The Moonlit Battle of the Giant Apes

Although the light around its mouth was faint, it was still visible. Xiao Chen was truly astonished. He couldn't help but recall the legends of the mortal world, tales of demons and spirits cultivating by inhaling the essence of the sun and moon and refining it into their own power.

Among the dozen giant apes, the four-armed blood-red ape was the most extraordinary. The moonlight it inhaled and exhaled coalesced into a ball of light that flickered in and out of visibility. Moreover, a faint radiance shimmered across all its blood-colored fur, a clear sign that it had opened its spiritual wisdom and was building up its power.

Over the next two days, the troop of giant apes came every evening to beg for food. They could never eat their fill—their appetites were far too vast—but they relished the taste.

“Oooh—roar!” A tiger’s howl rang out from the distant forest, then abruptly cut off. Before long, a dozen agile beast-shapes came bounding over. The four-armed blood-red ape was carrying a saber-toothed tiger over three meters long in its hands; it leaped to Xiao Chen’s side and dropped the carcass.

Xiao Chen’s heart tightened. This strange ape’s combat power was truly formidable. The saber-toothed tiger had been killed with a single blow—its entire skull was crushed. One could imagine how terrifying the four-armed ape’s strength was.

After the giant apes left, Xiao Chen resumed circulating his Qi-Refining Diagram to heal his injuries. Time was life; he had to hurry and recover his vitality.

Strangely, the little unicorn holy beast had not been seen for two days, as if it had vanished. Xiao Chen worried about it, deeply afraid it had met with an accident—this island was far too mysterious and dangerous.

It was not until the little celestial horse reappeared the following day that his anxiety eased. The foal was still timid and curious; at the slightest disturbance it would bolt. Apart from coming to share the world’s primal energy during cultivation, it always liked to secretly observe Xiao Chen, like a curious child.

Three days passed, and Xiao Chen’s body recovered smoothly. But on this night, he encountered danger—Zhao Lin’er had finally appeared! The Royal Celestial Maiden had broken through the blockade of the ancient tyrant dragon and tracked down Xiao Chen’s whereabouts. This time, she did not intend to fail again; she was determined to eliminate this great threat in one battle.

She came walking gracefully, her steps light and ethereal. Under the watery moonlight, in this primeval forest, she was utterly peerless in beauty! The entire forest seemed to brighten around her. Combined with the terrifying beast roars in the distance, it made her appear otherworldly and pure, like a celestial maiden descending upon a savage island.

But no matter how stunning her face—beautiful enough to make the moon hide and flowers blush—Xiao Chen had no heart to admire it. To him, she was a goddess of death!

Xiao Chen did not flee directly. Instead, he calmly retreated to the giant apes’ territory.

The dozen giant apes were absorbing moonlight essence. When they saw Xiao Chen enter their domain, they made no threatening moves. Several days of eating his food had made them acknowledge him as a neighbor.

Zhao Lin’er, holding her divine sword, pursued him with calm determination. But when she reached the rocky forest, she froze. A dozen giant apes stood among the boulders like a row of massive stone tablets, casting long shadows in the moonlight.

At the same time, streaks of light entered and exited their mouths—the apes were venerating the moon, drawing in its essence. Clearly, they were all spiritually awakened anomalous beasts.

Zhao Lin’er hesitated. She knew these strange beasts were dangerous, but she had just found Xiao Chen and could not let the chance to kill him slip away. The longer it took, the worse it would be for her; she could not allow him to continue recuperating.

She stepped into the stone forest with the Flickering Light Shadow-Chasing Illusory Step and unleashed the Rainbow Sword Art. A haze of seven-colored light burst across the night sky.

“Roar!”

The blood-red ape in the center let out a fierce cry. Faint moonlight aura coiled around its body, making it appear both mystical and terrible! Its towering form met her like the wind, and its clawed arm, nearly two meters long, struck the seven-colored radiance with a metallic clang. Sparks flew from the longsword.

The Royal Celestial Maiden was shocked. This four-armed strange ape possessed immense strength and was actually impervious to blades!

After that single exchange, Zhao Lin’er knew how terrifying the ape was. Without hesitation, she turned to flee. But demonic shadows shifted—the dozen massive black shadows surrounded her, swift as phantoms, blocking her escape.

“Roar…” The apes’ cries continued without end, their demonic silhouettes flickering in the moonlit night.

Xiao Chen watched from a distance, silent. He had expected the apes to be spiritually awakened, but he had not imagined they would be so “righteous” as to trap Zhao Lin’er like this.

The Royal Celestial Maiden’s face changed color. She knew she had to break out immediately. She pushed her cultivation to its limit, her body seeming to transform into a streak of seven-colored light as she darted through the stone forest.

“Pfft!”

A spray of blood burst into the air. A dazzling seven-colored beam pierced through the chest of a giant ape. The Rainbow Sword Art Zhao Lin’er cultivated was a famed heavenly scripture of immense power. The rainbow light instantly tore through the ape’s body, killing it on the spot.

Zhao Lin’er regained some confidence. Aside from the four-armed strange ape, the other apes only had claws as hard as iron—their bodies had not yet reached a blade-immune state.

“Roar!”

The four-armed blood-red ape let out a mournful howl. It charged to the front, attacking Zhao Lin’er with maddened fury. Streaks of seven-colored light struck its body but could not injure its bones, only producing ringing clangs. Its blood-colored fur shimmered with strange radiance in the moonlight. Clearly, the chieftain ape was enraged. Its eyes glowed with cold, murderous light, filled with endless hatred, vowing to tear Zhao Lin’er apart.

Zhao Lin’er’s cultivation might have been enough to match this spiritually awakened strange beast in single combat, but with over a dozen giant apes surrounding her, she was in constant danger. And just then, Xiao Chen charged forward as well. At this point, there were no more words to be said—only fists mattered!

“Sss—” A section of Zhao Lin’er’s sleeve was torn to shreds by an ape, revealing a stretch of porcelain-white arm. At the same time, the enraged blood-red ape grabbed her longsword with its giant, demonic claw and snapped it with brute force!

By then Xiao Chen had already struck. He had always believed the strongest weapon was the body itself. Discarding his iron sword, he traced a series of profound, mysterious trajectories with his hands, conjuring a radiant light screen that cascaded down toward Zhao Lin’er.