Although the active skill of the giant mutated ape was undoubtedly powerful to the point that it could make an enemy despair after a close and hard battle, it was also a skill that consumed a great deal of Mana and probably Stamina as well. At least this was the conclusion to which Bai Zemin himself had come to after studying every sign shown by the beast after the activation of the skill.

The monster's body was no longer firmly standing, its limbs trembled slightly, its breathing was agitated to the point where steam was coming out of its nostrils, etc. These were all signs of exhaustion.

However... Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes and realized that Chen He only had about three or four arrows in his quiver, which meant that he could no longer continue fighting. Furthermore, Shangguan Bing Xue herself had exhausted quite a bit of Mana and although she could still stay in battle, her chest was also rising and falling somewhat erratically with each of her breaths.

Although they could not defeat the mutated giant ape, if it were another beast the odds of being victorious would probably be higher or lower depending on the type of enemy and its skill. The problem with First Order creatures was that you never knew what you were going to face until you faced it.

The giant ape suddenly turned and began to run south. Considering its height and its human-like and even more flexible mobility it was only a matter of time before it disappeared from everyone's sight. 

Shangguan Bing Xue's face turned ugly as she saw her prey about to flee. She had expended 70% to 80% of her Mana but she was confident of overcoming; however, if the giant mutated ape wanted to flee she had no confidence in being able to stop it.

"Chains." 

An indifferent voice sounded from the back, near the entrance to the subway parking area.

Chen He and Shangguan Bing Xue did not need to turn around to know who the owner of that voice was after having lived and spent so much time together for almost half a month. 

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

Suddenly, the blood that the giant mutated ape had lost during the battle moved strangely and as if they were snakes with a will of their own they rose from the ground and began to surround the beast's limbs.

Two red chains that glowed like rubies coiled tightly around the upper limbs while four chains clung tightly around the lower limbs of the giant mutated ape, sealing its movements.

Roar!

The beast looked towards the source of Mana's movement required for magical activation and roared with bloodshot eyes as it struggled with all its strength, causing the blood chains to begin cracking violently.

However, the current Bai Zemin was no longer the same Bai Zemin from before who barely had any knowledge about Mana and his skill.

"Reinforce." Bai Zemin muttered under his breath and the blood on the ground merged with the already formed bloody chains, repairing the cracks and making them stronger.

For the past few days, Bai Zemin had been practicing control over Mana and his Blood Manipulation practically non-stop, only stopping to sleep and to eat his daily meals. The rest of the time was spent by him using zombies as a source of training.

At first, it was difficult and extremely frustrating to see how his efforts were worthless. Then, he couldn't help but think in Shangguan Bing Xue and noticed that every time she created something out of ice she would say the name of her creation out loud or when she sent the ice bullets flying she would wave her hand.

It was then that an idea flashed in his mind and, copying her ways, he began to train by saying the name of what he was imagining every time he used his Blood Manipulation skill. In doing so, Bai Zemin was pleasantly surprised to realize how much easier it made his task as he could divert more of his focus to the Mana within his body to resonate with that of his surroundings and the activation of his skill consumed significantly less effort and Mana than normal.

After approximately three days of virtually non-stop training, the fruits of his efforts began to slowly manifest and at this point he was shining.

Seeing Shangguan Bing Xue and Chen He fighting, Bai Zemin realized that both of them, especially her, were strong; strong to the point of being geniuses. But in fact, the difference with him was still quite large... With such a difference in power, there was no need to hide his power so much, and the more he showed the better it would be as the less they would dare to plan against him in the future.

He threw a bottle of blood into the air and stretched his hand upward as he slowly said: "Spear."

Bang!

The bottle exploded and the liquid blood was surrounded by a wave of Mana. In less than a second the blood coalesced and hardened, taking the shape of a firm, pointed spear over two meters long. This spear even had a faint red glow around it since he had consumed over 80 Mana points to make it; one could imagine the hidden power of the weapon.

When the blood spear fell into his hands after descending, Bai Zemin brought his right hand with the spear as far back as possible just above his shoulder and with his left foot he took a big step forward, turning his body 360 degrees and after finishing the turn the spear shot forward at full speed. However, before the spear completely left his hand, the Blazing Ring in his right hand flashed and a crimson flame covered the spear in its entirety.

Boom!

With almost 100 Strength points and having expended almost the same amount of Mana, the spear created with the Shadow Tiger's blood raised a small boom as it went beyond what the surrounding air pressure was able to withstand. 

A crimson line filled with burning heat closed the distance in a second and before the giant ape could react the spear had firmly penetrated its head. But that was not all.

Boom!

The spear filled with fire-like energy blasted and the beast's head exploded into countless pieces. The pieces of burnt flesh and the smell of blood floated in the air.

The blood chains holding the beast upright vanished and the practically headless body fell noisily to the ground, collapsing onto a pile of rubble and raising a cloud of dust in the process.

Chen He's eyes and mouth were wide open comically and the disbelief in his gaze expressed how great was the shock he had received.

Tap... Tap... Tap...

Shangguan Bing Xue turned her head slightly towards the source of the sound of light footsteps and her blue eyes shivered for a moment as she saw the relaxed smile on the face of the young man behind her.

Bai Zemin had a casual smile and even rested his free hand comfortably inside his pants pocket as if what he had just done was no big deal.

He became stronger in this week! Was the thought of Shangguan Bing Xue and Chen He as they recalled what they had just witnessed, both feeling complicated emotions.