Monkey Against Python

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Gu Sheng was searching for traces of Iron-Arm Apes in Iron Arm Ape Mountain when he suddenly heard the sound of rushing wind. In the distance, four or five fiery-red figures clung to branches, their bodies swaying as they flitted through the mountain forest.

Gu Chen took a close look. Those five fiery-red figures were five ape-like animals, their bodies covered in crimson fur, with blue pupils and a pair of incredibly long arms and claws. Their long arms were even longer than their legs, and no less thick than their thighs. Their strength was beyond doubt.

Gu Sheng thought, Books have recorded that an Iron-Arm Ape's forearms and claws are its most dangerous weapons. Those arms possess boundless strength and can easily tear ferocious beasts apart.

Gu Sheng's gaze shifted to the Iron-Arm Apes' pair of "iron arms." Those arms looked as if they had been forged from divine weapons, impervious to blades and spears. Their sharpest weapons were their claws, which could easily crush boulders. Any Iron-Arm Ape possessed a strength of one hundred thousand jin, making its combat power even more frightening than that of an ordinary Earth Ranking expert.

"Yaa!"

One Iron-Arm Ape suddenly let out a strange cry. Gu Sheng, who had been following behind, hastily flashed up into a large tree and hid himself.

Gu Sheng's current strength was only Second-Rate, and he possessed no more than five or six thousand jin of force. Any adult Iron-Arm Ape had the strength of more than a dozen men like him. If he encountered one head-on, the result would probably be "tearing the devils apart by hand." He had no desire to become the "devil" being torn apart.

"Yaa!"

"Yaa yaa!"

"Yaa~~~"

Several more strange cries rang out from the Iron-Arm Apes. They seemed to have discovered something, and their cries were filled with undisguisable terror.

"Hiss! Hiss-hiss! Hiss-hiss~~~"

Amid a rustling sound accompanied by low hissing, Gu Sheng looked ahead of the Iron-Arm Apes. A jade-green python's head suddenly appeared before them. Its shattered-gold vertical pupils sized up the five little monkeys that often hunted members of its kind.

The lush grass suddenly stirred. As the giant python moved, its enormous body emerged from its camouflage. Its body was as thick as a barrel and nearly ten zhang long. It looked terrifying from a distance.

"Verdant Python! It's so long—it's almost transformed into a Jade Azure Serpent!"

Gu Sheng's pupils contracted. The Demon Beast Verdant Python was not considered particularly strong among Demon Beasts. A Verdant Python three or four zhang long might not necessarily defeat an Iron-Arm Ape one-on-one. If three Iron-Arm Apes surrounded it, they might even take it down without suffering any losses.

"If I remember correctly, when Teng Qingshan arrived, he encountered three Iron-Arm Apes hunting a Verdant Python."

A glint flashed through Gu Sheng's eyes. "The original story mentioned that Iron-Arm Apes lived in groups. There were one hundred thousand of these Demon Beasts throughout Iron Arm Ape Mountain, and hunting in groups of three or five seemed to be their habit.

"There is a Verdant Python here that has grown this large, and the original story also mentioned a smaller Verdant Python. With more than two Verdant Pythons appearing in the same environment, perhaps Iron Arm Ape Mountain is also a habitat of Verdant Pythons. If that's the case..."

Countless thoughts flashed through Gu Sheng's mind. He faintly formed an idea.

"Hiss~~"

The Verdant Python's massive body suddenly contracted and coiled together. Its raised head hissed as it reached toward the five Iron-Arm Apes. It seemed quite pleased with this meal delivered to its door and was preparing to bite.

"Yaa!"

"Yaa yaa yaa yaa!"

"Yaa yaa yaa~~~"

The Iron-Arm Apes cried out strangely and skillfully split apart, surrounding the Verdant Python while baring their teeth and warning it that they were not to be trifled with. Living in Iron Arm Ape Mountain as its overlords, they were not hunting Verdant Pythons for the first time.

However, their luck was clearly poor this time. They had encountered a huge one and had changed from hunters into prey.

A Verdant Python's strength increased slowly with time. Having grown nearly ten zhang long, this Verdant Python could already be considered a Xiantian Demon Beast. Unless an Iron-Arm Ape leader had undergone a transformation and grown silver fur, ordinary Iron-Arm Apes were merely snacks to it and would cost it little effort.

Once it transformed again into a three-chi-long Jade Azure Serpent, its body would be small, but its flesh would be as tough as a divine weapon, fully capable of serving as a weapon to kill people! Moreover, the Jade Azure Serpent possessed deadly poison. Its venom was so fierce that even the Golden-Eyed Silver-Body Ape King in the Iron-Arm Ape cave might not be able to withstand it.

"Yaa yaa yaa yaa!"

The five Iron-Arm Apes cried and communicated with one another. Then, three of them faced the Verdant Python in a triangular formation, crying out strangely, while the other two turned and leaped a short distance away, each wrapping its arms around a large tree as thick as an adult's waist.

"Crack!"

Their sharp, knife-like claws slashed fiercely across the trees, slicing through them as easily as cutting tofu.

Whoosh!

The two Iron-Arm Apes hugged the sturdy trees and shouted, "Yaa!" before suddenly smashing them toward the Verdant Python.

"Bang! Bang!"

Just as the trees neared the python's body, a green blur flashed. It blocked the two flying trees.

Gu Sheng took a close look and saw that it was the Verdant Python's waist-thick tail. Like a steel whip, it swung up and down before swiftly lashing downward.

"Yaa~~~"

Before the shrill cry could finish, it abruptly stopped. An Iron-Arm Ape had already been wrapped into the air by the python's tail, and in an instant, it went still.

Boom! Boom!

The two trees crashed to the ground. The other two Iron-Arm Apes had already found a chance to dodge away. The four Iron-Arm Apes gathered together, each holding a tree.

"Yaa yaa!" They cried out strangely as they watched their companion being carried by the python's tail toward its jaws. Their cries were filled with urgency and fear.

"Roar~"

The Verdant Python let out a strange cry at the Iron-Arm Apes before it. As it hissed, it spat out a mouthful of green liquid onto the Iron-Arm Ape wrapped in its tail.

"Yaa~~~~"

The Iron-Arm Ape, which had already fainted, let out an instinctive cry. Amid the sizzling sounds, its tough outer hide seemed to corrode, and wisps of white smoke continuously rose from it. The Iron-Arm Ape soon became a bloody mess.

In the next moment, the Verdant Python seemed to feel that it had softened enough to eat. It opened its jaws and swallowed the lifeless Iron-Arm Ape whole. The Iron-Arm Apes that witnessed everything cried out, "Yaa yaa!" without stopping, but not one dared to attack or flee while it was eating.

The Iron-Arm Apes understood very well that they were no match for such a massive creature. As for fleeing, the Verdant Python was not slow. Turning their backs on their opponent would mean that they would be caught and killed after only a few steps.

It would need to do nothing more than pounce after them and spit a mouthful of venom at each one. The fleeing Iron-Arm Apes would not have time to react, and most would not escape the venom's range.

Thus, their only hope of survival was to defend together instead of being picked off one by one as they had been just now.

"Yaa!"

Just as the Verdant Python was about to swallow the Iron-Arm Ape in its mouth, the Iron-Arm Ape that had been watching helplessly suddenly moved. The two Iron-Arm Apes at the front simultaneously hurled their trees forward.

The other two, even larger trees, were swung by the two Iron-Arm Apes behind them toward the Verdant Python's vertical pupils.