“Roar roar roar—!”
Huh?
Just as he was racking his brain for a way out, the Mighty Divine Ape outside suddenly let out a strange cry.
Ling Xiao didn’t think much of it and immediately headed for the exit.
The only reason he couldn’t leave was that the Mighty Divine Ape was blocking his path.
If something was up with the ape, he might have a chance to escape.
When he reached the exit, Ling Xiao was stunned to see the Mighty Divine Ape facing off against someone!
Yes, a person!
A woman in a blue dress, her face hidden by a blue veil, making it impossible to see her features.
She just stood there.
In midair.
The air beneath her feet seemed as solid as the ground.
The Mighty Divine Ape’s fur bristled, its attention fully diverted from the dragon-shaped building.
It had no time to bother with Ling Xiao anymore.
Though her face was obscured, Ling Xiao could tell she was no older than thirty. Her hands were as white as jade, like they’d been carved from the finest natural stone.
“Beast, leave now. I don’t want to kill you!”
Her lips parted slightly, her voice like music from the heavens—not just pleasant, but carrying a strange charm that made one feel at ease.
“Roar roar roar!”
The Mighty Divine Ape’s dignity seemed challenged.
A puny human dared to warn it like this?
Unacceptable.
But it hesitated to attack, sensing a terrifying aura from this tiny human.
“Sigh, why make this harder? It wasn’t easy for you to grow this big.”
The woman sighed softly, genuinely reluctant to fight the ape.
Ling Xiao was dumbfounded.
What kind of confidence was this? That was a Mighty Divine Ape!
A peak eighth-level demonic beast!
And she was talking to it like it was a pet for show.
“Rawr—!”
The ape lost it.
No human had ever dared disrespect it like this.
The last human had fled into the dragon-shaped building and hid, too scared to come out. This one would do as a target for its rage.
It roared and charged.
In an instant, it was right in front of her.
“Watch out!”
Ling Xiao, still kind at heart, couldn’t help shouting a warning.
Of course, it was just a heads-up—he knew his limits and couldn’t save her.
All he could do was alert her.
It looked like the blue-clad woman was about to be smashed into pulp by the ape’s fist.
Then she moved.
Just her jade-like hand.
It traced a graceful arc through the air, and with a light point of her finger, the Mighty Divine Ape let out a wretched scream. A strange cyan light shot out from the back of its head.
That single point had pierced straight through its skull.
That was a Mighty Divine Ape!
A peak eighth-level demonic beast!
And it just died!
It crashed to the ground, lifeless.
This!
Ling Xiao was floored!
What was up with this woman?
How could she be so strong?
A peak ninth-level martial vein master?
“Thanks for the warning!”
She glanced at Ling Xiao and smiled, “As thanks, the ape’s corpse is yours. See you!”
Ling Xiao stood there, dazed, not responding.
The woman was long gone, and he still hadn’t snapped out of it.
It wasn’t her beauty that gripped him. Right now, on his Mountain and River Diagram, a scene was replaying over and over.
The moment the blue-clad woman’s finger killed the ape.
Though it looked simple, the Diagram’s slow-motion revealed countless subtle movements in her hand as she struck.
After a long while, he snapped his eyes open.
He’d considered having his martial soul clone practice that finger’s power, but decided against it. The clan finals might’ve started by now, but he hadn’t delayed too long—there was still a chance.
He tossed the ape’s corpse into the Mountain and River World, then used *Soaring Cloud Steps: Dragon Transformation* to leap into the air, speeding toward the Ling Clan.
His speed was nearly double what it’d been on the way here.
In flight, the dragon shadow around him had turned a faint gold, looking incredibly cool.
As for the blue-clad woman’s identity, he didn’t bother guessing.
Though he was just a beggar from Tianfeng City, beggars had their perks—he’d heard plenty of tales.
The Northern Han Kingdom was vast. Beyond Tianfeng City, there were countless experts and families far stronger than the Ling Clan.
And the Northern Han Kingdom was just a weaker nation in this world.
The world was huge, and he wanted to explore it—but not now. For now, he’d root himself in the Ling Clan, pushing his strength to its limit before venturing out.
Ling Xiao hadn’t noticed his power had grown since arriving.
That Mighty Divine Ape weighed at least 3,000 jin, yet he’d lifted it and tossed it into the Mountain and River World.
That meant his strength was at least 3,000 jin.
For a typical martial artist at the peak of the fifth martial vein, strength hovered around 1,500 to 1,600 jin.
But with *Nine-Turn Golden Body Art* breaking through to the sixth turn, his base strength was 1,000 jin higher than average.
Add the boost from six golden cells.
His strength had surpassed 3,000 jin.
Twice that of a normal martial artist.
At the same level, he could overpower anyone with raw strength alone, no qi needed.
On his way to the dragon-shaped building, the ape’s pursuit had kept other beasts at bay.
But heading back was different—he ran into plenty.
To save time, he dodged when he could.
But one flying beast was faster than him, unavoidable.
“Courting death? I’ll oblige!”
Ling Xiao snorted, charging head-on in mid-flight.
No qi, just pure strength and a golden body strike.
The collision shattered the beast into pieces.
A fifth-level beast.
Low-tier, sure, but equivalent to a mid-to-late fifth martial vein martial artist.
With a body tougher than most.
Yet it couldn’t withstand his brutal impact.
That crash must’ve spooked the others—the rest of the trip was calm.
In less than half an hour, he reached the Ling Clan.
No time to change, he used a realm template to mask his strength at peak fourth martial vein.
Too much would raise eyebrows—people thought he was peak third before.
Jumping to fourth was already wild. If they knew he was really late fifth, nearing peak, it’d be chaos. He needed to hone his combat skills now, keeping his strength here for real practice.
Crushing foes with raw power wouldn’t sharpen him.
