Screech! Screech! Screech!
One monkey after another was pierced through by the locust-like rain of arrows. Blood sprayed out as they fell to the ground.
Monkey cries rang out one after another from the cliff face,
as they scattered in every direction,
throwing everything into chaos.
But not long after,
several Demon Monkey Leaders, each a size larger than ordinary monkeys and shrouded in dense Demonic Qi, appeared. They angrily screeched in all directions,
as if issuing commands.
The chaotic monkey pack beneath the arrow rain seemed to receive an order at once.
They fled in all directions,
taking shelter behind trees or boulders to block the rain of arrows.
At the same time,
the monkeys picked up stones, 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 in complete disarray.
"Let's go as well. We'll first kill the low-level Monkey Demons among that monkey 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 Demon nest amid the barren mountains and scattered rocks.
Patriarch Zheng and several middle stage cultivators from the surrounding Cultivation Families exchanged glances,
then sighed softly.
They too followed after him, trailing behind Zhang Qingyuan as they descended into the monkey pack.
At once, more than a dozen low-level Monkey Demons rushed forward.
Patriarch Zheng and the other middle stage cultivators drew close together, forming a mutually supporting formation as they began fighting them.
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, cutting a peerlessly cold Sword Light through the sky.
It pointed from afar at the Monkey Demons before him.
Facing Zhang Qingyuan,
some Demon Monkeys staggered back in terror, not daring to approach. Their eyes were filled with fear,
as though they recognized Zhang Qingyuan, who had slaughtered so freely within 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 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 slashed through the air with a cold and piercing Sword Light, instantly charging into the heart of the monkey pack!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Streak after streak of snow-white Sword Light flashed past,
layer upon layer, like bolts of lightning blossoming in the void.
They were incomparably swift,
agile as a roaming dragon as they twisted through the monkey pack.
With every swing,
a line of blood blossomed, and another life was taken!
In the blink of an eye,
he had slain more than ten low-level Monkey Demons!
The surrounding Demon Monkeys could not even catch sight of Zhang Qingyuan's shadow!
"Screech!!!"
Within the monkey pack,
a Spirit Essence Realm Fourth Level Demon Monkey charged out with towering fury. Sweeping up surging, rolling Demonic Qi, it carried the force to collapse mountains and split rocks as it smashed toward Zhang Qingyuan.
Four more Spirit Essence Realm Third Level Monkey Demons
came from the front, rear, left, and right, each sweeping forth with billowing Demonic Qi to seal off every route of retreat!
Faced with such a joint encirclement,
even a cultivator at the peak of Spirit Essence Realm Sixth Level would likely have to treat it with gravity. One careless misstep, and he would be wounded beneath their siege!
Yet Zhang Qingyuan's expression did not change,
as if he had noticed nothing at all.
The next moment,
Screech!!!
It was like an incomparably brilliant bolt of lightning blooming in the void, tearing through the air as its cold gleam reflected across the sky.
No one knew how Zhang Qingyuan had made his move.
They only saw Zhang Qingyuan, trapped amid the Demon Monkeys, flash abruptly.
Silver light burst apart in the air,
and four enormous heads shot into the sky.
The headless bodies still hung in mid-air, blood gushing forth, while their heads had already been flung high up 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 Demon Monkey that had charged at him with a horrifying Aura, then crashed onto the Monkey Demon's head with boundless force!
Pfft!
Its entire head
was pressed down as easily as a ball, crushed into the Monkey Demon's chest. Then, like a rag doll, it was slapped flying.
With every casual motion,
he had already killed the several Demon Monkey Leaders that had come to besiege him.
The surrounding Demon Monkeys
all retreated in horror.
A vast open space had actually been cleared around Zhang Qingyuan!
Wild Beasts might be brutal,
but they feared death just the same!
"Too weak. It seems last night's insight was something that could only be encountered, not sought. What a pity!"
Zhang Qingyuan lamented inwardly.
During last night's battle, in merely a quarter of an hour,
that state had not only rapidly increased his proficiency in the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles, but had also allowed Zhang Qingyuan to grasp a trace of the true meaning within sword techniques.
Unfortunately, before long, the Demon Monkey Pack had scattered and fled, forcibly shattering his state of enlightenment.
No longer dwelling on it,
his figure transformed into a string of afterimages as he charged into the monkey pack once more.
Sword Light flickered,
veiling the cold sky.
Although he did not have the same hearty and uninhibited enlightenment as last night, the lingering aftertaste of that enlightenment 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 layers of Sword Light flashing through the air, agile as roaming dragons, their faces filled with horror.
They were Jianghu Rangers who used swords.
Witnessing Zhang Qingyuan's peerless swordsmanship, with Sword Qi crisscrossing in every direction, they felt a faint stirring of insight within their hearts. The dazzling Sword Light actually formed the rudiment of a sword Martial Arts technique in their minds!
They were even more horrified,
and did not dare blink, fearing they might miss this supreme opportunity!
In the midst of battle,
amid the chaotic tumult,
the Demon Monkey Pack steadily retreated under the group's siege.
After roughly a quarter of an hour,
most of the ranked Monkey Demons within the pack had been slain by Zhang Qingyuan alone with his sword.
Monkey Demon corpses stood everywhere around them,
and blood flowed into rivers.
Zhang Qingyuan stood at the center, yet not even a trace of blood could be seen upon him!
After the brutal slaughter,
the monkey pack had already 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.
He looked towards the enormous cave opening on the cliff face,
pondering inwardly.
"Could that be where the Yao Monkey King is?"
From the beginning of the battle until now,
the Yao Monkey King had not appeared at all.
That was rather strange!
Zhang Qingyuan hesitated for a moment,
then carefully drifted into the air.
Tapping lightly several times upon the protruding rocks of the cliff face, he moved as elusive as smoke and clouds, gently flying before the enormous cave.
He saw that
within the pitch-black cave entrance,
a huge one-armed figure hid in the darkness, breathing heavily as if sleeping soundly.
When Zhang Qingyuan appeared at the cave entrance,
the figure within the cave twitched its nose.
Then,
scarlet eyes suddenly opened within the cave, bursting forth with crazed and terrifying Killing Intent!
"Roar!!!"
A deep and powerful beast's roar
suddenly exploded from the darkness.
It was as if an incomparably violent storm of air had risen within the cave. The entire barren mountain and cliff face violently shook at that instant.
Outside the cave,
Zhang Qingyuan, facing that torrent of sound head-on, had his pupils suddenly contract as he cried out in horror:
"Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level?!!!"
PS:
Today's bonus update might come a little later.
Thank you to Zhen 33II Kuang San for the 100,000 Qidian coin Alliance Leader reward, thank you to 6 Mu Mu Mu Mu Mu for the 5,000 Qidian coin reward, thank you to Kiss//Wind and Dust for the 2,000 coin reward, thank you to Soul Land OL Mosha for the 2,000 coin reward, and to the many readers afterward who sent a whole string of rewards. Their names are too long to list, so thank you all for your support.
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