The Might of Thunder Palm

The Bamboo Stone Dojo was enormous, with three training grounds the size of gymnasiums alone. At the moment, though, there were relatively few apprentices at the dojo.

"Normally, only trainee-level apprentices live at the dojo and undergo rigorous training."

Lin Hongnian led Shi Yu to a rooftop overlooking a training ground and said, "This is the basic training ground. The dojo apprentices and their Iron-Eating Beasts use it for exercise after meals."

Below, Beast Tamers and the Iron-Eating Beasts at their sides were jogging on the artificial turf to warm up.

The Beast Tamers were fine, but the giant pandas looked utterly unwilling, whimpering as they ran.

They had just finished lunch. It was supposed to be time for an afternoon nap! Making them run right away was bullying pandas.

But their Beast Tamers had ordered them to do it, so they had no choice.

"Iron-Eating Beasts are lazy by nature. That has to be changed gradually through daily training, or serious problems can easily arise when it's time for a real fight," Lin Hongnian said.

Lin Xiuzhu said from the side, "But Eleven should be very self-disciplined, right?"

Shi Yu nodded. "Yes. Usually, if it hasn't done a certain amount of training, it won't eat. Otherwise, it can't eat in peace."

Lin Hongnian: ?

He looked at Lin Xiuzhu. There were Iron-Eating Beasts like that?

Lin Xiuzhu also turned her head in surprise. How did that sound even more outrageous than when Eleven had been at the breeding base?!

What had Shi Yu done to Eleven afterward? She turned her gaze to Shi Yu.

"Ahem." Shi Yu looked innocent. Maybe he had given Eleven too many cheats, and that had spurred it on?

Eleven: (*+﹏+*)~ It's shameful to reap without sowing. I have to train my hardest and make up in sweat for the cheats my Beast Tamer gave me.

"After warming up, they'll do basic Hardening training here, practicing against each other in pairs."

Lin Hongnian looked down again. Hardening versus Hardening saved them the cost of a batch of steel plates. Unlike Eleven, they didn't have to rely on gravity and steel plates to train their Hardening strength.

"Their Iron-Eating Beasts are basically between Levels Eight and Ten. I'll just casually pick the strongest one among them for you," Lin Hongnian continued.

Casually pick the strongest one? Was that even human language?

Just then, the ten dojo apprentices on the training ground below finished warming up and were about to begin their basic Hardening training in pairs.

Under the direction of a tall young man with a crew cut, they quickly divided into groups.

"Jiang Rui," Dojo Master Lin Hongnian called out.

Jiang Rui, the tall young man with the crew cut who had just organized the other apprentices into groups, looked up.

"Let's go down," Lin Hongnian said.

A moment later, they arrived at the training ground below.

"Master Lin, what is it?" Jiang Rui and the other apprentices all looked over.

Their gazes fell on Lin Hongnian and Shi Yu, but they quickly looked away and focused all their attention on Senior Sister Panda.

Hooray! Senior Sister Panda came to the dojo again today. Suddenly, I'm fired up to train!

Teenagers at this age were at a stage when their feelings toward the opposite sex were still very hazy. After day upon day of dull training, they really did need something to soothe their souls.

As Lin Hongnian's daughter and a famous genius, Lin Xiuzhu was also exceptionally beautiful. Add to that the giant panda T-shirt that showed off her assets, and she was every apprentice's goddess.

Even the two girls among the ten apprentices secretly admired and envied Lin Xiuzhu's figure. They looked down at themselves and couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness.

"Pause your training for a moment," Lin Hongnian said. "Let me introduce him. This is Shi Yu. He'll be coming to the dojo to study."

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Only then did everyone turn to look at Shi Yu.

They had been wondering who he was. So he was a newcomer to the dojo.

Newcomers were good. Now that there was one, the dojo master would scold the newcomer who couldn't quickly adapt to the training intensity instead of them.

This was called diverting fire. Everyone's standing in the dojo had instantly gone up by one!

Everyone found Shi Yu more pleasing to the eye, and a cheerful harmony filled the dojo.

"Hello, everyone." Shi Yu wore a friendly expression too.

Everyone nodded, and Jiang Rui said, "My name is Jiang Rui. If you have any questions later, you can come to me."

"Jiang Rui, leave the training for now and have a battle with Shi Yu," Lin Hongnian said.

Jiang Rui was the strongest of the ten apprentices, so when Lin Hongnian and the other dojo instructors were absent, he generally led their basic training.

"Me?" Jiang Rui pointed at himself, surprised.

"You. If you lose, your training and your Iron-Eating Beast's will be doubled."

Jiang Rui's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly realized he was only guiding a newcomer. How could he possibly lose?

"Okay." He nodded quickly.

The other apprentices, meanwhile, wore expressions that asked, Why not me?

They understood what Master Lin meant. Wasn't he just giving the newcomer a show of force so he would understand how strong the dojo's apprentices were?

