Crystal Monkey Heart

Some spirit beasts possess an incredibly strong sense of vengeance; as long as it is an enemy they have encountered, they will not forget it for five years, let alone a lifetime. The only thing unexpected was that this Strength Bear would disregard its own life just to seek revenge—it truly was a fierce beast.

After burying Lin Hai's third junior brother on the spot, Sanbao called out to Lin Hai, who was meditating and recovering in a tree, "Brother Lin, would you like to eat some roasted meat?"

"I have no appetite for that. Come up and rest. Didn't you say you wanted to go see Willow Forest City? I'll take you there tomorrow!"

The night passed in silence. By the next morning, Lin Hai had recovered more than half of his strength. Aside from some minor external injuries, the greatest drain had been his spirit power, which had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent after a night of cultivation, while Sanbao had fully returned to his peak.

"This time was truly unlucky. Four of us came, and only I am returning. It was all greed playing a part; what does a Spirit Weapon really matter?"

While passing through the activity area of the Crystal Monkeys, Lin Hai brought up the old topic again, wishing he could fly over and slay the Crystal Monkey King to avenge his fallen junior brothers and sisters.

"Brother Lin, do you really want to obtain a Spirit Weapon?" Sanbao asked mysteriously from the side.

"That goes without saying. You should have seen the power of a Spirit Weapon; with one, your strength can be doubled. If I had one, the second and third brothers wouldn't have died at the hands of that mad bear. It's just, sigh..."

Lin Hai shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Alright, then I will help you with this, Brother Lin. As long as you do as I say, I have a seventy percent chance of helping you fulfill this wish," Sanbao said with a grin.

"Good, tell me. As long as I don't lose my life, I'll do anything," the desire for a Spirit Weapon made Lin Hai exceptionally decisive.

Sanbao explained his plan in detail, causing Lin Hai to nod repeatedly. Finally, the two split up to act.

About an hour later, Lin Hai finally discovered the trail of the monkey troop. He ran to a nearby hilltop and let out a long whistle. Before long, Sanbao arrived as promised.

"Brother Luo, I've found the monkey troop. It's up to you now; I'll wait for you right here," Lin Hai said, his face full of anticipation.

"Alright, I will do my best!" Sanbao nodded and left.

In a coconut grove within the valley, nearly twenty Crystal Monkeys were playing without a care in the world. Ever since a fourth-rank monkey king emerged among them, they had become the absolute overlords of a radius of nearly a hundred kilometers, with no spirit beast daring to challenge their authority.

Of course, terrifying humans were the exception.

However, not all humans had the ability to challenge them. Just like the few humans from yesterday, the result of provoking them was one word—death.

Just as a few young monkeys were playing happily, a stone suddenly struck one of them heavily in the chest from the hillside outside the grove.

"Wuu..."

The monkey troop was extremely vigilant. At the young monkey's cry of pain, the entire group immediately fled toward the depths of the coconut grove. Only three or four of the strongest large monkeys remained, with the fourth-rank monkey king standing at the front. With sharp eyes, the large monkeys immediately spotted the enemy on the hillside—a detestable human.

Needless to say, this was naturally Sanbao's plan to lure the enemy.

"Ao."

At the monkey king's command, one agile Crystal Monkey flew out of the coconut grove and rushed toward the hillside. Upon discovering that there was only one enemy and that his strength was pitifully weak—only at the early second-rank—the scout let out an angry roar and charged at Sanbao, brandishing its claws.

Two other spirit monkeys slowly circled around from the back, while the fourth-rank Crystal Monkey King led the remaining two subordinates back into the depths of the coconut grove. There was still a large group of their kind there that needed protection, and humans were particularly cunning; they could not fall for a diversionary tactic.

The human on the hillside was too weak; his own fierce subordinates were more than enough to handle him.

The facts were just as the monkey king had expected. The young human had no power to fight back against a third-rank spirit monkey; after exchanging only two or three moves, he immediately turned and fled.

The Crystal Monkeys held a deep grudge against humans. Seeing Sanbao flee, the three spirit monkeys gave chase. Although the fleeing human had poor strength, his speed was not slow. No matter how the spirit monkeys pursued, the two sides always maintained a certain distance.

After crossing the hilltop, the three spirit monkeys stopped. After howling at the sky a few times, they returned to the coconut grove.

The intelligence of the Crystal Spirit Monkeys was far above that of ordinary spirit beasts; knowing when to stop was one of the rules of survival.

"Why did they stop chasing?"

A tall figure suddenly sprang from the bushes; it was the bearded Lin Hai, who jumped out holding a heavy sword.

"Hehe, no need to rush. This was just a test. Do it a few more times, and it's guaranteed to be effective. Even a rabbit will bite when pushed to the limit!" Sanbao said with a calm, calculated smile.

