Chapter 2044: Bird Hunting Pt.3

Even though the Giant Ape King fought with ferocious power and held the stone rod transformed from the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar that Shang Xia had given it, it absolutely could not contend against the rank seven bird emperor by itself.

However, by striking with full force in a surprise attack, it was able to block the rank seven bird emperor, who had been preparing to flee, at the critical moment.

Although the Giant Ape King’s massive body was swatted through the void by a single wingbeat from the rank seven bird emperor, the rank seven bird emperor lost its chance to escape.

With the chains linking their fleet, the instant the battle formation formed, the entire nebula was locked down.

Yet the rank seven bird emperor still could not bring itself to believe it. The reason it flew into the nebula in the first place was because it had a considerable disruptive effect on one’s perception, and it covered an extremely vast area.

Under such circumstances, for a dozen or so starships of various sizes to reach different positions with precision, to act in perfect unison, and to do so while evading its perception... No matter how it racked its brains, it simply could not imagine how the enemy had accomplished it.

It needed to be understood that the nebula imposed a very strong interference on the divine soul of any existence. The reason the rank seven bird emperor had chosen it as its battleground for a counterattack was that it had made thorough preparations in advance, combining a portion of its blood, feathers, and origin qi, scattering them throughout the nebula.

That way, it could both confuse the enemy of its location and counter the nebula’s interference and suppression on its divine soul, even extending its perception somewhat.

Reality, however, dealt it a harsh blow. The ones pursuing it were not merely a single large Star Ship, but an entire fleet! Moreover, it had detected nothing beforehand!

Not only that, but the fleet’s other Star Ships were able to maintain contact with the single large Star Ship that had entered alone, without being significantly hindered by the nebula.

At that point, the rank seven bird emperor understood that it was the one who had fallen into the enemy’s trap. A dozen or more large and medium Star Ships had already formed a link, confining it in the massive battle formation.

Now... The question was if the battle formation could truly hold it.

More than panic at being outwitted, the rank seven bird emperor felt anger.

Because in its perception, the Sage who had once made it deeply wary had still not appeared.

In other words, those human warriors before it intended to rely on the battle formation and join forces with a few True Immortals to deal with it.

The insult of being looked down on practically broke the rank seven bird emperor’s composure.

What it could not bear even more was the monkey leaping up and down before its eyes, provoking it again and again.

How could the rank seven bird emperor fail to see that the humans had mustered such a grand scheme for the sake of that monkey?

Its anger came not only from the monkey colluding with humans, but also because the enemy clearly intended to help the monkey kill it and devour its bloodline, thereby assisting the monkey in breaking through to become a monkey emperor.

That was also why, after the battle formation formed, although it locked the rank seven bird emperor in and restricted and weakened it from all directions, the formation never truly launched an attack. Only the Giant Ape King fought desperately against the rank seven bird emperor.

The rank seven bird emperor naturally would not sit and wait to be slaughtered.

The instant it sensed it had fallen into the battle formation, it beat its wings to tear the void, thrusting a pair of sharp talons from the rift straight toward the junction where the dozen anchor chains linked.

The battle formation had formed precisely because those chains had successfully linked up. Therefore, that linkage was the core of the formation. If the node was destroyed, the battle formation would naturally collapse.

The move indeed struck at the heart of the problem. However, Chu Jia had a long time to prepare. With Yuan Qiuyuan’s cooperation, they completed the construction of the battle formation’s core. How could they allow the rank seven bird emperor to destroy it so easily?

The dozen anchors at the ends of the chains suddenly spun rapidly. They slammed directly into the rank seven bird emperor’s talons.

The rank seven bird emperor’s claws could shred metal, but faced with anchors large enough and hard enough, even if it could easily snap two and ruin four more, there were still a dozen or so pressing forward one after another. Not only did they block its talons from continuing to ruin the chain junction, they also hammered its claws, each blow heavier than the last.

By then, the rank seven bird emperor’s claws had already spent their strength. Once it realized the attempt would not succeed, it tried to withdraw, yet could not avoid being smashed several times more.

Although they still did not break its talons, they hurt enough to make it howl miserably. Even its wing-spread flight posture suffered serious impairment.

The Giant Ape King seized the opportunity to follow up at that very second. Taking a few steps in the void to gather momentum, he raised his stone rod and brought it down from above in another savage mid air strike, this time aiming at the rank seven bird emperor’s back.

The rank seven bird emperor raged, but under the suppression of the battle formation, there was little it could do at the critical juncture. It could only beat its wings again, shifting the best it could while several sword-like feathers stabbed back at the Giant Ape King, and layer upon layer of folds in the void and barriers of origin qi stacked over its back.

With a dull blast and the rank seven bird emperor’s pained cry, its massive body slid through the void amid a storm of flying feathers, widening the gap between itself and the Giant Ape King.

In the end, it failed to evade the Giant Ape King’s strike.

Thankfully, the preparations it made softened the blow by close to 40 percent.

