"What are you saying, Sister Ava?" Anda maintained her serene smile, though a glint of playful mischief shone in her eyes.
"He is still your husband," Anda continued, her voice a soothing melody. "There is nothing wrong with a husband feeling affection for his wife. In fact, a wife should be happy that her husband desires her. Just think of how miserable it is for those married women who are unwanted by their husbands. You must have seen such sad cases in the Clover Family too, right? The touch from a loving husband is the best feeling, you know."
A dreamy sigh escaped her lips. "Ah... Look at how happy I am. You can feel blissful like me, too. Come, Ava, you can sit right here beside me." She made a little room on the invisible sofa and patted the empty space next to her, delivering her usual pandawashing sweet talk with practiced grace.
"Big Madam. Your pandawashing will not work on me," Ava stated flatly, her resolve firm.
After living with them for years, she had developed a high degree of resistance to Anda's persuasive charms. Most of her willpower was rooted in her tenacious commitment to her own rule: if Leyvi wanted to touch her, he must first defeat her using only physical strength. This condition had not changed for years. The day Leyvi finally beat her fair and square, she herself would drag him to a room and let him do whatever he wanted.
However, recently, even as she clung to her rule, a subtle irritation had begun to gnaw at her. She had noticed that Leyvi's body cultivation had stagnated, showing little improvement. During their sparring sessions, he now relied heavily on his Volcanic Armor, no longer choosing to meet her blows with the raw toughness of his own body.
Why aren't you improving your body cultivation? The thought echoed in her mind with a frustrating frequency. Do you think it is not needed anymore? Why? Because you are a prodigy in spiritual cultivation now? Don't neglect it!
These thoughts would gnaw at Ava from time to time, leaving her frustrated without realizing why.
"Brother Leyvi," Bodo leaned in, his voice a low, curious rumble. "Is it true, what Big Madam said? Do women truly love being touched by their husband?"
Hearing this, Leyvi could not help but chuckle. It seemed Anda's attempt to pandawash one person might have an unintended effect; it was Bodo who appeared to be falling for it first.
"In my case, I think it is true," Leyvi replied, his voice warm with amusement. "But I cannot speak for everyone. Brother Bodo, if you are curious, you should find a wife, or perhaps many wives, and figure it out for yourself."
"Dohoho! Brother Leyvi, I am just wondering," Bodo said, his booming voice softening with a note of resignation. "With my appearance and figure, no woman would want me. I would only scare them away."
This was not just a humble assumption, but a reality he had lived. When he had first left his home in the mountains and approached people, they had often fled, women especially. In time, he came to understand that his presence was frightening to them. His immense, intimidating frame was one thing, but his face was not exactly pleasing to look at, which only added to the terrifying effect.
"Hahaha!" Leyvi's laughter cut through the air. "Do you believe that just because you look intimidating, no woman could ever like you? Brother Bodo, you are mistaken. I have met a man who preferred big, burly women over the usual cute and pretty ones. To be honest, I used to think no man would be attracted to a woman like that, but I was wrong. I was a frog in a well. The chance might be slim, but it is certainly not zero." He spoke from experience, recalling Envoy Gareth and his formidable secretary, Emma, who had once visited the Leyan Family mansion.
"There are so many people in this world," Leyvi continued, his tone filled with conviction. "As long as you continue to meet them, I am sure you will find ladies who prefer a huge, strong man like you. And if you are kind and good to people, some women might not even care about your appearance and will like you for your personality alone. So, don't worry about it."
He had given similar advice to the members of his fan club back in Bara City, and now, many of them were happily married. He felt a quiet confidence that his perspective held some truth.
"Dohoho! If you say it, then it must be true, Brother Leyvi!" Bodo's spirit seemed to lift, his posture straightening with newfound hope. "I wonder what kind of lady will like me in the future. I only wish for her not to raise her voice at me." It was a simple, heartfelt wish. For someone who had been scolded so often, this was his most significant expectation.
Leyvi blinked, a pang of sympathy touching his heart. He felt a little bad for his large friend, whose hopes for companionship were set so modestly.
Ava, who had been moving alongside them, felt a flicker of annoyance. She wondered if the big guy was subtly ridiculing her, given how frequently she raised her own voice at Leyvi. If not for his formidable strength, she would have been tempted to send a punch his way as a reminder.
