Chen Ping'an, Ning Yao, and Wang Jing stood in a row. A few meters apart, the Old Ape stood facing them, stretching its muscles as if still warming up.
Ning Yao said, "Big Brother Chen Ping'an, the three of us together would still have a hard time hurting this Old Ape in this place. I can see you're able to hold your own against him and trade blows back and forth! Why don't Chen Ping'an and I go ahead first to find a spot and set up some mechanisms and traps, and you lure the Old Ape over there?"
Chen Ping'an said, "Ning Yao is right. We can't take him on head-on; we have to outsmart him. I have an idea. You know that place by the small creek called Green Ox Ridge, Big Brother. In a moment, you can lure the Old Ape over there."
Wang Jing looked at Chen Ping'an and Ning Yao with an incredulous expression. "The way you two finish each other's sentences, you really look like a married couple!"
Ning Yao's cheeks turned slightly red, and Chen Ping'an was at a loss for what to do.
Swinging its fists in a wide arc, the Old Ape materialized in a flash. "Death is at the door, and you're still chattering away!"
Wang Jing bent his arms to meet the attack head-on, blocking the Old Ape's strike once more. With disaster imminent, he gritted his teeth and urged, "You two go first!"
Ning Yao commanded her Flying Sword, carrying Chen Ping'an as they quickly departed!
Wang Jing's blood vitality was completely ignited. He thought to himself, *No other choice, let's fight!*
He then exchanged several punches with the Old Ape. Fist met flesh as neither side gave an inch. Their bodies shifted and leaped, fighting from the head of the street to the tail, and then back again.
Before long, the bluestone pavement of Fulu Street was completely ruined.
Wherever their fist momentum reached, ripples spread endlessly across the surrounding white barrier of light!
"Ding! That's it, fight him! I won't interfere for now—just treat this as the Old Ape feeding you moves! Let me see the limits of your body!"
In the distance, Song Changjing rubbed his hands together. "Watching this makes my hands itch!"
"..."
However, having lived for a millennium and being a seasoned veteran of countless battles, the Mountain-Moving Ape possessed far richer combat experience!
It threw a direct punch straight at Wang Jing's undefended chest. Wang Jing raised his hands to parry, but the Old Ape swiftly dropped its stance and delivered a sweeping low kick, knocking Wang Jing to the ground. Then, with tremendous force, it unleashed a heavy punch straight at Wang Jing's head!
Using strength from his waist, Wang Jing slid backward across the ground like a loach. The Old Ape's fist slammed into the earth, leaving a three-foot-deep crater!
Perched atop a tree branch, Song Changjing gloated with a schadenfreude expression. "This young man might just force the Old Ape to take a breath!"
Song Jixin was puzzled. "What does 'taking a breath' mean?"
Song Changjing was very pleased with his nephew's question because he knew the answer, so he said with absolute confidence, "That Old Ape's cultivation is too high; even breathing during battle is weighed down by the suppression of the Heavenly Dao. Only by taking a breath can it elevate its realm, but the price is a loss of lifespan!"
Inside the Li residence, the little girl in the red padded jacket, Li Baoping, pulled Zhu Lu behind her. With a furious expression, she pointed at Tao Zi just like Master Qi would: "Why did you hit Zhu Lu?!"
Tao Zi smiled faintly, her expression mocking. "You really do look like some wealthy young lady, but let me tell you, compared to our Orthodoxy Mountain, your Li family is so insignificant that you aren't even worthy of being a maid carrying my shoes!"
Li Baoping laughed out of anger. She caught the crux of the matter: this little girl surnamed Tao felt that her Orthodoxy Mountain backing made her grand, while the Li family was just a minor household.
Li Baoping recalled what Master Qi had once said after drinking with a friend at an inn, speaking the unvarnished truth: "If someone remains stubbornly deluded, the quickest way is to beat them into submission rather than reasoning with them!"
That same intoxicated Master Qi had also raised his fist high, filled with heroic spirit, and loudly declaimed: "When fighting, use a brick! Aim for the face, don't scatter your blows! If you miss, hit again; if you hit, beat them half to death! Keep beating until they're done for!"
Li Baoping nodded heavily. "Master, I understand!"
