Seeing his weapon destroyed in an instant, Zhou Tai immediately roared and simply hurled the barrier in his hand.
Then, like a cannonball, he relied on his formidable explosive power to rampage straight toward Yu Xian.
Truth be told, his brute-force approach dramatically increased the pressure on Yu Xian.
At this moment, the giant ape was a pure stat monster—its strength, speed, and explosive force were all off the charts. If Yu Xian hadn't enhanced his reaction speed with Silver Blood, he likely would have been smashed to paste within a second.
The giant ape's body radiated intense heat, resembling a scorching fireball as it drew near. Without his armor's protection, the blistering heat alone would have scalded Yu Xian severely without even direct contact.
*Whoosh!*
Yu Xian shot two silver threads from his hands to snag a chair behind him, pulling backward while manifesting a bubble beneath his toes to provide bounce. Pressing his toes down, he shot rapidly backward.
A massive fist grazed right past his face. Even through his mask, he could clearly feel that terrifying heat wave.
*Boom!*
The fist slammed into the floor, carving out a giant crater.
Yu Xian flipped backward in midair and landed atop the backrest of a chair. Before he could catch his breath, the giant ape leveraged the momentum of that strike to lunge forward once more, sweeping its other arm horizontally toward Yu Xian.
This straightforward, bull-rushing offensive was the ultimate test of a fighter's comprehensive abilities. Yu Xian's nerves were taut; he dared not relax for even a fraction of a second.
He kept his gaze glued to Zhou Tai's trajectory. As Zhou Tai swung the giant ape's arm smashing toward him, he quickly used the bounce of a Blood Energy bubble to evade.
Having missed, the ape instantly grabbed a chair with its other hand and hurled it. Suspended in midair, Yu Xian used his silver threads to jerk himself into maneuvers he could never perform under normal circumstances, thrillingly dodging the flying chair.
"So you're just a little fly after all!"
After a barrage of attacks, Zhou Tai finally caught on.
He realized Yu Xian wasn't strong at all—his appearance was merely a facade designed to fool people, making him seem mysterious and unfathomable.
Now that he knew the truth, Zhou Tai went all out.
Driving the ape's body up from the ground, he tensed his muscles and charged like a mountain crashing toward Yu Xian, who had just landed. If a single blow connected, Yu Xian would undoubtedly be pulverized.
Yu Xian retreated repeatedly, leaping from the stands down to the arena floor, and then back up from the arena to the stands, shifting and dodging continuously.
Suddenly, both of them stopped in unison and looked up at the ceiling.
Something was falling!
*Boom!*
A thunderous blast echoed.
The floor shattered violently.
A five-meter-tall bull-headed giant plummeted from the sky. After smashing straight through the ceiling like a demon god descending upon the mortal world, he landed heavily in the arena.
"Interesting. To think you could awaken to this extent."
The bull-headed giant glanced at the white ape, his voice rough and domineering.
In an instant, Zhou Tai felt an urge to retreat. Compared to Yu Xian's bluff, this bull-headed giant was genuinely terrifying.
Yet before he could make a move, the bull-headed giant swept his gaze across the arena, his tone hardening with rage: "Still... you deserve to die!"
*Boom!*
A terrifying shroud of black demonic flames flared from the bull-headed giant. Before Zhou Tai could even track his movement, his head was sheared off by the giant's battleaxe.
Zhou Tai's eyes widened in disbelief that he had met such a swift, helpless defeat.
After severing the white ape's head, the bull-headed giant's axe slammed heavily into the floor. The entire arena shook violently as dense cracks spiderwebbed outward from the blade.
*Hiss!*
Yu Xian sucked in a cold breath at the sight.
The tides had turned too fast—one moment he was being chased for his life, and the next, the giant ape was dead.
This guy was ridiculously strong.
As expected of the Mighty Bull King, the number one expert of Silver City!
This man was practically a household name in Silver City. His real name was Tang Dali, a possessor of the Bull Demon King bloodline, and the strongest Transcendent in the city.
He held stakes in many businesses across the city, though he only invested and never took part in management. Clearly, he held shares in this arena as well.
After slaying the white ape, Tang Dali immediately reined in his aura.
"Thank you, little brother, for holding off this monkey."
"Otherwise, I probably would have lost a fortune this time. Thank you, thank you, truly."
"Give me face sometime and let's grab a meal together. We ought to get to know each other better."
Tang Dali strode briskly up to Yu Xian with a broad smile. Completely devoid of any airs of a powerhouse, he grabbed Yu Xian's hand and bowed repeatedly.
"No need for thanks, I was merely doing my duty. Just don't blame me when I handle things by the book in a moment."
Unable to pull his right hand free from Tang Dali's grip, Yu Xian had to use his left hand to produce his badge. Seeing the credentials, Tang Dali sheepishly let go. Yu Xian then pulled out his phone to call the combat police to seal off the scene.
After completing the necessary protocol, he put away his phone and immediately gathered Blood Energy, condensing a crimson longsword in his hand.
He walked slowly toward the ape's severed head. Although he was certain there was a brain-hugging neural worm inside, he had to dissect it and obtain concrete proof before reporting to headquarters.
Seeing this, Tang Dali did not disturb Yu Xian. Instead, he hurried over to Zhang Shou, who was treating the wounded, and showered him with another round of thanks.
Just as Yu Xian raised his blade to cut open the ape's brain, the giant ape's eyes snapped open. Its glare was brimming with venomous hatred toward Yu Xian. If its throat hadn't been sliced through, it probably would have spat a few final words.
Yu Xian ignored the glaring stare. Thrusting the blade into the ape's glabella, he began sawing open the cranium bit by bit.
In truth, the giant ape's skull was extraordinarily hard, and it took Yu Xian considerable effort to pry it open.
When he laid eyes on the ape's brain, his eyes widened in surprise. Unlike an ordinary brain, the patterns on the ape's cerebral cortex formed ancient characters.
"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe...?"
Yu Xian snapped a photo of the characters on the brain, silently guessing in his mind.
Then, he stabbed his blade into the ape's brain. The moment he slit through the outer membrane, neural fibers shot out violently. Prepared beforehand, Yu Xian instantly restrained the neural strands with silver threads.
"It really is a brain-hugging neural worm."
Taking photos with his phone, he sent them to Jin Sheng along with an accurate account of everything that had happened in the arena. In less than ten seconds, Jin Sheng replied: "Preserve the corpse and await backup!"
"Understood," Yu Xian replied, looking at his screen.
In less than a minute, combat police vehicles arrived on the scene.
From Zhou Tai's initial outburst to being cut down by Tang Dali, the entire ordeal had lasted only about three minutes; everything had unfolded in the blink of an eye.
Yu Xian's initial standoff with Zhou Tai had bought only a dozen-odd seconds, after which he had spent the rest of the time running and dodging. If Tang Dali hadn't arrived when he did, Yu Xian would have had to find a way to flee after another few minutes.
The combat police hadn't been dispatched by Yu Xian's call; they had already been rushing over after fleeing spectators dialed the emergency line.
Meeting the squad leader, Yu Xian displayed his credentials and instructed him to seal off the entire arena, barring anyone from entering or leaving.
With Zhang Shou present, anyone who could be saved would certainly be saved; those beyond help had no need for emergency care anyway.
As such, when ambulances arrived, the combat police politely asked them to wait to the side.
Finally, about half an hour later, a streak of golden light flew in from the sky, descending right through the massive hole Tang Dali had smashed in the ceiling.
"Greetings. I'm a member of Qilin's Support Division, code name Ether. Here are my credentials."
The golden light touched down and dispersed, revealing a young man whose expression carried a hint of cynical nonchalance.
He walked up to Yu Xian, introduced himself, and produced his badge.
Yu Xian scanned the badge with the Qilin app on his phone. Once its authenticity was verified, he nodded. "Hello. I am a member of the Evil-Slaying Squad, code name Salty Fish. The giant ape's corpse and the brain-hugging neural worm are officially transferred to your custody. Please ensure they are safely delivered to headquarters."
"Don't worry, nothing will go wrong!" Ether chuckled, patting his chest.
Turning to the ape's massive body, he gave his sleeve a sweep, and the enormous corpse vanished instantly. Next, he produced a box, deposited the brain-hugging neural worm inside, and tucked the box away into his sleeve as well.
"Universe in the Sleeve?" Yu Xian asked curiously, watching Ether's movements.
Ether looked slightly embarrassed. "Universe in the Sleeve is a divine transcendent art. I just sewed a few storage pouches into my sleeve."
As he spoke, he raised his sleeve, showing several storage pouches stitched inside the lining.
"All right, I have to report back. See you!"
Feeling somewhat sheepish, Ether quickly bid farewell. Shrouded in golden light, he soared straight into the sky and swiftly vanished beyond the hole in the ceiling.
Chapter 31