"Brat, if you've got the guts, stop dodging and take another punch!" Steven rolled his shoulders and decided to try once more with his ultimate move.
This time, his figure shot into the sky like a cannonball in an instant. The speed he unleashed was another thirty percent faster than before, and he had positioned his fist in a very unusual stance. Even from far away, the terrifying power emanating from it made Luo Ao's body tremble.
This Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape's strength really is terrifying beyond the ordinary. Luo Ao was secretly shocked by the big fellow's strength.
With this Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape's strength, an ordinary peak Saint-level expert might truly be unable to do anything to him.
"Roar!" As the Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape shot skyward, he let out an enraged roar at Luo Ao. He actually confined the terrifying sound waves to a narrow area and sent them hurtling straight at Luo Ao.
The unexpected, terrifying sound waves left Luo Ao's ears ringing, and right behind them came the Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape, charging furiously toward him.
This big fellow's combat intelligence is anything but ordinary. Luo Ao had not quite expected him to throw in a sonic attack while launching his assault.
"Unfortunately, you haven't comprehended the Wind Element's Profound Mysteries of Sound Waves." Although those terrifying sound waves carried considerable power, they lacked the support of the Profound Mysteries of the Laws. They barely managed to interfere with Luo Ao a little, but their actual effect was insignificant.
"Try again, and the outcome won't change." Luo Ao could tell that this Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape was the relatively "studious" type. He had actually worked out a few respectable-looking fist techniques. But his level was still a long way from truly comprehending the Profound Mysteries of the Laws.
"This move is a little more powerful than your last, but that's all there is to it." Even as Luo Ao struck with his sword again, he did not forget to deal his opponent a verbal blow.
As the sword struck, even space trembled! An overwhelming force suddenly erupted from the Azure Nightmare Sword in Luo Ao's hand!
It was still the same move as before, but this time, Luo Ao did not hold back in the slightest.
He hoped this strike would make the big fellow face reality. Otherwise, he could only consider finding another magical beast companion. In any case, this was not the only Saint-level magical beast in Firefly Forest. He refused to believe that not a single one would submit to him.
Boom! The collision lasted only an instant, yet it seemed to shake the earth and mountains.
The dust, sand, and stones thrown into the air completely engulfed an area several hundred meters around them.
This time, the Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape was crushed even more miserably. He smashed through an entire row of at least a dozen towering trees, each so thick it took people joining arms to encircle it, before his whole body became embedded in a small hill. He struggled for a long time without finding the strength to climb out.
"I'll ask you one more time. Submit, or die!" Luo Ao was not set on choosing this Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape as his magical beast companion. But now that he had overwhelmed his opponent in a direct contest of strength, if the fellow still refused to see sense, he would not mind gaining another Saint-level magical beast core.
"I, Steven, the Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape, am willing to submit to Lord Luo Ao." He did not even have the strength to get up, which showed just how severely that sword strike had injured the Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape.
Faced with an absolute disparity in strength, Steven ultimately chose to submit. Just as Luo Ao had said, submitting to someone strong was nothing shameful.
And as a magical beast, he respected the strong above all. Luo Ao had defeated him in strength, his greatest specialty, and that was proof of his power.
Yielding to such a powerful individual did not disgrace his dignity.
"Very good." A hint of a smile appeared on Luo Ao's face. Succeeding with the very first target he encountered had saved him quite a bit of trouble.
With this powerful Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape guarding his family, he could begin his own cultivation plans.
With his current talent, he should be able to slowly comprehend the Profound Mysteries of the Laws even if he cultivated alone in seclusion. But Boya World was so vast, with all manner of strange and unusual creatures, that he naturally wanted to see them for himself.
Moreover, the Edicts of Destruction, currently his strongest aspect, were suited to comprehension through battle. Experiencing more battles would do him no harm. Of course, the prerequisite was that he could not die. Death would put an end to everything.
In front of Steven, Luo Ao quickly traced out a Soul Contract Magic Array. Even a Level Seven Mage had the ability to set up this array. Luo Ao was both a Saint Warrior and a Saint Magus Instructor, so naturally, he had no need to purchase a contract scroll.