Immediately following that, she snatched up a broom from the side and lashed out at Tao Zi...
Back on Fulu Street, Wang Jing and the Old Ape were locked in a fierce battle. As the fight dragged on, the youth Wang Jing seemed to grow braver with every clash, and his combat experience was rapidly improving.
The Old Ape noticed the anomaly. "This youth is unusual. No wonder Qi Jingchun only protects the surrounding dwellings instead of coming out to reason with them."
After trading another punch, the two retreated several meters apart.
The Old Ape praised, "Your name is Wang Jing, right? To be able to force this old man to take a breath and shorten my lifespan—consider yourself somewhat formidable, though only just a little! It reminds me of a nickname of refined elegance from your Dali nation: Genius-Killer."
Song Changjing, standing on the tree branch, almost lost his footing. Song Jixin asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Uncle?"
A flash of anger crossed Song Changjing's brow before vanishing. He patiently explained, "He was talking about my refined nickname. Although he didn't remember all of it, he was at least polite enough to remember one!"
Song Jixin asked even more confusedly, "Uncle, aren't you an iron-blooded military strategist who fought bloody battles on the battlefield? You have a refined nickname? Shouldn't it be an iron-blooded one?"
Song Changjing smiled faintly, speaking each word with arrogant pride: "I do! Building capital mounds of enemy skulls, slaying geniuses, and fighting immortals!"
Song Jixin suddenly understood. "A capital mound is a high burial mound formed by gathering enemy corpses. Genius and immortal need no explanation—they mean exactly what they sound like."
At that very moment, the Old Ape let out a long howl toward the heavens and took a deep breath, like a whale swallowing tiny shrimp! The surrounding air was frantically sucked into the Old Ape's mouth and nose, and even the beams of the barrier dimmed slightly.
Wang Jing leaned back, steadying his mind. *Call that just taking a breath?! It's practically a blood-red abyss, even more exaggerated than a mother-in-law demanding a huge bride price!*
"Ding! Fearlessness! A martial artist should be fearless; no matter the circumstances, you can only feel rage, never cowardice! Keep going and trash it!"
Purple light scorched around the Old Ape's body. It laughed heartily, the shuddering soundwaves causing Wang Jing's ears to ring slightly. It had reached the Fifth Realm Martial Artist: Xiongpo Realm and Seventh Realm Qi Refining: Guanhai Realm!
The vague silhouette of a purple fierce beast, the Mountain-Moving Ape, materialized around its body.
Fire No. 1 was extremely excited. "Ding! The Xiongpo Realm has also been unlocked for you. Try using your own Dharma Idol true form silhouette!"
Instantly, cyan spiritual energy gathered and wrapped around Wang Jing's body. The silhouette of a cyan-robed, white-faced scholar flickered into view, except this scholar wore glasses, looking somewhat out of place in the Sword Coming world. On the scholar's head was a wooden hair hairpin, carved with four archaic characters: "Requesting leave for one day"!
Wang Jing could peer into the silhouette of the Dharma Idol in his mind, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it. Fire No. 1, however, burst out laughing. "That is... truly peak perfection!"
Wang Jing frowned tightly. He knew Fire No. 1 was messing with him, but with a formidable enemy right before him, he didn't dare get distracted to converse with it.
The three people on the hillside were also dumbfounded. Although that youth's Dharma Idol looked strange and somewhat out of place, to first survive a heavenly thunder tribulation in a single day and then break through two realms in cultivation—looking across the entire Eastern Treasure Bottle Prefecture, such a person was as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Liu Baqiao collapsed to the ground, muttering to himself, "It's over, it's all over. Although I am a genius and possess the most lethal natal Flying Sword in the world, this youth's martial arts talent has far exceeded imagination!"
The high-and-mighty Chen Dui also revealed an incredulous expression. "I've heard of Liu Xianyang from the small town being exceptionally talented, but why didn't I know there was also a Wang Jing?!"
Chen Songfeng's expression remained calm and serene. He was simply watching the battle intently, with no stray thoughts in his heart.
Song Changjing wore a look of astonishment. "This youth's potential is something even I would have to avoid confronting directly?!"