“Roar!!!”
Although the Demonic Ape was as large as a small mountain, its speed was anything but slow. In the blink of an eye, it had already arrived before Bai Zhiqiu.
It clenched its hands into fists as dark purple flames erupted from its palms, smashing directly toward Bai Zhiqiu.
This is bad.
Bai Zhiqiu cursed inwardly. The Heavenly Secret Mirror had already been used two days ago during the battle against the skeleton-faced Demonic Cultivator and was currently in its cooldown period.
In other words, she would likely have to endure the attack of this Nascent Soul Stage strength Demonic Ape head-on.
Bai Zhiqiu moved her left hand across the Lopan while her right thumb pushed down a sandalwood bead on her abacus.
In an instant, two defense arrays shimmering with pale yellow light patterns appeared above her head.
“Boom—!”
The Demonic Ape’s fist slammed into the arrays, erupting with a massive, vibrating roar.
Dark purple flames leaped across the arrays. As the fist pressed down, cracks began to spiderweb across the formations.
Bai Zhiqiu originally intended to use the time the arrays were active to escape the Demonic Ape’s attack range, but its Gravity Domain was truly formidable. Even with her Mid Golden Core cultivation, it was difficult to move even half a step in a short amount of time.
Seeing that the arrays were about to collapse and the demonic flames were nearly licking at her hair.
At the critical moment, Yu Qingyao moved.
Two streaks of light flew forth, blocking the space above Bai Zhiqiu’s head just as the arrays shattered.
The flying streaks of light instantly transformed into two sturdy, massive shields that protected her.
“Is this—the Vajra Body Protection Talisman?” Bai Zhiqiu looked toward the direction the talismans had come from, only to see Yu Qingyao pale-faced and dripping with cold sweat.
Although Yu Qingyao was also suppressed by the gravity, she managed to barely adapt to the pressure by relying on her powerful soul and the combat experience of her past life.
“Explosive Flame Talisman! Go!”
Yu Qingyao fiercely threw out a stack of prepared talismans. Those were high-grade Explosive Flame Talismans she had spent a fortune on at the Tianbao Pavilion—there were a full dozen of them!
“Boom! Boom! Boom—!!!”
The talismans exploded in front of the Demonic Ape. While they couldn’t wound it in the slightest, the blinding firelight and smoke successfully interfered with its vision.
“Run! Now!” Yu Qingyao shouted.
Bai Zhiqiu truly lived up to her title as the Tianyan Sect Chief Disciple. Seizing this fleeting opportunity, she bit her tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood to activate a secret art. Her body slid away like a loach, narrowly avoiding that lethal punch.
“Rumble!”
The Demonic Ape’s fist smashed into the empty ground, causing the earth to crack and debris to fly everywhere.
The prey had escaped.
The Demonic Ape was furious. It whipped its head around, its eyes burning with demonic fire as they locked onto the “bug” that had just thrown the talismans.
“Roar!”
It let out an earth-shattering roar. Its massive body actually displayed an incredible flexibility, appearing above Yu Qingyao’s head in an instant. A pitch-black giant palm descended with a momentum that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth.
“I was already prepared for you!”
A flash of ruthlessness crossed Yu Qingyao’s eyes.
“Four Symbols Defense Array, rise!”
With her sharp cry, four array flags emitting an ancient aura flew from her sleeves, instantly planting themselves into the ground in the four cardinal directions around her.
Buzz!
A pale blue light curtain rose into the sky, forming a hemispherical shield that firmly protected Yu Qingyao within. This was an array she had purchased at the Tianbao Pavilion before entering the Secret Realm; additionally, it had been reinforced under the guidance of her Master. Withstanding a single strike from the Demonic Ape would not be a problem.
“Thud—!!!”
The Demonic Ape’s giant palm slammed heavily against the light curtain.
The array shook violently. Its light instantly dimmed by half, and the ground was forced down three feet by the immense power.
Yu Qingyao’s face turned white as a trace of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, but she had blocked it!
Just as the Demonic Ape’s old strength was exhausted and its new strength had yet to form.
“Piaomiao Sword Arts — Water Sever!”
A cold, sharp cry rang out.
Wu Yan’s figure was like lightning, turning into a white rainbow as she cut into the battlefield. Severing Delusion erupted with a brilliant Sword Chi, pointing directly at the Demonic Ape’s defenseless armpit.
“Puchi!”
The Sword Chi entered the flesh three inches deep!
