Shi Tianhao, Wang Lin and everyone else present was considerably knowledgeable and experienced by then. After sensing the aura coming from the erect metal bar that was seemingly holding up the heavens, they immediately recognized what it was. "The Malleable Holy Metal? So this Monkey seized the Malleable Holy Metal ore mines."
There are currently Six Mystical Metals in the world, but before the Middle Ages, there were seven, the final one being the Malleable Holy Metal. Its shape could be altered with ease, possessing highly confounding qualities, with its most unique trait being that it only had a single ore mine. The amount of reserves there was astronomical, all at prime quality and seemingly infinite.
However, by the Middle Ages, the entire ore mine miraculously disappeared, and the Malleable Holy Metal supposedly vanished from the face of the Grand Celestial World. No one expected that it had actually been seized by this Monkey.
That metal bar of his was crafted entirely from the Malleable Holy Metal, and exhausted all the Malleable Holy Metal reserves in the Grand Celestial World.
The Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage gazed at that metal bar and his expression turned more solemn than ever before. "I've only heard rumours about the Ten Thousand Mantra Ape in the past, but only now have I truly witnessed the sheer power of his Abhijina."
He was already the second-strongest demon of all the Ape Tribes, just one step from completing the Cardinal Tribulations. But after observing the face-off between the Monkey and Lin Feng, the Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage knew that he may not even be able to match the Monkey's strength based on what the Monkey has shown so far even if he exposed his true form.
"Even the Heavenly Grandmaster Grand Sage cannot defeat him. With that in mind, this Monkey would be the strongest demon from the Ape Tribes. Looking at the entire Barren Expanses, the phoenix in the Parasol Tree Forest would probably not be a worthy opponent either. The Heavenly Charms Grand Sage doesn't have good chances of victory either even though I don't know how masterful he's become after achieving the Vipralopa Stage. The Golden Cicada Master can only compare their respective endurance levels in the Alpha Destiny Tribulation. As for the two dragons in the Black Sea, the Earth Dragon King is powerless against him too. I'm afraid only the Origins Dragon King has a fighting chance against the Monkey!"
At this moment, the void split open and the Fengxi Grand Sage rushed out of the crack. He snickered elatedly when he noticed Lin Feng battling the Monkey. "Now do you realize how amazing my Big Senior is? You ... Eh?"
The Fengxi Grand Sage suddenly stopped in his tracks as he watched the Monkey transform into an extremely weird-looking beast. It was not that big, with a body length of around five meters, and looked somewhat like a large dog from afar. It had the antlers of a deer, the head of a camel, ears of a cat, eyes of a shrimp, the mouth of a donkey, the mane of a lion, the neck of a snake, the belly of a sea serpent, scales of a carp, front talons of a raptor, and hind paws of a tiger. It arched and thrusted its hips upwards, maintaining a mighty imposing presence. Its front legs stood straight while its hind legs split and rested on the ground. It let out a deafening roar.
It was an True Hou!
A True Hou is also known as a Wangtianhou. Mixed-blood Wangtianhou are simply called Hou, while pure-blood Wangtianhou are called True Hou, and were originally one of the strongest tribes in the Barren Expanses.
From the dawn of the Modern Age until the War of the Two Worlds 4600 years ago, the Demon World of the Barren Expanses was the kingdom of the Hades Tribe. The Royal Hades Emperor ruled the eight regions of the Demon World. In that period of time, the only great demon that posed an actual challenge to the Royal Hades Emperor's position as the Holy Demonic Emperor was Bolin Wangtian, then Tribe Leader of the True Hou Tribe.
The Bolin Wangtian led the True Hou Tribe to challenge the rule of the Royal Hades Emperor and his Hades Tribe, but ultimately failed in usurping them. Bolin Wangtian was slaughtered by the Royal Hades Emperor while the True Hou Tribe suffered devastating losses and the tribe fell into decline. Today, pure-blood True Hou are exceedingly rare, with mixed-blood Hou being the only common ones. Even True Hou that have achieved the Undying Demon Soul are nearly never seen, much less True Hou at the Vipralopa Stage.
Only the Monkey's transformation spells can create a True Hou at the Vipralopa Stage and revive the former glory of the great extinct tribe that once dominated the Barren Expanses.
