A huge battle erupted with a thunderous roar, the decisive fight taking place beyond the tribe, flattening the lands for dozens of miles around in an instant.
"Is this the might of a battle between Divine Spirits?" Zhang Chen watched the intertwining divine lights, constantly absorbing and capturing the aura of the two.
Houtu manipulated the earth, with gravity fluctuating unpredictably in her hands. The ground continuously heaved or flattened, trapping the Divine Spirit called ’Ant’ in a gravitational field, suppressing it. At this moment, Houtu’s cold voice echoed through heaven and earth: "Mere ants, with such meager power, what makes you think you can devour me?"
"Heh, I know you’re strong, but would I come here to devour you without thorough preparation?" Though Ant was suppressed, he showed no signs of panic.
"What do you mean?" Houtu was startled by his words, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.
As Houtu’s words fell, the next moment, black energy emerged around Houtu, accelerating her aging by several dozens of times in the blink of an eye.
"Life-Extending Incense! When did you pull such a dirty trick? Damn scoundrel, you despicable wretch, I’ll fight you to the death!" Houtu, realizing the ominous situation and sensing the continuous decline of her essence, knew that she might overturn today, and immediately began to fight desperately against Ant.
"This Houtu Divine Spirit is exuding the aura of a Tier Nine being, no, Houtu’s aura has fallen to Tier Eight... And that ’Ant’ is a Tier Eight being, it’s really hard to say who will win. No, Houtu’s aura keeps dropping, falling below Tier Eight, if this drags on, there’s a risk Houtu might overturn." Zhang Chen looked at the two mysterious entities battling in the sky, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Logically, that sphere is a Tier Twelve being, so why is Houtu only exerting Tier Eight strength?
"Could it be due to injuries? Did Houtu get so severely wounded when she challenged Eastern Emperor Taiyi back then?" Zhang Chen noticed Houtu’s declining momentum, a trace of worry in his eyes. Houtu’s strength was continuously weakening, which meant Ant’s strength was continuously growing; in this balance shift, if Houtu were defeated, the Ape Tribe would suffer greatly.
Meanwhile, the residents of the Ape Tribe were also at a disadvantage, with Worm leading a group of subordinates as insiders, betraying at the critical moment, catching the Ape Tribe off guard, even causing Thunder to take a hit, bleeding profusely from his chest.
"Worm, how dare you betray the tribe, aren’t you afraid of Great God Houtu’s punishment?" Thunder, after receiving a blow, saw his combat power rapidly decline, retreating under Worm’s attacks, completely suppressed and unable to counter effectively.
"Punishment from Great God Houtu? I’m afraid Great God Houtu won’t survive tonight. Listen here, all you people of the Ape Tribe; out of past sentiments, if you lay down your arms and switch allegiance to Ant Tribe with me, you will be spared, and we will still be good brothers in the future." Worm, pressing down Thunder, shouted to the resisting citizens of the Ape Tribe around, trying to sway their hearts.
"People of the Ape Tribe, listen up, I am Pupil, clan leader of the Ant Tribe. If you abandon Great God Houtu and choose to follow the great Ant God, you can live, and we’ll be family." At this moment, a burly man rushed over from a distance, joining the battlefield and slaughtering wildly, dispersing the organized resistance of the Ape Tribe, then wielding a long knife towards Thunder.
If Thunder could be killed, the Ape Tribe would be completely scattered.
With Pupil’s involvement, Thunder acquired more wounds, and Earth, seeing his injured father, couldn’t help but cry out in sorrow: "Father!"
With those words, he raised a long knife and was about to charge forth.
Zhang Chen quickly stepped forward, grabbing Earth’s shoulder: "Don’t rush, leave it to me."
For Zhang Chen, wasn’t this the best opportunity to gain the trust of the Ape Tribe?
"Big brother, I’m begging you! Please save my father." The young Earth saw Zhang Chen as a savior, promptly pleading with him.
Zhang Chen patted the boy’s head: "Wait for me here."
