Chapter 440: Jeopardy
"Ah, the ever-so-famous Sun-Swallowing Art... Yes, I remember being at the receiving end of that particular technique back then. I wonder how much could you possibly progress after all these years now," the golden Jiao dragon suddenly spoke from its spot ten-odd yards away from the gigantic white ape, swishing its body as it did so.
The white ape ignored it. Golden light coursed through its golden pupils until they were shining as brightly as the sun, spraying out golden rays of light. It mouth opened and closed repetitively as it muttered some sort of unintelligible incantation.
Whoop phewww!
A surge of energy even more potent than before pulsated from the gigantic white ape. Searing white lights fell from midair in a drizzle as they were collected into blooms of white flaming flowers bursting around its body in succession. Then, within the blooming flowers, streams of white magma flowed out gracefully like a swimming fish merging together into a singular white fireball as large as a house.
By now, even the sun itself paled in its brilliance. It was as if the only star in the universe was this gargantuan white fireball hanging before the white ape's chest.
An explosion of indescribable infernal heat radiated from the fireball, enough to make the space around it blur as if air particles had melted just by being close to it. Even some trees caught fire in the woods a distance away from the fireball.
From his premium seat within the white ape's body, Shi Mu's heart was once again throbbing at the display of raw power.
This single ball of white flames had more power than even that white flame attack from the Heaven-rank Bone Worm back in the Dead Spirit Realm.
However, half of his surprise was also that he never knew the Sun-Swallowing Art had offensive capabilities.
Just as Shi Mu's mind raced through all kinds of scenarios uncontrollably, the white ape began to wave its arms to shove the white fireball away from its chest and towards the golden Jiao dragon. It carved an enduring trail of white light, looking deceptively slow despite its speed.
It was as if a sun was flying through the sky; Every part of the land that came between the path the white fireball crossed left the plants and the flora completely singed, while the air in the sky was filled with ripples.
On the first peak of the Black Demon Sect, the upper echelon of the Sect was completely at loss for words as they watched, their body already drenched in their endless waterfall of sweat.
Bracing the white fireball, which had every indication of being a very, very devastating blow, a look of solemnness crossed the golden Jiao dragon's visage, but it did not prepare to step out of the way. It merely stood still, gawking at the orb of impeding doom silently, watching it become bigger and bigger as it came closer and closer towards him.
Just when the white fireball was within ten odd yards, the golden Jiao dragon's eyes lit up with devilish joy, as if everything had gone according to its ploy. Its body scintillated in an aura of gold as it opened its jaws wide.
Its eyes and the golden horn on its forehead blazed with golden light. At the next second, a large swathe of golden light poured out from its mouth before spinning uniformly in a certain direction and whirring into a gigantic golden vortex.
The golden vortex had just completed its form when the white fireball crashed into the middle of the vortex.
Not a single peep was caused by the collision. The two attacks merged together seamlessly, without any sound, the only significant reaction being the streams of flames and sparks of white and gold.
The golden vortex continued to spin rapidly. A single black dot emerged in the middle, swelling at every second like a gradually-opening mouth that emanated a surge of terrible suction force.
The white fireball started to spin too, forks of flames being yanked out from within before being sucked by the black bottomless pit. Every time a part of the white flames were yanked out, the fireball shrank by a visible degree.
The golden Jiao dragon's body blazed in golden light, especially its scorched-black talons, where the singed scales and skin quickly peeled off as new ones sprouted instantly. Even the claws that had been broken away from its talons grew back.
"Hahaha! You actually used that power before me... Have you forgotten my signature technique—the All-Consuming Mouth?"
The dragon laughed boisterously as golden lights burst out of its body. It swished its body, showcasing its heightened speed, before lunging right at the gigantic white ape again.
Enraged, the ape let out a loud roar, spinning the rod of white flames quickly like a wheel. With a blur, it hurtled towards the golden Jiao dragon before locking itself into a melee.
Taking in a big gulp of solar quintessence was like a taking a booster pill to the golden Jiao dragon—not only were its wounds completely healed, it even managed to improve its own strength and powers. On its talons, a crystalline glow of golden rays shot out from each of its tips, imbuing them with so much power that they no longer break under the pressure of the terrible power of the white ape's flames.
The two behemoths clashed together into a violent embrace and shoved each other away in midair. Every time they bumped at each other, rings of terrifying light would spring out from them in the company of the rumbles of thunder.
This went on for a few minutes. The golden Jiao dragon showed itself to possess the upper hand while the white ape was being marred by a few deep gashes once more. Now that the ape had been locked in a deadly tussle without any opening, it could no longer use the Sun-Swallowing Art to recover itself.
Even the faint silver glow on its body was starting to die.
Roarrr!
A single spark of menacing light flashed in the white ape's eyes, and suddenly the flow of essential blood within had multiplied by tenfold.
Shi Mu, being inside of the white ape, could sense the change in its body. He was aghast.
