The crowd had naturally been quite afraid upon seeing the Titan Giant Ape, but what they found unbelievable was that the Titan Giant Ape could actually speak. Such a thing had never been recorded in books.
Yet while everyone else was terrified, three people wore entirely different expressions: Shangguan Li, Shaohua, and Xiao Wu.
Shangguan Li and Shaohua shared the mindset of having finally found their prey; although their facial expressions showed no change, a trace of joy was mixed within their gazes.
Xiao Wu, on the other hand, was happy for the Titan Giant Ape. Even though the Titan Giant Ape had already reached one hundred thousand years of cultivation before she left the forest, it had been unable to speak human words fluently. Now it could actually say so much, which showed that its cultivation had increased considerably.
Originally, the Titan Giant Ape's cultivation should not have been this powerful, but perhaps because the Silver Dragon King had awakened early, both the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape in the central lake had received guidance from Di Tian and other ferocious beasts, reaching twelve to thirteen thousand years of cultivation by now.
This change in the Titan Giant Ape made Shaohua even happier. After all, the stronger the Titan Giant Ape was, the stronger its spirit bone would be, bringing an even greater boost to her disciple Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhao Wuji hurriedly spoke, "Respected King of the Forest, we never uttered any such words. We do not know where you heard them."
"Who are you trying to fool? I know you lot are unwilling to speak. Still, as long as you hand that brat over, all of you may leave."
The voice of the Titan Giant Ape was low and oppressive, placing immense pressure on Zhao Wuji. Yet this also plunged Zhao Wuji into deep contemplation: should he sacrifice the single life of Tang San to save the lives of all the students, or should they all die together?
Hidden in the shadows, Tang Hao was so furious that his eye sockets turned red, silently warning Zhao Wuji in his heart that if they wanted to take his son's life, they could forget about ever leaving the Star Dou Great Forest either.
Just as Zhao Wuji was thinking, Li Pei shouted, "We Shrek students live and die together! Don't even think about hurting my Third Brother."
Li Pei's words attracted an unknown amount of hostility, especially from Dai Mubai and the other two. Clearly, they had already fallen out with Tang San; why should they let him cost them their lives?
The members of the Imperial Fighting Team were also extremely displeased. They were completely unfamiliar with these people; why should they suffer this kind of misery alongside them? How wonderful it would have been if they had just left a moment ago.
Without the knowledge of the Imperial Fighting Team members, a subtle resentment against Qin Ming began to take root in their hearts. If not for Qin Ming's insistence on traveling together with Shrek Academy, they probably would have already helped Yu Tianheng obtain his spirit ring and left the Star Dou Great Forest by now. How could they have run into this kind of danger?
Zhao Wuji also cursed Li Pei internally. What did she know about anything? Coming out to flap her jaws like that, did she not realize that by offending the King of the Forest, the only outcome for people like them was death?
Moreover, the soul beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest were all filled with deep resentment toward spirit masters. However, if someone merely killed a single soul beast to advance, high-cultivation soul beasts like the Titan Giant Ape would usually turn a blind eye; after all, this was the rule of the Douluo Continent and could not be easily changed.
Yet Tang San's words had crossed the line, actually treating their kind as mere cultivation resources. Without a doubt, these words were a provocation directed at the high-cultivation soul beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest, and they should consider themselves lucky that the ferocious beasts themselves had not come, otherwise not a single one of them would have survived.
At this moment, Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth. "I'll hold him off. Xiaoming, take these students and get out of here right now!"
Zhao Wuji directly unleashed his first, second, third, fifth, and seventh spirit skills, simultaneously driving his own soul power to the limit as he lunged at the Titan Giant Ape at all costs.
"Teacher Zhao, I cannot just leave you to die! Young Ladies, I entrust these students to you." After saying this, Qin Ming also activated his Martial Soul Possession and charged toward Zhao Wuji's direction.
