The group rode their paper cranes through the forest, temporarily retreating from Cangyun Ridge.
At the rear, Chu He was still reeling with shock. He knew Ji An had already mastered the Minor Rain Technique to perfection, but his training in the Golden Metal Finger hadn't even spanned two years.
From behind them came a piercing, furious chorus of ape cries. Chen Moxuan's lips curled into a grin. To a beast pack, the death of a Qi Refinement eighth-layer ape was no small loss.
If they could wipe out the entire troop, they'd reap a great harvest of Jade Spirit Fruits. His heart burned hotter at the thought.
Four or five miles from the ridge, they landed in a clearing. At the center lay a moss-covered boulder, taller than a man.
Jiang Qiuyue's cheeks were flushed as she spoke quickly:
"Junior Brother Ji, I have to ask, are your mid-grade talismans anywhere near as powerful as your personal spellcasting?"
The others' eyes gleamed with eagerness. If his talismans carried the same force, their odds of a successful decapitation strike would soar.
"The Golden Metal Talisman is a little weaker than when I cast the spell myself," Ji An admitted, "but the difference isn't large."
Chen Moxuan's gaze sharpened. He said gravely:
"Lend me one to test. It's not that I doubt you, but this next move risks all our lives. I have to be cautious."
"Caution is wisdom, especially for a captain," Ji An replied with a nod. He approved of Chen Moxuan's steadiness. Pulling a talisman from his pouch, he handed it over.
Activating a talisman required little more than a trace of spiritual power, bypassing complex incantations, an essential emergency tool for cultivators.
Chen Moxuan infused the strip with qi. A flash of golden light pierced the boulder, and the talisman crumbled to ash, its power spent.
This time, standing close, everyone felt their eyes sting faintly from the brilliance. Their shock deepened.
The clan elders always said: mastering a spell to perfection is touching its very essence. Truly, it's so.
Chen Moxuan sighed inwardly. He had poured ten years into honing Explosive Flame, and still had not reached perfection. Some people, it seemed, were simply heaven's chosen.
Chu He fetched a tree branch and poked it into the hole. When it hit bottom, he pulled it free and measured with his hand. His breath caught.
"Nearly a foot deep."
"Step back."
Chen Moxuan thrust his own flying sword into the rock and chuckled wryly.
"Barely half a foot. Not even in the same league."
Ji An gave a subtle shake of his head. Ordinary flying swords lacked both speed and penetrating force. Their broader edge met greater resistance; without a refined blade and sword intent, their killing power was limited.
There were, however, the true sword cultivators. They forged swords from rare treasures, nourished them with the essence of sun, moon, and heaven's qi until, over the years, the blades grew sentient. Eventually, both form and spirit transformed, birthing blades that could pierce the heavens themselves.
Sword cultivators were said to be the fiercest killers of the cultivation world. Aptitude mattered little, but comprehension of the sword's intent mattered everything. Few ever walked that path.
Jiang Qiuyue ignored her captain's self-mockery, smiling brightly.
"With twenty Golden Metal Talismans, we could swarm the Ape King. Killing it wouldn't be hard. The real difficulty is how to reach it fast enough without wasting precious talismans on the lesser apes."
"Exactly." Chen Moxuan nodded. "That's what we must figure out."
Chu He clapped his hands and laughed in agreement.
Chen Moxuan's face also showed joy, but he suppressed his excitement and waved his hand.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves. The spell's range is only about two zhang, much shorter than controlling a magic weapon. We need to prepare for the possibility that the Ape King won't be killed quickly before we make our move."
He had survived years of monster hunting by thinking first of failure, not victory.
It cost opportunities, true, but it kept him alive. Reckless aggressiveness only ended one way: in the grave. The squad member who had died before Chu He joined had died from just such greed.
Ji An gave a small cough.
"I think we should stick to the original plan, draw out as many apes as possible, and clip the Ape King's wings first.
The Ape King won't stray far from the Jade Spirit Fruit trees, so the task of foraging falls to the others. That gives us chances to ambush them.
We don't have to save all our Golden Metal Talismans for the Ape King. Taking down a few late-stage apes with them would be worthwhile too."
The devastating strike of his perfected Golden Metal Finger had filled him with confidence. He wanted to use these smaller skirmishes to build real combat experience.
Chen Moxuan nodded with a smile.
"I was thinking the same. It'll take us longer, but the harvest will be greater.
Junior Brother Ji, if you're our main attacker, how many times can you release the Golden Metal Finger?"
The beasts around Mount Moyan were all hard bones to gnaw. But if they could be brought down, the spoils were richly worth the risk.
"Twenty times."
Ji An gave a conservative number. At full force, he could manage more than thirty, but he had to save reserves for emergencies.
With good accuracy, that many strikes plus his talismans could cut down most of the ape troop. But beasts weren't fools, especially apes and foxes. Once wary, his hit rate would plummet.
Chen Moxuan nodded thoughtfully. If they whittled down the troop first, then struck with talismans, they might just manage a decisive kill.
"Then we'll go with your plan."
...
Five Days Later
At mid-slope of Cangyun Ridge, beneath the Jade Spirit Fruit trees, ape corpses littered the ground.
The plan had gone well at first. Through repeated skirmishes, the squad killed two Qi Refinement seventh-layer apes and seven at the mid stages.
To avoid rival teams swooping in to steal their prize, they decided to press the attack.
But none of them had expected the Ape King to wield a potent healing wood-element spell. Unless an ape was slain outright, the king could heal its wounds enough to keep it in the fight.
And the Ape King itself, already on the cusp of Foundation Establishment, proved far tougher and faster than anticipated. Even Ji An's perfected Golden Metal Finger couldn't land a killing blow.
The assault devolved into a battle of attrition. Every Golden Metal Talisman was spent, and still the Ape King stood.
They changed tactics. Chen Moxuan and the others pinned the Ape King, while Jiang Qiuyue and Ji An butchered the rest.
One dying scream cut off abruptly. The towering Ape King howled in rage, its eyes blood-red.
Its children, its last mate, were slaughtered by that human!
With a roar, it batted aside a flying sword and charged straight for Ji An, heedless of the blows landing on its back.
Its green-flecked fur was drenched in blood. Its gaze burned with grim resolve.
"Dodge!" Chu He bellowed.
But Ji An only set his jaw. Days of battle had honed him; he no longer fought like a novice. He knew even with the Windriding Technique, he couldn't outrun the Ape King.
If it was set on killing him, escape was impossible.
He pulled several talismans into his hand, a stone turtle shield floating before him to block the charge.
The Ape King's furious strike sent the shield flying. Cruelty flashed in its emerald eyes only to be washed over in a sudden blue glow.
Ji An had triggered not one, but two Water Curtain Talismans.
The Ape King's assault stalled, and the tide turned.
Half an incense stick later, drained of all demonic power and unable to summon its spells, the beast faltered.
Ji An raised a finger. Golden light pierced its brow, carving a hole the width of a thumb. Green blood spurted.
Blows from flying weapons hammered down in succession.
The Ape King's pupils dimmed. It toppled to the ground and did not rise again.
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