Long Feng hastily drew his Snow Whip, pouring all his strength into it, but even ten of him would be no match for the Long-Armed Spirit Ape.

Shaking off Long Feng, the Spirit Ape’s ferocity intensified, and it charged straight toward Zhang Yang.

Its speed was not slow—certainly comparable to a hundred-meter sprint champion—but to Zhang Yang and Long Feng, it seemed somewhat sluggish.

Both Zhang Yang and Long Feng possessed terrifying bursts of instantaneous agility.

A hundred-meter champion, in their eyes, was merely a slow-motion spectacle.

The Long-Armed Spirit Ape's speed was its greatest vulnerability, and this formed the sole advantage held by Zhang Yang and his companions.

The Spirit Ape’s speed eventually caught up to Zhang Yang’s position in mere seconds, its two massive arms swinging down directly at him.

“BOOM!” A deafening crash echoed, shaking the earth violently.

Zhang Yang ‘miserably’ dodged aside.

The Ape followed with a powerful leg sweep, sending the Black Vine whipping straight toward Zhang Yang.

With another quick roll, Zhang Yang ‘sorrowfully’ evaded the attack once more, then crouched a distance away, panting heavily.

The Spirit Ape regarded Zhang Yang, an almost excited gleam in its eyes.

Ignoring the Lightning Beast charging toward it, the Ape lunged again directly at Zhang Yang.

At this moment, it was convinced Zhang Yang had sustained a grievous injury and was making a final, desperate stand.

No matter how high the Spirit Ape’s intelligence climbed, it could never conceive of a creature like the Treasure-Seeking Mouse, or the beast's utterly monstrous capabilities.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!” Lightning spat out a cloud of toxic mist before retreating again—exactly as Zhang Yang had commanded.

It wasn't meant to launch a true attack, only to harass the Spirit Ape incessantly.

Long Feng, positioned nearby, followed suit; regardless of efficacy, his attacks never ceased, and he made them appear frantic.

All of this was orchestrated by Zhang Yang’s silent instructions.

By acting this way, they projected the image that they were desperately trying to save Zhang Yang, further solidifying the Ape’s belief that Zhang Yang was critically wounded.

“AWOOOO!” The Spirit Ape suddenly roared several times, utterly disregarding Long Feng’s strikes and Lightning’s toxic harassment.

It charged toward Zhang Yang once more.

Given its intelligence, which far surpassed that of other Spirit Beasts, it could instinctively discern that the Zhang Yang before it was the most formidable opponent, the one truly capable of threatening it.

Eliminating Zhang Yang meant eliminating the threat entirely.

“It’s coming!” Zhang Yang’s heart tightened as he gripped the Golden Crown Python’s fang with a single hand.

He had deliberately staged this scenario, creating the illusion of a crippling injury.

Showing weakness to lure the enemy into striking, thereby creating an opportunity to inflict a devastating counterblow.

Even humans would instinctively relax when facing an apparently weakened foe, let alone a savage Spirit Beast.

The Long-Armed Spirit Ape was intelligent, but it could not surpass human cunning.

Zhang Yang was certain it would let down its guard, certain it would underestimate him.

Only then would it make a mistake, giving him the opening he needed.

The Spirit Ape raced forward, again extending its long arms carelessly, slamming them down directly toward Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang ‘feebly’ dodged away again.

The Ape pressed its advantage, but this time it didn't employ the Black Vine.

It relied purely on its raw strength, intending only to smash Zhang Yang’s skull with its dual arms.

The Ape’s attacks grew fiercer and more vicious with each passing moment.

Zhang Yang continued his evasions, appearing each time as if he were barely holding on, making a final, desperate effort.

His performance only energized the Spirit Ape further.

The Ape abandoned its reliance on the Black Vine completely, casting it aside, and pursued Zhang Yang with relentless brute force.

It was, after all, a Spirit Beast, and Spirit Beasts revered the power of their own might.

It believed its mighty arms alone could crush this insignificant creature before it.

After several feigned retreats, as the Spirit Ape once again raised both arms high above its head, a flash of icy coldness cut across Zhang Yang’s eyes.

“The chance!” Zhang Yang internally shouted.

The Spirit Ape had made this exact motion several times before, but on those occasions, his positioning had not been optimal.

This time, however, he had risked placing himself directly beneath the Ape’s reach—there was no position closer or more suitable for an attack.

When the Spirit Ape’s long arms reached their apex, its otherwise cumbersome frame became momentarily inflexible.

Zhang Yang, who seemed to be clinging to life, suddenly leaped.

This jump was astonishingly fast, covering the distance beneath the Long-Armed Spirit Ape as if crossing a beam of light.

Zhang Yang’s left hand clenched the fang, channeling every ounce of his internal power into his left arm and the weapon, then drove it violently upward toward the Ape's armpit.

This time, Zhang Yang expended every ounce of his reserve—twelve out of ten percent strength.

As the strike landed, Zhang Yang immediately recoiled backward.

His movements were far more fluid than they had been during his prior evasions; the Ape’s arm could smash down at any second, and he knew he could not withstand even one blow from those iron-hard limbs.

A single hit from the Black Vine earlier had caused such significant harm; being struck directly by the Ape was unthinkable.

The moment Zhang Yang’s speed suddenly surged and he appeared beneath it, the Spirit Ape sensed something was fundamentally wrong.

Zhang Yang's prediction was correct: thanks to its long-term consumption of Resurrection Grass, the Ape’s intelligence had evolved to a terrifying degree, rivaling that of a mature human.

