Yun Shu tossed it away, and it crashed heavily into the stone wall, smashing a huge hole into it and pulverizing the rocks inside.
Then his fists rained down like a fine drizzle on the giant ape's enormous head.
The giant ape was suppressed by his qi and blood. Even though it could still fight back, it could hardly get the chance to do so. And even when it did, it was already useless.
Before long, blood seeped out from beneath Yun Shu's fists.
The overwhelming force of his qi and blood meant Yun Shu had nearly dominated the fight from start to finish. Even the giant ape's powerful physique couldn't take it.
Not long after, Yun Shu grew tired.
He slammed the giant ape's body onto the ground.
Then he sat on its body to rest.
"Shall we go?" After a long while, Yun Shu asked.
He wasn't expecting the giant ape to answer. He was stronger than it, and its life was in his hands. If it refused to submit, he could kill it and absorb its Demonic Heart. He had plenty of time; he could simply go find another Diamond Demonic Ape.
He then looped the rope he had brought around the giant ape's neck and led it by hand.
"Let's go!"
No matter how violent the Diamond Demonic Ape was by nature or how powerful its physique, it had been beaten black and blue. Naturally, it didn't dare resist.
It still lacked a certain wildness.
Yun Shu thought.
The Diamond Demonic Ape was incredibly powerful, but it had been born the Jungle Overlord. It lacked that raw, bloodthirsty ferocity. Fierce Beasts like tigers, wolves, and leopards would rather die than submit.
This was rather interesting.
Having caught a Diamond Demonic Ape, Yun Shu was in an excellent mood. This was a thousand Qi Nurturing Pills!
Three thousand Energy Points, to say nothing of anything else, would be enough to raise his Sword Intent several times over.
As they left the jungle, they did startle some powerful Demonic Beasts. But under the Diamond Demonic Ape's intimidating presence, none dared approach.
There were few Demonic Beasts in the mountains on the verge of Demonic Transformation. The giant ape already stood at the very top of the food chain.
It was the Jungle Overlord, the king among them.
Naturally, no Demonic Beast dared provoke it.
The horse had happily run off somewhere already. Yun Shu didn't say anything; he was the one who had let it go, after all. He glanced at the giant ape. With a body that size, it really was...
"Bringing something this big back might cause a stir in the Outer Sect Disciple Area," Yun Shu thought.
But this was nothing unusual. Demonic Beasts, even larger ones, were sometimes assigned as live-capture targets. It wasn't all that remarkable.
Still, it would certainly shock the Outer Sect Disciples and Menial Disciples.
Even the most outstanding Outer Sect Disciples might not be able to wrestle an ape barehanded, let alone capture one alive.
Yun Shu leaped onto the giant ape's shoulder. "Let's go, big guy. Straight ahead, down this road."
The path led back to Myriad Sword Pavilion.
Though the giant ape was unwilling, it couldn't fight back. If it tried, a storm of fists would probably rain down on it again.
It could truly feel that Yun Shu would kill it.
And that he wanted to.
They hadn't gone far when Yun Shu spotted a Grey-robed Elder in the distance, standing with his hands behind his back.
He was blocking the road.
Seeing that it was an old man, Yun Shu didn't say much. He hopped down from the ape.
"May I ask what brings you here, Elder?" Yun Shu stepped forward and cupped his hands politely.
The old man was dressed in an old-fashioned style. For a moment, Yun Shu couldn't tell whether he was a cultivator. Of course, if he wasn't, then he was... a scammer?
The thought made Yun Shu chuckle to himself.
In any case, it was best to be polite.
"Me?" The old man slowly turned around and said with a smile, "I'm here to bring you your reward."
At that turn, Yun Shu froze.
The moment he saw the old man's face, he remembered who he was.
Wasn't this the old man who spent every day meditating with his eyes closed up above in the Menial Disciple Area?
Whatever else, Yun Shu had watched him for over two years. He couldn't mistake him. Even if he'd only seen him once a day, that still added up to seven or eight hundred times.
