"Lingling, congratulations."
Yu Tianming congratulated Ye Lingling as he watched her holding the Nine Heart Begonia in her hand, her smile blooming like a flower.
"Tianming, Grandpa Yu, thank you both!"
Feeling the surging Soul Power within her, Ye Lingling spoke earnestly.
Yu Yuanzhen was just about to speak when his expression suddenly changed drastically, and his nine Soul Rings blazed into view.
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!"
Thunder crackled around Yu Yuanzhen as his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul possessed him, instantly undergoing Dragon Transformation. "Tianming, take Lingling and go!"
The entire forest suddenly fell deathly silent. Even the chirping of insects vanished.
The ground began to shake violently, and towering ancient trees toppled in rows.
A mountainlike black shadow rose from among the trees, its dark golden beast eyes like two blood moons.
The Titan Giant Ape!
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the forest's king on the surface.
Facing the Hundred-Thousand-Year Titan Giant Ape directly, Ye Lingling was cowed by its terrifying ferocity. Her legs went weak, and the Thunder Spirit Jade Pendant at her chest flashed incessantly.
Yu Tianming reached out to steady Ye Lingling, his gaze grave as he stared ahead.
"Hold on tight."
Yu Tianming spoke in a low voice.
His Valstrax Martial Soul manifested, spreading its silvery-white metallic dragon wings. Crimson streaks of light instantly erupted from the six lance-wing thrusters!
Before Ye Lingling could react, Yu Tianming had already swept her up in his arms.
"Grandpa, be careful!"
The lance wings spewed blazing Dragon Energy, and the two shot into the sky like a meteor.
The terrifying recoil blasted away all the ground within ten meters.
"Roar-"
The Titan Giant Ape's furious roar shattered the clouds.
It was about to give chase, but thunder filling the sky blocked its path.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!"
With a cold shout, Yu Yuanzhen transformed into an enormous Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and collided savagely with the Titan Giant Ape.
High in the sky, Ye Lingling clung tightly to Yu Tianming's neck.
Fierce winds howled past her ears, and the trees below rapidly shrank.
This was different from when Yu Yuanzhen flew with them. A Titled Douluo's Soul Power barrier was extremely stable, able to block the fierce winds and drag.
Yu Tianming clearly could not do that and could only hold Ye Lingling in his arms.
Crimson Dragon Energy extended over Ye Lingling, shielding her.
"Don't be afraid." Yu Tianming's voice reached her clearly, wrapped in Soul Power. "Speed is what Valstrax does best. We'll soon fly out of the Titan Giant Ape's sight."
He had barely finished speaking,
when an earth-shaking explosion suddenly sounded behind them.
Ye Lingling looked back and saw the entire sky divided by thunderclouds and dust storms.
Two enormous figures crossed paths, each collision unleashing waves of violent air that sent trees and rocks flying.
"Grandpa Yu..."
"Don't worry."
Yu Tianming angled his lance wings, tracing an elegant arc. "Grandpa is a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo, and he also has the secret technique Dragon Transformation. He's no weaker than the Titan Giant Ape."
"Besides, even if Grandpa can't defeat the Titan Giant Ape, he can easily escape."
Suddenly,
the Titan Giant Ape drove Yu Yuanzhen back with a punch, seized a boulder several zhang across, and hurled it at them.
Yu Tianming's pupils abruptly contracted, and all six thrusters went into overload at once.
The crimson streaks deepened in color, almost turning a bewitching deep red, and his flight speed soared by a huge margin.
At that moment, the Valstrax Martial Soul almost became a streak of light cutting across the sky.
"Boom!!"
The boulder exploded into dust a thousand meters behind them.
Before Ye Lingling could recover from her shock, a crimson valley suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Yu Tianming slowly landed at the edge of a cliff, wisps of white smoke rising as his lance wings folded away.
Only then did Ye Lingling notice the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Clearly, that flight beyond his limits had placed an immense burden on his body.
"You..."
"Just a minor injury."
Yu Tianming wiped away the blood and looked gravely into the distance, unable to help feeling somewhat worried.
