Book 1, Chapter 6 - A Monkey and a Youth

Immortal Soaring Blade

After one night of cultivation, he still had no clue about how to reach the Blood Movement Realm. The sun had not risen high in the sky and the mountains on both sides of the valley were covered in thick, white mist. The wind would occasionally blow the white mist away, allowing one to see the green vegetation on the mountain. Zhao Jiuge swallowed and carefully entered the valley.

After moving forward a few dozen meters, there were rocks blocking his path, forcing him to make a turn. Then, after making it around the corner, his vision opened up and the smell of flowers rushed into his nose.

He checked to make sure there were no signs of snakes crawling by. After doing so, Zhao Jiuge relaxed a bit and continued inside. The inside of the valley was a lot more open and there were flowers everywhere. The fragrance of the flowers filled the air, and Zhao Jiuge was beginning to enjoy the valley.

Bang! A muffled sound came from the distance and the entire valley seemed to tremble slightly. The youth immediately rushed toward the direction of the sound.

Bang, bang… The sound continued to echo, and as he got closer, the muffled sound became crisp. Zhao Jiuge’s heart became tense.

What was it that was happening ahead and could be heard from this far? Dust being kicked into the air could be seen in the distance, and the sound became even louder as small rocks fell from the mountains on the side. Zhao Jigue coughed as he was hit by a cloud of dust, and he dusted himself off. He turned his head and saw the shocking scene before him.

He saw two figures at the center of the empty valley. One figure was a dark brown bear about three meters tall. It stood with a fierce expression and all the hair on its body was standing up. Its body was covered in small scratches and there was a blood wound an inch wide in its chest. Drops of blood fell to the ground as black spiritual light shone on the bear’s body, and it let out a continuous growl.

Opposite the brown bear stood a brown monkey over two meters tall. It was staring at the brown bear. Compared to the brown bear’s fierce expression, the monkey was equally as fierce as it stared at the brown bear. The monkey’s claws were stained with blood and one of its legs was injured. There were many scratch marks on the bear, and the one on its chest had opened up into a wound. In turn, the monkey had been hit in the leg by the bear, making it difficult to move. The golden spiritual energy shining from the monkey’s body was stronger than the black spiritual energy coming from the bear.

As the monkey screamed, Zhao Jiuge noticed that there was a smaller monkey with a lighter color behind the adult monkey. It was crouching on the ground with its hands anxiously gripping its face. Its eyes were filled with fear and it was screeching in fear.

When Zhao Jiuge looked at the situation inside the valley, his pupils shrank and his breathing became short. Both the bear and the adult monkey inside the valley were releasing spirit force outside their bodies, the sign of the Spirit Transformation Realm. The pressure from the spirit force spread out all the way here, causing Zhao Jiuge to feel tense. The shine around the adult monkey was stronger than that of the bear, meaning it had reached the mid stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm.

“Howl!” The brown bear let out a roar and both its palms smashed down on the adult monkey’s head. A ray of black spiritual energy shot out as fast as lightning toward the adult monkey.

The adult monkey’s left leg was injured, so it couldn’t move very well. It raised its two palms above its head and golden spiritual energy came from its body, forming a golden curtain above its head. The black spiritual energy hit this golden curtain and gradually disappeared until nothing remained. The golden curtain became dim before it shattered.

When the brown bear saw that it hadn’t succeeded, it rushed forward a few steps before it kicked off into the air with its hind legs. It leaped several meters into the air and then descended upon the adult monkey, their claws colliding.

Thunderous rumbles echoed when the brown bear and the adult monkey collided. Spiritual energy scattered and the fluctuation of black and golden spiritual energy quickly spread out. The earth trembled and more rocks fell from the two mountains on the sides. Spiritual beasts were still merely beasts in the end. Although they had gained some intelligence, all they knew was how to use brute force.

Zhao Jiuge was so shocked, he was dizzy, but his heart was burning. The brilliant light and the bloody battle had made Zhao Jiuge hot-blooded from watching. The Spirit Transformation Realm was already this powerful. At Spirit Core Realm, one would be able fly, and at the Nascent Soul Realm, one would have an extra thousand years of lifespan. One could summon the rain, move mountains, and fill the sea with one wave of the hand.

