Chapter 249 - 248: The Giant Ape Descends, Brother Jiu Transforms

Li Jing traveled all the way to the lake he had passed by earlier. He walked around the perimeter and found nothing unusual.

This Big Secret Realm is very peaceful.

At least, that’s what everything Li Jing has seen so far suggests.

Having spent half a day in the Secret Realm, he only found one Giant Worm with aggression.

Essentially, it was because he had coveted their Fire Essence Vein, which they considered food, that he had been attacked.

Compared to Small Secret Realm nº107, which is eerily desolate all over, filled with bizarre creatures, and has underground Lizard Men and packs of Parasite Insects, this Big Secret Realm is tranquil beyond measure.

Of course.

What Li Jing has seen so far is not even the tip of the iceberg of the Big Secret Realm.

Having confirmed there were no threats around, and only local creatures of the Secret Realm that naturally are spiritual beasts resided, Li Jing returned the same way he came.

The spiritual beasts in the Secret Realm are not worth his attention.

Generally, they are in the First or Second Realm, and at most in the Third Realm.

He hasn’t seen any more formidable ones yet.

Apart from their levels.

Spiritual beasts naturally possess spirituality which usually causes no problem if they are not provoked.

Unless, of course, you run into predatory spiritual beasts that include humans in their "diet."

There are no traces of human habitation in this Big Secret Realm, so there won’t be any similar spiritual beasts.

Also, during his survey, Li Jing encountered many curious spiritual beasts approaching him with Health Bars on their heads, regarding him as if he were a Foolish Rabbit.

Clearly, to the native creatures of the Secret Realm, their first meeting with humans was quite a novelty.

Still, most spiritual beasts are of the timid type, and they, maintaining their wild nature, chose to keep their distance when they saw Li Jing.

By the time he got back to the location of the Linglong Tower, Yulian and Jiu Li had already returned.

Greeting these two, Li Jing asked.

"How about it? Is there anything unusual worth mentioning in the vicinity?"

"No issues on the right. It is mostly herbivorous spiritual beasts with few carnivorous ones appearing."

Yulian replied.

"There’s a carnivorous spiritual beast population in the far left, looking like wolves but larger than male lions. They live in packs, so it’s best for explorers to avoid them."

Jiu Li spoke out, adding,

"Those little fellows are fiercely territorial, seeing that land as their territory. I moved about a bit, and they bared their teeth and clawed at the air. They’re not threatening per se, but if one trespasses on their territory, one could possibly be attacked by the pack."

Having learnt the situations on both sides from the two women, Li Jing nodded, pushed the communication earpiece to provide the information to Chen Yuran for her to pass it on and instructed her to set up camp for rest.

With his orders, the members of the Heavenly King Group immediately got to work.

During Li Jing and the two’s exploration of the surroundings, Chen Yuran had already arranged everything well.

After a brief period, two elite squads of five hundred people each were escorting a team from the Research Institute in the direction of the lake at the rear.

The rest of them started setting up a kitchen and resting area outside.

Being sheltered by the Linglong Tower indeed made things easier.

However, preparing meals was rather difficult.

Feeding fourteen thousand people is a huge task.

Making meals inside the tower was not an option due to issues like cooking fumes.

Therefore, since entering the Secret Realm, apart from Chen Yuran, Yulian, and Jiu Li who shared a small stove with Li Jing, none of the expedition team had enjoyed a hot meal.

But it wasn’t a big deal.

Every member of the exploration team was at least a Three Realm cultivator who wouldn’t feel hungry easily.

And they carried dried ration distributed by the Management Bureau. If they got hungry, they could just gnaw at it.

Although the ration was hard, it was not as good as a hot meal.

...

In the blink of an eye, two hours passed.

The team that had gone to the lake in the rear for various environmental tests had collected all the data and safely returned with freshly-cooked hot meals.

Having nothing to do, Li Jing sat on a tree branch, observing the area where spatial fluctuations were occurring.

Everything happened in two hours.

The area ahead fluctuated frequently in space, periodically letting out dim silver light due to spatial distortions.

Li Jing looked on, feeling a bit helpless.

The Research Institute, for now, still had not provided any news.

It appeared that they were unsure what was causing the spatial distortions here.

Otherwise, conclusions should’ve been made long ago.

Just as he was feeling bored, Chen Yuran flew out from Liglong Tower, landing on another tree branch.

"The Research Institute has news."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing perked up and straightened his posture.

"What did they say?"

"According to the precise detection data, the spatial passage is rather narrow. The entrance is expected to open and stabilize eight hours from now."

Chen Yuran sat down on the branch and said.

"Judging by the intensity of the passage’s fluctuations, the possibility of it leading to a Secret Realm is slim. However, we can’t rule out the chance that it might lead to a hideout or a naturally occurring subspace. The Research Institute cannot provide a clear answer for now. No precedent exists for encountering a realm within a realm in Hua Country, hence the limited data for reference."

