The troop of monkeys roared in unison, their voices deafening. The already dilapidated houses around them collapsed under the sonic impact!
Amidst a cloud of dust, Zhang Qiling twisted his waist, snapping the neck of a strange monkey with his legs. He immediately used gravity to duck and evade an attack. With a powerful push of his feet, the falling monkey corpse exploded into a mist of blood! He then used this momentum to leap over ten meters. His Black Gold Ancient Blade transformed into a streak of light, instantly severing the heads of several strange monkeys in his path!
Although Black Glasses' eyes and ears were hindering him, his experience and combat prowess were formidable. The mere shapes he could perceive were enough for him to hunt the strange monkeys!
For a time, the air was filled with killing intent, and blood flowed freely!
The monkey troop fought fearlessly, almost like puppet creatures devoid of life and fear. Even when slain, they did not utter a sound to disrupt the cacophony.
Zhang Qiling's killing of the strange monkeys had become a matter of muscle memory; his mechanical movements resulted in a predictable pattern of death.
But then, a sudden change occurred before his eyes!
A strange monkey under his hand had its brain pierced by the Black Gold Ancient Blade. On the verge of death, its eyes suddenly lit up, and tears of blood streamed from its gray-white pupils!
Zhang Qiling hesitated and did not withdraw the ancient blade. To his surprise, the strange monkey suddenly knelt to the ground with a thud! The Black Gold Ancient Blade, following the force of its bow, directly split its head in two, instantly releasing a sticky mess of red and white matter!
He shook the blade to flick away the filth and scanned his surroundings with vigilance.
The monkey troop had, at some unknown time, formed a circle. They were now collectively bowing towards the center of the circle, their cries chaotic and almost weeping blood!
And the direction of their obeisance...
The Nine-Tiered Golden Pagoda!!!
The two of them turned sharply to look!
The disordered corpses of the strange monkeys were piled on the ground, their foul black blood flowing like rivers to the base of the golden pagoda!
And the Nine-Tiered Golden Pagoda, which had been resplendent and solemn moments ago, now emitted a faint but clear swallowing sound, like a greedy, blood-drinking living creature!
Following that sound, the blood flow rapidly spread upwards like a spiderweb. Within a few breaths, it had enveloped the entire pagoda!
A warmth behind him indicated that Black Glasses had sensed something was wrong and had moved closer. They now stood back-to-back, on guard, realizing the gravity of the situation.
Indeed, a beam of blood-red light shot out from the pagoda's spire, piercing the cave's roof like a blood spear!
With a crisp sound, the monkeys cheered!
The round, moon-shaped luminous pearl at the top had been shattered by the blood spear!!
Fragments of the broken pearl rained down, but the two had no time to attend to them.
With the moon's demise, a milky white, semi-transparent cocoon chamber appeared in its place!
Inside the cocoon chamber, a giant humanoid shadow flickered, rising and falling with the rippling light, breathing!
Black Glasses could not clearly discern the form within the light cocoon, only vaguely seeing the monkeys' unusually excited state, which made him chuckle.
"Is the Great Sage Equalling Heaven about to come out and tear up their death registers? Why so happy?"
"It's a shame the Great Sage I just drew is still wreaking havoc in the Western Paradise. Otherwise, maybe they could have met~"
Zhang Qiling listened and pursed his lips speechlessly.
His mind uncontrollably conjured the image of the crayon monkey from earlier inside the cocoon, momentarily turning the tense atmosphere into something grotesque.
But then, a hoarse bird cry echoed through the heavens!
The cocoon chamber was instantly broken from within. What emerged was not the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, but a monster with a bird's head and a human body!!
It had no beak or ears, only a row of dark airholes where its mouth should be. Its iron-blue face was flat, with three blood-red vertical pupils evenly distributed across it.
Its limbs ended in sharp bird claws, one of which clutched a vividly colored venomous snake! xxs壹贰
This was... Qiong!!
Instantly recognizing the identity of the newcomer, a gust of wind whipped up sand as Qiong shrieked and swooped down!
With its black claws mere inches away, Zhang Qiling, in a flash, brought his Black Gold Ancient Blade horizontally to cut!
