Chapter 186

Wang Yu fought the giant ape before him while secretly observing the True Disciple battlefield above; he saw Yue Lingshan being ambushed by two humanoid puppets, and Master Tian also surrounded by the demonic sect forces, which surprised him greatly.

One of those two humanoid puppets was nearly identical to the one that had ambushed him last time.

This giant ape's physical strength was comparable to his own after activating the Breathing Method; its eyes were sharp and alert, and the jet-black curly fur covering its body was incredibly resilient—earlier, even after slashing multiple times with the Azure Flame Blade, the fur had simply deflected every strike, leaving not a single scratch on the giant ape, making fist strikes far more effective.

Wang Yu was pondering where the giant ape's master might be, wondering if he himself might be ambushed, when the giant ape, after exchanging a punch with him and pulling back, split its mouth wide open and laughed aloud in human speech:

"Hah! Good, good! Since I mastered the Fur-Cloaking Art, you are the first opponent who can match me, the Treading Mountain Ape's illusion, blow for blow without falling behind. Your body cultivation is so strong, you must be barely a step away from Second-Class Strength Adept."

"The moment I arrived here, my intuition told me you were the greatest threat to me—and it seems my instinct was right. You're truly troublesome."

"Fur-Cloaking Art? This beast is your illusion!" Wang Yu was stunned, a flicker of astonishment crossing his face.

"Heh, my Fur-Cloaking Art comes from the true transmission of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. Normally, I'd love to play longer with you, stretch my sinews and bones—but right now, I must eliminate you first, then go aid those useless fools." The giant ape chuckled, then suddenly stomped the void with both feet, leaping high into the air before bringing both massive soles crashing down.

On the hairy soles, dense yellow spiritual runes appeared, faintly forming two strange spiritual array patterns.

Wang Yu felt the surrounding air tighten; a tremendous force suddenly yanked him forward, causing him to stagger several steps as if he had willingly stepped beneath the giant ape's feet.

A pair of feet, each as large as a table, descended upon his head with a stench of rotting flesh.

What kind of art is this!

Wang Yu's heart leapt—he stomped his feet hard, rolled backward in a somersault, instantly breaking free from the invisible restraints, his body moving with monkey-like agility, leaving faint afterimages trailing behind.

The giant ape's feet slammed into empty air; it paused, seemingly disbelieving, then leapt high again and stomped down once more toward Wang Yu.

Wang Yu again felt the invisible force pulling at him, but having anticipated it, he somersaulted away once more, evading the grip entirely; the instant his feet touched ground, he roared, stomped one foot hard, and behind him, the golden tiger head's eyes flared wide as golden-yellow mist surged from his body into his arms.

In a flash, he was behind the descending giant ape; his ten fingers spread apart, and two enormous pale-gold palm prints, swollen several times their original size, slammed simultaneously onto the ape's back.

A thunderous boom.

The black-furred ape's back caved in deeply; its massive body flew backward, and as it arced through the air, it vomited a torrent of blood from its gaping maw, drenching the ground.

The curled black fur on its back had failed to block the full force of the golden palm print.

Not stopping there, Wang Yu flipped again in a bizarre somersault, overtaking the falling giant ape from behind; he exhaled a white misty wave, his arms thickened, and two more swelling, unstable golden palm prints shot toward the ape's chest.

A soft "puff" sounded—and a strange sight appeared.

The seemingly colossal body of the giant ape, struck by Wang Yu's golden palm, suddenly became insubstantial, rippling outward like liquid, then shrank rapidly as if deflating—a balloon losing air—until it became nothing but a black ape-skin the size of a human.

Wang Yu stared, stunned, then suddenly remembered something; his arm blurred as he reversed the golden palm and slapped it behind him.

A thunderous boom.

A jet-black leopard, having materialized silently from the void to ambush Wang Yu, was struck square on the skull by the golden palm and flung backward.

Wang Yu turned, his expression grim, watching the black leopard roll once, then stand calmly as if nothing had happened; he looked at his own golden palm, then frowned.

The sensation of his five fingers striking the target had felt wrong—like hitting a thick, viscous liquid.

"Interesting. You managed to break through my Treading Mountain Ape illusion—but how will you handle this Youshuibao illusion?" The black leopard's eyes glowed with icy, emotionless light as it spoke.

The fierce clash between Wang Yu and the black giant ape had generated such violent shockwaves that no one remained within a hundred zhang radius.

Whether disciples of Great Ming's Four Sects or the demonic sect's Three Sects, all had fled far away, treating this entire zone as a True Disciple battlefield and avoiding it entirely.

On Great Ming's side, had the Four Symbols Sect disciples not occupied more than half the force, and had Master Tian not yet issued a clear retreat order, someone would have already fled the moment Yue Lingshan fell.

Even so, disciples from the other three sects were growing unstable; many were now fighting their demonic opponents while scanning the surroundings for escape routes.

Wang Yu's sudden display of body cultivation rivaling that of a True Disciple reached many of the Four Sects' disciples, lifting their spirits and steadying their previously panicked minds.

As long as Wang Yu or Master Tian did not suffer another crushing defeat, these ordinary disciples of the Four Sects could still hold their ground and trade blows evenly with the demonic forces.

The demonic side was equally affected; their morale, which had surged after Yue Lingshan's death and the arrival of reinforcements, now stalled.

Many demonic disciples kept glancing toward the sky and toward Wang Yu's battlefield.

Such commotion could not escape the notice of Master Tian, who was currently activating the blue miniature bell while facing off against the Joy Palace matron and the two humanoid puppets; he had been sinking into despair upon realizing another demonic True Disciple was still active.

But when he saw Wang Yu transform into a miniature giant and, relying on his formidable body cultivation, overwhelm the demonic disciple using the Fur-Cloaking Art, his spirits lifted—he immediately whispered a message:

"Wang Brother, if you can, eliminate your opponent. My second-class Xuanwu Talisman can only trap that demonic Soul Sect True Disciple for one incense burn—if time runs out, even my 'Hao Shui Bell' won't withstand three True Disciples attacking at once, and we'll have to retreat. Then not only will the Spirit Herb Garden be lost, but our ordinary disciples will suffer heavy casualties."