Due to the suppression by the Heavenly Dao of this realm, the outlines of the Dharma Idols of the Mountain-Moving Ape and Wang Jing were not particularly towering.
The Mountain-Moving Ape's idol was more than two zhang tall, while Wang Jing's was less than one zhang.
Even so, it was already much taller than the various courtyard walls of Fulu Street.
Wang Jing felt as if his inner spiritual vision had opened; wherever the gaze of his Dharma Idol reached, he could perceive clearly, giving him a sense of towering superiority, overlooking all living beings.
Yet the town residents of Fulu Street seemed entirely unaware. This was doubtless the handiwork of Master Qi, who wished to prevent any commotion in the town that would render the situation uncontrollable.
A streak of white spiritual light enveloped the two Dharma Idols, and before long, the phantom images of the idols vanished like smoke.
The Mountain-Moving Ape instantly flew into a rage, shouting, "Qi Jingchun, the cultivation I gained in exchange for my breath and at the cost of my lifespan has been dispersed by you! Wasn't my breath wasted then, and wasn't my lifespan traded away for nothing?!"
The spring breeze remained silent, and all around was dead quiet.
"Ding! Detected that your realm is advancing too rapidly, which is unfavorable for your subsequent cultivation! Leap onto the roof to lure away the Mountain-Moving Ape, chase it mid-air, temper your physique, and rendezvous with Chen Pian'an and Ning Yao!"
Without further hesitation, Wang Jing leaped onto the roof, then moved with the momentum of a galloping horse, bounding back and forth across countless rooftops.
The Mountain-Moving Ape was so infuriated by Qi Jingchun that its state of mind was nearly unsettled, but its hatred for Wang Jing was even greater. "You little brat, still trying to run! You must die!"
Its towering body leaped forward several zhang high, leaving a shocking, wide crater in the ground of Fulu Street. Catching sight of Wang Jing's figure running far ahead in the distance, it landed heavily upon the white barrier and began its leaping pursuit!
Though Wang Jing's speed was not slow, the Mountain-Moving Ape was swift as thunder, and each of its bounds covered a massive distance.
The white light barrier followed like a shadow, protecting the residents' homes.
At this moment, Wang Jing saw Chen Pian'an in the distance making faces at him. Lowering his head, he noticed a dilapidated house that was not enveloped by the white light barrier. It was extremely crude, clearly an abandoned empty house left in disrepair for years.
Wang Jing landed lightly on the shabby eaves, and through the gaps between the tiles, he saw arrows placed vertically, exuding a chilling, cold gleam.
Wang Jing gave Chen Pian'an a thumbs-up from afar, thinking to himself: "Chen Pian'an, you sure have plenty of sneaky ideas. This house is barely enough to support my weight; if the Mountain-Moving Ape jumps up here, it's bound to be pierced right through!"
The Mountain-Moving Ape arrived in a flash. Seeing that the youth had stopped running and seemed to be waiting for him, it didn't take a genius to figure out that a trap had been laid.
The Mountain-Moving Ape sneered mockingly, "Ridiculous, foolish, clumsy!"
At that moment, the Flying Sword rushed forward with the sound of roaring thunder, thrusting straight at the Mountain-Moving Ape's undefended back. The Mountain-Moving Ape leaned backward to dodge swiftly.
Ning Yao charged forward rapidly, following up with a flying kick that struck the Mountain-Moving Ape's back, sending its body flying straight out.
Seeing the Mountain-Moving Ape flying toward him, Wang Jing leaped high, formed his hands into fists, and smashed them heavily against the ape's body! The Mountain-Moving Ape plummeted straight down, crashing through the eaves and roof before landing with a loud *boom* that kicked up a billow of dust and smoke.
Wang Jing thought to himself: "It worked! With this kind of force, the Mountain-Moving Ape must have turned into a hedgehog!"
Ning Yao also wore a look of joy; the coordination just now had been completely seamless, simply too perfect!
Wang Jing looked through the wide hole opened in the roof, wanting to check on the miserable state of the Mountain-Moving Ape.
The dust and smoke obstructed his vision, and purple spiritual energy scattered and surged inward. Wang Jing also felt a strong suction force, and he nearly lost his footing! In his heart, he cried out that things were bad: "This old thing is changing its breath again!"
"Hand over your life!"
Enveloped in purple light all over its body, the Mountain-Moving Ape flew out diagonally like a cannonball. Wang Jing failed to dodge in time and was sent flying several zhang away by a headbutt from the ape!
In the distance, Chen Pian'an wore an anxious expression. "Big Brother Wang Jing!"
Ning Yao maneuvered her Flying Sword to follow swiftly. Seeing that she was about to catch up to Wang Jing's falling body, a thought crossed her mind: "Men and women should not touch!"
She watched helplessly as Wang Jing's body slammed heavily against the barrier's wall of light.
Wang Jing struggled to his feet, coughing up a mouthful of blood as the dissatisfied voice of the Beacon No. 1 system rang out, "Ding, detected that body strength is insufficient. After this battle, retraining is required!"
If the Mountain-Moving Ape had landed that headbutt on Chen Pian'an, it probably would have punched right through him. But Wang Jing currently had the physical enhancements of a Fifth Realm Martial Artist, making his body tough, so this was not a fatal injury!
Wang Jing shook his head, feeling a bout of dizziness, then glanced at Ning Yao and curled his lips in dissatisfaction. He waved at Chen Pian'an in the distance to signal that he was unharmed!
Aboard the Flying Sword, Ning Yao said coldly, "His big brother, relying solely on combat, we cannot kill the Mountain-Moving Ape! The plan remains unchanged: lure the ape to Green Ox Ridge by the stream! Chen Pian'an said the mud there is extremely deep, which will make the ape flounder like a mud ox entering the sea. Then we will force it to change its breath and trade its lifespan!"
Seeing the murderous Mountain-Moving Ape charging toward him, Wang Jing dusted off the bits of scalp left behind by the ape's collision on his chest, and his expression turned resolute!
He was a man who repaid grudges; back when Song Jixin threw a copper coin at him, Wang Jing would hurl two taels of silver back at him, and he had even overbearingly insisted on staying the night at Song Jixin's house.
This headbutt grudge had to be returned in kind!
"You two go ahead, set up the traps, and I'll stall it a little longer!"
Ning Yao and Chen Pian'an leaped away in the direction of the stream.
It was only at this moment that Wang Jing truly understood the Mountain-Shaking Fist.
The Mountain-Moving Ape's headbutt just now had awakened him. The Mountain-Shaking Fist, as the name implied, possessed the power to shake mountains!
The opening lines of the fist manual echoed in his mind: "Future generations who practice my Mountain-Shaking Fist, even when facing the patriarchs of the Three Teachings, remember this: our fist techniques may be weak, and we may lose the contest for victory, but our fist intent—must never retreat!"
The Mountain-Moving Ape resorted to its old trick, its body spinning rapidly in mid-air to transform into a purple tornado that crashed straight toward Wang Jing.
Wang Jing followed suit. Wrapped in cyan light all over his body, he too transformed into a cyan tornado, colliding directly head-on!
"The Electric Light Poison Dragon Drill! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a headbutt for a headbutt!"
The very instant the cyan and purple "tornadoes" collided, Liu Baqiao on the hillside instinctively shrank his head back, cold sweat breaking out on his back. "Just looking at that hurts!"
Song Jixin did not quite understand; he only thought it looked rather nice and had good visual appeal.
Song Changjing touched his own head, revealing a shocking, heartbroken expression, yet he still stubbornly muttered, "That headbutt was pretty interesting!"
The cyan light and purple Qi enveloping the two figures in the air slowly drifted away, but with their heads pressed against each other, they were still rotating sluggishly, making the scene look somewhat comical.
When the two landed almost simultaneously against the barrier's wall of light, both the Mountain-Moving Ape and Wang Jing had large bumps on top of their heads, and it seemed neither had gained any advantage.
Realizing the miserable state of the crown of its head, the Mountain-Moving Ape considered it the utmost humiliation!
At this moment, feeling utterly aggrieved, it thought that had it not been for being trapped in this realm, with its physique as a Ninth Realm Martial Artist, how could it possibly have suffered the slightest injury?!
Its true height was a thousand zhang, and it could carry and leap over mountain peaks—why else was it called the Mountain-Moving-Ape? It could have drowned these mere mud-legged peasants with a single glob of spit!
The first breath change cost 5 years of lifespan, but since Qi Jingchun had interfered, it let that go, considering the cost minimal.
The second breath change cost 25 years of lifespan, which this brat had met head-on with a headbutt.
This third breath... once inhaled, it would cost a full 50 years of lifespan!
Yet to stabilize its state of mind, it had to make the change—it simply had to! If this matter were dropped here and ruined the foundation of its Great Avenue, the consequences would be utterly catastrophic and unbearable!
Even if the fourth breath cost 100 years of lifespan, and the fifth breath cost 300 years, it still had to kill them!