Stranger Danger
Chapter 432: The Demonic Ape VS The Son of Heaven

The demonic ape’s footsteps shook the nine provinces, and the shoulder charge felt like it could topple the heavens themselves. The Son of Heaven’s silhouette staggered back as purple qi leaked out of his body, and he grew a little more transparent than before.

Chu Qingge’s face turned white, and a trail of blood flowed down her cheeks. Despite this, her eyes were filled with fighting spirit. She made a hand seal before bringing her hands down in one smooth motion.

An imperial seal appeared in the heavens. It was square-shaped and facing toward the four directions. The heavens and the earth formed its surfaces, and nine dragons were swimming around them. The words inscribed on the seal was, “The sea is calm, all is peaceful under the heavens.”

“Peace Under Heaven Seal”

The nine dragons acted as guards as the seal descended. The image of a peaceful world where the people lived in peace appeared.

Wind ceased, clouds paused, and qi stopped. The chaotic energies in the air, the rampaging gale, and the dancing sand all came to a halt at the same time.

For a time, the only thing that was moving was the seal, and it was brimming with the might of the world itself.

Under the seal, Ye Qing felt his energies dissipating, and his mind quaking like an earthquake. Before he could react, the seal slammed into him and sent him flying for a good distance.

He immediately climbed back to his feet and charged toward Chu Qingge again, however. It was as if the seal dealt no damage to him whatsoever.

Not one to shy away from battle, Chu Qingge too clenched her fists and charged forward. The duo was quickly locked in an epic battle.

Chu Qingge’s “Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art” was powerful, orthodox, and grand. It was like she had become the avatar of an Emperor of the Ages[1]

On the other hand, Ye Qing was a Chaos Demon Ape that heralded chaos and rebellion. Haughty and unruly, brutal and chaotic, his existence was meant to spread chaos and turn the world upside down. He was the rebel who would change the face of humanity forever; give the sun and the moon a new make-up.

For a time, the duo were locked in a stalemate.

“What…”

Outside the platform, the Harmony King was utterly flabbergasted by this. He didn’t think that Chu Qingge would fail to defeat Ye Qing even after she executed the “Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art”.

“That’s the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’, isn’t it?” Someone exclaimed in astonishment as they watched Ye Qing wreaking havoc on the platform.

“Yep,” someone echoed in agreement.

“Isn’t that the martial art of one of the Thirteen Brigands, Chen Ah Sheng? Where did the Qing Emperor Junior come by this martial art, Lord Hong?” Someone asked.

Hong Jianglong had done his homework, so he wasn’t perturbed in the slightest. He explained, “Joyless is practicing the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’, but it has nothing to do with Chen Ah Sheng.”

“Chen Ah Sheng hails from the Chaos Demon Tempering Sect of the thirty-six unorthodox sects, and the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’s’ ultimate martial art is the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’. While Chen Ah Sheng is infamous for it, it’s hardly a martial art that only he knows.”

“One of my seniors shares a good relationship with the Chaos Demon Tempering Sect because he once did them a huge favor. As thanks, they decided to give him a copy of the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’. Later, he submitted it to the Tower of Secrets.”

“Unfortunately, it takes an insane amount of effort and natural treasures to practice the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’, which is why very few people decided to pick it up despite its strengths. It is also why few people know that we own a copy of the ‘Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra’.”

“I see!” Everyone oohed and aahed at his answer. Lei Xiaodan was the only one who shot him a meaningful look.

Hong Jianglong paid him no attention. So what if Lei Xiaodan knew he was bullshitting out of his mouth? He could never prove it.

He and Ye Qing had come up with this explanation after Ye Qing told him about the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra” a few days ago. After all, as a participant of the Hidden Dragon Meet, Ye Qing was going to have to reveal one or more of his trump cards eventually. If they didn’t come up with a proper excuse beforehand, it was highly likely that an evildoer would try to make use of this opening. The explanation prevented such a thing from happening and allowed Ye Qing to use the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra” as much as he pleased from now on.

