Just then, his Inner World evolved to the level of a minor world.
Sensing his Inner World, Deng Jiugong was overcome with delight.
At his Golden Immortal Realm cultivation, he had managed to evolve a minor world within himself. The power of this world could be brought to bear in actual combat.
In other words, although Deng Jiugong's cultivation had not increased, his true combat strength had improved tremendously.
Moreover, with the Star Fruit Tree within it, his Inner World looked like a vast starry sky, illuminated by countless stars, giving it a unique appearance.
The Star Fruit Tree had practically made up for the lack of stars throughout the heavens in his Inner World.
Especially after Deng Jiugong had evolved it, the starlight from the Star Fruit Tree shone across nearly the entire minor world.
However, that was because his Inner World was still low-level. Otherwise, the starlight from the Star Fruit Tree might not have been enough.
When that time came, he would have to make the laws of his Inner World more complete.
"Right, I was supposed to head to Chaoge!"
Deng Jiugong suddenly came to his senses, remembering that he still had a mission to fulfill.
With a flash, he left the space within the Innate Restriction and hurried toward Chaoge.
Buzz!
At a certain moment, Deng Jiugong instinctively sensed a trace of danger. By the time he reacted, he was already surrounded by a field of black mist.
"What demon is causing trouble?"
Deng Jiugong's expression turned grave.
Faintly, at the far end of the black mist, he saw a terrifying figure.
The mist also contained a toxin that could knock someone unconscious. If he had been even slightly careless, he might have fallen victim to it.
Fortunately, Deng Jiugong had cultivated the Pangu Divine Art. His magical power was formidable, and his body was nearly impervious to all techniques. Ordinary toxins could not get near him.
So, even within the poisonous mist, Deng Jiugong could remain unharmed simply by channeling his power.
Buzz!
Just then, a gigantic centipede surged out of the black mist, spewing more of it from its mouth as it radiated a terrifying aura.
It seemed to realize that the black mist posed little threat to Deng Jiugong, so it unleashed an even more powerful attack.
Deng Jiugong's expression tightened. This sudden danger had given him quite a fright.
He had never seen a centipede so enormous. Each of its legs looked like iron bars, making a chill run through him and his skin crawl.
Hiss!
The next moment, the centipede was right in front of Deng Jiugong, opening its jaws to swallow him.
"Beast, you're asking for death!"
Deng Jiugong's expression turned furious.
He had merely been passing through, yet this had brought him such trouble.
Sensing that his opponent wasn't very strong, Deng Jiugong raised a fist and struck.
Hiss!
The punch carried tremendous force and slammed directly into the centipede. It let out a shrill scream as its enormous body was sent flying.
A moment later, with a deafening crash, it hit the ground hard, grievously wounded.
Buzz!
The next moment, Deng Jiugong landed in front of the centipede.
With a thought, he summoned the Heavenly Origin Divine Blade, ready to slay it.
Centipede spirits and scorpion spirits were generally wicked creatures, hardly likable, and Deng Jiugong disliked them.
Besides, creatures like these often ate people. If Deng Jiugong weren't powerful, this giant centipede might already have swallowed him.
Now, he summoned the Heavenly Origin Divine Blade, unleashing an overwhelming killing intent as he prepared to cut down the giant centipede.
"Big Brother, save me!"
Wounded by Deng Jiugong and sensing the terrifying blade in his hand, the centipede cried out in a shrill voice.
Buzz!
Just then, a flash of white light appeared. A white-haired monkey, more than eight feet tall, with a handsome and imposing appearance and an iron staff in hand, appeared in front of Deng Jiugong.
The next moment, five more figures landed nearby. Their eyes gleamed with malice as they stared at Deng Jiugong, murderous intent surging around them.
Deng Jiugong froze at the sight.
"The Seven Monsters of Mount Mei?"
