Chapter 2: A Loss for Both Sides (Part 2)

The dense swarm of tentacles piercing in was spine-chilling. Guo Shieru cast thousands of spells in succession to strengthen Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles. Moments later, the tentacles forcibly dragged a massive golden mammoth spirit out from within the mammoth’s body.

The old man quickly cast tens of millions of spells, with countless virtual talismans rushing into the mammoth’s spirit. He had to take control of it. The mammoth struggled desperately, but most of its soul had already been pulled out, leaving only a tiny remnant that could no longer fully control its body.

Boom! Crack! Crack…

With just one struggle, the mammoth nearly shattered the trap. The Eagle Demon widened his eyes and exhaled in awe, “Impressive!” He had always thought Guo Shieru and the old man were being overly cautious, but now he realized that if they hadn’t been so careful, things would have been much worse. The mammoth’s mere struggle nearly broke the trap—its strength was truly immense.

The virtual talismans cast by the old man rained down like a storm. He shouted, “Kid, don’t slack off! Let Gu Xi Bi devour more of its spirit…”

As Guo Shieru continued casting spells, Gu Xi Bi emitted a shockwave, filled with extreme excitement. In an instant, it absorbed some of the mammoth’s spirit, weakening it further.

A virtual form of the mammoth gradually separated from its body, tightly entangled by Gu Xi Bi, which compressed it bit by bit.

Guo Shieru was drenched in cold sweat, and the old man also appeared very tense. Finally, the mammoth’s spirit was forcibly pulled out. The moment it separated from the body, the mammoth’s body collapsed, and with a loud crash, the entire trap shattered—though it no longer hindered Guo Shieru from extracting the spirit.

Nan You wiped his sweat and said, “That’s fucking scary.”

The old man showed a triumphant expression and said, “Push harder! Haha! Haha! We’ve got it!”

Watching the mammoth’s spirit shrink bit by bit, Guo Shieru cast several more spells in a row, shouting, “Collect it!” Then he exclaimed, “Haha, it worked!”

Soon, the spirit of the level-15 Abnormal Mammoth condensed into a sphere and landed in his hands. It was a spirit pearl the size of a football, containing a lifelike mammoth that looked exquisitely detailed. He fiddled with it and said, “Luck, nothing but luck…”

The old man stuck most of his body out and snatched the spirit pearl, saying, “Give it to me! Give it to me!”

Nan You folded away his altar and flew to Guo Shieru’s altar, saying, “Let me take a look too, hehe.”

Everyone took a look. The handsome old man put away the Spirit Pearl and said, “Hurry, quickly collect the mammoth’s body—it’s a treasure. Hmm, put it in the altar first; I’ll handle it.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Let me do it. I’ll use Guxi Bi; it’s very useful.”
The tentacles stretched out again. Guo Shier’s altar landed less than five meters above the mammoth’s body. The tentacles had taken solid form. Unlike before, they were now incredibly tough. Countless tentacles wrapped around the mammoth, and Guo Shier and the handsome old man cast virtual talismans to reinforce them. It wasn’t easy to fit such a huge mammoth into the altar.
A cyan-white glow emerged from beneath the altar—Guo Shier had opened the altar’s space, and this was his first time controlling it. Gradually, the mammoth rose from the ground, moving little by little. As it moved, its body gradually shrank. After a while, under Guo Shier’s incantations, Guxi Bi’s tentacles dragged the mammoth’s body into the altar’s space.
A large pool of blood remained on the ground. The handsome old man smiled and said, “Let me refine it. This blood is also valuable. Although some of its essence is lost, we can still extract some good materials.”
A moment later, the handsome old man used virtual talismans to collect the blood from the ground and quickly refined it with the Flame Sacrificial Treasure, obtaining over a dozen Blood Essence Pearls. He said regretfully, “It took too long, and it was mixed with the blood of the Earth Dragon, so much of its effectiveness was lost. What a shame.”
Guo Shier asked, “What happened to that Earth Dragon?”
Everyone’s eyes lit up. After all, the Earth Dragon was even more precious than the mammoth—it was a dragon-type Abnormal Talisman Beast. Guo Shier said, “Let’s follow and take a look.” The handsome old man said, “Be careful. The Earth Dragon’s injuries are slightly less severe than the mammoth’s, so it’s not that easy to deal with.”
Guo Shier replied, “I understand, but I can’t bear not to go and check.”
The handsome old man said, “Go, of course we should. How else? It’s a severely injured Abnormal Talisman Beast. We have a 30% chance of capturing it. Hehe.” He was delighted at the thought. Who would have thought that in this remote place, they would encounter two Level 15 Abnormal Talisman Beasts? No one would believe it if they told others.
Guo Shier was already used to keeping the altar outside. Sitting on it made movement much more convenient—at least his bottom had a solid surface to sit on.
Blood traces left by the Earth Dragon could still be seen on the ground, so Guo Shier flew following those traces for nearly three days, unsure whether the Abnormal Earth Dragon was already dead.

