'Is this a female... phoenix? Or... what Ancient... Treasure?' Li Yan certainly wouldn't think that his ancient ape puppet had developed its own intelligence. This was clearly the result of the strange purple bird entering its body. And this was the second time today he had heard the term "Ancient Treasure."
"Hmph, kid, are you trying to say I'm a female? I'll deal with you later. It's a good thing you filled all eighty spiritual energy slots, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to block those two strikes just now. How are you so poor, kid? Just over ten thousand spirit stones in total, and they're all low-grade. Fortunately, we're only six or seven hundred zhang away from the exit above. These spirit stones are barely enough. It's just... forget it, let's just get out of here first!"
The silver-bell-like voice from the giant ape puppet sounded again, speaking to Li Yan in a somewhat unfriendly tone. But when Li Yan heard "ten thousand spirit stones," he quickly swept his Divine Sense over the storage pouch at his waist. His already dark face turned three shades darker. He didn't know when, or rather, Li Yan hadn't noticed at all, but the ten thousand-odd spirit stones in his storage pouch were gone. Li Yan's net worth was more than that, but he couldn't put everything in his "Earth-Spot." Spirit stones were used most frequently in front of others, so he naturally kept some in his storage pouch. This time, he had put over ten thousand spirit stones in his storage pouch, but now not a single one was left.
Seemingly seeing Li Yan's twitching face, "Kid, you should be content. If it weren't for the sake of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, you would have been dead this time. Did you want to keep the spirit stones to buy an urn for your ashes? Alright, that's enough. I'm not not reminding you, hurry up and put away your three magical treasures. We're leaving this place now. The three piles of sand below are really a headache. Even if I kill them, it won't be long before they reform." Just as Li Yan was heartbroken over the spirit stones and feeling indignant about this act of taking without asking, the ancient ape puppet seemed to know what he was thinking and spoke again, even taking into consideration the folding fan and the other two magical treasures.
"Ah!" Only then did Li Yan come to his senses. After agreeing, he realized he had been stunned by the earlier scene and had somewhat forgotten where he was. He hurriedly reached out his hand, and the folding fan and the other two magical treasures were taken into his storage pouch. Looking at the storage pouch, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart. A Nascent Soul cultivator was truly terrifying. His storage pouch was like an open door; they could take whatever they wanted.
'Just now, she said the things below were three piles of sand? It seems my earlier guess was right.' Li Yan was full of questions, but he was a clever person and knew that now was not the time to talk.
Sure enough, the moment Li Yan put away the three magical treasures, the giant ape puppet moved. It retracted the palm that had knocked away the two golden giant forks, and its body turned into a dazzling green light, shooting upwards into the void. The moment the giant ape puppet moved, the leading golden giant below let out a roar. To Li Yan's utter horror, he saw it extend its hands and draw a circle at its sides. The other two golden giants' bodies immediately moved towards its arms. At the same time, their bodies began to spin with a buzzing sound. In the blink of an eye, the two golden giants' bodies had spun into two afterimages, and then they disintegrated into a sky full of golden sand. And with incredible speed, under a swipe of this golden giant's hands, they transformed into two rapidly spinning Crimson Gold Wind-Fire Twin Wheels at its sides. As they spun rapidly, they sent out a shower of golden sparks.
The golden giant's eyes then showed a murderous intent. With a wave of its hands forward, the two Crimson Gold Wind-Fire Twin Wheels, carrying the might of heaven and earth, seemed to push the entire world. With just a "whoosh" sound, they shot upwards like two spinning scorching suns, with the momentum of a thunderbolt, chasing after the giant ape puppet which was flying at high speed.
Although the giant ape puppet's rising speed, in Li Yan's eyes, was already like a thousand li in an instant, the golden giant's attack from below was also extremely fast. The moment they moved, the two world-destroying Crimson Gold Wind-Fire Wheels had already cut upwards. And their speed seemed to be a third faster than the giant ape puppet.
"I hate the sand here. If only I had high-grade spirit stones to control the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape. Even mid-grade spirit stones would do. I'd slap it into a sandstorm," the ancient ape said in its contrasting silver-bell voice as the Crimson Gold Wind-Fire Twin Wheels rapidly enlarged in Li Yan's pupils.
Hearing this, although Li Yan didn't know when this ancient ape puppet had become so powerful, he already knew that it was by no means something that could be controlled with only low-grade spirit stones as he and Bai Rou had imagined. But mid-grade spirit stones were too expensive. With his and Bai Rou's wealth, they certainly wouldn't use mid-grade spirit stones for experiments. They were even more afraid that if something went wrong, the terrifying spiritual energy released by a single mid-grade spirit stone would directly cause the formation inside the ancient ape puppet to be unable to withstand it and explode. He still had two mid-grade spirit stones now. They were the remaining ones from the eight he had exchanged for when he left the sect for an ultra-long-distance teleportation. But the origin of this senior Demonic Cultivator was mysterious. Although she had saved him, Li Yan could see that she was more interested in this ancient ape puppet. And how could he use his "Earth-Spot" in front of a Nascent Soul cultivator? For a moment, he hesitated.
Just as Li Yan was hesitating, the mysterious Demonic Cultivator let out a low shout. "Kid, hold on tight." Just as Li Yan was wondering what she meant, he felt his body shake violently, almost throwing him off the giant ape's shoulder. Li Yan hurriedly circulated his spiritual energy, and his hands turned into two flying claws, which he used to grab onto the giant ape's shoulder. But his entire body was already floating.