It was said that the Seven Monsters of Mount Mei were highly skilled, especially their leader, Yuan Hong. He was a white ape who had attained the Dao and cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, making him a match for Yang Jian.
Yuan Hong was also fierce by nature and loved to fight. He was a gifted military commander as well.
Near the end of the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, Emperor Xin appointed him general of Soul-Travel Pass, charging him with holding off Jiang Ziya.
Yuan Hong and Yang Jian possessed identical supernatural powers, and neither could defeat the other. Only after Yang Jian borrowed Nuwa's River-Mountain Diagram was he able to capture Yuan Hong, yet even then he could not kill him.
In the end, Jiang Ziya had to use Daoist Lu Ya's Immortal Slaying Flying Knife to take his life!
"Fellow Daoist, you trespassed into Mount Mei Holy Land and injured my brother Wu Long. Surely that was out of line!"
Yuan Hong appeared, but did not attack at once. His fighting spirit surged.
Clearly, this man had suddenly trespassed on Mount Mei and wounded one of his brothers. He was no pushover, either.
Yuan Hong loved to fight and was eager to cross hands with Deng Jiugong.
"So you're the Seven Monsters of Mount Mei!"
"That centipede was going to eat me. I merely punished him. What's wrong with that?"
Deng Jiugong replied calmly.
Hearing how Deng Jiugong had addressed him, Yuan Hong was taken aback, then asked,
"Who are you?"
"I am Deng Jiugong, Marshal of Great Shang. I was passing through when your centipede brother ambushed me."
Deng Jiugong glanced at the unsettling giant centipede on the ground and spoke calmly.
The leader of the Seven Monsters of Mount Mei, Yuan Hong, was a white ape.
However, Deng Jiugong knew that Yuan Hong's origins were anything but ordinary. He was the Arm-reaching Ape, one of the Four Mixed Monkeys of the Primordial World, and possessed immense strength.
Of the Four Mixed Monkeys, the Six-eared Macaque was born first. He had already appeared during the Witch-Demon Calamity, but lacked cultivation techniques and achieved little for a long time, not appearing again until the Journey to the West.
During the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era, the Red-buttocked Ape Monkey stirred up storms while Da Yu was taming the floods, endangering the people. Da Yu subdued him.
Yuan Hong, the Arm-reaching Ape, was born during the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation. Unfortunately, his end was no better.
After him came Sun Wukong, the Spirit Stone Monkey, protagonist of the Journey to the West calamity. But that was a story for another time.
The Four Mixed Monkeys of the Primordial World might have seemed weak, with Sun Wukong perhaps the strongest among them.
In truth, each of the Four Mixed Monkeys possessed a portion of the Chaos Demon Ape's origin. They were far from ordinary.
Now that he had encountered Yuan Hong, Deng Jiugong dared not underestimate him.
Especially since Deng Jiugong could sense that Yuan Hong had already reached the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm.
"So you're Marshal Deng of Great Shang!"
"Unfortunately, I've never heard of you!"
"Today, you injured my brother. That's unacceptable!"
As soon as Yuan Hong finished speaking, he waved his hand and sent the others rushing at Deng Jiugong.
He mainly wanted to see what Deng Jiugong could do.
"Dingdong! The host's current situation has been detected. God-Tier Options activated!" "Option One: Slay the Seven Monsters of Mount Mei. Reward: five million points of Great Dao Merit!" "Option Two: Subdue the Seven Monsters of Mount Mei. Reward: ten million points of Great Dao Merit!"
Just then, the system's notification rang in Deng Jiugong's mind.
Deng Jiugong's expression shifted.
Perhaps because the Seven Monsters of Mount Mei were particularly vicious, the system had even offered him the option to slay them.
But killing the Seven Monsters of Mount Mei wouldn't be easy!
Yuan Hong in particular would be difficult to kill. Deng Jiugong wasn't confident he could defeat him.
And the reward wasn't much!
However, he could consider the second option.
Before you continue