Jiang Liu stared at the monkey with curiosity, holding his sword in both hands. He activated his Wind Walk, and in a flash, appeared behind the monkey. He then slashed at the monkey's back with all his might.
Two bony wings suddenly emerged from the bulge on the monkey's back. With a flap, the monkey, which was not very fast to begin with, immediately doubled its speed and darted forward, slamming Jiang Liu's full-force attack to the ground.
Instantly, a knife wound more than ten meters deep appeared on the ground.
Jiang Liu looked at the monkey with a puzzled expression, but he was also pleasantly surprised! This monkey had wings? It could use mental attacks and physical attacks, and it even had wings and such high defense. Did this monkey have any natural enemies?
Jiang Liu felt that this monkey was far more powerful than himself. If he could subdue it, hmm! It would be a powerful assistant. Anyway, its attacks barely scratched him. He could train with it properly and see if he could subdue it.
After thinking it over, Jiang Liu simply put away his Ninth Rank Greatsword. He raised his fist and used the Tiger Subduing Fist to smash directly at the monkey's face.
With a flap of its wings, the monkey retaliated, unleashing a burst of fire-attribute energy towards Jiang Liu.
The two immediately began fighting in the woods, their blows echoing loudly, causing damage to the trees.
After a while, Jiang Liu got into the swing of things and leaped into the air, suddenly drawing his broadsword and slashing straight down. The monkey, as usual, flapped its wings to dodge, then tried to shoot out a burst of energy with its right hand to attack Jiang Liu, but there was no reaction.
Jiang Liu changed his move, slashing the monkey horizontally with the blade. The monkey was immediately hit and fell to the ground with a "thud!" It looked at Jiang Liu with a dejected expression.
Fortunately, Jiang Liu had reduced his strength a bit when he changed his move, otherwise the monkey would have been bleeding from all seven orifices.
Jiang Liu slowly walked towards the monkey, pointed his knife at it, and said, "You're so smart, you should understand what I mean! Follow me, or you'll die!"
Upon hearing this, the monkey immediately chirped "Chirp! Chirp!" and flapped its wings, trying to escape.
Jiang Liu was prepared for this. He picked up his knife and slapped the monkey, causing it to fall to the ground again. Now that the monkey was exhausted, it was much slower and its reaction time was also much slower than before, so Jiang Liu could easily hit it with a simple slap.
The monkey chirped and glared at Jiang Liu with resentment.
Seeing this, Jiang Liu was not going to tolerate it and picked up his broadsword to strike it repeatedly.
Immediately, a series of crackling sounds echoed throughout the woods.
Anyway, this monkey has pretty good physical defense, so a few more slaps won't hurt.
With this in mind, Jiang Liu continued to pat the monkey for another half an hour before stopping.
The monkey's eyes were still filled with rage as it looked at Jiang Liu. Jiang Liu pointed the knife at the monkey again and said, "Have you thought it through? This is your last chance!"
When the monkey saw Jiang Liu pointing a knife at it, it struggled to sit up, opened its mouth wide, and let out a sharp cry. Instantly, Jiang Liu felt a buzzing in his ears, followed by an external mental force acting on his mind.
Before long, a cool sensation emanated from the sapling behind him, followed by a halo of light enveloping Jiang Liu. Jiang Liu immediately felt a sense of relief; the buzzing sound from before completely disappeared, and he felt quite comfortable.
Jiang Liu was furious when he saw that the monkey refused to submit. Such a heaven-defying mutated Exotic Beast could not be allowed to grow.
With a single move of the Demon-Suppressing Demon Suppression Blade Technique, he Suppressing Demons into Imprisonment, and a slash of blade light enveloped the monkey. He leaped into the air, then wielded the blade with both hands and slashed down with all his might.
With a single move, Jiang Liu cleaved the monkey in two. He then picked up the Seventh Grade colorless Exotic Beast core. Colorless? Shouldn't it be crimson? This mutation seems extraordinary! He separated the beast core and placed it aside.
Alas! It's a bit of a pity that there's no way to tame animals, otherwise we could have captured them to keep as pets.
It would be great if we could exchange and learn from the Exotic Beast Valley sometime. Like Soul Valley, they're so generous.
After Jiang Liu finished packing, he continued on his way. Not long after, he left the forest, crossed the weeds, and saw a large bamboo grove in the distance. Before he even got close, he could hear a large group of people fighting inside.
Having been in the Ten Thousand Mountains for so long, this is the first time I've seen a bamboo forest. And we haven't even gone in yet, and there's already such a commotion? They must be fighting over something good.
Jiang Liu quickly held his breath and crept up silently. When he got close to the bamboo forest, he released his consciousness and stopped fifty meters away, not daring to go too far.
Having made his way stealthily without finding any ambushes, Jiang Liu mustered his courage and continued forward. After traveling a considerable distance, he finally began to see figures.
Inside the bamboo grove, people were coming and going, engaged in a lively battle. Three groups of people were fighting, numbering about fifty or sixty.
When Jiang Liu arrived, the river had already stopped, and it seemed he hadn't gained any advantage. There were three eighth-rank martial artists leading the group.
The three Eighth Rank Martial Practitioner are currently negotiating how to divide the spoils.
"He Shui, stop with the nonsense. We've already fought. If you don't want to continue, let's quickly discuss how to divide this Jade Bamboo Shoots." A burly, gruff Eighth Rank Martial Practitioner said to He Shui, who had a pointed mouth and monkey-like face.
"Yes, Pan Changli is right. We can't all stay here and go crazy with you, can we? Make a decision quickly, or I won't mind fighting you with Pan Changli." said an Eighth Rank Martial Practitioner dressed as a scholar.
"Duan Ling, stop stirring things up. Did I say we wouldn't split it? I was just thinking about how the three of us should divide it. Do you have any ideas?" He Shui said irritably.
"Alright, now that we've decided to divide it, things are easier. Let's count all the items first, then divide them equally, and see how much is left!" Pan Changli said.
"Okay!" the two replied.
Before long, the three men had pulled out all the Jade Bamboo Shoots and laid them on the ground. "Heh heh! What a coincidence! There were exactly nine. What's the point of fighting over them?!" They each took their share and left.
Jiang Liu secretly followed He Shui and his group, because this person was He Shui, the third protector of the Wind City branch of the White Lotus Sect.
P. S.: I will update some settings in the first few chapters! Interested readers can go back and take a look! I originally planned to update it in one chapter, but unfortunately, I didn't have enough space.