The stone python had originally been meant to bind Zhu Erniang like this, but now the ghost ape took the brunt of it.
With both its primary arms pinned, the ghost ape actually twisted two massive hands around from behind its back, its joints popping as they reversed. When the stone python lunged to bite at its head and face, the ape seized the opening, grabbed the serpent's upper and lower jaws, and ripped them outward with ferocious strength!
A python could unhinge its jaws to two hundred degrees, but it could never endure such brutal violence. Unable to hold together, its lower jaw was torn clean off.
The giant ape thrust a hand deep down its throat and rummaged around. Its bronze gauntlet morphed into razor-sharp talons, suddenly seizing an object and yanking it free.
It was that pale green Heart of the Mountain!
Deprived of its core, the giant serpent could no longer maintain its form and instantly collapsed into a pile of loose rubble. The giant ape wiped the Heart of the Mountain against itself a few times and stashed it away who knew where.
Against a foe that possessed both agility and monstrous strength, the stone python was hopelessly outmatched. After Dong Rui retrieved this monkey from Mount Rong, he had thoroughly conditioned and upgraded it.
A portion of the precious medicinal herbs and resources He Lingchuan procured for him had gone right into the ghost ape's belly; only because of this could it hold its ground tonight.
In that brief moment of delay, the spells of two Beijia operatives came crashing in, battering toward the giant ape's eyes with several loud bangs.
Though protected by its helmet, the ape was still pummeled black and blue, infuriating it to no end.
Now that the stone python had shattered, the ghost ape produced a massive staff of refined gold from who knew where, immediately delivering two hammering strikes.
They were swift, violent, and dead accurate.
The staff was two zhang long, nearly twice the ghost ape's height. Dark golden patterns coursed along its entire length, and it lacked any unnecessary weapon heads—nor did it need them. Thanks to its extraordinary material, its weight reached an astonishing eight hundred and eighty-some jin. Striking someone with it would turn them into a meat patty in a single blow, without even needing a second roll.
Yet the ghost ape wielded it with utter ease, sweeping it through the air with roaring gusts of wind.
Its sudden deployment of such a lethal weapon even startled Zhu Erniang.
This was the very weapon He Lingchuan had bought on Platinum Island and given to the ghost ape. It had originally been the favored weapon of an Eastern Sea giant; how could ordinary mortals ever swing it?
Precisely for that reason, the price had been remarkably cheap.
From the moment the ghost ape received it, it had treasured the staff. Even claiming the magic artifact had taken only a single attempt without much effort, as though the patterned gold staff had been tailor-made for it.
The big monkey actually possessed considerable martial technique, relying on far more than mere muscle. After all, it inherited the bloodline of a Beijia military lineage—an innate martial pedigree.
Dong Rui hadn't realized its potential in this regard, however. It was only when the ghost ape watched Qiu Hu practicing staff techniques, itched for action, and sparred a few bouts with him that He Lingchuan took notice.
The two Beijia operatives were exceptionally nimble, dodging out of the way with an early leap. Instead, it was the spellcaster who had summoned the stone python who caught the staff's sweeping wind; he was knocked flying straight into the cliff face, coughing up a liter of blood.
While those two were still suspended in midair, the ghost ape whipped its head toward them and spat a jet of flame.
This was a new innate supernatural ability, one it hadn't possessed during its earlier duel with He Lingchuan. The fire was an eerie cyan-white and distinguished by its extreme stickiness. Once it adhered to living flesh, it would burn through skin and dissolve bone until nothing was left but a heap of ash.
This flame could pierce right through protective astral qi. Struck by the blast, both operatives fell to the ground, shrieking in agonizing torment.
Rain was falling from the sky, yet the downpour did nothing to quell the cyan fire.
Truth be told, the Beijia squad's individual strength was formidable—elite at the very least. Had they ganged up on Zhu Erniang alone, they could have left her hard-pressed and struggling to hold her ground. But once the monstrously strong giant ape entered the fray, bounding wildly and sweeping that colossal staff across the clearing, it sent them scrambling in every direction, thoroughly smashing the tactical formation they had established.
