Chapter 34: The Sea-Burning Fire Ape

Inside the Dimensional Sphere, Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, and Bai Man surrounded Wu Yuan, filled with surprise.
Just now, after Qu Yi obtained the Yuan Ying of the Blue-Eyed Knife Shark, Wu Yuan actually spoke up, taking the lead over Qing Wu Gui and Bai Man by saying, “Qu Yi, congratulations.”
As long as a monstrous beast possesses a Yuan Shen, it can generally use spiritual communication. Yet Wu Yuan, even at the later stages of the Golden Dan phase, couldn’t use spiritual communication and could only express his feelings by making noises. Qu Yi had previously thought that Wu Yuan might have learned to speak by spending time with others, but that never happened. Now, after absorbing Cheng Chang’s life force and advancing to the early stage of Yuan Ying, Wu Yuan finally gained the ability to speak.
“Wu Yuan!”
“Wu Yuan!”
“Wu Yuan!”
Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, and Bai Man all exclaimed in astonishment.
Wu Yuan looked at them shyly. His golden dragon head turned red with embarrassment, and his eyes almost welled up with tears as he pleaded with them not to look at him like a monster.
Qu Yi laughed heartily and slapped Wu Yuan’s dragon head, shouting, “Wu Yuan, that’s great! Now you can express yourself!”
Qing Wu Gui smiled faintly, while Bai Man continued to stare at Wu Yuan intently.
At that moment, the Artifact God suddenly spoke up, “Qu Yi, do you still want to go hunt the Sea-Burning Fire Ape?”
The Sea-Burning Fire Ape was essentially a sea ape, resembling the Land Golden-Eyed Stone Ape but entirely red in color. It preferred to live in the lava of underwater volcanoes. Once it left the lava, it could turn the surrounding seawater to nothingness with just a burst of its fire-based true energy.
This Sea-Burning Fire Ape was one of the two fire-type Yuan Ying-phase monstrous beasts in the oceans, currently only at the early stage of Yuan Ying. Since Qu Yi had to kill the Blue-Eyed Knife Shark first, he hadn’t pursued the Sea-Burning Fire Ape. Now, reminded by the Artifact God, he immediately understood what was most important right now.
“Alright, Artifact God, don’t be so dampening my spirits. Wu Yuan just learned to speak. Can’t I enjoy this for a while?” Qu Yi protested.
“Don’t dawdle. Quickly restore your true energy and go hunt the Sea-Burning Fire Ape,” the Artifact God ordered bluntly.
Qu Yi had no choice but to take out a Water-Type Monster Pill and swallow it to restore his true energy. He no longer bothered absorbing spirit stones, as it was too slow. Since he had some extra Water-Type Monster Pills he didn’t need, they could serve as a substitute.
After restoring his true energy, Qu Yi left the Dimensional Sphere and headed to the Land of Eastern Seas.

