Attack and Slaughter

Swish, swish, swish!

One monkey after another was pierced through by the locust-like rain of arrows. Blood sprayed as they fell to the ground.

The monkeys' agonized cries rang out one after another from the cliff faces.

They scattered in all directions to dodge.

It was utter chaos.

But before long,

several Demon Monkey Leaders, each a full size larger than ordinary monkeys and wreathed in dense Demonic Qi, appeared. They angrily shrieked at their surroundings,

seemingly issuing commands.

The chaotic monkey pack beneath the arrow rain seemed to receive an order at once.

They fled in every direction,

hiding behind trees or boulders to block the rain of arrows.

At the same time,

the monkeys picked up rocks, wooden clubs, and whatever else lay nearby, hurling them down at the people below with all their strength.

For a time,

both sides were nearly thrown into complete disarray.

"Let's go too. First, kill the low-level Monkey Demons among that pack."

As he spoke,

Zhang Qingyuan's figure drifted into the air like A Wisp of Green Smoke. After several flickers, he crossed a distance of twenty to thirty zhang and landed within the Monkey Demons' nest amid the barren mountains and jagged rocks.

Patriarch Zheng and several mid-stage cultivators from the surrounding Cultivation Families exchanged glances.

They sighed softly,

then followed him in a flutter, landing among the monkey pack behind Zhang Qingyuan.

Over a dozen low-level Monkey Demons immediately charged forward.

Patriarch Zheng and the other mid-stage cultivators drew close together, forming a mutual supporting formation as they began a fierce battle.

Meanwhile,

Zhang Qingyuan stood at the center of the Demon Monkey Pack. The clear, snow-bright Silver Shadow in his hand flowed through the air, carving an incomparably biting Sword Light through the atmosphere.

It pointed from afar at the Monkey Demons ahead.

Facing Zhang Qingyuan,

some Demon Monkeys staggered back in terror, not daring to advance, their eyes filled with fear.

Perhaps they had recognized Zhang Qingyuan, who had slaughtered so freely in the Spirit Fruit Grove last night.

That bloody battle last night

had left the surviving Demon Monkeys with far too many terrifying memories!

"If there had been a few more of you last night, perhaps my Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles would already have reached Great Accomplishment and perfection. What a pity. I only hope that today, you can raise my Basic Martial Skill to another level!"

Zhang Qingyuan seemed to be speaking to the Demon Monkeys, yet also seemed to be talking to himself.

Without caring whether the densely packed Demon Monkeys ahead understood him,

in an instant,

Zhang Qingyuan transformed into a gray bolt of lightning. Silver Shadow swept through the air with a bitter, chilling Sword Light as he instantly plunged into the heart of the monkey pack!

Swish, swish, swish!

Streak after streak of snow-white Sword Light flashed.

Layer upon layer, like bolts of lightning blooming In the Void.

They were incomparably swift,

agile as a roaming dragon as they wheeled through the monkey pack.

With every swing,

a line of blood bloomed, and another life was taken!

In but an instant,

more than ten low-level Monkey Demons had been slain!

The surrounding Demon Monkeys had not even managed to catch a glimpse of Zhang Qingyuan's shadow!

"Screech!!!"

Within the monkey pack,

a Spirit Essence Realm Fourth Level Demon Monkey burst forth with boundless fury. Rolling, surging Demonic Qi swept around it as it came smashing toward Zhang Qingyuan with mountain-collapsing, rock-splitting force and the weight of a thousand jun.

Four Spirit Essence Realm Third Level Monkey Demons also came,

from the front, back, left, and right, each sweeping in with surging Demonic Qi to seal off every route of Zhang Qingyuan's retreat!

Faced with such a joint encirclement,

even a cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Essence Realm Sixth Level would likely have to treat it gravely. One moment of carelessness, and they would be wounded under the enemy's combined assault!

Yet Zhang Qingyuan's expression did not change.

It was as if he had noticed nothing at all.

The next moment,

Swish!!!

It was like an incomparably dazzling bolt of lightning blossoming In the Void, tearing through the air as cold light reflected across the sky.

No one knew how Zhang Qingyuan had made his move.

They only saw Zhang Qingyuan, surrounded by the Demon Monkeys, suddenly flicker.

Silver light burst open in the air.

Four enormous heads shot skyward.

The headless corpses were still suspended in mid-air, blood gushing from them, while their heads had already been flung high into the sky before falling weakly to the ground!

At the same time,

Zhang Qingyuan casually struck out with his palm.