The rapidly ascending giant ape puppet suddenly turned sideways. The two Crimson Gold Wind-Fire Wheels were almost simultaneously cutting upwards along its calf. The giant ape puppet rotated on one leg, causing its body to half-spin. Its huge body was also like a green wind-fire wheel. As it spun, its other leg was bent at the knee, and it fiercely rammed into the inner wind-fire wheel. In an instant, a dazzling ball of green and gold sparks exploded in the void. It was just that the green light was much weaker. But the giant ape puppet's knee had hit the side of the wind-fire wheel. It was a method of using force to deflect force, and it had indeed knocked the inner wind-fire wheel flying off in one direction.
At the same time, the giant ape puppet's two long arms, which were almost as long as its body, one of its large hands was also clenched into a fist. As its body rotated sideways, it threw a punch at the other wind-fire wheel. But when its giant fist was about to hit the wind-fire wheel, the dazzling green light on its fist suddenly dimmed. And this was just as its knee had hit the inner wind-fire wheel.
"Damn low-grade spirit stones!" Li Yan's lips were tightly shut. His body was flying in the air like a kite with a broken string, but the claws formed by his hands were firmly gripping the giant ape's shoulder. He clearly heard the giant ape mutter in his ear. Then he saw the giant ape's fist that was aimed at the Crimson Gold Wind-Fire Wheel first dim, then erupt with a dazzling green light again, and fiercely strike the center of the side of the other spinning wind-fire wheel.
Hearing the complaint in his ear, and seeing the scene before him, Li Yan knew that in this short period of time, his ten thousand spirit stones were being consumed at a rapid rate. Just now, with a single knee strike, the giant ape puppet must have consumed an unknown number of spirit stones, which was why the other punch had almost failed. Fortunately, this senior Demonic Cultivator seemed to be extremely familiar with this puppet. In just an instant, she had refilled the spirit stones and thrown that punch.
The two Crimson Gold Wind-Fire Wheels were almost simultaneously attacked. They let out a series of grating sounds. As they were spinning at high speed, they suddenly stopped, and then two earth-shaking loud bangs were heard. Li Yan's vision was instantly filled with golden light.
Li Yan was so dizzy from the loud bang at such a close distance that he could no longer control the spiritual energy in his body. The two flying claws he had formed disintegrated, and his entire body was thrown off the giant ape puppet.
Just as Li Yan was unconsciously flying away, he was caught in the other hand of the giant ape puppet. The giant ape puppet accelerated again and flew upwards.
The distance Li Yan had fallen before was probably only six or seven hundred zhang. But with the giant ape puppet's huge body, it had only taken two or three breaths to reach the top of the abyss. The two golden giants Li Yan had met before were nowhere to be seen.
Li Yan was in a daze. A dim yellow environment appeared in his eyes, but for a moment, he couldn't remember where this was. He only felt that the scene was very familiar. Then he vaguely heard a series of roars from below him. Only then did a jolt go through him, and his mind cleared a lot.
"Little fellow, we're almost out of spirit stones. You'd better pray that the Astral Wind isn't blowing outside right now. Otherwise, we won't last more than a few breaths in here. That pile of sand will catch up soon." Just as Li Yan had a clear view of his surroundings, which was the black hole he had entered before, the giant ape's voice sounded in his ear. Then, without waiting for Li Yan to react, it had already charged towards the entrance of the cave.
Ten thousand spirit stones were consumed at a frighteningly fast rate. In just a moment, it seemed that they were all gone. Li Yan was scared out of his wits, because although his Divine Sense couldn't scan the outside world, his eyes could see clearly. Outside the semi-transparent membrane at the entrance of the cave was a sky full of wind and sand. That was the sign of a raging Astral Wind.
"Senior..." Just as Li Yan's voice trembled in terror, the giant ape puppet's body had rapidly shrunk as it flew. By the time it reached the entrance of the cave, it had become the size of an adult, almost the same height as Li Yan. And Li Yan had also fallen from the giant ape's shoulder and was now being dragged by the ancient ape puppet towards the entrance of the cave.
"Two and a half breaths. That damn pile of sand will chase us out. By then, we can only charge out. Without enough spirit stones, we can't resist at all. We'll definitely die in a single blow. I'm already seriously injured, and at the same time, I probably can't survive in the Astral Wind." Just as Li Yan's words came out, a voice transmission sounded in his mind. At this time, voice transmission was many times faster than speaking. But the voice was filled with a coldness that made Li Yan feel a disregard for life from the bottom of his heart. The words clearly meant that this senior Demonic Cultivator herself couldn't resist the Astral Wind at this moment. It was as if she was just casually mentioning her own life and death.
Li Yan believed that with this senior's ability to resist the joint attack of three Nascent Soul cultivators before, she was already at a heaven-defying level. Normally, let alone taking one person through the Astral Wind, it probably wouldn't be a problem to take a few more. But hearing that she was already seriously injured, Li Yan knew that the situation was extremely critical.
Li Yan's heart tightened. At this moment, how could he care about the secret of his "Earth-Spot"? He was about to take out the spirit stones immediately, because the moment they approached the entrance of the cave, he could already feel the terrifying pressure and towering killing intent from the abyss below rolling towards him, making his hands and feet feel a little weak.
At this moment, how could Li Yan have time for a voice transmission? He immediately wiped his left wrist with his right hand. But the moment his right hand touched his left wrist, his entire body was like a kite pulled by a string, and he was pulled away. He heard a sound like a mirror shattering, and he could only watch helplessly as half of his body was directly pulled out of the cave entrance by the ancient ape puppet.
The Demonic Cultivator controlling the ancient ape puppet had actually made a life-and-death gamble. With her seriously injured body, she had forcibly broken through the restriction at the entrance of the black hole, bringing Li Yan with her. And the speed at which Li Yan took out the spirit stones, compared to this senior Demonic Cultivator's reaction, was as slow as a snail. He had just raised his right hand when he was already dragged out of the black hole.