Chapter 426: Encountering Zhu Jiuge Again

One month later, on the Main Island.

Long Xuan opened his bright eyes, clenched his fists tightly, felt his current strength, and a smile curled the corners of his mouth.

"Is this the power of the Spirit Sea Late Stage? Indeed, it is far beyond comparison with the Spirit Sea Mid Stage; only a Monster can fight across realms."

"Having broken through to the Spirit Sea Late Stage, I now have several more points of confidence for the upcoming journey to the River God Secret Realm."

Long Xuan stood up and finally walked out from the space.

Outside the Shandong, seeing Long Xuan emerge from the cave, Elder Shui revealed a slight smile and laughed, "Broken through to the Spirit Sea Late Stage, have you? Not bad; you are one of the few Heavenly Prides capable of fighting across realms, and the Spirit Sea Late Stage realm is sufficient for the River God Secret Realm."

Long Xuan checked his realm and discovered that he too had reached the Spirit Sea Late Stage, causing him to click his tongue in secret and sigh inwardly that this Elder Shui's cultivation speed was truly fast enough.

"You have already cultivated to the Spirit Sea Late Stage realm so quickly?" Long Xuan asked in surprise.

Elder Shui nodded and laughed, "Thanks to your Pills; I still need to thank you for this matter."

"The quality of your Pills is very high; I should be able to break through to the Spirit Sea Peak before the Tea Tasting Assembly begins, at which point I can fully compete with Shui Wuqing." Elder Shui clenched his fists tightly.

"The start time for this Tea Tasting Assembly is approaching soon, and the journey is long, so we need to depart in advance; since choosing a day is not as good as stumbling upon one, I suggest we set out today," Elder Shui proposed with a smile.

"Good! Then we depart today; I have nothing to pack, so let us go now."

All of Long Xuan's belongings were stored inside the belly of the Heaven-Devouring World Toad, so he truly had nothing to pack.

The two merely retrieved the Lightning Rods outside before leaving the Thunder Swamp.

……

Another month later, Long Xuan and the other stood on the high city walls of Huiyue City, gazing at the patches of ruins within the walls, their eyes filled with gravity.

The Tea Tasting Assembly and Wine Tasting Assembly hosted by the He Clan were being held in Wine City of the Huiyue Empire.

And to reach Wine City, one must pass through the Imperial City of the Huiyue Empire, Huiyue City.

When the two passed through Huiyue City intending to enter and rest, they discovered this tragic scene.

The millions of people in Bright Moon Imperial City had actually died out completely; the city was filled with corpses and bloodstains everywhere, and not a single building remained intact; how could the two not be shocked that the Imperial City of a powerful empire had suddenly been massacred by a mysterious force.

Turbulent waves surged in Long Xuan's heart, and he stared in a daze, asking, "What exactly happened here?"

"The Heavenly Phoenix Empire destroyed its Imperial City after losing half its National Fortune, and now the Huiyue Empire has also destroyed its Imperial City after losing half its National Fortune."

"Is this ethereal and elusive power of National Fortune truly so terrifying?"

Elder Shui stared dumbfounded at the scene within the city, clicking his tongue as he said, "Unexpected, truly unexpected; Bright Moon Imperial City was once so prosperous, with Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivators walking everywhere and Gu King experts as common as dogs."

"That such powerful strength could suddenly be extinguished by someone is truly unexpected."

"What force is responsible for this? With Bright Moon Imperial City destroyed, the Huiyue Empire fears the heavens are about to change."

Elder Shui's expression became extremely grave.

"The bodies of the invading party have already been cleared away, so it is impossible to tell which force was responsible."

"But presumably the great battle ended extremely quickly, causing nearby major cities to be unable to rescue Huiyue City before it was already extinguished."

"This matter is not something we can concern ourselves with; let us go, the affairs of the tea assembly are urgent."

As soon as Long Xuan finished speaking, he jumped down from the city wall and continued walking in the direction of Wine City.