But this was the first time he'd seen the old man with his eyes open.
The old man's eyes were cloudy, just like those of an ordinary elderly man.
His back was stooped, his expression kindly, and he seemed to have not the slightest air of authority.
But Yun Shu had seen the old man's strength.
He could move a disciple out of the Training Ground without anyone noticing. Even Yun Shu now thought that feat was beyond miraculous.
After a moment's hesitation, Yun Shu bowed slightly. "Greetings, Senior."
"You've seen me before, haven't you? This Diamond Demonic Ape was a task I assigned you. It was also a test. You passed, so congratulations."
"Your physique is the strongest I've ever seen. It's even a great deal stronger than that of my disciple back then."
The old man paused, then continued, "Your Body Cultivator talent is undoubtedly among the best in the Ten Provinces Human Race. But your talent for cultivation is nearly the worst I've ever seen."
Yun Shu: "..." What exactly was he trying to say?
Could it be that he'd seen how difficult it was for Yun Shu to break through Qi Refining and had come all the way from Myriad Sword Pavilion just to mock him?
That would be rather undignified for an elder.
Even if the old man was telling the truth, sometimes the truth hurt most when someone rubbed it in.
Still, Yun Shu was surprised that the old man had assigned him the Diamond Demonic Ape mission.
The old man didn't look like someone who practiced Beast Taming. Could he be after something from the ape? Yun Shu glanced at the Diamond Demonic Ape. It did look rather delicious.
As for the test, Yun Shu guessed the old man had noticed his talent for Body Tempering.
"I'd originally planned to take you as a Personal Disciple and pass on a Body Cultivation Method to you. But just now, I saw that you'd comprehended Sword Intent, so I've changed my mind a little." The old man's voice trailed off.
Yun Shu's heart lurched.
A Body Cultivation Method?
Was the old man a Body Cultivator?
It was impossible to tell from his appearance. Did that mean he had already Returned to Simplicity?
What level of existence was he?
Though that might not be the case. The old man might not be a Body Cultivator at all.
What shocked Yun Shu was that the old man had been observing him for a while—and already knew that he had comprehended Sword Intent.
At that moment, Yun Shu was glad he hadn't used Second-Order Sword Intent. That would have been far too astonishing.
Even the Female Protagonist, with her kind of comprehension, had only grasped the basics of Sword Intent. If he'd unleashed Second-Order Sword Intent right off the bat, wouldn't he have looked like a heaven-sent genius?
"Your Martial Path talent is astonishing, and you've also managed to comprehend Sword Intent. That proves you have some talent as a Sword Cultivator." The old man fell quiet for a moment. "The Martial Path stretches on without end. No one knows where it leads. But the Immortal Path is the most orthodox method."
"Low-grade Three Spirit Roots."
The old man fell silent.
Yun Shu: "..."
Sorry to have put you in a difficult position with my talent.
But by now, Yun Shu could tell that the old man sincerely wanted to take him as a disciple. If Yun Shu had no talent for the Sword Path, the old man might have simply taken him away and set him on the path of Body Cultivation.
But if he studied swordsmanship, those Spiritual Roots of his seemed terribly out of place.
"May I ask your name, Senior?" Yun Shu ventured.
It wasn't that Yun Shu thought a Body Cultivator elder would be a major figure in the story. Even if he didn't get much ink, he'd surely at least get a mention. Besides, the old man's strength was probably at least at the Foundation Establishment level.
"I don't remember." The old man shook his head. "No one's asked my name in a long time. I think it was Ji Wanfeng."
Ji Wanfeng.
Yun Shu's gaze jolted.
The story hadn't merely mentioned him in passing. He could be said to have carried an entire minor arc.
Early on, when Myriad Sword Pavilion was destroyed, he had taken three Golden Core Stage cultivators down with him and single-handedly protected dozens of the sect's top geniuses as they escaped, preserving Myriad Sword Pavilion's legacy.
Later, when everyone thought he was dead, he appeared again near the end of the story. By then, his strength had become unfathomable.
Before you continue