As Zhao Yunxiao Two continued to speed through the forest, he stealthily flicked a rock at a nearby tree as he passed.
A huge wooden pike shot out from among the trees immediately after, heading straight for the ape demon that was following right behind him.
Bang-!
With a two handed overhead smash, the ape demon sent the wooden spike straight down into the ground.
"Tch!" Zhao Yunxiao clicked his tongue in irritation upon sensing this.
This was already the fourth trap that had failed to stop the ape demon.
Then again, it was not exactly a surprising result.
These traps were meant for the monkey monsters, so it was probably to be expected that the ape demon would not be stopped by them.
Zhao Yunxiao only regretted the fact that the traps were not able to delay the ape demon for just a little longer.
After all, even he might not have been able to outrun the ape demon. Since he still did not have complete mastery over his clone, it was even more difficult for Zhao Yunxiao Two to do so.
If he were to run in a one-dimensional manner, the ape demon would catch him in no time at all.
Therefore, he could only try to rely on all the external help he could get.
For that reason, Zhao Yunxiao Two had deliberately run through the various traps that the party had set up around the forest last night, hoping that the activation of these traps would help him in his escape.
It did seem to be working so far since the ape demon had yet to fully close the gap, but the gap was definitely getting smaller as time passed.
Who knew how much longer he could maintain the distance?
"Is everything all right?" Chu Han asked after hearing Zhao Yunxiao click his tongue. "You are sweating a lot."
Indeed, Zhao Yunxiao had started sweating buckets since he started using the Earthen Clone Technique.
While he had done his fair share of practice, it was still extremely tedious to split his consciousness into two, effectively controlling his clone while also moving around himself.
"I am fine for now," Zhao Yunxiao assured. "Let's get this over and done with."
"Well said! Let's get this over and done with, indeed!" Mo Mian agreed. "I will distract him for you, Junior Martial Brother Pu!"
"Understood!" Pu Feixiang nodded.
As Mo Mian continued inflicting small wounds on the monkey demon, Pu Feixiang stopped attacking.
Instead, he started to gather all of his essence energy in his arm.
"Don't miss!" Gui Longcan waved his treasure fan repeatedly, sending lights of different colours towards Pu Feixiang.
With each ray of light that entered Pu Feixiang's body, he became stronger than before.
Increased strength.
Increased speed.
Increased focus.
Decreased presence.
All sorts of buffs fell upon Pu Feixiang, getting him ready for his next attack.
"Suppress!" Chu Han pointed his eight-trigram mirror towards the monkey demon as well.
An immense pressure fell upon the monkey demon, creating a secondary layer of suppression on top of the Terra Seal Formation.
This slowed the monkey demon down even further, preparing it for the impending strike.
Snarl-!
As though sensing that the end was near, the monkey demon let out a cry of rage.
Its muscles bulged even further and its eyes turned deep red, as though a fire had been lit in its eyes.
"Brace yourselves, it is burning its blood essence!" Chu Han cautioned.
"Damn, it has pretty sharp instincts!" Gui Longcan cursed.
Upon reaching the Essence Physique realm, cultivators gained the ability to burn their blood essence as fuel, temporarily boosting their abilities beyond their original limits.
When used well, this was a method that could allow them to turn the tide and defeat opponents far stronger than themselves.
However, while it might sound like a great way to gain an advantage in battle, there were serious consequences that accompanied the benefits.
One's blood essence was directly tied to their vitality.
By burning their blood essence, it would naturally have potentially long lasting and detrimental effects on their vitality.
A reduction in lifespan was common, while a lower potential in terms of cultivation was not out of the question either.
If done in an overboard manner, it might even result in death!
That was why cultivators rarely resorted to this method unless they were pushed to a corner.
And just like cultivators, spirit beasts and monsters that had reached a similar level would be able to do the same.
With the monkey demon burning its blood essence, its abilities would surely reach a whole other level!
Indeed, the monkey demon's aura erupted in the very next moment.
It directly swept over the party members, imposing a heavy mental pressure on them that aimed to intimidate them into escaping.
Had they not been prepared for it, the party might have been sent into a temporary state of disarray.
"That's not enough!" Mo Mian appeared in front of the monkey demon and slashed out with his Jadewind Sword, no longer seeking to strike it from the sides this time.
Snarl-!
Both enraged and empowered, the monkey demon leapt forward to receive his slash head on, baring its fangs and swiping out with its claws.
Clank-!
A loud collision reverberated across the forest as the two sides clashed.
