Chapter 1061: Judgment

Xu Yang's expression visibly darkened. "Locating them isn't difficult," he explained, "but doing so would instantly awaken all the top-tier ancient demonic beasts sleeping within Skull King Island. Even King Kong would react immediately. I'm concerned that if they're already in trouble, this approach might alert their captors. If we give them enough room to maneuver, I believe they can use their own strength to overcome the danger and hold out until we arrive."

Xu Yang's words clearly showed deeper consideration, but at that moment, no one could ascertain the current situation of Mr. and Mrs. Plancius and their companions.

Just as everyone was at a loss, the purple-eyed youth reappeared. As a retinue of Mr. and Mrs. Plancius, he had previously lost track of his masters. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Plancius had ordered him to return to Xu Yang immediately and report their safety; only after this did they encounter the mushroom-picking girl, leading to their subsequent predicament. Therefore, the purple-eyed youth had not failed in his duty. After hearing him recount the entire sequence of events, Xu Yang immediately conceived a very clever method that would both avoid his greatest concern and provide the best clues regarding the Plancius couple's whereabouts.

In fact, when Xu Yang had conquered the Eternal Demonic Tree, he hadn't completely extinguished its life force. Instead, he had preserved a demonic seed containing the soul essence of an Eternal Demonic Tree. Consequently, Xu Yang had later attempted to cultivate some very powerful demonic tree seeds, and the purple-eyed youth's soul control abilities had also significantly improved since their initial encounter. The method Xu Yang proposed involved locating the exact jungle spot where Mr. and Mrs. Plancius and the purple-eyed youth had separated.

Initially, no one understood Xu Yang's motive for this action, but everyone knew that his orders were never baseless; they were always his best judgment after careful consideration. Therefore, without further doubt, they all followed his instructions. Soon, as the team returned to the jungle location where the purple-eyed youth and Mr. and Mrs. Plancius had parted ways, Xu Yang suddenly waved his hand and grabbed a wild rabbit from deep within the jungle, bringing it before him, then presented it to the purple-eyed youth. "Now, create an illusionary space for it," Xu Yang instructed, "and let it guide us by following the scent of Mr. and Mrs. Plancius." Only then did everyone in the Glory Squad finally understand Xu Yang's true objective.

After all, while everyone present possessed formidable top-tier strength, when it came to tracking, no one could match the superior perception of the ancient indigenous species of Skull King Island. This was their innate instinct, and there was simply no comparison in terms of this natural ability. Even though this particular rabbit didn't possess significant offensive power, as a bloodline descendant of an ancient mutated species, its ability to detect scents was far beyond anyone else present. Even someone as powerful as Xu Yang was not confident he could surpass it in this regard.

As expected, once the illusion was complete, the wild rabbit with ancient bloodline and aquamarine eyes suddenly let out a shriek. Its body then swelled several times its size in a very short period, becoming as large as a wild boar. It bolted furiously in a certain direction deep within the dense forest, unaware that the path it pursued was the very one Mr. and Mrs. Plancius had taken. In less than half an hour, the Glory Squad had arrived at the last location where the Plancius couple's aura lingered.

At this spot, Xu Yang and his team were surprised to discover that there were also footprints left by Lister. "Holy cow, boss, come take a look!" someone exclaimed. "These are Lister's shoe prints! There's a circular coin emblem on them. That guy specifically showed off these leather shoes to me when he got them. I definitely can't be mistaken!"

Xu Yang, adopting the demeanor of a detective like Sherlock Holmes, quietly stroked his chin and fell into thought. "If what you say is true," he mused, "then there's one possibility for this situation: Lister's group and Mr. and Mrs. Plancius's group encountered each other, but both then ran into a very tricky situation."

More importantly, there was clearly still a path ahead, yet the rabbit stubbornly refused to take another step forward. This indicated not that it couldn't track their scent anymore, but rather that going deeper from this point was impossible for it. "If my judgment is correct," Xu Yang stated, "the end of this path should lead directly to the true core domain of Skull King Island, where King Kong slumbers." After Xu Yang shared his assessment, every member of the Glory Squad immediately gave their full approval. With a unified decision, they resolutely chose to head towards the end of the path, confronting King Kong directly.

Unexpectedly, just as Xu Yang and his team were about to move towards the end of the path, an incredibly powerful and terrifying aura suddenly erupted and spread out from that direction. The sound was like the furious roar of an abyssal beast, followed by rhythmic tremors that shook the ground repeatedly.

"Damn, if I'm not mistaken," someone gasped, "that sound must be King Kong pounding his chest! That's terrifying! Pounding your own body with such force, it's like he's trying to shatter himself!" Guglas couldn't help but draw a sharp breath. He had recently gained considerable insight into body-hardening techniques and protective martial arts, so he fully understood what it meant to strike one's body with such power. From this, it was clear just how terrifyingly powerful King Kong, the strongest purple-level peak expert among the three ocean overlords, truly was. "Regardless," Xu Yang declared, "we're already here, and this is unavoidable. Even for the sake of Plancius and the others, we must press on down this path."

With this resolve firmly set, every member of Xu Yang's Glory Squad prepared for their final battle, spreading out their formation and charging towards the end of the path. The immensely powerful aura fluctuations they unleashed repelled numerous top-tier species in the valley along the way. These were King Kong's servant guardians, positioned to watch over the outer perimeter of this central valley, right up until Xu Yang and his team reached the path's end.