The surrounding air seemed to be stirred by Spirit Essence. Vast Spirit Essence instantly tore apart the Demonic Qi surrounding the Spirit Essence Realm Fourth Level Monkey Demon that charged at him with a terrifying Aura, then crashed onto the Monkey Demon's head with boundless force!

Splat!

Its entire head

was effortlessly pressed down like a ball, crushed into its chest before its body was sent flying like a rag doll.

With a mere lift of his hand and turn of his body,

he had already killed the several Demon Monkey Leaders that had come to besiege him.

The surrounding Demon Monkeys

retreated in horror one after another.

A huge empty space had actually been cleared around Zhang Qingyuan!

Wild Beasts might be savage,

but they feared death just the same!

Too weak. It seemed last night's insight was, after all, something that could only be encountered by chance and not sought after. What a pity!

Zhang Qingyuan felt regret in his heart.

During last night's battle, in the brief span of a quarter-hour,

that state had not only rapidly increased his proficiency in the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles, but had also allowed Zhang Qingyuan to comprehend a trace of the true meaning within swordsmanship.

Unfortunately, before long, the Demon Monkey Pack had scattered and fled, forcibly breaking his state of enlightenment.

Without dwelling on it further,

his figure transformed into a string of afterimages as he charged into the monkey pack once more.

Sword Light flashed,

veiling the cold sky.

Though he no longer had the Hearty and Uninhibited enlightenment of last night, its lingering resonance remained. Amid battle and slaughter, his proficiency in the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles rose by several more points.

"So powerful! Is this the swordsmanship and Martial Skill of an Immortal?"

Behind him,

several Jianghu Swordsmen stared fixedly at the layered Sword Lights flashing through the air, agile as roaming dragons, their faces filled with horror.

They were Jianghu Rangers who used swords.

Seeing Zhang Qingyuan's peerless swordsmanship, with Sword Qi crisscrossing in all directions, they felt faint stirrings of insight in their hearts. The dazzling Sword Light actually formed the rudimentary outline of a swordsmanship Martial Arts technique within their minds!

They were even more horrified.

They did not dare blink, afraid of missing this supreme opportunity!

The battle raged on,

in a chaotic clamor.

Under everyone's siege, the Demon Monkey Pack steadily retreated.

After roughly a quarter-hour,

Zhang Qingyuan alone had slain more than half of the rank-one Monkey Demons in the pack with a single sword.

Monkey Demon corpses stood everywhere around him.

Blood flowed into rivers.

Zhang Qingyuan stood at the center, yet not a trace of blood could be seen on his body!

After the brutal slaughter,

the monkey pack had completely collapsed.

Afterward, whether hunters or Jianghu Rangers, all followed the cultivators' lead in pursuing and intercepting the fleeing Monkey Demons, killing them one by one.

Zhang Qingyuan casually swept his gaze across the battlefield,

then paid it no further attention.

His gaze Looked Towards the enormous cave opening on the cliff face.

He pondered inwardly.

"Could that be where the Yao Monkey King is?"

From the start of the battle until now,

the Yao Monkey King had not appeared at all.

It was rather strange!

Zhang Qingyuan hesitated for a moment.

His figure rose carefully into the air.

With several light taps on the protruding rocks along the cliff face, he drifted like smoke and clouds, elusive and uncertain, before lightly flying to the front of that enormous cave.

There, he saw

within the pitch-black cave entrance,

a huge one-armed figure concealed in the darkness, breathing heavily as if in deep slumber.

When Zhang Qingyuan appeared at the entrance,

the shadow inside the cave twitched its nose.

Then,

scarlet eyes abruptly opened within the cave, bursting forth with frenzied and terrifying Sha Qi!

"Roar!!!"

A deep, powerful beast roar

suddenly exploded from the darkness.

It was as if an incomparably violent storm of air currents had surged through the cave. At This Moment, the entire barren mountain and cliff face Violently Shook.

Outside the cave,

Zhang Qingyuan, facing that tidal wave of sound head-on, suddenly contracted his Pupils and cried out in horror:

"Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level?!!!"

P.S.:

Today's extra chapter may be a little late.

Thanks to Zhen 33II Kuang San for the 100,000 Qidian coin Alliance Leader reward, thanks to 6 Mu Mu Mu Mu Mu for the 5,000 coin reward, thanks to Kiss//Fengchen for the 2,000 coin reward, thanks to Soul Land OL Mosha for the 2,000 coin reward, and to the many readers afterward who sent a string of rewards. Their names are too long to list, so thank you all for your support.