Battle with the Green Wind Monkeys

"What are we waiting for, then? Let's kill these beasts, pick these Spirit Fruits, and never again risk life and limb to earn Spirit Stones. We cultivators fight Heaven for our fates—where is there no danger? How can we achieve the Great Dao if we cower and hesitate?" Cultivator Ding shouted.

Wang Hong had originally felt that something was amiss. Such a large orchard could not possibly have gone undiscovered before. For it to have remained intact until now, there had to be some hidden danger.

But the others had already attacked the Green Wind Monkeys, so any attempt to dissuade them would have been useless.

If he left alone, traveling through Black Dragon Marsh by himself would likely have been even more dangerous.

Thus, he also sent out a flying sword to slash at the demon monkeys, though he secretly remained on guard.

Old Man Ge was at Qi Refining Layer Six, the highest cultivation among the five. He wielded a fire-element flying sword, its blade wrapped in a layer of blazing flames. He struck first, cleaving the smallest demon monkey cleanly into two without any resistance.

The Lei cultivator was at Qi Refining Layer Five and used an axe-shaped magical artifact. He brought it down at a demon monkey's head. The monkey leaped aside to evade it, then swept out a claw and sent a green wind blade slashing horizontally toward the Lei cultivator's waist.

The remaining four demon monkeys pounced toward the battle. Old Man Ge, Cultivator Shi, and Cultivator Ding each intercepted one, while the extra monkey lunged at Cultivator Ding.

Cultivator Ding possessed only Qi Refining Layer Four cultivation. He had slapped two defensive talismans onto himself and held a low-grade magical artifact longsword. Facing two Green Wind Monkeys alone, he struggled to support himself from every side and was already stretched thin.

After battling one Green Wind Monkey for a while, Wang Hong discovered that these monkeys were swift and agile. Several of his attacks were dodged, while he himself nearly got struck by the wind blades it launched.

He used a defensive talisman to withstand a wind blade head-on, then took the chance to fire two Iron Thorns seeds at it. The monkey leaped upward and dodged them.

Before it could land, he fired another six Iron Thorns seeds, surrounding it from above, below, front, back, left, and right.

This time, three seeds finally struck the demon monkey. Two of them rapidly sprouted and grew, winding around its entire body. Wooden thorns grew from the vines and pierced into its flesh, causing its spiritual power to stagnate.

At the same time, a flying sword circled its neck, and its head rolled to the ground. Blood sprayed several feet high from its severed neck.

Having dealt with his opponent, Wang Hong swept his gaze across the battlefield. Cultivator Ding was naturally in the gravest danger, but though he was in peril, he always managed to dodge by the narrowest of margins. He could probably hold out a little longer.

If Wang Hong rushed in to rescue him now, they would easily fall into a stalemate, which would not favor a swift conclusion. He might as well help the other teammates kill the demon monkeys first. Better to break one finger than injure all ten.

Having settled on a battle plan, Wang Hong gulped down a large mouthful of spirit wine and called out, "Fellow Daoist Ding, hold on a little longer. I'll come rescue you soon."

"Fellow Daoist Wang, hurry up. I can barely hold on!" Cultivator Ding replied, his face flushed crimson.

At the same time, Wang Hong fired three Iron Thorns seeds at a demon monkey entangled with Old Man Ge.

Only one seed struck the demon monkey, but it swiftly bound the creature. Old Man Ge seized the opportunity and cut off its head with a single stroke.

Then Old Man Ge went to rescue Cultivator Ding, while Wang Hong repeated the same tactic to aid the Lei cultivator.

A short while later, the two of them killed another demon monkey and charged toward the remaining three.

Seeing that the situation had turned against them, the three remaining demon monkeys actually let out several squeaks, then turned and fled deeper into the stone forest. The fog was too thick, and no one dared pursue them.

"Many thanks to Fellow Daoist Wang for your help this time. Otherwise, who knew how long they would have kept us entangled," the Lei cultivator thanked Wang Hong. Wang Hong had contributed the most in this battle, and the others also offered their thanks. Wang Hong modestly replied with a few words.

After driving away the demon monkeys, the group only rested and regulated their breathing briefly before shooting up the Spirit Fruit trees. They plucked Spirit Fruits with both hands, afraid that if they were even a moment slower, the others would strip them bare. They only regretted not having been born with a few more hands.

Only Wang Hong was not in such a hurry. He drank some spirit wine and waited until his spiritual power had recovered before climbing up a Spirit Fruit tree.

It did not matter if he picked a few fewer Spirit Fruits. He now earned twenty to thirty thousand Spirit Stones every month. He could not put himself in danger for such a small amount of Spirit Stones. If he encountered danger again while short on spiritual power, that would be troublesome.

