Chapter 248 : Primal Demon Ape
Chapter 248: Primal Demon Ape
“This formation art is a ground formation now rarely seen in the Immortal Alliance.
Its core concept and transformation method are somewhat akin to the ancient Fourth-Tier spatial profound formation [Profound Illusion Shrouding the Heavens], condensing a vast space into a mustard seed world and separating heaven and earth into two realms. However, there are many flaws that shouldn't exist.”
“But that's to be expected. Formation arts created by emulating the [Profound Illusion Shrouding the Heavens] are often riddled with errors.”
True Monarch Su Miao flicked her fingers, and eighty-one silver formation diagrams appeared before her.
“This formation may appear to have six layers, but it actually consists of nine superimposed spatial dimensions.”
“Once triggered, each layer becomes a cage. Even the teleportation arts of Nascent Soul cultivators can be sealed. It's well-suited as a defensive formation.”
Having said this, True Monarch Su Miao tapped her phone screen, recorded all eighty-one formation diagrams she had deduced, and sent them to Chen Beiwu.
“To break this formation is quite simple. Every forty-five minutes, the formation will automatically rotate and draw in spiritual energy from heaven and earth.”
“Time it precisely. When the formation briefly stalls, deploying the Immortal Alliance’s [Star-Fixing Disk] can forcibly anchor the space, disrupting the formation and revealing a gap. This is the simplest method of breaking it.”
As messages popped up rapidly on the phone screen, Chen Beiwu's eyes lit up.
The Star-Fixing Disk was a Second-Tier high-grade spiritual artifact, priced at three thousand spirit yuan on the Immortal Alliance Official Website.
It served two main purposes: first, to balance the transformation of formation patterns, helping formation masters better comprehend their mysteries.
Second, by channeling the power of celestial stars, it could enhance the might of formations set by the formation master.
To think that a spiritual artifact meant to assist in formation setup could be used to dismantle a Third-Tier treasure formation—this must be the insight of a Fourth-Tier formation master!
With that thought, Chen Beiwu quickly sought guidance on several lingering questions about formation arts.
Such as how to modify this Third-Tier treasure formation, or how to set it up as a disposable formation disk.
Faced with Chen Beiwu’s imaginative questions, True Monarch Su Miao simply shook her head. She didn’t dismiss them but instead pointed out the feasibility and specific directions for each idea—leaving behind a thread of karmic goodwill.
‘A promising seedling for formation arts, if only he weren’t already apprenticed.’
Looking at the final thank-you message on her phone, True Monarch Su Miao sighed softly, a tinge of regret in her heart.
Young people truly brimmed with ambition—constantly aspiring to revolutionize formation arts and create systems distinct from the Immortal Alliance mainstream.
Formation disks that required no prior setup, no spiritual sense to activate, and no reliance on environmental conditions—only a bit of spiritual power to trigger—did sound promising.
But Chen Beiwu wasn’t the first to come up with this idea.
If formation arts could truly be cast as instantly as talismans, then high-level formation masters would certainly reign as the strongest among the hundred cultivation arts.
Thus, even predecessors in the Immortal Alliance’s formation arts field had attempted to simplify formations. But formation arts weren’t talismans.
Without a formation master constantly adjusting and maintaining the array, and without leveraging heavenly and earthly forces to maximize the effect, how could a formation’s power possibly surpass that of same-tier talismans?
With this in mind, True Monarch Su Miao slowly closed her eyes and began visualizing her Dharma Aspect.
On the other side, Chen Beiwu put down his phone, unable to hide his excitement.
To avoid arousing suspicion in True Monarch Su Miao, he had deliberately asked more than a dozen long-held questions on cultivation formations.
A few of them were problems he had only recently learned about while discussing formation arts with Elder Yu of the Formation Hall.
Yet none of these questions stumped True Monarch Su Miao. Almost immediately after he sent each one, his phone buzzed with her reply.
“Phew!” Chen Beiwu exhaled a breath of turbid air.
