Awoo—!
A terrifying howl sent all three peak Level 5 demon beasts sprawling to the ground, trembling uncontrollably, their eyes filled with terror.
Ling Xiao witnessed the most horrifying sight since his birth.
It was a colossal ape.
Standing fifteen or sixteen meters tall, its roar was like thunder.
The towering trees beside it looked like mere weeds.
Boom!
Boom!
Each step it took shook the earth, truly like an earthquake.
“What in the world is this thing!”
Ling Xiao frantically circulated his astral qi, trying to steady his mind, but that terrifying roar still rattled his blood and qi, making his whole body ache.
In that instant, he felt as if his soul were about to detach from his body and drift away.
Thankfully, the Mountain River Martial Soul kicked into overdrive, mitigating the effect.
Even so, his face remained deathly pale, as if he’d suffered a grave injury.
It felt just as unbearable as right after his “soul entry” had ended.
Slap!
Like swatting a fly, the giant ape casually snatched a peak Level 5 demon beast midair, slammed it down with one hand, and stuffed it into its mouth to chew.
Ling Xiao’s skin erupted in goosebumps.
This was beyond terrifying.
A peak Level 5 demon beast, helpless before this creature!
Like a pitiful fly, swatted dead and eaten raw.
Crunch!
Crunch!
Wherever the giant ape passed, every tree met its doom, shattered by its monstrous brute force and crashing to the ground.
“Awoo! Awoo!”
The ape seemed exhilarated, eyeing this direction with a playful, predatory glint.
Ling Xiao shuddered.
Even with his iron will, facing such a monster drained him of any courage to resist.
Still, he was faring much better than the peak Level 5 demon beasts lying motionless on the ground.
“Vigorous Divine Ape, peak Level 8 demon beast, stronger than most ninth-tier Martial Vein martial artists, with brute strength capable of easily leveling a mountain!”
As his eyes locked onto the giant ape, this information flashed automatically in his mind.
What rotten luck!
What else could he say? This was still just the outer edge of the Fulong Mountain Range, and he’d already encountered such a horrifying beast.
A peak Level 8 demon beast!
This thing was more terrifying than most early ninth-tier Martial Vein martial artists.
And Ling Xiao, a mere peak fourth-tier Martial Vein martial artist, struggled against peak Level 5 demon beasts, against a peak Level 8, it was a death sentence, no question.
Run!
Ling Xiao didn’t hesitate, at this moment, he had only one option, escape!
If he could get away, he’d live!
If he couldn’t, he’d die!
Boom!
But as he bolted toward the outer edge of the Fulong Mountain Range, a massive tree was suddenly hurled his way, lodging itself right in front of him.
“Not letting me leave?”
Ling Xiao nearly despaired, what was this Vigorous Divine Ape up to, planning to savor its food one by one?
If he couldn’t get out, then into the forest it was!
At this point, Ling Xiao couldn’t afford to care about much else, he knew the deeper parts of the Fulong Mountain Range were even more dangerous, potentially harboring beasts as terrifying as this ape.
But he had no choice.
Staying here was death!
He had to run!
Since he couldn’t escape outward, he’d go the opposite way, there might still be a slim chance of survival.
Cackle cackle cackle!
This time, the Vigorous Divine Ape didn’t stop him, instead it grinned wide, letting out a strange, eerie laugh.
Yes, it was laughing, mocking!
Ling Xiao didn’t care if it was mocking or roaring with glee, his only thought was to flee!
After glancing at him, the Vigorous Divine Ape casually grabbed another peak Level 5 demon beast from the ground, stuffed it into its mouth, and began chewing heartily.
Eating while watching Ling Xiao dash madly through the jungle with evident amusement.
“This little human’s not bad, still running under my aura’s pressure, let’s play with him first, eat him when I’m bored.”
The ape’s eyes clearly conveyed this intent.
Ling Xiao owed his survival to awakening the Mountain River Martial Soul, otherwise, he’d be like those peak Level 5 demon beasts on the ground, stripped of any will to flee.
Even as the Vigorous Divine Ape popped them into its mouth, they didn’t dare twitch.
The peak Level 8 demon beast’s terrifying presence exerted immense pressure on the soul, a horror impossible to grasp without experiencing it firsthand.
Crunch!
The sound of a peak Level 5 demon beast’s bones snapping echoed through the forest, loud and clear, Ling Xiao was sure the ape did it on purpose.
Only one peak Level 5 demon beast remained by the ape’s side, Ling Xiao knew once it finished that one, he’d be next.
He pushed “Soaring Cloud Steps: Dragon Transformation” to its absolute limit, no longer holding anything back.
Hiding his strength now would be suicide.
Yet no matter how fast he ran, he could feel the Vigorous Divine Ape’s aura locking onto him, turning or dodging did nothing to shake it.
To escape.
Ling Xiao even pulled out an astral qi pill he’d taken from those black-scarf bandits and popped it into his mouth.
He was going all out.
Astral qi depleted fast, and while the pill aided breakthroughs, it also massively replenished qi.
This way, he could sprint at full throttle without worrying too much about running dry.
If the Ling family saw his speed now, they’d think he was a monster.
Even a peak fifth-tier Martial Vein martial artist, unless they specialised in speed techniques, couldn’t match this pace.
But Ling Xiao didn’t relax one bit.
Too slow!
Still too slow!
Maybe to others, this was an absurdly superhuman speed, but to the Vigorous Divine Ape, it was probably laughable.
Tiers four, five, and six were the astral qi stage.
Tiers seven, eight, and nine were the explosive qi stage.
The Vigorous Divine Ape, a peak Level 8 demon beast, outclassed Ling Xiao, a peak fourth-tier Martial Vein martial artist, in both qi quality and quantity by leaps and bounds.
They weren’t even in the same league.
Just look at the ape’s playful smirk, it let Ling Xiao run because it wasn’t afraid of losing him.
Crunch!
The last peak Level 5 demon beast was tossed into the ape’s mouth and devoured.
Then the creature let out a satisfied burp and began leisurely chasing after Ling Xiao.
Passing a small river, it even stopped to slurp a few gulps of water.
Ling Xiao didn’t look back, but his vision was omnidirectional now, so he knew exactly what the ape was doing without turning.
He felt like a frail woman fleeing for her life.
And that Vigorous Divine Ape was like a lecherous master martial artist.
The playful glint in its eyes was pure mockery, toying with him.
Ling Xiao wasn’t angry.
It was humiliating, yes, but it also gave him a sliver of a chance to escape.
If the ape had attacked outright, he’d have no shot at survival, he’d be dead for sure.
“Those who underestimate me will regret it! Even you, you smug beast!”
Ling Xiao steadied himself.
He saw the ape wouldn’t chase him full-out anytime soon, so there was no need to panic too much yet.
