He stood firmly upon the uneven riverbed, his feet pressing into the silt and stone as the enormous centipede-like beast loomed before him. Its massive body stretched across the water like a living fortress, countless legs anchored against the river floor while its armoured back rose and fell with a slow, hostile rhythm. Eklavya felt a genuine, instinctive fear coil tightly around his heart as the creature fixed its attention upon him with unmistakable rage.

  Raising his hands slightly in a reflexive gesture of surrender, his voice escaped him despite knowing how futile it was.

  “Mr… or Mrs… Beast, please continue whatever it is you were doing. I am leaving right now,” Eklavya spoke hurriedly, forcing politeness into his tone.

  He carefully stepped one foot backwards, swallowing hard as if prayer alone might convince fate to look away. “I swear I am not here to disturb you.”

  With that, he eased another step back, every muscle in his body coiled and ready to flee at the slightest provocation.

  Magha’s voice echoed sharply inside his mind, edged with irritation rather than fear. ‘What in the world are you spouting about? Do you really think it understands your words, or that it will buy you even a second?’

  Although Eklavya knew that truth perfectly well, he had still tried—if only because instinct sometimes overpowered logic when death stared this close.

  He swallowed once more—harder this time—and in the very next instant abandoned all pretence of negotiation. Turning sharply, he launched himself forward with every ounce of speed his body could muster, water tearing past him as he sprinted across the riverbed.

  Before he could even put meaningful distance between himself and the beast, the centipede surged with terrifying speed and appeared directly in front of him. Its massive body cut off his escape as it screeched violently, the sound vibrating through water and bone alike.

  The creature attacked without hesitation, hurling itself toward him with a powerful thrust of its many legs.

  Eklavya gritted his teeth and drew his sword from the storage ring in a single fluid motion. Fear crystallised into resolve as he shouted, “Fine—then I’ll fight you!”

  He hurled himself forward to meet the charge head-on.

  Five massive chakra rings erupted into existence around each of his arms, rotating rapidly like enormous luminous formations carved from pure energy. As he collided with the centipede’s assault, his sword struck against the hardened scales along its back with a thunderous impact.

  The force rippled through his arms as he twisted his body mid-motion, narrowly dodging the beast’s frontal attack and reappearing behind it in a blur of speed that would have left most warriors unable to track his movement.

  Driving his blade downward with full intent to pierce, Eklavya aimed directly for the creature’s back. The moment steel met scale, his heart sank. The sword failed to bite even slightly, the centipede’s armour so dense and ancient that not even a scratch appeared upon its surface. It was as though he had struck an immovable mountain rather than living flesh.

  Before he could retreat, the beast reacted with shocking agility. Its massive body twisted through the water as it spun violently, generating a crushing force that slammed into Eklavya and sent him crashing back onto the riverbed with a heavy thud. The impact drove the breath from his lungs before he could even recover his footing.

  The centipede did not relent.

  It launched itself forward again, and before Eklavya could properly rise, its body struck him with overwhelming momentum. He was hurled into the river wall with bone-rattling force, pain erupting through his body from head to toe as his muscles screamed in protest. The sheer speed of the beast rendered his reactions useless against its relentless assault.

  “Aah—damn it, that hurts,” he groaned aloud, forcing himself upright despite the burning ache coursing through him.

  Magha let out a tired sigh within his mind. ‘You really are acting strangely after your breakthrough. What exactly do you think that pillar beast is attacking you for?’

  Eklavya’s expression hardened instantly as his scattered thoughts snapped into focus. ‘Of course it wants to kill me,’ he thought grimly.

  “Just tell me—is there a way to kill it?” he asked aloud. “If not, I’ll use the soul power in the token. There’s still a little left.”

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  His voice remained steady despite the desperation behind it.

  Magha immediately rejected the idea. ‘No. Do not waste that. Just fight it—consider this a test beast.’

  Before Eklavya could argue further, the centipede acted again.

  A concentrated beam of ki erupted from the creature’s body and shot toward him at blinding speed. Eklavya pushed himself off the wall at the last possible moment, narrowly dodging the attack as it tore through the water behind him. The energy scorched the riverbed where it struck.

  “It’s easy for you to say,” Eklavya muttered under his breath, the temptation to unleash the soul power still lingering at the edge of his thoughts, even though he knew that using it now would strip him of his final safeguard.

  The centipede fixed its gaze upon him and began gathering power between its mandibles. A dense sphere of ki formed rapidly as the surrounding water trembled under the pressure.

