——(POV third person)——
Forty minutes passed and Li Huang, Hu Anjing, and Ye Ling were still fighting the horde of apes.
The giant giant apes kept coming to take their life as compensation for their lost fellow apes but all they could achieve was gifting more points to the trio.
As the number of beasts kept on increasing Li Huang, Hu Anjing and Ye Ling decided to attack as a team to minimize the chance of something happening to any of them.
In a team, they were sharper and stronger in comparison to when they acted solo because they have defined roles each.
There was three positions in the fighting formation that they were using. One of them would be the vanguard and would lead the group and would distract the enemy. One would be responsible to make the enemy unable to pose any danger and the last one would finish the defenseless beast. These roles would change between them after some time.
Hu Anjing who was the vanguard this time stopped a fist from an ape with her hand. Li Huang jumped on the fist and cut the beast's main tendons like nobody's business and Ye Ling put the final nail on the ape's coffin by lounging her sword in its brain.
Meanwhile, Li Huang changed his target and slit the ape's throat before he could do anything. He didn't do anything, but his other friend tried to punch Li Huang but as Li Huang jumped from there, the ape only hit his dying friend's face and killed him as a result. Before the ape could understand what he has done or morn for his friend, Hu Anjing was in front of him and with a powerful slash cut the beast in half and let him join his friend.
Ye Ling knows she was the weakest here so she used her head and tried to use the horde against themselves.
She was jumping from an ape to another and would stab them in the spine to disconnect their spinal cord. This way, they would be nearly stumped to death by their own kind. She would finish any one of these apes that were easy to finish and wouldn't waste her time on tougher ones that needed way too much energy, the energy that she needed to preserve for this prolonged fight.
Left and right, the giant giant apes would drop down and die. This was to the point that a natural fortress was created by the corpses of the apes piled together.
Any time that these corpses would pile to a level that would be more disadvantageous than it was convenient, Li Huang and Hu Anjing would throw them to other apes so that they can clear the space a little.
The corpses of the beasts would disappear in the trial after an hour, but that hour is too long for this group that is constantly fighting 30-meter apes.
…
As the battle continued, the team also started feeling the fatigue taking effect on their bodies.
"Let's attack with less intensity for a while so we can regain our energy." Li Huang said. He was thinking of the possibility of them being very tired to do anything and a single giant giant ape coming out of nowhere and killing them so he proposed this plan.
Ye Ling and Hu Anjing were both okay with this because they were feeling the fatigue slowly build up so active recovery was a welcome idea to them.
About a hundred and fifty apes were killed until now and less than a hundred of them were left.
It took the team four more hours to finish these remaining apes as they were preserving their energy.
"That was really a good fight." Hu Anjing said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. As she likes fights an Li Huang, this combined these two together for her.
"Well, them being really 'giant' also helped." Li Huang said. The fact that the beasts were big helped them move with more ease between them and attack their vitals.
"This was a great experience for me, thank you, senior brother, thank you, senior sister." Ye Ling said and bowed to Li Huang and Hu Anjing.
Li Huang waved her hand dismissively.
"Don't mention it, you have done great in this fight so be proud of your performance." He said. The way that Ye Ling analyzed the situation and acted on it showed her mature sense of fighting.
"Yes, get to core court as fast as you can. We can train with each other…" Hu Anjing also added. As Ye Ling was talented and hardworking, she could be a great training partner for her.
"Thank you, I will work harder." Ye Ling said with a small frown. After this fight, she knows why these two were everyone's talk in the sect. Even if you put talent and experience aside, their coordination was unbelievable to her. She now set a bigger goal for herself than simply getting into the core court.
"The points were too much though…" Li Huang suddenly said.
——(POV Li Huang)——
"From what you have told me, these beasts are not that much stronger in comparison to other beasts in different regions so why are they so profitable?" I couldn't help but ask.
Hu Anjing and Ye Ling were thinking about my question.
"Yes, I too think it's a bit weird." Ye Ling said.
"Maybe the trial is being generous because the way to here is hard to pass?" Hu Anjing added nonchalantly.
"Well, it might be that…" I just shrugged. I'm not going to say no to this many points so the reason doesn't matter that much.
"Okay, let's get going after a few minutes of resting." I told them and they nodded.
From the corner of my eyes I saw a half-dead giant giant ape, Ye Ling also saw that and with a simple sword move, she put it out of its misery.
The moment she did that, the ground shook and we barely stopped ourselves from falling to the ground.
From the origin of the sounds and vibrations, a bigger version of these apes came out and growled at us.
'What the hell is this?' I was stunned. The beast was over 100 meters tall (A/N: ~330 ft) and honestly was intimidating.
"Heavens! It's a GIANT gia—" Hu Anjing was going to go with her naming theme but I stopped her.
"Don't you dare! It's a gargantuan ape, nothing more, nothing less." I told her. I wasn't going to let this one be called a giant giant giant ape.
She looked a little dejected but nodded to my words nonetheless.
Ye Ling on other hand was shaking a little as she didn't think there would be something like this here.
Putting a hand on her shoulder I tried to calm her down.
"Don't worry, I have a lot ready that I can throw at it!" I told her.
"Just think about safety first in this fight and we all will be fine." I told them both.
Ye Ling who now was calmer and Hu Anjing nodded to my words and got ready for the battle.
'No wonder the points were this high, it was a test of greed…' A smirk formed on my face.