Anda, watching the exchange from her invisible perch, simply giggled as usual, thoroughly enjoying the free entertainment.
Hours later, the group arrived at the spiritually barren hill. The familiar, energy-deficient atmosphere settled around them.
Leyvi immediately cast his spiritual sense beneath the hill once more, needing to confirm that the Void Crystals were not merely a fantasy. Thankfully, they were real. Now, scanning with even greater thoroughness, he realized the deposit was far more extensive than he had first believed. His initial probe had been focused directly underground beneath the hill, but the vein of crystals stretched out in a certain direction, spreading far beyond the hill's base.
"Brother Bodo, I need your help," Leyvi said, turning to his large companion.
"Dohoho! Just say it, Brother Leyvi!" Bodo replied, his excitement immediate. He thumped his chest with a fist, producing a deep, drumming sound reminiscent of a great gorilla.
Leyvi smiled at the enthusiastic display. "Can you help me relocate this hill over to that side?" He pointed to his right, indicating a spacious, empty patch of land.
Ava was stunned. Is this Sex Fiend crazy? she thought. How is that even possible? She looked at the sizable hill. Destroying a hill was one thing; she could manage that with enough effort. But moving it? Entirely another.
"Dohoho! No problem, Brother Leyvi! My masters used to make me lift hills and even small mountains as part of my training. It is an easy task for me now!" Without a moment's hesitation, Bodo moved to the base of the hill, his massive frame settling into a preparatory stance.
Is this guy serious? Ava blinked, her skepticism warring with her knowledge of his character. She had sparred with Bodo often enough to understand he was stupidly honest and never boasted. Yet, the claim still felt unbelievable.
Leyvi and Anda, having witnessed Bodo's capabilities before, simply watched with calm expectation. They knew he could do it. What was most impressive about Bodo was not just his herculean strength, but the terrifyingly precise control he wielded over it. The amount of force, its application, its direction, were all executed with exacting precision. It was this control that allowed him to cleanly split the base of the hill from the earth.
Leyvi's plan was straightforward: by relocating the hill, they would have clear and easy access to dig straight down to the rich vein of Void Crystals beneath.
Once again, Bodo positioned himself before the hill, his eyes gleaming with quiet determination. His massive leg muscles tensed, cords of sinew and bulging veins standing out in stark relief against his skin. With a motion that was both fluid and explosive, he unleashed a single, devastating kick at the base of the hill. The impact echoed across the landscape, a sharp, percussive crack that was immediately followed by the groan of splitting stone. A network of fissures spiderwebbed through the earth, cleanly severing the hill from its very foundations.
Ava's eyes widened in disbelief. He really did it. He separated the hill from the earth itself. In that moment, the final vestige of her competitive spirit toward him vanished. She knew, with absolute certainty, that she had never stood a chance of winning their sparring matches.
With the hill now a separate entity, Bodo wedged his powerful arms beneath its edge. He applied an immense, precisely measured force, pushing upward just enough to prevent the colossal weight from toppling. In a blur of motion, he repositioned himself directly at the center of the mass, his shoulders settling against the earth and stone. With a ground-shaking roar that spoke of ultimate exertion, he lifted the entire hill onto his back and began a slow, deliberate walk toward the empty land, the monumental burden seeming to bow the very air around him.
Witnessing the feat, Leyvi could only feel a profound sense of amazement. This was a display of raw power on a level he knew he could not hope to match. His gaze, however, was drawn to Bodo's feet. Even under the enormous weight pressing down on him, his bare soles did not so much as sink into the soft earth. Is there a specialized method to achieve this, too? Leyvi wondered. Is it another facet of his precise strength control?
Upon reaching the designated spot, Bodo began to lower his burden. Despite his evident care, the impact of the hill meeting the ground was immense. A deep, booming tremor shook the area, sending vibrations through the soles of their feet and rustling the leaves on distant trees.
"Dohoho! How is it, Brother Leyvi? Did I do a good job?" Bodo asked as he happily returned to the group, his chest heaving only slightly from the effort.
Ava could only blink, her mind struggling to reconcile the cheerful Bodo before her with the incredible Bodo she had just witnessed.