te or so, Xiao Yu released her hand and gestured for her to switch hands. He gently placed his hand on the other wrist, finding that it was similar to the first one—it felt like there wasn’t any flesh...Chapter 535: Li's Troops Arrive

At this moment, Xiao Yu seemed blurred and ethereal in the eyes of that monkey.

"Aaaah......." Sensing something amiss with Xiao Yu, the monkey let out a wild cry and lunged at him.

Xiao Yu had his eyes closed but he could see every move of this monkey very clearly. So when it lunged at him, he sidestepped to avoid it.

Although his speed did not increase much in this state, Xiao Yu's dodging became more agile, and often, just before the monkey was about to attack him, he had already evaded it.

Xiao Yu also found that evading attacks felt easier; sometimes all it took was a slight shift of his feet or turning his body slightly to dodge the monkey’s fierce strikes.

This was the result of Xiao Yu refining every movement in the state of Oneness with Heaven to its most precise form, achieving optimal results with minimal effort.

Actually, Xiao Yu didn’t know that this state he was in had another name: ‘Microscopic Perception’. However, Xiao Yu was just beginning to grasp the essence of it. Often, crossing into this realm is one of the hardest hurdles martial artists face when achieving Microscopic Perception.

In modern times, Xiao Yu wasn't sure if there were still such existences, but even in ancient times, when天地元氣 (heavenly and earthly primordial energy) was abundant, only one out of a thousand martial artists could cross this threshold.

Back then, martial artists practiced ancient martial arts which focused on the external world. Now they practice internal energy cultivation focusing on themselves. The former’s understanding of nature far surpasses that of the latter.

In such circumstances, it was already hard for those practicing ancient martial arts to enter a state of Microscopic Perception; how much harder would it be for present-day internal energy cultivators who had no perception of nature

Though Xiao Yu could see clearly and dodge effortlessly, the monkey seemed tireless and showed no signs of slowing down. This left Xiao Yu with no choice but to evade passively; even when he retaliated occasionally, it was all dodged by the monkey.

"This can't go on!" Seeing this situation, Xiao Yu thought inwardly.

Although his small movements didn’t make him feel tired, Zhang Dahai and others couldn’t wait any longer. Xiao Yu had sealed their heart meridians for one night already, and now the poison from the miasma was at risk of breaking through the barricade set by the golden needles.

With this thought in mind, Xiao Yu’s movements suddenly changed; his entire body moved like a monkey's, jumping around.

As Xiao Yu's figure moved, the gusts of wind he generated sounded like the cries of apes, exuding a mighty aura of battle.

'Wu Qin Xi’s Ape Form' When Xiao Yu saw that he could only dodge and not retaliate against this ape, he decided to fight fire with fire. Therefore, his figure suddenly transformed into Wu Qin Xi's Ape Form.

Upon seeing Xiao Yu's change in form, the ape was also momentarily stunned because, from its perspective, the person before it was no longer an outsider but a kindred spirit. This kin was now challenging it.

It should be noted that although this ape had been domesticated by humans to become a guardian spirit beast for their tribe, deep in its heart, there still remained an intrinsic ape nature. At the moment, seeing another male ape bellowing at it while exuding such a strong aura of wariness, this was a clear provocation.

In their world, such a scenario signified a challenge to its status, making it feel threatened and thus, it roared fiercely before charging towards Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu's form moved like an ape as he engaged in combat with the beast. However, while the ape’s weapon was its sharp claws, Xiao Yu had his misty dagger.

At this moment, the ape seemed to have gone berserk from being provoked by Xiao Yu, ignoring completely the sinister aura emanating from Xiao Yu's knife and even seemingly using it to unleash the ferocity it kept hidden inside itself.

The ape roared intermittently, making its movements faster. It grappled with Xiao Yu tenaciously.

Initially, Xiao Yu thought that his Ape Form had captured the essence of Wu Qin Xi. However, in this state of oneness with heaven and man, he discovered how many flaws there were in his Ape Form.

When Xiao Yu first used the Ape Form, all he could do was defend passively against the ape without any way to counterattack.

Now, however, Xiao Yu gradually corrected the mistakes in Wu Qin Xi's Ape Form. Moreover, since Xiao Yu’s Ape Form came from Hua Tuo's Wu Qin Xi and not a real-life observation of apes, he was left with much room for improvement.

In this attack by the ape, not only did it refine his own Ape Form in Wu Qin Xi but under this state of oneness between man and heaven, every movement of the ape appeared clearly before Xiao Yu's eyes.

As Xiao Yu fought with the ape, he absorbed the essence of its movements and incorporated them into Wu Qin Xi’s Ape Form.

