Perhaps due to the "Eagle" in his name, Yang Ying's yearning for the sky was deeply rooted within him from childhood, which is why, among the four advanced sword styles provided in the sword manual, he held a particular fondness for the Soaring Sword Technique and practiced it most diligently. To this day, his comprehension of the Soaring Sword Technique far surpassed that of the other styles; whenever he drew his blade, soaring into the air was the first thing that came to mind.

Upon seeing the silver lightsaber in Yang Ying's hand, the High-Grade Ape Man’s eyes immediately glinted with greed. Such a unique lightsaber was rare, the best helper and greatest bane for any lightsaber wielder.

It thrust its right hand toward Yang Ying, as if its arm were spring-loaded, moving with lightning speed. As its hand swept past its waist, it executed the twin actions of opening its holster and drawing its weapon simultaneously, displaying a technique honed through countless trials. Then, aiming at Yang Ying in mid-air, it pulled the trigger, fully expecting Yang Ying to be unable to dodge while airborne and inevitably perish from the shot, allowing the ape man to claim the rare silver lightsaber for itself.

However, if the Soaring Sword Technique merely served to make one an aerial target, how could it possibly have been included in the sword manual?

Yang Ying pushed off backward with his foot, and a ripple instantly appeared beneath him, as if he had stepped onto an invisible wall of air. Using this push, Yang Ying changed direction in the sky, accelerating even faster toward the mass of ordinary Ape Men, successfully evading the laser blast.

Changing direction mid-air was the crux of employing the Soaring Sword Technique. That ripple was a point of leverage created using psionic energy. With this move, a swordsman suspended in the air would not be rendered helpless targets due to having nowhere to exert force. This was a profoundly rudimentary yet immensely useful technique—the double jump!

The emergence of this technique greatly enhanced the swordsman's agility in the air, allowing the sword arts to be executed across a far broader spatial domain.

The Ape Man, having missed its shot, was about to fire again but sensed danger and quickly dodged sideways. A laser beam streaked past it—the bodyguard had initiated an attack.

The ordinary Ape Men were just starting to raise their rifles upward to target Yang Ying, but they were already a step too late. Yang Ying had closed the distance. He swung his lightsaber, cleaving the head of an ape man directly below him vertically, the wound running down to its chest. He then flipped in mid-air and landed amidst the circle of ordinary Ape Men—the scene was truly that of a tiger entering a flock of sheep.

After firing at the High-Grade Ape Man while its attention was fixed on Yang Ying, the bodyguard immediately dropped to the ground and rolled to the side, taking cover behind a stack of crates about half a person's height, using them as excellent cover, denying the High-Grade Ape Man any chance to return fire.

This bodyguard was a veteran who had survived countless battles against ape forces, possessing a deep understanding of how terrifying the High-Grade Ape Men were. He knew clearly that his reaction speed was far inferior to theirs; poking his head out now would result in instant death before he even had a chance to fire. Therefore, his target could only be the ordinary Ape Men.

The High-Grade Ape Man, initially enraged that a mere mortal dared to shoot at it, was about to vaporize the bodyguard with a single blast. However, the bodyguard moved with such agility that he was behind cover before the ape man's muzzle could fully align, which infuriated the superior creature.

In those few seconds, Yang Ying landed behind the front rank of ape men. He began with a horizontal sweep of his lightsaber, severing the heads of two ape men slightly further back. These two had been intending to aim their rifles at him, but they were a beat too slow; even if they had fired, Yang Ying possessed the means to evade. Following the sweep, he thrust forward, driving the blade into the glabella of an adjacent ape man, the tip exiting through the back of its skull. Simultaneously, without even looking, he swiftly kicked backward, knocking away a rifle aimed at him. He then pivoted halfway around, his lightsaber slashing out to kill a fifth ape man.

The two ape men he had decapitated moments before had just fallen. The remaining living ape men turned around, their faces contorting into expressions of sheer terror as they scrambled backward.

Ten meters away, the High-Grade Ape Man witnessed this scene, letting out a furious, unintelligible roar in the ape language. It switched the laser rifle to its left hand, drew its lightsaber with the right, and lunged toward Yang Ying in a wide stride. Its squad of ordinary ape soldiers, only ten in total, had already lost half their number while the High-Grade Ape Man’s attention was diverted by the bodyguard—a fact that filled it with incandescent rage.