Their manpower and combination of supernatural abilities were never meant to handle such an enormous brute!
Worst of all, several Zhu Erniangs were scattered across the field, every single one actively engaged, leaving them utterly bewildered.
Which was real, and which was fake?
The hilltop was narrow and cramped, offering little room to maneuver. In the blink of an eye, yet another Beijia operative was knocked out of the fight.
Meanwhile, over on Ye Qing's side, the battle raged on as well.
Dragged by the spider silk, he looked up and spotted another "Zhu Erniang." Without hesitation, he hurled three round objects onto the ground and shouted at the top of his lungs, "We respectfully welcome True Monarch Musu's descent!"
These were three withered, yellowish plant pellets resembling baby chrysanthemums, each tied at the base with a red cord. The ground was already soaked with rain; the instant the pellets touched the water, their tightly curled petals unfurled, their dull yellow shifting to a vibrant green in a single second!
With a faint *whoosh*, the three pellets vanished, and something flickered past through the air.
Immediately after, the tension at the nape of Ye Qing's neck vanished—the spider silk had been severed in a single stroke.
The "Zhu Erniang" atop the boulder was also struck by a green blur. The scene was extraordinarily bizarre, like an entire painted backdrop being slashed open...
Ye Qing focused his eyes, and his temper flared instantly.
What "Zhu Erniang" was standing on the rock? It was two elite burrow spiders the size of horses!
Moments ago, they had been the ones shooting spider silk, forcibly dragging Ye Qing toward them.
Yet under the mirage demon's disorienting magic, everyone had perceived them as Zhu Erniang, throwing their ranks into disarray.
Slit by the green shadows, the two spider demons collapsed instantly, unable to rise.
"Nothing more than parlor tricks!" Ye Qing's confidence surged. Pointing toward the ghost ape and Zhu Erniang in the center of the clearing, he commanded, "I beseech the True Monarch to strike and capture these two major felons!"
Three green blurs darted forward, moving so swiftly that they left afterimages in the air; even if an ordinary person didn't blink, they wouldn't detect their presence at all. Only by straining her vision could Zhu Erniang lock onto these greenish things.
They were actually three plain wooden mannequins, barely half the height of a grown person, with a small tuft of green leaves atop their heads and red cords bound around their brows.
Yet the moment Zhu Erniang heard Ye Qing invoke "True Monarch Musu," she was alarmed. "Not good! Fall back!"
She leaped backward, her house-sized frame suddenly shrinking to the size of a horse, and a green streak shot past right above her an instant later.
Zhu Erniang unleashed a spray of webbing at it, but the thing swerved midair, accelerated, and dodged clean away.
The ghost ape also sensed an incoming attack. A tiny thing like that was difficult to strike with the giant staff, so it simply swung a massive palm.
*Smack!* A direct hit.
The green shadow was swatted over ten zhang away, but the ghost ape immediately cradled its palm, letting out a screeching howl of pain.
A hole had been punched clean through its palm, blood flowing without stop.
The ghost ape possessed thick, rugged hide; it could scrape bare iron thorns with its hands without suffering injury, yet now it had nearly been impaled through by some unknown creature.
Only then did Zhu Erniang's voice reach it: "Don't intercept it with your bare hands!"
*Roar?!* Why didn't you say so earlier!
"The more you are hurt, the stronger it becomes!" Zhu Erniang warned urgently. "Don't let it hit you again!"
As if proving her words, the green shadow that had damaged the ghost ape's palm suddenly expanded, shooting up until its height reached an average person's chest.
The ghost ape bared its teeth. *Easy for you to say! A thing faster than a sleeve arrow—why don't you try dodging it?*
"True Monarch Musu's true form is the Nine-Death Resurrection Grass!" Zhu Erniang explained rapidly. "It hasn't arrived in person; these are merely its avatars. Do not get hit again!"
The Nine-Death Resurrection Grass was a peculiar spiritual herb. Under the harshest conditions, it would naturally wither and drift with the wind, taking root and flourishing anew wherever water and soil were bountiful.
Chapter 994