The Fengxi Grand Sage was astonished because the Monkey would only transform into a True Hou if his opponent was exceptionally difficult to handle. Even if the Monkey did not reveal his true form or use his holy metal bar, he would still have to unleash his full strength.
The Fengxi Grand Sage could clearly see that Lin Feng was only relying on his own Abhijina to battle the Monkey without deploying any external magic treasures.
The Monkey's True Hou glared at Lin Feng and belted a menacing roar to the skies. The power of a single roar could seemingly send the heavens crashing down and incinerate the entire mortal world.
The void surrounding Lin Feng shattered incessantly as everything around him seemed to revert to a primal state of chaos. Amidst the disarray, countless glowing talisman patterns fluttered around and collectively formed numerous dancing flames.
These flames were not actual fire, not possessing the intense infernal quality of the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires. Instead, they were illusory flames, yet the empty turbulent void around the flames burned to a point where it seemingly materialized into a physical existence.
Lin Feng penetrated and cracked the chaotic void with his Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi. His sword continuously adapted to the tumultuous void, but the illusory flames were incredibly cunning and avoided Lin Feng's blade, then gathered a ferociously burnt yet solidified cloud of Chaotic Gas to counter the Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi, gradually eroding Lin Feng's sword aura.
Upon seeing this, Lin Feng's eyes narrowed and identified the spell's mysterious secrets.
At the beginning of all creation, life was born from nothing. Chaos was unleashed and separated into two factions, then transformed into a raging storm of four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. When the four elements finally settled, the world was born and life blossomed.
However, the chaos burned from these illusory flames seemed completely stiff and dead, unable to be split open and hence unable to helm the creation of life. It seemed to massacre all life right from the beginning, akin to a fetus dying inside the womb.
As the solidified cloud of Chaotic Gas continuously eroded Lin Feng's Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi, it began contracting and compressing towards Lin Feng. Once trapped in the compressed gas, Lin Feng would no longer be able to manipulate his Abhijina, with only his opponent capable of conjuring spells.
A holy glow surged violently in Lin Feng's eyes as he blinked, and both black and white light abruptly exploded from his body, with their intertwining radiance painting the entire sky with mist and clouds, shrouding Lin Feng like a sea of black and white light inundating the universe.
When the dual black and white light came in contact with the God-Sealing Illusory Flame Abhijina summoned by the Monkey's True Hou, it instantly isolated the illusory flames. Endless esoteric talisman runes and patterns overcast the void and morphed into a thick blanket of luminous fog. Amidst the glowing fog, there seemed to be a huge chorus of Buddhas chanting and singing in unison.
Lin Feng summoned his Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi once again. The sword shimmered with holy light that was half-black and half-white, exuding a power capable of fracturing the chaotic void and repelling the illusory flames.
Then, while the sword's glow on his right hand's fingertips danced around, he pointed at the Monkey with his left hand. A faded and blurry ray of Heaven Extreme Universal Light fired towards the Monkey to form a cloak around him.
The Monkey's True Hou performed a forceful somersault in midair and changed his form once again, this time transforming into a strange, entirely crimson dragon with the head of a human and the body of a serpent that stretched over a thousand miles long. When this peculiar dragon opened its eyes, the skies illuminated brilliantly into daylight, and when it closed its eyes, the world descended into the darkness of the night.
The phenomenal power of time diffused and successfully dissolved Lin Feng's Heaven Extreme Universal Light. Upon witnessing this, Lin Feng was not shocked but instead pleasantly surprised. "Good. To be capable of transforming into a Zhujiuyin, he truly is the Ten Thousand Mantra Ape."
The Zhujiuyin, otherwise known as the Candle Dragon or Zhuyin, is a sub-tribe of the Immemorial Celestial Dragons. Darkness descends when one closes its eyes, while light emerges when it opens its eyes. It personifies the cycle of night and day, summoning daylight when it wakes and night when it slumbers, winter when it exhales and summer when it inhales.
However, this tribe has rarely been seen in the Modern Age, not even surfacing in the Black Sea, the breeding ground for all dragon tribes. The Monkey has demonstrated numerous Abhijina from virtually extinct demon tribes, which was truly a feast for Lin Feng's eyes.
