Chapter 331 - 324: A Life for a Suit

Chapter 331: Chapter 324: A Life for a Suit

Elder Mo had been away from the Celestial Traveler’s Hall recently. He went home for the New Year, where he helped Mo Shaoge propose to Cui Ying’s family.

Given what a persistent headache getting Cui Ying married had been, her parents were absolutely thrilled to meet a prospective son-in-law like Mo Shaoge. He was handsome, well-off, cultured, and sensible—they were completely satisfied, so of course there were no objections.

However, Elder Mo, who should have returned to the Celestial Traveler’s Hall after that, did not go back.

That monkey was just too persistent and had absolutely no respect for his elders.

When sparring with others, the monkey knew to rely on technique and control his strength. But when he fought the old man, he went completely all-out.

Although Elder Mo still looked like a wizened old sage on the outside, his body was anything but. His muscles and bones were strong, he brimmed with vitality, and his power was considerable. Combined with decades of martial arts experience and his recent cross-disciplinary insights, he was now truly worthy of the title ’grandmaster’.

But the monkey’s strength was simply absurd. In their recent matches, there were several times when Elder Mo blocked the monkey’s steel rod head-on with his Long Spear, and the impact nearly sent the spear flying from his hands—and that was even when using techniques to disperse the force.

After that, Elder Mo became reluctant to clash head-on with the monkey during their spars, focusing primarily on technique instead.

But that damn monkey’s rate of improvement was terrifying. His Martial Arts grew more refined with every bout, and Elder Mo even found it illogical that the monkey had yet to grasp ’Intent’.

In fact, even though Mo Shaoge and Mo Qingxue were Skywalkers, the two siblings together could no longer suppress the Monkey King.

The monkey was a clever one, too. He knew the Mo siblings were no longer a match for him, so even when he sparred with them, he would always hold back his power and focus on technique.

To outsiders, his power still looked overwhelming, but he was actually holding back.

As for the Chief Instructor, he couldn’t just be challenged to a spar all day long; he had his dignity to maintain. So, the monkey was smart enough to always issue his challenges in private.

In Elder Mo’s eyes, the monkey acted as if he despised the old man for holding him back, for not improving fast enough. But the monkey had no idea that his own rate of progress was already enough to make others despair.

There’s an old saying: ’No one claims to be first in letters, and no one accepts being second in arms.’ The best proof of the Monkey King’s prowess was that all the proud and arrogant Disciples of their generation now obediently called him ’Eldest Brother’.

Elder Mo was also tired of the constant pestering. ’It’d be one thing if you challenged me to a few matches once in a while. But every time we fight, it’s a dozen bouts without a break! Your stamina recovery is terrifyingly fast, but I’m an old man!’

Of course, this was just him grumbling. While Elder Mo’s recovery wasn’t as freakish as the Monkey King’s, it was still extraordinary.

The last time the monkey challenged him, Elder Mo happened to be in a good mood and declared magnanimously that he could handle whatever the monkey threw at him.

The result was over forty non-stop matches. They fought for a whole week, only pausing to eat and drink, continuing right up until New Year’s Eve, when Elder Mo finally found an excuse to escape by saying he had to go home for a family reunion.

The monkey also wanted to return to headquarters to celebrate the New Year with his Mentor and the others, so he agreed to stop.

Afterward, however, the Mo siblings returned to Kyoto, while Elder Mo began scouting famous mountains and great lakes. His stated purpose was to find a suitable location for the Sect Gate Project, but one couldn’t help but suspect he was also trying to avoid the monkey.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of losing to the monkey. In fact, if he truly couldn’t win, he would only be happy. At his age, education was his greatest joy, and it was a good thing for the student to surpass the master.

But after being pent up for nearly a month, Elder Mo was absolutely certain the monkey wouldn’t let him go this time without at least thirty or fifty matches.

At this moment, standing on a high mountain peak overlooking a sea of clouds below, the old master muttered to himself.

"’When I get back, I need to lay down some ground rules with that monkey. No more marathon fighting sessions... Hmm, he probably won’t wait for me and will go looking for Baru first.’"

...

「On Dawn Silent Moon Island」

The Monkey King had indeed arrived, carrying his Alloy Magic Steel Rod.

Like Huang Jiutian, Baru’s time wasn’t as free as others’. He often had to oversee the training camp, which was one of his greatest pleasures.

His main concerns recently had been the progress of the Craftsmen and the Forged Gold Monsters, followed by his preparations to personally preside over the next final training camp.

Due to time constraints, he couldn’t personally handle every session, but he would definitely take charge whenever he was free.

Inside the castle in the Main Secret Realm, Baru stuffed his thirty-second jumbo chicken hamburger into his mouth, gave it a couple of quick chews, and swallowed it whole.

"Mentor, the Monkey King is here. He wants to fight you."

Blaise walked into the dining hall with a chuckle, reporting the news to Baru.

"’Strange... That monkey’s getting faster and faster. I just got here, and he’s already at the door. Does he have an informant here or something?’"

He squashed the remaining three hamburgers on his plate together, stuffed them into his mouth in one go, and wiped his lips with a napkin.

He tilted his neck slightly from side to side, producing a loud series of cracks.

