Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape

"BOOM!"

Another giant molten boulder came crashing down. The Rock Mountain Lord scrambled to dodge the projectile, charging toward the direction of the throw in a fit of exasperated rage.

"Let's go, follow and see," Xie Yue said, taking the lead. The others followed closely behind, keeping a short distance from the Rock Mountain Lord.

The group followed the Rock Mountain Lord as it dodged yet another molten boulder, revealing a giant ape-like creature whose primary joints glowed with a fiery red light, its entire body shrouded in scorching soul power.

Hu Liena exclaimed in surprise, "It's a Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape."

"Another ape-type soul beast?" Yan frowned, speculating, "Could it be that it's in cahoots with that Long-Armed Giant Ape? Is this Rock Mountain Lord fighting two at once?"

"It's possible," Xie Yue nodded. "Ape-type soul beasts can coexist with their own kind. The Long-Armed Giant Ape and the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape are very likely living as companions."

"They are mates."

"Mates?" The three turned their gazes toward him.

Zhang Yang pointed toward a large tree in the distance and said, "Look there, behind that tree, there is a small Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape."

Hearing this, the three immediately looked in the direction Zhang Yang was pointing.

Sure enough, behind a tree stood a juvenile Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape, only about a meter tall, with tufts of red fur at its joints.

"A Long-Armed Giant Ape and a Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape with a cub—that's right, they are indeed mates," Hu Liena nodded.

In the world of soul beasts, as long as they are of the same type, there is no reproductive isolation.

The scorpion-type soul beast Pink Lady could form a pair with the Earth King, which was also a scorpion-type soul beast.

Both the Long-Armed Giant Ape and the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape were ape-type soul beasts; they could likewise mate and produce a small Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape of the mother's species.

Hu Liena continued, "This Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape is nearly 4 meters long with a wingspan of nearly 6 meters; it's at least 1,200 years old."

"1,200 years? What a coincidence, that's just right," Zhang Yang laughed.

Xie Yue and the others understood what Zhang Yang meant.

In the data provided by Teacher Dewey, the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape was indeed on the list.

It possessed the fire attribute, and its primary attack method was throwing molten rock; upon impact, the rock would shatter, causing lava to splash and deal area-of-effect damage.

Looking at it this way, this soul beast was indeed a perfect fit for Zhang Yang.

"It seems we can't just stand by," Xie Yue said, his Moon Blade already appearing in his hand.

Hu Liena and Yan also secretly circulated their soul power, ready to respond to Xie Yue's command at any moment.

"Although the battle is still intense, the defeat of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape is a foregone conclusion. Pay attention to the timing of our intervention."

"Yan, the moment the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape is unable to resist, you must immediately stop it from killing the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape to buy time for me and Nana."

"Zhang Yang, once the moment arrives, your goal is to be the first to kill the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape. It's rare to encounter such a suitable soul ring; you must not miss this chance."

"Additionally, that Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape cub cannot be spared either. If it interferes while you are absorbing the soul ring, everything will be ruined."

"Also..."

Just as Xie Yue was still laying out the tactics, the battle on the field had entered a new phase.

As the distance between the two closed, the molten rocks thrown by the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape became increasingly difficult to dodge.

The Rock Mountain Lord's strength lay in its brute force, so to leverage its melee advantage, it had to get close to the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape.

To maintain its charging momentum, the Rock Mountain Lord could only perform small-scale evasions against the incoming molten rocks, avoiding only its vital points.

As long as I can reach that spot...

The Rock Mountain Lord thought, just as its shoulder was grazed by a searing molten rock.

"ROAR!"

The Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape leaped into mid-air, its soul power erupting as it curled its body into a ball, spinning rapidly in the air.

Suddenly, the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape expanded its body, holding a giant molten boulder with a glowing red surface above its head.

It was a strange sensation; the boulder was clearly hard as rock, yet visually it appeared somewhat soft and elastic, like a "molten lava bun."

"WHOOSH!"

A sound of air being torn apart echoed. The waist of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape acted like a bowstring fully drawn and released, and the massive molten boulder struck the Rock Mountain Lord on the ground in an instant.