That said, not even Hong Jianglong knew that Ye Qing had cultivated the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra” to this extent until today. Somehow, the Patrolman somehow created his Chaos Demon Ape Body already.

Ye Qing’s progres was so unbelievable that Hong Jianglong couldn’t help but wonder if he was still dreaming or something. It hadn’t even been half a month since Ye Qing came upon the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra”. Although the Martial Tower could greatly accelerate a warrior’s martial progress, it was hardly a miracle worker. There was no way it could enable a warrior to hit the journeyman level of the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra” in just a couple of days.

If it could, their grunts would be Grandmasters, and their heads would be Sages already.

The boy is hiding some other amazing treasure. Hmph! Hong Jianglong harrumphed mentally but took care to keep his body language perfectly unreadable.

On the platform, Ye Qing and Chu Qingge’s battle had reached the climax. Chu Qingge had sent Ye Qing flying with the “Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art” dozens of times at this point, and one only needed to look at the blood-soaked Ye Qing to know how much damage she dealt.

However, Ye Qing refused to stay down. His eyes were bloodshot, and his bloodthirst was so strong that it was almost visible. No matter how many times he was blown back and dealt a severe blow, he always climbed back to his feet and charged Chu Qingge again like a fearless berserker.

“A shame. It looks like this is Miss Chu’s defeat…” Lei Xiaodan sighed.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” The Harmony King retorted instantly. “Qingge has been kicking that brat’s ass this whole time! There’s no way she would lose! You might want to get your eyes checked out, Xiaodan!”

Lei Xiaodan smiled. “Would you like to make a bet, Your Highness?”

“Of course… not! I’m not falling for this a second time, you cunning man!” The Harmony King declared with surprising wisdom before returning his attention back to the platform.

Back in the battlefield, Ye Qing staggered back after receiving a powerful punch from the Son of Heaven’s silhouette. But instead of worry, his eyes lit up with delight and triumph. “This is my chance!”

Chu Qingge’s “Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art” was scarily powerful. The silhouette she manifested not only possessed a potent aura that weakened him just by existing near him, every technique it unleashed carried an unbelievable amount of power and pressure. It could even suppress his energies and stun the mind.

As if that wasn’t enough, the silhouette could see through all deceptions and identify the weak spots in his energies as well, so despite having entered the journeyman level in the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra”, he was unable to gain any advantage whatsoever. His energies were suppressed to the point where he was operating at half of his normal strength, and every technique he executed be it a physical technique such as “Divide” and “Break Through”, or a mental technique like “Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul”, was predicted and dismantled by Chu Qingge in the best way possible. It was easily one of the most passive and frustrating battles he had ever fought.

However, the “Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art” had one major weakness. It ate away at the warrior’s stamina like a gluttonous demon. On the other hand, the Chaos Demon Ape Body was strong, tenacious, and capable of rapid regeneration. The last thing it was afraid of was energy cost.

In Ye Qing’s opinion, the only way to defeat Chu Qingge while the “Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art” was active was to deplete her stamina. That was why he transformed into the Chaos Demon Ape and attacked her with wild abandon. This way, she would be forced to use up her astral qi and spirit whether she liked it or not.

As expected, he got his ass kicked by Chu Qingge at the beginning. After that one successful counterattack at the beginning, he was unable to get a single attack in for the longest time. However, the Son of Heaven’s silhouette grew weaker and weaker over time. For example, the punch just now was at least several times weaker than what it was at the beginning. He knew this because it only pushed him back a few steps instead of sending him flying through the air like before. Besides that, his demonic thought told him that Chu Qingge looked a little dazed. It was an expression he would never see on the woman’s face unless she was so exhausted she couldn’t even maintain her focus.

Some opportunities only knock once. Sucking in a deep breath, Ye Qing grew another meter in height and pushed away the surrounding sand with a burst of vigor. Then, he raised his fists into the sky and hammered the ground with all his might. Like a calm lake that was suddenly struck by a giant rock, the ground shook violently and caused Chu Qingge to stagger on her feet.

