The Divine Ape Sleeping Within the Sacred Mountain

"Ah, Miss Hongyu, perhaps we'll meet again someday..."

Jiang Chen looked back at the path he had come from. Every word Ye Hongyu had said reached his ears.

Thump, thump—

As Jiang Chen entered the valley, he suddenly heard the sound of a heartbeat. The farther he went, the louder it became.

"What... is this?" Jiang Chen was deeply puzzled. He immediately released his spiritual power to probe his surroundings.

"Nothing?"

Jiang Chen found nothing. The source of that sound was not within this sacred mountain.

"Could it be underground?"

Jiang Chen immediately looked below. His spiritual power passed through the earth, only to be bounced back by a golden light.

Jiang Chen finally saw it clearly. Buried beneath Fruit Mountain was actually a gigantic ape!

The giant ape was absorbing Fruit Mountain's divine power. The essence of every blade of grass and tree flowed downward through their roots, while the Divine Ape's aura continuously grew stronger.

"The entire sacred mountain is actually nourishment for the Divine Ape's awakening?!"

Jiang Chen found it unbelievable. If the Divine Ape absorbed all of Fruit Mountain's divine power, it would likely reach at least the peak of the God King realm!

Should I stop it?

Jiang Chen fell into thought.

In the end, Jiang Chen abandoned the idea. The Divine Ape would not awaken anytime soon. If it woke one day and wreaked havoc in the God Realm, the God Kings would be the ones with a headache.

With a sweep of Jiang Chen's spiritual power, everything within the sacred mountain became crystal clear to him.

On one mountain peak, Li Jiang was preparing to pluck a medicinal herb surrounded by a halo. By the streams and springs, Ye Hongyu wandered about absentmindedly. Others were fighting over medicinal herbs. Yet aside from Jiang Chen, the divine power within everyone's bodies was slowly draining away, ultimately flowing underground. At the same time, the lost divine power was replaced by a trace of turbid energy that flowed into their bodies.

"What is going on? Haven't they noticed?"

Jiang Chen was greatly puzzled. It seemed Fruit Mountain had been a scam from the beginning. The opening of the sacred mountain must have been the Divine Ape's doing, its purpose being to absorb divine power and hasten its awakening. The reason it did not allow God Kings inside was likely either because they were useless to it, or because it feared being discovered by powerful God Kings.

"If we want to leave, it seems we can only wait for the sacred mountain to close automatically in three days and send everyone out."

Jiang Chen headed deeper inside. Everywhere he passed bore signs of having been searched, without a single medicinal herb left behind.

Fruit Mountain consisted of five enormous peaks. Although countless people had entered, Jiang Chen had not seen many along the way. They were likely all deeper inside.

As Jiang Chen looked at the five peaks, he inexplicably thought of Journey to the West from his previous life. Why did this Divine Ape resemble Sun Wukong, who had been trapped beneath Five-Finger Mountain?

Jiang Chen went deeper and deeper, gradually beginning to see people. When the others saw Jiang Chen, they all kept far away. Everyone said killing someone would result in forced teleportation out, but no one said you could not beat someone half to death.

Jiang Chen had killed the Divine Temple's holy son and a hundred guards outside the sacred mountain. They all believed Jiang Chen was bloodthirsty, so they fled in fear, terrified that Jiang Chen might set his sights on them.

Jiang Chen paid them no mind. Everyone saw the world differently; some saw good as evil, while others saw evil as good.

Suddenly, Jiang Chen's pupils constricted as he stared incredulously at the towering peak in the center. This peak was the tallest of the five, radiating a faint divine charm. If Jiang Chen's spiritual power had not been so immense, he might not have noticed it.

"Ding. Congratulations, Host, for successfully triggering a choice:

Choice One: Discover a Supreme Divine Artifact and leave it alone. Reward: one Level-Five Soul Power Upgrade Card.

Choice Two: Discover a Supreme Divine Artifact and store it in the system space. Reward: one Soul-Cleansing Jade."

"System, what is the use of this Soul-Cleansing Jade?"

"The Soul-Cleansing Jade can purify the soul. All things are born imperfect, and it can make up for their deficiencies. After recognizing it as your master with a drop of blood and wearing it, there will be no barriers to realm breakthroughs. It can also grant a trace of a chance to break through into the Transcendent Realm."