The matter had nothing to do with him; he completely lacked the curiosity to investigate which force was responsible, lest he invite trouble upon himself.

Elder Shui frowned tightly but ultimately jumped down from the city wall and chased after Long Xuan...

The two traveled for several more days, and on this day, they stopped before the corpse of a monkey.

"It is actually a monkey from Ten Thousand Monkey Mountain; these monkeys do not stay on Ten Thousand Monkey Mountain, so why have they appeared in the hinterlands of a human empire?"

After examining the appearance of this monkey, Long Xuan frowned and asked in confusion.

He had previously set his sights on the Ten Thousand Year Monkey Wine of Ten Thousand Monkey Mountain, so he had investigated the situation there, and thus he could still recognize that this monkey originated from Ten Thousand Monkey Mountain.

After inspecting the injuries on this monkey, Elder Shui said, "Judging by the wounds, it is not difficult to determine it was violently killed by a human Gu King."

"Matters are becoming increasingly bizarre; first Bright Moon Imperial City was annihilated, and now spirit monkeys from Ten Thousand Monkey Mountain appear here; could it be that Bright Moon City was actually destroyed by this group of monkeys?"

"How is that possible? Even if the monkeys of Ten Thousand Monkey Mountain emptied their nests, they would absolutely not possess such strength."

Long Xuan said, "Regardless of who destroyed Bright Moon City, it has nothing to do with us; let us continue our journey."

He subconsciously stored the corpse in his Storage Ring; a Third Rank Spirit Beast is valuable in its entirety, and selling it could exchange for quite a bit of money.

Although this money was merely a drop in the bucket compared to his current wealth, picking up a corpse took only one second, so why not do it?

However, just as he stored the corpse in his Storage Ring, a sudden "Hey!" sounded from behind him.

Long Xuan only felt a gust of fierce wind strike the back of his head; his face changed color, and he hurriedly dodged sideways.

It was only because he was skilled in Body Refining and reacted quickly enough that this staff grazed past his shoulder, nearly smashing into him.

Long Xuan turned his head to look at this attacker, and his face immediately became strange.

Standing clearly behind him was a small monkey with flashing golden fur, except this monkey wore a suit of Spirit Armor that only humans would don, and held in its hand a Staff-type Spiritual Artifact that only humans possessed.

Exaggeratedly, on each of this monkey's ten fingers was worn a Ring-type Spirit Artifact.

That was not all; hanging from its waist was a pile of jade pendant-type Spirit Artifacts, around its neck hung five necklace-type Spirit Artifacts, and there were earrings, nose rings, a hat, shoes, and items on all ten toes...

Holy crap, covered in Spirit Artifacts, it was practically armed to the teeth, nearly blinding his eyes.

A spirit beast wearing so many human Spirit Artifacts on its body; can you believe this? It's truly fucked.

A spirit beast possessing so many Spirit Artifacts; just thinking about it tells you it must not be trifled with.

Seeing this monkey with red eyes staring at him with a gaze of hatred, Long Xuan finally realized something, his face changing slightly as he said awkwardly, "If I say I didn't kill that monkey just now, would you believe me?"

"Don't misunderstand; the reason I stored its corpse was because I could not bear to let it lie exposed in the wild, and I intended to find a place to bury it so it could rest in peace."

However, the answer he received was another staff strike; how would this golden monkey listen to his explanation, as it swung its staff and struck straight for his head.

"Hey!"

Black lines filled Long Xuan's head; what kind of mess was this, had he forgotten to check the almanac before leaving home, why was he so unlucky.

Facing the staff sweeping toward him, Long Xuan dared not be careless and subconsciously used Vajra Palm to block.

His palm instantly turned golden, colliding with the sweeping Iron Staff.

"Clang!"

The golden palm collided with the iron staff, emitting a sound of metal striking metal; sparks flew between the staff and the palm, and Long Xuan felt a numbness shoot through the web of his thumb, his expression changing slightly as he secretly sighed at the immense force.

