Chapter 453: The West, The Pantheon, The Return of the Gods?

The body of that giant ape was entirely golden, but the Daemonic Qi around its body was pitch-black and swirling endlessly. It rolled up toward the horizon, forming a massive daemonic cloud that the giant ape stepped upon while it held a giant war blade.

Daemonic Qi and immortal light interweaved upon the blade—it turned out to actually be an inferior-grade immortal weapon.

The immortal light that ignited upon Skull Island was in turn a great array that shrouded all of Skull Island.

“An inferior-grade immortal weapon…”

Wang Hou said as his gaze shifted toward it, “Moreover, there’s actually an array placed on Skull Island… it seems that the ape king’s providence is outstanding.”

“Who could compare to you when it comes to providence?” Jiang He teased.

Wang Hou shook his head feebly with a begrudging smile.

When it came to providence and Fortune Qi…

His was indeed frightening.

He could find a cave dwelling or heritage site even when he fell off cliffs. Who could be this lucky?

That being said, there were times when he could not help it.

Entering a cave dwelling somehow would mean being stuck there for up to a dozen days before he could come out… was his time not worth gold?

Still, unwilling to dwell on such irritating matters, Wang Hou said, “Jiang He, you’re a master of arrays. Could you tell the strength of that array?”

He wanted to determine the origins of the array.

After all, he would never believe that the ape king had put that array in place.

The beast’s very origins were a puzzle as well, though that was now resolved.

It was born centuries ago and displayed Feral Emperor powers even during the second world war, destroying an entire army. Information also suggested that many other powerful monsters lived on that island aside from the ape king.

And now, it appeared that those other monsters were high-ranked Ferals, even Feral Emperors.

“A great secret must be hidden on Skull Island, and could well be a grotto-heaven that was not fully opened before, though the Spirit Qi that were leaking out created these Ferals… regardless, it is now fully open and the Ferals have evolved drastically once more.”

Jiang He then said, “That means the ape king would have become a very powerful Feral Emperor a century ago, perhaps even earlier, with other powerful Ferals living under its rule… Earth’s history would have been altered if it started a war then, since human weapons were not that advanced. After all, the cultivators who hid in their Secret Realms might not come forward to help.”

“Definitely.”

Wang Hou replied, “In fact, the ape king had attacked once at the start of the Revival of Qi, but eventually stayed behind in Skull Island without ever coming out. It might have recently ascended, which is why it attacked various western nations… I’m guessing that certain legacies on Skull Island might have recorded certain things, allowing it to learn about the elites hiding in the world. Right now, perhaps feeling that it had gained power to protect itself, it gathered the Ferals under its rule to invade various western nations.”

That explanation made sense.

Meanwhile, the battle had ignited in the distance.

The six western elites had attacked instantly, charging towards the horizon.

The sacred elites were equal in rank to Mahayana elites, and they naturally could fly.

“Insolence!”

A daemon roared and charged toward them, only to be instantly destroyed by the six sacred elites.

Aside from the ape king, the strongest Feral on Skull Island was merely Feral Emperor and equal to True Child cultivators. How were they supposed to stop the six sacred elites?

Over the horizon, the giant ape roared in rage and descended, blade in hand.

Its golden fur flashed with faint golden light that interweaved with the pitch-black Daemonic Qi swirling around its body, making it appear quite unusual.

Once it swung its blade, a gigantic air blade that was a thousand meters long descended from the skies, slicing toward the six elites. All of them reacted with impressive skills to nullify the air blade, with the black-robed mage surrounding himself with scarlet flames and looking just like an apocalyptic fire god, casting shots of fire-type spells at the giant ape.

He knew quite a lot of spells, having dabbled in water, earth, and wind-type spells, though he was most adept at fire-type spells.

The four sacred warriors all unleashed their moves, but it seems that they cultivated not True Qi but combat aura… which was not much different from True Qi in Jiang He’s perspective.

The blonde lady did not appear proficient at combat either, but was quite good at offering support.