"Hmm."

Li Jing nodded and replied.

"Since the passage will open in eight hours, we’ll simply wait. Yuran, later on, arrange a team to go check it out."

"Understood."

Chen Yuran responded, then continued.

"Besides that, the report on the Giant Worm’s flesh and blood is also out. The result is that its body tissues hold an extremely high nutritional value. The energy in its body is of higher value than Spiritual Qi and not only is it harmless to the human body, but also has an impressive conversion efficiency."

"Are you saying... we can eat that thing?"

"Not only can it be eaten, but it also has numerous benefits."

Chen Yuran replied, then continued.

"According to the Research Institute’s report, a pound of Giant Worm’s flesh holds a Spiritual Qi conversion value equivalent to about thrice that of an equivalent amount of Spiritual Beast’s flesh, surpassing all kinds of spirit-infused livestock products. If it could be introduced to this world and cultivated, it would notably accelerate the cultivation progression of our human cultivators."

"Whoa!"

Li Jing gasped, looking bewildered.

"Under normal circumstances, who would want to eat that?"

"Considering its size and its diet of Fire Essence, the benefits wouldn’t outweigh the investment."

Chen Yuran shrugged as she spoke.

"However, if we come across any similar species that seem more palatable in the future, we might try to capture a few and breed them."

Saying this, she playfully swung her long legs from the tree branch.

"By the way, a scholar fried some of the Giant Worm’s flesh and tasted it. It’s confirmed that the conversion was very unpalatable, so much so that the scholar vomited for a good fifteen minutes."

"..."

Li Jing.

Truth be told, he really admired those people of the Research Institute.

One might say they sacrificed themselves for the sake of science.

Or, to put it bluntly, they were all mad.

They had seen what the Giant Worm looked like. But despite just receiving the test report, they wasted no time in tasting it for themselves?

How brave could they be?

What if they ended up eating themselves sick?

Vomiting for fifteen minutes...

It is evident that the Giant Worm’s flesh isn’t merely unpalatable.

Possibly, it contains an unknown toxin that the Research Institute couldn’t detect.

Just as he was about to sigh, the spatial distortion in the region ahead twisted again, suddenly releasing an incredibly radiant silver light, almost illuminating the entire night sky.

The abrupt change took them by surprise.

Startled by the sudden burst of silver light, both Li Jing and Chen Yuran were stunned.

Not just them, the members of the Heavenly King Group resting outside the tower were also drawn to it.

Before anyone could react, a red giant ape, standing nearly a hundred meters tall and looking like a small mountain, burst out of the blooming silver light without warning, and landed on the ground with a "thud".

The earth shook and the mountains trembled in an instant.

The next second,

With a "roar", the giant ape howled at the sky, his eyes full of ferocity fixed on them.

Li Jing was startled by the sight, immediately standing up.

"Yuran, get back!"

"I know, be careful."

Chen Yuran responded, and without hesitation operated Sky Control to head back into the tower. In the meantime, she pressed her communication earpiece.

"Everyone, retreat to the tower! No one is to stay outside!"

Upon the order, the members of the Heavenly King Group who had been stunned by the sudden change returned to Linglong Tower one after another using Sky Control.

At the same time, Yulian and Jiu Li flew out using Sky Control.

As soon as they saw the nearly hundred-meter-tall giant ape, their expressions changed slightly.

The ape’s strong and violent aura was not hidden at all, it was at the late stage of the Sixth Realm.

Yulian came to Li Jing’s side and whispered,

"This monkey is neither a monster nor a spiritual beast."

Li Jing raised his eyebrows at her words.

Neither a monster nor a spiritual beast.

Does that mean...

The giant ape is of the same "species" as the giant worm they saw before?

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Li Jing did not act rashly.

Although the ape’s health bar, reaching as high as 8888 in his view, was tempting and auspicious, its landscape was something he dared not approach.

Clearly, this giant ape ran out from the other side of the spatial passage.

After its appearance, the unstable passage did not emit any brilliant silver light again, but the space was constantly distorted and fell into an extremely unstable state.

If not careful, one could be drawn in and who knows what could happen.

Besides, without the control of the Linglong Tower, it would be a bit difficult for Li Jing to single-handedly kill a being in the late Sixth Realm with his current ability.

Looking at Jiu Li, whose health bar showed 8999 but was suppressing his realm, Li Jing spoke out.

"Brother Jiu, if we have to fight later, I might need you to take the front."

Upon hearing this, Jiu Li, after glancing at the Linglong Tower standing behind them, nodded and changed his face and posture into that of a loli in early teens.

Upon seeing this transformation of Jiu Li, Li Jing’s eye twitched uncontrollably.

Yulian, standing beside him, smirked at this event.

Clearly, Jiu Li was acutely aware of the strength of the opponent, and had pulled out the most powerful form stored in her Thousand Faces talent.

But her appearance was a bit too young.