Under this blow, the Golden Monkey was also shaken back three steps; it glanced at him with shocked eyes, suspecting whether he was a Spirit Beast disguised in human skin to possess such great strength.

It revealed a solemn expression; realizing this opponent was not simple, it dared not look down on him, spun the staff in its hand several times, and then charged at Long Xuan again: "Hey!"

"You insolent monkey, truly stubborn and unyielding; do you really think I fear you!"

Seeing that this battle could not be avoided, Long Xuan could only helplessly prepare to fight.

The Water Elder beside him hastily darted aside, revealing a smile of schadenfreude, showing absolutely no intention of lending a hand.

He had already seen that this Golden Monkey was not simple; its bloodline seemed extraordinary, its combat power far surpassing that of a normal Spirit Monkey, and with a full set of Spirit Tools enhancing it, it was even more unstoppable, making it perfect for testing this youngster's hidden cards.

How could Long Xuan fail to see his little scheme; cursing him silently as an old fox, he immediately decided not to use a single Gu, thinking that since the other wanted to force out his hidden cards, he would precisely not grant him his wish.

Was it not just an insolent monkey? He could subdue it with bare hands.

One man and one monkey engaged in battle, fighting to a stalemate...

At this moment, in the distance, a group of Gu Cultivators, all radiating Spirit Sea aura, rushed over quickly; upon seeing the battle between the man and the monkey, they immediately halted their steps to watch from afar.

"It is actually that Golden Monkey; this Golden Monkey possesses a Divine Beast Bloodline, its combat power is extremely extraordinary, ranking as the strongest Third Stage within the monkey troop, and it is also the next Monkey King of the troop."

"This Golden Monkey's combat power surpasses that of most geniuses of the Human Race; now that it is further enhanced by a full set of Spirit Tools, it is even less something a Human Race genius can defeat."

"Who exactly was so foolish as to provoke it? After that Golden Monkey armed itself to the teeth with Extreme Grade Spirit Artifacts, absolutely no Gu Cultivator of the same stage could defeat it."

The crowd discussed incessantly, their gazes filled with extreme wariness toward that Golden Monkey.

Only a young girl revealed a solemn expression, saying: "Haven't you all realized it yet? That person is not using any Gu, nor any Spirit Weapon; he is relying purely on physical strength to fight that Golden Monkey to an equal footing."

"This person's Body Techniques are extremely domineering; all the Body Techniques he uses are ones I have never seen before. Judging by my eyesight, his physical strength is actually much greater than that of this Golden Monkey; it is simply absurd."

"The physical strength of a Spirit Beast basically surpasses that of the Human Race by ten times; this is the first time I have seen a Gu Cultivator whose strength can exceed that of a Spirit Beast, and moreover, one with a Divine Beast Bloodline."

The young girl's gaze lingered on that man, revealing an expression of extreme interest.

Hearing this, the voices of the crowd ceased abruptly; together they turned their gazes to carefully observe that man, and soon, everyone revealed a solemn expression, collectively inhaling a sharp breath of cold air.

"Who exactly is this person? The Golden Monkey with a Divine Beast Bloodline possesses immense strength, yet this youth dares to clash with it head-on, and in a contest of pure strength, he actually holds the upper hand!"

"Hiss! Such terrifying physical strength; how exactly did he cultivate it, and what kind of Body Refining Cultivation Method did he use? This is the first time I have heard of someone whose strength can exceed that of a Spirit Beast; he is simply a humanoid Spirit Beast."

"What exactly is this person's background? With such terrifying combat power, he should not be an obscure figure."

"Tsk tsk! To be able to suppress the Golden Monkey in a fight without using a single Gu, this youth is surely no ordinary creature confined to a small pond!"

The crowd discussed incessantly once again, only this time their gazes were no longer filled with schadenfreude; instead, the looks they cast upon Long Xuan were full of wariness and awe. (End of Chapter)