While in the Sea King’s Palace, Qu Yi not only tracked the Blue-Eyed Swordfish but also knew the whereabouts of the Sea-Burning Fire Ape. Since it was Lu Donghaiyang, he naturally had to head there first before searching for the Sea-Burning Fire Ape.
…
In a certain area of Lu Donghaiyang’s sea, on the surface of the water, there was a red-faced giant striding across the waves. With each step he took, a wisp of smoke rose from the sea within ten meters around him, as if the water were evaporating. As the giant moved, clusters of smoke blossoms emerged into the air, creating a peculiar maritime scene.
At that moment, the giant was complaining bitterly, filled with anger.
“What kind of person is this Qu Yi, anyway? He actually sent twenty of us Yuan Ying-stage monsters to search for him.”
“The Great King is really foolish. He agreed to a foreign human cultivator’s request and made us Yuan Ying-stage monsters act as searchers. Isn’t this an insult to us?”
“I haven’t had a sip of magma in ages. Drinking this seawater every day has made my taste buds dull.”
“Qu Yi, come out already! You made me, the Sea-Burning Fire Ape, search for you. If I find you, I’ll devour you whole!”
…
This giant was none other than the Sea-Burning Fire Ape. With each step he took, he complained louder, and the smoke rising from his feet grew bigger as well.
Just as his complaints echoed throughout the entire sea area, the Artifact God finally sensed him and sent Qu Yi over immediately.
“Haha, a mid-Jin Dan stage human is coming. It seems he’s the Qu Yi the Great King is looking for.” The Sea-Burning Fire Ape’s spiritual sense detected Qu Yi’s presence, and his complaints miraculously disappeared, replaced by joy.
The Sea-Burning Fire Ape instantly teleported over and appeared in front of Qu Yi.
“Kid, you must be Qu Yi, right?” The giant transformed from the Sea-Burning Fire Ape stared at Qu Yi intently with his fiery eyes.
Judging by his expression, if Qu Yi answered no, the Sea-Burning Fire Ape would likely spew flames and burn him to ashes on the spot.
“Yes, big guy. Who are you?” Qu Yi floated in the air and shouted against the wind.
Meanwhile, inside theinch界 Ball, Qing Wu Gui, Bai Man, and Wu Yuan were ready. They would act immediately upon Qu Yi’s signal to attack the Sea-Burning Fire Ape together.
Although Qu Yi possessed the Jade Sword, which could kill the Sea-Burning Fire Ape in one strike, the space was too stable. If the Sea-Burning Fire Ape teleported away at the first sign of trouble, it would reveal the secret of the Jade Sword. Therefore, Qu Yi decided to let everyone attack first to disrupt the surrounding space, then use the Jade Sword to settle things once and for all.

“Haha, Qu Yi, I’ve searched so hard for you—finally, I get to wait for you. Let me introduce myself: my true form is the Sea-Burning Fire Ape. I’m now at the early stage of the Yuan Ying realm, capable of spewing a stream of fire essence that can dry up a thousand meters of seawater around me,” the Sea-Burning Fire Ape cried out joyfully.

As if fearing Qu Yi might not understand, it continued, “Qu Yi, better break your Golden Dan on your own and surrender. Otherwise, I’ll burn you to death right away.”

Qu Yi laughed heartily, looking down on the Sea-Burning Fire Ape with contempt.

In an instant, Bai Man, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan all unleashed their Dimensional Balls. Attacks followed immediately.

Bai Man sent out her Puppet Leopard, which immediately released a “Wind-Scouring Thousand Blades” attack toward the Sea-Burning Fire Ape.

Qing Wu Gui, as usual, effortlessly swung his black sword, sending a stream of black essence toward the Sea-Burning Fire Ape.

Wu Yuan, now at the early stage of the Yuan Ying realm, shook his dragon head and spat out a stream of golden essence. A two-finger-width golden sword rushed forward toward the Sea-Burning Fire Ape.

The Sea-Burning Fire Ape roared and immediately reverted to its true form—a five-meter-tall fire ape covered in layers of flaming magma. Flames erupted from the magma, which clashed with the thousand blades of energy, completely burning them away. The magma also blocked the black essence, flowing swiftly to erase it entirely. Where the golden sword struck, the magma suddenly formed a stone sword scabbard, capturing the sword and quickly grinding it to dust.

“You three, trying such a sudden ambush? How childish. You think it’s that easy to kill me, the Sea-Burning Fire Ape? How ridiculous,” the Sea-Burning Fire Ape shouted angrily, its fiery eyes ready to spew flames.

Yet it didn’t realize that Qu Yi had been standing quietly beside it, smiling at it the whole time.

“Big guy, are you done talking? If so, it’s my turn to act,” Qu Yi said with a laugh.

The Sea-Burning Fire Ape closed its eyes slightly, red flames glowing from the slits—clearly angered by Qu Yi again. A person at the middle stage of the Golden Dan realm daring to look down on it and attack it? With its fiery temper, how could it tolerate such behavior?

