Mutated Wind Ape

Four years passed.

Over those four years, Jiang Che's Soul Power reached level 27. For him, this cultivation speed was already fairly fast.

Over those four years, Jiang Che grew to a height of 1.75 meters and completely mastered the second level of Qi Condensation Shield. He also redeemed a complete blade technique from the system shop, spending a full 6,000 Skill Points. The expense left his heart aching for quite some time.

This blade technique was called "Lingyun Flower Rain Blade" and consisted of three forms.

The first form: Flying Flowers Soar to the Clouds (The blade swept flying flowers into the azure heavens; its force towered over the stars and shattered the mortal realm). This move required raising the blade into the clouds to gather momentum. Blade Force carried a skyful of flying flowers straight into the highest heavens; no matter how swift one's footwork, escaping those sky-filling blade shadows was difficult.

The second form: Flower Rain Seals the Heavens (In an instant, rain veiled the heavenly gates; ten thousand strands of blade light imprisoned the cold mist). The blade's momentum shifted sharply, and the cloud-soaring flowers became a torrential downpour, enveloping every direction from above. Every raindrop was Blade Aura, sealing off every route of evasion and retreat.

The third form: Clouds End, Flowers Mourn (Clouds dispersed across the heavens, flowers fell to the last; one stroke severed the soul across two tiers of heaven). This was the killing form. The cloud-soaring momentum gathered at the blade's tip, and the skyful of flower rain condensed into a single stroke, unleashing all the Blade Intent from the preceding forms. It appeared to be only one stroke, yet concealed countless streams of flower-rain Blade Force. When the blade fell, it was like a sea of clouds overturning, a hundred flowers mourning together.

On the Douluo Continent, this blade technique was nothing short of an attack from a higher dimension. Precisely because of that, even after four full years of painstaking study, Jiang Che had only glimpsed the beginnings of its mysteries.

Fully comprehending and mastering these three cultivation techniques would undoubtedly take an enormous amount of time.

First of all, this so-called Blade Force alone gave Jiang Che a headache.

[Current Skill Points remaining: 2453]

[Today's Shop]

[Pure Gold Holy Grail: (Price: 100 Skill Points)]

[First Soul Ring age +5000 years: (Price: 5000 Skill Points)]

[Heaven-Slaying Blade Technique: (Price: 3000 Skill Points)]

[Hand cream: (Price: 50 Skill Points)]

Jiang Che lay on an enormous ancient tree, idly scrolling through the system shop.

"What a black-hearted shop!" After his customary complaint about the system shop, Jiang Che closed it and continued grinding Skill Points.

Just then, the Blue Silver Grass beneath his feet swayed together, warning him.

A chill ran down Jiang Che's back.

"Qi Condensation Shield!"

True Qi rapidly covered his entire body. Four years of cultivation had made Jiang Che increasingly proficient with Qi Condensation Shield.

"Roar-!"

A roar came from the ancient tree's canopy.

A deathly white figure shot down like a cannonball, heading straight for Jiang Che's shoulder.

It was too fast.

Qi Condensation Shield had only just covered his entire body.

Bang!

A tremendous force slammed into Qi Condensation Shield.

Although the punch did not strike Jiang Che's body directly, its tremendous force still sent him flying backward, his back crashing into the trunk of an ancient tree that would take three people to encircle.

With a crack, the bark split.

A metallic sweetness rose in his throat, and he swallowed it back down.

Fortunately, Qi Condensation Shield had absorbed most of the impact; otherwise, that force would have been enough to injure his bones.

With no time to attend to the pain in his body, he rolled to his feet, his gaze locked on that deathly white figure.

He actually hadn't noticed this Soul Beast arriving right above his head?

The Soul Beast stood over two meters tall, with deathly white fur and eyes filled with fury and pain. Its canine teeth jutted out, its arms were unusually long and thick, and sharp claws grew from its hands.

A Millennium Wind Ape, but unlike an ordinary Wind Ape, it was a mutated variety.

At that moment, the Wind Ape's left arm hung limply, riddled with more than a dozen small holes, some still oozing blood.

