Xu Mu called out to Qiongqi for help, but his words were drowned out by a thunderous tremor.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Beneath the chaotic noise, the ground rumbled, and then, before the grand mountain, another mountain rose.
That mountain was not a mountain, but a demon.
Looking at the great demon that resembled an ape, Nan Feng swallowed hard.
They had exhausted all their strength to climb the thousand-meter-high peak.
Yet the ape before them, by merely sitting up from its resting posture, was on their eye level. How tall would it be when it stood?
And how strong?
"Humans, this is not a place for you!"
The great ape demon spoke human words, its muddy, eerie eyes fixed on the mountaintop.
The fur on its body stood on end, radiating immense demonic energy, as if it could erupt and attack at any moment.
The ape demon was confident that with just one hand, it could easily crush these insignificant humans.
So, it slowly raised its furry palm, suspended in the air, blotting out the sky, and it was uncertain when it would descend.
The mountain-like ape grinned ferociously. It had been in this boring place for a long time, and finally, there was some amusement. It wouldn't end so quickly.
At the very least, it wanted to see these prey struggle.
Seeing this, Nan Feng and the others despaired.
They were all exhausted. This mountain-like great demon, even at their peak strength, would be difficult to contend with, let alone now.
Thus, all fighting spirit vanished, and they gave up resisting. Only Yan Yu, after a brief exchange with the being in his sea of consciousness, felt a slight calm.
He gripped his sword, unsure if he would fight or flee.
Yan Yu looked at the ape and asked,
"This space was created by the Human Emperor. As descendants of the human race, why should we not be here?"
Hearing this, the ape snorted two long streams of white vapor from its dark nostrils and sneered,
"There is ultimately a difference between the Human Emperor and humans."
Yan Yu shook his head.
"We are all of the human race. What difference is there?"
The ape scoffed derisively,
"Do you really believe there's no difference between you and Emperor Fuxi?"
Yan Yu nodded.
"Not entirely."
"He was born many years before me, so naturally, there's a difference."
The ape had not expected such an answer from a human. Was this not a heinous crime?
It curiously leaned forward, wanting to get a closer look at Yan Yu.
Then, it saw a pair of deep blue eyes.
In those eyes, aside from indifference, there was not a trace of fear or reverence.
The ape thus felt insulted and began to rage.
Sensing danger, Yan Yu turned to Xu Mu.
"You said that Qiongqi would save us, would it?"
Hearing this, Xu Mu looked at the rippling space in the sky and nodded.
"Yes, but I don't know if it can defeat this ape."
Yan Yu's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he sheathed his sword. "Then I will not move."
Xu Mu gave him a deep look and said no more.
...
"Kid, let me tell you the true difference between you and the Human Emperor!"
Suddenly, the ape stood upright, towering half as tall as the mountain.
It brought its fists together and slammed down with a roar.
"The difference is, I can't defeat the Human Emperor, but I will smash all of you into meat paste!!!"
Its dual fists smashed down, creating a gust of wind.
Instantly, everyone on the mountaintop felt an extreme sense of pressure. Even the wild grass bent under the force.
Their faces were filled with despair. They had no room to resist and could only pin their hopes on the one-in-a-million chance that Xu Mu would save them.
But Xu Mu simply stood with his hands behind his back.
Facing the overwhelming onslaught, he remained motionless.
Was he confident he wouldn't die, or had he resigned himself to fate?
Fang Jia sighed in his heart. It was likely the latter. It seemed he would never get to learn the miraculous Bagua techniques in this lifetime.
Longsun Wuji also looked up at the sky in panic. If he died here, the Longsun family would undoubtedly fall apart, and the task of restoring their glory, entrusted to him by his father, would be indefinitely postponed...
Facing death, everyone's mind was in turmoil, filled with a myriad of thoughts. But the sole exception was Yin Zhongxiu.
Although he hadn't interacted much with Xu Mu, the latter had always brought him new shocks.
He believed Xu Mu would not die at the hands of a crude beast, and that he would find a way to survive, and therefore, they would survive too!
All these thoughts flashed by in an instant.
Yin Zhongxiu looked up at the giant fists descending from the sky, his eyes narrowing.
He seemed to see, beneath those colossal fists, a furry claw appearing out of nowhere, dangling slightly in the wind, then opening as if to clash with the fists.
Yin Zhongxiu fell silent.
The claw was not large. Compared to the mountain-like fists of the ape, it was like a sesame seed against a watermelon.
And if a sesame seed collided with a watermelon, the smaller one would naturally be crushed.
But this logic did not apply on the battlefield. No one was willing to die needlessly. The fact that the sesame seed dared to collide head-on with the watermelon indicated that it had the confidence not to be crushed, or even to crush the watermelon.
The young Qiongqi naturally had that confidence. Thus, it emerged from the space and swiped its claw at the ape's fists.
