Chapter 24 — A Single Thought Cleaves the God Within the Heart

! Flat!" This Dark-Fanged Demon Ape had cultivated the Eight Thunder-Roar Techniques Shen Mu had taught it and felt its strength advance greatly; seeing Shen Mu come charging, it excitedly tossed aside the twig at its lips, struck a stance, and with heaving grunts grinned: "Down! Flat!" Shen Mu rushed forward; the Dark-Fanged Demon Ape, like a moving hill, barreled headlong at him, and suddenly unleashed the move "Alone in the Eastern Sea, Carrying Spring Thunder," which came with a howling wind that grew louder and louder, a gale bowing the trees all around! Shen Mu's eyes lit up; he loosed a long whistle and himself unleashed "Alone in the Eastern Sea, Carrying Spring Thunder," colliding with the Dark-Fanged Demon Ape in a thunderous crash! Dong! A dull, enormous boom rang out, and man and ape were flung back by each other's force. The Dark-Fanged Demon Ape landed and at once charged again, its massive fist splitting the air, shaking it with every blow, striking as it moved, the air humming and buzzing. Shen Mu was astonished: even the Myriad-Armed Vajra had been mastered by this Dark-Fanged Demon Ape! Though the ape's Myriad-Armed Vajra was still somewhat clumsy, and it had not grasped the subtlety of the moves, it had grasped the spirit of the Myriad-Armed Vajra; and with this strange beast's boundless strength, the Myriad-Armed Vajra in its hands, in sheer might alone, surpassed Shen Mu's own! The Dark-Fanged Demon Ape's body was too powerful, absurdly strong, and after cultivating the Eight Thunder-Roar Techniques it grew yet more robust, every punch hideously forceful! Shen Mu's cultivation had greatly advanced the day before, and nourished by vital essence his strength had grown much as well; today he had taken another Essence-Condensing Pill, and had thought to beat the Dark-Fanged Demon Ape half to death—yet he found he could gain no advantage at all, and seemed even to be slipping into the weaker position!