Giant Apes

Wu Sui frowned and pondered for a while before finally remembering who Song Wen was. His brows relaxed, and he said.

"So it's Extreme Yin Brother Ji Yin from the Corpse Dissection Cave. With your strength, how did you manage to enter the secret realm?"

Song Wen sighed, "I originally thought that there were spirit medicine everywhere in the secret realm, and I could collect some to exchange for cultivation resources. But it turns out that this secret realm is fraught with danger, and even the places with spirit medicine are guarded by Demon Beasts."

"Fortunately, I met Senior Brother Wu Sui, so I thought I'd serve him faithfully and, incidentally, get some protection from him."

Wu Sui raised an eyebrow and said.

"Oh? You want my protection! But with your mere Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivation, why should I travel with you?"

Song Wen said with a fawning smile, "Senior brother, although I am a bit weak, I am thoughtful and can help you in some ways. Besides, when you travel alone, you will inevitably encounter some dirty and tiring work, which I can do for you."

"You say you're very perceptive, so tell me, which direction should I go now?" Wu Sui asked.

"With your strength and vision, ordinary treasures naturally wouldn't catch your eye. Only the Heavenly Spirit Fruit and the Jade Marrow Fungus can impress you,"

"In my opinion, Senior Brother should first go to the mountains in the southeast and retrieve the Heavenly Spirit Fruit."

Wu Sui shook his head and said, "Although the Heavenly Spirit Fruit is precious, it is still inferior to Jade Marrow Fungus Mushroom. I don't plan to go southeast, but instead plan to go directly to the center of the secret realm to retrieve the Jade Marrow Fungus from Fallen Eagle Ravine."

Although both Heavenly Spirit Fruit and Jade Marrow Fungus are main ingredients in Foundation Establishment, Heavenly Spirit Fruit is a spiritual fruit that grows on a spiritual tree. Although rare, all major sects cultivate Heavenly Spirit Fruit. Jade Marrow Fungus, on the other hand, is a type of mushroom that grows on cliffs and cannot be artificially cultivated.

Scarcity makes things valuable!

The price of Jade Marrow Fungus is naturally higher than that of Heavenly Spirit Fruit.

Song Wen said, "Senior Brother, you are mistaken. Although Jade Marrow Fungus is more precious, the Fallen Eagle Ravine is teeming with demonic Demon Beasts and rampant with walking corpses. How could Jade Marrow Fungus be so easy to obtain? Moreover, the experts from the three major sects will definitely want to obtain Jade Marrow Fungus. Therefore, there will surely be a brutal battle in Fallen Eagle Ravine."

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Senior brother, why don't you go and get the Heavenly Spirit Fruit first, and then appear after the other experts have dealt with most of the Demon Beasts in Fallen Eagle Ravine, or even after they've fought amongst themselves? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Sui remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"What you say makes some sense, but how do we seize the opportunity? Jade Marrow Fungus already rare. What if I arrive too late and they've all been taken?"

Song Wen said, "Then let's block the exit of the secret realm. No matter who gets the Jade Marrow Fungus, they will eventually have to leave. And there is only one exit. With Senior Brother's strength, he should have a great chance of winning against those experts who have survived the fierce battles."

Wu Sui's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea. Okay, you can come with me."

Song Wen quickly clasped his hands in a fist salute, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

With a wave of his hand, Wu Sui summoned a flying boat that appeared in front of the two.

He jumped onto the flying boat first, then said, "Extreme Yin, come on up."

The two were not far from the mountain where the Heavenly Spirit Fruit grew; they arrived after flying for about half an hour.

The mountain isn't very high, only about a thousand meters.

The entire mountain is covered with lush, verdant trees.

From afar, the two could see that the Spiritual Qi on the mountain was turbulent, with booming sounds coming from time to time.

A fierce battle is currently raging on the mountain.

Wu Sui said, "It seems someone beat us to it. However, we're not too late; the Heavenly Spirit Fruit shouldn't have been taken yet."

The airship rushed directly towards the battleground on the mountaintop.

A group of giant apes were seen attacking several human cultivators.

