Dance of Dragons
The Mad Ape King's roar shook the hillside, sending birds exploding from distant trees and smaller soul beasts scattering in primal terror. Twenty-two thousand years of accumulated fury found voice in that sound—a challenge, a warning, a declaration that this territory belonged to violence incarnate.
Yao Xuan felt the pressure of it even through his battle armor. This was no mere beast; this was a king, its reign built on centuries of slaughter, its body adapted to nothing but killing. The Vajra Boar leader had been formidable. This creature was something else entirely.
But fear was a luxury he couldn't afford.
"Twenty-two thousand years," he murmured, his tactical mind already calculating. "Approaching Soul Douluo equivalence. But killable."
Beside him, Gu Yue's silver eyes tracked the ape's movements with the particular focus of someone who had faced worse and survived. Her elemental senses mapped its energy distribution, identifying the dense concentrations that marked vital areas, the flowing patterns that preceded attack.
Then the ape saw them.
Its red eyes, the size of fists and burning with absolute madness, fixed on the two figures who dared enter its domain. Recognition flashed—not of who they were, but of what they represented: prey. Intruders. Targets for violence.
It roared again, then moved.
Four meters of muscle and fury launched into the air, its leap carrying it a hundred meters in a single bound. It descended like a meteor given flesh, its massive body aimed directly at the spot where Yao Xuan and Gu Yue stood, its claws extended to crush, to rend, to end.
Yao Xuan didn't move.
Beside him, Gu Yue raised her hand.
Silver light enveloped them—not the flash of combat, but the particular luminescence of spatial manipulation. The ape's descent continued, its trajectory unchanged, its target already gone.
"Boom."
The impact shook the hillside to its foundations. The ape's landing cratered the earth, sending shockwaves rippling outward in visible rings. Trees within a hundred meters shattered, their ancient wood no match for the violence of the king's arrival. Dust and debris erupted skyward, obscuring everything in a cloud of pulverized stone and vegetable matter.
Thirty meters away, silver light deposited Yao Xuan and Gu Yue on stable ground. A rock shield, formed from elemental earth in the instant of their arrival, absorbed the residual shockwaves with casual efficiency.
The ape rose from its crater, scanning for its vanished prey. Confusion flickered in its mad eyes—then redoubled fury as it spotted them, untouched, watching it with the particular calm of hunters assessing wounded game.
It charged.
Yao Xuan moved to meet it.
The five states activated in sequence, each layering upon the last with the practiced efficiency of techniques worn smooth by repetition:
"Ancestral Dragon Possession." Scales flowed across his body, nine-colored light gleaming against the ape's golden-brown fury.
"Ancestral Dragon Overlord Body." His frame expanded, muscles densifying, the dragon marks on his arms blazing with sudden radiance.
"Ancestral Dragon Transformation." The fourth blood qi circulation, ninety-four percent complete, responded to his call. His claws sharpened further, their edges acquiring the shimmer of absolute sharpness.
"Elementary Ancestral Dragon Domain." Nine-colored light erupted from him, pressing against the ape's advance, asserting dominance that the beast's instincts recognized even if its madness refused to yield.
"Battle Armor Possession." Six components materialized, settling onto his form with the satisfying certainty of parts designed for this exact moment. Belt, helmet, chest armor, pauldrons, gauntlet—they sang with his bloodline, their resonance amplifying everything he was.
Beside him, Gu Yue completed her own preparations. "Elemental Staff."
Her fourth soul ring blazed—black now, ten-thousand-year power flowing through its channels. Silver light coalesced before her, shaping into the staff that had become her signature weapon. But this staff was more than before: more ornate, more powerful, its gems gleaming with captured elemental authority.
She grasped it, and her aura surged.
"Go," she said. "I have you."
"Blessing of the Wind."
Azure light enveloped Yao Xuan, the wind element wrapping around him like a second skin. His speed increased by thirty percent, his movements becoming fluid, almost slippery—the particular grace of someone whose every step was guided by elemental favor.
He launched himself at the charging ape.
