Chumo gritted his teeth and asked:

"What did you just do?"

"Hmph, you can't even see an enemy's attack? That's the extent of your level. Why don't you go home and practice for another two and a half years? Of course, that's assuming I don't cultivate at all during that time."

Seeing that Xiong Chumo could still stand, Lin Beiya inwardly marveled at the astonishing physical toughness of bear-type Martial Souls. If it had been Little Angel who took that hit...

Cough... cough... hitting one's wife is not good behavior; we must put a stop to that.

With just one sentence, Lin Beiya had goaded Xiong Chumo into a towering rage, especially with the countless students below clapping and cheering. He felt his old face burning with pain.

"Damn brat, don't get too cocky! You haven't beaten me yet."

Consumed by rage, Xiong Chumo ignored everything and charged at Lin Beiya again, but the result was exactly the same as before; his massive, bloated body was sent flying once more.

Having lost count of how many times he had been knocked down, Xiong Chumo could only rely on instinct to crawl back up. The refusal to accept defeat remained in his eyes; he felt that Lin Beiya was only winning by using cheap tricks.

"Don't get too smug. I will definitely break your little tricks."

Lin Beiya gave a disdainful smile. His Iai Barrier couldn't be broken now, and it wouldn't be broken even in fifty years.

"A frog in a well only ever stares at the patch of sky above its head. Let me show you the true gap between us."

In Xiong Chumo's horrified eyes, Lin Beiya spread his arms for the first time, the Golden Bull behind him roaring with overwhelming might.

"Great Horn!"

"Stop!"

A booming command to halt rang out in unison with the charge of the Golden Bull, but it was clearly too late.

Already nearly drained of soul power, Xiong Chumo was struck by the phantom of the Golden Bull like a drunkard hit by a speeding truck; he spat a bolt of blood and flew backward off the arena stage like a kite with a snapped string.

An old man arrived silently at that moment, catching Xiong Chumo with one hand.

After checking the extent of the injuries, the old man glared at Lin Beiya with eyes full of fury and demanded:

"Did you not hear me tell you to stop? Why did you lay such a heavy hand on my grandson?"

From the way the old man addressed Xiong Chumo, everyone present guessed his identity: he was none other than Demon Bear Douluo of the Elder Hall.

"My apologies, but this humble one does not yet possess the strength to pull back a strike once launched. Elder Xiong's grandson came to challenge me without cause, and he refused to concede throughout the entire fight. Had I not held back fifty percent of my power, he would likely be cold by now."

"That's right, Xiong Chumo was the one who came to provoke him. Not only did he try to bully someone younger, but he also forced Beiya into a head-on confrontation."

"Exactly, and look what happened now that he got his head-on confrontation."

"You aren't planning on following your grandson's lead and bullying the young, are you?"

Flushed red from being mocked by a group of brats, Demon Bear Douluo pointed a trembling finger at them.

"You... you all."