C1963 It Was Time to Fight!!
"No!"
As the Ape teetered on the brink of the Abyssal Gate, Yu Yuan leapt to his feet.
"If you value your life, do not touch this gate with your flesh and blood!"
Yu Yuan gestured toward the sea where the Untamed was about to descend. The swirling blood-red clouds halted their convergence and drifted away to other regions.
"This gate is not as straightforward as you might think. Knowing that the Abyss lies below, teeming with countless Evil Gods, why would you still seek to court disaster?"
He feared the Ape would be completely drained of vital energy by the Abyssal Gate.
The Jihui God-King had intended to exploit the Abyssal Gate to set a trap for the Dark Phoenix.
Yu Yuan, aware of the gate's peculiar properties, was convinced that any living creature from the Origin Realm, except himself, would be stripped of their vital energy upon contact with the Abyssal Gate.
Not even the juvenile Titan Spinosaurus would be spared.
Yu Yuan, feeling a pang of guilt for the Ape, still issued a warning despite knowing the Ape had defected to the Wasteland, "Not just you, even the Dark Phoenix would struggle to free itself if it landed there."
Prompted by Yu Yuan's words, the Ape, who was about to plummet, halted just in time.
The Ape, having regained its senses after losing its source, gazed down from several dozen meters above the iridescent sea at Yu Yuan, who had abruptly risen.
A look of astonishment crossed the Ape's face.
The white boa within the Dark Tower also showed surprise at Yu Yuan's statement, seemingly curious about his earnest caution.
"Actually, I was aware," the Ape said, its anger subsiding, and a peculiar look in its eyes. "Before coming here, I knew of the Abyssal Gate's uniqueness. I was well aware of the consequences of stepping on it."
"What I didn't expect was..."
He peered intently at Yu Yuan and continued, "That you would actually warn me?"
In the Ape's mind, the moment he gained eternal life from the Lord of Ruin, he stood in opposition to everyone in this world.
He was ready to face this reality, prepared to become an adversary to this world.
The Ape had also learned through the white boa of Yu Yuan's deeds in the Aihoyari and Monsa Nebula, where he, along with Kaiya and the two cosmic giant beasts, had slain several Beast Gods.
Yu Yuan was acutely aware of his role; he was the embodiment of the Wasteland, acting on behalf of the King.
"Why?"
"I don't want you to die," Yu Yuan said, his brow furrowed in concern.
"Your concern is appreciated, but I... I am not going to die!"
With a sudden low roar, the Ape revealed his immense form to Yu Yuan's astonishment.
A towering giant ape with silver-grey fur materialized, beating its chest with powerful thuds.
The Ape's legs, as thick as columns, stood firmly on the colorful sea surface, while a powerful suction from the Abyssal Gate emerged around him.
"Heh!"
The ape, his face a mask of fur, grinned menacingly and, with one hand free from pounding his chest, brandished a massive hammer that seemed to appear out of thin air.
The blood-red hammer exuded a brutal aura alien to this realm. Countless blood crystals, like trapped stars, glimmered within it, casting a sinister glow.
With a malevolent laugh, the Ape swung the hammer, and before Yu Yuan could react, it came crashing down with a resounding clang!
A thick blood mist exploded into streams of light as the hammer, capable of shattering the heavens, struck with force.
The cosmic giant beast, long dead, seemed to perish once more as its innate bloodline mysteries were obliterated by the Ape's hammer blow.
The splattered streams of blood converged upon the unmoved hammer, transforming into a blood crystal within its core.
"Yu Yuan, oh Yu Yuan, from this day forward, remember that I am severed from this world!"
The impact of the hammer on the Abyssal Gate abruptly halted the extraction of the Ape's lifeblood.
Unaffected, the Ape stood atop the Abyssal Gate, as immovable as a mountain.
On the Dark Tower, the white boa's eyes sparkled, and she let out a piercing cry: "My King is invincible!"
Her exclamation was a tribute to the Lord of Ruin!
Meanwhile, the Dark Tower, suspended in midair, displayed its formidable power to seal off the void, thwarting any supreme beings from the Astral Domain from crossing over.