The distance closed in heartbeats. Yao Xuan's path curved around the ape's direct line of charge, his enhanced speed making him a nine-colored blur against the devastated landscape. The ape's claws swept through where he had been; he was already elsewhere, already behind it, already gathering power for his response.
"Ancestral Dragon Saint-Slaying Spear."
His third soul ring flashed—purple-black, its color deepening as his own soul spirit approached its threshold. Nine-colored power condensed in his hands, shaping itself not through effort but through will, the spear forming as naturally as breath.
It was magnificent. Two meters of coiled dragon shadows and absolute intent, its every surface gleaming with the particular light of power made manifest. Yao Xuan grasped it, and the weapon recognized him, its resonance harmonizing with his bloodline in ways that mere craftsmanship could never achieve.
The ape, recovering from its missed strike, turned to face him. Its red eyes registered the spear—registered the threat—and for the first time, something like caution flickered in their depths.
Too late.
"Ancestral Dragon Saint-Slaying Spear: Five Spears Shatter the Heavens."
The technique activated, and Yao Xuan's world narrowed to a single point: the space between his spear's tip and the ape's heart. Soul power, blood qi, spiritual force, ancestral dragon essence—all four converged, flowing through pathways worn smooth by months of practice, merging into the spear with the inevitability of rivers reaching sea.
The weapon sang. Its dragon roar was not sound but presence, pressing against the ape's consciousness with the weight of ages. Around it, phantom weapons materialized—axes and halberds, swords and spears, a thousand expressions of lethal intent that circled Yao Xuan like an honor guard of death.
He struck.
The spear's trajectory was absolute. It pierced the air, the space, the very concept of distance between him and his target. The ape's claws rose to block, its centuries of combat experience screaming that this attack could not be ignored.
The spear met claw.
Twenty-two thousand years of accumulated power against thirty-nine percent of awakened dragon legacy. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the hillside, carving new furrows in the already-devastated earth. For a moment, they held—ape and dragon, beast and legacy, locked in contest of pure force.
Then Yao Xuan pushed.
The spear found its angle. The claws parted. The tip drove forward, not through the ape's guard but past it, exploiting the opening that Gu Yue's earlier assessment had identified: high offense, moderate defense. The ape's fury had made it careless; its certainty of its own strength had left it vulnerable.
The spear's point kissed the ape's chest—not deep, not fatal, but present. A warning. A promise. A declaration that this fight would not follow the script the ape's instincts had written.
The ape roared, more fury now than pain. Its claws swept again, faster than anything its size should manage, and Yao Xuan was already moving, Ancestral Dragon Soars carrying him clear of the counterstroke.
He landed twenty meters away, spear still gleaming, breath controlled, readiness absolute. Behind him, Gu Yue's elemental senses tracked the ape's every movement, her next attack already forming.
The king turned to face them both, its red eyes burning with something new: not just madness, but recognition. These were not prey. These were hunters. And if it wanted to survive, it would have to become prey in turn.
The dance began.<｜end▁of▁thinking｜>Chapter 328: The Mad Ape King's Fury, Gu Yue Enters the Fray (Seeking Monthly Tickets at the End of the Month)
In mid-air, the shadow of a colossal ape descended, like a moving hill, unleashing an immensely powerful and terrifying force that pressed down on Yao Xuan, seemingly intending to crush him into a meat patty.
However, Yao Xuan was not someone to be trifled with. He activated his "Ancestral Dragon Shattering Step," his body twisting in mid-air like a nimble swallow, easily dodging the Mad Ape King's attack. Then
, before the Mad Ape King could land and steady itself, Yao Xuan's figure flickered and instantly appeared above its head.
Then, with his right hand clutching the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear, Yao Xuan flipped his wrist and fiercely stabbed downwards, aiming the tip of the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear at the Mad Ape King's skull.
Sensing a fatal threat from above, the Mad Ape King instinctively raised its arms to protect its head.
"Clang!"
With a clashing sound of metal striking metal, the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear stabbed into the Mad Ape King's arms, its sharpness and power fully unleashed.