As he needed to observe the bloodstains on the ground, Guo Shier didn’t fly very fast. Along the way, the bloodstains became fewer and fewer. Guo Shier sighed, “The Earth Dragon is truly formidable—its recovery ability is far stronger than that of the mammoth beast.”
The old man looked worried. “If the Earth Dragon recovers 30% of its strength, we won’t be able to fight it.”
Guo Shier shook his head. “30%? If it recovers 20%, we’ll have to leave. That thing isn’t something to mess around with; we simply have no chance against it.”
Nanyou said, “Stop talking. Let’s chase after it first. If it’s still alive, there’s no way we can hunt it.”
After chasing for another half day, the bloodstains on the ground had disappeared, leaving only huge footprints. Soon, Guo Shier spotted the Earth Dragon’s silhouette. It was still limping forward, with no clear destination in sight.
Guo Shier flew high into the sky and could see the Earth Dragon clearly. After a while, he said disappointedly, “Though severely injured, it’s not in life-threatening danger. With enough time, it will definitely recover. We have no chance.”
Roar!
The four of them looked up. What they saw was a giant tail raised in the air, followed by its descent and a loud crash. They exchanged glances in shock. After a while, Guo Shier exclaimed in delight, “Could there be another Abnormal Talisman Beast?”
The old man said, “That’s not an Abnormal Talisman Beast… Let’s get a little closer; otherwise, we won’t be able to see clearly.”
Guo Shier gritted his teeth and flew a bit closer, then froze in astonishment. He exclaimed, “Damn it, Abnormal Humans! So many of them?”
Nanyou examined them carefully and said, “Those aren’t Abnormal Humans. They’re Secret Realm Giant Ape Men!”
The old man agreed, “That’s right—Secret Realm Giant Ape Men… Strange. How did these things end up here? Oh, there are over a hundred of them—almost an entire tribe.”
Guo Shier asked in confusion, “What are Giant Ape Men?”
Nanyou replied, “Abnormal Humans are one thing, completely different from Secret Realm Giant Ape Men. If Abnormal Humans still have a hint of humanity, then Secret Realm Giant Ape Men are pure beasts. Well, even more ferocious than Talisman Beasts and Mutated Talisman Beasts. They like to tear their prey apart and eat them—humans are no exception; they’re just prey to them too.”
Eagle Demon asked, “What’s their strength like?”
Nanyou pointed at the battlefield and said, “You’ll understand if you see for yourself. The fact that they dare to attack an Abnormal Earth Dragon shows just how fierce they are.”

A Secret Realm Giant Ape-Man was as tall as twenty meters, with broad shoulders and a thick back. It walked with its body bent, covered not in fur but in thick black scales, and moved at the speed of lightning. From a distance, only a rough outline could be seen. Guo Shier said, “Not bad… Whether they’re mutated humans or Secret Realm Giant Ape-Men, they all end up being our opportunity, hehe.”

Guo Shier flew higher into the air and then moved closer to get a clearer view of the Secret Realm Giant Ape-Man. Its entire body was covered in black scales, with several black spikes on its shoulders. It walked with its knees slightly bent and its body curved. Its fingers had curved claws, like scimitars, each one a meter long. Its feet also had claws, leaving marks on the ground with each jump. Its huge head had tufts of hair in various colors—some Giant Ape-Men had white hair, some black, and two even had golden hair.

Nanyou pointed at one of the Giant Ape-Men and said, “That’s a Golden-Furred Giant Ape-Man. Its strength is comparable to that of a master from the Physical Altar.”

Guo Shier asked, “Can they fly?”

Nanyou shook his head. “They can’t fly, but they can jump very high.”

Guo Shier shook his head again. “Then there’s no comparison. Without the ability to fly, they definitely can’t defeat masters of the Altar level.”

Nanyou smiled and said, “I didn’t say they can defeat Altar masters. I meant… they possess the strength of Altar masters. Even a dozen Great Sage Masters might not be able to defeat a Golden-Furred Giant Ape-Man.”

The Mutated Earth Dragon was extremely enraged. It was severely injured and unable to fully utilize its strength; it couldn’t unleash any magical attacks and could only fight with its physical power. Thus, it was extremely irritable. With a roar, it knocked over the Giant Ape-Man that was provoking it, then bit down—crunching the fallen Giant Ape-Man to pieces before swallowing it whole. It had been hungry for a long time.

Its massive tail swept wildly, sending a dozen Giant Ape-Men flying with loud thuds. Each one spat out blood but quickly got up to fight again. Guo Shier was amazed. “Such strong combat power? Can they really not die even from being hit like this?” He thought that if he were hit by that terrifying tail, he might end up as meat.

A few Giant Ape-Men had climbed onto the Earth Dragon’s back and started digging at the wounds, pulling out pieces of flesh to eat right away. More Giant Ape-Men tried to climb onto the Earth Dragon’s back.

Roar!

The Earth Dragon roared and stamped its foot. One Giant Ape-Man couldn’t dodge in time and was crushed into a mass of flesh.

Within two minutes, the Earth Dragon killed more than a dozen giant ape men, but it was clearly running out of strength, staggering as it moved. Though still ferocious, its actions had slowed down. Guo Shier and the others were not afraid of the secret realm’s giant ape men; what they feared was the mutated Earth Dragon. So instead of charging forward, they retreated a distance. When the clam fights and the crane struggles, the fisherman reaps the benefits. Without having to fight to the death, they could simply wait patiently for a reward—why not?