During his dozens of days in the outskirts of the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range, Zhaang Ye hadn’t interacted with any Martial Artists, but he had seen quite a few and had even witnessed people being killed for their riches. Hearing the shouts, Zhaang Ye knew that both he and this Mammoth had become someone else’s prey. A tough battle was imminent!

Zhaang Ye looked at the Mammoth, spread his hands, and said, "Big guy, we’re surrounded. If we want to get out of this alive, we have to work together! You attack and keep them busy, and I’ll find an opportunity to pick them off. Understand?"

After speaking, Zhaang Ye touched his forehead and thought, ’I must be losing my mind, trying to negotiate with a Mammoth! This thing might have some intelligence, but a beast is a beast. How could it possibly understand something so complicated!’

As he was cursing himself, he saw the Mammoth shake its head and let out two low rumbles at Zhaang Ye.

Zhaang Ye was startled. He stared into the Mammoth’s eyes and said in disbelief, "You... you can understand what I’m saying?"

The Mammoth rumbled. A hint of pride showed in its large eyes as it nodded like a person.

"Good heavens." Zhaang Ye was dumbfounded. "I can’t believe this brute actually understands me! Such a huge, stupid-looking creature can actually understand human language!! This world is insane!"

The Mammoth rumbled twice, staring at Zhaang Ye with displeasure, as if protesting his words.

"Alright, alright, alright." Sensing the Mammoth’s displeasure, Zhaang Ye didn’t dare badmouth it again. He said, "There are too many of them, and I’m afraid some are stronger than us. We’re caught in their encirclement; we can’t escape even if we wanted to. To survive, we have to kill their experts first. I have an idea. I’ll hide under your belly, and when you attack and tie them down, I’ll emerge to kill the enemy in a single strike..."

The Mammoth tilted its huge head, thought for a moment, and then shook its head.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Zhaang Ye grew anxious and threatened, "This is the best idea! Listen, if you don’t cooperate, you can just wait for them to kill you! After they kill you, they’ll knock out your teeth to keep as trophies. Then they’ll peel off your skin to make clothes, pull out your tendons, and drink your blood. Finally, they’ll carve up your meat, add some seasoning, and slowly eat you..."

Hearing Zhaang Ye’s terrifying description, the Mammoth cried out twice in horror and nodded its head frantically.

With an agreement reached between man and beast, Zhaang Ye wasted no more time. His figure contracted, and like a wisp of smoke, he flashed under the Mammoth’s belly. This Mammoth also went by another name, the Long-haired Elephant, and hiding beneath it, his body was naturally concealed by its long fur, so there was no need to worry about being discovered.

Not long after Zhaang Ye was hidden, eleven people emerged from the dense forest and surrounded the Mammoth.

The leader was a short, skinny man. In his hands, he held a Square Heaven Hammer that was even larger than his own body, creating an incredibly striking image.

The skinny man’s eyes gleamed as he sized up the Mammoth, growing more delighted by the second. He laughed and said, "Haha! What a fine, sturdy Mammoth! If we kill this thing, the materials from its body can be traded for Elixirs. That will surely allow me to smoothly advance my Cultivation to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer and reach the Realm of True Qi Transformation! Brothers, get it! Kill this elephant, and then we’ll find that other guy!"

Following the skinny man’s order, the Mammoth was immediately besieged. Arrows, swords, sabers, and all sorts of weapons rained down upon it.

But this Mammoth was truly formidable. It stood its ground, and with just a twitch of its skin, all the attacks were instantly neutralized.

"Such thick hide, even arrows can’t pierce it! If we skin it, this rare hide will definitely sell for a high price! Hey, big fella, stand still and let me smash you to death, haha!" The skinny man at the lead let out a strange cry, then leaped into the air with his great hammer, bringing it down toward the Mammoth’s head.

The skinny man had clearly incorporated some kind of Martial Art into this hammer strike. As he attacked, the wind howled, and even Zhaang Ye, hidden under the Mammoth’s belly, could feel the power of the blow.

The Mammoth obviously knew how dangerous this strike was. It snorted, its long trunk rising up. From its trunk, it shot five or six consecutive streams of a translucent liquid—PFFT PFFT PFFT PFFT—each one as fast as an arrow, flying toward the skinny man in the air!

This unknown liquid wasn’t poisonous or highly corrosive, but even a single drop would cause excruciating pain throughout the entire body. Zhaang Ye had suffered from it before.

The skinny man let out a strange cackle. With a wave of his free hand, the air surged, instantly dispersing the streams of translucent liquid. This ability to emit True Qi from his bare hands was precisely True Qi Detachment, a skill of the Martial Arts Third Layer Heaven!

After a Martial Artist enters the Martial Arts Third Layer Heaven, they can project the True Qi from their body to harm others. It is precisely because they can attack with True Qi Detachment that the power of the Martial Arts Third Layer Heaven is several times greater than the Second Layer Heaven of Martial Arts. The skinny man used this True Qi Detachment technique with ease, indicating his true strength was obviously far greater than Zhou Yutao’s.

ROAR—! Just as the skinny man was feeling smug, the Mammoth revealed its ace in the hole. Its trunk whipped toward him like a soft Long Whip, and at the same time, it let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar.

The Mammoth’s trunk could be both hard and soft, and its coiling strength was astonishing. Its roar was like thunder. With both attacks unleashed at once, even someone as powerful as the skinny man was put at a slight disadvantage. Although he narrowly dodged the Mammoth’s trunk in mid-air, its great roar startled his Heart Spirit.

’Now’s my chance!’ Hidden beneath the Mammoth, Zhaang Ye had also been startled by its roar, but being outside the direct confrontation, he was less affected. Seeing the skinny man’s Heart Spirit thrown into disarray, Zhaang Ye drifted out like a cloud. He unleashed the Saber Force of his Broken Blade, and a faint saber gleam flashed out, slashing straight toward the airborne man!

The strike Zhaang Ye unleashed was precisely the "Gentle Wind Slash." The "Gentle Wind Slash" was formless and killed silently, making it ideal for use in the dim, dense forest.

"Ah!!" Although the skinny man’s power far surpassed Zhaang Ye’s, he never would have imagined that a person was hiding under the Mammoth’s belly. He certainly never expected that this person could unleash such a fast strike!

The attack was launched the very instant he lost his composure. The chilling killing intent carried by the Thick-Backed Saber was so sharp it made the skinny man’s hair stand on end. As he watched the saber’s gleam flash toward him, an unprecedented sense of danger enveloped him in an instant. The chilling aura of death had arrived!

Zhaang Ye’s strike was a calculated move against an unsuspecting opponent, taking advantage of a critical opening. Once the Saber Force was unleashed, the skinny man wanted to dodge, wanted to block, but it was already too late! His face turned deathly pale!

SHLICK!

The dazzling saber light flashed past the skinny man’s Square Heaven Hammer and across his waist, cutting him in two.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The two halves of his body and the great hammer fell from the sky. Even in death, the skinny man’s eyes were wide open—he could not rest in peace!