Yet, despite possessing adult-level intellect, its long years of solitary existence meant its thought processes were constrained by standard logic, lacking the inherent treachery of a seasoned human mind.

This time, Zhang Yang had employed calculated deception.

By the time the Ape realized Zhang Yang was not as frail as previously imagined, nor truly crippled, it was already too late.

A searing, bone-deep agony erupted under its arm.

When the limb finally slammed down, Zhang Yang had already vanished into the distance.

“AWOOOO!” The Spirit Ape howled again, but this time, the sound was one of pure anguish.

Zhang Yang had found the exact weak point; the Spirit Ape’s armpit was its area of least resistance.

The fang had pierced deeply, lodging itself firmly within the creature’s body.

When Zhang Yang retreated, he couldn't even pull the weapon free; the fang remained buried beneath the Ape's armpit.

“Long Feng, Lightning!” As the Spirit Ape shrieked, Zhang Yang roared the command—this was their critical opening.

He had severely wounded the beast, but he hadn't defeated it.

They needed to capitalize on this moment, striking decisively before it could recover, lest they face the consequences.

From his canvas satchel, Zhang Yang produced another fang.

The Golden Crown Python possessed two fangs, both now claimed by Zhang Yang; one was currently embedded in the Ape, and the other was in his hand.

Lightning, possessing the greatest speed, had already circled the Long-Armed Spirit Ape, continuously spraying toxic mist.

Long Feng unleashed his Snow Whip, but this time, his target wasn't a direct attack on the Ape; rather, he struck upward, hitting the fang still protruding from the Ape’s side.

Since the fang was already lodged inside the creature, the impact from the Snow Whip caused the Spirit Ape’s body to convulse violently, as if enduring immense agony.

Striking while the enemy was vulnerable, Long Feng perfectly executed this principle.

The sudden jolt from the whip forced the Ape to instinctively clamp down on its armpit, an action that brought another wave of excruciating pain.

At this point, the Ape could no longer evade Lightning’s noxious cloud.

Its entire body was enveloped in the poison mist.

Zhang Yang charged forward again.

Only one of his hands was fully functional, but the Ape was far worse off; even with just one usable limb, Zhang Yang was confident he could inflict another crippling wound.

As for Lightning’s poison mist, Zhang Yang was immune, having recently been bitten by Wuying.

After suffering Wuying’s venom, even the Golden Crown Python’s toxins had become harmless to him, let alone the mist evolved from the same source.

“Sssshhhk!” The Spirit Ape’s skin was thick and immensely tough, but even the hardest armor has joints.

Zhang Yang targeted another vulnerability this time: the hollow of the knee joint in its leg.

With this thrust, Zhang Yang drove the second fang deep into the joint.

He withdrew the weapon quickly and retreated instantly.

The tip of the fang glistened with blood.

The Spirit Ape, which had been standing upright, could not maintain its posture; its leg buckled, blood now flowing freely from the wound.

With the aid of the fangs, Zhang Yang had managed to inflict serious, debilitating damage upon the beast.

“AWOOOO!” The Spirit Ape roared once more, forcing its body back upright.

Its arm shot up, and its free hand reached directly beneath its armpit, violently yanking the embedded fang free.

The fang had penetrated deeply.

As it was ripped out, blood surged outward from the Ape’s armpit cavity.

The immense pain caused by the removal of the weapon elicited another prolonged shriek from the Spirit Ape.

Long Feng’s Snow Whip swept in again, this time aimed precisely at the wound on the Ape’s leg.

His whip had little effect on any other part of the creature’s body, only finding purchase where the skin was already broken.

Struck hard by the whip, the Ape staggered violently, nearly collapsing onto one knee.

Its long arms shot out to brace against the ground, preventing a full collapse, but the continuous, severe trauma had drastically diminished its overall agility compared to before.

Previously, its movements were already somewhat clumsy, preventing it from truly cornering Zhang Yang and the others; now, after such heavy blows, it posed almost no threat in close quarters.

Of course, this was on the condition that Zhang Yang and his allies maintained distance; up close, a single slap from the Ape could still annihilate them.

As the Ape stumbled, Lightning rushed in again.

This time, Lightning’s target was another injured area.

While its teeth couldn't pierce the Ape’s scalp, the exposed flesh in the wounds would certainly not withstand its venomous bite.

Zhang Yang also charged, the tainted fang in his hand striking another soft spot—the joint hollow of the Ape’s other leg.

Lightning’s strike and Zhang Yang’s jab landed almost simultaneously.

Following the blows, both Zhang Yang and Lightning swiftly retreated, covered by Long Feng’s covering strikes with the Snow Whip.

Having sustained these two fresh, heavy impacts, the already wounded Spirit Ape could endure no more.

Its legs gave way, and it crashed heavily to the ground.

At that moment, Zhang Yang and Lightning swiftly pulled back, taking a brief moment to catch their breath.

The relentless assault had finally crippled the Spirit Ape.

Injured and poisoned, its threat level had dropped significantly; they could afford a brief pause.

Long Feng and Zhang Yang stood together, Lightning perched on Zhang Yang’s shoulder, watching the Long-Armed Spirit Ape kneeling on the earth.

The Ape lifted its head, fixing them with a direct gaze.

Using its elongated arms, it managed to push itself back up.

The Spirit Ape refused to fall; as one of the few Spirit Beasts capable of standing upright, and one possessing such lofty intelligence, it would choose to die on its feet rather than fall defeated.

In that moment, the trembling, upright form of the Spirit Ape conveyed an aura of profound, tragic dignity.

………… Guaranteed first chapter, more to follow!