Chapter 52

Let’s get started!

Su Chen no longer hesitated; he stood up, removed the forbidden seal at the entrance to the stone chamber, pushed open the heavy stone door, and walked toward the main hall of the Water Curtain Cave.

“Boom… boom… boom…”

The heavy stone door slowly opened, and the noisy monkey cries from inside the Water Curtain Cave surged in.

Su Chen stepped out.

As soon as he emerged, he saw Sun Wukong crouched on a large boulder nearby, holding a banana he’d plucked from somewhere, eating it while boasting to a few little monkeys beside him.

Sun Wukong spoke with animated gestures, spittle flying.

Seeing Su Chen appear, his eyes lit up; he swallowed the banana in three quick bites, flipped a somersault, and landed in front of Su Chen.

“Little brother, you’ve come out? How so fast?” Sun Wukong circled Su Chen twice, sizing him up.

“I’ve made some progress,” Su Chen smiled. “Further seclusion won’t yield much more, so I came out.”

“Hah! Perfect!” Sun Wukong clapped his hands. “Little brother, you’ve timed it just right! I just got a few jars of fine wine—come drink with me!”

He reached out to pull Su Chen toward the wine.

“Brother Monkey, drinking can wait,” Su Chen quickly stopped him. “I came out for a favor—I need your help.”

“Oh? What is it? Say it!” Sun Wukong thumped his chest. “If I can do it, I won’t refuse!”

“It’s not a big thing,” Su Chen paused, choosing his words. “Lately, I’ve had a sudden insight and developed a new axe technique. I want to find a quiet place to practice it thoroughly. But this technique is powerful and will create a lot of disturbance—practicing near the Water Curtain Cave isn’t convenient. So I was wondering, Brother Monkey, does Huaguo Mountain have any secluded, tranquil valleys where I can train?”

He did not mention the Heaven's Gang Thirty-Six Axes.

After all, the origin of this technique ties to the Witch Clan—better to keep it secret.

“Hah! What’s so hard about that!” Sun Wukong waved his hand carelessly. “Huaguo Mountain has plenty of gullies—I’ll find you one where you can smash to your heart’s content!”

“Then I’m in your debt, Brother Monkey,” Su Chen bowed.

“No need for formalities—we’re family!” Sun Wukong waved again, then remembered something. “By the way, little brother, do you have a suitable weapon for your axe technique? If not, I’ve got a few lying around—not as good as my Ruyi Jingu Bang, but decent enough.”

“About the weapon—I was just going to ask you,” Su Chen smiled. “I plan to forge one myself. I recall the various demon kings brought many gifts—some of them were excellent refining materials. I’d like to ask you for a few.”

“Bah! That’s all?” Sun Wukong waved his hand grandly after Su Chen finished. “Those scraps—take whatever you want. If you need more, I’ll go borrow some for you!”

“Thank you, Brother Monkey,” Su Chen said repeatedly.

This monkey brother truly had no reservations about helping him.

“Come on, let’s pick the materials first!”

Sun Wukong was impatient; he grabbed Su Chen’s arm and dragged him toward the pile of gifts in the Water Curtain Cave.

In one corner of the Water Curtain Cave, gifts piled up like a small mountain.

Jewels, jade, spiritual herbs, immortal medicines, magic treasures, weapons—everything imaginable, glowing with radiant light, blinding to the eyes.

Su Chen didn’t hesitate; he activated his spiritual sense and carefully scanned the pile of materials.

His goal was clear: find metal spiritual ores hard and heavy enough to withstand the brutal power of the Heaven's Gang Thirty-Six Axes.

“Huh? Is this… ten-thousand-year black iron?”

“And crimson flame copper essence?”

“Damn! Zhemedayikuaijingjin ？ Nageyaowangsongde ， Zhemeshede ！”

As he scanned, Su Chen silently marveled.

The gifts from the demon kings were truly diverse, with no shortage of rare treasures.

Quickly, he selected several top-tier metal spiritual ores from the mountain of materials.

Heavy as mountains: ten-thousand-year black iron; indestructible: starsteel; infused with supreme yang energy: solar essence iron…

Any one of these materials, alone, would spark bloody battles among cultivators in the outside world.

Yet here, in the Water Curtain Cave, they were just carelessly piled up.

“Little brother, just these?” Sun Wukong scratched his head, looking at the few metal pieces Su Chen had chosen. “Want me to get you more?”

“Enough, enough,” Su Chen laughed wryly. “Refining materials are valued for quality, not quantity.”

With just these, after smelting, they’d be more than enough to forge a single axe.

“Brother Monkey, I’ve chosen the materials—take me to that valley you mentioned,” Su Chen said.

“Got it!”

Sun Wukong replied, leading the way out of the Water Curtain Cave.

He didn’t ride clouds; instead, he leapt and bounded with Su Chen across Huaguo Mountain’s towering peaks and deep valleys.

Along the way, Su Chen finally saw the grandeur and beauty of Huaguo Mountain.

No wonder it was the ancestral root of the Ten Isles, the origin dragon of the Three Immortal Isles.

Many spiritual herbs long extinct in the outside world grew freely here.

After crossing several peaks, they arrived at an extremely secluded spot.

Two ten-thousand-ren mountains stood like giant stone gates, embracing each other to form a massive gourd-shaped valley.

The valley entrance was narrow, allowing only a sliver of sunlight to enter.

Inside, however, it opened into a vast space, spanning several li in diameter.

The entire valley was surrounded by steep, dark black stone walls.

“Little brother, what do you think of this place?” Sun Wukong pointed to the valley. “These two mountains—no one knows what stone they’re made of, but they’re incredibly hard. Even I need to exert myself to break them with my Ruyi Jingu Bang. Here, you can practice your axe technique however you like—it won’t make much noise!”

Su Chen touched the stone wall—it was, as Sun Wukong said, far harder than ordinary rock.

Most importantly, no plants or animals lived here—no demons or creatures came near. It was an ideal place for seclusion and cultivation.

“Perfect place! Thank you, Brother Monkey!” Su Chen nodded in satisfaction.

“Hah! Glad you like it!” Sun Wukong laughed. “Then I won’t disturb you. Train here in peace—anything you need, just call me.”

“Understood.”

Sun Wukong gave a few final instructions, then flipped a somersault, leaping to the mountain peak—and vanished in an instant.

The valley was left with only Su Chen alone.

“Then let’s begin.”

He laid out the selected refining materials on the ground.

Then he sat cross-legged and took a deep breath.

“Puff!”

A golden flame appeared at his fingertip.

It was his Primordial Golden Core True Fire.

As soon as the Golden Core True Fire emerged, the temperature in the entire valley rose sharply.

“Go!”

Su Chen pointed his finger—the Golden Core True Fire flew toward the open ground ahead.

Su Chen fed each refining material into the true fire for refining.