Steven obediently signed the Master-Servant Contract. The Soul Contract Magic Array was formed from Luo Ao's spiritual power, and once Steven accepted this soul contract, he naturally could no longer defy Luo Ao, his master. Even if his strength surpassed Luo Ao's in the future, he could only continue serving him loyally.
Of course, Luo Ao did not believe that Steven, an utterly unremarkable Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape, would ever surpass him.
"Master." After signing the contract, the two established a soul connection, and Steven's attitude became exceedingly respectful.
"Mm. Once you've recovered from your injuries a little, leave this place with me." Although Steven looked severely injured, the vitality of a Saint-level magical beast was no joke. It would not take long before he was full of life and vigor again.
"Hmm? This special energy can actually spread to Steven's soul through the soul contract." Luo Ao cast a Water Element healing spell to help Steven recover quickly, only to discover by chance that the special power contained within the Myriad Worlds Pearl could also enter Steven's soul along with it.
Of course, this was because some of it had been spontaneously channeled over when he targeted Steven with the healing spell just now. If he did not wish to grant Steven this special energy, he could sever that connection at any time.
Now, this is a new discovery. Luo Ao began to ponder. In fact, he had tried transferring the power released by the Myriad Worlds Pearl to others long ago, naturally including his father, Bourne, and his mother, Mansha.
However, this special power could only circulate within his own soul and body. He had no way to transfer it to anyone else.
Otherwise, if he had possessed any means of sharing some of the special energy with his father, Bourne would probably have successfully broken through to Saint-level by now.
What a pity. I only have a partial understanding of this mysterious power of contracts. If only he could find some other way.
He cared quite a bit about his parents and older sister in this life. But as things stood, apart from his father, Bourne, who had a fairly good chance of reaching Saint-level on his own, his mother, Mansha, and his older sister, Nicole, would probably find it very difficult to reach Saint-level.
His older sister, Nicole, might still have a small chance in the future, but his mother, Windsor, was only a Level Five Mage. Although she was still relatively young, her limit was probably around that of a Level Seven Mage. Breaking through to Saint-level was almost impossible.
I'll take my time finding a way later. Luo Ao knew that this world contained quite a few Heaven and Earth Wonders. What if, one day, he found a treasure capable of holding the Myriad Worlds Pearl's strengthening power?
The special energy diverted to Steven is at most one ten-thousandth of the total, and whether to share it with him is up to me. Luo Ao could sense that he could control and cut off the special energy flowing into Steven's soul.
But diverting a mere one ten-thousandth had a negligible effect on the progress of his own talent enhancement.
For Steven, however, although a one-ten-thousandth share sounded small, little drops could accumulate into a qualitative change. After all, as a Saint-level lifeform, Steven had what could be called an endless lifespan.
As long as he lived long enough, sooner or later, he too could transform into a cultivation genius. At that point, he might be the most talented Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape in the history of Coiling Dragon World.
"Steven, shrink down a little and come back with me." Although Saint-level magical beasts could not take human form, they could freely control the size of their bodies.
"Yes, Master." Under Luo Ao's observation, Steven's enormous body, originally over ten meters tall, shrank to around two meters in the blink of an eye, roughly the same height as him.
"Interesting." This was Luo Ao's first time seeing a Saint-level magical beast use this ability, and he found it quite interesting. However, he could not figure out the principle behind it for the time being, so after studying it briefly, he paid it little further attention.
"Let's go." The man and the ape shot into the sky in an instant, flying straight up to the clouds. They sped through the high skies.
"This world really is astonishingly vast." Looking down at the expansive world beneath him, Luo Ao could not help letting out a sigh of wonder.
Although Luo Ao had already reached Saint-level and possessed the ability to roam freely through the skies, he had yet to leave the borders of the Darren Empire.
The Darren Empire's territory was simply too vast. Its lands stretched across millions of li, which worked out to at least roughly a trillion square kilometers. Its territory was almost two thousand times the size of Water Blue Planet, where he had lived in his previous life.
And there were dozens, nearly a hundred, entities like the Darren Empire on the Boya Plane. That did not even include the smaller nations, such as kingdoms and duchies of varying sizes. Beyond the land lay an even more vast and boundless ocean world.
This world truly was vast, and wondrous as well.