Chapter 11658 — The Mouth of the Giant Face Above

The entire crowd was startled.

Yet strangely enough, apart from being a little ugly and a little chilling, the sound seemed to have no other effect whatsoever.

Surely the thing could not have just been whistling for the fun of it?

But when everyone's gaze shifted away from the giant face and back to the scene before them, their scalps prickled in unison.

The sixty crimson apes before them had, at some unknown point, all raised their palms to cover their own eyes.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!"

Ten thousand cursing beasts stampeded through everyone's minds at once, and they scrambled to widen the distance again, retreating to the farthest remove.

Just like that, the solution of making them stare at each other in pairs was instantly nullified, and the situation reverted to the unsolvable state it had been in at the very beginning.

Five pairs of eyes fixed upon sixty crimson apes.

For a short while it might just barely hold, but by their earlier experience, a collective blink or some such slip was all but guaranteed.

Holding out for three days in such a state—one could well imagine the crushing pressure.

The crux of it was: who knew whether that giant face above would release even more crimson apes?

Wei Zhao tried sending out several clones, attempting to use their lines of sight to restrict the creatures.

Yet before anyone could even begin to hope, in the span of a single second the attempt collapsed.

However numerous and dense the gazes of Wei Zhao's clones, they had not the slightest restraining effect upon the crimson apes.

"Now we're truly finished..."

The short elder was plunged into utter despair.

Wei Zhao teased: "I quite liked that distribution plan of yours from before, Senior. As a junior, I won't compete with you for it—these ape-demons are all yours."

The short elder bristled at once: "All yours! I don't want a single one! Take the whole lot!"

Wei Zhao laughed: "You're quite fickle, Senior."

"..."

The short elder was left speechless, choking on his own words.

The others wore peculiar expressions.

The present situation was plainly far more perilous than before; if they could not produce a solution soon, the odds were high they would all be buried here.

And Wei Zhao still had the leisure to crack jokes?

Zhang Tailing could not help asking again: "Has Young Hero Lin thought of another good idea?"

Everyone's eyes lit up at once, and they all perked up their ears in eager anticipation.

Wei Zhao's earlier plan, childish as it was, had worked on the spot; with his wildly unconstrained way of thinking, perhaps he really could come up with another.

Wei Zhao laughed: "Daoist Zhang, you flatter me far too much. I'm at my wit's end as well right now—merely making the best of a bad lot."

"Is that so?"

Zhang Tailing was half convinced, half doubtful.

They were all in the same boat now; if there truly was a way out, Wei Zhao should not be the sort to keep it hidden.

After all, given the nature of these crimson apes, every extra person meant one more measure of restraint.

Little did they know, Wei Zhao indeed had no solution—but he did not need one.

Because this was now a contest of gods, no longer something a man of his level could meddle in.

Through the perspective of his World Will, apart from the great Ape King above, another god-tier powerhouse was rapidly approaching!

The situation was growing more and more interesting.

When Wei Zhao set out for the Prince of Qi's Estate this time, he had not thought so far ahead; since they had issued him a challenge, he naturally had to come.

With the Prince of Qi's Estate's profound reserves, Wei Zhao knew they would surely stir up some manner of trouble, but even he had never imagined it could reach the level of god-tier powerhouses!

And not just one of them!

What was unfolding before them was a true clash of gods.

The others, though lacking such a cheat-like perspective as the World Will, were, after all, people of genuine divine powers with solid foundations, and they too could vaguely sense what was happening at this moment.

Everyone immediately held their breath and stilled their minds, solemn-faced.

Not daring to make the slightest sound.

Wei Zhao suddenly asked: "Word has it that the Prince of Qi's Estate has been bestowed a stroke of fortune by a god-tier powerhouse. Senior, might you disclose just who this god-tier powerhouse is?"

The short elder eyed him warily: "What are you asking that for?"

Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow: "We're idle anyway—might as well gossip a bit to pass the time."

"Pass the time?"

The short elder knit his brows and glared, about to snap back in anger, when the gaunt elder beside him cut in gravely: "No comment."

Wei Zhao nodded: "So it's no simple matter, then. Daoist Zhang, do you know?"

That single remark nearly set the two ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate stamping their feet again.

Right in front of them, openly discussing the Prince of Qi's Estate's most closely guarded secret—was that appropriate?

Zhang Tailing said with a meaningful air: "Rumor has it that behind all seven great princely estates stand god-tier powerhouses. This humble Daoist holds that such rumors cannot be wholly believed, nor wholly disbelieved."

Wei Zhao deeply concurred.

One had only to look at the plight of the Prince of Han's Estate—at least behind the Prince of Han's Estate, there was certainly no god-tier powerhouse.

Conversely, if they truly had leaned upon so great a tree as a god-tier powerhouse and still ended up in that state, then that brood of descendants of the Prince of Han's Estate would have deserved their deaths a hundred times over.

Zhang Tailing continued: "Normally speaking, god-tier powerhouses may only remain within the Inner Royal Court, and cannot directly interfere in the affairs of the Inner Royal Court."

"Even if one of the seven great princely estates truly had an ancestor who was a god-tier powerhouse, should something actually happen, it is by no means certain he could be of help."

"From what this humble Daoist knows, some god-tier powerhouses, to avoid being devoured by karmic backlash, will even deliberately sever their ties with the Inner Royal Court."

"But there is one exception."

At these words, the two ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate visibly tensed.

Wei Zhao could not help but laugh inwardly. These ancestral patriarchs enshrined in the seven great princely estates' clan shrines—whatever else might be said of them—were plainly far inferior to the old monsters of the outside world, at least in cunning and depth.

They rather gave one the impression of having grown up in an ivory tower.

Zhang Tailing did not stop there.

"Legend has it this man was a prodigy of heaven, peerless in both sword and sound; his cultivation and attainment reached the very pinnacle. Even a casual trifle he produced in play could effortlessly crush the many geniuses of the entire Inner Royal Court."

"Most importantly, this man can walk upon song, traversing freely between the various realms."

"Moreover, he is immune to the natural restrictions of the various realms."

"His title is—Li Zui, the Banished Immortal."

The moment the two characters Li Zui fell, the eyelids of the two ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate visibly twitched. Though they forced their faces into composure, the violence of their emotional turbulence was something Wei Zhao could feel without even looking.

The crux was that, from the perspective of the World Will, Wei Zhao clearly sensed that that god-tier powerhouse had likewise registered a flicker.

Wei Zhao's heart stirred.

True, the other party was at this moment clashing with the great Ape King in another space, and such a fluctuation was quite possibly a pure coincidence.

Even if the other party truly had reacted to Zhang Tailing's words, that would not necessarily prove he was Li Zui, the Banished Immortal.

Still, from where Wei Zhao stood, this matter was indeed quite intriguing.