A sad cry echoed as the brown bear and the adult monkey continued to fight. Because of the smaller monkey, the adult monkey was distracted and the brown bear landed a blow. Blood spattered everywhere.

The little monkey became even more restless at this, waving its arms and crying even more. It was worried and anxious as tears formed in its eyes.

Zhao Jiuge looked at the little monkey and couldn’t help but think of his grandpa. How similar was the little monkey’s situation compared to his? He felt empathy toward the little monkey.

The adult monkey was completely enraged from the hit and reached for the bear’s wound. The bear felt pain and hit the adult monkey back. The two had been fighting for a long time and both had suffered injuries. Their spirit force was all used up; the only thing that remained was their primal instinct to fight.

The two Spirit Transformation spirit beasts were in a fierce battle, so they hadn’t noticed Zhao Jiuge, who was hiding behind a rock. However, the little monkey that was in a panic suddenly noticed Zhao Jiuge.

It stopped moving as it looked at Zhao Jiuge with fear and pleaded with its eyes. Zhao Jiuge had always been soft-hearted. In addition, his own circumstances of not having parents and being adopted by his grandpa had made him even more compassionate. He pulled out the hunting knife he had.

The brown bear suddenly messed up and the adult monkey’s claws stabbed the wound on the bear’s chest, allowing it to grab the bear’s internal organs. The bear howled in pain as it gave up defending and smashed down on the adult monkey’s head. This made the sound of a watermelon being split open.

The adult monkey fell to the ground and pulled out the bear’s internal organs before it fell to the ground. Red blood covered the ground and the adult monkey twitched a few times. It used the last of its strength to look at the little monkey with unwillingness in its eyes before the light faded from its eyes. The last image it saw was its child. The little monkey whimpered as it pulled at the adult monkey.

This scene also pulled at Zhao Jiuge’s heart. Seeing the little monkey like this, he felt like he was looking at himself. He felt like his heart was being inexplicably blocked by something.

The brown bear’s fur was covered in blood and there were many large and small wounds all over its body. It was like the god of death. Even though the adult monkey had pulled out its internal organs, the bear had not immediately died. It moved step by step toward the little monkey with a fierce gaze.

At this point, Zhao Jiuge didn’t hesitate anymore and all the spirit force in his body began surging toward his limbs, but he could not release his spirit force to use as he wished like these two beasts.

However, seeing that the brown bear was out of spirit force and one step away from death, Zhao Jiuge believed that it was not his match. At this moment, with Zhao Jiuge’s late stage Spirit Detecting Realm strength, although he could not release bright spiritual energy like the two beasts, it still gave him an aura. His black clothes that had begun turning white due to all the washing fluttered.

He raised his hand and smashed down with the knife with all his might. However, he didn’t cut through the bear like tofu like he thought he would, but instead heard a muffled sound.

The knife had only cut about ⅙ of a meter deep before it got stuck and his hands went numb from the backlash. He endured the pain and pulled the knife out. He called out the strength he had when he killed Wang Daqiang and cut toward the brown bear’s neck. The bear’s claw trembled as it hit Zhao Jiuge’s shoulder.

When the two collided, the brown bear suddenly fell down to the ground and was finally dead. Zhao Jiuge flew backwards. Blood sprayed everywhere and he started rolling on the ground.

Zhao Jiuge felt his body become weak and unstable, then the world seemed to turn and he heard a ringing in his ear. Even the spirit force inside his body had stopped moving for a moment, but it was fortunate that his internal organs were not damaged.

The little monkey was originally crying while laying on its mother’s body, but after hearing the movement, it suddenly jumped to Zhao Jiuge’s side. It pulled at Zhao Jiuge’s sleeves and screeched.

Zhao Jiuge felt pain as his clothes were pulled and rubbed his wound. When the little monkey saw that Zhao Jiuge had reacted, unlike its mother, it couldn't help but smile.

Seeing the cute little fellow’s eyes filled with worry made Zhao Jiuge feel warmth even though he was feeling pain all over his body. He had spent his childhood alone and depended on the old man for over a decade, so he had no friends at all.

This valley that looked like a mess after a fierce battle was where a boy and a little monkey who had similar fates met.

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