It was then when a booming sound rang from within the white ape, dyeing the blazing white flames with tinges of blood-red. Its gigantic body suddenly shrank as the flames continued to roar, and though it did not become smaller, it did become much, much skinnier. The wounds on its body also recovered very quickly as its deadly mien spiked.
A cruel flash shone out of the golden Jiao dragon's eyes. Taking the moment the white ape was casting a technique as an opening, it coiled its body around the white ape and brandished its gigantic talon in a blur, projecting a few claw-like rays at the white ape's chest.
Thoom.
It was as if the claw had scratched the surface of a bronze wall. It did not even make any sort of shallow cut on the ape's skin—only a few faint red scratches were delivered.
The golden Jiao dragon was startled. The white ape had used some sort of technique unbeknownst to him to fortify his physical body to a whole new level!
Roaar!
There was another flash of blood-red in the white ape's eyes. Its clenched fist suddenly blurred.
At that moment, a dense pack of shadow-fists appeared in the air like a white wave-plate with tinges of red, swarming towards the golden Jiao dragon.
A cacophony of clashing between gold and iron split into the air!
The golden Jiao dragon immediately took to the air and bolted out of the spot for several hundred yards before it stopped. On its underbelly were fist-shaped bruises, but even then, only one of them stood out. On that single wound, draconic scales had shattered as pale golden blood coursed out.
The white ape retracted its scorched-black left hand—it was that single strike with its left fist that had shoved the golden Jiao dragon out.
A trickle of blood hung on the corner of the dragon's mouth, a terrified look crossing its eyes very briefly. The waves of fist shadows had been more of theatrics rather than substance; but mixed with it was one singular punch with the pressure of a few mountains crashing together that managed to tear through even a dragon's defense.
The white ape's body was burning with both blood-red and white flames. With another shriek, it dove towards the golden Jiao dragon, its speed somehow increased so much that it was leaving a long trail of after-images.
Before its body reached the golden Jiao dragon, however, a gigantic shadow of a white fist hurled out from its left hand first!
A look of recognition and the fear that came from it shone out from the golden Jiao dragon's eyes. With a flash of gold, a string of sounds not unlike shattering bones rang; The Jiao dragon's body had shrunk in order to boost its speed.
And indeed, it managed to dive aside, evading the single white fist shadow by a hairbreadth.
Boommmm!
The attack landed on a mountain about two hundred odd yards high, breaking into a flare of white sun before the entire peak crumbled downwards in an avalanche. In moments, the peak was no more.
At the same time, the golden Jiao dragon turned to the white ape abruptly, its horn glowing gold as a dazzling ray projected out of its tip toward the enemy.
The ape's eyes flashed red, its left hand blurred, and it became an arch of black shadow.
Kaboom!
A crisp snipping sound rang out as the golden ray broke into segments upon hitting the white ape's scorched-black left hand, leaving not even a single mark.
The ape's mouth cracked into a devilish grin. It once again hurled itself toward the golden Jiao dragon.
It was about to reach the golden Jiao dragon when a tidal wave of draconic breath slammed against the white ape's body. It was not enough to inflict any actual damage, but its force was sufficient to shove the ape a few hundred yards away.
Roar!
The white ape was forced into a few somersaults before it was finally able to regain its footing. It let out an apoplectic billow, and a single layer of white flames flared from its scorched-black left hand once more. Then, with a quick flick, a dozen white shadow-fists materialized once more before swarming at the golden draconic breath.
Hiding deep inside the white ape's body, Shi Mu had long forgotten that it was himself who had transformed into this battling white ape. Instead, he had become an audience to a thrilling battle that had him continuously hyped up.
The white ape had shown just how dexterously it wielded the power of the first level of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, even more so than Shi Mu could. In fact, a battle like this, which allowed Shi Mu to witness its usage through direct experience, would prove to be invaluable for his future training and fights!
The white ape's figure blurred in an attempt to lunge at the Jiao dragon once more... almost a bit too impatiently.
The golden Jiao dragon's eyes twinkled, and suddenly it switched to an all-out defense mode as every single effort was used to evade the white ape's attacks, only to shoot out a golden ray from its horn or to exhale its draconic breath. Whatever it did, it would always make sure that it was not locked in close-quarters.
Fifteen minutes had passed. The blood-like glow from the ape's body was starting to fade and dim.
"I knew it. You are exhausting your own essential blood to forcefully fortify your body!" The golden Jiao dragon cackled. "I would love to see just how much more you have in store before you run completely out of fuel..."
It opened its jaw wide after that and exhaled another swathe of draconic breath attacks, pushing the white ape back another ten odd yards.
The white ape's face was twisted into a livid grimace, but it could not seem to do anything about this.
Its aura was dying, and the blood-colored flame on its body was at its very last layer, as if it was about to be snuffed out very soon.
A few moments may be all it takes for the white ape to collapse.
The white ape was in jeopardy!