*Slap!*
The claw met the double fists with a thunderous impact.
Then, the world quickly returned to silence.
The mountain peak remained unharmed, the people were alive, and the wild grass was intact.
Beneath the sky-obscuring fists, Qiongqi did not retreat a single step. It remained proudly and steadily floating in the air, maintaining its previous casual posture.
"Who is it?!"
The ape lord roared in fury, releasing its forelimbs.
It wanted to see who dared to intercept a descendant of the divine beast Titan's bloodline!
Then, it lowered its head and saw a pair of fiery eyes.
That fire was no ordinary fire.
It was Samadhi True Fire.
There were many eyes that burned with fire, but only one pair of eyes burned with Samadhi True Fire in the world.
Only the divine beast Qiongqi. It was Qiongqi who had blocked him!
The ape lord withdrew its forelimbs. The arrogance and brutality in its eyes vanished, replaced by boundless fear. Thus, it began to retreat.
But in its fear, it accidentally stepped on the shell of a turtle demon, tripping and causing the ground to shake.
*Boom!*
"No!"
The ape lord cried out in terror. It did not know it had tripped; it thought Qiongqi had launched an attack!
Although it and Qiongqi were both fourth-stage lords, the latter possessed the most noble bloodline in this world, a true divine beast descendant.
Among demonic beasts, bloodline reigned supreme. Even if the real Titan Ape arrived, it might not gain an advantage here, let alone a mixed-blood like him...
Upon seeing Qiongqi, it would tremble uncontrollably and want to submit!
The other great demons were the same. They looked at Qiongqi floating in mid-air and fell silent, not daring to advance further toward the mountain.
Thus, Nan Feng and the others on the mountain suddenly snapped back to reality.
They seemed to be alive. How was this possible?
At the very moment the ape smashed its fists down, a tiger appeared in the sky?
Oh no, it wasn't a tiger, but a beast resembling a tiger. It had blocked the mountain-like ape!
"Among these humans, there is my friend."
The young Qiongqi exchanged a glance with Xu Mu, then spoke in human tongue and surveyed the great demons.
Its words were clearly a warning.
Among these people, there is my friend.
Therefore, none of you can move.
The many great demons in the arena, while fearful of Qiongqi, also felt a surge of anger in their hearts.
Their ancestors had been imprisoned here by humans, never to see the sun again. Therefore, they too were enemies of humans. Yet Qiongqi claimed to be friends with humans. How could this not enrage them!
Thus, after exchanging glances, these great demons solemnly walked behind the ape and sat down.
They remained silent because they feared Qiongqi.
And by sitting behind the ape lord, they were expressing their stance.
—"Nothing can stop us from killing humans, not even a divine beast."
With the support of the demons behind him, the fourth-stage ape finally regained its senses. It realized that although Qiongqi had a noble bloodline, it was at the same level as itself, and its combat power was likely not much higher.
And its previous reaction seemed overly cowardly.
Thus, the ape lord lost its reason and shouted,
"Making friends with humans! Have you forgotten how our ancestors were imprisoned here?!"
The young Qiongqi lazily licked its paw and replied,
"That was your ancestor, not mine."
The ape, remembering that Qiongqi had come from the outside, felt its anger intensify.
"So what?"
"Even if you are outside, even if you are a divine beast, aren't you still enslaved by humans?"
"Nominally a guard, but in reality, what difference is there between that space and the prison for this demon god? You are still helping humans now, how foolish!"
The ape's furious roar echoed through the space, its words venomous.
Thus, all the great demons in the arena cast extraordinary glances at the mountain-like figure.
"To speak to a divine beast like that, truly courageous."
— so the demons thought.
Upon hearing these words, the young Qiongqi immediately bared its fangs.
Unlike what the ape claimed, their Qiongqi clan had not participated in the ancient war between humans and demons; they were neutral, and their ancestors were even close friends with Emperor Fuxi.
While guarding this place might not have been entirely voluntary, it was not as if they were imprisoned as the ape claimed.
It was completely distorting the facts and speaking nonsense!
Qiongqi was enraged, and the Samadhi True Fire in its eyes overflowed, dripping into the space.
True fire could burn all things in the world.
And the first thing it touched was a vast expanse of wind, sand, and dust.
Thus, a great fire erupted out of nowhere.
"That's Samadhi True Fire!"
Seeing the great fire rising in the space, the demons screamed as if they had seen a ghost and scattered in all directions.
Although they were all great demons and possessed some divine beast bloodlines and awakened innate abilities, they were not on the same level as Samadhi True Fire.
The ape lord also knew that Samadhi True Fire was something used by gods. No matter how strong its physical body was, it could not withstand its erosion, so it too began to flee.
But as it turned, a claw gently rested on its arm.
The claw was not large and was furry, but it sent a shiver down its spine.
Because on it burned a flame, glowing from red to white!
...