The True Plan

"Yah yah!"

"Yah yah yah~"

"Yah yah! Yah yah yah~"

The Iron-Arm Apes cried out in panic as they watched the sheer mountain cliffs collapse like a landslide. They were terrified and afraid.

"Boom~"

Under the desperate gazes of the ape troop, a huge section of the mountain came crashing down, heavily sinking the bottom of Iron Arm Ape Mountain by several feet. At the same time, it buried the entrance to Ape King Cave, where the Vermillion Fruit Wine had been sealed away all this time.

"Yah yah yah~~"

The Golden-Eyed Silver Ape King flew into a rage when he saw this. He beat his chest and roared furiously at the sky. He was angry, but faced with the "might of heaven," he was powerless. He could only vent his fury on the attacking Demon Beasts.

"Yah yah~"

At the Golden-Eyed Silver Ape King's command, the Iron-Arm Apes surrounded the Demon Beasts in groups, working together to kill them. The Demon Beasts that dared to come for the fruit wine all had some ability, and Gu Sheng had deliberately lured over many powerful Demon Beasts from elsewhere to throw the situation into chaos. For a time, the battle intensified into a fierce and bloody clash.

By then, the more cunning Demon Beasts had already taken advantage of the earlier chaos to escape. The ones that stayed to fight to the bitter end ultimately could not withstand the well-trained Iron-Arm Apes. In the end, most of the Demon Beasts fled with injuries. Only a dozen unlucky ones were surrounded and torn to pieces by the enraged Iron-Arm Apes!

Inside the spacious mountain chamber, the last trace of light vanished when the entrance to Ape King Cave was sealed.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Suddenly, a hollow knocking sound came from a section of the mountain wall inside the chamber.

"Boom~"

With a crisp crack, a round opening tall enough for one person appeared where the mountain wall had been. Two figures, a man and a woman, each carrying a gourd taller than a person, appeared inside the mountain chamber.

"Sniff, sniff~"

Gu Sheng closed his eyes and focused. After twitching his nose, he opened his eyes, took Chu Xin's small hand, and entered the cave. After winding through the passage several times, they arrived at the square stone pit in the spacious inner chamber.

"So much~"

Chu Xin's mouth fell open as she stared in astonishment at the pit of pale-red liquid before her. So many Xiantian Demon Beasts outside had fought to the death over a little Vermillion Fruit Wine, yet there was actually so much here. It was truly baffling!

"Stop staring and get to work!"

Gu Sheng called for Chu Xin to begin. He had already thrown down the half-person-tall gourd from his back, then reached behind Chu Xin, untied the other gourd, and threw it down as well.

This had been his plan from the beginning: simple and brutal. Find an opportunity to figure out the Ape King's daily routine, dig a passage leading to Ape King Cave, then find a chance to blow open the mountain and seal the cave entrance before taking the opportunity to collect the Vermillion Fruit Wine.

Gu Sheng's plan could not be called brilliant, but if everything went smoothly, the gains would definitely be substantial. It was also quite feasible, making it perfectly suited to someone like him and Chu Xin, whose strength was insufficient.

But ideals were abundant while reality was harsh. It was a good plan, but carrying it out was hellishly difficult—practically a fight for their lives.

Iron Arm Ape Mountain was fraught with danger. One careless mistake would mean death. Any random Iron-Arm Ape was stronger than Gu Sheng had been before. If they were discovered, they would be doomed. Most crucially, there was the blasting point. Simply burying explosives made it difficult to ensure that the explosion would collapse the cave entrance without damaging the wine pit containing the Vermillion Fruit Wine.

The explosives themselves were another major problem. In this era and this world, even if something similar existed, it would not be cheap to produce, and transporting it would be another difficulty.

Fortunately, Gu Sheng had good luck and gained the favor of the Jade Azure Serpent Qing Ling. With a powerful backer, his safety was guaranteed, and with its help, digging the passage was no longer difficult. Most of the problems could be said to have been solved all at once.

What remained was the most important material for the plan: explosives. The explosives Gu Sheng had prepared were practically household knowledge in the real world—granular black powder.

As mentioned earlier, the Wilderness was rich in resources, and many materials could be found there. Iron Arm Ape Mountain was a potentially erupting volcano, so with a careful search, sulfur could still be found.

As for saltpeter, Gu Sheng had paid attention to gathering it along the way. He had not been idle at Iron Arm Ape Mountain either. While wandering around each day, he used the system to detect the nearby composition and determine where ore might be found. In the end, he discovered a large exposed saltpeter deposit in a canyon at the foot of the mountain.

Charcoal was the easiest thing to obtain in the Wilderness. All it took was a fire. Of course, Gu Sheng had not gone so far as to start a forest fire in this primeval forest.

He merely played around with the campfire whenever he returned, turning large amounts of dry firewood into charcoal. Chu Xin had not been idle during the days she stayed in the cave, either. Grinding the three main materials into powder had been her task.

After mixing them in a certain ratio, Gu Sheng found a way to turn them from powder into more powerful granules. The rest was simple. With Qing Ling's help, he buried the explosives in specific locations. Then, just moments ago, he had put on a fireworks display for the apes.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~"

Amid the bubbling sounds, Vermillion Fruit Wine continuously flowed into the gourds. Bubbles formed across the surface of the fruit wine, and before long, both gourds were full.

Gu Sheng reached out and lifted the two gourds, immediately wiping their exteriors before plugging them. Then, together with Chu Xin, he hurried to the exit on the shaded side of the mountain—the place where the two of them had entered.

"Hiss, hiss~"

After a faint rustling sound, the Jade Azure Serpent Qing Ling emerged from behind him and hissed twice toward the outside of the cave. Two giant pythons, each over six zhang long, came rushing over with two empty gourds in their mouths.

Gu Sheng silently sighed in relief. After the Verdant Python Qing Ling had advanced into a Jade Azure Serpent, it had instantly become one of only two Beast Kings on Iron Arm Ape Mountain. It had become the ruler of Snake King Pool on the mountain's shaded side, the king of Manda, and the master of the serpent hordes, capable of commanding and ruling over all the snakes.

These two giant snakes were the helpers for Gu Sheng and the others' operation. And they were not the only ones. There were also several other giant snakes. Otherwise, with such a huge tunnel, Gu Sheng might not have been able to dig through it so quickly.

"Gurgle~ Gurgle~"

Gu Sheng returned to the wine pit and threw down two more gourds. Before long, they were full again, and he repeated the earlier process back and forth. As they made more and more trips, the Vermillion Fruit Wine in the pit visibly dwindled.

Outside the cave, in the mountain valley, the Iron-Arm Apes were worried about the Vermillion Fruit Wine. They continuously scratched and dug at the mountain wall with their claws, which could cut through metal and jade, hoping to dig out a passage to the inner mountain chamber.

Although Demon Beasts like the Iron-Arm Apes possessed a certain degree of intelligence and could even use tools, when it came to digging a tunnel, they still instinctively relied on the most primitive method. Or perhaps they were simply too panicked to think of any other approach.

The clinking sounds rang out rapidly and loudly. More and more Iron-Arm Apes were summoned by the Ape King. Over a thousand Iron-Arm Apes dug at the mountain together. Even the deep, thick mountain wall could not withstand them, and a passage leading into the mountain chamber was visibly taking shape.