Fractured Woodland: The Red-and-Blue Giant Ape
The Fractured Woodland, a corner deep within the secret realm, seems to be separated from the world.
Qin Yu stood on this land, hearing no insects chirping, seeing no grass rustling, only the wind seemed to have been ripped out of its soul, becoming Silent Void still. The surrounding fields were all dark, the trees as black as ink, the grass and leaves gray and withered yet not dead, seemingly dead yet not truly dead. Every branch twisted and turned strangely upwards, as if trying to touch the sky, yet always struggling.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"This woodland... doesn't seem to have grown naturally, but rather appears to have been forcibly reconnected after being 'melted' by some force."
His thoughts raced, but his expression remained calm. The moment he stepped into the woods, he sensed a subtle gaze watching him from behind. The aura was deeply concealed, hidden in the gaps of space, and would have been almost imperceptible to Qin Yu had it not been for his spiritual perception possessed by the Azure Ring.
"It's the Shang Lineage's dog... it finally moved."
He didn't turn around or reveal anything unusual; he simply walked slowly into the depths of the woods, each step as if entering an unknown realm.
However, just as he had walked a third of the way through the woods, the sky and earth suddenly changed color!
A hundred miles ahead, the forest shook violently, and a red and blue smoke, powerful enough to tear apart the sea of consciousness, shot straight into the sky, as if to taint the entire secret realm with divine calamity!
"Boom!!!"
The heavens and earth roared, and a soul-shaking explosion suddenly erupted. The thick red and blue smoke surged like a volcano, and within it, a majestic silhouette that blotted out the sky was vaguely emerging. With shoulders like divine mountains and eyes like shooting stars, a giant ape that was a hundred feet tall slowly stepped out from the thick smoke!
"That's... an ape? No, that's a creature that doesn't belong to any realm!"
Qin Yu's eyes widened slightly, and in the next instant he had concealed himself behind a rock, holding his breath and concentrating.
It was a being that completely transcended the concept of "monster," its entire body grayish-white, with red and blue lightning flames intertwining and flowing across it. Every hair on its body shone with the light of laws, and every breath it took stirred up the wind and thunder of the surrounding area. Most terrifying of all, it held an ancient longsword in its hand!
That sword—neither gold nor wood, half blood and half crystal, with red and blue hues intertwined like two intertwined lightning dragons on its blade. The thick smoke was emanating from this very sword!
"That's no ordinary weapon... that sword... is a transcendental-level weapon?! No, it's a 'Realm-Severing Sword Embryo' that's even above the transcendental level!" Just one step away from becoming Realm Artifact. Qin Yu's pupils constricted sharply.
The giant ape, without uttering a sound, suddenly looked up into the distance, its gaze piercing through like a thousand bolts of lightning!
That glance actually swept straight towards the direction where Qin Yu was hiding!
Qin Yu felt a cold sweat trickle down his back, but he didn't move.
He knew this wasn't a random glance, but a genuine sensory experience!
"It sensed me..."
But the giant ape did not make a move; it seemed to be waiting.
At that very moment, a streak of light flashed across the distant woods, revealing a man in black robes dressed as a Shang Lineage, with a cold and sharp gaze and an aura of "Realm Consciousness Realm Third Stage"!
Qin Yu narrowed his eyes, watching the man approach the giant ape, seemingly trying to use some secret method to sense the sword's spirituality.
But only for a moment-
"Roar--!!!"
The giant ape roared in anger!
This sound shook the entire secret realm!
Mountains collapsed! Rocks cracked! The void trembled! The Shang Lineage retreated repeatedly, nearly losing his soul and spirit.
This scene caused Qin Yu, who was hiding behind the rock, to fix his gaze.
"It doesn't allow anyone to get close?... Or rather, it's guarding the sword?"
Beneath the heavens, laws are like smoke, and raging flames surge like a tide.
The Shang Lineage, Realm Consciousness Realm Third Stage, with his long hair flowing freely and his body surging with vital energy, finally managed to stabilize himself by stepping on the shattered rocks.
His consciousness nearly collapsed, his soul trembled like a surging tide. He gritted his teeth, slapped his palm into his robes, and pulled out a crimson pill—the "Soul-Suppressing Secret Pill"—which he swallowed.
In an instant, a glimmer of divine light flashed between his brows, barely suppressing the turmoil in his sea of consciousness, and his aura solidified once more!
In the distance, amidst the rocks, Qin Yu's gaze was sharp as lightning. He held his breath, the Spear of Black Bone gripped tightly between his fingers. He didn't move—not because he couldn't, but because this battle had reached a certain "boundary." He needed to see clearly... to see through...
"Roar--!"
The giant ape roared to the sky, its furious cry like the thunder of a thousand lightning bolts, instantly causing winds to rise and clouds to swirl above the forest, and causing all the trees to shake violently!