It pounded the ground with its right arm and growled, staring fixedly at Jiang Che with hatred filling its eyes.

"An injured left arm..." Jiang Che understood. It had probably been wounded by a Soul Hunting party or a Soul Master and fled, only to run into him and mistake him for an accomplice of the people who had injured it.

Jiang Che dared not take it lightly. Judging from that punch, this Wind Ape was much stronger than an ordinary Thousand-Year Soul Beast and had at least two thousand years of cultivation.

The Wind Ape growled, braced its right arm against the ground, and launched itself upward.

This time, rather than throwing itself at Jiang Che, it reached directly for his head.

Not daring to meet this Wind Ape head-on, Jiang Che dodged to the right, a Blue Silver Longsword condensing in his hand.

But to Jiang Che's surprise, the Wind Ape suddenly checked its momentum in midair, twisted its head, and spat a ball of red light from its mouth.

At that moment, alarm bells rang in Jiang Che's heart. The Wind Ape's timing was perfect; he could no longer dodge.

The red light struck his Qi Condensation Shield.

"Four Ounces Deflect a Thousand Pounds!"

The condensed Qi no longer protected Jiang Che, instead wrapping around the ball of red light.

"Qi Force Resonance!"

Qi Force Resonance successfully neutralized ten percent of the energy in the ball of red light and converted it into one percent True Qi.

With both techniques helping him, Jiang Che successfully diverted the ball of red light, making it brush past his side.

The red light shot past Jiang Che and struck a huge rock not far behind him.

Boom!

The huge rock was blasted to pieces by the red light.

Jiang Che's eyes filled with shock. Not only did this beast possess tremendous strength and speed, but its combat intelligence was also high. Among beasts of the same age, it definitely occupied an overlord's position.

Seeing Jiang Che's shocked expression, the Wind Ape was no longer as furious as before. Instead, it hopped about, making excited, strange cries and thumping its chest with its right arm, producing booming thuds. It was plainly mocking Jiang Che.

An azure whirlwind erupted from within Jiang Che and wrapped around his body. His aura soared considerably, and his speed and strength surged as well. His pupils were scarlet, and his hind legs kicked against the ground, leaving it sunken as he became a blur and lunged forward.

Its speed was twice what it had been before. Its right claw rose high and raked toward Jiang Che, giving him no chance to catch his breath.

Jiang Che knew full well that if he merely defended or dodged, he would never gain the upper hand.

"Water Blades in a Line!" A glint of ruthlessness flashed through Jiang Che's eyes.

The instant the Wind Ape lunged overhead, Jiang Che activated his Soul Bone Skill and leaped into the air.

Water Blades linked into a single line and slashed toward the Wind Ape.

Caught by this sudden counterattack, the Wind Ape staggered backward repeatedly, blood seeping continuously from the wounds that appeared on its chest.

Now!

"First Soul Skill: Profusion!"

Several Blue Silver Vines grew wildly beneath the Wind Ape's feet.

Jiang Che forced the Blue Silver Vines to grow without regard for the consequences!

Of course, Jiang Che did not believe this Blue Silver Grass could trap the Wind Ape. Its sole purpose was to buy time, giving him more time to fill the surroundings with more Blue Silver Emperors.

Star Wheel Rotation was Jiang Che's most powerful offensive method so far, but an instantly cast Star Wheel Rotation clearly could not injure a Soul Beast of this strength.

He needed more time to prepare, to grow more Blue Silver Emperors around the Wind Ape and make Star Wheel Rotation more damaging.

The sharp leaves on the Blue Silver Vines left wound after wound on the Wind Ape's body, but these wounds could not inflict any meaningful damage on it. Instead, they enraged it.

The Blue Silver Vines lasted less than three breaths in the Wind Ape's hands before being torn apart, but a second, a third, and still more Blue Silver Vines grew from the ground.

A sheen of cold sweat seeped onto Jiang Che's forehead. The wildly growing Blue Silver Vines were steadily draining the Soul Power within him.

He had to control his remaining Soul Power precisely, leaving enough to unleash Star Wheel Rotation.