This exchange of guidance had greatly benefited him, giving him a faint sense of the barrier to becoming a Third-Tier formation master.
But Chen Beiwu knew that was just an illusion.
In the Immortal Alliance, becoming a Third-Tier formation master—whose status surpassed even Golden Core True Persons—was no easy feat.
In theory, a Third-Tier formation master had to memorize 129,600 foundational formation patterns, and comprehend the permutations and combinations of the 108 basic Nine-Palace Five-Element Yin-Yang formation diagrams—this was just the foundation.
In practice, one had to independently improve ten Second-Tier spiritual formations and complete the restoration and deployment of two Third-Tier ancient incomplete formations.
Alternatively, one could create an original Third-Tier treasure formation and have it certified by the Immortal Alliance Formation Arts Association.
The former was manageable. With access to the Yuqing Immortal Sect’s library, Chen Beiwu had already grasped nearly ninety percent of Third-Tier theoretical knowledge.
But to meet the practical requirements, he had to condense a trace of immortal golden nature and ascend to Golden Core True Person.
Otherwise, the spiritual sense consumption alone for restoring or innovating a Third-Tier ancient incomplete formation would exhaust a Foundation Establishment cultivator, damaging their spiritual platform—let alone the spiritual power required to deploy and maintain a Third-Tier treasure formation.
Suppressing stray thoughts, Chen Beiwu shook his head and logged onto the Immortal Alliance Official Website to purchase the Star-Fixing Disk.
【Transaction Successful!】
【Account Balance】: 41624.28 spirit yuan
Glancing at the order details, Chen Beiwu hugged the Golden Egg to his chest and, following True Monarch Su Miao’s instructions, began comprehending the formation art within the secret realm’s Alchemy Hall.
By the next morning, the Star-Fixing Disk had arrived.
Chen Beiwu unwrapped the package and took out the Second-Tier high-grade formation disk engraved with a 360-degree star chart, its center inlaid with seven jade beads mimicking the Big Dipper.
After verifying it, Chen Beiwu took the disk back to his cave abode, sat cross-legged, activated the Phantom Concealment Pendant to alter his appearance and aura, and triggered the Gate of Ten Directions for teleportation.
…
Tianyan True Realm, Alchemy Hall.
As spatial ripples surged, a figure slowly emerged.
The first thing Chen Beiwu did was inspect the herb field, his expression slightly surprised.
Shrouded beneath the protective formation, the herb field remained as desolate as when he had first seen it.
However, around the perimeter of the Fourth-Tier Mysterious Spring were now several footprints and five corpses dressed in the robes of the Greenwood Sect and Blazing Flame Sect.
Clearly, Chen Beiwu wasn’t the only cultivator who had discovered this hall. Members of the Five Great Sects had found it as well, and had even fought a deadly battle over the Fourth-Tier mystic herb, Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass.
Yet even after determining a victor, none could breach the protective formation left behind by True Monarch Tianyan.
All they could do was stare helplessly at the treasure trove before them, unable to take even a single spiritual herb.
“Drip!”
“Drip!”
“Drip!”
Listening to the sound of water droplets from the Fourth-Tier Mysterious Spring, Chen Beiwu narrowed his eyes.
‘Interesting.’
Feigning ignorance, he stepped forward a few paces before stopping, cautiously surveying the surroundings.
‘A hundred feet… seventy feet… fifty feet… this little brat is quite cautious.’
A burly, bald man standing nine feet tall licked his lips, thinking to himself.
He wore the robe of the Heavy Gold Sect, his muscles bulging, left hand tightly gripping a formation disk inside his sleeve.
The cultivators of the Four Great Sects shared a common belief: the body cultivators of the Heavy Gold Sect were all brainless brutes.
They would recklessly charge into combat, relying entirely on beastly instinct to fight—clashing head-on with physical might against artifacts and magical treasures, completely devoid of any tactical foresight.
But the cultivators of the Heavy Gold Sect did not see it that way.
