Chapter 1461: The Ape Demon

"As you command, Master!" The short shadow's figure trembled, and its head lowered by another third.

"You may go. I shall return to the third level alone," the woman ordered, then stepped on the giant black flower beneath her feet.

Instantly, black light flickered on the surface of the giant flower, and silver magic arrays of varying sizes emerged upon its body. Under the flickering silver light, streams of pitch-black mist erupted from the arrays, turning into a sea of fog in the blink of an eye and shrouding the entire giant flower within.

A thunderous "Boom—" sound echoed from within the mist, and after a few silver arcs flashed, the sea of fog dissipated under a gust of wild wind.

The spot was left completely empty!

The giant black demon flower, along with the slender woman upon it, had vanished without a trace. Only the furry figure, still kneeling on the ground, remained.

A full cup of tea's time later, the short figure stood up and slowly raised its head. Under the silver light of the desert, it was revealed to have four ears and the face of an ape. However, its pair of emerald eyes had tiny pupils, emitting a cold, sinister gaze like that of a venomous snake.

This was actually a Grudge Ape Beast, only its fur was deep yellow, and it appeared to have already gained intelligence, looking no different from an ordinary person.

The demon ape scanned its surroundings, then suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a stream of yellow mist, covering the remains of the Giant Spirit Flower.

An incredible scene occurred!

Within the green mist, the remains of the Giant Spirit Flower rapidly melted and dissolved, turning into a large pool of viscous green liquid. Then, the mist churned, rolled up the green liquid, and sucked it into the demon ape's belly in one gulp.

Afterward, the ape closed its eyes, and streams of green light appeared and flickered on its nose and four ears. Its entire body of yellow fur also turned a deep, eerie green, emitting a faint glow.

After the Grudge Ape Beast stood motionless on the spot for a long while, two of its four ears suddenly twitched, but then there was no further abnormality.

Not long after, the sound of breaking air came from the other end of the desert, and with a flash of spiritual light, a ball of red light shot over.

Inside the red light was a fat man, looking to be in his thirties. On his back was a pair of green wings, and on his head was a pair of sharp horns. His tiny eyes darted around incessantly, his face wearing a cunning expression.

He was actually a Flying Spirit Tribe Saint from another branch. It was unknown why he had chosen the same route as Han Li and the others, and he appeared to be all alone.

But this person seemed extremely cautious.

The demon ape's current appearance was so eye-catching; how could such a cautious person fail to discover it?

Immediately letting out a soft sound of surprise, the fat man stopped his escape light several dozen feet away from the demon ape, staring at the beast with a face full of shock.

Although the demon ape had already turned the remains of the Giant Spirit Flower into liquid and absorbed it, the ground nearby was shattered, and the traces left when the giant black flower emerged from underground were even more astonishing.

Yet this demon ape stood alone to the side, motionless, its eyes tightly shut, and light flickering on its nose and ears, as if it had lost its perception of the outside world.

In this way, the scene looked as if the ape had just fought a great battle with something, was heavily injured, and was forced to heal itself on the spot, completely defenseless.

The Flying Spirit Tribe Saint in the air clearly thought the same, and as he stared at the demon ape, an expression of excitement gradually appeared in his eyes.

Even though the goal of this trial was not to slay demon beasts, the harvest from killing a high-tier Earth Abyss demon beast, such as its demon core and other materials, was naturally of immense value.

Naturally, no one would easily give up such a great benefit that could be obtained just by lifting a hand.

But this unknown Flying Spirit Tribe Saint was also exceptionally vigilant.

He did not rashly attack, but instead quietly observed the demon ape from the air in the distance.

A full meal's time passed, and seeing no other unusual movements from the demon beast, he finally felt at ease.

A sinister smile appeared on his face, and he suddenly clapped his hands together. A ball of flame surged between them, and then the flame changed, turning into a two-zhang-long fire spear.

The spearhead was incomparably sharp, the entire body was crimson red and scorching hot, wrapped in a layer of raging flames.

With a light spread of his wings, the man turned into a streak of red light and pounced toward the demon ape below.

It was unknown what secret technique this Heaven Peng Tribe Saint had used; although he was fat, his escape speed was incredibly fast, and the entire process was silent, without the slightest sound of wind.

In the blink of an eye, the red light reached a dozen feet above the demon ape's head, seeing that the Grudge Ape Beast still remained motionless.

The Flying Spirit Tribe man was overjoyed and, without hesitation, coldly flicked the long spear in his hand.

"Swish!" came a sound.

The long spear instantly turned into a streak of red light and was thrown out, piercing through the demon ape's body in a flash.

But just as joy appeared on the man's face, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

Because the demon ape pierced by the fire spear dissipated the next moment; it was actually just a phantom image.

"Not good!"

The Flying Spirit Tribe man secretly cried out, and without thinking, he flapped his wings, wanting to escape the spot immediately.

But it was already too late!

A blurry green shadow suddenly appeared at close range in the air above, and then with a flash, it pounced directly onto the man's body.

With a muffled "Bang!" sound, a ball of green mist exploded, instantly shrouding the Flying Spirit Tribe Saint within it.

A miserable shriek rose up!

