Just as everyone was focused on the battle going on, giving their all to win, a resounding explosion echoed near the area where Yueshi was fighting against a skinny and blade-wielding ape.
The explosion made a curtain of snow rise; however, one could still see the shadow of a tall and bulky figure in the middle of it a figure that proudly dwarfed all other apes.
When the snow quieted down once more, everyone opened their eyes wide, and even the Ape King stopped fighting for a moment.
That tall figure belonged to another gorilla-like ape, with soft white fur that seemed to glean under the rays of sunshine. The beast's cold eyes were of a pale-blue color, resembling two devil fires.
However, that was not the most important thing. What truly astounded everyone was that this one did not seem any weaker than the Frostbite Ape King!
No, in truth, the pressure it released seemed to be even stronger, indicating it had long broken through the fifth stage.
'It should be at the early or middle-phase of the sixth stage…' From where Yueshi stood he analyzed it with a wary gaze.
"That is a Frostbite Ape Queen!" Suddenly, Bai Yuanming shouted, making everyone worried.
Queen and King, such titles were not merely attached to a beast's name because they ruled the others from their race.
First and foremost, all queens and kings of the demon beast races had a purer bloodline than their kin - that was also why they were accepted as rulers by the others.
Thanks to that, they were also a few times more powerful than others of their race, being absolutely unmatched on the same stage.
That was why, despite having better gear, Yu Hai and You Ping were struggling against the Ape King.
They had prepared many talismans and one-time-use items to deal with it, if not for that, they'd hardly be able to put on a fight against it.
Yet, now, another, even stronger beast, showed up. And there was no way it would let them go!
"Leave her to me!" While everyone was wondering what to do now, Yueshi shouted, surprising them.
They knew he was a young genius, however, this was no joke – the Frostbite Ape Queen was a few stages stronger than him.
"Do you think I would joke at a moment like this?" He asked, without taking his eyes away from the Queen.
There was no way he was this sort of person. If he did not have any confidence in fighting against it, he would not foolishly challenge it.
However, he was in the late-phase of the fourth stage; his martial arts were at the first realm of the spear arts, almost reaching the second realm, and, finally, he had the Ancient Dragon Seal as his trump card.
He was sure that if he erupted with everything he had, he would be able to deal with it. However, he did not wish to do so, since that would cause a lot of harm to his body.
"I will help, then." Just as the others were going to tell him to not do it, despite understanding he would not joke at such a moment, another person spoke up.
Yuan Yue's tone was merry as she approached while avoiding all the Frostbite Apes as if gliding amongst them.
The others wanted to say something, however, they held back.
Yueshi and Yuan Yue were friendly and they had become friends with two quite fast, but they also knew that the two were as stubborn as mules.
What they could do right now was deal with their battles as soon as possible, and then go to help.
"I don't know why you are so confident, but do your best!" Then, Yu Hai finally spoke. "We will deal with this guy as fast as we can and then go help you!" After saying so, he spoke no more and lunged toward the Ape King.
And while all that happened seemed to take a few minutes to conclude, it hadn't even been a full minute since the Ape Queen showed up.
With things 'settled' at a fast pace, everyone started to slaughter at an even faster rate, so desperate that they seemed to become berserk too.
Yueshi then looked at Yuan Yue, and, as their gazes interlocked, she smiled at him. He could only shake his head with a slight smile on his face.
She was amazing, in more ways than one… Alas, he did not have the time to think about that right now.
"Then, shall we play?" He gripped his spear firmly. 'A game of blood and carnage, that is.'
As his now sharp eyes looked toward the Ape Queen, she looked back at him. They stared at each other for a single moment, before Yueshi seemed to disappear – moving forward with such speed that only an afterimage was left.
Yuan Yue was not one to lose, and while she could not cooperate with Yueshi as well as the two older men cooperated among themselves, they had fairly good synchrony.
'Maybe it is because we did it?' She wondered, blushing. Then, shaking her head, she focused on the matter at hand.
Obviously, the Frostbite Ape Queen would not stay idle seeing they trying to kill her – and even if they weren't trying she would still not let them go.
Charging forward the queen looked like a moving mountain, one that moved at an unbelievable fast speed.
'Man and spear as one! One point of extremity carves an everlasting path to heavens!' Yueshi's spear marched forward as if shattering space apart – reaching the Ape Queen in an instant.
However, as the spear came into contact with the beast's fur, it was as if it was facing the hardest material in the world – it could not penetrate even a millimeter in before being stopped on its track.
Yueshi was astounded by it. Sure, he hadn't gone all out, but even the force that should have struck against its internal organs seemed to have been dispelled somehow.
Nonetheless, while his attack was ineffective, it managed to decrease the speed behind the beast's charge and its power, forcing it to come to a halt. However, that did not solve things.