The next moment, like a volcanic eruption, a stream of scorching lava shot into the sky.

A massive amount of lava, carrying endless heat, instantly engulfed the entire Rock Mountain Lord.

"Huh? Did the Rock Mountain Lord lose?" Xie Yue frowned in disbelief.

This result was truly shocking.

"No," Yan shook his head. "I can feel the earth-attribute soul power within that lava, struggling against it."

Yan's martial soul was the Flame Lord, which possessed both fire and earth attributes, making him extremely sensitive to the fluctuations of fire and earth soul power.

So, while Xie Yue was confused by the unexpected turn of events, Yan could sense the earth-attribute soul power resisting the intense fire-attribute aura permeating the scene.

As the lava erupted, the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape landed back on the ground, gasping for air.

Having unleashed its ultimate move, the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape had less than ten percent of its soul power remaining.

At this moment, a tyrannical soul power erupted from within the magma, and the Rock Mountain Lord, its entire body covered in burn marks, charged out.

The Rock Mountain Lord stepped out of the magma and leaped high into the air, its massive bear paws raised high, enveloped in dense earth-attribute soul power, and slammed down with heavy momentum.

"Roar!"

The broad bear paw carried immense power, the dense earth elements manifesting into a giant phantom of a bear paw that smashed toward the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape on the ground like a meteorite.

This move was strikingly similar to the one that had just killed the Long-Armed Giant Ape.

Seeing the danger, the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape could only raise its arms to block with all its might.

"Yan!"

Xie Yue roared.

Two yellow and one purple soul rings instantly appeared beneath Yan's feet, and immediately after, the two yellow soul rings flared brightly.

Scorching dark red flames suddenly erupted from Yan's body; his upper garments were instantly shredded, his entire physique expanded to over three meters, and his muscles bulged like granite.

The next moment, like a cannonball leaving its chamber, Yan instantly closed the distance to the Rock Mountain Lord, swinging his fists with unstoppable force and slamming them into the Rock Mountain Lord's massive head.

Having suffered a heavy blow to the head, the Rock Mountain Lord's attack was inevitably affected.

"Roar!"

The Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape was sent flying by the slap, its body rolling away until it slammed heavily into a thick tree trunk.

Moving at the same time as Yan was Zhang Yang.

M14 instantly appeared in Zhang Yang's hands, and two yellow soul rings rose beneath his feet.

"Bang bang bang bang bang..."

Gunshots like popping beans rang out through the canopy, and countless bullets tore through the air, ripping through the fur of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape and piercing deep into its body.

Immediately following this, his first soul ring flickered like a breathing light, and over a dozen bullets headed straight for the face of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape.

At this moment, the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape lay on the ground, already severely wounded after being swatted away by the Rock Mountain Lord and struck by countless bullets.

At this life-or-death juncture, the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape felt dizzy, its body swaying as if drunk and beyond the control of its brain.

Under the enhancement of "First Soul Skill: Auto-Aim," these bullets seemed to have eyes, accurately striking the face of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape.

After tearing through skin and flesh, the soul-powered metal bullet heads, carrying immense kinetic energy, struck the hardest part of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape's skull.

When the first bullet hit, the frontal bone of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape shattered, but the bullet's kinetic energy was also exhausted.

When the second bullet hit, the fractured frontal bone could no longer distribute the impact force across the whole structure; the high-speed bullet instantly pulverized the bone fragments and drilled into the brain of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape.

After the bullet entered the brain at high speed, the resulting cavity expanded and then violently contracted, causing intense agitation and instantaneous tearing of the brain tissue.

Subsequently, this bullet struck the inner side of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape's crown bone. The crown bone shattered, and the bullet itself broke into metal fragments of varying sizes, which began to spin and ricochet inside the skull.

The soft and fragile brain inside the skull was churned into a pulp by these metal fragments.

Then, one "Auto-Aim" bullet after another pierced through the entire head of the Molten Heart Stone-Throwing Ape, scattering blood and brain matter all over the ground.