While Lin Mo and the others discussed how to make their move, the Vajra Ape, which was currently battling the Azure Vine, looked utterly bewildered.
It hadn't been here to begin with.
Someone had inexplicably captured it from its own territory and tossed it here.
The moment it opened its eyes, it saw the frenzied Azure Vine, and could only defend itself and fight back.
It didn't even know how it had been captured and brought here.
Looking at the vines wrapped around it, a fierce glint flashed in the Vajra Ape's eyes.
If it weren't in such poor condition, it would have eaten this little vine alive.
Azure Vine was a pretty good tonic, after all.
But if it stayed here any longer, the one eating the other would probably end up being the opposite of what it expected!
Its instincts told it that something was wrong with this place. It had to get away as soon as possible.
As for this hateful vine, it could come back and settle the score once it had recovered.
But before it could break free of the Azure Vine's grasp, a pale fist slammed into its face.
The owner of the hand then seized it by the scruff and forcibly dragged it out of the Azure Vine's embrace, hurling it aside with great force.
The Vajra Ape felt the world spinning. Its whole body soared through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.
It smashed a shallow crater into the earth, sending dirt and broken grass flying everywhere. It shook its dizzy head and struggled to rise.
When the battered Vajra Ape came to its senses and saw who stood before it, a ferocious roar escaped its mouth.
A human!
And a weak human child, no less.
The Soul Power fluctuations radiating from him were, at best, on par with those of a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.
In the past, he would have made a pretty good tonic.
But the Vajra Ape, in its current, terrible condition, had no such thoughts.
All it wanted was to get away safely. It wanted nothing else.
The look in this human's eyes was just like the way it looked at the dead apes in its own clan.
The Vajra Ape shuddered with fear.
Its intelligence had yet to awaken, but a Soul Beast's instincts still let it sense an inexplicable aura of danger from the human before it.
The Vajra Ape turned to flee, but Lin Mo was faster.
Thud! Thud!
The sound of fists and feet colliding rang out abruptly.
To its horror, the Vajra Ape discovered that it had lost to the child before it—who didn't even look old enough to have grown body hair—in the very area where it took the most pride: strength.
Lin Mo's expression remained as calm as ever, betraying not the slightest hint of panic.
First level of Dragon-Tiger Strength!
With the Dragon-Tiger Strength granted by the first level of Inversion of Three, Lin Mo easily overpowered the Vajra Ape, which had a cultivation of over four hundred years.
Thud! Thud!
Lin Mo threw a straight punch, slamming it without mercy into the Vajra Ape's raised arms. A muffled impact rang out.
The Vajra Ape tried to strike back.
Its massive fist shot straight at Lin Mo's head, but Lin Mo only had to lean slightly to avoid it. Seizing the opportunity, he slammed an elbow into its chest.
The Vajra Ape let out a pained howl, stumbling backward several steps against its will.
It looked down and saw that its chest had caved in slightly. The fractured ribs sent waves of agony through it.
Lin Mo gave it no chance to catch its breath. He pushed off hard with his feet and shot toward the Vajra Ape like an arrow loosed from its string.
His right fist clenched, he threw another straight punch, landing squarely in the Vajra Ape's abdomen.
Under Lin Mo's heavy blow, its body folded into the shape of a shrimp. It even spat out a mouthful of blood flecked with bits of its organs.
The ape had already been in poor condition after its earlier battle with the Azure Vine.
Even at its peak, Lin Mo would have had the confidence to kill it with his bare hands.
This kind of Soul Beast, which relied only on brute force, was even easier for him to kill than the Datura Snake.
His Inversion of Three was still only at the first level, and he had no good way of dealing with poison yet.
So the potent poison carried by the Datura Snake was a considerable nuisance for him.
He had to remain on guard at all times.
But against a Soul Beast like the Vajra Ape, which excelled at brute strength, Lin Mo held the complete advantage.
It was weaker than Lin Mo, and its movements were extremely clumsy.
The Vajra Ape, which normally ruled the roost in the Soul Hunting Forest, was now nothing more than a punching bag in front of Lin Mo, pummelled from every direction.
The Vajra Ape wasn't about to sit back and wait to die. But when it tried to end Lin Mo with its most familiar move—the Bear Hug Crush—
Lin Mo's reaction speed far exceeded its expectations.
Just before its arms could close around him, Lin Mo ducked and slipped beneath its armpit, then swung an elbow back into the ape's skull once more.
MAN!
After taking an elbow to the back of its head, the Vajra Ape saw nothing but blackness, then lost consciousness.
It toppled straight to the ground.
With a Twin Peaks Piercing the Ears, Lin Mo gripped the Vajra Ape's head firmly and twisted with all his strength.
A crisp crack rang out. The Vajra Ape's neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
A moment later, its body convulsed violently a few times, then went still.
The bell-like eyes quickly lost all their light.
Almost at the same time Lin Mo finished off the Vajra Ape, Tang San completed his task as well.
With Yu Xiaogang and Luo Sanpao's help, he successfully used the sword in his hand to sever most of the Azure Vine's roots.
The Azure Vine shuddered violently. Every vine under its control spasmed at once, then went limp one after another.
Seeing this, Tang San hurried over and struck twice more, severing all of the Azure Vine's roots.
The Azure Vine struggled for a little while longer. Then a Yellow Soul Ring slowly emerged from its remains.
A Yellow Soul Ring also appeared above the Vajra Ape's corpse.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang didn't hesitate for a moment. He called to Lin Mo and Tang San, "Lin Mo, Little San, quickly absorb your respective Soul Rings!"
"Sanpao and I will guard you!"
He had to hurry and get Lin Mo and Tang San to finish absorbing their Soul Rings as quickly as possible.
Looking at the Yellow Soul Ring produced by the Vajra Ape, Lin Mo didn't hesitate for a moment. He sat down cross-legged.
He drew on his Soul Power, pulled the Soul Ring toward him, and placed it over his body, beginning the absorption.
"Vajra Ape, I hope you'll give me a Soul Skill I'll be satisfied with!"
Lin Mo wasn't worried about his own safety.
As for the person who had been secretly following their group all along, Lin Mo had already guessed his identity.