Fire Monkey Pack

The moment Xia Mo and Wu Hao reached the exit of the karst cave, they did not head out immediately. Instead, they observed their surroundings first and discovered that, unlike the scorching cave, the valley was pleasantly cool, with a gentle breeze blowing through it.

The valley was vast, surrounded by mountains on all sides and extremely well hidden. A small lake lay at its center, with flowers and grass growing all around it in dazzling colors, filling the air with a faint fragrance.

The lake water was quite calm, clear and bright without a single ripple. Mist slowly rose from its surface, giving off a faint spiritual aura.

Before long, Xia Mo spotted a small island deep within the lake. On it grew an ancient tree over three meters tall, shaped like a coiling dragon.

The ancient tree had scarcely any branches or leaves. Five bright crimson fruits hung from it, each about the size of a baby's fist. Crystal-clear, delicate, and exquisite, they dangled from the branches and emitted an astonishingly strange fragrance. They were Fire Element Fruits.

Xia Mo could not help licking his lips. He had never been able to resist food, much less a fragrance this tempting.

Looking farther inward, he saw a straight tree trunk on one side of the island, like a bridge connecting to the depths of the valley. Moreover, Xia Mo sensed that there seemed to be something good farther inside.

A towering tree stood out there, its canopy spreading like clouds or a tent. Its leaves were lush and dense, allowing not even a sliver of sunlight through. Its trunk was rugged and knotted, while its thick roots gripped the earth like enormous eagle claws.

"Be careful. The monkey pack is in that tree," Wu Hao said solemnly.

Xia Mo swept his gaze across the valley. It did not contain only the Fire Element Fruit Tree; the flowers and grass throughout the valley were all useful Medicinal Herbs.

"Let's go in," Xia Mo said. The valley was too open; it was almost impossible to conceal themselves.

"Screech, screech, screech!" Suddenly, a fiery-red little monkey flashed through the treetops, and a fruit pit shot toward Xia Mo's head.

Xia Mo shifted slightly to dodge it, then reached out, caught it, and flicked his wrist. The pit flew back along its original trajectory.

The Fire Monkey easily dodged the pit, but curiosity flickered in its eyes. This human seemed rather interesting.

"Screech, screech, screech!" The Fire Monkey stuck out its bright red butt and smacked it, as though mocking Xia Mo.

Xia Mo rolled his eyes. A dignified dragon phoenix was actually being looked down on by a monkey!

Purple-Gold Light flashed in his eyes, and a Dragon Phoenix Phantom passed through the Fire Monkey's vision.

The little Fire Monkey immediately leaped down from the tree in terror. With its butt raised, it lay prostrate on the ground before Xia Mo, as though worshipping something.

Wu Hao, standing beside him, was rather curious about what the little Fire Monkey was doing.

Suddenly, the little Fire Monkey stood up and began screeching. Before long, dozens of Fire Monkeys appeared in the huge tree.

"Be careful. Something's off. This Fire Monkey Pack seems much stronger than you said," Xia Mo said in surprise.

"Got it. If we can't handle it, we'll retreat immediately," Wu Hao replied gravely.

The little Fire Monkey jumped back into the tree and climbed before an old Fire Monkey, screeching incessantly as though telling it something.

After a while, the old Fire Monkey came down from the tree with the little monkey and several adult Fire Monkeys, walking toward Xia Mo and Wu Hao.

Wu Hao watched the approaching Fire Monkeys nervously, while Xia Mo was curious about what the little Fire Monkey had said to the old one. The Fire Monkeys had not immediately attacked and driven them away.

When the old Fire Monkey arrived before them, it suddenly said, "Greetings, honored guests. I am Huo Lie, chieftain of the Fire Monkey clan. What brings this honored guest to our Fire Monkey clan?"

"What? A sixth-tier magical beast?" Wu Hao cried in shock.

"You've gotten us into deep trouble," Xia Mo said. Although magical beasts had bloodline suppression, that was relative. A higher bloodline only meant your clan was powerful, but if they truly went all out, they would still kill you. Zi Yan had often been beaten senseless when she was young, hadn't she?

"No, I am not a sixth-tier magical beast yet, only fifth-tier. Fire Monkeys are naturally intelligent, so we can learn to speak at fifth-tier," Huo Lie said.

"So it's only fifth-tier." Wu Hao seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Xia Mo grumbled inwardly, There's no difference between fifth-tier and sixth-tier to us, idiot.

"We accidentally entered this place. We saw a Fire Element Fruit Tree here and came over to take a look, not knowing it belonged to someone," Xia Mo said, knowing that Huo Lie was speaking to him. I'm not being cowardly. I really can't beat him.

"Screech, screech, screech!" The little Fire Monkey cried out again from the side.

"Got it, got it," Huo Lie told the little Fire Monkey.

"Honored guest, you should be an Alchemist, correct? Could you help us with something?" The old Fire Monkey looked at Xia Mo in surprise. There were far too few magical beasts capable of becoming Alchemists.

"How did you know?" Xia Mo asked.