At the High-Grade Ape Man's command, the apes immediately dispersed, adopting a tactic of retreating while facing Yang Ying, all while firing their laser rifles. But what happened next caused them immense confusion: Yang Ying suddenly flickered, splitting into two figures that darted off in different directions, both targeting two of the retreating ape men.

This was the Illusion Technique Yang Ying had tirelessly practiced, and its use here successfully blurred the enemy’s vision. However, due to his short training period, despite his diligent effort, he could only manifest one phantom, and the illusion bore subtle differences from his true form—differences noticeable with a careful second glance.

The ape men were momentarily paralyzed, unsure which Yang Ying to target with their laser rifles. Only the two ape men designated as targets saw an approaching Yang Ying and immediately fired upon him.

Both Yang Yings flashed aside with evasive maneuvers, dodging the lasers.

Unable to discern the genuine article, the High-Grade Ape Man charged straight toward the nearer Yang Ying while firing a shot at the other. The distant Yang Ying, just about to attack the ordinary ape in front of him, was forced to pull back by this shot, but he used the opportunity to sever the ape man's laser rifle. Meanwhile, the nearer Yang Ying abandoned the ordinary ape and moved to intercept the High-Grade Ape Man.

On the other side, the hidden bodyguard, relying on his extensive battlefield experience, judged that Yang Ying had successfully drawn the High-Grade Ape Man’s focus. He quickly poked his head out and shot down one of the stunned ordinary ape men, then ducked back down.

Seeing two Yang Yings also startled the bodyguard momentarily, but he immediately suppressed his surprise; his other actions remained unaffected. Under these circumstances, nothing was more critical than eliminating the enemy apes.

The other two still-dazed ape men seemed to snap out of a trance, firing several shots from their laser rifles at the crates but achieving nothing.

The High-Grade Ape Man could no longer afford to worry about the bodyguard. It took massive strides to quickly close the distance with Yang Ying, thrusting its lightsaber toward Yang Ying's left shoulder, which Yang Ying dodged by ducking low. Simultaneously, the silver lightsaber struck like a viper, lashing out from Yang Ying's waist toward the High-Grade Ape Man's left flank—aimed squarely at its heart!

The ape man was forced to retreat two steps to evade the deadly sharpness.

The distant Yang Ying seized this opportunity to cut down the ordinary ape with a single sword stroke.

In truth, had the High-Grade Ape Man not dodged, it would have discovered that the silver lightsaber piercing its body caused no pain whatsoever, as the figure before it was nothing more than an illusion!

At the same instant, two sharp cracks echoed—the sound of C-10 Gauss Rifles. The two Ghost Agents left guarding the transport ship had entered the fray, eliminating two ordinary ape men with their shots. The bodyguard, positioned behind the crates, had a clear view of the Ghost Agents firing and popped his head up to take down the last remaining ordinary ape.

Only the High-Grade Ape Man remained on the field!

Seeing this, the High-Grade Ape Man's beastly eyes seemed ready to spill blood. It was only then that it noticed a slight disharmony in the details of the Yang Ying before it, instantly realizing it had been deceived. It let out a furious roar, neither dodging nor blocking, and was sliced through by the silver lightsaber as it simultaneously cut down the phantom with its own blade.

By this time, the distant Yang Ying had already soared into the air—not to engage in a duel, but to escape.

Because three Machine Gunners, fully armed, had appeared at the transport ship's doorway. Three C-14 automatic rifles were held in their hands, spitting out continuous tada-tada-tada sounds—a storm of bullets directed at the High-Grade Ape Man.

The ape man tried to flee, but the bullets seemed to track it relentlessly; it could not escape!

The Machine Gunners possessed powerful assisted targeting systems, capable of calculating almost every possible evasion angle of the enemy and sealing them off. Generally speaking, three Machine Gunners could eliminate one Zealot. This High-Grade Ape Man’s psionic strength was only around a thousand, similar to a Zealot, and while its combat experience was richer than that of a newly spawned Zealot, its skill and equipment were far inferior.

A Zealot’s armor enhances psychic power and generates a plasma shield. This ape man, however, was clad only in tight battle gear; how could it withstand the penetration of Gauss rifle rounds?

And so, in that storm of bullets, the High-Grade Ape Man erupted in blossoms of crimson, collapsing onto the ground. In its final moments, it incessantly repeated a phrase in the ape language, but tragically, none of the onlookers understood it.

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