The Queen punched toward Yueshi with its thick and bulky arms, and even the air in her fists' trajectory was frozen solid.
Fortunately, Yueshi was not alone. Just as he put his spear in front of him to defend, and the attack was going to connect, a golden, ethereal palm appeared out of nowhere, slapping the ape's body.
The force behind it was so brutal that even the big Frostbite Ape Queen was sent tumbling a few steps.
That was the advantage of an offensive Cultivation Technique. If compared with Yueshi's first spear move, Yuan Yue's Golden Vajra Palm was even stronger.
"Why don't you thank this big sister for saving you~" Even in this situation, her mood was pleasant. However, it was not as if she was not serious, instead, she knew that being overly worried was of no use.
"Hmph, I didn't even show all I've got yet." For some motive, he did not want to be on the weak side, not in front of her – though he was not even sure of what that meant.
Naturally, the Ape Queen would not give him time to think about that. Having been thrown back, its anger became even more evident. As it roared toward the sky, with its sharp fangs showing up, it prepared to make a move too.
A second later, the world seemed to shake as all the falling snow started to encircle it. Mid-air, the snowflakes did not change shape but, still, seemed to glow with a keen and deadly light.
It was as if they had been turned into sharp blades prepared to feast on the blood of the opponent; and as tens of thousands of them came together, it was like a whirlwind was forming with the Ape Queen at its center.
'Man and spear as one! One point of extremity destroys the firmament of heavens!' Yueshi did stay idle and, as his heart resonated with those words, his spear thrust forward, leaving an azure trail where it passed.
The first spear move carves a path forward, while the second spear move was meant for a single thing – destruction.
Yuan Yue smirked seeing him advance. Then, she cracked her knuckles. Her martial arts may be on the losing end if compared with Yueshi's and Tian Tian's, but she was also a genius.
Focusing, she ignored the way her hair annoyingly flew behind her because of the wind. Soon, a golden buddha statue seemed to take shape behind her, glowing with endless might and light.
While the image was faint, it was enough to make anyone feel suppressed by it.
"Golden Vajra Palm, one palm suppresses the conflicts of the world!" Yes, she may lose to the likes of Yueshi and Tian Tian - in martial arts. But she was also a genius, a combat genius.
After seeing Xuehua's cultivation technique, and spending an entire month focused on training, she had created a derivate move from the original Golden Vajra Palm.
Despite it being just a derivate move from a low-level technique, it was still something only geniuses could do.
Immediately after her words echoed, a giant, golden palm formed in the sky, just above the whirlwind of snow created by the Ape Queen.
The palm stood there motionless, but the scariest thing was that it seemed to suppress heavens and earth, throwing the energy in the atmosphere in disarray. As the palm descended, the whirlwind became far slower.
The mercenary group was shocked by the outburst of power from the two youngsters.
Until now they had been thinking they were merely at the third stage since that was the minimum requirement. However, with how much pressure they were releasing, it became obvious they were wrong.
It is hard to determine someone's power while they are not fighting, and that was the motive of the misunderstanding.
Moreover, since the minimum requirement was the third stage, they thought that those at the fourth would not bother with the task.
Leaving that aside, they couldn't be happier right now, and it was as if their hearts had been freed from worries. They knew victory wasn't in their grasp, but now they had greater hope of winning.
However, while they were excited, Yueshi and Yuan Yue were serious like never before.
Even with Yuan Yue giving her all to suppress it, the snow whirlwind was still dangerous and strong; after all, the Ape Queen was two stages above her.
Not that such a thing changed what they had to do.
As Yueshi marched forward, leaving afterimages behind, his spear soon came into contact with the snow surrounding the demon beast.
He could feel an intense repulsive force acting against him as if trying to fling him far away, however, he was not that weak that he'd just be knocked back without putting a fight.
Gripping his spear firmly, he focused on it with all his heart and mind, cycling his qi and erupting with enormous power – his spear forcing its way inside.
As the spear moved deeper in the chaotic whirlwind, it tore air and snowflakes apart, creating a hole in the wall of wind.
Still, moving deeper was hard and Yueshi's arms constantly trembled; moreover, from time to time snowflakes would graze him, leaving cuts all over his body.
Some were shallow and bleed only a bit, while others were a bit deeper and caused blood to soak his white robe. Still, it wasn't something he could not deal with.
Still, he was thankful this was a wide-area attack. If all those blade-like snowflakes surged toward him like a torrent of swords… them he would have been sliced into thousands of pieces.
Suddenly, his spear stopped facing any resistance and he moved forward unimpeded. The eye, the central region, of a hurricane is always the most peaceful area, and Yueshi now saw it with his own eyes.
In the middle of the raging whirlwind, there was a space without any wind.
Only the Frostbite Ape Queen was there, gazing at him with murderous eyes as her two, powerful hands thumped on her chest.
The real battle was going to start!