With a loud shout, fiery feathers shot out with a roar, striking down the charging Long-Armed Apes and breaking their momentum.

After everyone had recovered their spiritual power, they also joined the fight. It took a full half-hour before all the Long-Armed Apes in the canyon were finally slain!

“Whew!” Wang Hao let out a long breath after his first satisfying battle and ordered, “You all go collect the Long-Armed Ape corpses. I’ll go keep watch over there!”

Everyone nodded repeatedly. By now, Wang Hao’s methods had successfully won their genuine respect. Previously, they might have followed his orders because of his status as team leader, but now they did so willingly!

Wang Hao observed the map and noticed that the Long-Armed Apes appearing on the revealed map were all converging towards the peak of Mount Ruojun. It seemed the leader of the Long-Armed Apes had also detected something amiss. If they proceeded further to hunt, they would likely walk into an ambush. Therefore, he ordered everyone to pack up and return to the camp at the mountain’s base.

Upon returning to camp, Wang Hao found that several other teams had also started coming back. Inquiries confirmed that the Long-Armed Apes had indeed become vigilant. The Monkey King had summoned its tribe to gather at the mountain peak; a direct assault was now the only option.

Qi Refining cultivators needed to recover their Qi and physical fatigue after a day of intense fighting. Thus, it wasn’t until the next day that Wang Guang’an gave the order to attack.

However, as both sides arrayed their forces, Wang Guang’an’s expression turned grim. The intelligence was wrong. It turned out there were actually five Tier 2 Long-Armed Apes among the tribe: one high Tier 2, two mid Tier 2, and two low Tier 2.

“Senior Wang, I can help hold off one mid Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape. The rest will be up to you to handle!” Li Yaozu said slowly. His cultivation level was sufficient to deal with a mid Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape; even if he couldn’t kill it, he could hold it off. However, his Li family’s Qi Refining cultivators would absolutely not risk confronting a Tier 2 demonic beast.

The Wang family only had three Foundation Establishment cultivators. Wang Guang’an was a decisive man. After giving instructions to several senior elders, those elders gathered together with ashen faces. They had to be prepared to sacrifice for the family. They were experienced in combat but had no hope for their own Dao paths, making them the ideal candidates for such dangerous tasks.

Wang Hao and the others would have to face the vast numbers of the Long-Armed Ape tribe.

In truth, with Wang Hao’s strength and a few peak Qi Refining cultivators, they could also undertake the task of holding off a Tier 2 demon monkey. But this wasn’t a group versus a single enemy; it was group versus group. They had helpers, and so did the Long-Armed Apes. This was far more dangerous than helping Chu He that time.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The battle escalated into a fierce melee from the very start. The Wang family members wanted to end it quickly to minimize casualties, while the Long-Armed Apes fought back in desperation.

The entire Mount Ruojun was left in disarray, pockmarked with deep craters from spell impacts, and blood stained the earth red.

Powerful individuals like Wang Hao, who could kill a demon monkey in just a few strikes, were ultimately few. Most clansmen were either locked in stalemates or at a disadvantage against the Long-Armed Apes.

The situation wasn’t optimistic for the several Foundation Establishment cultivators either. Old Patriarch Wang Guang’an had just recovered and wasn’t strong in combat to begin with; he could only delay against the Long-Armed Ape leader. Li Yaozu didn’t want to risk his life for the Wang family and was also merely delaying. The only ones with an advantage were Wang Yanzhao and Wang Longyou, but even they would need considerable time to kill their opponents.

If things continued this way, the Wang family might still win, but it would be a pyrrhic victory with significant clan losses.

“Ah!”

“Grandfather!” Wang Wenmei cried out in alarm. Following her gaze, Wang Hao saw that one of the elders fighting a Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape had already fallen to the ground. His pale face suggested his chances were slim.

Wang Wenmei’s eyes reddened as she tried to rush over. Wang Hao quickly stopped her. “I’ll go help! Don’t act recklessly!”

Wang Wenmei was only at the sixth layer of Qi Refining; going over would be suicide. Since she always called him ‘Brother’ so affectionately, Wang Hao couldn’t bear to see her take such a risk.

Wang Hao erupted with power, slaying two Tier 1 Long-Armed Apes before him with his sword, then rushed to support the elders.

Seeing their white hair and beards, their aged faces still fighting desperately for the family, Wang Hao once again felt the harsh cruelty of immortal cultivation. He condensed twin fire dragons in his hands and launched them at the Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape.

With Wang Hao joining as fresh reinforcement, the elders found it somewhat easier. But their vitality had long since declined; such high-intensity combat likely meant they didn’t have many days left to live anyway.

The Three Transformations of Essence Fire was highly effective against Tier 1 Long-Armed Apes but proved insufficient against the physically robust Tier 2 ones. Several spells only managed to scrape its skin.

Several elders seized the chance to summon their magical instruments. However, several top-grade Tier 1 magical instruments merely pierced small openings in the demon monkey’s skin without even tearing into its muscle. One elder’s instrument even struck the Long-Armed Ape with a metallic clang, sending sparks flying.

Seeing this scene, many clansmen couldn’t help but show looks of terror.

“This demonic beast’s body is like tempered steel! Even Top-Grade magical instruments can’t harm it!”

Seeing everyone stunned while the Long-Armed Ape charged forward, Wang Hao hurriedly shouted, “Watch out!”

At this critical moment, one elder summoned a Low-Grade spiritual artifact and shouted loudly, “I’ll block it! Everyone get behind me!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a massive illusory shield materialized in front of everyone.

The Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape pounced fiercely, crashing hard into the illusion.

A deafening Clang! resonated as the collision occurred instantly. The shield illusion shattered; the elder was sent flying backward and landed spitting several mouthfuls of blood before collapsing weakly—clearly out of commission.

The Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape didn’t fare well either; it was thrown back by the immense force. No matter how strong its fleshly body was, it was limited; it couldn’t compare to magical instruments of its tier forged through countless hammerings in refining furnaces.

Judging by its grimacing expression showing teeth, it was clearly suffering internal injuries from the impact.

“Now’s our chance!”

Wang Hao shouted, summoning the Earth Turbidity Seal and hurling it towards the Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape while simultaneously tensing his muscles, exerting full strength as he wielded the Gale Sword aimed straight for its throat.

For a same-tier beast, the Earth Turbidity Seal’s suppression force already made resisting difficult, let alone dealing with Wang Hao’s follow-up attack. However, ultimately being a Tier 2 demonic beast, at the critical moment, it extended its long arms attempting to deflect Wang Hao’s attack. But Wang Hao had trained his body for many years and was unafraid of facing a weakened opponent. He sidestepped, forcefully bumping aside its arms, and found an angle to thrust his sword towards its throat.

The Gale Sword pierced the skin of the Tier 2 demon monkey. Unfortunately, ultimately being a Tier 1 Top-Grade flying sword, it failed to penetrate deeply.

Suffering such a severe injury, the Tier 2 Long-Armed Ape shrieked, finally showing a hint of fear. It turned and fled towards the distance.

“Can’t let it escape!” Seeing this scene, everyone’s pupils contracted; they couldn’t help wanting to pursue.

“I’ll chase it! You block the other Tier 1 Long-Armed Apes!” Wang Hao shouted loudly, confident in dealing with a severely wounded Tier 2 Low-Grade Long-Armed Ape.

“Eighth Uncle, help!” Wang Yanfeng emerged from the crowd. Currently having reached the eighth layer of Qi Refining, he was not old and was considered a high combat strength among the Wang clan members.