Chapter 1010: Each Has Its Successor

The stone python was originally meant to constrict Zhu Erniang, but the Demon Ape took the blow instead.

With its arms bound, the Demon Ape twisted two massive hands from behind its back, its joints simultaneously reversing. As the stone python lunged at the Demon Ape's head and face, the ape seized the opportunity to grab its upper and lower jaws and ripped them violently apart!

A python's mouth can open up to two hundred degrees, but it couldn't withstand such an attack. Unable to hold on, its lower jaw was ripped off.

The giant ape reached deep into the python's throat and rummaged around. Its bronze gauntlet transformed into sharp claws, and it suddenly grabbed something and pulled it out.

It was the pale green Heart of the Mountain!

Without its core, the giant python couldn't even maintain its shape and instantly dissolved into a pile of rubble. The giant ape wiped the Heart of the Mountain a few times before stowing it away somewhere unknown.

Faced with such an agile and powerful enemy, the stone python was completely outmatched. However, after Dong Rui retrieved this ape from Rong Mountain, he had meticulously prepared and upgraded it.

Some of the precious herbs and materials He Lingchuan had sourced for him were fed to the Demon Ape, enabling it to withstand the night's battle.

In this brief delay, two Beijia mages' spells had already arrived, striking the giant ape's eyes with heavy blows.

Although protected by a helmet, it was still left bruised and swollen, infuriating it.

With the stone python shattered, the Demon Ape pulled out a gigantic orichalcum staff from somewhere and delivered two direct, smashing blows.

The strikes were swift, violent, and precise.

The staff was two *zhang* long, almost twice the Demon Ape's height. It was adorned with dark gold patterns and lacked any additional head—nor did it need one. Due to its unique material, it weighed an astonishing 880 *jin*, capable of flattening anyone with a single strike.

Yet, the Demon Ape wielded it with ease, swinging it with formidable power.

When it suddenly revealed such a formidable weapon, even Zhu Erniang was startled.

This was the weapon He Lingchuan had bought from Platinum Island and given to the Demon Ape. It was originally a favored weapon of the East Sea giants; how could any ordinary person possibly wield it?

Precisely because of its impracticality for ordinary use, the price was remarkably low.

The Demon Ape adored it as soon as it acquired it. Even binding with this magical artifact was effortless, as if the patterned gold staff had been tailor-made for it.

This large ape actually fought with considerable skill, not just brute strength. After all, it possessed the bloodline of Beijia's martial general families, a natural lineage.

However, Dong Rui hadn't recognized this potential. It was only when the Demon Ape watched Qiu Hu practicing staff techniques, felt an urge to try, and exchanged a few moves with him, that He Lingchuan began to take notice.

The two Beijia individuals were extremely agile, executing a pre-emptive flash jump. Instead, it was the sorcerer who had summoned the stone python who was swept by the staff's wind, flung directly against the stone wall, coughing up a liter of blood.

While the two were still in mid-air, the Demon Ape turned its head and spat a mouthful of flames at them.

This was a new innate divine ability, one it hadn't possessed during its last fight with He Lingchuan. The flames were an eerie greenish-white, primarily characterized by their stickiness. Once they adhered to a living creature, they would burn skin and melt bones until nothing but ash remained.

This type of flame could penetrate protective aura. The two, after being struck, rolled on the ground, howling in unbearable pain.

Rain was falling from the sky, but the water had no effect on the greenish flames.

To be fair, the Beijia squad's average strength was quite formidable, at least elite level. Had they surrounded Zhu Erniang, they could have certainly put her in a difficult position. But once the incredibly powerful giant ape joined the battle, wielding its massive staff and leaping and sweeping erratically, it truly sent everyone scrambling across the field, completely shattering their established battle formations.

Their personnel and divine ability configurations were not designed to contend with such a brute!

The worst part was that there were several Erniangs scattered across the field, none of them idle, leaving the Beijia forces utterly bewildered.

Which one was real, and which one was an illusion?

The terrain on this mountaintop was narrow, with insufficient space for maneuvering. In the blink of an eye, another Beijia individual was struck down.

Meanwhile, on Ye Qing's side, the battle also continued.

He was being dragged by spider silk. When he looked up and saw another "Zhu Erniang," he immediately threw three round objects onto the ground and shouted, "Welcome the descent of the Honored Lord of Wood Constellation!"

These were three dry, yellowish plant orbs, resembling embryonic chrysanthemums, each with a red string tied at the bottom. The ground was already wet with rain. As soon as the orbs touched the water, their tightly closed chrysanthemum petals immediately opened, and their color instantly changed from dull yellow to vibrant green!

With a soft "whoosh," the three small orbs vanished, and something flashed through the air.

Immediately afterward, Ye Qing felt a lightness in his nape; the spider silk had been severed with a single strike.

The "Zhu Erniang" on the large rock was also attacked by a green shadow. The scene was particularly eerie, as if an entire curtain had been slashed open...

Ye Qing took a closer look and was instantly enraged:

What stood on the rock was not "Zhu Erniang" at all, but two horse-sized elite cave spiders!

It was they who had just shot the spider silk, forcibly dragging Ye Qing.

However, under the Mirage Demon's illusionary spell, everyone perceived them as Zhu Erniang, causing immediate panic and disarray.

These two spider demons, struck by the green shadows, instantly collapsed.

"It's just an illusion!" Ye Qing's mind settled. He pointed at the Demon Ape and Zhu Erniang in the field and declared, "I request the Honored Lord to act and apprehend these two criminals!"

Three green shadows darted over, so fast they left afterimages in the air. An ordinary person wouldn't even blink, completely unable to detect their presence. Zhu Erniang struggled to focus before she could pinpoint these greenish little entities.

They turned out to be three unremarkable wooden figures, only a little over half a person tall, each with a small tuft of green leaves on its head and a red headband tied around its forehead.

But Zhu Erniang was startled when she heard Ye Qing call out "Honored Lord of Wood Constellation": "No good! Retreat!"

It leaped backward, its house-sized body suddenly shrinking to the size of a horse, and immediately afterward, a green shadow darted past above it.

Zhu Erniang spat an attack at it, but the entity maneuvered and accelerated in the air, effortlessly dodging.

The Demon Ape also sensed something attacking. Such a small target couldn't be hit with its massive staff, so it simply swatted at it with an open palm.

*Thwack!* It connected.

The green shadow was smacked ten *zhang* away, but the Demon Ape clutched its palm, letting out a howl of pain.

A hole had been gouged into its palm, and blood flowed continuously.

The Demon Ape had tough skin and thick flesh; its palm wouldn't even be injured by grabbing iron spikes. Yet, it had almost been pierced through by some unknown entity.

Zhu Erniang's voice finally reached it: "Don't use your hands to catch it!"

"Hmph?!" A bit late to mention it!

"The more you're injured, the stronger it becomes!" Zhu Erniang quickly explained, "Don't get hit by it again!"

As if to confirm her words, the green shadow that had damaged the Demon Ape's palm instantly grew larger, reaching a person's chest height.

The Demon Ape bared its teeth, thinking, *Easy for you to say. How about you try dodging something faster than a sleeve arrow?*

"The true form of the Honored Lord of Wood Constellation is the Nine-Death Resurrecting Grass!" Zhu Erniang quickly explained, "It hasn't arrived in person; these are its clones. Don't get hit again!"

The Nine-Death Resurrecting Grass is a peculiar spirit herb that, under the harshest conditions, naturally withers, drifts away with the wind, and then re-roots and grows in fertile soil.