When wielding world-shaking strength, they believed they could overwhelm finesse with brute force—there was no need to utilize their world-shaking wisdom.
However, Wu Jie did not agree with this view.
As the third-ranked core disciple on the Heavy Gold Rankings, Wu Jie had survived in the secret realm this long and seized many resources thanks to his boldness, caution, and wit.
He never struck until the prey stepped into the trap.
‘Boss, did that kid notice us?’
Another cultivator—short, with a monkey-like face and skinny frame, completely unlike the muscular build typical of the Heavy Gold Sect—sent a divine sense transmission.
‘That fish-dragon only has eyes for those spiritual herbs. That reaction is unlikely to be because of us.’
Gazing at the soaring golden fish-dragon in the distance, whose eyes burned with greed, a square-faced cultivator in the robes of the Blazing Flame Sect shook his head.
He had spent three days and nights setting up the Second-Tier high-grade spiritual formation [Crimson Shadow Killing Concealment Array], which not only concealed presence but also possessed unmatched lethality—a nightmare for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Unless the intruder was a Golden Core True Person with golden core-level spiritual sense, even a Second-Tier high-grade formation master would not be able to see through this array passed down from his master.
“Gulp.”
Following Chen Beiwu’s command, Golden Egg played along and covertly activated the illusion art Truth or Illusion.
To be fair, Golden Egg’s talent for understanding cultivation arts was average—but it made up for it by its voracious appetite!
Even though it couldn't comprehend the Mirror-Origin Moonfruit Profound Illumination Heart Sutra bestowed by the sect patriarch, Golden Egg could ingest jade slips with its All Rivers Embraced talent, digest them several times, and vaguely grasp their meaning.
It had successfully reached the third level, “Manifesting True Form,” of Mirror Flower, Water Moon, attaining the realm of “bone in the mirror, edge beneath the blossom.”
At this stage, Mirror Flower, Water Moon allowed one to solidify illusions and injure others imperceptibly.
For instance, at this moment, although Golden Egg was actively casting the art, the three cultivators hidden behind the formation detected nothing amiss.
‘Three peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, two with auras comparable to false cores, one at peak Foundation Establishment. A good match for Golden Egg to practice on.’
Chen Beiwu didn’t act himself. While Golden Egg dealt with the opponents, he meditated on Tai Xuan Guarding the One, pushing his spiritual sense to its limits.
He aimed to follow True Monarch Su Miao’s guidance to pinpoint the brief delay in the defensive grand array.
Meanwhile, the Mask-Wearing Demon Ape wandering the secret realm twitched its nose and looked toward the Alchemy Hall.
“Step!”
“Step!”
“Step!”
Unlike before, the Mask-Wearing Demon Ape was clearly serious this time.
With each step, cobweb-like spatial fractures emerged beneath its feet, swallowing its figure and allowing it to reappear a thousand miles away in an instant—this was none other than the signature spatial art of Nascent Soul True Monarchs: Teleportation.
At this terrifying pace, it would only take a few breaths for the ape to reach the Alchemy Hall.
‘Something’s not right!’
Chen Beiwu’s heartbeat quickened as he looked toward the three cultivators behind the hall pillars.
His acute spiritual intuition suddenly picked up a dreadful and indescribable sense of crisis.
The next moment, Chen Beiwu’s pupils contracted.
“Boom!!!”
Four zhang above the direction of the pillars, the space shattered like glass above the heads of Wu Jie and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators.
“Crack! Crack!”
As web-like pitch-black spatial rifts spread, a godlike and demonic figure violently stepped through the void. Its overwhelming presence caused the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a thousand li to abruptly stagnate.
In that instant, Chen Beiwu felt as if he had lost all the instincts of a cultivator—his spiritual power in the sea of qi and dantian fell silent.
‘What kind of monster is this?!’
As the Demon Ape tore through space and descended, the [Crimson Shadow Killing Concealment Array] that Wu Jie and the others had arranged collapsed with a roar, exposing their hidden figures.
