Defeat

Blade shadows layered upon each other, then converged to a single point.

"Sssss—"

Guen actually sliced along the Vajra Ape's muscle, cutting into it and even leaving a wound on the ape's bone. Though difficult, he still managed to cut through.

"Roar!" The Vajra Ape completely ignored Del, fixing its gaze solely on Guen.

"Unbelievable. That Green Shadow Demon Snake's defense isn't much worse than the Vajra Ape's—one's Apprentice Level, the other's Planetary Level." Guen pulled his blade back and retreated, muttering to himself.

Along the way, his understanding of the Flame Slash techniques had deepened, and their power had grown somewhat, but killing the Green Shadow Demon Snake with a single slash was still far from possible.

Beasts also possessed intelligence.

Though they couldn't speak human language, grasping Guen's meaning wasn't hard.

This human before it actually dared to compare it to a non-Super Tier magic beast. The Vajra Ape naturally felt insulted.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Vajra Ape unleashed its full power, turning into a blur of afterimages. Its speed was so great that within human sight, its trajectory was impossible to track.

"Bang."

Guen was struck, punched deep into the ground by the Vajra Ape.

The Vajra Ape raised its fist, larger than a boulder, high into the air, then slammed it down with crushing force.

"Watch out!"

Del rushed toward Guen, shouting a warning at the top of his lungs.

But it was too late. The Vajra Ape's movement speed alone surpassed the speed of sound, let alone its full-powered strike. The warning was useless—just Del's own futile comfort.

"Thud!"

The ground shook, and Del's face turned pale.

If he had taken that punch, even protected by the Flame God Armor, he would have coughed blood.

"Take another slash from me!"

Suddenly a figure burst out from the earth, slashing at the Vajra Ape's ankle and leaving a massive wound. The Vajra Ape repeated its tactic, using speed to smash Guen back underground.

Only then did the sound reach Del's ears.

Guen erupted from the ground again, but the Vajra Ape had anticipated it and dodged to the side.

"You Vajra Ape—not so 'vajra' at all, but you sure run fast." Guen had swung with all his might but missed, so he taunted the ape instead. He knew it understood his words.

Sure enough, the Vajra Ape let out a sky-shaking roar, using its speed advantage to attack Guen again and again. Guen barely managed to land a hit in return, getting pounded into the dirt over and over in frustration.

"Because of Flame Slash, I focused too much on power in my strikes and neglected speed. The technique of exerting force is actually interchangeable to some degree. My power output is close to 9.5 times, but my speed is still under 8 times. Time to train it now." Guen's eyes lit up. He charged forward willingly, letting the Vajra Ape brutalize him again and again.

But gradually, Guen's speed increased. Several times, he managed to keep up with the Vajra Ape.

Del's jaw nearly dropped.

If Guen's rate of progress were stretched over a year, or even a month, he could accept it. But right before his eyes, improving by the second—he really couldn't wrap his head around it.

The Vajra Ape was also stunned. Its gaze flicked to Del, and suddenly it charged at him.

Del jolted. Watching the Vajra Ape's mountain-like frame, he only then realized that one punch from it could nearly cripple him—yet Guen, hit who knew how many times, was still bouncing around like nothing. But he couldn't do the same.

Del's face turned the same color as his hair.

"Boom!"

Del was smashed into the ground. Dust flew, and large swaths of trees toppled in succession.

Guen's expression hardened.

Both of them wore the Flame God Armor, so why could Guen take so much punishment? The answer lay in force exertion. If force could amplify attack and speed, why not defense?

Among the common folk of the Aoyu Empire, a "Qi Energy Technique" was passed around—a shallow application of this principle.

When taking a hit, if the whole body was mobilized in unison, defense could be amplified like force output. The difficulty lay in overall coordination and the constant, rapid adjustments needed to redirect force. Guen had only managed it thanks to the Legacy stored by Moto.

But expecting Del to learn it in such a short time was too much.

"Die!"

Guen caught up. The first and second forms of Flame Slash were used repeatedly, without pause. Each use drained a massive amount of stamina, but the residual Grey Bamboo Shoot Liquid and Green Marrow still inside Guen, not yet fully absorbed, turned into threads of Life Energy that seeped into his body while rapidly replenishing his consumption.

Doesn't this human ever get tired?!

The Vajra Ape was already thinking of retreating. It had seen many humans with special techniques, but after using them, they were usually heavily drained.

Beasts rarely had such moves, but their powerful bodies gave them superior endurance in prolonged combat.

Yet now, Guen was a monster that couldn't be flattened, couldn't be killed, and could still slice into its bones with every slash. Even the Vajra Ape, unleashing attacks of this level so many times, would eventually exhaust its strength.

And Guen was still only Apprentice Level!

But Guen just kept going, endlessly, slash after slash, using the first and second forms over and over.

When he could dodge the Vajra Ape's attacks, he dodged. When he couldn't, he tanked them head-on!

The Flame God Armor, which could only be damaged or affected by Planetary Level Five and above, remained utterly unscathed no matter how frantically the Vajra Ape clawed at it.

"Roar!"

The Vajra Ape rapidly retreated, but Guen gave no quarter, his speed even surpassing the beast's.

"Die!"

Guen was wild with excitement. He swung his blade, the sword shadows converging into one. The blade trembled lightly, then struck at a speed faster than sound. In the Vajra Ape's unwilling gaze, its head was severed—but before that, five cuts had already landed on it.

The massive head rolled to the ground, gushing blood soaking the dust beneath.

"I actually did it." Guen's hands trembled slightly as a wave of fatigue washed over him.

The Grey Bamboo Shoot Liquid and Green Marrow had been fully absorbed. Without him even noticing, his physical condition had already broken through Apprentice Level 9 and was now very close to the Apprentice Level Limit.

With a bit more tempering, he could attempt a breakthrough to Planetary Level.

But on second thought, Guen knew he had relied on many external aids—the Grey Bamboo Shoot Liquid, Green Marrow, Meteor Light Blade, and Flame God Armor. In a true one-on-one fight, he might not have been a match for the Vajra Ape.

After all, there was a vast chasm between their realms.

A chasm from Apprentice Level to Planetary Level.

Only after confirming it was safe did Del slowly deactivate the Flame God Armor, revealing his battered body. Many of his bones were dislocated. Del gasped heavily, feeling deeply ashamed: "Sorry. I was the one who invited you here, but in the end, I didn't contribute much."

Guen shook his head. "We both underestimated the gap between Apprentice Level and Planetary Level. But this time, we've recognized the difference. We'll have more chances in the future."

Guen cast a regretful glance at the enormous corpse of the Vajra Ape. He only harvested a few valuable body parts, then led Del and the Kejia Beast toward the exit of Beast Canyon.

Soon, a flood of High-Tier Ferocious Beasts swarmed in, devouring the Vajra Ape's corpse down to nothing.