As he was wildly sprint towards the Blue Ape, Gaston found himself unconsciously breaking out into a delighted-looking little grin.
Something he couldn't quite put his finger on stimulated him even more so than usual.
Violence had always been something he was good at and found enjoyable, but even he would recognize that this was something different, if he knew how he looked that was.
Gaston could faintly detect that he was getting influenced by something, but he had no time to dig deeper and find out exactly what was happening.
He simply found himself vaguely... attracted, to something.
But since the feeling wasn't too strong and he had far more pressing matters to deal with, Gaston immediately threw it to the back of his mind.
After the knife entered the Blue Ape's chest and made it fall backwards all the way down to the ground, the Blue Ape sharply inhaled a gulp of air in it's mouth.
It took it a second to mentally recover from the sudden blow, but as soon as it did, It tried to get up as quickly as it could.
When it raised it's head to look at the creature that attacked it however, it was greeted with the sight of a solid, well-built looking middle-aged human man, with slicked back brown hair that had a decent amount of gray hairs mixed within.
Quickly running towards it, the human had already gotten nearly on top of it by the time it raised it's head and tried to get up.
Realizing that it didn't have enough time to get off the ground, the Blue Ape patiently waited for Gaston to throw himself on top of it before it found the right timing and kicked out with it's left leg, aiming right for the mid-section!
The impact that having a knife embedded in it's chest turned out to be greater than the Blue Ape had expected however.
Gaston took no heed of what he viewed to be the Blue Ape's desperation trashes based purely on instinct, deciding to purposefully take the hit which landed squarely on his ribs.
This went against everything that he would normally advise when it came to dealing with magic creatures, which naturally included the Blue Apes.
The advantage that the vast majority of magic creatures had against human beings was their physique, which was vastly superior to that of more than 90% of humans.
With that being the case, it was only natural that engaging with a magic creature in unarmed combat was something that was highly unadvisable.
Even if one was an Elite-titled human, this still remained the case.
The physical advantages brought by having completed the optional Organ Refining stage before officially becoming a cultivator were quite significant, this much was true.
In dealing with humans, the physical advantage could even be said to be a major advantage, comparable to having one more layer of protection than other cultivators.
The opponent this time however, was a Blue Ape, not a human.
Gaston's physical advantages were nowhere near big enough to bridge the physical gap between them.
Ordinarily, being kicked like this by a Blue Ape, without any protection aside from the natural thin layer of energy that every cultivator has covering their body, would result in several broken bones at least.
But the current circumstances weren't ordinary, and Gaston took this into account in the split-second during which he made his decision.
The average human would do well to always abide by general principles in combat against magical creatures, as it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Especially when just one mistake could lead to your death.
With that said, with the return of most of his combat instincts, and maybe the unknown influence that effected him, Gaston had the confidence to observe and adapt on the spot.
Trusting that his instincts wouldn't get him killed, even if what his instincts made him do was to let a magic creature hit his body.
Gaston aggressively threw himself on top of the Blue Ape, making his way up it's body starting from it's legs, and aiming to grab a hold of the magic knife that was firmly imbedded into it's chest with his uninjured left hand.
Facing the incoming left leg from the Blue Ape that would soon reach his ribs, he decided not to let it slow him down, and he took it head on.
The power it generated lying down on it's back was far lower than it's usual attack, which was only made worse by the hampering of the knife that was in it's chest.
Gaston heard and felt a loud thump upon getting hit, and a scowl immediately appeared for a moment on his face as a result of the blow.
But aside from a change in facial expression, he didn't let it impact his actions, as his movements only grew more aggressive and determined.
Using his severely hampered right arm to push away the right leg of the Blue Ape that it desperately tried to use to push him off after it saw that it's initial blow didn't have the desired effect, Gaston used his left arm to grab a hold of the hilt of the knife.
The physical struggle between the two was quite unsightly and reeked of desperation, but this was how life-and-death struggles usually went.
Successfully grabbing onto the knife, Gaston began to feel the strain he placed on his injured right arm, which was barely holding off the right leg of the Blue Ape, purely because of his superior positioning and leverage.
His eyes only revealed his ferocious determination however, to grab ahold of the weakness he had created in his prey, and not let go of it until he was successful in his hunt.
Like a Cobra, he refused to let go of the opening he had created, even if it meant that he had to suffer a little.
As soon as he grabbed a hold of the knife, he violently pulled downwards with his left arm, cutting open the stomach of the Blue Ape so deep that it's organs were made visible.
It was a horrifying scene to witness, especially so for the little girl that had raised her head after receiving Gaston's mental transmission and saw the entire confrontation transpire.
As a Qi Refining cultivator, Gaston's spiritual consciousness extended far enough to reach the little girl, which meant that he could "see" her even without the use of his eyes.