Yu Ci turned his head and saw the edge of the slope. A gigantic ape head rose, followed by an enormous body as large as an elephant. The ground shook again as the two-zhang-tall giant ape leapt onto the slope. It crouched, its furry arms supporting it on the ground, and its eyes, as large as copper bells, gleamed with a fierce light.
Ye Tu exclaimed in shock, but Yu Ci breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen this kind of giant ape a few times in the Divine Map, and he reassured, “Don’t worry, it looks strong, but it’s just all brute strength…”
Just as he said this, he abruptly stopped, his words cut off.
A green-gray claw suddenly pressed down on the giant ape’s head. The claw was covered in fine, long fur and had razor-sharp talons.
The talons were truly the size of knives. Despite the giant ape’s large head, the five long talons easily grasped it, and with a squeeze, the head shattered. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere. Then, with a casual twist, the claw made the giant ape’s head vanish entirely, leaving only the gushing blood from its neck, splattering across the slope.
Ye Tu’s breath caught, while Yu Ci took a deep breath and pulled the young man behind him. Only then did he realize how unnaturally quiet it had become around the slope. The previous panic and chaos had disappeared, replaced by a deadly silence.
Clearly, the latter was more realistic.
The green-gray claw moved, like flicking away a blade of grass, sending the headless body of the giant ape tumbling down the thousand-foot cliff. Then, another equally massive claw appeared, clutching the edge of the slope.
With a crashing sound, it seemed half of the slope was smashed away, with large chunks of soil and rock tumbling down. Yet, the two claws remained firmly gripped. Slowly, a massive head emerged. Compared to this, the giant ape’s head was insignificant.
Absurdly, at that moment, Yu Ci thought of an unrelated person—the “kindred spirit” he had met months ago in a dilapidated temple a thousand miles away. Just as Ye Tu had said, some memories were buried deep in the subconscious, only surfacing under real-world stimuli:
“When the old Taoist killed it back then, the head alone was the size of a millstone, and the body was as large as this temple…”
The fraudster named Xuanqing likely never imagined that his casual lies would become a reality before Yu Ci’s eyes. From what he could see, the fierce beast’s head was indeed the size of a millstone. Even if its body, not fully visible yet, wasn’t as large as a house, it wouldn’t be far off.
Yu Ci first noticed the beast had three thick, short horns in the center of its forehead. Though “thick and short” was relative, each horn was half a foot long, arranged in a triangle. They didn’t appear sharp, but their pale blue color was very eerie.
The beast’s face resembled both a fox and a wolf. It wasn’t ugly, but the sheer size of its face gave off an overwhelming sense of oppression. Its eyes were like burning coals, fiery red but exuding a coldness when looked into directly.
Besides this, Yu Ci sensed an indescribable frenzy in the beast’s eyes.
Whether it was fortunate or not, the colossal beast, still not fully emerged, didn’t care about the two tiny figures on the slope. It merely pulled its massive body up, occupying a large part of the slope. At close range, the beast’s body truly seemed as massive as a mountain.
Its body was similar to that of a tiger or leopard—long and sleek, with its four limbs on the ground. Yet, it stood seven or eight feet taller than a giant ape standing upright, and it had a long, furry tail that was about ten feet in length. What caught the eye was that this beast’s bluish-gray fur seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist, almost like burning smoke, swirling around it and lingering for a long time. Even without considering its size, this feature alone made people instinctively distinguish it from ordinary ferocious beasts.
The strong winds of the canyon carried the beast’s scent, and upon close proximity, he felt that among the strong, pungent odor, there was something else. More importantly, the scent felt strangely familiar.
It wasn’t long before Yu Ci suddenly awoke: “Demon beast!”
The moment he spoke, past memories came rushing back. This huge creature before him was the very demon beast that the poison snake monk and others had been plotting against. A few days ago, Yu Ci had detected its lingering scent in a distant pine forest, and it remained vivid in his memory.
Yu Ci was somewhat frustrated; he had been careless. Though the mixed scents of various fierce birds and beasts in the Sky Rift Valley had interfered with his sense of smell, and he had been engrossed in the cultivation knowledge taught by Ye Tu, being caught off guard by such a dangerous scent was an inexcusable mistake.
But it was too late for regrets now, so Yu Ci decisively suppressed all useless thoughts. He protected Ye Tu and began to retreat in small steps, preparing to seize an opportunity to jump off the cliff with Ye Tu, using the falling speed to escape the demon beast’s line of sight, and then rely on Ye Tu’s floating robe to escape.
The plan was sound, but at that moment, the demon beast finally moved. As for how it moved, Yu Ci couldn’t see clearly.
He only felt the layer of fiery smoke around the demon beast blur suddenly, and a sharp pain struck his eyelids. His reaction was quick; at the first sign of danger, he fell straight down and pulled Ye Tu with him.
However, his arms grasped only emptiness!
The young man’s agonized groan was followed by a crisp sound of a bone breaking. Yu Ci’s scalp tingled as he involuntarily recalled the tragic state of that unlucky fellow named “Hu Ke,” who had been nearly smashed to pieces. He sprang up from the ground, disoriented, and collided with a wall—he had crashed into the Demon Beast.