Unfortunately, Mo Mian was the one who got sent flying with this exchange.
Despite the various seals layered upon it, Mo Mian was still not a match for the empowered monkey demon when it came to a head on collision!
But then again, that was something within their expectations.
Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!
Right as the monkey demon struck Mo Mian's Jadewind Sword, three daggers flew in from the shadows to pierce it on the shoulders.
Both the timing and angle of these daggers were impeccable, leaving the monkey demon no chance whatsoever to put up any sort of defence against this sneak attack by Zhao Yunxiao.
Much of the impact was mitigated by the thick hair, but the daggers still managed to reach deep enough to draw blood.
And that was not all.
Boom-!
The three daggers exploded upon impact, dousing the monkey demon in a cloud of flames.
Snarl-!
The monkey demon staggered back in shock.
But the attacks did not let up with just that.
While the monkey demon was still trying to recover from the shock of the explosion, a spear was already headed straight for it.
"Tundra Former!" Pu Feixiang shouted the name of his technique as he thrust his weapon forward.
A layer of frost could be seen forming along the trajectory of the spear as it pierced through the air, as though the sheer aura of the technique was enough to freeze even the air itself.
This aura of frost gathered upon the spearhead, turning it a pristine blue that looked deceptively harmless and serene.
However, anyone could tell that the power contained within was anything but that.
When the monkey demon finally recollected itself after suffering from the exploding daggers, all it saw after looking up was Mo Mian in the distance.
With his presence decreased due to Gui Longcan's support buff, Pu Feixiang managed to successfully stay outside of the monkey demon's detection as he closed in rapidly from behind.
This was definitely not the fastest of attacks.
But what it lacked in speed, it made up for with sheer power.
Stab-!
Pu Feixiang's spear pierced right through the thick hair on the monkey demon's neck, burying the spearhead directly in its flesh.
Boom-!
The frost aura contained within the spearhead exploded from the neck wound, instantly creating a layer of ice that encompassed the entirety of the monkey demon's body.
It looked almost as though the monkey demon's body had been transformed into an arctic land that was devoid of anything but ice.
Under the rays of light that managed to pierce through the thick canopy overhead, the monkey demon glittered like the beautiful ice statue that it had now become.
Tundra Former – an ice element spear technique that was capable of turning its target into a helpless sculpture of ice.
Even though he already knew that Pu Feixiang had this up his sleeves, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel impressed upon seeing this being executed live before his eyes.
It must be nice to master a technique as impressive as that...
And this was only what they were seeing on the surface.
With the tip of the spearhead buried within the monkey demon's flesh, one could only imagine the sheer devastation that this frost aura was causing in its body right now!
Yet the party was still not done.
Things might look good for them right now, but there were plenty of monsters that could survive being temporarily frozen.
In fact, the ice casing around the monkey demon immediately began to show signs of cracking, a testament to how the monkey demon was struggling from within.
Mo Mian quickly shook off the heavy impact from earlier and charged forward at this point, concentrating all of his essence energy into his Jadewind Sword.
Wind gathered around not only Mo Mian himself, but also around the blade.
It was as though the wind was acting as a medium that connected him with his blade, turning them into a single entity sharp enough to cut through anything in its path.
Next came an all out strike by the inner disciple, one that absolutely disregarded any form of self-defence.
Slash-!
The monkey demon's head flew into the air, but there was not much blood that followed.
After all, Pu Feixiang's Tundra Former had not only frozen the monkey demon on the outside, but from the inside as well.
Blood simply did not flow as well when on the verge of being frozen.
It was only upon seeing this that the serious expressions on the party members' faces finally turned into smiles of relief.
Mission accomplished!
They had finally taken down the monkey demon!
Now, as long as they brought the head of the monkey demon back to Purple Plum Mountain, they would be able to claim the rewards for the sect mission.
Yet in the face of success, all that the party members felt was relief, not joy.
Their approach might have ended up being effective, but it was actually an extremely risky manoeuvre to attempt in the first place.
If not because they were on a timer, they would never have opted for this approach.
After all, had they failed to take down the monkey demon with this move, both Mo Mian and Pu Feixiang could easily have been caught out of position, leaving them vulnerable to a counterattack from the monkey demon.
In fact, Mo Mian could still feel his hands trembling a little from the impact earlier. That showed just how powerful the monkey demon had become after burning its blood essence, even while under the effect of the Terra Seal Formation.
If they were to be caught by the monkey demon in its empowered state, the consequences would have been unimaginable!