River Pond

This time, the mission Zhang Qingyuan accepted was once again from Area B.

The mission was roughly this: near the Spirit Peach Grove outside River Pond Town, a pack of low-level demon monkeys had appeared not long ago. Their Monkey King's strength had already approached the Spirit Essence Realm Fifth Level Peak.

That Yao Monkey King led a troop of demon monkeys in wreaking havoc around the Spirit Peach grounds,

stealing Spirit Peaches, seizing spirit fruits by force, and surrounding and injuring spirit farmers,

causing tremendous trouble for the several small cultivation families in charge of the spirit fruit lands.

It was not as though the cultivation families managing the spirit fruit orchards had failed to organize their clan cultivators to fight back. Yet while entering the mountains, they had been ambushed by the cunning demon monkeys leading their main force.

Under the Monkey King's command,

twenty or thirty low-level demon monkeys at the First and Second Levels of Spirit Essence, together with dozens or even hundreds of ordinary monkeys, launched a siege against the cultivators entering the mountains. The Monkey King hid among the monkey pack, occasionally launching sneak attacks amid the chaotic battlefield and delivering fatal blows to those small family cultivators.

The result was naturally a complete defeat.

Had those few cultivators who had reached the Mid Spirit Essence Realm not fought desperately to break out of the encirclement, the elites of those small family powers would likely have been wiped out in that battle!

Yet even so,

those small cultivation families had still suffered grievous losses.

Left with no choice, the several small cultivation families had to join forces and seek aid from the Cloud Water Sect. They issued a mission in the Outer Sect to eliminate the Monkey King, hoping that a more powerful Cloud Water Sect Esteemed Immortal would accept it.

The reward for this mission was eight hundred Contribution Points and one jin of ten-year Spirit Peaches.

Judging solely by the mission reward,

it could be considered quite generous.

However,

demon monkeys, those demonic creatures,

had little value all over their bodies, aside from cultivators with unusual tastes who might wish to sample monkey brains, or certain obscure pill recipes that required them.

Demon monkey meat might be rare demonic beast meat to ordinary people, with some effect in strengthening the body.

But to cultivators like Zhang Qingyuan,

that tiny improvement was nowhere near enough to make cultivators suppress their disgust and entertain any thoughts about humanoid monsters.

Nor could it fetch much of a price.

Perhaps the Monkey King at the Spirit Essence Realm Fifth Level Peak was worth somewhat more, but even that was limited. Its price was still lower than that of other demonic beasts in the same realm.

Therefore,

the extra profit from this mission was truly rather meager.

Let alone,

a monkey pack numbering over a hundred, twenty or thirty demon monkeys at the First and Second Levels of Spirit Essence, and a Monkey King above the Spirit Essence Realm Fifth Level—at minimum, a cultivator in the Late Spirit Essence Realm was needed to have any confidence in exterminating them.

This was not something that could be compared to Zhang Qingyuan's first mission, the extermination of Spirit Devouring Rats.

For the latter, as long as one found the Spirit Devouring Rat nest, even a Mid Spirit Essence Realm cultivator could kill and deal with them.

The two were fundamentally different.

The mission was difficult,

while the additional gains were low, so hardly anyone was willing to accept it.

It was precisely because of this

that the reward for this mission was somewhat higher than usual. To offer a sufficiently generous reward, those cultivation family cultivators had even been forced to bring out one jin of ten-year Spirit Peaches.

Ten-year Spirit Peaches

were worth at least eight or nine Spirit Stones in the Marketplace, and were still occasionally unavailable even at a price.

Without a doubt,

after Zhao Yuanyang's banquet gathering that day, Zhang Qingyuan had experienced firsthand the benefits spirit fruits brought to his cultivation, and his heart was moved.

"Now that I've reached the Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Mid Stage, with Silver Shadow, the combination skill Mountain Collapse, and other methods, I can contend with cultivators at the Seventh Level Late Stage. Dealing with some low-level demon monkeys shouldn't be much of a problem."