Like the White Jade Dragon Tribe, the Candle Dragon Tribe has never produced a dragon at the Vipralopa Stage, and yet one has appeared from the Monkey's transformations.
The Monkey's Candle Dragon wrecked Lin Feng's Heaven Extreme Universal Light then altered his form again, reappearing as a True Hou and conjuring the God-Sealing Illusory Flames Abhijina again to attack Lin Feng.
His ever-changing transformations borrowed the powers from elite Abhijina belonging to the various great Demon Tribes, yet each transformation was completed so seamlessly with ease and without any delay. His mastery of this technique made it seem as if he truly possessed ten thousand mantras in a single body, an awe-inspiring feat.
But after Lin Feng's Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi conjured the Heaven Extreme Universal Light to clear the path, even the Monkey's True Hou could not restrain him.
Ever since Lin Feng returned to the void, the Monkey had the strongest Abhijina among all the opponents he personally crossed swords with. Even without revealing his true form or using his holy metal bar against the combination of the Mount Shu Tiangang Swordmaster and the Celestial Sword, an actual match was the only way to determine the victor between the two.
If this Monkey increased his power further, he might even become the second Emperor of Extremity.
Lin Feng was delightfully indulged in this face-off. This match was not held back by any conflicts of interest or strategic considerations, nor did it have the severity of an entangled feud that demanded a fight to the death. It was merely two people displaying their specialized skills and unleashing their respective Abhijina to determine who was stronger.
"Having a showdown like this once in a while is fun indeed," Lin Feng chuckled as he shook his head. The Monkey's combat abilities were extraordinary, encouraging Lin Feng to summon his own mantras even more freely with less reservations.
The rainbow-colored golden hoops around him shimmered as he activated the Celestial Sect Teleportation Technique, quickly switching from defense to offense and charged all the way to the Monkey!
Even though the Monkey did not employ the Alpha Destiny Tribulation in his attack, he still stared at Lin Feng in shock and exclaimed, "This Abhijina of yours, can it avoid the Alpha Destiny Tribulation?!"
Lin Feng chuckled, "Why not test it out yourself?" With that, he launched a ray of Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi laden with black and white holy light towards the Monkey.
The Monkey laughed out loud as well and replied, "Do you think you're the only one with this trick? Let me teach you a lesson today!"
The Monkey then transformed into a gargantuan ape with a completely snow-white body and blue irises. His pair of azure eyes stared straight at Lin Feng, and with a violent jerk of his massive body, he evaded Lin Feng's Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi.
The entire spectacle seemed extremely unreal to everyone observing the battle. It felt as though this blue-eyed white ape just leapt out of the Greater Worlds and transcended this dimension, being completely free and unrestrained.
As the Crimson Gorilla Grand took in this sight, his face warped into an expression resembling a force smile yet on the brink of crying. "I knew it, I knew it ... the Extreme Spiritual Celestial Blessing! I knew it!"
Besides Lin Feng's Celestial Sect Teleportation Technique, there were other types of Abhijina that emerged throughout the long history of the Grand Celestial World that were capable of evading the Alpha Destiny Tribulation. The only one still being passed down today is the Cheng Heaven Great Void Celestial Light, the final spell of the Great Void Nine Heavenly Spells. All the other mantras has been buried in the sands of time, yet the mantra with the highest possibility of resurfacing in this world belonged to the Immemorial Ape Demons - the Extreme Spiritual Celestial Blessing of the Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey Tribe!
With the demise of the Emperor of Extremity, Shenyuan, the Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey Tribe also suffered devastating losses. Currently, the Tribe Master of the pure-blood Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey Tribe is still the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage at the Second Level of the Undying Demon Soul. If the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage completes the Cardinal Tribulations Beginning Stage in due time, he can revive the mighty Extreme Spiritual Celestial Blessing Abhijina if he undergoes the Alpha Destiny Tribulation without dying.
But now, Lin Feng and everyone else could witness the rebirth of this legendary Abhijina without the Extreme Spiritual Grand Sage.
The blue-eyed, snow-white ape that the Monkey just turned into was already an Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey!