Yang Shanshan was just thinking of putting away the Vermilion Fruit in her hand when, right then, its skin split open on its own. The flesh inside liquefied and ran out, and its crystal-like pit shattered, too.
Her pretty face changed. She hurriedly cried out, "The Vermilion Fruit can't be away from the plant's main stem for long, or it'll lose all its effects!"
Ling Fei reacted at once. Seeing what had happened to the Vermilion Fruit in Yang Shanshan's hand, he didn't hesitate for a second. He swallowed the fruit in his own hand whole.
Just like Mu Qing, he felt a surge of violent energy burst through his body. Ling Fei had no choice but to sit cross-legged and refine it.
The others looked anxious. Judging by Ling Fei and Mu Qing's condition, they wouldn't be able to refine the energy inside them anytime soon. If Liu Tianyu killed the Ape Leader and came in now, he'd probably fly into a rage and attack them!
"What do we do now?" Ji Jia's crystalline cheeks were etched with worry.
Yang Shanshan and Jiang Yuanjie had already pulled the entire plant out of the ground. Since it was still attached to the main stem, none of the Vermilion Fruits on it had changed.
All they could do was watch Mu Qing and Ling Fei and wait for them to finish refining the energy.
Outside the valley, the students from North Campus and the apes were still locked in fierce combat. The North Campus students had initially held a huge advantage, but for some reason, a pack of gray wolves had appeared from another part of Lake Heart Island and joined forces with the apes, slaughtering the students.
The battle had become extremely difficult for North Campus. Individually, the wolves were no match for the apes, but they made up for it with their sheer numbers. Every one of them was ferocious and utterly unafraid of death.
On the other side, the enormous Ape Leader roared again and again as it attacked Liu Tianyu. Its claws blurred through the air. One careless move, and it would tear away a huge chunk of flesh.
Liu Tianyu was in a sorry state. His white clothes were torn, and three deep claw marks ran across his body, blood pouring from them.
The Ape Leader hadn't inflicted those wounds. A Gray Giant Wolf at Blood Qi Seventh Rank had.
At that moment, the Gray Giant Wolf was fighting Wang Haixuan.
Wang Haixuan had broken through with the help of the large amount of herbs Liu Tianyu had given him. He had planned to wait for Mu Qing and the others to show up, then deal with them.
But neither he nor Liu Tianyu had expected the ape pack to have such a terrifying and powerful ally.
The wolves had appeared without warning. The Gray Wolf Leader had attacked Liu Tianyu and wounded him.
Wang Haixuan had no choice but to step in. Liu Tianyu couldn't possibly handle two beasts at Blood Qi Seventh Rank.
As for Wang Haixuan, he unleashed three Advanced Martial Skills in succession, their power terrifying. Though he had only just broken through to the seventh rank, he could still stand against the Gray Wolf Leader.
Liu Tianyu was also giving it everything he had. The Blood Spirit behind him was a huge whale, shimmering with light.
He had mastered two Advanced Martial Skills, both palm techniques. His left and right hands followed different styles, and most people would find it nearly impossible to use two techniques at once. Yet he did so with ease.
Wounded, Liu Tianyu could barely fight the Ape Leader to a draw.
"Damn it!" Liu Tianyu's face was grim.
A plan that had been all but certain to succeed had fallen apart because of the wolves.
They were now at a disadvantage. If the fight went on, their losses could grow even worse!
He gritted his teeth, strange glints flickering in his eyes as he wondered whether to retreat. But deep down, he couldn't accept it. In the depths of the Ape Nest was a Vermilion Fruit that could help him break through to the eighth rank!
At the edge of Lake Heart Island, among the many teachers, Ji Jia's father, Ji Xiangfeng, was intently watching a screen of light.
The images on it showed Mu Qing and the others' current situation.
The other teachers were talking among themselves, discussing what they were seeing.
They were all surprised and had no idea why a pack of wolves had suddenly come to the Ape Nest's aid.
With the wolves joining in, the Ape Nest had gained the upper hand. Liu Tianyu's side was bound to lose the Vermilion Fruit, which instead seemed likely to fall into the hands of Mu Qing and the others, who had sneaked in.
Ji Xiangfeng remained silent. A faint crimson glow flowed through his pupils. As he watched Ji Jia, the corner of his mouth suddenly lifted, and he clenched his hand.
Crack.
A sharp sound rang out, but no one besides him heard it.
In Ji Xiangfeng's hand, a blood-red crystal had been crushed.
Outside the valley, the Ape Leader suddenly let out a terrifying roar. Its fur stood on end, and it punched Liu Tianyu, sending him flying.
Liu Tianyu's chest heaved. A mouthful of blood spilled from his lips.
He couldn't believe it. The Ape Leader had been evenly matched with him just moments ago. How had it suddenly unleashed such terrifying strength and overwhelmed him in a single blow?