The state of oneness was truly formidable. As Xiao Yu corrected and integrated his form, he gradually turned the tide against this disadvantageous situation to engage in a mutual attack and defense with the ape.

While Xiao Yu was grappling with the ape, suddenly, a dark shadow flashed across the sky, appearing without any sense of abruptness like an odd rock, miasma or quicksand.

The arrival of this shadow did not even stir the miasmic toxic fog here, as if this shadow and the white toxic mist were one and the same.

As soon as this shadow entered the realm controlled by Xiao Yutian in his state of unity between man and heaven, Xiao Yutian immediately sensed its presence.

However, this shadow seemed to blend seamlessly with the realm under Xiao Yutian's control, causing him not to feel any hostility towards it.

The ape appeared indifferent to the arrival of this shadow, as though it hadn't even noticed it, continuing to attack Xiao Yutian on its own.

But things were different for Xiao Yutian. Although he didn’t sense any hostility toward this shadow, witnessing such an unusual event left him startled and alarmed.

This alone was proof of the strength of the newcomer; thus, as soon as Xiao Yutian felt that shock, his figure instantly retreated several steps, vigilantly watching the black shadow that had passed overhead.

The black shadow did not linger here but immediately rushed toward the ape opposite Xiao Yutian.

Up to this point, it seemed the ape still hadn't sensed the arrival of this shadow. Considering the situation, if Xiao Yutian wasn’t in a state of unity between man and heaven, he probably wouldn’t have noticed either.

After all, without the intrusion of this shadow into his controlled realm while in a state of unity between man and heaven, Xiao Yutian would not have been able to detect its arrival.

Xiao Yutian’s mental focus was undivided just now. Despite being surrounded by dense toxic mist that only allowed him to see a few meters ahead, his five senses were highly attuned. Any movement within ten meters or even the flow of air could not escape his notice.

But how about this shadow If it hadn’t intruded into Xiao Yutian’s realm while in a state of unity between man and heaven, he likely wouldn’t have noticed its presence at all.

The silent shadow swooped to the ape's overhead area and lightly landed before it. Only now did the ape notice this shadow.

Upon seeing the shadow, the ape emitted a fierce roar; fear flashed in its bloodshot eyes as it turned around attempting to flee, but just as it was about to move, the shadow suddenly extended a hand slowly toward the ape’s throat.

At this moment, Xiao Yutian's state of unity between man and heaven immediately shattered due to his shock. Seeing his state shatter, Xiao Yutian instantly opened his eyes and stared at the black shadow before him.

Under Xiao Yu's gaze, the shadow slowly reached out its hand to the monkey, but the monkey seemed oblivious and didn't move to avoid it.

"Bang..."

In Xiao Yu’s eyes, before the shadow could reach the monkey, the monkey appeared as though someone had picked it up and thrown it heavily onto the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Yu's eyes slightly narrowed, his gaze filled with astonishment. "A residual image"

It turned out that because this shadow was moving so fast, Xiao Yu only saw a residual image instead of the hand actually reaching the monkey.

After the monkey was thrown to the ground hard, the large hand that reached towards it shattered, while the black figure stood still as if it had never moved at all.

Hearing Xiao Yu's exclamation, this shadow finally turned its head and looked at him.

When this shadow turned back, seeing clearly who it was, a trace of shock flashed across Xiao Yu’s eyes.

"Grandpa Li" Xiao Yu exclaimed in shock, his eyes showing disbelief as he called out.

The figure laughed and said, “Huhu, Xiao Yu!” On hearing Xiao Yu's surprised cry, the originally stern face of this shadow had a warm smile appear on it.

Seeing that the black figure was indeed Li Suiren, Xiao Yu’s shocked expression gradually calmed down.

Xiao Yu didn’t realize that his emotions had changed significantly since last night when he overused his spirit. Logically speaking, after integrating with Zhong Kui's memories and soul fragments, how could anything shock him

Furthermore, Xiao Yu’s soul having merged with Zhong Kui’s true essence had elevated his mental state to a high level; nothing less than seeing the calamity of heaven and earth should have been able to surprise him.

But today When Xiao Yu passed through the iron chain, he even hesitated slightly. Let alone Li Suiren's arrival, which shattered his oneness with heaven and man.

The truth was that previously, it was because of integrating Zhong Kui’s memory and soul fragments that Xiao Yu could have such mental fortitude. But after last night when his spirit scattered and was reformed by the three magical artifacts, this mental state derived from Zhong Kui had collapsed. (To be continued...) down from the mountain and instructed the pilot, "Open the cabin door! Mr. Li’s group is back!"After hearing Xiao Yu's words, Zhang Dahai and the others also looked outside. They saw that Lao Li and...