He knew that the Star Dou Great Forest also held a Sky Azure Bull Python stronger than the Titan Giant Ape. If they attacked together, his grandfather Yu Yuanzhen would be in danger.
"Let me heal you first."
Without wasting words, Ye Lingling directly released her Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul and devoted all her strength to healing Yu Tianming.
Seeing this, Yu Tianming did not use the Eye of Life, keeping it in reserve.
"You vile beast!"
Seeing Yu Tianming and Ye Lingling fly safely away, Yu Yuanzhen breathed a sigh of relief, then bellowed at the Titan Giant Ape.
His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon avatar suddenly swelled.
The lightning bursting between his dragon scales dyed the entire sky violet-blue as the terrifying pressure of a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo was fully unleashed.
"Eighth Soul Skill, Soaring Dragon Heavenly Thunder Explosion!"
As his Eighth Soul Ring shone, countless bolts of lightning as thick as buckets descended from the sky.
These bolts were not chaotic and disordered. Instead, they condensed into lightning dragons that bombarded the Titan Giant Ape from every direction.
"Roar-"
The Titan Giant Ape pounded its chest with both fists, its dark golden fur taking on a metallic sheen.
It actually neither dodged nor evaded, taking the entire wave of attacks head-on with its body.
Lightning exploded across its surface, yet left only wounds of middling depth, insignificant against its enormous, hill-like body.
Yu Yuanzhen's dragon pupils contracted slightly, and he was inwardly startled.
As expected of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Its defenses truly are terrifying!
But his hands did not slow in the slightest.
His dragon claw curled around empty air, and a long spear condensed from pure lightning took shape in his palm.
"Spear of Thunder!"
The spear tore through the air, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow. The Titan Giant Ape instinctively turned aside to dodge, but it was still pierced in the shoulder.
This time,
dark red blood immediately gushed out.
The pain drove the Titan Giant Ape into utter fury. It suddenly leaped up, clasping its fists into a hammer and smashing down at Yu Yuanzhen with the force to destroy heaven and earth.
"Just what I wanted!"
Rather than retreating, Yu Yuanzhen advanced, swinging his dragon tail as he met the attack.
The instant dragon claws collided with ape fists,
a shock wave visible to the naked eye swept outward. Every tree within a hundred-meter radius snapped at the waist, and the ground collapsed outright into a massive ring-shaped crater.
"Boom-"
The dust and smoke cleared,
revealing several shattered scales on Yu Yuanzhen. The Titan Giant Ape had not fared well either: the fur on its right fist was scorched black, and a faint burnt smell hung in the air.
"Ninth Soul Skill, a True Dragon's Wrath, Thunder Shakes the Nine Heavens!"
Giving the Titan Giant Ape no chance to catch its breath, Yu Yuanzhen directly unleashed his strongest Soul Skill.
"Roooar-"
Behind Yu Yuanzhen, countless bolts of lightning gathered into nine enormous lightning dragons, which roared in unison as they soared skyward.
The nine lightning dragons circled and intertwined in the air, their cries shaking the heavens. At that moment, the entire Star Dou Great Forest trembled before them.
At last, a trace of gravity flashed through the Titan Giant Ape's dark golden eyes.
It slammed both fists into the ground, and the earth before it suddenly heaved upward, forming a thick earthen wall.
"Boom-!!!"
The instant the enormous lightning dragons struck the earthen wall, dazzling lightning turned heaven and earth white.
A terrifying shock wave spread in a ring, razing even a nearby hill to the ground.
When the light faded,
the Titan Giant Ape could be seen kneeling on one knee, a hideous, charred wound now marking its chest as dark red blood dripped continuously.
It roared furiously, but could no longer find any trace of its opponent.
Yu Yuanzhen had long since used the explosion as cover, turning into a streak of lightning and fleeing far away.
"Roar-!!"
The Titan Giant Ape's unwilling, furious roar echoed through the forest, startling countless birds into flight, yet it could only watch helplessly as that streak of lightning vanished into the horizon.
When it came to speed,
the Titan Giant Ape fell far short of Yu Yuanzhen.