Iron Arm Ape Mountain

The wilderness was sparsely populated, and the withered leaves on the ground had piled up. After rotting, they made the air stuffy.

Two figures moved cautiously through the forest. The ancient trees had no telling how many years they had grown, their branches shrouding the heavens and blocking out the sun. Only faint rays of light fell through the gaps onto the ground.

A pitch-black venomous snake coiled around a similarly dark tree. In one corner of the forest, a pack of forest wolves revealed bloodthirsty gazes.

In a hollow in a tree trunk, a black-and-blue spider shone with a ghostly blue light in all eight of its eyes.

Between the tree shadows, finger-sized venomous bees searched for targets outside a huge hive.

"It'll be dark soon!"

Gu Sheng looked up at the sky. The sun was moving westward, and the heavens had turned a dusky yellow. The wilderness forest was already shrouded in darkness ahead of time. After carefully observing their surroundings, he pointed at a desolate rocky mountain a little over a mile away and said, "Let's pick up the pace. We'll rest there tonight!"

Chu Xin turned to look and instinctively furrowed her brows, but she did not object. She merely quickened her steps in silence.

Before long, the two reached the foot of the somewhat desolate rocky mountain. Looking up, they saw steep peaks covering the mountain, with sparse vegetation along the ridges. The whole place looked utterly lifeless.

"An area like this isn't suitable for creatures to live in. Few Ferocious Beasts would choose to make their nests here, so it should be much safer at night."

Gu Sheng seemed to realize that Chu Xin was puzzled, so he explained.

Gu Sheng and Chu Xin found a relatively clean cave. After scattering the Demon Beast dung they had bought at great expense from the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion in Southern Barbarian City around the cave entrance, they cautiously took several other measures before finally relaxing.

The wilderness was extraordinarily dangerous. Even First-Rate Experts often faced mortal danger after entering. The two of them were weak, one Second-Rate and the other Third-Rate. Among the martial artists of the Nine Provinces, they were at the very bottom and not worth mentioning, let alone in the even more perilous wilderness.

"Ugh! The roads here are way too difficult to walk. We haven't even covered a hundred miles in a day. When will we reach our destination?"

Chu Xin took off her boots, revealing her reddened little feet. As she massaged them to ease her fatigue, she said to Gu Sheng, "You lecherous tiger, how much farther do we have to go?"

Chu Xin's soft, sweet voice brought Gu Sheng back from his thoughts. He turned to look at her. His gaze was first drawn to those exquisite bare feet that seemed like works of art before settling on Chu Xin's slightly flushed, delicate face.

"We set out at noon and covered a hundred miles in half a day. That's considered fast. Iron Arm Ape Mountain is nearly a thousand miles from Southern Barbarian City. If everything goes smoothly, we should arrive in about ten days."

Gu Sheng had the system's deduction function to help him seek fortune and avoid misfortune. As long as safety was assured, it allowed him to travel at the fastest possible speed without encountering the many unexpected situations ordinary martial artists faced.

"Another ten days?"

Chu Xin became a little moody. "Can't we go faster? We can't eat or sleep well here. I don't want to stay any longer!"

"No. The wilderness is too dangerous. One moment of carelessness could cause you to fall into a trap. At best, you'll suffer serious injuries; at worst, you'll lose your life."

Gu Sheng shook his head. "Our current speed is already the fastest possible while preserving our stamina and combat strength. An ordinary First-Rate martial artist might not even cover half the distance we do in a day."

"Oh, I see!"

Chu Xin pouted and said nothing more.

Seeing her looking somewhat deflated, Gu Sheng asked with concern, "Xin'er, what's wrong? Are you hungry? Or..."

"No. I ate a lot at noon, so I'm not hungry now!"

Chu Xin shook her head. Her little face drooped, and her mood looked extremely low.

Gu Sheng spoke gently. "It's getting late. I'll stand guard tonight. You should go to sleep early."

"Oh!"

Chu Xin nodded and lay on her side atop the thick blanket spread over the smooth stone platform. Under Gu Sheng's watchful gaze, she slowly drifted into sleep.

Under the glimmering firelight, a warm yellow sheen covered Chu Xin's skin. The sleeping beauty looked especially adorable.

"Silly girl! You've been tired all day. Get a good sleep."

Gu Sheng sat beside Chu Xin and stroked her head with his right hand, his eyes filled with indulgent affection. He knew that the main reason this girl had followed him deep into the wilderness was for his sake.

With Gu Sheng's help, she had completed Li Jun's side quest, and the Conquest Progress had already exceeded one percent. Even if she ended the mission now, she could safely leave. The reason she remained was entirely because she did not want to break her promise to Gu Sheng and could not bear to let him venture alone into the wilderness.

At dawn the next day, Gu Sheng woke the still-groggy Chu Xin, and they once again set out. There were no roads in the wilderness to begin with. Thorny vines grew everywhere, weeds ran rampant, and dead branches and fallen leaves could be found all around.

However, whenever someone passed through, they would inevitably push aside the thorns and weeds, or even cut through the thorny growth to make progress. This left a clear trail for those who came afterward, turning a pathless place into a "road." Of course... after enough time passed, these "roads" became difficult to identify.

The wilderness nights were incomparably dangerous, but Gu Sheng had planned everything carefully before coming. Every place they stopped had been chosen with care, so they encountered very little danger. The only two incidents involved a Demon Beast black bear and two silver-scaled pythons.

Unfortunately for them, they had chosen the wrong opponents. Before resting each day, Gu Sheng would set highly poisonous traps at the cave entrance. Moreover, as someone who had attained mastery of Internal Fist, he did not sleep deeply at night. Instead, he sat cross-legged in meditation. At such times, his six senses were at their sharpest, and he would notice and react to the slightest disturbance.

The black bear and silver-scaled pythons suffered terribly at Gu Sheng's hands. Not only had they kicked an iron plate, but they had also paid with their lives. Besides contributing excellent medicinal materials such as bear gallbladders and snake gallbladders, their paws and snake soup also whetted the appetite of the little beauty Chu Xin, allowing her to enjoy a truly satisfying meal.

Ten days later, Gu Sheng, his clothes somewhat tattered, supported Chu Xin as they arrived at the destination of their journey—Iron Arm Ape Mountain. Iron Arm Ape Mountain towered into the clouds, its highest reaches wrapped in mist, as though they had entered a paradise.

Iron Arm Ape Mountain covered an enormous area, yet was exceptionally steep. Gu Sheng had learned all of Teng Qingshan's abilities, so climbing it would not be too difficult for him. However, Chu Xin's cultivation was what it was. If she followed him up and down the mountain ridges, she would very likely encounter all kinds of danger.

"Xin'er! The mountain is dangerous. I'll find you a safe place first. Stay inside. If you encounter a life-or-death crisis, don't worry about me—return to the real world immediately. We'll meet again there!"

Gu Sheng lowered his head and met Chu Xin's slightly haggard, delicate face. Ten days of life in the wilderness, exposed to the elements and sleeping rough, had left her spirits low. She was completely unlike the vibrant girl she had been before.

"Oh!"

Chu Xin was very obedient. Or perhaps she also knew that she was nothing but a burden to Gu Sheng now.

Gu Sheng took Chu Xin to a rocky cave at the foot of the mountain that had been empty for many years. After leaving her enough water and food, he sealed the entrance with a large stone slab. Then, gripping the protrusions and cracks in the cliff with both hands, he quickly began climbing Iron Arm Ape Mountain.