At the same time, Ye Qing appeared in front of the Son of Heaven’s silhouette in the blink of an eye using Earth Contraction Magic, grabbing his head with one hand and his fist with the other. Then, he squeezed and pulled with all his might.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

A terrible bellow escaped Ye Qing’s lungs as multiple veins popped on his muscles, and blood oozed out of his pores. The Son of Heaven’s head was crushed, and his right arm was ripped off his sockets just like that.

“Pwack!”

The second the silhouette’s head was crushed, the blood abruptly drained away from Chu Qingge’s face. A mouthful of blood burst out of her lips as she wobbled unsteadily on her feet.

Ye Qing’s bones and muscles cracked like fireworks as he slowly shrank back down to human size. Blood was pouring out of his eyes, ears, nose and mouth, but instead of tending to his own wounds, he ran over to Chu Qingge and fed her a pill.

As soon as the pill entered her mouth, a bit of reddishness returned to Chu Qingge’s deathly pale face, and her eyes slowly regained their focus as well. She asked weakly, “Is this… Renewal?”

“That it is, Miss Qingge. Your mind is as keen as ever. How do you feel?” Ye Qing smiled and let go of Chu Qingge’s head. Then, he let out a sigh of relief.

After he destroyed the Son of Heaven’s silhouette, Ye Qing immediately sensed disorder and signs of a rebound in Chu Qingge’s spirit. If he allowed the rebound to occur, he had no doubt that her mind would suffer a tremendous amount of damage. That was why he fed her the Renewal he received from Longing as soon as he returned to normal.

Although Nature's Water was a tad more effective than Renewal, and he didn’t mind sharing it with Chu Qingge, it was too valuable to reveal in front of an audience. He already had plenty of powerful enemies. He didn’t need to create more for himself.

“I’m fine now. Thank you, Brother Ye.” Chu Qingge thanked him sincerely. “My mind would’ve suffered quite the damage if not for your Renewal. I’ll be sure to repay your kindness later.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Qingge, but it’s just a Renewal. Your safety is far more important,” Ye Qing replied before teasing her a little, “After all, I doubt I’ll be able to walk away from this mountain alive if something bad were to happen to you.”

Ye Qing’s face was covered in blood, but his smile was bright and pure. Infected by his smile, the small sliver of regret gripping Chu Qingge’s insides for having lost to Ye Qing vanished like smoke. She said smilingly, “You exaggerate. This is a no-holds-barred duel where killing your opponents is allowed. Of course one or both of the duelists are going to walk away with some injuries. On that note, congratulations on your victory, Brother Ye.”

Ye Qing replied humbly, “I was just lucky. You would probably win if you managed to hold out a little longer.”

“No need to act humble, Brother Ye. A win is a win. Even if I did manage to hold out, you’re still a long way from reaching your limits yet, aren’t you?” Chu Qingge replied candidly.

During the battle, she had used the Soulstealer-class Strange Artifact, Reflection, in an attempt to catch Ye Qing off guard, while Ye Qing hadn’t used a single Strange Artifact from the start until the end. It was clear that he hadn’t gone all out, and that her defeat was well-deserved.

“I’m going to win our next duel, though.” Chu Qingge declared confidently.

“Oh yeah? I look forward to it.” Ye Qing smiled back.

The sun was setting, and the yellow sand was dancing freely in the wind. It was a beautiful, fantastical moment.

“How could this be? Why did Qingge lose?”

Outside the arena, the Harmony King was quite panicked when he saw that Chu Qingge was injured. He let out a sigh of relief only after he confirmed that she was fine. However, he still couldn’t understand why Qingge had lost.

“She’s had the upper hand the entire time after she used the ‘Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art’, so how did she lose?”

1. The original text is 千古一帝, meaning the One Emperor to be remembered for the ages. In our world, most people agree that the only one who fits the bill is Qin Shi Huang, the man who united the continent and became the first emperor of China. ☜

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