Whether it was appropriate or not, there was not much to argue about. All that mattered at this crucial moment was her strength.

The problem was her uniform...

Originally when Jiu Li changed her appearance for the Secret Realm, her height remained the same.

Both her true form and her transformed height were 1.7 meters.

But now, she was probably less than 1.4 meters...

Could the Management Bureau uniform designed for a 1.7-meter figure fit her now?

Noticing that Jiu Li’s skirt was so long that she could use it as pants after her transformation, and her shirt was slipping off her shoulders, revealing the black lace at the neckline, Li Jing’s mouth twitched at the sight.

"Brother Jiu, will this look hinder you in a fight?"

"No big deal."

Jiu Li responded, puffing and panting as she turned up the waist of her skirt and tied it up, then pulled up the collar of her shirt on both sides and tied that up as well.

Looking at Jiu Li making herself well wrapped in just a few moments, proficient as if she’d done it many times before, Li Jing was left speechless. He turned his gaze back to the giant ape in the distance.

After the giant ape howled, it did not move.

The red eyes of the ape were fixed on the Linglong Tower with cold ruthlessness, occasionally shooting a glance in their direction.

Obviously, the giant ape had a high level of intelligence.

It could clearly recognize that the Linglong Tower posed a great threat to it.

Li Jing and the other two were also seen as threats.

Seeing the caution displayed by the Giant Ape, Li Jing’s brows furrowed slightly.

This Giant Ape was much more intelligent and powerful than the Giant Worm he had encountered earlier, and it had come out from the other end of the passage.

Did it live in the space at the other end of the passage or...?

As he was pondering, the space behind the Giant Ape violently twisted again.

Feeling the changes behind it, the Giant Ape glanced back revealing a trace of fear before turning back and roaring angrily at them, and then it charged straight forward.

Seeing this, Li Jing’s expression darkened and he summoned the Flying Sword Blue Edge with a wave of his hand.

"Brother Jiu, wait until it gets closer before you attack, so we don’t get swallowed up by the spatial turbulence."

"Understood."

Jiu Li responded.

"I’ll block it from the front, and you two look for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack."

"Alright."

Li Jing responded, his eyes glancing over the spatial twist behind the Giant Ape, quickly murmurs,

"There’s something off about this Giant Ape, it seems like something is forcing it to attack us. Regardless, let’s kill it first."

"Understood."

Yulian affirmed.

Jiu Li nodded as well.

Everyone had clearly seen the fear in the Giant Ape’s eyes when the space twisted just now.

There are ways to escape in both directions.

No one would stop it if it wanted to leave.

But it chose to charge straight at them...

Something was definitely off.

In terms of investigation skills, Yulian and Jiu Li might not be as good as Li Jing.

But when it comes to meticulousness, they’re no worse off.

Seeing the Giant Ape of over a hundred meters high take strides of at least fifty meters, absorbing all strikes with brute force, and quickly closing the distance of several kilometers, Jiu Li raised herself into the sky like a high-speed missile carrying an afterimage, and directly collided with it.

The next instant, they collided.

Without a doubt, the Giant Ape was in the late stages of the Sixth Realm.

It clearly captured the trajectory of Jiu Li, who rushed up with a speed that compared to the Sixth Realm driving a high-grade spiritual weapon. The ape roared, raising its fist as big as a hill and blasting it out.

Jiu Li, undaunted, shouted, raising her small arm, which was no different from a matchstick in her petite form, to strike back.

"Boom!"

A loud sound.

The Giant Ape staggered backwards, barely stabilizing itself.

Jiu Li was sent flying back a little and she halted her body in mid-air.

Watching the completely disproportionate fists collide, with Jiu Li appearing not at all weaker and even seeming to take the upper hand slightly, Li Jing couldn’t help but feel astonished.

Although he knew that Jiu Li would not be weaker than the Giant Ape and that as a monster, she relies on her strong physique. But the simple and unadorned collision in which she prevailed was somewhat unexpected.

A petite girl not even a meter and a half tall, striking back a Giant Ape a hundred meters tall.

This...

In all honesty, it’s incredibly absurd!

Now, Li Jingcould see it.

Jiu Li’s talent in this form was likely her extraordinary close combat capability.

What kind of monster did this talent come from?

Meanwhile, the Giant Ape somewhat couldn’t process the fact that it had been struck directly backwards.

Obviously, it didn’t expect that this little girl, who was not even as big as its fingernail, could possess such brute strength to strike it backwards with a single punch.

As it steadied its body and set eyes on Jiu Li, who was standing in the air, its eyes narrowed and the depths of its red eyes were quickly engulfed by blood-red, its aura became even more ferocious in an instant.

Yulian and Li Jing didn’t take any actions for the moment and were just waiting for the right opportunity.

Seeing the Giant Ape’s state change, Yulian’s expression turned serious.

"Things are getting troublesome, this ape actually has a talent for rampaging."