At that instant, the little cat resting on Zhuo Riyan's shoulder sensed their beast qi. It lazily opened its eyes, let out a long yawn with a soft meow, and lifted its sharp gaze toward the apes.
The moment the ten apes noticed the cat…
Everything changed.
An unknown, oppressive aura suddenly wrapped around both Zhuo Riyan and the little cat. The apes' bodies trembled uncontrollably. Cold sweat poured down their faces as if they had encountered a natural predator.
They looked like mice that had encountered a cat—terrified, desperate to flee, yet frozen in place.
Zhuo Riyan's eyes flickered in realization.
Rank One Mid-Level Golden Apes.
All ten of them.
"Little cat, take five of them. I'll handle the other five," Zhuo Riyan said calmly, his eyes locked onto the apes.
The little cat jumped off his shoulder and cracked its tiny neck. "Fine. But you better feed me some high-quality fucking fish after this."
"Deal."
Boom.
Purple thunder burst around Zhuo Riyan's body as he activated the Cosmic Thunderfiend Body. His muscles tightened, his veins lit up with lightning, and his pupils turned a deep, violent purple. A cruel smile spread across his face.
At the same time, the little cat also exploded with purple thunder, his small body wrapped in crackling arcs of electricity. For a brief moment, master and beast looked like two thunder demons standing in the forest.
The ten Golden Apes roared in response.
They split perfectly into two groups—five on the left, five on the right.
Zhuo Riyan rushed left.
The little cat rushed right.
The forest shook with thunder and roars.
On Zhuo Riyan's side, the five apes fled deeper into the trees. Their movements were fast, flexible, and terrifyingly coordinated. Branches snapped, shadows flashed, and thick tree trunks became their shields.
Zhuo Riyan chased them with lightning surging under his feet, but the apes knew this terrain far better than he did.
Suddenly—
They vanished.
Zhuo Riyan skidded to a halt on a thick tree trunk, crouching low, eyes sweeping in every direction.
Too quiet.
Then his instincts screamed.
"Behind me!"
He twisted around just in time to see a Golden Ape dropping from above, its massive fist smashing straight toward his skull.
Zhuo Riyan kicked off the trunk and flipped backward, landing on another tree behind him.
But the apes had already anticipated that.
Boom.
Another fist slammed into his back before he could stabilize.
Blood burst out of his mouth as his body flew off the trunk. He crashed through branches and landed heavily on the ground in a crouch, sliding several meters backward. He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand, his breathing heavy.
"Fuck… they're using their home terrain perfectly," he muttered, eyes blazing. "These bastards are smart."
The apes didn't rush him immediately.
They circled.
One on each side. One above. Two hidden in the shadows.
Zhuo Riyan felt pressure from every direction.
Meanwhile—
On the right side of the forest, the scene was completely different.
The five Golden Apes attacked the little cat in perfect coordination, leaping from trees, sweeping with fists, slamming with both arms, and even throwing massive rocks.
But the little cat moved like a ghost.
Left dodge.
Right twist.
Backflip.
Side-step.
Every attack missed by a hair.
Purple thunder flashed each time his tiny body moved, making him look like a streak of lightning jumping between claws and fists.
"Heh," the little cat sneered while ducking under a punch that shattered a tree behind him. "You ugly monkeys are way too fucking slow."
One ape roared and tried to grab him from behind—
Crack.
The cat vanished in a flash of purple and reappeared on its shoulder, claws digging into flesh.
The ape screamed.
Boom.
A thunder-charged kick blasted its head sideways, sending its massive body crashing through three trees before collapsing.
The remaining four apes froze in shock.
Their eyes filled with terror.
This tiny creature…
Was a nightmare.
Yet deep inside the little cat's mind, fragmented memories stirred—flashes of endless starfields, collapsing realms, screaming cosmic beasts. He instinctively fought with terrifying perfection, but the truth was…
He no longer remembered who he truly was.
Not the hand that killed him.
Not his past enemies.
Only the will to fight remained.
Back on Zhuo Riyan's side, the pressure suddenly exploded.
Two apes attacked from the front.
One from above.
One from behind.
One from the blind spot to the right.
They struck at the same instant.
Zhuo Riyan's lightning erupted violently.
"So you want to jump me together?"
His foot stomped the ground.
Boom.
A bolt of purple thunder burst upward as he launched himself into the air, narrowly avoiding the four ground attacks. The ape from above barely got time to widen its eyes before—
Crash.
Zhuo Riyan punched straight through its chest in midair.
Purple thunder exploded out its back.
The ape's body went limp before it even hit the ground.
But before Zhuo Riyan could celebrate, the remaining four apes struck him mid-air from all directions.
He was sent flying like a broken kite.
Blood sprayed.
His body slammed into a tree hard enough to crack it down the middle.
He dropped to the ground, breathing raggedly.
"Fuck…" he growled, forcing himself to stand. His bones screamed, his internal organs churned, but his purple eyes burned brighter than ever.
"I'm not dying here."
Four Golden Apes roared and charged again.
At the same time, far away on the other side of the forest, four Golden Apes lay dead, their bodies smoking with lightning.
The little cat stood atop one corpse, tail swaying.
He looked toward Zhuo Riyan's direction.
"…That idiot master better not die before I finish my fish."
Deep in the Third Region of the forest, seven figures in black cloaks sat around a stone leaking dark energy.
One touched it and scoffed, "Nothing happens. Why the hell do we even need an artifact for this?"
Another glared at him coldly. "The leader ordered it. You wanna go against him?"
The first stiffened and bowed. "Sorry… who the fuck would dare oppose milord."