Core disciples were assigned the strongest threats—the beasts in the mid-to-peak Core Condensation Realm—while Inner Court and stronger Outer Court disciples ford defensive lines against the lesser, but still deadly, Qi Refining realm monsters.
Han Yu stepped forward with the front line.
His eyes narrowed on a crocodilian charging straight toward them, its jaws wide enough to bite a man in half. His halberd flashed, a brutal arc of steel and qi-laced force slamming into the beast's skull as he used the Falling Leaf Strike.
The strike didn't kill it outright, but the impact staggered it long enough for another disciple to plunge a spear into its exposed throat.
The swamp exploded into chaos.
Blades rang against armored scales.
Qi techniques cracked through the fog, lighting the marsh with brief flashes of fire, lightning, and freezing mist. Screams of n and beasts alike mixed with the sickening crunch of bone and shell breaking under force.
Han Yu pivoted to intercept a lizard-serpent beast that had slipped past the line. It lunged for a young disciple, fangs dripping venom thick enough to eat through leather armor.
"No, you don't!" Han Yu moved.
With a snap of his wrist, Han Yu's halberd swept low, hooking under the creature's belly, and with a twist and pull, heaved it into the air before slamming it headfirst into the mud.The wet, aty crack of its neck breaking was swallowed by the roar of battle.
To his left, a marsh crab nearly the height of a house and at the early stage of the Core Condensation Realm had pinned three disciples against a tree, its claws snapping with enough force to shear through a spirit weapon.
Two elders intervened, blades glowing as they carved through the joints of its massive limbs.But the fight was far from over.
Through the chaos, Han Yu caught sight of a much larger shape.
A swamp gorilla—its fur matted with algae and scars, standing nearly three ters tall—charged through the lee, swatting disciples aside like toys. Its cultivation was also at the early Core Condensation Realm, but its speed was terrifying for sothing so large.
Han Yu's gut tightened as he saw it slam one disciple into the mud with bone-shattering force, then reach for another—this one a young man who hadn't even managed to draw his weapon yet.
Han Yu didn't think.
His feet were already moving, qi surging into his fists.
The swamp gorilla's clawed hand was less than a heartbeat away from tearing the disciple's head off when Han Yu's body blurred forward, closing the distance in an instant.
The mont he was in range, his Bolt God Fist ignited—Spirit qi compressing into a violent, concentrated surge.
"BOLT GOD FIST!"
The punch connected squarely with the gorilla's temple.
~BOOM~
There was a blinding flash of light and a deafening BOOM as Spirit and raw force tore through the beast's skull.
Its head didn't just cave in—it burst apart, sending bone fragnts and burning flesh scattering into the air. The body crumpled, twitching as residual energy arcs crackled over its form before finally going still.
Han Yu turned to check on the disciple, who sat frozen in the mud, staring at the headless corpse of the beast that had nearly killed him.
Those who had watched the scene were stunned.
"He... He killed an Early Core Condensation realm Beast while being at the Late Stage of the Qi refining realm himself?" Even a couple elders who had seen the scene couldn't help but look at Han Yu.
The young man who had just survived, managed a shaky nod of thanks before scrambling back toward the safer line.
'That's a lot of Eight Emotions Energy...' Han Yu saw yellow joy, grey surprise and even so green trust Eigth Emotions energy wisps rushing towards him from those that had watched him kill a foe much stronger than him.
Even he hadn't expected he'd be able to do this.
"Did the Bolt God Fist get stronger?" Han Yu couldn't help but compare it to the ti when the Ghostly Man had demonstrated its power.
It now felt quite similar to that. As much as he wished to analyze it further, the battle was not over ,there was no ti to rest.
The beasts kept coming—waves of them, relentless and frenzied as if sothing had driven them into a collective rage. So fought to the death without hesitation, while others tried to circle the group, seeking openings.
The marsh water ran dark with blood, and the fog grew thicker with the mingled steam of qi clashes and hot gore.
Han Yu's halberd was a blur, cleaving through the necks of smaller beasts, piercing hearts, and hooking legs out from under larger ones so his fellow disciples could finish them off. His experience having fought desperate battles in the Slumbering Caldera had basically honed him for fights like this.
Where others flinched in the face of potential danger, he fought without a stop, doing crazy maneuvers and taking risks that others would not even think of.
Of course it ca at a cost too...
More than once, he had to burn away venomous insects that tried to latch onto his arms or face in the heat of combat.
After what felt like an eternity—but in truth was no more than half an hour—the tide of beasts finally began to falter.
The ground was littered with corpses, so still twitching faintly. The surviving beasts slunk back into the mist, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing, the groans of the injured, and the occasional wet splash of blood dripping into the marsh water.
The elders wasted no ti.
Orders were shouted, wounded were carried or supported to the center of the formation, and the barriers were reinforced in case the beasts decided to return.
It was a victory—but one that ca at a cost.
Several disciples were badly wounded, and more than a dozen would need weeks to recover fully.
Han Yu exhaled slowly, feeling the ache in his arms and the faint tingling of sharp spirit qi still buzzing under his skin from that last Bolt God Fist. He looked over the battlefield one last ti before stepping back toward the group, his halberd dripping with both swamp water and beast blood.
This was just the beginning.
The middle ring still stretched for weeks ahead, and if this was their welco, Han Yu knew the journey forward would only grow worse.
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