"By your scent. Little Fire sensed a strong smell of Medicinal Herbs and pills on you," Huo Lie said.

"I see. What do you need me to help with?" Xia Mo asked.

"May I ask what rank Alchemist you are? Can you refine healing pills of third rank or above? If not, do you have any on you? We can trade for them," Huo Lie said.

"I can refine third-rank Returning Sun Pills. What do you intend to trade?" Xia Mo asked. It seemed another monkey had been injured, and fire affinity was unsuitable for healing.

"We can provide three sets of ingredients. As payment, honored guest may choose one Medicinal Herb. Would that be acceptable?" Huo Lie asked.

"That's fine, but its grade can't be too low," Xia Mo said.

"Honored guest, follow me," Huo Lie said.

Xia Mo followed him as the Fire Monkeys' nimble bodies darted through the treetops.

"Keep up!" Xia Mo called to Wu Hao.

They followed Huo Lie up the tree, circling along its broad, level trunk several times before finally passing through the dense canopy. Their view suddenly opened up. To their surprise, a massive cave lay behind the canopy.

On one side of the cave, spiritual herbs each gave off an alluring fragrance. Hundreds of spiritual herbs grew within the cave, while a layer of colorful mist even hung at its ceiling. This was mist condensed from energy; merely taking a breath made one feel refreshed all over.

These Fire Monkeys are clever. They even know how to cultivate spiritual herbs! Xia Mo could not help praising them inwardly.

Although the Fire Monkeys had already displayed considerable intelligence, when he saw the medicinal garden they had cultivated, he realized that he had still underestimated the wisdom of this Fire Monkey Pack.

"Blood Jade Ginseng, Crimson Heart Fruit, and this—Golden Sun Ganoderma. My heavens, did the Fire Monkeys bring over all the Medicinal Herbs nearby?" Even Wu Hao could not help exclaiming.

On the other side of the cave lay the treasures collected by the Fire Monkey Pack. Beside them stood several hollow tree stumps. Suddenly, a strange fragrance of wine filled the air, instantly invigorating both Xia Mo and Wu Hao.

Huo Lie picked up one of the tree stumps and opened it. Xia Mo saw that it was filled with amber-colored wine.

Xia Mo took a sniff. The aroma contained at least a hundred different spiritual herbs. Even by Xia Mo's standards, this wine was exceptionally fine. After all, a Fifth-tier magical beast and an entire pack had gathered far too many good things.

The wine inside the tree stump was thick and viscous. After fermenting for a long time, it had turned into a wine paste, its rich fragrance becoming even more potent.

"Monkey Brew! So much Monkey Brew!" Wu Hao's eyes lit up. He was clearly a lover of fine wine.

This was Monkey Brew. Wherever monkey packs gathered, the monkeys would collect mountain delicacies and wild fruits to make wine. The resulting brew was incomparably fragrant, surpassing countless wines made by humans.

However, those were merely Monkey Brews made by ordinary monkeys using ordinary wild fruits. The tree stump before them contained Monkey Brew made by Fire Monkeys from countless spiritual herbs. The two could not be compared at all.

"Honored guests, can we exchange Monkey Brew for pills?" Huo Lie asked.

"Of course. I have third-grade healing pills, Returning Sun Pills and Detoxification Pills, as well as second-grade healing pills, Bone-Growing Pills and Body-Restoring Pills," Xia Mo said.

"Then give us three of each third-grade pill and ten of each second-grade pill," Huo Lie said generously. After all, what they lacked least here was medicinal herbs.

Xia Mo selected enough medicinal herbs from the herb garden to refine those pills, substituting medicinal herbs for the Monster Cores as well.

As payment, he chose two tree stumps of Monkey Brew and two Fire Element Fruits. He even found a large amount of Ice Spirit Cold Spring among the treasures. Were magical beasts simply more likely to obtain such things? He remembered that Medusa had an entire pool of Ice Spirit Cold Spring.

He felt that he should not be too greedy, so he chose only a fourth-tier fire-attribute medicinal herb, a Golden Sun Ganoderma, in addition. Huo Lie said nothing, perhaps because he did not know the value of the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, or perhaps for some other reason.

Xia Mo handed over the pills. Huo Lie took one out and fed it directly to a Fire Monkey that looked rather young. Only after the Fire Monkey had absorbed the medicinal power did Huo Lie look back at Xia Mo.

Xia Mo did not mind. Testing the medicine was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Chief Huo, the trade is complete, so we'll be leaving now. I study at Jia Nan Academy. If you need anything in the future, you can look for me—just ask for Xia Mo from the Alchemy Department. But if you go there, it would be best to disguise yourselves," Xia Mo told Huo Lie.

"Alright. Then I'll see you out. If I need anything in the future, I'll come find you," Huo Lie said.

"Alright, Wu Hao, we're heading back," Xia Mo said to Wu Hao.

The old Fire Monkey escorted the two of them to the exit of the karst cave and said, "Take care, honored guests."

Xia Mo waved without saying anything, then led Wu Hao away from the area first.