Ye Chen could hear the spectators' exclamations perfectly clearly. Oh, a transformation? Of course he wouldn't sneak attack. They had only been fighting for how long? He had to drag this out for three full days—no less than that. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

As for whether the monkey would become so strong after transforming that he might actually lose? Impossible. Even ignoring everything else, the instant he activated the Multiplier Secret, the first strike would crit. That alone would be enough to make the Holy Prince choke.

So Ye Chen obediently pretended to be trapped and quietly waited for the transformation to finish. Ever since crossing over to the cultivation world, whenever he met enemies who could transform, he would suddenly recall the manga he read in his previous life.

The villains always loved posturing, letting the hero complete their transformation without interrupting, only to get brutally crushed afterward. Back then he had thought it was brain-dead writing. But later Ye Chen understood.

It was exactly like grinding levels in a game for a whole year, then finally facing the final boss. One slash and the boss was already half-dead. Boring. Then the boss says, "Wait! I still have a second form! I can get even stronger!" You'd wait, right?

If it were him, Ye Chen felt he would wait too. While his mind wandered with these random thoughts, he casually raised a hand and pretended to struggle a bit. Before him, the three-headed ape had already swallowed the quintessence of lunar radiance.

In that instant, its eyes turned even more savage. The original golden glow became a bloody crimson. A berserk aura exploded outward. At the same time, its already three-meter-tall frame began to swell once more. Muscles ballooned. Golden bones screeched like divine metal grinding under unimaginable pressure.

The ape's body shot upward, its heads ballooning larger. Its six arms inflated like rising mountain ranges. The golden fur grew wildly, lengthening like weeds in a storm, while the color shifted from radiant gold to pitch black. Only when it reached a full hundred meters tall did the transformation finally halt.

At this moment, the Holy Prince's three colossal heads threw themselves back and unleashed a heaven-shaking roar. Its six arms pounded its chest in a frenzy. The sheer sound waves alone made the entire sky battlefield tremble violently.

The current Holy Prince was the very image of a world-ending demonic ape descended upon the mortal plane. Terrifying beyond comprehension!

Ye Chen watched, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. This transformation sequence felt oddly familiar.

The transformation was complete. Strength roughly ten times greater. Okay, the monkey finally had something decent.

Ye Chen had been holding back for ages. At last he could loosen up a little without worrying about accidentally turning the ape into paste with a casual slap.

"Terrifying… truly terrifying. This monkey cannot be allowed to live. Next, I will have no choice but to unleash my full power!"

Ye Chen declared solemnly, then exploded forward like a bolt of divine lightning. Countless Treasure Techniques erupted from his palms. In a flash too fast for the eye to follow, he appeared before the hovering stone stele, snatched it with one hand, and instantly refined it with the Armament Secret. Then he tossed it straight into his inner world.

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The Holy Prince, now a colossal primordial demonic ape, saw Ye Chen dare steal his treasure. He let out an earth-shattering roar. An arm thick as a mountain range swung down toward Ye Chen with apocalyptic force.

Compared to the hundred-meter titan, Ye Chen looked no bigger than an ant. Yet his blood qi surged like raging seas. He met every strike head-on, as though fighting for his very life. Each clash ended in a perfect stalemate. Then, incredibly, he began pressing the attack. One punch crooked one of the ape's three massive heads sideways.

…

Outside the battlefield.

The spectators had been dumbfounded by the Holy Prince's transformation into a demonic ape. The myriad races once again felt triumphant. This time he could definitely suppress the Heavenly Emperor heir!

Some even sneered inwardly: the Heir had committed the greatest taboo in the cultivation world—letting the enemy complete their transformation. Utter stupidity.

The human onlookers, meanwhile, grew nervous. But very soon, their expressions turned strange once more. Because inside the sky battlefield… yes, the Holy Prince was more ferocious now, trading blows in a blaze of fury. But somehow… the Heir was still the one with the upper hand?

He wasn't falling behind at all in raw physical clashes—that was already absurd. From time to time, he even smashed one of the ape's heads askew or snapped an arm clean off. True, the Holy Prince regenerated instantly. It wasn't a fatal injury. Yet no matter how they looked at it, the Heir radiated an aura of complete ease. Of course, he wasn't dominating the entire time.

Occasionally, he "slipped," letting the ape land a sneaky punch that sent him flying. After all, the monkey had plenty of fists. Those surprise attacks seemed perfectly reasonable.

Yet every spectator could tell something was off. First, the Heir possessed Heavy Pupils—how could he ever be "caught off guard"? Second, he commanded the Movement Secret, and now even manipulated space itself—how could he possibly fail to dodge? Third, every time he was sent flying, his body showed not the slightest wound, yet the blood he coughed up was enough to form a crimson river.

It wasn't just a little fake. It was fake in every possible way. And each time he tumbled through the air, the Heir would still shout praise like, "Your heads have grown even pointier!" or "The Holy Prince is truly unmatched!" If that wasn't mockery, what was?

The Heavenly Emperor heir wasn't fighting seriously at all. He was straight-up toying with the Holy Prince like a cat with a half-dead mouse.

After watching for a while longer, the faces of the myriad races' onlookers darkened completely. Disbelief and deep wariness filled their eyes. If the Heir had simply crushed the Holy Prince in one overwhelming blitz as he always did, it would still be shocking, but not soul-shaking. That was just how the Heir always fought. But toying with the Holy Prince like walking a dog… even deliberately faking injuries…

The strength implied beneath that playful facade was what truly inspired terror. Just how monstrous had the Heir become? An entire realm below his opponent, yet he treated the Holy Prince like a child. Letting him transform fully, then playing with him in the palm of his hand. That was the real "terrifying beyond words"!

Yao Yuezhi's eyes sparkled brighter than stars.

Yao Yuekong wore a look that said, I knew it all along.

Prince Lu Ya of the Golden Crow clan grew gloomier by the second, killing intent boiling in his gaze…

The Little Peacock King, meanwhile, was utterly stunned. He didn't think he could beat the Holy Prince in his current Demonic Ape form. Which meant he definitely couldn't beat Ye Chen. If the Holy Prince fell later… should he still step in?

Not stepping in would be utterly humiliating. He had trash-talked loudly earlier—half the Endless Sea had heard him. If he backed down now, everyone would say he was scared.

For a moment, the Little Peacock King's heart tangled in knots. Of course he wasn't afraid of Ye Chen. He simply… missed his aunt a little!

…

Inside the sky battlefield.

Ye Chen was having the time of his life. He felt his pacing was flawless—he had absolutely created the perfect illusion of a bitterly contested stalemate. Just like this for three full days, then finish off the Holy Prince. The outside world would definitely think he had barely scraped by, perhaps even believe he was at the end of his rope. Genius prodigies harboring grudges would surely leap at the chance to challenge him.

Thinking of the endless flood of origin essence about to roll in, Ye Chen's mood soared. And now that the Stasis Secret stele was safely in his inner world. He fought with even greater gusto. He vomited even more blood.

…