Feral vs. Lotus

Big Brother Feral took a single step forward, yet he was already standing behind Lotus.

He had crossed a distance of several feet and prepared to launch a vicious blow before Lotus could even react to her vines being shattered.

Likewise, the disciples and servants in the crowd were following his afterimage and wondering what he was going to do next.

Gilgamesh could just barely follow, and he gasped before circulating some true energy to enhance his physical body. He then bolstered his divine sense and tried his best to keep up with their battle.

Lotus grit her teeth and slapped her palms together.

"Lotusforce Eruption!"

She could not turn around in time, so instead she chose to summon an explosion of true energy that spread out in every direction, creating images of lotus flowers and vines that lingered in the air.

However, Big Brother Feral only growled. "Meddling with explosions is pointless!"

His fist met the explosion of true energy and instantly erupted with a power of its own. Lotus' wave of true energy was easily penetrated, and then reverse-exploded back toward her.

However, by then, she had turned around and created some distance between them, while simultaneously summoning a massive blue lotus flower to shield herself.

The explosion of both Big Brother Feral's and her own true energy struck the petals of the lotus, yet it was completely nullified.

"Nice try! Go, Flower Petals!"

Giving Big Brother Feral no chance to strike again, the lotus petals further unfurled before swiftly detaching themselves from the rest of the flower.

Then, without indication, a metallic sheen appeared on the surface of the petals before they shot through the air, emitting boundless slaughter intent.

With just their eyes, the crowd could immediately discern that these petals were akin to the most devastating blades available to them in the sect.

Gilgamesh was also amazed that true energy could accomplish such a feat. He felt like his horizons were being broadened.

Seeing the petal blades coming toward him, Big Brother Feral snorted colded and switched his position.

He went from preparing to dash forward to a steady stance, and his fist morphed into a might palm!

"Pitiful, Lotus. Truly pitiful." Big Brother Feral sighed, seeming genuinely sorry for his opponent.

"Become Blunt!"

His palm swiped through the air and slapped away each of the petal blades that were stabbing toward him, creating numerous dings as if he were slapping away actual swords.

If the spectators hadn't heard those sounds, they would have believed that the petals were actually harmless.

This was exactly because Big Brother Feral had simply slapped them away like they were, in fact, harmless.

However, the more knowledgeable disciples adjusted their figurative spectacles and began to explain to the others.

"This is a result of Big Brother Feral's inherent nature: Bluntness."

"Bluntness, huh?"

"Indeed. With such an inherent nature, he can forcibly reduce the damage output of pretty much anything- or make harmful objects like those petal blades revert to harmless flower petals."

When Gilgamesh heard this, he was struck by an urge to clear out his ears and ask those disciples to repeat themselves.

This inherent nature was not fair at all.

Theoretically, as long as Big Brother Feral was his opponent's superior in terms of true energy, none of their attacks could hurt him! He could turn them into harmless nothings.

Gilgamesh knew that he would be even far worse off. After all, he was still only at the Second Level of the Condensation stage.

Lotus gasped and stared stupidly as her attack was negated, and was completely caught off guard by the subsequent attack.

Big Brother Feral's palm rapidly morphed into a fist that threatened to crack open the space between it and Lotus' face.

In less than an instant, it struck Lotus' delicate face and sunk in her cheek, but Big Brother Feral did not stop there.

The very moment that his fist connected with his face, Big Brother Feral uttered the word, "Explode."

Heeding his command, his true energy reacted violently as it surged, then exploded.

Lotus' face caved in as even her skull was reshaped.

A giant splash of blood flew into the air as she was sent flying; she could not even cry out.

After her lifeless body dug a trench in the ground about a hundred feet long, she ground to a halt and stayed there.

She was either dead or unconscious. Either way, she could no longer go on.

Thus, the battle came to an end, and all of Big Brother Feral's fans shook the Proving Ground with their cheers.

"Big Brother Feral actually did it!"

"Of course he did! Was there ever any doubt?"

"Idol! Big Brother Feral is totally my idol!"

"So this is what you call an 'icon?' How breathtaking!"