Although this was only a superficial wound compared to the Demonic Ape’s massive body, the pain truly enraged it.
“Roar!”
The Demonic Ape abandoned Yu Qingyao, who was hiding in her turtle shell, and turned to look at Wu Yan.
The mockery in its eyes vanished, replaced by a cold killing intent.
“Whoosh—”
The Demonic Ape no longer swung its hands casually but instead clenched its fist tight.
Purple-black demonic fire burned on its knuckles, carrying a terrifying momentum that seemed unstoppable as it moved toward Wu Yan.
Wu Yan did not retreat; instead, she advanced. Her sword light split into thousands of shadows, attempting to break strength with precision.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
However, in a Secret Realm that only allowed cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage to enter, the power of a Nascent Soul Stage entity was simply too great.
Technique appeared so pale and weak in the face of absolute power.
Wu Yan’s sword moves were crushed by the Demonic Ape’s brute force before they could even take form.
In just three moves.
Wu Yan was forced into a desperate close-quarters struggle.
“Bang!”
After one collision, the longsword in Wu Yan’s hand buzzed and hummed. The webbing between her thumb and forefinger split open, and blood flowed down the hilt of the sword.
Her protective Spirit Chi had already been shattered, and several wounds had appeared on her body. Her white clothes were slowly being dyed red by blood.
“Senior Sister!”
Watching this from within the array, Yu Qingyao was frantic with worry.
Wu Yan had fallen into this bitter struggle just to save everyone. If this continued, she would be beaten to death!
Yu Qingyao gritted her teeth and formed hand seals, attempting to manipulate the four defense array flags to move.
“Go!”
She wanted to wrap the array around Wu Yan to block those lethal attacks for her.
Though the Demonic Ape was berserk, its combat instincts were terrifyingly sharp.
At the exact moment the blue light curtain moved and a gap appeared in the defense.
A human-like, cruel sneer curled on the Demonic Ape’s lips.
“Buzz!”
The gravity within the Gravity Domain intensified once more!
Yu Qingyao’s body suddenly stiffened while she was moving the array flags. That horrific pressure caused her to instantly lose control over them.
The array collapsed.
“Oh no!” Yu Qingyao’s pupils constricted.
The Demonic Ape’s massive frame disappeared from its spot and reappeared directly in front of the defenseless Yu Qingyao in the next heartbeat.
It didn’t use its fist.
Instead, it raised a giant foot capable of crushing mountains. Accompanied by a sonic boom, it kicked savagely toward Yu Qingyao!
If this kick landed, Yu Qingyao would certainly die!
“Damn it—”
The Demonic Ape’s move was unexpected, perfectly catching the moment Yu Qingyao was distracted by her concern.
Its speed was so fast that Yu Qingyao had absolutely no time to defend herself.
In this life-or-death moment, she instinctively wanted to burn her soul to activate the Soul Governance Art for a final desperate struggle.
But someone was faster than her.
A white shadow, with a speed that surpassed all limits, forced itself between the Demonic Ape and Yu Qingyao.
She raised Severing Delusion, gathering all the Spirit Chi in her body without reservation to form a heavy shield.
“Boom—!!!”
Fist met shield.
The shield formed in such haste was as fragile as a soap bubble before this punch, shattering instantly.
“Bang—!!!”
A dull impact sound rang out, enough to make one’s teeth ache.
Wu Yan was sent flying like a broken butterfly, taking Yu Qingyao with her as they smashed heavily into a distant pile of jagged rocks.
The sound of ribs breaking was clearly audible.
Dust billowed, burying that plain white figure.
“Senior Sister!!!”
Yu Qingyao let out a heart-wrenching cry.
Even while being sent flying, Wu Yan had not forgotten to turn Yu Qingyao from behind her to her front, making herself bear the brunt of the impact.
Under Wu Yan’s protection, Yu Qingyao had only suffered a shock.
Meanwhile, Wu Yan lay in a pool of blood, her face as pale as paper. Blood constantly welled up from the corner of her mouth, and her left arm hung limply.
But even so, she still protected Yu Qingyao with everything she had. Although her eyes were losing focus, they still carried a hint of reassurance.
Bai Zhiqiu on the side fared no better. After Wu Yan and Yu Qingyao were blasted away, the Demonic Ape’s attacks concentrated on her. Even though she revealed all her trump cards, she was ultimately no match for the Demonic Ape before her and lost consciousness completely.
Everything seemed to have fallen into a desperate dead end.