The rest of the group were naturally no match for the Titan Giant Ape, were all slammed into the ground by its oppressive force.
The Titan Giant Ape leaped past them and landed directly beside Xiao Wu. It picked her up, bent its knees, and jumped—disappearing from sight in an instant.
Clean and efficient.
Yet no one was injured.
Diyi Hong "reacted just in time," spreading his phoenix wings and soaring into the sky.
"Don't run, you damn ape thief!"
Without hesitation, he flew off in pursuit of the Titan Giant Ape.
—This highlighted the concept of never giving up.
At this moment, only Zhao Wuji and Flender, who had activated their martial spirit forms, were able to pull themselves out of the ground.
It was clear that they had received some "special treatment" just now.
They quickly looked around.
"Xiao Wu's been taken?" Flender said with an unpleasant expression. "Diyi Hong went after them. There's still a chance."
Swish—
Tang San, eyes bloodshot, activated his flying soul device and chased after them at full speed.
He flew so fast that there was no time to stop him.
—This was the level 6 flying soul device that Diyi Hong had carefully selected for him.
"Damn it! You're just making more trouble!" Flender cursed.
He was well aware of Diyi Hong's combat power. While defeating the Titan Giant Ape might not be easy, rescuing Xiao Wu was certainly within reach.
Tang San charging in like that would only complicate things.
Flender quickly thought about the best course of action.
Retreat?
No!
The Titan Giant Ape had appeared in the mixed zone. Who knew what was going on in the Star Dou Forest? It might be undergoing major changes.
If they retreated now, they could run into even more danger.
They had to move to support Diyi Hong—he was the team's strongest member, and they needed to regroup with him.
Besides…
If something happened to such a mysterious and powerful student within his own academy's ranks, Flender might not be able to keep his position on the Douluo Continent.
"I'll go after them. Wuji, bring the rest and catch up!"
He flapped his wings and soared into the sky to pursue them.
Zhao Wuji understood Flender's thinking and began organizing the team.
"Stick together, everyone! I'll take point, Elder Li will guard the rear, and Elder Shao will command from the center."
"Keep up! Don't slack off!"
Still dazed, Dai Mubai and the others snapped out of it and began running after them.
Flender chased and chased…
To his shock, he realized he had lost their trail.
It made sense if he couldn't catch up to Diyi Hong and the Titan Giant Ape…
But Tang San was flying faster than him?
Impossible!
Flender boosted his soul power output, increasing his speed by another 30%.
Still no sign.
Well…
In truth—
Diyi Hong had attached a trace of speed consciousness to Flender and the others, subtly interfering with their perception and guiding them in the wrong direction. Naturally, they couldn't catch up.
As for Diyi Hong himself—
He had concealed his presence with both speed and spiritual awareness, silently floating high above the Titan Giant Ape. Xiao Wu, meanwhile, was sitting cross-legged, condensing her soul ring.
—Before soul beasts reach Rank 70, they can condense their own soul rings.
He wasn't idle either.
His divine sense spread out rapidly, covering hundreds of kilometers and accurately locking onto Tang San's location.
That guy, under the influence of a strand of nine-colored divine awareness, was still circling a giant tree with red eyes.
It was almost hilarious.
Now, they just had to wait for the Human-Faced Demon Spider to show up, and the grand show could begin.
["Phoenix God": Didn't the host say he would reveal the Titan Ape's external soul bone? Why hasn't he done it yet?]
"No rush," Diyi Hong replied. "Once Tang San starts fighting, I'll kill the licking ape, take the soul bone, then immediately rush over to save Tang San."
["Phoenix God": You will kill her second brother and then save her lover's life? Wouldn't Xiao Wu be emotionally torn?]
["Phoenix God": Zhuqing, Rongrong, aren't you both close with Xiao Wu? You're just going to sit back and watch?]
["God of Speed": In the later stages, Xiao Wu's relationship with Da Ming and Er Ming was just so-so. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been sent to just guard the Clear Sky Sect.]
["God of Speed": The host has Resurrection Light. Kill it, take the soul bone, then revive it.]
["Phoenix God": Eh? For real? Doesn't that mean you could infinitely farm soul bones?]
Diyi Hong's eyes lit up. Is that actually a bug?
But then he immediately shook his head.
Using Resurrection Divine Light required 100 strands of nine-colored divine consciousness.
That's 1 million live-stream points!
Enough to buy two external soul bones.
["God King of Destruction 002": Condensing a soul bone consumes the bloodline essence of a soul beast. A Titan Giant Ape revived by the Resurrection Light would suffer a huge drop in cultivation. It wouldn't be able to produce another soul bone.]
["Phoenix God": Got it. What a shame.]
["Nine-Colored Goddess": I say, don't revive it. If that 100,000-year soul bone follows the host to the Divine Realm, he could easily claim a position as a priest.]
["God of Emotions": Hiss! That's a twisted but clever thought!]
["Phoenix God": Yeah, soul beasts can't become gods themselves, but they can invest in a human who might. That's actually brilliant.]
Diyi Hong added, "The God of Emotions knows all about this. He brought seven soul beast spirits with him to become a god."
["Phoenix God": I was joking, but it actually works?]
["God of Emotions": Uh… luck, just luck.]
["God of Emotions": By the way, host, aren't you tempted by the Titan Ape's 100,000-year soul ring?]
"My body probably can't handle absorbing a 100,000-year ring yet," said Diyi Hong, tilting his head.
["God of Emotions": You can seal part of its power first and gradually release it as your body strengthens, until you're fully adapted.]
Oh right—
That was a signature trick of the God of Emotions.
"I don't know how. Can you help me out?"
[User "God of Emotions" sent a gift: "Soul Ring Seal·Modified" ×1]
["God of Emotions": You can activate it directly with spiritual awareness—completely secure, no side effects.]
["God of Emotions": When you torture Tang San later, make sure it's brutal!]
"Alright! Just wait and see!"
—
Meanwhile, in his spiritual vision, Tang San had finally encountered the Human-Faced Demon Spider that had been guided toward him.
A narrow path and a fierce battle!
Back to Xiao Wu, still silently condensing her soul ring.
Time to act.
Diyi Hong immediately activated his divine skill, Finger of Death, using his speed awareness as the trigger.
In an instant—
The sky darkened.
The Titan Giant Ape instinctively looked up—only to see nothing but endless black light.
Then—consciousness faded to black.
A beam of destructive light engulfed its head, completely disintegrating it.
The headless corpse fell heavily to the ground, even knocking over Xiao Wu, who was still seated and cross-legged.
But as she was in the middle of soul ring condensation, she didn't open her eyes.
Hovering above, Diyi Hong used his divine sense to quickly scan the body. He slit open the left palm of the Titan Giant Ape, and a black external soul bone flew out.
Perfect.
It was the external soul bone he had mentally willed to appear.
Why the left palm?
He had a little idea. If it worked, that hand would be very useful.
His divine sense swept back over to Tang San's side—where the fight was still raging.
No need to rush.
Diyi Hong summoned his martial soul, the Netherworld White Tiger, and began absorbing both the Titan Giant Ape's 100,000-year soul ring and external soul bone.
With the help of his divine awareness, the process would only take ten seconds.
"Buzz——"
The pitch-black soul ring descended.
This one had 71,000 years sealed—he could only absorb that much for now.
The rest would be slowly unlocked through his Million-Year Phoenix Wings, which provided an extra 50,000 years' worth of physical reinforcement.
And most importantly—
The show had just begun.
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