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Ye Qinghe had no intention of making a move.

Long-Armed Apes were not Exotic Beasts. To ordinary people, they counted as ferocious beasts, but to martial artists, they were not much of a problem.

She wanted to slack off.

Besides, she was also a little curious about Ning Qi's current strength.

When he had first stepped onto the martial path, Ning Qi's monstrous Comprehension had still left a vivid impression on her. She felt that, with her Junior Brother's Comprehension, he should at least be at major accomplishment in the Flesh Refining Realm by now—perhaps he had even reached perfection.

With that kind of strength, dealing with a few Long-Armed Apes should be no problem.

Ning Qi met Ye Qinghe's smiling gaze and shrugged slightly.

"All right."

He had kept treating Ye Qinghe like hired muscle, which did feel a little embarrassing. Who told him the big promise he had painted just now to be so perfectly timed? Now that this chance to get Monkey Wine had delivered itself to his door, it would be unreasonable not to take it. In any case, it was just a casual matter, so he would consider it a reward for Senior Sister coming out to protect him.

Ning Qi glanced at the White Ape.

Then he walked forward unhurriedly.

The White Ape was exceptionally tactful. Its eyes lit up, and it immediately flashed behind the two of them. When it met Ye Qinghe's gaze, it even bowed repeatedly with a fawning look, only to receive an eye roll from Ye Qinghe, making it scratch its head sheepishly.

At this moment.

Seeing Ning Qi step forward, the few Long-Armed Apes bared their teeth fiercely and kept letting out low growls.

When Ning Qi took two more steps forward, one Long-Armed Ape had already raised a rock and smashed it over. It came with a wuwu roar of wind, its force heavy and its momentum fierce. All the Long-Armed Apes swarmed in to attack. These were extremely aggressive wild beasts; even if Ning Qi and Ye Qinghe did nothing, they would still be attacked.

Ning Qi tapped his foot lightly and turned his body slightly, dodging the thrown stone. His movement was carefree and graceful, making Ye Qinghe glance sideways.

But what surprised her even more came afterward. Ning Qi reached out and swept his hand in, catching the ape arm that a Long-Armed Ape smashed at him. Like the Buddha hurling an elephant, the Long-Armed Ape was instantly tossed out as light as a drifting feather.

Only, against the contrast between Ning Qi's small body and the Long-Armed Ape's size, the scene looked a little strange.

Boom! It crashed into a tree trunk with a thunderous sound.

The Long-Armed Ape wailed and could not get back up.

Ning Qi was like a tiger charging into a flock of sheep, one in each hand, Long-Armed Apes flying and crashing down throughout the mountain forest.

The White Ape watching from behind could not help shivering. This human child was so brutal.

Ning Qi's expression was calm.

With his current strength, fighting Long-Armed Apes was no different from an adult beating children.

After finishing this, Ning Qi did not pursue. Instead, his gaze turned ahead.

Ye Qinghe looked over as well, and her expression changed slightly.

A low roar rang out. A pitch-black figure approached from afar. Like a Long-Armed Ape, it stood upright like a human, but it was much more robust, its bulging muscles explosively powerful. Its arms in particular were black as iron, like great hammers.

Iron Arm Ape! This was an Exotic Beast, a variant of the Long-Armed Ape. Its strength was astonishing; a single arm had at least a thousand catties of force, and its pair of iron arms were even more tenacious. The outstanding ones among them could even fight a Bone Refinement Realm expert.

Ye Qinghe subconsciously took a step forward, but then stepped back.

A trace of curiosity entered her eyes. Ning Qi had been far too relaxed just now, and she realized that she seemed to have underestimated her Junior Brother.

She might as well use this Iron Arm Ape to see his limits, and it would be a good chance to temper his real-combat ability.

However.

Her attention was already completely focused. The moment Ning Qi proved unable to match it, she would act at once and would not let Ning Qi suffer the slightest harm.

There was also some eagerness in Ning Qi's eyes.

He had not fought many times. On the occasional occasion when his hands itched, or when he wanted to test his martial arts, he would find some ferocious beasts in True Martial to try them on, but he had yet to encounter anything at the level of an Iron Arm Ape.

The Iron Arm Ape's aura was astonishing. Its gaze was equally savage as it stared at the distant White Ape and roared. Then it let out repeated cries, signaling Ning Qi to leave its territory.

Ning Qi ignored it.

The next moment.

The Iron Arm Ape attacked without the slightest warning.

