Ch. 68 - Black-Gold Ape

“I’m certain that green copper came from the Heartlands.” The shameless Daoist paused for a moment, then continued, “Back then, the whole affair caused an uproar. The most widely accepted version is that the Demon Emperor stole the Eastern Wilderness’s supreme treasure, the Desolate Tower, to use it as a burial artifact when his time came. The Tower did disappear during that period, so everyone believed he was the thief. But there’s also a lesser-known version: the Tower wasn’t stolen by the Demon Emperor. Though he was indeed searching for something to accompany him in death, what he took was actually a mysterious artifact from the Heartlands. The green copper is incredibly enigmatic and almost unknown in the Eastern Wilderness. Even those who’ve heard of it understand very little.”

“You’re basing your theory just on that?” Ye Fan asked, a little skeptical.

“The Desolate Tower didn’t show up in the Demon Emperor’s tomb, which disproves the first legend. That’s when I started thinking about the green copper.” At this point, the Daoist slapped himself. “A lifetime of treasure hunting, and I got fooled by that damned green copper. I let it slip right through my fingers!”

“What made you realize something was off?”

“Because it was too ordinary, unnaturally so. Not a single flaw. No matter what method I used, I couldn’t sense anything. And that, in hindsight, was the biggest red flag. Even the most mundane scrap of copper wouldn’t be that convincingly ordinary…”

Ye Fan deliberately sighed and said, “Who could’ve guessed I was so transcendent? Just a flick of my hand, and I tossed aside a treasure on par with the Desolate Tower like trash. Pity no one saw it, surely, I must’ve looked like a god descending to earth, peerless and beyond time itself.”

“You’re really trying to piss me off, aren’t you? You little punk!” The Daoist looked like his nose might explode from rage.

Though Ye Fan found the Daoist shameless, he didn’t think he was truly evil. So he wasn’t too afraid of him. “Calm down, Daoist. Right now, the most important thing is figuring out how to retrieve that green copper. Maybe the Desolate Tower is in the Yin Tomb too. It’s possible you didn’t miss out on a treasure, in fact, you might get two.”

“The Desolate Tower isn’t in the Yin Palace!” he said, but still released Ye Fan, deep in thought over what to do next.

“Screw it. I’ll give it one more shot!” The Daoist walked toward the black pool again, unable to let go of the green copper.

Boom!

Suddenly, a massive whirlpool formed in the icy black water. A ferocious beast rose from the depths, floating ominously. Its entire body was pitch black, as though forged from black-gold metal, emanating a strange and sinister aura.

It had a bizarre form, three heads: the middle one resembled a humanoid ape, while the left and right were that of a bird and a serpent, respectively. Its body was like a black-gold “nether horse,” covered in thick black scales that gleamed like polished metal. It looked incredibly strong and deadly.

The beast was over ten meters long and roared as it emerged from the water. Its low, guttural growl shook the very air. Ye Fan felt his soul begin to tremble, as if it might drift out of his body.

“Steady your spirit!” the Daoist shouted. “I can’t believe this thing actually exists. It resides only in the most extreme Yin locations of the world. Its roar can shatter souls. This is a terrifying beast, known as the Black-Gold Ape…”

Though the creature had three heads, only the central ape head was intelligent. The bird and snake heads could wield powerful magical abilities but lacked consciousness. The ape head commanded them, hence the name Black-Gold Ape.

There were also legends that if the bird and snake heads ever awakened and gained intellect, the creature would become unspeakably powerful. Unless a supreme cultivator intervened, no one would be able to kill it. Its magical prowess would become overwhelming.

Ye Fan took the words to heart and focused his spirit. Wrapped in the Daoist’s radiating light, his soul stabilized and no longer felt like it would drift away.

Boom!

The Black-Gold Ape lunged from the black water, sending massive waves and icy mist surging toward them.

Zzzt!

The Daoist reacted quickly, drawing a circle with one hand. A wave of green light burst out like fireworks, creating a dazzling veil around them. The freezing mist and dark water were all blocked outside. Then, he drew a large “封” (Seal) character in the air.

“Suppress!”

The Daoist gave a low shout. The glowing character burst into brilliance like it was carved from jade, solid and radiant, and flew straight ahead.

Bang!

It struck the Black-Gold Ape’s body directly. “Ssssshhhhh”, black mist hissed and rose from the ape as the glyph tried to melt into its metallic hide.

Roar…!

The Black-Gold Ape jerked violently, and its two hanging heads slowly lifted. The bird head spat out a bolt of searing lightning. The serpent head flicked its tongue and breathed a stream of black flame. The very void seemed to burn.

“Absolute Yin-Lightning Hell-Fire!” the Daoist exclaimed. He pulled Ye Fan back a few paces and spat out a blood-red shield. It shimmered and expanded into a four- to five-meter-high barrier in front of them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lightning danced. Black flames surged. They slammed into the crimson shield, which glowed with waves of shimmering red light.

“This Black-Gold Ape isn’t simple,” the Daoist said grimly. “It looks like the bird and snake heads once had intelligence, but were injured and lost it. If all three heads were conscious, even powerful cultivators would have no choice but to flee.”

“Good thing two of the heads are compromised…” he muttered. The ape’s assault shook the shield like a ruby struck by hammers, but it held.

“Sever!”

The Daoist unleashed a brilliant beam from his Bitter Sea, like a radiant full moon, hurtling toward the ape.

Bang!

The ape’s central head fired two golden beams from its eyes, clashing with the moon-like disk. Both forces trembled.

The Daoist looked startled. “All three heads have heavy scars, clearly it once awakened full consciousness in each. If we’d met it back then, I would’ve had to run for my life.”

Now, with its two outer heads damaged and the central one also wounded, the ape couldn’t regain its full former power. The Daoist slowly began to suppress it.

Boom!

But just as he tried to subdue it, the Black-Gold Ape exploded with radiant black-gold light. It broke free and plunged back into the black pool.

“That thing is terrifying. If it ever fully recovers, few will be able to subdue it,” the Daoist said solemnly.

Suddenly, the bottomless pool surged violently. Something even stronger than the ape seemed to be rising. Waves raged, and thick black mist surged in all directions.

The freezing fog cracked the very stone of the mountain. Rocks touched by it crumbled to dust.

“Didn’t you say the Yin Tomb was hidden and wouldn’t surface? What’s happening now?”

“I… might’ve done something just now that stirred up trouble.”

“What did you do?”

“I saw a broken stone stele about three thousand meters down, carved with the words ‘Nether Pool.’ I pulled it out and tossed it deeper into the abyss. I think it might’ve landed on the Demon Emperor’s Yin Tomb.”

“You didn’t smash it onto his tomb, did you?”

“How was I supposed to know that’s what was down there?!”

Splash!

Suddenly, waves erupted from the pool. A squad of undead soldiers in black-iron armor emerged, wielding pitch-black shadow blades. They radiated an aura of death.

“What the…” Ye Fan gasped in horror.

The Daoist was also stunned. He grabbed Ye Fan and backed away. “What the hell is this? Is there a guardian of the Yin Tomb? What are these creatures?!”

Waves churned again as broken ancient war chariots rose from the water, carrying battalions of these shadow soldiers. Their bodies were fully armored in tungsten-black iron, and they gripped black blades and ghostly spears.

Comments