Watching their teacher march to his death, the students on both sides could no longer stand by, intending to live and die alongside their teachers.
Everyone activated their Martial Soul Possession and charged in, but the Titan Giant Ape completely ignored the actions of these insignificant figures, walking straight toward Xiao Wu. Even though it wanted to teach that brat who called soul beasts cultivation resources a lesson, its most urgent priority right now was to rescue Sister Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu shook her head at the Titan Giant Ape, hoping it would not hurt these people. Thereupon, the Titan Giant Ape unleashed a layer of black shockwave-the Gravity Domain-and in an instant, everyone was pinned to the ground by the gravity, unable to catch their breath.
Yet there were still two people standing rigidly right there: Shangguan Li and Shaohua. It was just that everyone else was pressed flat onto the earth by the gravity domain of the Titan Giant Ape, so absolutely no one noticed those two.
The Titan Giant Ape reached out directly, grabbed Xiao Wu, and prepared to turn and leave.
"No, you beast, let Xiao Wu go!" Seeing Xiao Wu fall into the clutches of the Titan Giant Ape, Tang San's eyes instantly turned red. He immediately drew the hidden weapons from his Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night and stabbed them toward the eyes of the Titan Giant Ape.
Seeing that Xiao Wu had been snatched away, Zhao Wuji suffered another burst of potential, his strength actually doubling. In the eyes of the Titan Giant Ape, this action was nothing more than a provocation, and it directly swept a massive palm outward, swatting Zhao Wuji away.
Qin Ming shouted, "Teacher Zhao!!!"
Sister Xiao Wu didn't want to hurt these people, but now that I've already done it, in for a penny, in for a pound-I might as well slaughter that brat too.
At this time, the Titan Giant Ape also reached out and grabbed Tang San. But this grab was entirely different from how it had handled Xiao Wu; it used brute force directly, and in that instant, all the ribs across Tang San's entire body snapped, plunging him straight into unconsciousness.
Feeling that this brat was crippled, the Titan Giant Ape leaped into the air and quickly vanished before everyone's eyes.
Having narrowly escaped death, the crowd couldn't help letting out a long breath of relief, followed by an irrepressible sense of awe: they had actually survived an attack by the Titan Giant Ape, a story they could brag about for a lifetime.
Qin Ming got up and said, "Everyone, split up and search for Teacher Zhao, then we'll leave the Star Dou Great Forest."
Dugu Yan said unhappily, "Teacher Qin, I know we should leave the Star Dou Great Forest as soon as possible, but why should we search for that Teacher Zhao? We just want to leave this right-and-wrong place. If they want to find that Teacher Zhao, they can let his own students go do it."
Dugu Yan's words hit straight into the hearts of the Imperial Fighting Team members. Every man for himself, and the heavens destroy the unrighteous; moreover, why should they risk their lives in a dangerous place to search for a soul master they weren't even all that familiar with?
Qin Ming's expression darkened as well. "Yanzi, I understand your feelings, but Teacher Zhao is my teacher. I cannot simply abandon him and ignore his fate."
Shangguan Li spoke up, "Alright, Yanzi. Since everyone is so eager to leave, the two of us will take the students and head out first. Teacher Qin, you can stay and search for Zhao Wuji with them."
Dugu Yan said, "Then let's get out of here right now. What does everyone else think?"
The members of the Imperial Fighting Team all nodded. "Tianheng, your spirit ring can only be obtained next time. None of us expected to run into this kind of situation."
Yu Tianheng said, "It's fine, everyone. I understand. I will tell my grandfather about acquiring the spirit ring, and he will definitely help me when the time comes."
It certainly was nice to have elders at home to help out, yet major clans still placed great emphasis on the cultivation of their younger generations. Therefore, the younger members of prominent families generally hunted their own spirit rings unless some special circumstance arose, prompting powerful elders to lend a hand.
Seeking collections, seeking comments, seeking recommendations, seeking monthly votes.
(End of chapter)
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