Chapter 550: Red Monkey Wine

For any cultivator, a treasure land is a place that can be hoped for but not reached.

Although a treasure land is also a type of secret realm, its danger coefficient is actually much lower than that of a secret realm. Precisely because of this, Yan Buji was rather surprised to hear of a treasure land that, on the surface, no one watches over.

After entering the treasure land, Yan Buji was transported to a plum forest.

Seeing the plums hanging on the trees, Yan Buji, puzzled, plucked one and examined it closely.

"First-Tier Spiritual Material?"

Yan Buji's palm emitted icy blue Shocking Wave Fire, which he slowly refined to sense the composition of the Spiritual Material.

Cultivators differ from ordinary people; ordinary people might have to rely on livestock or test poisons on themselves to judge a herb's effect. Yan Buji, as an Alchemist, naturally has a way to experiment with the Spiritual Material's uses.

"Hmm, it should have the effect of clearing blood stasis and healing internal injuries; refining some basic healing pills would be pretty good."

He himself has no use for such pills, but being poor, Yan Buji, adhering to the principle of not wasting, collected all the plums from the forest into his bag.

Leaving the plum forest, Yan Buji looked around and smelled a peculiar wine fragrance; following the scent, he discovered a vast patch of grass resembling purslane.

He pulled out a stalk, held it under his nose to sniff, then refined it with Heavenly Fire, and Yan Buji was suddenly shocked.

"What a peculiar Spiritual Material—it actually makes my magical flow a bit sluggish..." Yan Buji was surprised; the herb was only a Third-Tier Spiritual Material, yet its released fragrance could intoxicate his magic, affecting his senses, though it had little toxicity.

"It should be good for brewing wine," Yan Buji smiled. This unique spiritual herb can only be found in a treasure land; he had never heard of such a Spiritual Material outside.

After pulling all the spiritual herbs here, Yan Buji continued on, searching for every Spiritual Material he saw along the way.

On the other side.

A group of Foundation-Establishing cultivators stood as they entered a fruit forest, glanced around, and whispered, "Be careful, the fire monkeys here are not easy to deal with."

"No problem, this time we prepared many green peaches, laced with a large amount of narcotic, and will toss them along the way to attract the fire monkeys' attention; once we knock them down, we can get the Red Monkey Wine."

"Hmm, not bad!"

These cultivators seemed to know some rumors about wine pools and meat forests, so they prepared a lot in advance; the purpose was obvious—to obtain the Red Monkey Wine brewed from a beast called fire monkey in the fruit forest.

Fire monkeys hide spiritual fruits within tree stumps, and over years of collection the stumps accumulate many spiritual fruits, which eventually ferment into Red Monkey Wine. This is also one reason they have not found any spiritual fruits in this fruit forest so far.

No spiritual fruits means there must be many fire monkeys in this forest. Though these fire monkeys possess great demon strength and move in packs, previous cultivators found that a First-Tier green peach can effectively attract their attention; thus, with enough preparation, they can lure them away and obtain the Red Monkey Wine.

The idea was good; they kept tossing green peaches along the way to attract the fire monkeys' attention, until they reached a massive dead tree.

On the dead tree, many monkeys covered in crimson hair stood, some even with flames burning on their bodies; upon seeing strangers intrude on their territory, they let out a cacophonous howl.

"Damn, why are there still so many fire monkeys?"

"Don't worry, this was accounted for. Fire monkeys don't harm people; quickly bring out the remaining green peaches," the leading Foundation-Establishing cultivator shouted.

The others hurriedly pulled green peaches from their storage bags, piling them into a small mound.

Some fire monkeys widened their eyes, rushed down, and just as they were about to grab the green peaches, they began to gnaw...

"Wooo!!!"

A strange shout suddenly came from the tree, and the cultivators' faces changed.

They saw that, at some unknown time, a crimson-gold fire monkey had appeared on the tree; it let out a shout, and all the fire monkeys spewed flames from their mouths, burning to death along with the monkeys that were eating the green peaches!

"Bad, it's the Fire Timing King! Everyone run!"

"Wuhuhuhu!!"

The Fire Timing King ordered the fire monkeys to launch an attack; from all directions in the fruit forest, many fire monkeys suddenly emerged, encircling them.

"Charge!!"

The group of cultivators realized the situation was dire and had to muster all their strength to break out of the encirclement, scattering in escape.

At that moment, the Fire Timing King struck, appearing like a phantom behind a Foundation-Establishing cultivator, grabbing the other's head with both hands and snapping it off!

Immediately, the fire monkeys followed the Fire Timing King in a massive slaughter.

"Don't kill me, spare me!"

The last Foundation-Establishing cultivator, who hadn't managed to flee, stared in terror at the attacking fire monkeys; the fear of death made him forget that before him were merely a group of beasts, unable to understand his pleas for mercy.

However, the Fire Timing King's eyes twinkled with mischief, appearing quite lively, evidently having acquired some intelligence.

"Help!!!" the Foundation-Establishing cultivator shouted wildly, crying bitterly, his courage already shattered by fear.

Before the Fire Timing King could act, a figure suddenly flew into the scene and looked around.

"What a fierce beast."

"Wuhuh!!"

A group of fire monkeys launched an attack on the unexpected guest, but in an instant, the charging fire monkeys were torn apart!

Immediately after, the Fire Monkey King sensed something amiss and tried to flee; an icy blue flame froze the surroundings, turning all the fire monkeys into icy shards!!

"Are you okay?" the person turned his head, and it was Yan Buji, who had come here to gather Spiritual Materials.

Seeing the Foundation-Establishing cultivator sitting on the ground, terrified, Yan Buji shook his head.

The cultivation world is like this: the more cultivated a cultivator is, the more they cherish their lives.

They don't even dare to fight these beasts to the death; that's how their lives end.

"Th-thank you, senior, thank you for saving my life."

"If there's nothing else, leave here as soon as possible."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!!"

That cultivator dared not linger, turned and ran.

Yan Buji walked over, looked at the nearby severed limbs and shredded flesh, and shook his head.

He approached the massive dead tree, peered into the hollow where spiritual fruits were piled, and a wave of wine fragrance drifted out, prompting him to nod.

"It should be spirit wine, but it can't compare to the Gentleman Wine I brew myself."

Yan Buji extracted all the spiritual fruits and spirit wine from the hollow; with a flick of his magical power, a stream of wine flowed along his fingertips into his palm as if held in a cup, and he immediately took a sip.

"Hmm, truly fragrant and aromatic; though a bit spicy, the aftertaste is indeed rich."

This wine has a strong aroma and decent potency; it's a different type from my Gentleman Wine. Though its grade can't match that of Gentleman Wine, it would surely fetch a good price if sold.

"In the wine‑pool‑and‑meat‑forest, good things are truly everywhere, but I don't want to go to the center of the Treasure Land; I'll just wander around nearby."

Yan Buji smiled; venturing into the deep of the Treasure Land would inevitably bring him face‑to‑face with those at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, possibly sparking a big fight, which does not fit his plan.