The six sacred elites all attacked at once and actually managed to push back the ape king for a time and leaving it bleeding all over, soaking its golden fur in red. Even so, with an angry bellow, the ape king shone with bright golden light, its dozens of meters tall frame instantly expanding to several hundred meters.

Its aura was also almost twice stronger, its combat power hence greatly increasing.

Bang!

One of the sacred warriors had his combat armor smashed and withdrew thousands of meters backwards while coughing blood before crashing violently into the sea.

“Oh, no!”

The black-robed sacred mage barked angrily, “Go all out and do not hold back! Prioritize defense and keep fighting until it ends its transformation, and we could cut it down after that!”

“Earth-type forbidden technique, Earth’s Blessing!”

The blonde lady yelled and breathed out a mouthful of blood to cast a spell.

Oom!

The air shuddered.

Substantial earth-elements began to gather in the air, and earthen-yellow rock armor appeared over the sacred elites’ armor.

Charging his combat aura, the sacred warrior who fell into the ocean flew out to rejoin the battle. Half of his shoulder had been blown away, but he had used some treasure and his shoulder was regenerating at a visible rate.

Pfft…

Around ten kilometers away, Jiang He could not help chuckling.

These western elites were quite interesting.

If you want to fight, fight… why would you keep yelling the names of your techniques at death’s door?

And what’s with that ape king?

Transformation?

It was not just an increase in size, since after cultivating to that level, it was easy to turn into a thousand-meter-tall figure, let alone a hundred-meter one. Indeed, one could become however large one wanted at the level of Golden Immortal or Grand Luo, and there was even a godly move called Law of Heaven and Earth spoken of in myths that allowed one to become a hundred-thousand feet tall colossus.

“That giant ape probably possesses the bloodline of some divine beast and that bloodline awakens as its cultivation strengthens, and the bloodline’s power could hence be activated…”

The thought occurred to Jiang He then.

If that was the case, the six scared elites were doomed.

Right now, the six sacred elites were defending without attacking to buy time, and counterattacked once its transformation ended… they assumed that the changed form was some secret daemon technique that would have serious repercussions, that it would be vulnerable and easy to kill after its transformation ended.

It must be said that they were imagining things.

Thinking out a cigarette, Jiang He lit it and inhaled it, feeling revitalized.

Around ten minutes later…

“No!”

One of the sacred warriors was cut in half by the ape king’s blade.

He had strong vigor, however, and did not die instantly even after being sliced apart. His upper body floated up in the skies while his eyes were filled with panic and despair, crying out, “What is this secret technique?! How could the ape king still maintain its form?”

The other sacred elites all reacted, with the black-robed mage calling out, “We were misinformed. That daemon’s ability is no weaker than a lesser god’s… withdraw!”

Whoosh!

He extended his hand and grasp, seizing the half pieces of the maimed sacred warrior and was about to flee with the others. That was when the ape king laughed coldly and flung its hands—

Swish!

Streaks of flashes shot of his hands.

Oom!

An enormous screen of light arose instantly and covered all of Skull Island, keeping the six sacred elites on Skull Island as well.

The ape king reverted to its true form then. Its aura declined as well, but the instant it did, it drew upon Skull Island’s array to buff itself, therefore strengthening his aura until it was stronger than before.

It sneered sinisterly, holding its giant blade over its shoulder as it strode toward the six sacred elites.

A look of despair flashed in their eyes.

The pupils of the black-robed mage constricted as he shrieked, “You can’t kill us, ape king! Otherwise, it would be your death once the gods of the western pantheon return…”

“Pantheon?”

“Western gods?

The giant ape shook its head and said seriously, “Never heard of it.”

It swung its blade, ready to cut down all six sacred-tier elites when…

Ooom…

A curious energy extended, instantly piercing the array and striking the giant ape’s blade.

Clang!

The blade was knocked out of its hand, and the golden ape bared its teeth, promptly looking toward the distant sea.

Two figures were walking on water toward them, with Jiang He calling out from afar, “Don’t be in such a hurry to kill, little ape. I have some questions to ask those fellas and you can kill them after I’m done.”