“I’ll burn you!” the Sea-Burning Fire Ape roared.

“You’re too late!” Qu Yi laughed.

Just as the Sea-Burning Fire Ape took giant steps toward Qu Yi like a meteor, Qu Yi already held his jade sword in hand and swung it.

He poured together true qi from the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth into the jade sword, and a thumb-sized beam of light immediately penetrated the body of the Sea-Burning Fire Ape. Then, the Sea-Burning Fire Ape, which was striding forward, suddenly had its flames extinguish as if by magic, and the fire in its eyes dimmed as well. “Wuyuan, go quickly and devour its life force,” Qu Yi shouted immediately. “Ugh, I’m on my way!” Wuyuan cried in ecstasy. Although it could now speak, Wuyuan still habitually made “ugh” sounds—its true nature remained unchanged. Then, Wuyuan’s dragon head bit through the struggling Sea-Burning Fire Ape, and the Sea-Burning Fire Ape, whose vital energy was battling the light from the jade sword inside its body, suddenly felt its life force surging out. “No!” The Sea-Burning Fire Ape was terrified. Qu Yi sneered and flew over immediately, plunging the jade sword into the Sea-Burning Fire Ape’s body and grabbing its Yuan Ying with one hand. “No!” The Sea-Burning Fire Ape’s spirit curled inside its Yuan Ying, pleading in panic. Qu Yi paused briefly before asking, “Sea-Burning Fire Ape, where is your cultivation site?” It turned out that the Artifact God had suddenly reminded him that there must be a kind of Flaming Fire Lotus growing in the underwater volcano where the Sea-Burning Fire Ape lived. This fire lotus would be extremely useful for Qing Wu Gui, as it could be used to eliminate the remaining toxins in his body. “Ah, what do you want?” The Sea-Burning Fire Ape asked warily, forgetting that its life was in Qu Yi’s hands. Qu Yi sneered and said calmly, “There’s a Flaming Fire Lotus in the volcano where you cultivate, right?” The Sea-Burning Fire Ape was shocked—this secret was only known to it, even the King of the Ocean, the Thunderstorm Ice Crocodile, didn’t know about it. How could Qu Yi be so aware? “No, that Flaming Fire Lotus is meant for me to advance to the middle stage of Yuan Ying,” the Sea-Burning Fire Ape cried in panic. Qu Yi frowned and said angrily, “Sea-Burning Fire Ape, your life is in my hands now. Will you talk? It doesn’t matter if you don’t— I’ll just kill your soul and look for other Yuan Ying-stage monsters. They must know where your lair is.” “I swear I won’t tell,” the Sea-Burning Fire Ape replied firmly. At that moment, Qu Yi paused again, then smiled at Bai Man, Qing Wu Gui, and Wuyuan, saying, “Let’s enter the Inch Realm Sphere. There’s going to be some interesting action.” Qu Yi held the Sea-Burning Fire Ape’s Yuan Ying, while the Artifact God took on its infant form and came to Qu Yi’s side. Then, the Artifact God’s delicate little hand snapped its fingers.

Suddenly, the primal spirit of the Sea-Burning Fire Ape left its Yuan Ying and appeared before the Artifact God, then fell into silence.
“Lu Donghai Ocean, earthquake and volcanic zone,” the Artifact God seemed to search the primal spirit of the Sea-Burning Fire Ape, located its lair, and directly informed Qu Yi.
After saying that, the adorable infant’s body disappeared.
Qu Yi was stunned, not knowing what the Artifact God had done, but he knew it had found the Sea-Burning Fire Ape’s lair, and all he needed to do was go there.
As for the primal spirit of the Sea-Burning Fire Ape, it suddenly turned into nothingness and vanished.
However, Qu Yi wasn’t disappointed; he had already obtained the Fire Yuan Ying and could now advance to the later stage of the Golden Dan realm.