At the same time, Master Lin probably also wanted to find out what this newcomer was capable of.

They could have done it too!

How had Jiang Rui managed to snatch away an opportunity to show the results of his training before their master and senior sister, and display his imposing side before the newcomer?

Damn it, they were jealous.

Because Shi Yu and Jiang Rui were going to battle, everyone's training stopped for the time being, much to the private relief of the apprentices and their Iron-Eating Beasts.

At Lin Hongnian's signal, everyone not involved moved aside to watch, leaving the two of them a space to battle.

"Shi Yu, send out your pet beast."

Jiang Rui spoke warmly. After he finished, the Iron-Eating Beast beside him stepped forward. Since it had just been warming up, it had been outside all along.

This was a big chubby panda, 1.45 meters long. Its growth level was probably much higher than Eleven's.

"Okay."

Shi Yu nodded and connected to the Beast Taming Space.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~

The next second, ripples appeared in the surrounding space, stirring a faint current of air that made the artificial grass on the ground sway.

Before Shi Yu, points of light appeared out of thin air and outlined a translucent summoning array. Amid water-like ripples, Eleven walked out in a daze.

Once outside, it looked up at the big fellow before it.

Eleven's normal height was currently only one meter without Size Alteration. Compared with Jiang Rui's Iron-Eating Beast, it was clearly still a child.

"A juvenile?"

As Eleven appeared, the dojo apprentices, who all raised Iron-Eating Beasts, immediately judged its growth level.

It looked to be around Awakening Level Six. Sure enough, he was a total newbie.

Jiang Rui's Iron-Eating Beast was at Awakening Level Ten and had mastered Proficient Level Hardening. It would probably win very easily.

"You can attack first," Jiang Rui said after a moment of silence.

If they attacked right away, Master Lin wouldn't be able to properly assess the newcomer's strength. It was better to give the newcomer some leeway.

"Eleven." Shi Yu didn't stand on ceremony and immediately ordered Eleven to attack.

"Roar."

In an instant, Eleven charged fiercely at the Iron-Eating Beast opposite it.

"Block it."

Jiang Rui was very confident in the strength of his Iron-Eating Beast's Hardening.

Although... this little Iron-Eating Beast looked very explosive, it was still only a juvenile.

Jiang Rui's Iron-Eating Beast stood motionless on the spot, as if showing off.

Buzz!

It immediately chose to harden its entire body and wait for the little Iron-Eating Beast to arrive.

With the little Iron-Eating Beast's strength and the strength of its Hardening... it couldn't possibly hurt his beast. Jiang Rui was absolutely certain.

In fact, that was indeed the case. Even knowing that Eleven's Hardening was definitely stronger than this Iron-Eating Beast's, Shi Yu wasn't sure whether Eleven could use Hardening to seriously injure it.

The reason lay in their basic physical abilities. Although Eleven's skill proficiency was very high, its strength was definitely inferior to that of this Level Ten Iron-Eating Beast.

Hardening strength alone, without the physical strength to match its opponent, obviously wouldn't make its attacks do much damage.

But Hardening wasn't the only thing Eleven could use against an enemy now.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!!!

As Jiang Rui and his Iron-Eating Beast confidently used Proficient Level Hardening, intending to test the strength of the "newcomer" before them, Eleven lunged close. It didn't harden its claws to attack or harden its head to ram its opponent, as everyone had imagined.

Instead... once it was close, it immediately drew its arm back. The next instant, blue and white light erupted from its palm.

A powerful electric current spread over Eleven's palm, forming a chaotic, violent mass of electricity.

Crackle, crackle, crackle-!!!

It sounded like a thousand birds crying in unison.

Intermediate skill, Thunder Palm!

Illuminated by the lightning, Eleven's entire body seemed enveloped in dazzling light, making it exceptionally brilliant.

The sight robbed Jiang Rui of his ability to think on the spot, and did the same to the other apprentices.

This is...???

Their eyes widened in disbelief. This skill absolutely couldn't appear on an Iron-Eating Beast below Transcendent Level...

The condensed, high-intensity current gave Eleven's palm the piercing power of a sharp blade, making it better suited for attacking than Hardening!

At this moment, because Proficient Level Hardening prevented movement when the entire body was hardened, Jiang Rui's Iron-Eating Beast could only watch as the electrically charged Thunder Palm pierced toward it.

It was already too late to cancel Hardening and dodge.

With a bang, thunder and lightning roared. Blue and white electric light surged over Jiang Rui's Iron-Eating Beast, passing through its Hardening and madly invading its body.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!

The next second, electricity burst from all over the Iron-Eating Beast, leaving its entire body paralyzed. It tilted over involuntarily. Although it hadn't yet lost the ability to fight, it was clearly badly hurt.

Apart from Lin Hongnian, who remained silent, everyone else, including Lin Xiuzhu and all the dojo apprentices, stared open-mouthed at the little Iron-Eating Beast cautiously retreating, unable to believe it!