Even though the Mad Ape King possessed twenty-two thousand years of cultivation, its defensive power was relatively average. Under the fierce attack of Yao Xuan's Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear, its arms were instantly pierced through, creating two horrifying holes.
At the same time, intense pain came from its arm, stimulating the Mad Ape King's nerves and making it even more frenzied. Its
huge eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and then it roared at Yao Xuan, seemingly wanting to tear him to pieces.
Then, it swung its muscular arms, claws bared, slashing towards Yao Xuan in mid-air.
Facing the slashing claws, Yao Xuan had no intention of engaging head-on. He simply withdrew his Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear, tapped the Mad Ape King's arms with his toes, and leaped backward, retreating.
As Yao Xuan retreated, the Mad Ape King wanted to pursue and kill him, but Gu Yue wouldn't allow it.
She gently raised the Elemental Staff, and the elements instantly converged, forming multiple streams of elements that bombarded the Mad Ape King.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Accompanied by a series of violent explosions, the various elements directly hit the Mad Ape King's body, the terrifying power of the elements continuously exploding on its surface.
Under the onslaught of so many elements, even the Mad Ape King, with its twenty-two thousand years of cultivation, felt great pain, and its body suffered further damage.
If it weren't for its high elemental resistance, it would have been even more severely injured. However, despite its resistance, it wasn't immune.
Under Gu Yue's attack, the Mad Ape King's body was covered in wounds, blackened from the blasts, and it howled incessantly in agony. Its eyes grew even redder with madness, and its target shifted from Yao Xuan to Gu Yue.
A moment later.
The Mad Ape King endured the pain, leaped high, and rushed towards Gu Yue, trying to tear her apart with its claws.
However, Gu Yue was not to be trifled with. Her eyes flashed with silver light, and spatial elements twisted, instantly teleporting her away.
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The Mad Ape King pounced on empty air, its body once again crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
At that moment, Yao Xuan's attack had already arrived. He held the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear, once again unleashing "Five Spears Piercing the Sky," and fiercely stabbed towards the Mad Ape King's back.
"Pfft!"
With a sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh, the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear directly pierced the Mad Ape King's back, tearing a huge, gruesome wound, with fresh blood gushing out.
This time, the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear's attack was much more effective than the last one, causing the Mad Ape King to wail in agony.
Immediately, the Mad Ape King, now even more enraged, lashed out wildly. Its clawed arms swung indiscriminately around it, and countless trees were shattered by its frenzied attacks.
Sensing the Mad Ape King's fury, Yao Xuan wisely chose to retreat, quickly withdrawing the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear and using his movement technique to rapidly escape the Mad Ape King's attack range.
In the distance, Gu Yue, seeing Yao Xuan in danger, hurriedly unleashed the "Elemental Fusion Storm" and bombarded the Mad Ape King.
As expected, Gu Yue's elemental fusion storm was powerful enough to severely injure even the King Kong Boar leader, so it could certainly harm the Mad Ape King.
Within the storm, the Mad Ape King's body was ravaged by countless elements, covered in wounds, and it was in excruciating pain. In
this state, the Mad Ape King completely went berserk, its eyes turning bloodshot, and it unleashed a "Frenzy Roar."
"Roar!"
The powerful shockwave spread outwards in an instant, causing the surrounding space to tremble violently and directly shattering Gu Yue's elemental fusion storm.
Then, the Mad Ape King leaped high, and with its berserk body, it pounced towards Gu Yue with overwhelming force.
Feeling the terrifying aura of the berserk Mad Ape King, Gu Yue's expression grew incredibly grave, and she hurriedly prepared to teleport away.
However, the berserk Mad Ape King was too fast, and before Gu Yue could teleport, it had already arrived before her, its massive claw tearing through the void towards her.
If it hit, even with Gu Yue's protective battle armor, she would inevitably be severely injured.
"Gu Yue, be careful!"
At the critical moment, Yao Xuan arrived, his right hand holding the Ancestral Dragon God-Slaying Spear as he rushed towards the Mad Ape King. He could no longer care about anything else.