It stood on blood-stained earth, its chest heaving, and a thick plume of red and blue smoke, imbued with the laws of nature, billowed from the ancient sword!
The smoke and clouds, red as the blazing sun and blue as the deep sea, rose against the sky, transforming into giant serpents of law in the air, as if they wanted to tear the entire world apart!
The entire forest, with the thick smoke at its core, split open inch by inch!
At that moment, the powerful Shang Lineage roared, "You... you beast, how dare you injure my sea of consciousness?!"
Black energy churned around him, and suddenly he pointed a finger to the sky—
Boom!
A deep, dark vortex instantly formed above his head!
Within that vortex, crackling sounds echoed continuously, as if some ancient weapon was awakening.
"Summon--!"
As he roared, a jet-black halberd, its edges engraved with ancient patterns, slowly descended from the vortex.
The halberd seemed to have stepped out from ancient times. As soon as it was drawn, the void collapsed, space caved in, and even the rules of the universe seemed to tremble!
--A mid-tier divine Realm Artifact, the Shang Lineage's secret "Nether Origin Soul Rend Halberd"!
"Today, I'll show you the true strength of my Shang Lineage!"
He brandished his battle halberd, and nine black flame shadows instantly appeared in the void, like howling spirits from the underworld, charging straight at the giant ape!
But the giant ape, with its blood-red eyes, advanced instead of retreating!
It stomped its feet, shattering the blood-red earth, its massive body rising like a mountain, sword in hand!
"Roar--!"
The world changed color, and the ancient red and blue swords slashed across the sky, as if splitting time and space apart!
The halberd collided with the ancient sword, and in an instant—
The entire Fractured Woodland transformed into a vortex of destruction, with red and blue smoke intertwining and colliding with the dark halberd, and countless laws clashing wildly in the air!
The void exploded, mountains shattered, the earth cracked, and spatial chasms plunged like abysses...
The world was silent, save for the thunderous roar!
Behind this devastating clash, behind a dark rock, Qin Yu's gaze remained unwavering.
He finally murmured softly:
"This giant ape... no longer belongs to the Spirit Firmament system... and even the sword it wields... could it be Source Artifact?"
The next moment, within the red and blue laws, the giant ape seemed to fall into a rage, its body engulfed in scarlet flames, its eyes no longer filled with reason, but with some kind of... world-devouring savage origin!
It roared through the heavens, gripping its swords in both hands, as if treating the sky as its enemy, and slashed down with a single blow!
"Boom!!!"
In the distance, the sky was cleaved open by a terrifying rift, revealing the void, chaos, and Source Power that should never have been manifested in the world!
This is a being capable of going head-to-head with Realm Consciousness Realm Third Stage expert and remaining undefeated!
Even the powerful Shang Lineage, despite possessing a mid-grade Realm Artifact, was horrified by this sword strike. His expression changed drastically, and he was forced back hundreds of feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
"This... this isn't a strange beast at all... this is a 'remnant of an ancient era' that transcends this world!"
"An ethnic group that should not exist!!!"
Qin Yu, who was behind the rock, suddenly narrowed his eyes and slowly gripped the Black Bone Spear.
He knew that the giant ape's next attack could very well shatter the heavens and earth, or force the Limit of the Realm Artifact to be exposed...
Heaven and earth were torn apart by golden light, and the laws of nature surged and churned!
Although the sword did not strike, it was like a thunderbolt crashing down, causing the void within a hundred miles of the Fractured Woodland to tremble. The Shang Lineage's robes were torn to shreds and blood gushed from his shoulder bone by the giant ape's Sword Qi, and the killing intent in his eyes finally erupted like a volcano!
"You mere wild beast, how dare you hurt me?!"
He roared, gripping his halberd tightly with both hands. Golden light surged from his sea of consciousness, like a star collapsing. The "Nether Origin Soul Rend Halberd" was now fully awakened, its entire body turning golden, wrapped with terrifying high-dimensional laws—these laws even carried ancient divine runes that could shatter souls and split consciousness. Once released, they would be the punishment of annihilation!
"Die!"
Boom!!
The halberd slashed into the sky, and a golden law reversed the heavens, like the Ultimate Judgment of the celestial executor, rushing towards the giant ape with irresistible high-dimensional fluctuations.
The giant ape roared repeatedly, and its once invincible figure finally revealed a trace of pain under the golden light. A bloody hole was blasted through its chest, and red and blue blood flowed in chaotic air currents, shaking the heavens and earth.
But it did not fall.
"Roar!!!"
The next moment, the giant ape roared to the sky, and the ancient red and blue sword in its hand burst forth with an unusual radiance! The sword seemed to sense the threat of its nemesis and actually began to evolve!
Within the ancient sword, a remnant soul emerged, and a strange phantom, a hybrid of dragon and ape, appeared from the sword's edge, uttering indistinct incantations that instantly caused the laws of the entire forest to spiral out of control!