On the other side, Wang Haixuan cried out, too. His opponent, the Gray Giant Wolf, had also burst with unimaginable strength. Its muscles bulged, and one swipe of its paw could gouge a huge pit in the ground.
Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan both looked grim. They were injured, and their wounds were serious. The teachers might appear at any moment and announce that they had been eliminated.
The Ape Leader and the Gray Giant Wolf both howled at the sky, but, unexpectedly, they didn't continue attacking North Campus.
Their roars summoned all their followers. The apes and wolves ignored the North Campus students and charged toward the valley.
The Ape Leader and the Gray Giant Wolf glared fiercely at Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan. Their eyes were savage, but they didn't attack, as if merely warning them.
"This..."
Liu Tianyu and Wang Haixuan exchanged a glance, both bewildered. They could tell the two pack leaders had no intention of pursuing them. Instead, they were warning them to leave the valley.
The outcome surprised Liu Tianyu and the others.
"The intelligence of these two pack leaders is beyond anything we imagined," Liu Tianyu murmured.
He had once been to Beijing City and, accompanying his elders, had seen real Fierce Beasts. Those creatures were many times more terrifying and vicious than the beasts on Lake Heart Island.
But the low-rank Fierce Beasts he had seen had very little intelligence. His elders had told him that only high-rank Fierce Beasts possessed any real intelligence.
"Let's go!"
Though he didn't know what the two pack leaders were planning, it was clear they couldn't stay there any longer. Liu Tianyu gave the order, and the North Campus students quickly retreated.
The two pack leaders watched Liu Tianyu and the others leave with cold eyes. Then they turned and sped toward the valley.
"Awoo! Roar!"
A chorus of beastly roars rang out from within the valley.
Deep inside a cave, Ji Jia and the others' faces instantly turned grim.
Liu Tianyu and the others hadn't arrived as they'd expected. Instead, the beasts had come. They could hear not only the apes' roars, but also the wolves' howls.
"What happened outside? Did Liu Tianyu and the others fail to kill the Ape Leader?" Yang Shanshan furrowed her delicate brows, worry clouding her crystalline face.
"Whatever happened, we have to get ready to fight." Ji Jia glanced anxiously at Ling Fei and Mu Qing, who were sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Jiang Yuanjie took a deep breath. His chubby face was utterly serious as he carefully set aside the blue plants he carried and the Vermilion Fruit plant they had pulled up by its roots. He was ready to fight.
Mu Qing could just barely sense what was happening outside. Knowing how urgent the situation was, he gritted his teeth and forced the Blood Refining Technique to operate beyond its limits.
A series of sounds came from his dantian, as if something inside were about to break out of its shell at any moment.
Mu Qing knew it was his Blood Spirit, the one he had never managed to awaken, a Blood Spirit belonging to his own bloodline.
The suction force in his dantian grew stronger and stronger, greedily drawing in the energy from the Vermilion Fruit. The fruit's energy was simply too immense.
Just then, the wolves and apes charged into the cave. They roared, their eyes immediately locking onto Ji Jia and the others.
They launched a fierce assault. Wolves and apes attacked together, baring their fangs and claws. Their gleaming talons tore deep, ravine-like gashes into the cave walls.
Ji Jia and Yang Shanshan moved at the same time, surging with Origin Force as they joined the fight.
Jiang Yuanjie roared, too, and unleashed Mount Tai Press. Its power was terrifying. Even the beasts couldn't withstand it; they were crushed to the ground. Two wolves wailed as the bones in their bodies shattered.
All three of them were at Blood Qi Sixth Rank, so dealing with wolves and apes at Blood Qi Fourth Rank or Fifth Rank was relatively easy.
One after another, wolves and apes fell before them.
But there were only three of them, after all, while Ling Fei and Mu Qing were both busy refining the Vermilion Fruit's energy.
The wolves were numerous, and the apes were powerful. A few apes at Blood Qi Sixth Rank were especially cunning, hiding in the pack and occasionally darting out to rake their claws across Ji Jia and the others, leaving them wounded.
Ten-odd minutes later, the clothes on Ji Jia and Yang Shanshan were torn in places, exposing their snowy-white skin. Both had wounds on their bodies.
Three deep claw marks ran across Jiang Yuanjie's back, blood streaming from them.
All three were rapidly exhausting their Origin Force. They couldn't hold out much longer.
Their faces grew anxious. At this rate, their Origin Force would be completely spent before long.
Suddenly, an ape that had been hiding in the pack charged out. It was at Blood Qi Sixth Rank. Its claws tore into Ji Jia's abdomen, leaving three deep gashes as blood gushed out like water.
Ji Jia's slender body flew backward and struck the cave wall. She passed out.
Yang Shanshan screamed. Her eyes reddened, and she poured every last bit of Origin Force from her body into the fight. A translucent doorway flickered into view behind her. Though her frame was petite, the attacks she unleashed were terrifying; even several apes at Blood Qi Sixth Rank didn't dare approach.
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