‘Could Senior Brother Zhou have been killed by this Demon Ape?’
Wu Jie’s face turned pale as he instinctively clenched the Third-Tier life-saving talisman bestowed by his master.
Perhaps sensing Wu Jie’s gaze, the Demon Ape’s head tilted slightly. Its cold and cruel eyes suddenly froze.
‘Please save me, Master!’
Wu Jie swallowed hard and crushed his trump-card talisman: the Third-Tier high-grade life-saving talisman Five Peaks Demon-Suppressing Talisman.
A warm, heavy yellow light immediately shot forth and hovered above his head.
In the next instant, the light began to move, gather, and expand, faintly outlining the silhouettes of five towering mountains.
Though these mountain silhouettes were blurry and their true forms unclear, the immense golden core-level pressure they released crashed down with terrifying force—capable of suppressing heaven and earth and bearing all things.
“Buzz!”
Under Chen Beiwu’s gaze, each rotation and descent of the mountain silhouettes unleashed thunderous roars, warping the space around the Mask-Wearing Demon Ape. It looked as though the ape would be completely suppressed.
Yet no joy appeared on Chen Beiwu’s face. Instead, his expression grew increasingly grim as he gripped the Yuqing Demon-Subduing Profound Talisman gifted by his senior brother.
The reason was simple—Chen Beiwu could clearly feel that the Mask-Wearing Demon Ape’s gaze wasn’t on the three Foundation Establishment cultivators, but fixed solely on him.
Under such circumstances, he had no chance of activating the Gate of Ten Directions to teleport away.
After all, in the face of such a being, a two-to-three-breath teleportation startup was no different from standing still and waiting to die.
“Gulp.”
Golden Egg stepped in front of Chen Beiwu, trembling uncontrollably. That fear stemmed from bloodline instinct—it was not something that could be suppressed by will.
In a daze, Golden Egg’s mind drifted to what it believed to be the strongest being—the Ruins Emperor Dragon, source of all water.
Yet, compared to the online images that lacked even a trace of true dragon majesty, the Demon Ape before it was undoubtedly far more terrifying. It didn’t even have the will to resist.
‘It worked.’
Unlike Chen Beiwu, Wu Jie’s reaction upon seeing the Demon Ape restrained was joy. A streak of golden light flew from his storage ring.
As the golden light faded, a thin, cicada-wing-sized jade talisman appeared—none other than a Boundary-Breaking Talisman that could teleport one out of the secret realm.
As for his two allies, Wu Jie had no time to care in the face of death.
But in the next second, the Mask-Wearing Demon Ape, seemingly done playing, gently clenched its right palm—wrapped in dark-golden chains—and instantly shattered the illusory Five Peaks.
Instead, it was Wu Jie and the other two who showed expressions of terror as their bodies sank, crushed into pulp by an invisible force—like ants squashed without effort.
Seeing this, Chen Beiwu's eyes narrowed. He recalled the inscription on the legacy stone tablet.
It wanted him to tame the Heart Monkey?
What a joke!
An existence that had condensed Undying Blood and Undying Aura, with over a millennium of cultivation, revered by cultivators of the Immortal Alliance as the King of Ten Thousand Beasts—how could such a being be subdued by a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator?
What’s more, the bloodline within this Mask-Wearing Demon Ape was extraordinarily noble—beyond Chen Beiwu’s imagination.
It might even, under the passage of time, evolve to its peak, becoming a Fifth-Realm Beast Venerable on par with a Divine Transformation True Venerable of the human race—capable of commanding the fate of an entire race.
‘Fortunately, my divination arts weren’t wrong. This venture into the secret realm was thrilling, but ultimately safe.’
Recognizing the Demon Ape’s figure, Chen Beiwu took a deep breath, cleared all stray thoughts, stored Golden Egg into the spirit beast pouch, and gazed toward the masked ape—facing off across the void against this Fourth-Realm Beast King.
He knew very well—whether he ran or fought—in front of this Demon Ape, either choice would only lead to a gruesome death.