The blade deeply embedded itself into Qiong's foot. He then immediately rotated the blade, wedging its body firmly into the joint of its talons!
Before Qiong could react, a searing pain struck, and its entire body was seized by Zhang Qiling and flung violently to the ground!
Just as it tried to lift its head, its neck tightened. Black Glasses had straddled its back and choked its throat!
He intended to break its neck immediately, but Qiong's neck was covered in steel-like feathers, making it difficult to budge for a moment.
But then, Black Glasses felt the muscles on Qiong's back beneath him surge inexplicably. Before he could react, he instinctively executed a somersault, leaving the spot!
Although he had left, he left a gift behind.
As Black Glasses flipped into mid-air, he saw Qiong's pair of blood-red eyes directly in front of him. A thought struck him, and the Buddha's Poison Thorn clenched in his hand shot forth!
In an instant, like two tomatoes bursting, Qiong's eyes exploded into a cloud of blood mist!!
"Surprise!!!"
Black Glasses rolled to the ground, even having the leisure to congratulate Qiong on its free ticket to the dark world.
Qiong did not return the favor with thanks. Instead, a sharp scream was heard, and Qiong's back instantly erupted with flesh and blood. After a grating sound of bones grinding, a pair of wings covered in sharp spikes burst from its flesh!
If Black Glasses had still been in the same spot, he would have been sliced in half by those steel blades!
Zhang Qiling was busy dealing with the monkeys that had started to go wild again. Seeing this, he genuinely broke out in a cold sweat for Black Glasses.
But then he heard Black Glasses exclaim again: "No way, you want to kill me so cruelly, someone as kind as me?"
"You really are a bad bird!"
Zhang Qiling: ...
Qiong: I'll be damned—!!!
Qiong, unable to tolerate such humiliation, let out a sky-piercing roar. The glowing insects at the top, which had been idly pretending to be stars, instantly became agitated. In the blink of an eye, they descended like a raging storm and tsunami!
These insects had strangely long teeth, which prevented them from closing their mouths. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the light emanated from deep within these insects' mouths!
The insects instantly surrounded Black Glasses. Seeing this, Zhang Qiling immediately repelled the strange monkeys under his control and rushed forward!
But his vision suddenly darkened. It was Qiong blocking his path!
Qiong had lost its eyes and could only track Zhang Qiling's position by his aura. This made its attacks sluggish, but it also made it more frenzied!
It directly enveloped itself with its steel wings, its outer spikes exploding outwards, the thorns continuously extending, transforming it into a giant ball of spikes!
Charging wildly in the confined space, it even crushed countless strange monkeys that came forward to help. Qiong's movements became increasingly frenzied, and for a time, it actually blocked Zhang Qiling's path!
Black Glasses' vision was poor, and the tiny insects were difficult for him to handle. He had already sustained some damage!
Zhang Qiling made up his mind. He instantly retreated and, at the moment Qiong was tracking him, sliced his palm with the blade!
After a moment of charging, the Black Gold Ancient Blade was suddenly hurled out by him!
The Qilin blood, along with the clang of the blade, instantly ignited a fierce fire! The powerful thrust even caused the air to emit sounds of unbearable cracking!
Qiong's sense of danger immediately spiked. Sensing a powerful force that could even threaten its life rushing towards it, it panicked and instantly spread its wings, soaring into the sky!
It narrowly dodged the Black Gold Ancient Blade!
Falling back to the ground with lingering fear, it realized Zhang Qiling had lost his protective weapon and was filled with elation. Its three eyes turned crimson as it spread its wings and charged!
But suddenly, a tearing pain erupted at the back of its head!!
Qiong's massive body crashed to the ground with a thud, creating a broken pit!
At this moment, it was mere inches from Zhang Qiling, but Zhang Qiling's face was calm, showing no intention of dodging.
Qiong was dead.
On its back, Black Glasses knelt on one knee, his knee firmly pressed against its heart. The Black Gold Ancient Blade clutched in his hand had already pierced Qiong's entire head!!
Only then did the Qilin fire burning on the blade finally extinguish!