Reaching Battle Technique Attainment! Training Between Life and Death!

Crack!

Cracks appeared across the Sky-Piercing Ape's black greatstaff. The Weapon Soul within it, not yet fully formed, let out a terrified roar. Its spirituality was being swallowed bit by bit, slowly collapsing and dispersing. The Sky-Piercing Ape noticed the abnormality in its Spirit Weapon as well. Had the Weapon Soul condensed successfully, this Spirit Weapon would have become a Soul Weapon. But now, everything had been buried.

Roar!

The Sky-Piercing Ape roared and tried to pull out its Spirit Weapon, only to find that it could not lift it no matter what. That gray vortex was like a magnet, clinging to its Spirit Weapon so tightly that it could not be pulled free. Even when it reignited its bloodline and condensed Blood Fiend Power, it was swallowed away.

"Now, it's your turn. Take one blow from me."

With Heaven Swallowing in one hand and the Star Cloud Bell in the other, Taishu Yun charged at the Sky-Piercing Ape, which stubbornly refused to let go. The Star Cloud Bell slammed squarely into the Sky-Piercing Ape, sending it flying. The sound of cracking bones rang out as it coughed up blood in great mouthfuls, staining the ground red. It plowed a trench through the earth before crashing into the mountain wall of Peach Valley.

Boom!

Even the mountain wall cracked apart. The Sky-Piercing Ape was embedded within it, its chest caved in and blood streaming all over its body. Its aura abruptly weakened to the extreme. Its Spirit Weapon had been destroyed, its body had suffered grievous injuries, and the backlash from its bloodline had robbed the Sky-Piercing Ape of all fighting strength.

Drip!

The black greatstaff was completely swallowed by the vortex, dissolving bit by bit—or rather, melting away. The spirituality within it was utterly ground away. A weapon on the verge of becoming a Soul Weapon had been destroyed just like that.

The gray vortex slowly vanished. Taishu Yun slowly walked up to the Sky-Piercing Ape and looked at its state, where it drew more breath than it expelled. His expression did not change much. They had been fighting to the death from the start; one of them had been destined to die.

"You are not our kind!"

A deep, muffled voice rang out. The Sky-Piercing Ape had spoken.

"You can speak?"

Taishu Yun stared at it in surprise. This was the first time he had heard a Fierce Beast speak. It was simply unbelievable.

"Cough, cough. You truly are human." The Sky-Piercing Ape slumped on the ground and smiled, revealing sharp fangs that looked rather frightening.

"You're quite special. This is the first time I've seen a Fierce Beast speak."

Taishu Jing walked over and examined the Sky-Piercing Ape from side to side.

"I lost this battle. You truly have great courage. No human has ever dared enter this place. Every human who trespassed here died here without exception."

The Sky-Piercing Ape spoke.

"You're going to die," Taishu Jing told it.

"Cough, cough. So what? Battle is the destiny of our race. We have never feared death. Every one of our kind living here is the same."

The Sky-Piercing Ape grinned. Bright red blood flowed from the corner of its mouth, brimming with rich vitality and shimmering with divine radiance.

"I have a question. Why can you speak?"

"Once we cultivate to the third order, we condense Beast Souls, and our Divine Sense grows stronger as well. The strength of one's Divine Sense determines whether one can produce speech. However, many of our kind have bloodlines that are too ordinary. Even if they condense Beast Souls, they are extremely weak and cannot possess powerful Divine Sense, so they cannot speak."

"Speaking through Divine Sense? Then that isn't how you're speaking, is it?" Taishu Jing asked.

"Cough, cough. Of course not. Once we cultivate to the fifth order, we can speak. As for those of our kind with ordinary bloodlines, they cannot cultivate to the fifth order at all. Do you understand what that means?" The Sky-Piercing Ape panted heavily and raised its head toward the sky.

"Bloodlines determine your talent and your limits," Taishu Yun said softly.

"But what does that have to do with you? The fact that you cultivated this far is enough to prove your talent." Taishu Jing sat down opposite it.

"Cough, cough. I don't have much time left. Humans, you are very strong. Especially your talent—it frightens me. I hope your arrival will not bring a calamity that topples everything here."

Blood filled the Sky-Piercing Ape's eyes. Its beast pupils gradually dilated, and its aura slowly faded away.

"Frightens you? Isn't that a bit exaggerated? We're not here to wreck the place."

Taishu Jing looked at it speechlessly. A calamity that toppled everything? The two of them were just little kids. No matter how formidable they were, could they possibly fight all the Fierce Beasts here? Especially when there were plenty of sixth- and seventh-order Fierce Beasts within. They had no desire to court death.

"Jing, let's bury it here. It was a true warrior," Taishu Yun said, looking at the Sky-Piercing Ape's corpse with a trace of respect.

Looking at the Sky-Piercing Ape, Taishu Jing muttered to himself, "Since my brother says so, you got lucky. I won't touch your corpse. Fine, I'll bury you beneath that peach tree."

After saying that, Taishu Jing lifted the Sky-Piercing Ape's corpse and carried it beneath the peach tree at the very center. He buried it underground and raised a small mound over it as a memorial.

Originally, Taishu Jing had wanted to make good use of the Sky-Piercing Ape's corpse. The Precious Blood of a Fifth-order Fierce Beast was good stuff and would be useful to both him and Taishu Yun. Perhaps they could even comprehend the Innate Divine Technique of the ancient Fierce Beast Zhu Yan from its Heart Blood—the three heads and six arms that the Sky-Piercing Ape had displayed.

Had the Sky-Piercing Ape simply died like that, Taishu Jing truly would have done so. But for Taishu Yun's sake, he had no choice but to abandon the idea.

"Brother, are you all right?" Taishu Jing looked at him. Seeing him covered in blood, he looked rather miserable.

Shaking his head, Taishu Yun's injuries were healing on their own. Although the Sky-Piercing Ape had injured him earlier, leaving even cracks in his physique, the Divine Body's self-healing ability was powerful. More than half of his injuries soon healed, and the cracks over his body slowly disappeared. Golden Divine Blood no longer flowed out.

Every time the Divine Body suffered damage, once it recovered, its physique would advance another step and become even sturdier. Thus, in a sense, the Divine Body was also a special battle divine body, growing stronger with every battle.

Taishu Yun sat down cross-legged and circulated the Heavenly God Scripture. The spiritual energy throughout the entire valley gathered toward him. Golden Divine Blood surged through his body. With every circulation of the Heavenly God Scripture, the Divine Body's origin grew bit by bit before feeding back into the Divine Body, making Taishu Yun's Divine Body ever more unbreakable.

After a while, Taishu Yun awoke from cultivation. All his injuries had completely disappeared. Though he still looked rather bedraggled, he had returned to his peak condition.

"Brother, how do you feel?" Taishu Jing leaned against the peach tree and yawned.

"Mm. This battle benefited me greatly. Only now have I truly mastered my own strength, able to release and withdraw it as I wished without the slightest delay. This is Battle Technique Attainment. As expected, battle makes us grow."

Taishu Yun felt exceptionally good. This time, he had successfully comprehended Battle Technique Attainment and gained control over his own strength. Now, he could unleash terrifying power at any moment. When he used Killing Art, it was no longer merely an empty form; he could reveal its true essence and erupt with terrifying might.

"Battle Technique Attainment lets us perfectly control our own strength. Then above Battle Technique Attainment, is there an even more profound realm, just as Arrow Intent transforms into Arrow Momentum?"

Taishu Jing murmured.

The monkeys of Peach Valley had all witnessed their leader's death and fled the valley one after another. For the time being, this place had become Unclaimed Lands. However, it would not be long before a new Fierce Beast occupied it.

"Brother, the makeup on your face has worn off. I'll touch it up for you, hehe."

Taishu Jing took out a jar of Beast Blood and smeared it over Taishu Yun's face again. Their beast hides were also somewhat tattered and torn, so they would have to return and cut new hides.

The two returned to the giant tree. Little Fire and Little White had already gone out to cultivate on their own. This was paradise for Fierce Beasts, the most suitable place for them to grow. Though Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing were somewhat worried, they still trusted them.

Over the following days, neither Little White nor Little Fire returned. This place was vast, and there were many dangerous areas. Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing did not dare venture too deeply into them. Powerful existences lay dormant within, and the mere aura they emitted made the brothers feel danger.

Just as they had on the outskirts of the Cloud Dream Mountain Range, the brothers cultivated separately, challenging opponents alone and facing every danger as they trained between life and death, forcing out their own potential.

Immersed in the world of cultivation, both Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing often failed to return for days at a time. Every day, they were either fighting powerful Fierce Beasts or being hunted down by even stronger ones, fleeing all the way.

Gradually, every Fierce Beast here learned that two extremely tiny yet outrageously bold and extraordinarily powerful members of their kind had recently appeared. Every day, they constantly challenged powerful existences, provoking those powerful beings to leave their territories and throwing many places into chaos, leaving them in complete unrest.

Even so, the ordinary Fierce Beasts did not dare interfere. Whichever side it was, they could not contend against either of them and could only hide far away.