Even so, the Giant Ape King’s innate strength was simply too great. Coupled with its rank six innate ability, even with nearly half the power shaved away, the remainder still truly injured the rank seven bird emperor.

That said, the Giant Ape King looked equally wretched. The feathers the rank seven bird emperor used to counterattack had carved several bone-deep gashes in it. Bright red blood soaked the fur on its body, painting a painful picture.

Yet the blood and pain only further aroused the ferocity deep in the Giant Ape King.

Despite the rank seven bird emperor’s display of power, the Giant Ape King felt no fear at all. He howled with rage, challenging the rank seven bird emperor as it chased in the direction the bird emperor was fleeing.

A rank six beast king hunting down a rank seven bird emperor... As absurd as it sounded, it was happening right before everyone’s eyes.

The rank seven bird emperor had already been pushed to fury. It spun around at extreme speed in the void and no longer intended to break the battle formation. Through its ferocious instincts, it decided to crush the impudent clown at its heels.

In the brief moment it took to turn around, invisible chains from every direction in the void fell upon the rank seven bird emperor, restraining its movement and increasing the rate at which it was consuming its origin qi. It was as if the universe itself had turned against the bird emperor in ways it couldn’t grasp.

“Despicable!” The rank seven bird emperor’s wingbeats raised even more terrifying void winds, attempting to slice apart the invisible chains around it, to carve out a relatively free space so it could gather its strength again.

However, the Giant Ape King clearly would not grant it that chance. Closing in, it thrust the stone rod in an upward sweep to tangle and disrupt the rank seven bird emperor’s wind-blades.

It was a shame the Giant Ape King was fighting a true beast emperor. The wind blades continued to slash at the Giant Ape King, and along with it were streaks of lightning.

At the same time, the rank seven bird emperor did not use the opportunity to open the distance between them. Instead, it beat its wings and charged straight at the Giant Ape King, intent on fighting in close quarters.

The Giant Ape King was startled but not flustered. Even though it was fierce, it wasn’t stupid. Facing the wind and lightning, it continued to swing the stone rod, destroying most of the opponent’s offensive power.

Meanwhile, it stamped nine times in rapid succession. Each step contained profound meaning as starlight gathered beneath its feet. With each step it closed the distance with the bird emperor, with exquisite precision, avoiding the remnant energy contained in the wind and lightning assault.

Big Dipper Star Shift Steps!

It was the profound movement art that the Giant Ape King comprehended from the void imprints Shang Xia had left behind, and its very first use produced unexpected results.

Even the rank seven bird emperor could not completely lock onto the Giant Ape King’s aura. Despite the distance between them shrinking so rapidly that the Giant Apee King was practically standing face to face with it, the bird emperor still felt its presence hazy!

A loud, piercing cry emerged from the rank seven bird emperor’s beak. Golden flames ignited out of thin air in the void around it, scorching everything around.

The flames quickly came under the suppression of the battle formation, although they could not be extinguished immediately.

For the Giant Ape King, however, the suppression was enough. It was enough to wade straight through the dim star fire with its tough body. Even with its fur singed and the flesh around its wounds seared away, it gripped the stone rod tight. With its muscles swelling, it swung another solid blow into the rank seven bird emperor.

Yet amid the renewed flurry of feathers, the Giant Ape King did not hear any pitiful screech. Only a razor-edge killing intent descended from above.

Jerking its head up, it saw a gigantic beak, like a barbed hook, flying straight for its brow.

At the critical instant, the Giant Ape King stomped in the void once again. Unleashing the Big Dipper Star Shift Steps, it slipped past the rank seven bird emperor’s beak by the narrowest margin.

But the torn void by that beak still carved a long gash across the Giant Ape King’s shoulder.

In such a state, the Giant Ape King only grew more ferocious.

It understood clearly that it was almost its only chance to advance to the seventh rank.

Once it missed it, it might not possess a second chance, nor the ability to become the Giant Ape Emperor.

As for breaking the shackles of its bloodline and cultivation by brute force... That path had already been cut off after the Spirit Frost World merged into the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field.

“If I don’t succeed, I can only die!” The Giant Ape King knew exactly what it had to do and how to do it.

Before starting the great battle, on the journey after leaving the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, it had already thought it through.

Facing the ferocious Giant Ape King, the bird emperor struck first.

When the Giant Ape King dodged its beak earlier, a gigantic talon capable of shredding metal clawed over.

Before the talon even arrived, the power it contained had already confined the void around its body. Even the starlight condensed beneath its feet by the Big Dipper Star Shift Steps dimmed.

Once seized by the talon, the Giant Ape King could almost picture its flesh flowing out through the gaps.

At the brink of life and death, the Giant Ape King had no choice but to raise the stone rod horizontally before its chest to forcibly block the talon. The price was for the weapon Shang Xia had given it not too long ago to be torn from its grasp.

But at that moment, the Giant Ape King showed no regret. On the contrary, it let out an excited roar and charged forward even faster in the direction the talon was starting to pull away.