"’Fine by me. Time to loosen up!’"

Outside the castle, several members of the Knight Order who knew a good show was about to start were rushing over from their various training grounds. Apparently, Baru was one of the last to get the news; there was likely more than one ’suspected informant’.

The monkey’s muscles bulged as he held the long rod to his side. With every breath, he puffed up like a giant toad, producing a sound like rolling thunder.

"This Monkey King just keeps getting stronger..."

A reserve knight watching from a hillside remarked to his two friends.

"Do you think he’s reached the standard of an Official Knight yet?"

"Not sure. I heard he hasn’t reached the Soul Burning Level yet, but I bet he’s not far off."

While they and others were still talking, the monkey below suddenly exploded into action.

A blurry golden shadow streaked across the distance from where he stood to the castle gate, the rod’s movement like a teleport.

BANG! BOOM!

The two massive sounds were consecutive and violent.

Smoke, dust, and a fierce wind raged. Countless fragments of stone and dirt shot out in all directions. Not far away, Blaise could feel a distinct tremor under his feet.

In the giant stone plaza before the castle gate, a crater several meters in diameter and half a meter deep at its center had appeared. Baru stood in the middle of it.

The figure, as strong as a raging bear, glanced slightly to his left.

His left hand was raised slightly, gripping a Magic Steel Long Rod above his shoulder, holding it perfectly still.

But his pupils constricted slightly. The brand-name, handmade suit he’d just bought had a horrifying tear ripped open from the left shoulder, nearly tearing the rare garment that actually fit his frame in two.

His gaze followed the rod from one end to the other, where the powerfully built monkey was staring at him, arms taut, gripping the weapon tightly.

"Hehehehe..."

Baru’s mouth split into a grin, and the atmosphere completely changed.

In the distance, some members of the Knight Order even felt an illusory chill run through their bodies.

"Hey, the Commander’s smiling..."

Someone swallowed hard.

"Maybe we shouldn’t watch this... Let’s get out of here..."

"We’re so far away... *gulp*... We should... we should be fine, right?"

While they were still hesitating, Blaise had already shot away, putting distance between himself and the danger zone.

CREAK... CREAK...

The metal long rod strained to break free, emitting a teeth-grinding sound under the contest of immense strength.

The remnants of Baru’s suit were disintegrating into scraps of cloth, scattering to his sides.

"Monkey... are you trying to hit me with that flimsy attack?"

BOOM!

A tremendous boom erupted as he finished speaking. A new, larger crater blasted open in the blurry air before him. But just before that, Baru felt the long rod go light; the Monkey King at the other end had already leaped away.

So, instead of the satisfying smash he’d hoped for, his powerful swing just slammed the rod into the ground.

By taking advantage of both Baru’s immense strength and the leverage from pushing off the end of the rod, the Monkey King leaped away with incredible speed, forcing Baru to abandon any thought of pursuing him in mid-air.

"’Very good. A suitable punching bag!’"

Baru’s skin began to glow a faint red. He hadn’t even moved, yet the onlookers found they couldn’t see him clearly, as the very air around him was distorting from the searing heat.

There was no gradual build-up; he went straight into his Soul Burning state.

"Here’s your rod back!"

His arm blurred, and the metal long rod shot toward the Monkey King like a rocket.

The monkey had his eyes fixed on Baru the whole time, and he watched the long rod fly toward him, glowing hot from air friction.

The monkey’s conditioned reflexes allowed him to dodge the tip of the rod, then his muscles bulged as he seized the shaft in that split second.

RUMBLE...

Every one of his toes dug into the stone of the plaza as his legs erupted with tremendous force to maintain his balance. ℴ

In half a second, the immense momentum sent the monkey and the long rod plowing a deep trench more than ten meters long into the ground.

"I’LL HAVE YOU BURIED WITH MY FUCKING SUIT!!"

Before the monkey could even steady himself, his eyes saw a blurry silhouette of Baru punched into the very air.

He knew this visual distortion meant Baru was already upon him, but his body couldn’t react in time.

BOOM!

In the eyes of the spectators, one moment the monkey was still gripping the steel rod, plowing through the ground; the next, a flash, and an air bomb had detonated where he stood.

Less than a second later, a massive boulder on a cliff over a hundred meters away exploded as if hit by 100 kilograms of TNT. A dusty shadow, trailing afterimages, shot in a straight line into the distant sea.

A huge plume of water erupted from the surface of the sea.

The spectators were completely silent...

"*Gulp*... Is... is the monkey dead...?"

"No way, it’s over already?"

"*Gulp*... The Commander’s strong enough to crush half our Order, isn’t he?"

"*Gulp*... Or the whole thing..."

"*Gulp*... *Gulp*..."

Baru glanced at the guys craning their necks on the surrounding hills, then turned his gaze to the distant sea.

"Don’t underestimate that monkey," he said. "A hit like that isn’t nearly enough to take him down."

BANG!

The plaza beneath his feet shattered. Baru’s figure vanished, shooting off the cliff and plunging into the sea like a cannonball, without a single splash.

’A perfect 10.’

For some strange reason, that thought popped into all the spectators’ minds.

PS: First Chapter for Thursday.