Leyvi quickly assessed his current situation.
His movements had become noticeably sluggish, and the power of his spiritual pressure had weakened considerably. He could no longer exert enough outward force to blast away all of Monica's swords at once.
The reason was simple. His mental power was now split between several different tasks.
Normally, he concentrated everything on a single objective. When he fought using his giant spiritual hand, his body movements and Qi took care of everything else. But now he had to divide his mental power between flying, manipulating the giant hand, and defending himself at the same time, something he had never practiced before.
That said, it wasn't all that different from splitting his Qi to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
All he needed was more practice until it became second nature.
Dozens of Monica's spiritual swords still pointed at him, trembling as they strained with all their might to pierce his body.
Leyvi swung his giant hand again. The massive palm swept through the air with a heavy, deliberate motion.
Bang!
Nearly half of the remaining spiritual swords shattered upon impact.
Monica gritted her teeth and immediately recalled the surviving thirty-six swords, pulling them back to hover defensively around her. She couldn't believe how easily that giant hand destroyed her spiritual weapons.
If she wanted any chance of winning, she had to preserve the remaining swords. She simply didn't have enough mental energy left to conjure another hundred.
Leyvi immediately seized the opportunity and closed the distance.
His giant hand swept toward her in a crushing arc, its immense size seeming to compress the air around it.
Monica twisted her body in midair and narrowly dodged the attack.
Instead of retreating, she accelerated, flying around Leyvi in a wide circle. Her movements were smooth, agile, and incredibly practiced. She circled behind him, then darted to his side.
Each time Leyvi swung his giant hand, she was already gone, leaving the enormous palm to slice harmlessly through empty air.
She was simply too fast and nimble for Leyvi, who still wasn't familiar with the flight techniques used by Spiritual Cultivators.
But Leyvi did not mind this. He kept attacking Monica, his giant hand swinging in heavy, predictable arcs, as she grew more and more comfortable with his unremarkable speed.
While evading, Monica shifted her strategy. Instead of scattering her swords in wide arcs to attack from multiple angles, she condensed them into a tight formation, their tips all aligned toward a single point.
She focused her mental power into a narrow channel, sharpening the penetrating force of each blade. Being closer to Leyvi also amplified the power of her strikes, the reduced distance allowing her to strike with greater precision and force.
She intended to pierce through Leyvi's spiritual pressure defense this way. She struck at different spots each time, alternating between high and low, left and right, forcing him to constantly readjust his defense. Her swords came in rapid, focused bursts, each one aimed to test the limits of his spiritual pressure.
With the multiplied penetration power, the pressure sphere around Leyvi began to waver. Each concentrated strike pushed deeper than the last, and his defense, already strained by the need to maintain multiple mental tasks, started to show cracks.
So when Monica's next concentrated attack came at him, Leyvi made a decisive shift. He dispersed his giant hand and completely stopped supporting his flight.
At almost the same moment, Leyvi unleashed his full-powered downward spiritual pressure in all directions around him.
The pressure expanded outward like an invisible wave, heavy and crushing. The air itself seemed to thicken, pressing downward with immense force. Dust and debris on the ground flattened instantly, and the ground beneath began to crack under the strain.
Monica, who had grown far too comfortable with Leyvi's slow speed and had closed the distance too much, was completely caught off guard by the sudden move.
In what felt like slow motion, she saw her swords, one by one, caught by the expanding pressure field. Their tips dipped downward, their forward momentum halted, and then they plunged to the ground, embedding themselves in the earth before dissolving into nothing.
She instinctively tried to pull back, to escape the field before it fully enveloped her, but the pressure was already upon her.
Leyvi's overwhelming spiritual pressure swept over her, pushing her downward with incredible force.
Thum!
Monica crashed violently against the ground. The impact sent a shockwave rippling across the surface, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris.
Her spiritual armor, which had absorbed most of the initial impact, dissipated. Her goggle device shattered completely, fragments scattering across the ground.
The rest of the force was absorbed by her body, leaving her with fractures and broken bones. She lay still, unable to even scream from the pain.