The crimson and blue swords have now transformed into the "Ape Origin War Sword - Primitive Form of Realm Breaking"!
As the sword trembled, an aura of destruction, not belonging to this world, erupted!
--
Damn it!
The Shang Lineage's expression changed drastically. His golden battle halberd had just stabilized its advancement when he felt the high-dimensional cracking force of the ape sword gradually approaching.
"Let's try one more move and see if you can block it!"
He formed hand seals, using the battle halberd as its core, and actually mobilized the origin of his own sea of consciousness. He spat out a mouthful of blood essence, causing the laws of the Nether Origin Soul Rend Halberd to surge once again, as if transforming into a golden demon god, raising the halberd and soaring into the sky!
The giant ape sword flashed like lightning, cleaving through the golden light with a single strike, and the two collided fiercely in the void!
Bang!!!
The Fractured Woodland was as if it had been cleaved by the wrath of a god; mountains collapsed, black trees fell, and the world turned into a dead zone!
The Shang Lineage's aura became chaotic, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, while the giant ape also suffered a heavy blow, with a fracture in its left arm. As the ancient sword spun, it released five red and blue lightning and fire sword patterns, seemingly trying to awaken a deeper level of sword soul origin!
The storm swept across the land like a blanket of night, bringing with it an aura of Annihilation.
The giant ape's eyes blazed with fury, turning crimson like flames. A deafening roar echoed through the Fractured Woodland, accompanied by the [Ape Origin War Sword - Realm Breaking Prototype], which was already half-awakened. The giant ape's fighting spirit surged to an extreme!
It raised its already bloodied and mangled left arm, and instead of retreating, it advanced. The entire arm bone burned with eerie blue flames, and it forcefully gripped the ape sword with both hands, slashing towards the golden divine halberd that was about to be completed in the sky!
"Body Burning - Source Awakening Spell!"
The world froze instantly!
In an instant, the giant ape's own bloodline began to flow backward. It was the activation of the source blood from the Primordial Beast Ancient Species, using its own body as a catalyst to forcibly awaken a deeper layer of seal on the Ape Origin War Sword.
Click!
The battle sword has fully awakened!
[Ape Origin War Sword - Realm Breaking State] - Present World!
At this moment, a sword cry resounded from an unknown dimension, as if the spatial net of the entire Spirit Firmament Great Realm was being sliced apart inch by inch by the sword light!
The powerful Shang Lineage finally realized something was wrong.
"What?! This beast can actually awaken the true spirit of an ancient divine weapon—"
Before he could finish speaking, he gritted his teeth and roared, once again mobilizing the source of his consciousness. With a flick of his right hand, the Nether Origin Soul Rend Halberd was fully completed as a [Realm Artifact - Mid-Rank - Divine Will Unsealed]!
"With my sea of consciousness, I suppress the soul! Fight!!!"
Boom!!!
The golden halberd and the red and blue ape sword clashed suddenly high in the sky.
This is not an ordinary battle of laws, but a clash of wills between Realm Artifact and an ancient weapon! It is the intertwining of the destinies of two transcendent beings!
The entire Fractured Woodland erupted with a roar as loud as stars exploding.
Sword light cascaded like a waterfall, halberd blades surged like a sea, and heaven and earth seemed to crumble!
The Shang Lineage, a powerful figure, barely managed to keep his halberd up, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His body was sent flying hundreds of feet backward by the ape sword, crashing through five ancient rocks!
The giant ape was already weak, blood streaming from its shoulder, but its blood-red eyes remained defiant as it slowly walked step by step toward the fallen Shang Lineage.
Boom!
With every step, the earth cracks threefold!
Just then, Qin Yu's eyes flickered slightly, and he finally uttered a low voice. "That's about it."
He did not make a move, but silently recorded the fluctuations of the giant ape's sword intent.
The battle is not yet truly over, but the outcome is already imminent.
The Shang Lineage's eyes widened in horror; he knew that if he fought again, he would likely perish.
He gritted his teeth, shook his palm, and suddenly slapped out a [Shang Lineage's Death-Avoiding Golden Token]. A golden light instantly enveloped it, forcibly tearing through the void to escape the Fractured Woodland!
"Hmph... you win, you beast."
The giant ape did not pursue it; it stood in the wind, blood gushing out, yet it roared angrily to the sky!
Roar----!!
That roar sent the fighting spirit beyond the forest, shaking the entire edge of the secret realm.
Qin Yu, who was behind the rock, finally stood up slowly, stared at the distant ape shadow, and murmured:
"Even a mid-grade Realm Artifact couldn't kill you; the origin of that ancient sword... is even more significant than I anticipated."
He did not rush to leave, but looked up again at the Ape Origin War Sword, which had begun to condense a true sword spirit phantom, and his eyes gradually became solemn.
"Perhaps this is the true starting point of opportunity for this Fractured Woodland."