Bang!
With a deafening roar, the hard ground cracked.
The enormous wind baboon, as large as a small mountain, landed with the terrifying aura of a six thousand years old soul beast. Where its claws struck, a deep crater half a foot deep formed, sending rubble flying in all directions.
"Watch out!" Bei Bei's stern shout rang out just in time.
At that critical moment, Liu Yuan, Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao quickly dodged in different directions.
Huo Yuhao felt a gust of wind sweep past him. The next second, an irresistible force lifted him off the ground, wind whistling in his ears and his vision spinning.
By the time he regained his senses, Liu Yuan had already carried him to a safe spot a dozen meters away and gently set him down.
"Brother Liu Yuan…" Huo Yuhao, still shaken, looked up at him.
But Liu Yuan's profile appeared unusually calm in the flickering firelight, as if the terrifying sneak attack had been nothing more than a trivial farce.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Bei Bei and Tang Ya, who had reacted just as quickly, faced the wind baboon head-on.
"You beast! Stop your arrogance!" Bei Bei roared, and a dazzling blue-purple light erupted from his body.
A majestic blue lightning tyrannosaurus phantom appeared behind him, its powerful dragon might spreading outward, and three spirit rings colored yellow, purple, and black rose and circled his body.
Facing a wind baboon whose cultivation far surpassed the previous ones, he unleashed his full strength in a thunderous attack.
"First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"
"Second Soul Skill, Thunderous Might!"
"Third Soul Skill, Thunderous Fury!"
Bei Bei's body was completely enveloped in dazzling lightning, and his aura surged. The dragon claw on his right arm became solid, purple lightning power surged wildly, tearing at the air.
At the same time, countless thin electric snakes burst forth from his body, intertwining in the air to form a vast lightning net sweeping over the wind baboon.
"Xiaoya, flank them!" Bei Bei warned in a deep voice.
"Understood!" Tang Ya shouted, her short blue hair moving as her soul power surged.
Three spirit rings two yellow and one purple lit up beneath her feet. Countless slender but resilient blue silver grass vines burst from the earth like living snakes, coiling around the wind baboon's limbs to restrain it.
Her soul skill, "Blue Silver Grass Parasite", had quietly activated, and some seeds mixed in with the vines waited for a chance to invade the wind baboon's body.
But skillful teamwork alone could not easily overcome the strength gap.
"ROAR—!"
The wind baboon let out a ferocious roar, a hint of disdain flashing in its eyes at the massive lightning net. It inhaled sharply, its chest swelling, and then unleashed a blue tornado blade.
"Sizzle—"
The lightning net clashed with the wind blades. After half a second, the net was torn apart by the concentrated wind elemental power, scattering into the sky.
The wind baboon ignored the blue silver grass entangling its legs, snapping it instantly with brute strength. With a powerful push off the ground, its massive body transformed into a black whirlwind, moving with agility that belied its size, and crashed straight toward Bei Bei.
"Oh no!" Bei Bei's pupils shrank.
He raised the Thunder Dragon Claw to block, but the force was overwhelming.
With a heavy thud, Bei Bei was struck like a hammer blow. She groaned, flying backward, crashing into a giant tree that required two people to hug. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
The wind baboon did not chase. Its blood-red eyes turned to Tang Ya, hatred and killing intent boiling.
The wind baboon, now frenzied, prepared to attack indiscriminately.
"ROAR!"
It flashed forward, claws aimed straight for Tang Ya's throat. This attack was faster and more ruthless than the one on Bei Bei.
"Xiaoya!" Bei Bei cried, struggling to rise, her strength weakening.
"Sister Xiaoya!" Huo Yuhao, watching from a distance, turned pale.
Tang Ya, less agile than Bei Bei, had no time to dodge. The claws enlarged in her vision, and the shadow of death loomed instantly.
Time seemed to slow.
Despair marked Tang Ya's face, anger and helplessness filled Bei Bei's eyes, and Huo Yuhao's heart raced with fear.
It was the split second between life and death.
A voice rang out, sharp and commanding.
"COURTING DEATH!" (Can't go wrong with this classic line.)
Before the words ended, a golden-green streak of light cut through the night sky, slicing between Tang Ya and the wind baboon at impossible speed.
It was Liu Yuan.
He had moved without anyone noticing. In Huo Yuhao's eyes, the brother who had been beside him a second ago became a blurry phantom, appearing directly in the center of the battlefield.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
With a low shout, Liu Yuan's body shone. A sacred emerald-green dragon phantom soared behind him, radiating terrifying primordial dragon might. The six thousand years old wind baboon froze, fear flashing in its eyes.
Liu Yuan's body changed, entering a half-human, half-dragon state. Emerald-green scales appeared on his forehead, and his eyes became golden vertical slits. A ten-thousand-year-old soul ring shimmered beneath his feet.
"First Soul Skill - Divine Speed!"
"Buzz—!"
The spirit ring glowed, unleashing the ultimate speed law. Liu Yuan vanished in an instant, or at least moved so fast he became imperceptible.
The fear in the wind baboon's eyes turned to astonishment. It saw only a blur. Its deadly claws sliced through empty air.
Death had already come.
"Pfft—!"
A faint sound, like a blade piercing tofu, rang out. No flashy moves, no massive soul energy.
Liu Yuan's figure solidified behind the wind baboon. His right hand thrust like a sword, fingertips piercing the wind baboon's back, striking the still-beating heart.
"Hehehe… heheh…??"
The wind baboon froze, lowering its massive head to look incredulously at the two fingers marked with faint dragon-scale patterns. Soul power condensed on Liu Yuan's fingers, without a drop of blood.
Madness and hatred in the beast's eyes receded, replaced by shock, disbelief, and the fear of life slipping away. It never understood how a human could be so fast, faster than it's thought, and even faster than death itself.
"Bang."
Liu Yuan withdrew his hand. The wind baboon's massive body collapsed, kicking up dust. It twitched twice, then lay completely still.
The entire fight, from Liu Yuan's intervention to the wind baboon's death, passed in an instant.
A deathly silence fell.
The campfire crackled, the evening breeze rustled the treetops, but none of it could break the shock that gripped Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao.