The Red Furred Stone Ape's stunning coloration stood in stark contrast to the snow covered mountains. Liang could not understand how he had missed the ape in front of him. Most animals would naturally blend in with their environment; they however stood out. Thankfully, the old man gave him a recovery pellet before he went to fight. He was careless, forgetting his surroundings because the old man was with him.

After preparing himself for battle Liang saw the old man take a chair, teakettle, and heating stone from his ring as though preparing to watch the show. His smile looked reassuring as if to say "I'm here for you" but Liang could tell the old man was not trying to encourage him, instead he was shooing him away.

The ape was not exceptionally large, close to the size of Liang but it was incredibly strong and able to throw boulders as big as he was dozens of meters easily. Without a ranged attack ability, the ape forced him to dodge a barrage of boulders in order to come within striking range.

The boulders flew so quickly even a graze was able to twist his body and leave his legs wobbly. It was a life and death situation and if a boulder hit him the old man might not be able to make it in time, he might be dead before he could arrive.

Every time a boulder landed in front of him, snow blasted into the air and clouded his vision, forcing Liang to rely on his newly acquired skill. However, using the skill only amplified his doubts, the ape was not a little stronger, it was much stronger than he was. Once again, he questioned the old man's perception of reality.

After several moments, Liang was able to arrive within striking distance of the ape. He dodged a wild swing before landing a powerful blow to the ape's abdomen. However, the Khopesh was unable to do any damage and it felt as though he had slammed the sword into the mountain itself.

Several breaths later, he heard the old man yell, "They're called stone apes for a reason boy. Unless you manifest qi you won't break through that armor." Liang cursed him in his heart. He knew the ape had some form of armor but he needed to test how affective striking it would be.

It was as if every animal the old man wanted him to kill had some type of unbreakable armor. He also enjoyed telling Liang after the battle had begun. If stone apes tasted good, he knew for sure what the old man's motives were.

The ape was fast and threw a flurry of strikes in Liang's direction, the majority of which he was able to avoid or deflect thanks to his flexibility. As he dodged, Liang observed the ape's body carefully, attempting to find any weak spots. Its torso was solid but the ape was still able to twist its upper body leading him to believe there were soft points on the apes side and waist.

The ape judged Liang just as Liang was judging him. Apes were naturally intelligent creatures and were capable of adjusting the way they fought depending on their opponent. It saw Liang was able to shield against its blows somewhat, but the boy was weaker than he was and the sword was not a threat.

Liang found the torso actually consisted of six plates that locked in place when the ape aligned its hips with its shoulders. However, there were gaps when it twisted allowing for some flexibility. The knees, elbows, groin, ribs, and underarms also had a more flexible armor covering them. He believed these weak spots were exploitable.

To prevent the ape from aligning its lower and upper body Liang charged forward raising his shield and slamming it into the arms that now blocked the ape's chest. The force pushed the ape back but before it was able to recover, Liang chopped down at the apes rounded knee leaving a deep gash.

The ape roared and swung wildly pressing Liang to the ground but it was unable to follow through with another strike due to its now crippled leg. It was not a crushing blow but now the ape was open to attacks in its abdomen when it twisted at the waist.

As he continued to weave in and out of the apes reach, he was able to slice its elbows and its waist but it came at the cost of his left arm. In a careless attempt to slice the ape's groin, it slammed its fist into his left shoulder crushing several bones in his upper arm and knocking him nearly ten meters backwards.

After several more bouts, Liang was no longer able to shield himself. However, the ape could not protect its abdomen or raise its arms to strike due to the tendon cuts in its elbows. Liang was able to walk up to the ape and slowly press the blade forward between the plates in its abdomen until it finally slumped over and died.

The battle took far longer than any others he had until now. He was exhausted mentally and physically as well as injured. However, different from the armadillo bear he was able to defeat the ape using skill and observation instead of blind luck.

If it were not for the fact that he needed to do this one more time Liang would have been ecstatic. The old man walked over eyeing the ape before sliding his black knife under the plate armor and removing the core.

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"Stone apes don't taste very good honestly. But their bodies sell for a good price so after this you can splurge a little on me. These plates are strong against weak martial artists and they'll make decent armor. Should be able to withstand a few arrays too, I can probably make something of this." The old man mumbled to himself as he examined the body and core before placing them in his ring.

Standing up he told Liang, "That was pretty dumb sacrificing your arm; unless it's life or death don't do it. Remember boy some injuries are hard to fix. The next ape is a Li further into the mountains. You'll be working around your injury and have the time it takes to finish a meal before we head out."

The thought of fighting another ape injured nearly caused Liang to faint. He wondered how the old man could be so heartless. However, he knew he was right. Liang was hoping to use a healing pill, but in a fight with many opponent's he may not have the time to take one. He had no choice but to suck it up and find the next ape.

***

The annual three sect martial competition had come to a shocking conclusion. Lying on the floor of the arena was Wang Zi, the young master of the Warring Crane Sect. His defeat came at the spear from the Sun Sects Yang Xi.

A 21-year-old practitioner of the Seven Flames Spear, Yang Xi's rise from an outer sect disciple to a core member of the sect in less than a year was unheard of. His cultivation of Mid Core Formation was even higher than Wang Zi's, who was hailed as the number one genius of his generation.

As the future leader of the Warring Crane Sect, his defeat would have profound reverberations. If this left a demon in his heart, he would forever live in the shadow of Yang Xi and the Sun Sect would rise to become the dominant force in the region.

When he left the stage, Young Master Wang did not have the face to stand before Fairy Xu, winner of the alchemy contest. Any man would have a difficult time showing such a humiliating side of themselves to the woman they loved. He did not want to see the look she would give him.

None of his injuries were life threatening; however, it would most likely take him several months to heal properly. Yang Xi was able to land multiple critical hits to areas such as his shoulders and legs, leaving Young Master Wang paralyzed to strike back.

Over the course of the last four month's nothing had worked out the way he wanted. Fairy Xu became busier and did not see him as frequently. He was unable to purchase the wood she needed at the auction and instead had to beg the Sun Sect to sell a piece to him. Now the head disciple of the Sun Sect defeated him despite being younger than he was.

This shame was not something he could take any longer. He would return this defeat 10-fold. In one year, he would kill Yang Xi and convince the elders to engage him to Fairy Xu. He would make her his cultivation partner and use her to raise his level further.

He understood he had become too complacent recently. Years before everyone feared him. He was the undefeated of his generation capable of killing any that opposed him. He knew somewhere he went soft but he planned to rectify that beginning now.