  Eklavya responded in kind. He planted his feet firmly against the riverbed as the five rotating chakra rings around his arm collapsed violently inward, compressing layer by layer until they fused into a single blinding point of condensed force.

  Driving his fist forward with absolute commitment, Eklavya released the attack at the same instant the centipede unleashed its own. A brilliant beam of power erupted from his strike as the beast fired a blue ki beam from between its mandibles.

  When the two forces collided, massive shockwaves tore through the water in every direction. The river trembled violently as the clash of power shook the depths around them.

  The blue beam unleashed by the thousand-legged centipede was unquestionably overwhelming in its raw destructive pressure—a concentrated torrent of ki that carried the weight of an ancient predator’s dominance. Yet Eklavya’s own yellow beam was no less formidable, blazing forward with compressed force drawn from every fragment of his remaining reserves.

  As the two energies collided head-on within the river’s flow, they locked together in a brutal stalemate that distorted the surrounding water and ground alike.

  For nearly a full minute, the beams clashed without either yielding. The cost of sustaining such an attack quickly became evident to Eklavya. His breathing grew ragged as he struggled to channel that massive volume of ki without interruption, his muscles trembling violently as his body fought to maintain cohesion under the strain.

  Unlike the centipede—whose massive form and monstrous constitution allowed it to release power with terrifying efficiency—Eklavya was burning through his reserves at an unsustainable rate.

  Gradually, almost imperceptibly at first, the golden hue of his beam began to dim. Its edges frayed as his ki output weakened, and the centipede’s blue beam advanced inch by inch toward him with relentless pressure. Eklavya’s feet dug deeper into the riverbed as veins stood out across his arms and neck, his teeth grinding together as he refused to yield.

  With a hoarse roar torn from the depths of his chest, Eklavya abruptly shifted his stance and raised his second hand, mirroring the original formation with desperate precision. He forced more ki out of his already exhausted core, allowing the second beam to merge with the first and momentarily halt the centipede’s advance—though the act drained an enormous portion of what little remained within him.

  The collision dragged on for another minute. Both combatants visibly paid the price of their exchange.

  While the centipede’s massive form finally showed signs of fatigue, its movements slowing slightly as its ki output waned, it was still far from depleted. Eklavya, however, reached the absolute edge of his endurance. When the beams dissipated, he gasped as his legs buckled beneath him.

  With a long, shuddering exhale, he collapsed onto the riverbed, sitting heavily against the cold stone as his sword slipped from his weakened grip. His vision swam as he looked upward toward the centipede, which had already begun crawling toward him once more, its thousand legs churning the water into chaos as it advanced with lethal intent.

  Eklavya’s entire body throbbed with pain. Injuries from his previous battle with the giant serpent screamed beneath fresh wounds inflicted by the centipede. Now, facing a beast far stronger than the one before, he found himself unable even to stand, let alone fight—a grim reminder of the limits imposed by his cultivation.

  After all, he was still only a five-star practitioner warrior, albeit one bearing the Supreme Body. Even with that rare physique, his maximum potential at this stage allowed him to challenge no more than seven-star master warriors. The creature before him clearly exceeded that boundary through sheer monstrous power.

  Watching the centipede draw closer, Eklavya released a weak, breathless laugh inside his mind. ‘Huh… this is it.’

  His awareness sharpened strangely as his ki reserves neared complete depletion. Though the thought of using soul power surfaced once more, he dismissed it just as quickly. Even that desperate measure demanded strength he no longer possessed—and worse, it would exact a toll his battered body might not survive.

  Magha observed everything from within the ring, silent and heavy with resolve. He still held one final method to save Eklavya—one that would consume what remained of his soul entirely, erasing him forever. If it meant allowing the boy to live, he was prepared to accept that fate without hesitation.

  The centipede suddenly increased its speed, its massive body surging forward as it leapt. Its shadow blotted out the light above Eklavya.

  For the first time since entering the river, Eklavya fully accepted the certainty of his death.

  But Magha did not.

  As he prepared to sacrifice himself, ready to burn away his remaining existence to force Eklavya’s escape, something unexpected occurred at the precise instant the centipede descended.

  Something shifted inside Eklavya.

  It was subtle—not a surge of power or an eruption of ki, but a deep, instinctive realignment. Like a long-sealed lock within his body finally clicking into place, buried memories etched into his muscles stirred, and the hesitation that had haunted his reactions until now dissolved into clarity.