Li Jiye felt an increasing sense of comfort the more luxuriant the vegetation around him became.
He surveyed his surroundings and finally saw a fruit with a faint blueish glow growing on a giant tree.
Besides a myriad of demonic beasts in the Demonic Beast Mountain Range, there were also various ingredients and materials to be found inside. Thus, mercenaries or adventurers who often went to the Demonic Beast Mountain Range would get different harvests every time.
But even so, Li Jiye couldn’t help but feel like Lady Luck was shining brightly on him. The fruit in front of him was an extremely precious medicinal material.
This object was called the Azure Mystic Fruit, a Tier 4 medicinal material that was much more precious and also had a better effect than the Blood Ganoderma.
Now that such a precious medicinal material had appeared in front of him, Li Jiye was obviously on cloud nine. The turquoise light under his feet flickered, as if he would fly to collect the Azure Mystic Fruit in the next second.
However, at this moment, the Unicorn pulled him back with its teeth.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
The Unicorn’s move immediately restrained Li Jiye’s excitement, and he quickly realized something was amiss.
The surrounding area was way too quiet!
This reminded him of the place where he encountered the Terra Bear.
“No… The Azure Mystic Fruit is a Tier 4 medicinal material. It must be guarded by an advanced-level demonic beast! I would have fallen in its trap if I hadn’t been more careful!”
Growing extremely apprehensive now, Li Jiye narrowed his eyes and carefully examined his surroundings. Under his intense concentration, a few drops of cold sweat broke on his forehead.
Not far from the Azure Mystic Fruit, a huge ape that exuded a slight azure glow was camouflaged among the surrounding green plants. It was staring at Li Jiye and the Unicorn, both of whom had invaded its territory and were obviously uninvited guests.
The great ape seemed to notice that Li Jiye had discovered it. An azure light flashed on its body, and in the next second, it had jumped from the high grounds and landed beside Li Jiye and the Unicorn while uttering human words.
“Intruders…!”
Li Jiye’s heart pulsated wildly.
Only Tier 4 demonic beasts could speak human words. The body of this ape in front of him was constantly surging with Wind Element. Using his insight ability, Li Jiye carefully examined it and realized that as expected, this was the Tier 4 Raging Great Ape whose home he had invaded.
At this moment, the Unicorn’s aura was seemingly oppressed by the Raging Great Ape, and it seemed to shrink back a little. This was the result of level suppression among demonic beasts. Noticing this, Li Jiye took a step forward, blocking the Unicorn from the opponent. Spurred on by the danger, he was quickly thinking about how to escape this predicament while managing to keep his wits about him.
This Raging Great Ape also possessed the Wind Element and lived in this woodland all year round. No matter how much they ran, it would always keep up with them. His only options now were to find a way to control it or to kill it.
Li Jiye frowned at the thought of this. The defenses of Tier 4 demonic beasts weren’t easily broken through by ordinary martial arts. Even if the opponent stood still and absorbed all his attacks, he was afraid he wouldn’t even be able to break through the surface of the Raging Great Ape for quite a while.
“Are we going to stay here and wait for our deaths? No way!”
Li Jiye felt a deep sense of unwillingness surge from the bottom of his heart. He reached out to rummage around in his storage bag, trying to find the few potions he always carried to use in such situations. However, most of the potions he had were only Tier 2.
These things would be completely useless in this battle.
The elemental energy on the Raging Great Ape intensified, and Li Jiye suddenly felt something in his bag.
It was the blood-red crystal.
The highly toxic crystal formed by the Blood Python!
“Yes! The Raging Great Ape might have superb combat power, but its toxin resistance isn’t strong at all. Although the Blood Python was only a Tier 3 demonic beast, the toxin it refined throughout its life is called an Antiaris Toxicaria. It just might work!”
With this in mind, he immediately charged towards the Tier 4 Raging Great Ape without hesitation.
The Raging Great Ape didn’t seem to expect this Tier 2 human to take the initiative to attack. As an irritable race, it flew into a rage at this moment.
The entire forest seemed to shake three times from its long ferocious roar.
The Unicorn seemed to become weaker and weaker under the suppression of the Raging Great Ape’s roar. Its body trembled incessantly, and it even tried to summon the Divine Piercing skill to attack the enemy; however, the suppression of levels made it almost immobile.
“Big Ape! Try this!”
But at this moment, Li Jiye summoned Falling Leaves Deadly Knives, pinched the blood-red crystal in his hands, and threw it into the wide-open mouth of the Raging Great Ape.
With a grunt, the Raging Great Ape swallowed the crystal.
Upon seeing this, Li Jiye didn’t charge forward to exchange more moves with it. Turquoise light blazed on his feet, and he flew into the surrounding sea of endless trees like a hurricane.
Having already affirmed that the Unicorn was of no threat to it, the Raging Great Ape kept its focus on Li Jiye and chased after him.
Their speeds were rather similar, but the Raging Great Ape was a Tier 4 demonic beast after all. Li Jiye’s heart was in his throat when he saw the Raging Great Ape catch up to him by just relying on its physical strength.
All of a sudden, the Raging Great Ape froze.
Li Jiye and the Raging Great Ape had been jumping between tree branches. The Raging Great Ape had suddenly frozen, and then its body plummeted from the tree onto the ground.
Cautiously, Li Jiye flew down from a towering tree and observed the Raging Great Ape.
However, he saw that the opponent’s eyes had already been overlaid with blood, and its whole body was also covered with crimson lines. It had obviously been poisoned.
“It worked!”
Astonished, Li Jiye smirked slightly and swiftly moved back to that giant tree. In the blink of an eye, he reached out for the Azure Mystic Fruit and directly plucked it.
By the time he lowered himself again onto the ground, the Tier 4 Raging Great Ape was already dead.
The Unicorn finally regained its advanced-level aura and moved over to Li Jiye’s side. It rubbed its head affectionately on Li Jiye, seemingly looking at him warmly.
“Hey, Unicorn, we’re now considered friends in adversity. We’ve experienced two life-and-death battles one after the other! From now on, you’re my brother!”
Li Jiye stroked its nose and laughed. Then, he surveyed his surroundings. The territorial consciousness of advanced-level demonic beasts was extremely strong. Now that the Raging Great Ape was dead, this place would remain relatively safe.
Turning around, Li Jiye took out the Tier 3 Blood Ganoderma from his storage bag and shook it in his hand.
“I can tell that your aura must have reached the peak of Tier 3. You’re only a stone’s throw away from reaching Tier 4. The vitality in this Blood Ganoderma should be able to give you the final push.”