The next moment, Zhang Chen took the boy’s long knife, affixed an Invisibility Rune onto it, and his figure vanished from the boy’s sight.
In the battlefield, Thunder was fighting Worm and Pupil, stumbling backward in a perilous retreat.
"Worm, why betray the tribe? These people are your relatives, your brothers and sisters, why would you do this?" Thunder’s voice was filled with anger.
"Of course, to survive. Knowing that Rope set a trap for Earth, how could you allow my son and me to continue living? Rather than wait for you to prepare, striking first ensures you die instead of my son and me." Worm’s voice was cold.
"Damn you! You traitor to the tribe, I’ll drag you down with me even if I die! Great God Houtu won’t spare you!" Thunder no longer defended but unleashed his vital energy, desperately attacking Worm with the long knife in his hand.
"A cornered beast fighting!" Worm faced Thunder’s ferocious assault without panic, retreating in an orderly fashion, intending to exhaust his last bit of strength.
After thirty moves, Thunder’s hand weakened, and the long knife in his hand was knocked away by Pupil, the Ant Tribe’s clan leader.
At that moment, Worm’s eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he thrust his long knife directly toward Thunder’s heart: "Thunder, you’re finished!"
Just as Thunder was about to fall beneath the knife, suddenly, the air rippled slightly, and in the next moment, Worm’s head flew off, blood spurting like a fountain.
"What the hell?" Thunder and Ant nearby were both stunned, evidently shocked by the sudden change in the scene.
However, before Ant could react, his body stiffened, immobilized by a Body-Stabilizing Rune.
Zhang Chen dispelled the Invisibility Technique, looking at the blood-drenched Thunder who had fallen to the ground, his voice carrying a hint of concern: "Are you alright?"
"Thank you, Your Excellency, for saving me." Thunder struggled to stand, bowing respectfully to Zhang Chen.
Seeing him still lively, Zhang Chen knew he was fine, then pointed at Pupil beside him:
"The clan leader of the Ant Tribe has been immobilized by me, now it’s up to you."
Without a word, Thunder quickly retrived his long knife and decapitated Ant, then looked toward his retreating clansmen in the distance, holding Ant’s head and charging forward: "Pupil has been eliminated, your main support is gone, wouldn’t you rather surrender now?"
Thunder’s voice spread across the battlefield, and seeing their invincible clan leader decapitated, the people of the Ant Tribe were shocked. They knew Pupil was renowned as the tribe’s top fighter, so in an instant, the Ant Tribe was thrown into disarray, and the Ape Tribe people pressed the advantage, causing the Ant Tribe to retreat step by step.
Zhang Chen did not join the pursuit but opened the Dharma Eye, watching the distant battlefield, as it was the battle between the two Divine Spirits in the sky that truly decided the outcome.
"Great God Houtu is in trouble, she’s already fallen to Tier Seven in such a short period. If it weren’t for the mysterious nature of earth’s gravity, she would’ve been slayed by Ant already." Zhang Chen stared at the battlefield in the high sky, a trace of worry in his eyes.
"Houtu, you’re finished! You’ve almost fallen to Tier Six, what do you have to fight me with? If I devour you, I can definitely progress further and achieve Tier Twelve Divine Being status." Ant’s manic laughter echoed in the sky.
"Wretched scoundrel, you dare to covet my essence? Think of my wisdom as Houtu, will I allow myself to die by the hands of a rat like you?" Houtu’s voice remained cold and unperturbed, but her figure exploded, turning into a mass of light that plunged into a small sphere: "If death is inevitable, with calamity looming sooner or later, dragging you along as a burial companion is a gain."
The small sphere unleashed an immense gravitational field, directly locking Ant, immobilizing the Ant God on the spot.
"Oh no!"
Seeing this scene, Ant’s face changed dramatically, but with Houtu at the peak of her power, this all-out strike was irresistible. In the blink of an eye, the small sphere shattered his lower body.
In one strike, the sphere’s divine power waned, and the gravitational field began to loosen. Ant, terror-stricken, fearing being dragged down as collateral, dared not linger any longer, turned in fright, and fled without hesitation.