"Brother Luo, you must be careful. That fourth-rank monkey king is no joke. Once you get entangled with it, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to escape!" Lin Hai nodded, secretly admiring Sanbao's courage. If it were him, he would never dare to provoke that group of Crystal Monkeys again.

Sanbao naturally had some means of self-preservation; otherwise, he wouldn't dare to bet his own head on it.

About half an hour later, Sanbao approached the coconut grove again. He picked up a sharp stone and threw it with all his might at a careless young monkey near the edge of the forest.

This time, Sanbao's force was significantly increased. The stone struck the young monkey's chest hard and pierced through.

The young monkey tumbled and fell from the tree, clearly dead.

Wuu...

The monkey troop sounded the alarm. Several large monkeys flew out and quickly spotted Sanbao again.

The game of cat and mouse was staged once more. This time, the spirit monkeys were truly enraged. They did not stop after crossing the hilltop but kept chasing. When Sanbao felt that the fourth-rank monkey king was out of range, he slowly reduced his speed. In a patch of tall grass, Sanbao suddenly turned around and engaged the fastest third-rank spirit monkey.

At the same time, a heavy sword thrust out from the depths of the grass.

A five-fingered golden light swept down fiercely toward the spirit monkey's head. The spirit monkey clearly hadn't realized the danger Sanbao posed; it lightly swiped with one arm, trying to dodge Sanbao's strike, while its attention was mostly focused on the heavy sword that had appeared out of thin air.

The owner of the heavy sword was none other than Lin Hai. Compared to Sanbao, Lin Hai's spirit power was far more profound, and in the spirit monkey's perception, he was the much greater threat.

Lin Hai's heavy sword was deflected by the spirit monkey's swipe, missing its mark.

However, the true killing blow was not Lin Hai, but Sanbao's Nine-Fold Claw.

With a chi sound, Sanbao's five fingers, like five sharp swords, easily pierced through the spirit monkey's left arm, and he took the opportunity to strike horizontally, landing his Golden Sand Palm heavily on the spirit monkey's chest.

The spirit monkey let out a miserable shriek and was instantly severely wounded.

The other two spirit monkeys finally arrived, but before leaping to the rescue, they let out a loud howl, clearly signaling to the monkey king that their side had encountered a formidable enemy.

"Stop right there!"

Lin Hai naturally would not allow the three spirit monkeys to unite. He swung his heavy sword, sweeping it forward in a fierce semicircle to repel the two reinforcements. At the same time, Sanbao launched a powerful assault, his left hand, which had been gathering strength for quite a while, slamming into the back of the injured spirit monkey.

With a tearing sound, the spirit monkey perished.

"Retreat."

Sanbao grabbed the spirit monkey, gave a signal, and the two vanished into the tall grass.

The other two spirit monkeys were clearly intimidated by Sanbao's thunderous momentum and dared not pursue. By the time the fourth-rank monkey king arrived, the two had long since gone far away.

Carefully placing the heart of the third-rank Crystal Monkey into a bowl before tucking it into the pack on his back, Sanbao and his companion hurried toward Guilin City in the west of West Cloud Mountain.

Several days later.

In a small town outside West Cloud Mountain, two men in a hurry appeared. One was tall with a thick beard, carrying a large pack on his back while a black heavy sword rested diagonally across his shoulder, giving him a murderous aura.

The other man had a handsome face and a high nose, his expression tinged with excitement.

They were none other than Sanbao and his companion, who had traveled through West Cloud Mountain.

This was the first time Sanbao had relied on his own abilities to traverse a distance of several hundred kilometers. Although there had been several close calls along the way, they had finally made it out of the mountain.

Of course, Lin Hai's strength and experience had played a huge role; if it had been Sanbao alone, his fate would have been hard to predict.

"Brother Luo, this town is only a little over a hundred kilometers from Guilin City. We've both been exhausted from traveling these past few days, so how about we rest here for a day and enter the city tomorrow?" Lin Hai asked for his opinion.

Throughout the journey, Sanbao's intelligence and strength had completely won Lin Hai over. Although Sanbao was only a one-star Spirit General, in Lin Hai's heart, he already viewed Sanbao as an equal, perhaps even a cut above.

After all, Sanbao was only in his teens, and his future was limitless.

"Fine, as long as the monkey heart stays fresh," Sanbao knew well the medicinal value of the heart; if it spoiled, he feared he wouldn't be able to trade it for a Spirit Weapon.

"Rest assured, kept in this Ice Porcelain Bowl, it will stay fresh for at least a month," Lin Hai said with a confident expression. Soon, an inn appeared before them.

Just as the two were about to head over to wash up and rest, several inexplicable people suddenly blocked their path.

Among them, aside from three Spirit Generals, the rest were all high-level Spirit Scholars.