The man only had time for a flash of red light on his body before he melted like snow under the spring sun; his protective spiritual light was completely unable to resist the erosion of the green mist. After flying only a dozen feet away, he fell headlong from the air and was turned into a pool of green liquid.

This Saint had a body full of divine abilities but had not even had time to display a fraction of them.

At this moment, the green mist churned, and under the condensation and transformation, that demon ape appeared.

The demon coldly glanced at the liquid on the ground, opened its mouth, and sucked it in as well.

Speaking of which, this Flying Spirit Tribe Saint died quite unjustly. If he had been on the ground with his spiritual sense fully open, it would have been impossible for him to be easily deceived by such a phantom image, let alone be approached so closely by the demon ape's transformation without noticing.

At this moment, after the demon ape smacked its lips, it muttered to itself thoughtfully:

"It was actually a Flying Spirit Tribe member. Indeed, the date for the surface people's trial is approaching. In that case, the one who destroyed the sacrifice might also be from this tribe."

After the demon finished saying this thoughtfully, it sniffed hard with its nose several times, its eyes flashing as it stared in the direction where Han Li and the others had left.

It gave a sinister laugh, its figure spun around, and it turned into a ball of green mist, flying away through the air.

Before long, it disappeared on the horizon.

"What, you want us to carry this thing?" Lei Lan's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and she held a white-glowing jade plaque in her jade hand, asking with shock and suspicion.

Beside her, Bai Bi held the same object, and a look of confusion also flashed in his eyes.

These two jade plaques were crystal clear, with silver runes faintly visible on their surfaces; one look told that they were of immense value.

Just a moment ago, Han Li had suddenly taken out these two items from his body and asked the two of them to keep them close to their bodies.

"Besides having some protective functions, the main purpose of these two items is to shield one's aura and determine our positions. In case of any accidents and we get separated, perhaps by relying on these plaques, we can find each other again," Han Li said indifferently.

These two magic treasures, called Infinite Plaques, were treasures he had bought at a high price when he was in Sky Abyss City, and they were exactly suitable for the current situation.

Now that they had flown out of the desert and were on a small mountain, Han Li, out of caution, had taken out these two items shortly after.

"I have never had the habit of wearing others' magic treasures. Many thanks for Brother Han's good intentions," Lei Lan said, her face sinking as she refused.

Bai Bi also smiled lightly and shook his head.

Han Li gave a "Hehe" laugh and did not force them, instead taking the two jade plaques back.

"Since the two fellow Daoists are unwilling, then so be it. But mid-tier demon beasts have already appeared on the first level; it is not as completely risk-free as we imagined. I have a flying treasure that possesses concealment divine abilities. If we travel using this, there will be much less trouble," Han Li suggested instead.

"A flying treasure, that can be used," Lei Lan smiled.

Bai Bi nodded, having no intention to object.

Han Li smiled slightly, flicked his hand over his storage bracelet, and instantly, an earthy-yellow flying carriage, narrow in the front and wide in the back, appeared before them.

This carriage seemed to be refined from some kind of spirit wood; it looked light and airy, but its surface was exquisitely crafted, and it seemed to have many magic arrays arranged upon it.

The entire flying carriage was seven or eight zhang large, enough to hold three people.

This carriage was one of several flying carriages Han Li had specially collected before leaving Sky Abyss City, to be used in different situations.

"Brother Han is so polite, then we two shall respectfully obey," Lei Lan and Bai Bi looked at each other and this time readily agreed.

Han Li's eyes flashed, and with a sway of his body, he appeared in the flying carriage in an eerie manner.

Lei Lan and the other also entered the carriage.

Han Li suddenly patted the flying carriage with one hand, and several profound magic arts were injected into it.

Instantly, the carriage shook, and a layer of milky-white light shield emerged, shrouding the entire flying carriage within it.

As strange light flowed on the surface of the light shield, the entire flying carriage gradually became transparent, and in the end, only a faint white shadow remained.

The flying carriage then flew away through the air.

"Brother Han, since you have such a treasure, you should have used it from the beginning." Human flying carriages were naturally very different from the flying treasures used by the Flying Spirit Tribe. After Bai Bi looked around in the carriage, he asked with a smile.

"Although this carriage is easy to use, it also has a flaw," Han Li replied noncommittally.

"What flaw?" Lei Lan also became curious.

"Hehe, to drive this carriage and open the concealment barrier, one can only use high-tier wood-attribute spirit stones, and the consumption is not small. Besides being good at concealment and speed, this carriage's defensive ability is very poor, and it is extremely easy to be destroyed by attacks. Unless it is for traveling or when absolutely necessary, I do not wish to use it," Han Li explained casually.

Hearing Han Li say this, Bai Bi and the other smiled dumbly and did not ask anything further.

The white shadow transformed by the flying carriage was like a ghost, its escape speed was strange, and after flashing a few times, it disappeared without a trace nearby.

Han Li and the three naturally did not know that, far behind them, a ball of green mist paused in the air, and then a low roar of extreme rage came from within, its escape speed also suddenly increasing by a small fraction, chasing forward like a shooting star chasing the moon.

In a large canyon closest to the Earth Abyss Gate on the first level, seven or eight Flying Spirit Tribe members were advancing cautiously.

The leader had deep red skin and a gloomy expression; it was Zhu Yinzi and other Chi Rong Tribe Saints.