Grabbing a tree trunk, it leaped and pounced over. From high above, carrying a force of ten thousand jun, its pair of iron arms fell like great hammers, stirring up a shrill wind that made one's scalp go numb.

Ye Qinghe's expression tightened. This Iron Arm Ape was not ordinary.

The Inner Strength within her body had already begun to circulate, and she was ready to act at any moment.

Before the Iron Arm Ape, Ning Qi's young body was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, but his expression did not change.

He reached out with both hands. There was nothing flashy—just a simple guiding motion and a catch—and he took the iron arms that came smashing down into his embrace. Then, like the Hegemon King reborn, with strength that could uproot mountains, he lifted the entire Iron Arm Ape and smashed it down viciously.

Boom! The mountain forest shook, and leaves withered and fell.

"Pretty sturdy, huh?"

He smashed it again to the right. The Iron Arm Ape was completely done for. Its originally ferocious expression went straight into confusion, and it only felt as if all its Muscles and Bones were about to fall apart.

In the distance, the White Ape jolted, its fur standing on end.

Brutal!

So brutal! Ye Qinghe, meanwhile, was dumbstruck. The Inner Strength she had gathered suddenly dispersed, almost surging back and injuring her internally.

She had imagined all kinds of possibilities, but this was the one thing she had never expected. The sight of that child smashing the ape left her Doubt life, and she almost thought she was dreaming.

Was this really her four-year-old Junior Brother? Ning Qi's voice pulled her thoughts back.

"Hey, big guy. My Senior Sister wants to drink Monkey Wine. Hand over the Monkey Wine, and I'll spare you this once."

Ning Qi stood on the Iron Arm Ape's shoulder as he asked, leaving Ye Qinghe rather touched. She hadn't doted on this Junior Brother for nothing.

The Iron Arm Ape was dizzy and dazed, the muscles in its arms nearly torn apart. It looked at Ning Qi in fear, having absolutely no idea what he was saying. Exotic Beasts possessed a certain degree of intelligence, but that did not necessarily mean they understood human speech.

Seeing that Ning Qi was about to make another move, the Iron Arm Ape grew so anxious that it wailed again and again.

In the distance, the White Ape came darting over at high speed. It first bowed repeatedly to Ning Qi, then pointed at itself, then at the Iron Arm Ape. Its meaning seemed to be that it would handle the communication.

Surprise flashed in Ning Qi's eyes.

This White Ape seemed like an Exotic Beast, but its strength was pitifully weak, unable to beat even a few Long-Armed Apes. Yet if it were an ordinary wild beast, it was a little too clever, actually able to understand what he said.

He nodded slightly.

The White Ape bowed respectfully, then, while Ning Qi was not paying attention, flew up with a kick straight into the Iron Arm Ape's face.

The damage was not high, but the insult was extremely strong.

Ning Qi heard the commotion behind him and smiled.

This little White Ape was rather interesting.

The Iron Arm Ape was so furious its nose nearly went crooked, but it did not dare resist.

The White Ape stood with its chin high, hands on its hips, then chittered and shrieked in a jumble, mixing in all sorts of gestures. Ning Qi could clearly see resistance on the Iron Arm Ape's face, but in the end it slumped in defeat. When circumstances were stronger than people, losing wine was still better than losing its life.

Having completed its errand, the White Ape excitedly rolled and jumped in front of Ning Qi and Ye Qinghe.

Ning Qi smiled faintly. "Lead the way."

This Translator was really not bad.

The two of them followed the Iron Arm Ape and the White Ape into the forest.

Ye Qinghe finally had time to ask Ning Qi. Her voice was a little low, as if she were afraid of disturbing someone. "Little Nine, tell me honestly. What realm are you in now?"

Ning Qi thought for a moment, then replied, "Bone Refinement."

He did not say that he had already reached Bone Refinement Completion, afraid it would be too much of a blow to Ye Qinghe.

Bone Refinement Completion was also Bone Refinement, so that did not count as lying, right? Ye Qinghe stood there as if carved from wood.

In one year, he had stepped into the Bone Refinement Realm? What kind of peerless monster was this! Now she finally understood why their master's words had always carried the meaning that they should not ask Junior Brother too much about his martial training.

So it was not to protect Junior Brother. It was to protect them!

Ye Qinghe looked toward the innocent-faced Ning Qi with a resentful gaze.

She had been honest enough. She would never ask again!