Gilgamesh was at a loss as he recounted the details, and he suddenly found himself wanting to go back home and engage in his arduous, pointless and boring cultivation.

Once the fight was over, Gilgamesh saw Pacifist Guardian appear, standing over Lotus' body.

She flicked her sleeve and a golden bubble formed around Lotus' body, taking her up into the air.

Before Pacifist took off into the sky as well, she looked to Big Brother Feral and nodded.

"As you know, you can now only challenge those whose ranks are above the 150th place. Good luck."

That being all, she flew away with the golden bubble that contained Inner Disciple Lotus.

Big Brother Feral shook his head with a resigned expression, and started to walk away.

Despite the attitudes of his many fans, they actually didn't dare to approah him and bombard him with praises and questions.

They simply stood off to the side or cleared the way for him to get by, all while staring at him with fervent gazes of worship, adoration and envy.

Suddenly, someone moved through the crowd and approached Big Brother Feral.

"What's up brat?"

Unimaginable horror flashed in the eyes of the crowd as they looked over at the fool that had dared to walk up to their Hero and say these words.

However, those expressions all faltered when they saw that it was Gilgamesh.

"It's him?"

"Tch!"

"So just 'cause he's a freakazoid-in-training he thinks he can talk to my idol? Grr!"

"To be fair, only an insane freak could address Big Brother Feral like that."

As they murmured, Big Brother Feral looked to Gilgamesh with a thin smile.

"Hello, Junior Brother Gilgamesh. What did you think of that match?"

Gilgamesh reached up a bit and patted Big Brother Feral on the shoulder.

'Holy fucking shit!' Gilgamesh thought. 'Who the fuck do I think I am right now!?'

Although he was freaking out on the inside, Gilgamesh chuckled while putting on the air of an elder.

"I think that little girl has to learn how to properly respect an opponent. I also think you need a real opponent to fight in order to properly release your strength." Gilgamesh nodded his head as though he were an assessing old master.

"Someone that actually respects your power, and whom you can respect in turn."

Big Brother Feral appeared dazed as he heard Gilgamesh's assessment.

"That's..." he whispered.

"That's exactly it!" His sudden outburst made all the onlookers feel like they were witnessing the end of their world.

When had Big Brother Feral ever acted like this!?

Gilgamesh slowly felt himself merge into one being again, and he also noted that he had, once again, said nothing more than what he was already thinking in his heart.

"You are truly insightful, Junior Brother. In truth, if Lotus had taken a moment to assess my power, the fight could have gone very differently. I may have even lost." Big Brother Feral sighed, appearing disappointed in life and dejected.

Gilgamesh nodded, "Don't worry about it too much. Pretty soon, I'll come kick your ass for you."

Without waiting for Big Brother Feral's reply, Gilgamesh walked away toward his abode.

Big Brother Feral watched him leave with a slight trace of confusion in his eyes. He couldn't figure out what made Gilgamesh so confident when the latter hadn't even had a true battle to test his limits.

To Big Brother Feral, only by challenging the powerful could one's own power be measured, and only then could one's confidence truly rise.

On the contrary, though, was Gilgamesh. He seemed to have skipped the first step while acquiring the exact same result.

Even worse was the fact that his confidence boost was astronomical. Far beyond anything Big Brother Feral had ever experienced.

"That guy is something else," he soliloquized before departing from the Proving Ground.

Once he left, the cry of rage that the spectators had been holding in was finally let out.

Some of them couldn't believe that Gilgamesh had gotten to speak to their idol before them.

Others were desperately trying to figure out what had happened to Gilgamesh's brain to turn him into an idiot. An idiot so talented in idiocy that he thought he would have a shot at beating Big Brother Feral in a fight.

To them, this was the funniest joke ever.

So what if he killed an Outer Disciple and proceeded to attempt to provoke the Guardian that was backing said disciple?

This was nothing compared to the Legend of Big Brother Feral in their hearts!

After grumbling for a while, the crowd dispersed.

Gilgamesh returned home and immediately went to his backyard to cultivate.

Not only was he feeling incredibly inadequate after witnessing that fight and motivated to cultivate harder than ever before.

He also noticed a drastic change with the Omniscient Author in his sea of energy.