Song Jixin sat atop a tall tree branch, his face a picture of shock and incomprehension. He looked toward the towering figure of Song Changjing beside him and asked, "Uncle, that bolt of lightning just now—could it be that even the Heavens are helping them?!"
Song Changjing’s expression was solemn. In truth, he understood the situation no more than anyone else. As a pure martial artist of the peak Ninth Realm, the foremost martial figure in the Dali Dynasty, and a supremely powerful, noble feudal prince, he spoke:
"During the three training realms of the body, breaking through invites a tribulation known as 'the mud bodhisattva crossing the river.' But for that boy's tribulation to actually manifest as heavenly lightning—and two bolts at that—is simply unheard of!"
Song Jixin pressed on, "Wang Jing got struck by lightning and didn't die, but instead killed that boy. Does that mean he'll become exceptionally powerful from now on?!"
Song Changjing let out a proud, haughty laugh. "Powerful?! What do you mean by powerful? If not for the suppression of this realm and domain, I could crush Qi Jingchun with a single hand. *That* is what you call powerful!"
Song Jixin wore a look that was half-understanding and half-baffled. With a smirk, he asked, "Uncle, by that logic, can you use both hands to crush two Master Qis at once?!"
Song Changjing gave a light cough, realizing he had boasted a bit too grandly, and smiled awkwardly. "Well, of course... naturally..."
Ruan Xiu, who hovered in mid-air driving the wind with her long hair tied in a ponytail, wore a face dark as thunder. She looked toward the dashing and heroic flying sword maiden, Ning Yao, her clear eyes shifting as if silently asking: "Maiden, do you know what was going on just now?!"
The shrewd Ning Yao shook her head like a rattle-drum, thinking to herself: *Could this older brother of Chen Ping'an actually be a chosen son of heaven whose words become reality?! But that bolt of lightning came far too unexpectedly, far too opportunistically.*
The three individuals on the hillside all dropped their jaws in astonishment!
Liu Baqiao was chewing on a pastry in his mouth, and with a somewhat provocative tone, he called out, "Chen Dui, aren't you hailed as the number one clan of the Southern Pasa Continent, the renowned Yingyin Chen clan? Do you know what's going on here?"
The female cultivator Chen Dui crossed her arms with her sword held against her chest. Her temperament was cool and aloof, and she offered no reply.
Beside her stood Chen Songfeng, a scion of the Chen clan of the Dayong Dynasty in the East Treasured Bottle Continent. He remained utterly silent; his realm was too low, and he could not discern a single clue from the proceedings...
Liu Baqiao stood with a crooked posture, swallowing the pastry in his mouth in a single gulp while his eyes rolled wildly. He thought to himself: *Let's see how things play out for Wang Jing later and talk then. A blood feud has been forged—who would have thought Liu Xianyang had such a brother?!*
Seeing the little boy in the red robe kick the bucket, Beacon No. 1 let out a celebratory punch!
Noticing that the Xu family of Clearwind City had already suffered a shattered Dao heart and even lost their wits, it delivered a cold taunt with a final, vicious twist of the knife: "What's the big deal about losing a son? If worse comes to worst, you can just make a new one with Old Master Lu!"
Old Master Lu was silent out of fear, while the Xu clan member of Clearwind City remained completely oblivious, merely cradling her son's ashes and murmuring to herself, "Son, my son, it was this mother's fault. I spoiled you and ruined you..."
Chen Ping'an wore an expression of unbearable pity and said to Wang Jing, "Big Brother, let's forget it. We need to find that old ape..."
Wang Jing nodded and ceased bickering with the Xu clan of Clearwind City. He then pointed at Old Master Lu. "Tell me the location of the Mountain-Moving Ape, and our grievances will be settled once and for all..."
Old Master Lu panicked, trembling as he spoke, "Replying to the great lord Wang, they are at the Li residence on Fortune-Prosperity Street..."
Wang Jing nodded. He seemed on the verge of speaking further, but ultimately left it unsaid. "I'll call you Old Master Lu one last time... Take good care of yourself from now on..."
No sooner had the two of them stepped out of the Lu residence's doorway than they saw the sturdy, burly figure of the Mountain-Moving Ape standing upright right in the middle of Fortune-Prosperity Street.
The old ape wore a look of utter disdain, its voice booming like a great bell: "Are you two the ones looking for old me?!"