After briefly weighing the various advantages, disadvantages, and possibilities,

Zhang Qingyuan made all necessary preparations and accepted the mission,

then left the sect gate of the Separate Courtyard.

River Pond Town lay over two hundred li beyond the Cloud Water Sect's Outer Sect, nestled among mountains. Lush forests and rolling mountain ranges had almost completely sealed off River Pond Town's land routes.

Fortunately,

a river wound out from the deep mountains and dense forests. Its rushing, clear waters formed the main route connecting the town to the outside world.

Around a hundred years ago,

River Pond Town had still been nothing but untamed wilderness deep in the mountains, without a trace of human habitation.

Later, when someone entered the mountains, they accidentally discovered a Micro Spirit Vein nearby. Spiritual energy drifted through the air, and after more than ten years of development, a Spirit Fruit Grove had formed in the vicinity.

Once word spread, it attracted more than ten Cultivator Forces.

They drove away and slaughtered all the low-level demonic beasts occupying the Spirit Fruit Grove, laid down rules and regulations, and began fighting over this spirit fruit land.

After a round of conflict,

an alliance of several very small families, with only around thirty low-level cultivators in total, jointly occupied the place. Through their Connections, they offered tribute to the Cloud Water Sect and requested to be placed under the sect's sphere of influence.

Of course,

as the price for the Cloud Water Sect recognizing their legitimate rights,

this alliance of small family powers had to hand over half of the Spirit Fruit Grove's annual harvest to the Cloud Water Sect.

Still,

no matter how small those tiny cultivation families were,

in the eyes of ordinary people, they were lofty immortal households,

these Cultivation Powers moved their entire family populations here and, with the assistance of the cultivators within their clans, cleared out all the surrounding wild beasts and fierce animals, establishing a safe gathering place for their forces,

where large numbers of ordinary people settled down, recuperated, multiplied, and served the cultivators.

At the same time,

the soil in the mountain valleys surrounding the spirit fruit territory was fertile. After the mountain wild beasts had been completely cleared out by cultivators, ordinary people farmed and opened up the land there, gradually reclaiming vast tracts of fertile fields and becoming self-sufficient.

After a century of development,

relying on river transportation, the place had gradually gathered into a Small Town.

Zhang Qingyuan's arrival

immediately received a warm welcome from the several local small cultivation family powers. Leading them was a Patriarch Zheng, whose cultivation was roughly at the Spirit Essence Realm Fifth Level Early Stage.

His aura fluctuated somewhat unstably, as though he carried injuries.

After a round of welcoming pleasantries,

Zhang Qingyuan asked about the specific situation.

From the other party's words, he learned

that during This period of time, the hundred or so monkey pack near the Spirit Fruit Grove had somehow undergone a mutation. The number of ordinary monkeys had not only increased by more than half, reaching over two hundred.

The low-level demon monkeys that had originally numbered only twenty or thirty at the First and Second Levels of Spirit Essence had now increased to at least fifty!

Those rampant creatures had now gathered into groups, with large packs brazenly attacking the surroundings of the Spirit Fruit Grove and seizing spirit fruits. The spirit farmers at the Bottom layer were no match for them at all.

If not for the Micro Defensive Formation jointly arranged by several families near the few precious century-old Spirit Peach Trees at the core of the Spirit Fruit Grove, which had blocked the monkey pack's assault on the most central area,

their several tiny cultivation families and small powers would likely have suffered a total crop failure this year.

Yet even so,

they probably would not be able to hold out much longer,

because in the battle of attack and defense against the monkey pack, whose numbers and strength had exploded, the day before, the several family powers had poured out all their strength and Only then barely driven the monkey pack away.

But in that battle,

the other patriarchs had also sustained many injuries and had no choice but to return to their clans to recuperate. That was why only Patriarch Zheng had come here; otherwise, they should all have been present.

For this, Patriarch Zheng and the others also expressed their apologies.

Naturally, Zhang Qingyuan did not care about such empty formalities.

After understanding the situation,

he focused more of his attention on the mutation within this demon monkey pack.