Individuals like Zhong Chichen and Yu Yuan himself, who wielded the Dragon Slaying Stage, would struggle immensely to break through the seal and arrive.
"Yu Yuan, I was only following orders. You can't hold that against me, can you?"
The old Ape, massive as a mountain of gleaming silver, bared his teeth in a wild, uproarious laugh.
Beneath the thick fur on his chest, his skin and flesh had been refined into a tough hide. The innate talents of the Golden Rock Beast and Darkgold Beast, along with the magical abilities of the Ice Armor Beast and Thunderhawk, had all been distilled through his heart.
This Ape from the Everlands seemed to have undergone a transformation, now wielding the blood magic of other alien beasts.
The exquisite vital energy from those alien beasts not his own rendered his body unbreakable, and the ferocious power he unleashed was even greater than before.
Thump! Thump!
His robust heart pumped out an overwhelming surge of vital energy, like a multitude of blood-red volcanoes erupting in unison.
"I see now."
Yu Yuan had an epiphany.
As the old Ape readied to swing his massive hammer once more, Yu Yuan reached towards the heavens.
A blood-red canopy materialized in an instant.
The Ape's hammer, infused with boundless brute force and the combined vital energy of thirteen Wasteland Beast Gods, crashed against the blood-red canopy.
The canopy, like a trampoline, bore the weight of a massive boulder, suddenly dipping inward.
It looked as though the blood-red firmament would collapse.
The dip halted just as it was about to withstand the Abyssal Gate, then a colossal burst of energy erupted, catapulting the blood-red indentation back into place.
Boom!
The hammer shot upwards, slipping from the Ape's grasp, and he clumsily reached out to catch it.
"Dark Tower!"
Yu Yuan lifted his head, his hands coming together like blades, his expression steely.
A slender blood-red arc formed at the sweep of his hands, the lifeblood force of all beings in the Origin Realm coalescing into tangible Secrets of Life within the arc.
Life Blade!
With a peculiar crisp sound, the Dark Tower lifted the spatial seal. Yu Yuan didn't wait for the Ape to swing his hammer again; his gaze fixed on him.
"Life Traction!"
A suction force, exponentially more intense than before, burst forth from the Abyssal Gate beneath the Ape's feet.
The Ape's legs, as towering as colossal pillars, seemed to be mired in a swamp. Blood-red light wound around his shins like ropes and chains.
In mere moments, the Ape's thick legs were reduced to bare bones.
Flesh, sinew, and blood had vanished without a trace.
"Yu Yuan!"
The Ape screamed in agony.
His bleached bones could scarcely support his massive form, threatening to shatter under the strain.
He wobbled, barely managing to grasp his giant hammer.
"Move!"
The white boa inside the Dark Tower, sensing urgency, called out loudly.
Sizzle sizzle!
More blood-red light climbed the bones of the Ape's legs, advancing toward his thighs.
The Ape, howling in pain, exerted all his might but found his legs as if cemented into crevices in the rock, immovable no matter the effort.
With a grimace of determination, he swung his hammer and shattered his own leg bones.
Crack!
Discarding his severed limbs, the Ape, with his enormous frame, nearly collapsed onto the Abyssal Gate.
He quickly used the hammer to steady himself, then transformed into a human form.
Whoosh!
The Ape, desperate as if his tail were on fire, charged and finally made it into the Dark Tower.
The white boa looked stricken. She cast a deep glance at Yu Yuan, then piloted the Dark Tower, vanishing with the Ape.
Moments later.
A seven-colored rainbow burst from a fissure, materializing as Zhong Chichen above Yu Yuan's head.
"Are you alright?"
Zhong Chichen asked, pressing a finger to his chest.
He had received Yu Yuan's call through the Life Keychain in his heart and had come to the Abyssal Gate.
"The third Dark Tower has just been here."
Yu Yuan first shook his head, squinted as he tuned into his senses, then suddenly smiled. "Hold on, let me get a feel for it. Let's find out which Astral Domain the third Dark Tower will appear in next."