Yuan Zhenye, the Mountain-Moving Ape—possessing the physique of a Ninth Realm Martial Artist and the cultivation of a Tenth Realm Nascent Soul Realm Qi Refiner—was a top-tier figure even when looking across the entire East Treasured Bottle Continent. He was not someone to be compared to the likes of the Xu family of Clearwind City, Cai Jinjian of Cloudglow Mountain, or Fu Nanhu of Old Dragon City.
Moreover, as an ancient beast of the primordial wilderness, the sheer might of his physique was unimaginable.
At that moment, white barrier light-walls rose up from the ground on all four sides, completely enclosing the buildings on both sides of Fortune-Prosperity Street.
The old ape looked up at the sky and declared angrily, "Qi Jingchun, instead of protecting those two youths, you protect the surrounding dwellings—are you looking down on me? But fine, it seems you tacitly permit me to beat these two to death!"
The imposing aura around the old ape suddenly erupted. The suppression of this realm and domain was immense, and because his cultivation was so high, the suppression upon him was all the greater!
For now, he was at the peak of the Fourth Realm Martial Artist: Heroic Soul Realm, and the Fifth Realm Casting Furnace Realm as a Qi Refiner!
The tall, burly old ape loosened his joints and strode straight toward the two of them. His body popped and crackled with every step, murder gleaming in his eyes, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure: "Watching you undergo your heavenly lightning tribulation earlier truly made old me's hands itch with eagerness; it gave me a faint taste of the pleasure of fighting in blood and slaughtering across battlefields!"
Although the surrounding houses were protected by the white-light barrier, they began to tremble violently, the creaking sounds of shaking endless and unceasing...
Wang Jing was awed by the old ape's imposing aura and swallowed hard. *What the hell, Shaq's body combined with Kobe Bryant's agility?!*
Chen Ping'an shoved Wang Jing behind him, his gaze fearless as he cursed furiously, "Old Ape, go screw your mother!"
The old ape's ears twitched slightly. There was the sound of a blade cleaving the air!
A flying sword stabbed straight toward the old ape's back—it was Ning Yao who had made her move, worried for Chen Ping'an's safety.
Ruan Xiu, hovering aloft in the wind, was not to be outdone. Flames enveloped her entire body, condensing into the shape of a fire dragon, ready to burst forth at any moment! Yet she was yanked back sharply by a pair of massive hands and vanished from sight altogether.
Ruan Xiu was dragged back to the Yang Family Pharmacy, and Ruan Qiong raged, "Xiuxiu! You gave your word that you would only watch and not interfere!"
Ruan Xiu wore a look of anger and reluctance, tears streaming down her cheeks, crystalline and clear...
The old ape spun around with nimble speed and lashed out with a heavy punch, batting the flying sword far away!
Chen Ping'an pulled out several shards of broken porcelain from his bosom, gathered them in his palm, and swept his hand forward in a throw. The old ape purposely chose not to dodge, simply raising an arm to block; yet the porcelain shards appeared incomparably sharp, actually piercing through his heavy armor straight into his flesh, instantly sending a spray of blood everywhere!
Inside the Li residence on Fortune-Prosperity Street, a little girl named Tao Zi—granddaughter of the Patriarch Tao Kui of the Sustaining Sun Mountain, whom the old ape was called "Grandpa Yuan"—was currently delivering a series of slaps to the maidservant Zhu Lu!
The young bondmaiden Zhu Lu bowed her head to receive the slaps without dodging. The small palms struck her face, one after another; though her face burned with a stinging pain, she thought bitterly to herself in her heart: *For the sake of Second Master Li Baozhen, I must prioritize the bigger picture!*
"Stop right there!" Li Baoping, the little girl in the red cotton-padded jacket, disregarded everyone's dissuasion and rushed over angrily to stop Tao Zi.
Tao Zi had already found bullying the "wooden block" uninteresting, and upon seeing Li Baoping, who was roughly her own age, a spark of interest arose.
Out on Fortune-Prosperity Street, the old ape flicked the six porcelain shards off its right arm one by one, sneering with contempt: "Mudlegs will always be mudlegs, you don't even have a decent weapon?!"
Ning Yao leaped down from above, her flying sword circling around the three of them. "Chen Ping'an, Wang Jing, you are no match for this old ape. He's a hundred times more formidable than those other outsiders!"
Hearing the flying maiden's remarkably knowledgeable words, the old ape grew interested. To be able to wield a flying sword within this pocket-dimension absolute-domain meant her origins were clearly not small.
