"Damn… it's that powerful!"
A shadow flickered across the firelight, and with it came a gale of wind, raw and violent. Chen Xu's inner energy surged, his body spinning like a whirling top, launching him into the air in an instant.
Boom!
The ground beneath him shattered. Where he had stood, now rested a colossal hand, the size of a millstone. The massive rock below cracked into seven or eight jagged fragments, fragments that could easily crush a man.
Chen Xu hung in the air, eyes wide, a cold sweat breaking across his back. He had anticipated the gorilla's strength, yet nothing could fully prepare him for the sheer destructive force unleashed at such close range.
Even amidst his awe, his mind remained sharp. Five bamboo spears in each hand, he drove them mercilessly into the gaping wounds of the gorilla. In return, the beast's fury manifested in another sweeping strike, a tempest of raw power aimed at obliterating him.
Relying on the agility granted by his inner energy, Chen Xu twisted and dodged. The gorilla, though fast, was still hindered by its grievous wounds. Each strike was potent, yet slightly erratic. Still, the pressure it exerted was immense.
Chen Xu's own attacks inflicted little real harm. Each spear merely fueled the creature's rage, sharpening its ferocity. Yet the gorilla's blows demanded his full focus; any strike that landed could shatter bone and tear sinew, spelling certain death.
Thus, under the blazing inferno of the mountaintop fire, a breathtaking scene unfolded:
A lone, muscular ape-man, twin sets of bamboo spears in hand, spun and darted around a mountain-sized gorilla. His movements were lightning-fast, each motion fluid and precise, a dance of survival against a living tempest.
The gorilla struck with explosive force, yet the nimble figure evaded every blow. Frustration mounted, and the beast's howls pierced the night, each roar a testament to its mounting fury.
Around them, the terrain bore the scars of battle. Massive stones lay shattered under the gorilla's might, small trees cleaved in two, the forest itself trembling under the clash of primal forces.
Yet the ape-men, inspired by Chen Xu's valor, began to recover their courage. Slowly, Ape One and the tribal captain stepped forward. Spears glinted under the firelight.
Chen Xu pressed the attack. Driving five spears deep into the gorilla's already gaping abdominal wound, he became the lightning rod of the fight. The tribe's fear shattered. Shouting war cries, the ape-men surged forward, eager to join the fray.
Only Chen Xu knew the truth. The gorilla, though gravely wounded, still possessed a body of colossal resilience. His own advantage was tenuous at best. Each move had to be calculated; the beast's attacks were gradually becoming predictable, and several times, death had brushed past him like a shadow.
Every dodge, every parry, demanded the use of inner energy. Chen Xu's reserves, though formidable, had already dwindled to a mere fraction of their total—only thirty percent remained. Soon, exhaustion would set in, and no amount of skill could save him from the inevitable.
Fortune smiled in the form of the tribe. Ape-men, overcoming their fear, formed a protective circle. Spears and sharpened stones rained down upon the gorilla's wounds with precision honed during countless hunts.
The gorilla trembled with pain, its roars reverberating across the mountaintop. Yet Chen Xu remained the primary target, drawing the beast's focus like a magnet. The ape-men's attacks, while effective, were secondary—they only intensified the creature's fury, dispersing its attention and giving Chen Xu crucial breathing room.
As the gorilla swung, Chen Xu called out in their language, commanding as the tribe's fire god. Ape One and the tribal captain immediately responded. The weaker and elderly ape-men were ushered to safety behind the fire. The hunting team split, some wielding spears to encircle the gorilla, others hurling sharpened stones at its exposed wounds.
Within moments, the battlefield transformed. Chen Xu remained at its core, a tempest of motion and deadly precision, while the ape-men—spears flashing, stones striking—formed a deadly perimeter, harrying the beast from all sides.
Blood flowed freely from the gorilla's gaping abdominal wound, staining the ground scarlet. Each strike from the tribe deepened its injuries, forcing the colossal creature to stagger and roar in pain.
Then, a sudden shriek tore through the night. The tribal captain's five bamboo spears—previously unused—now impaled the gorilla's massive right eye. Its vision blurred, and rational thought fled. The gorilla, once focused on the surrounding ape-men, now went berserk.
Its attention shifted entirely, abandoning Chen Xu—the true threat—while it descended upon the surrounding hunters with a ferocity born of pain and fury.
Chen Xu's eyes widened. The battlefield transformed in an instant. Bamboo spears were knocked aside, ape-men struck down beneath the swing of its gargantuan hands. Within a heartbeat, blood stained the earth, seven or eight lives snuffed out.
Yet, thanks to positioning, Ape One and the tribal captain's elite squad survived with minimal injuries.
Chen Xu clenched his teeth. Damn… controlling the hatred of a gorilla this colossal is no simple task.
In this Stone Age world, coordination was far from perfect. Threat management, like in games or legends, was rudimentary, making this endeavor all the more perilous.
With a surge of inner energy, Chen Xu channeled pure force into his legs. The ground beneath him cracked, leaving deep impressions of his feet. In a heartbeat, he moved with blinding speed, traversing the battlefield in a flash, and appeared directly within the gorilla's zone of carnage.
The beast, blinded in one eye and consumed by rage, had neglected the one man capable of delivering lethal blows. Its massive abdominal wound now gaped before Chen Xu, presenting an opportunity it could not ignore—yet the gorilla remained single-mindedly focused on the surrounding ape-men, intent on revenge for the arrow that had stolen its sight.