Not far from the battlefield, there was a spirit tree over two meters tall, bearing ten walnut-sized fruits. Most of them were greenish-blue, with only two being yellowish-green. Only these two yellowish-green Heavenly Spirit Fruits were ripe.

The Heavenly Spirit Fruit must be fully ripe before it can be used in medicine Alchemy; an unripe Heavenly Spirit Fruit is highly poisonous.

There were a great many Gigantopithecus, more than forty in total, most of them over three meters tall. The strongest one was nearly six meters tall and was clearly the leader of the Gigantopithecus.

The Ape King's aura was thick and violent, already very close to that of a second-tier Demon Beast.

Its thick, long arms could generate a terrifying gust of wind with every swing.

The Human Race cultivators being besieged were members of the Mysterious Yin Sect, totaling seven. The leader was at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, two others Qi Refinement the eighth level, and the rest were at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

The Mysterious Yin Sect members also noticed the sudden appearance of Song Wen and Wu Sui.

The leader's expression turned somewhat solemn. They were already surrounded by the ape horde and were outmatched. If Wu Sui, Qi Refining Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, were to attack them as well, many of them might not be able to leave these mountains today.

As for Song Wen, he completely ignored him; a mere Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator, easily killed.

The leader chanted loudly while casting the spell, looking up at the crowd.

"Fellow Daoists of the Corpse Demon Sect, I am Chen Xiuming of the Mysterious Yin Sect. Would you be willing to join us in defeating the ape horde? We can then share the Heavenly Spirit Fruit equally."

Wu Sui watched the battle below with a cold smile, unmoved.

There are only two ripe Heavenly Spirit Fruits in total, and you want to share them with me? That's wishful thinking.

Seeing that Wu Sui didn't respond, he seemed prepared to let both sides suffer heavy losses before he could take advantage of the situation.

Chen Xiuming gritted his teeth and shouted, "Fellow disciples, retreat!"

He held a ten-foot-tall Ghost Banner in his hand. With a wave of the Ghost Banner, a large amount of ghost energy surged out, and a ten-foot-tall ghost appeared in the ghost energy.

A massive surge of ghostly energy swept into the giant ape troop. This ghostly energy was quite mysterious; it did not cause any harm to the apes, but it did cause the apes' speed to drop slightly. Only the Ape King was not significantly affected.

The Ape King swung its nearly three-meter-long, thick arm and slammed it down towards Chen Xiuming.

The towering ghost helped Chen Xiuming barely block the Ape King's attack.

Taking advantage of the apes being trapped, Chen Xiuming and the other disciples of the Mysterious Yin Sect hurriedly used their movement Movement Method, either leaping into the air or retreating.

Unexpectedly, a jet-black chain suddenly shot out from the flying boat above.

The chains surged with Sha Qi, their imposing presence terrifying, like an enraged black Flood Dragon circling and roaring in mid-air.

The chains appeared too suddenly and their momentum was too terrifying. Caught off guard, the Mysterious Yin Sect disciples were unable to prepare a countermeasure and chose to temporarily avoid the attack rather than confront the chains head-on. Even Chen Xiuming, who was at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, was no exception.

The speed of the seven members of the Mysterious Yin Sect was immediately reduced due to the chains blocking their path.

Meanwhile, the ape troop had broken free from the black mist and, using all four limbs, quickly caught up with the Mysterious Yin Sect disciples.

The Ape King had already killed the ten-foot-tall ghost, and from somewhere picked up a giant log and hurled it at Chen Xiuming.

Chen Xiuming glanced at the flying boat in mid-air, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Hateful!"

He Ghost Banner in his hand again, and a large amount of black energy surged out, smashing the giant tree that was attacking into pieces.

At that moment, a piercing sound came from above his head. Looking up, he saw the Ape King leaping high into the air, his hands forming hammers, his muscles bulging, and he was smashing down on him with the force of a thousand pounds.

If Chen Xiuming, who had never practiced body-refining techniques, had been hit squarely by the Ape King's fists, he would probably have been smashed into mincemeat.

Chen Xiuming waved the Ghost Banner again, and another fierce ghost leaped out of Ghost Banner. The ghost looked like an Ox-Head Ghost standing upright, with two sharp bull horns half a meter long growing from its head.