Unbeknownst to him, the demon beast had already pounced on him. Its muscles were as hard as steel, and even though covered in long fur, the impact was still brutal. This beast was truly anomalous; its giant body moved like a flash, silently, shattering Yu Ci’s understanding developed over twenty years.
Now he understood why those herbalists had said that the demon beast seemed to be riding on clouds. With its speed and the surrounding smoke, Yu Ci thought it was apt.
Feeling perhaps an itch, the beast let out a “woof” and lashed its long tail, about ten feet long, as if swatting away a bothersome fly. Yu Ci didn’t even have time to dodge, barely able to raise his Nine Yang Talisman Sword before being struck by the tail.
In the next moment, he seemed to be flying through the clouds, crashing into the cliff at the end of the slope, then rebounding and hitting the ground, struggling to hold himself up. His internal organs felt like they had been turned upside down twice; he wanted to vomit but couldn’t, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Fortunately, the Nine Yang Talisman Sword didn’t slip from his hand. The sword, when gripped, felt incredibly sensitive, helping to absorb some of the impact. Even so, his tiger’s mouth was already cracked, blood streaming.
He cursed softly, gritted his teeth, and with the momentum, swung his sword at the Demon Beast’s front limb joint. However, despite the fiery line slicing through the air, it didn’t even scorch the beast’s fur.
“What kind of monster is this!”
Yu Ci couldn’t help but wonder. In that pine forest, Hu Ke had set up such a powerful trap that turned an area of about an acre into scorched earth, yet it hadn’t harmed the demon beast. This indicated that the creature before him was far beyond their level; it must be a monster that only the legendary Nether Realm could give rise to!
Just how stupid was the Snake-like Monk and his companions to actively provoke such a creature?
Although he thought this way, before deeper negative emotions could stir, Yu Ci had already jumped up. During the brief moment of being airborne, the demon beast’s agile and resilient long tail struck again. This time, Yu Ci calculated the angle correctly and used a more skillful method to dissipate the force, unlike last time when he almost vomited his organs. Moreover, he used the momentum to crash into the demon beast’s back.
The demon beast’s back was quite broad, spacious enough for seven or eight people to sit comfortably. However, when someone landed on its back, the beast’s mood was clearly displeased. Earlier, Yu Ci had already groaned in pain.
When this monster’s long fur hardened, it was as tough as steel needles. Worse still, the mist-like flames around it were terrifyingly hot, nearly roasting him in the instant of impact. Strangely, none of his clothes were damaged.
Yu Ci dared not stay for long. He jumped again and flipped to the demon beast’s head. The beast did not strike with its tail again but simply shook its body as if shaking off lice. But even this movement caused the surrounding flames to churn like waves, and the heat made Yu Ci’s hair curl.
At this moment, Yu Ci had already flipped over the demon beast’s head. Ignoring the burning pain in his organs, he glanced down and saw that Ye Tu was indeed pinned to the ground by the beast’s giant claws, in an unknown state of life or death. Yu Ci pressed his lips together, dismissing all useless thoughts in an instant, and once again drew his sword.
The crimson sword light swept horizontally, targeting the demon beast’s eyes.
Yu Ci was confident in his precision, but this time, the sword strike missed. The sword light clearly passed over the target, yet his hand felt nothing but the gradually fading image that mocked him.
He maintained his expression, instantly shifting his approach. Using only his sense of smell, he located the strongest odor of the demon beast. Without using any muscle strength, his true Qi surged within his body, resonating with the shining true spirit in his mind, achieving the state of Divine Connectivity as Ye Tu described.
The Nine Yang Talisman Sword’s sword light flickered, cutting through the air, followed by a “clang” sound, as if the sword light had struck something hard.
“That’s… its teeth!” By now, Yu Ci had exhausted his flying force and his body inevitably began to fall. However, his eyes remained fixed on the blurry image ahead.
The state of Divine Connectivity still existed, and the hidden primordial spirit became active in this state. Yu Ci suddenly felt that everything outside him had changed. His consciousness and spirit became extensions of his primordial spirit, flying through the boundless void, creating an extremely limited but clear space.
At this moment, Yu Ci saw that the demon beast’s coal-like burning pupils were hidden behind the thin fire smoke, making it hard to discern any emotion. It was merely raising its front limbs, intending to swat away the “bug” in front of it.
To the demon beast, the “flying” Yu Ci was nothing more than a mere bug.
Soon, the only clear space was also enveloped by the fire smoke, becoming hazy. The demon beast’s ability could even block the probing of consciousness. Now, Yu Ci could only rely on that fleeting memory and his still capable body.
Using the strength from his abdomen, he arched his body and shifted his angle. As soon as he completed this movement, the giant claw swung towards him. But Yu Ci skillfully maneuvered, allowing the immense force to graze past him. The sweeping power instead became the source of his momentum, propelling him toward the demon beast’s massive face.
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