Yet, catching sight of the short saber she wore at her waist, the old ape immediately shook its head and expressed its dissatisfaction: "Learning the sword and wearing a saber as well—what a hodgepodge monstrosity!"
Ning Yao knitted her delicate eyebrows like a knight errant wielding a blade and snapped back, "A monkey dressed in human clothes, utterly shallow in knowledge!"
The old ape could no longer conceal its fury. Though it was of the Demon Race, it had been rescued by Sustaining Sun Mountain in its youth and had lived for a thousand years; it was already well-versed in all manner of dialects and classical expressions across the vast Haoran Continent. How could it fail to understand the maiden's taunt?!
A mere eight characters: a monkey dressed in human clothes—even if you monkey yourself up to look like a person, you are still nothing more than an animal!
The curse was filthier than anything, striking straight at the old ape's sore spot!
The old ape leaped high into the air, its fist—as thick as a water barrel—hurtling down like a massive boulder!
Knowing she couldn't take the blow head-on, Ning Yao grabbed Chen Ping'an and flew backward to dodge. She had clearly forgotten that there was still Chen Ping'an's older brother, Wang Jing, standing behind them!
Wang Jing cursed inwardly at his bad luck, intending to leap out of the way as well, but the system Beacon No. 1 within his body locked his legs down tight, rendering him completely immobile. *"Ding! Take this punch head-on! You're both in the Fourth Realm, what the hell are you afraid of? When practicing boxing, one must first forge one's courage!"*
The patterns all over Wang Jing's body instantly crystallized with the precision of carved inscriptions; the physical strength of the three body-training realms combined with the tempering of heavenly lightning was already a far cry from before.
Moreover, having reached the Heroic Soul Realm, his mental strength and willpower had grown even more formidable, already possessing the rudimentary form of a martial soul avatar!
Wang Jing swiftly lashed out with a punch. The two fists collided with neither side giving an inch, sending shockwaves of white ripples bursting outward in all directions!
In the distance, Song Changjing cheered aloud, "Good! Just like that! This youth has quite a bit of the demeanor I had when I was practicing boxing back then. Fight forward with all your might—even if you know you are outmatched, you must press on with an indomitable will!"
Song Jixin wore a dark expression, thinking to himself: *My uncle really loves gilding his own face...*
On the hillside, Liu Baqiao clapped in approval, but as he clapped, his expression turned worried. *This youth has been going door to door seeking revenge. If he really beats the old ape, I suppose my place will be next in line!*
Ning Yao looked astonished and asked Chen Ping'an, "What kind of background does this older brother of yours have? Which immortal sect or mountain gate does he hail from?"
Chen Ping'an replied, "We used to work together at the dragon kiln. Big Brother Wang Jing already had a tremendous amount of strength back then!"
Ning Yao rolled her eyes. "You really are a wooden block. No matter how much strength you have, can it surpass that of the Mountain-Moving Ape?! This big brother of yours is freakish!"
Chen Ping'an scratched his head. "My big brother was the one who taught me the Mountain-Shaking Fist from the very beginning. The name is identical to the one Gu Can left behind."
Ning Yao muttered to herself, "Mountain-Shaking Fist, Gu... Gu... Oh whatever, I can't remember..."
The two of them did not withdraw their punches; instead, fist pressed against fist as they remained locked in a contest of strength. Cracks spread densely across the bluestone slab road beneath their feet, a shocking sight to behold!
Wang Jing lashed out with a vicious kick, aiming straight for the old ape's crotch. He thought to himself: *Eat my lineage-ending kick!*
The old ape didn't bother to dodge, and Wang Jing's heavy kick felt as though he had struck a sheet of steel!
"Little fellow, although I cannot use my full strength, the toughness of my physique has long since surpassed your imagination!"
Feeling the pain in his leg, Wang Jing scoffed derisively, "My ass! I saw Chen Ping'an use porcelain shards to break your arm. The hardness in your crotch is clearly because you're wearing iron-plated underwear!"
The Mountain-Moving Ape's weathered face flushed red. "You actually saw through it!"
Ning Yao leaped up into the air, wielding her short saber to slash at the old ape's head. The old ape kicked Wang Jing away with one leg and batted the blade of the short saber aside with a sweep of its hand.
Chen Ping'an rapidly tossed several pebbles wreathed in the sound of whistling wind, following one after another!
The old ape did not dodge, allowing the stones to strike its body. Amidst a few muffled thuds, the pebbles shattered and disintegrated, stone dust flying into the air. "A bunch of petty, despicable flies—nothing more than cheap parlor tricks!"