Standing on a branch, Wang Hong picked a Spirit Fruit and held it beneath his nose. It had only a faint, delicate fragrance.

With a crunch, he bit into it. It tasted good—crisp and juicy. With only a slight chew, it turned entirely into juice, without the slightest bit of pulp.

He finished the Crimson Silk Fruit in two or three bites. In that brief time, the others had already stripped nearly half a tree bare. Wang Hong reached out with both hands repeatedly, picking more than ten Spirit Fruits in a single breath.

By the time he had picked half a tree, the others had already finished one tree and moved to another, harvesting it with abandon.

Suddenly, Wang Hong stopped. He wrinkled his nose and caught a rank, fishy stench drifting in from all around. Though his vision was currently blocked by the white fog and his Spiritual Sense could only probe a few yards away,

his nose remained extremely sharp. When he had first broken through to the Xiantian Stage, it had received great enhancement, allowing him to smell scents from dozens or even hundreds of yards away.

Most cultivators relied on Spiritual Sense. Their other faculties, such as the five senses, were not particularly extraordinary.

Only cultivators who practiced special cultivation techniques could strengthen a particular organ.

For example, certain spirit eye techniques could see through illusions and other phantasms. Wang Hong guessed that some spirit eyes might be able to see through his Thousand Illusions Mask.

"Everyone, it seems we've been surrounded," Wang Hong warned.

"How does Fellow Daoist Wang know? Do you know what it is?" the Lei cultivator asked, though his hands did not slow in the slightest as they picked Spirit Fruits.

"It may be demon monkeys," Wang Hong replied, avoiding any explanation of how he knew.

The Lei cultivator and Cultivator Ding continued harvesting wildly. Cultivator Shi had originally stopped, but seeing the two still gathering fruits with abandon, she hesitated briefly before following suit.

Only Old Man Ge stopped what he was doing, took a sip of spirit wine, and stood ready with his sword.

Wang Hong also held his long spear as he vigilantly scanned the surroundings.

Suddenly, more than a dozen figures lunged out from all directions. Before they arrived, they had already launched over a dozen wind blades at the five of them.

Wang Hong only had time to slap an Earth Armor Talisman onto himself before three wind blades were already upon him. He swung his spear to block two and twisted aside to dodge the last.

At that moment, another dozen or so demon monkeys rushed out from the white fog. They unleashed another barrage of wind blades toward the group.

As Wang Hong dodged the incoming wind blades, he suddenly heard a scream. Glancing toward it, he saw that Cultivator Shi had had one arm severed by a wind blade. There was also a bloody hole in her abdomen, and she had already been seriously wounded.

What angered him even more was seeing Cultivator Ding slap an Earth Escape Talisman onto himself, drill into the ground, and vanish. He had actually taken advantage of the chaos to flee.

By then, more than twenty demon monkeys had drawn close, completely encircling the remaining three and a half people. Escaping now would be extremely difficult.

The Earth Escape Talisman Cultivator Ding had used was a high-grade first-tier talisman, not easily found on the market. Wang Hong had also been fortunate enough to acquire one.

But a single Earth Escape Talisman could only travel a dozen or so yards at once. It was already too late to escape now—he would likely be met by concentrated fire from countless wind blades the instant he surfaced.

Wang Hong looked around. One monkey was the largest, twice the height of the other demon monkeys. It was clearly the leader of the troop and was blocking the direction from which they had come. A plan formed in his mind.

While fending off wind blades, Wang Hong raised his voice and said, "In a moment, I'll use talismans. Everyone scatter and run. Life and death will be decided in this one stroke."

"Fine. I have several talismans as well. In three breaths, we'll use them together," the Lei cultivator shouted back.

The remaining two both nodded to show they understood.

Wang Hong took out a stack of talismans, while the Lei cultivator also pulled out five or six. The two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously hurled their talismans into the monkey troop.

A large number of talismans exploded amid the monkeys—Fireball Spells, Wood Thorn Spells, Water Arrow Spells, Earth Spike Spells, and more. The demon monkeys were immediately overwhelmed.

Taking advantage of the chaos among the monkeys, Wang Hong used an earth-burrowing talisman and fled deeper into the stone forest.

More than a dozen yards away, Wang Hong quietly emerged from the ground and looked back. Although the demon monkey leader guarded the direction out of the stone forest, the other three had, just as Wang Hong expected, all chosen without prior agreement to break through toward the edge of the stone forest.

Cultivator Shi had already been torn apart by the monkey troop. Old Man Ge and the Lei cultivator had broken out of the encirclement, but a large group of demon monkeys was pursuing them.

Wang Hong quietly slipped deeper into the stone forest. He had sensed earlier that Cultivator Ding had also gone this way.