Leyvi observed Monica's poor condition while supporting himself with flight once again, descending slowly now that he was certain of his victory.
"Leyvi wins!" Bardan announced.
He immediately rushed to Monica's side and fed her an elixir.
"Not bad. He used his own weakness to set up a trap." Geezer Mallard nodded to himself in admiration. "It's obvious he has plenty of combat experience. And that monstrous mental power... I can't believe this young man actually came from the South Region."
Bardan let out a sigh as he looked at Monica's condition.
Now it was obvious that Leyvi wasn't the type to go easy on women simply because they were women.
Well, he had told Leyvi to show off his abilities so everyone could witness his talent. The battle just now should be more than enough to prove his Spiritual Cultivation talent.
A moment later, Leyvi landed beside Bardan and watched as Monica's injuries rapidly healed under the effects of the elixir.
"What's the last challenge? Who's going to be my opponent?" Leyvi asked.
"Don't you feel tired or anything?" Bardan replied with another question.
"Not really. I still have plenty of energy." Leyvi answered honestly.
Bardan was surprised. Could it be that not only was his mental power absurdly strong, but his mental stamina was just as ridiculous?
Monica, whose mind was gradually clearing, also heard the conversation.
She couldn't accept it. Why was the disparity between them so enormous?
Not only could he unleash such tremendous mental power, but he also possessed the mental stamina to sustain such massive consumption. It was simply unfair.
For the first time, she understood how those Spiritual Cultivators she had always ridiculed must have felt when facing her.
She regretted not investigating Leyvi beforehand. She had plenty of time to do so. If she had known his status earlier, she would have behaved completely differently.
She would have acted like a soft and innocent young lady, attracted his attention that way, and then gotten close to him after losing the fight. One thing would naturally lead to another, and she could have become one of his wives, just like Barbara.
At that point, she would have gained access to his incredible wealth and authority. It wouldn't even be too difficult to slowly get rid of his harem before eventually claiming him all for herself.
But now... She no longer had that chance, all because of her own lapse in judgment.
The regret on Monica's face slowly gave way to something else.
Leyvi. Just you wait. I swear I'll find a better man to latch onto, and one day I'll trample all over you! I'll capture you and turn you into my sex slave! That wonderful thing you possess... I'll make sure it serves only me.
Monica stared intently at Leyvi's crotch while silently vowing revenge. By now, her injuries were almost fully healed.
What the heck! What's wrong with this woman? She's still lusting after my holy rod! Dear Luck God, please don't let me ever meet this crazy, molesting, mean woman again!
Even Bardan was speechless by her behavior. Her line of sight was far too obvious.
Are women nowadays this bold?
He was about to criticize the younger generation, but stopped when he suddenly remembered that his own wife used to be quite bold as well. She would often drag him off to some quiet place just to drain all of his seeds.
"Ahem... your next opponent will be me. Since you practice three cultivation systems, use everything you have to defeat me. That way, you can show off your talents to the fullest." Bardan revealed.
He knew his daughter would probably object when she heard this, but his wife would calm her down first.
"You? Patriarch Bardan, you're a Soul Formation Realm cultivator. How am I supposed to defeat you?" Leyvi couldn't help but feel that Bardan simply didn't want him to win.
He couldn't even defeat a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. How was he supposed to beat someone an entire realm higher?
"Bahahaha! Calm down. That's not all. I'll handicap myself, of course. I won't be using my Soul Formation Body." Bardan said.
"Not using your Soul Formation Body?" Leyvi repeated.
"That's right. Even without my Soul Formation Body, I'm still much stronger than any peak Core Formation Realm cultivator in terms of Qi reserves, Qi mastery, and Qi techniques. However, since my strongest offensive and defensive method will be sealed, you do have a chance to defeat me, however small it may be. Up for the challenge?" Bardan explained.
"No Soul Formation Body?" Leyvi's eyes lit up. "Alright! Bring it on!"
He knew that most of the troublesome abilities came from the Soul Formation Body. Without it, he believed he had a considerable chance.
Bardan sighed inwardly.
He couldn't help but like this guy more and more.