Jiang Chen was stunned. The Transcendent Realm existed only in theory—could it truly exist?

Then, given the Soul-Cleansing Jade's value, if it were placed in the God Realm, even all the Supreme Gods would fight over it until their heads bled.

"System, I choose Choice Two."

"Congratulations, Host, on making your choice. You have received the Soul-Cleansing Jade."

At that moment, the sleeping Divine Ape's eyes suddenly moved. They did not open, but its brows furrowed slightly.

Divine Ape: I seem to have a faintly ominous feeling...

Jiang Chen immediately contacted Li Jiang and Ye Hongyu through mental transmission.

"Brother Li, Miss Hongyu, hurry and meet me in front of the central peak!"

Half an hour later.

"Young Master Jiang, why did you ask us to come?"

Ye Hongyu encountered Li Jiang on the way, and the two came together. They looked at Jiang Chen with faint confusion on their faces.

Jiang Chen told them about the anomaly he had discovered. "What? A Divine Ape is actually sleeping beneath the sacred mountain!"

Li Jiang exclaimed in shock.

Ye Hongyu, on the other hand, remained much calmer. "This Divine Ape will not awaken anytime soon. Young Master Jiang, you must have another reason for calling us here, right?"

Jiang Chen smiled. "Miss Hongyu is indeed meticulous. This Divine Ape is absorbing everyone's Life-Origin Divine Source within the sacred mountain. The absorbed Divine Source is replaced by a trace of turbid energy. Haven't you noticed?"

Both of them shook their heads, completely unaware.

If one's Life-Origin Divine Source was absorbed, it meant their aptitude would decline. A prodigy who could originally have become a First-Level God would never again be able to enter the First-Level God realm in this life.

"Then we must leave this place quickly." Ye Hongyu spoke anxiously.

"Not yet. There is one more matter."

Jiang Chen summoned his martial soul. There were restrictions within the sacred mountain, preventing flight, so Jiang Chen could only stand on the ground.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul True Body."

Jiang Chen held nothing back. Raising the Zhuxian Sword, he slashed toward the mountain peak. A fierce pressure swept over the area, causing Ye Hongyu and Li Jiang to lose their footing.

Ye Hongyu stared blankly at Jiang Chen. Is this your true strength?

Jiang Chen struck with his sword. This attack could originally injure a God King, yet when it landed on the mountain peak, it miraculously only shattered several massive rocks.

Rumble—

The ground shook violently. The sleeping Divine Ape seemed to sense something and slowly opened its eyes. Perhaps because Jiang Chen had disturbed its slumber, they were filled with ferocity.

"Hmph. If one sword isn't enough, then I'll use another! Let's see how many strikes you can withstand!"

As Jiang Chen launched several consecutive strikes, huge rocks tumbled down and stirred up waves of dust. The earth shook even harder. The mountain peak, now cut in half, stood exposed in the air. A dazzling golden staff stood atop the remaining half of the peak, overflowing with divine might. Jiang Chen felt as though a mountain weighed upon him, let alone Li Jiang and Ye Hongyu, who had already fallen half to their knees.

Two wildly flowing characters were inscribed upon the staff: "Ruyi."

"Damn, this... this is the Golden-Banded Staff?!"

"Then... that Divine Ape is the Great Sage?!"

As Jiang Chen thought of this, he felt a sense of foreboding. If he took the Ruyi Golden-Banded Staff, would Sun Wukong not hunt him to the ends of the earth?

Jiang Chen stored the Golden-Banded Staff in the system space, and the divine might finally dissipated.

"Y-Young Master Jiang, how can this divine artifact possess such terrifying power?"

Cold sweat streamed down Ye Hongyu and Li Jiang's foreheads.

"This is a Supreme Divine Artifact! What do you think?"

Roar—

A furious roar rang through the heavens. Ye Hongyu and Li Jiang felt as though their heads were about to split apart. Jiang Chen could not endure it either and covered his ears.

As for the others, some bled from all seven orifices and fainted on the spot.

Only then did Jiang Chen understand where his unease had come from. It seemed that because he had taken the Golden-Banded Staff, Sun Wukong had sensed it and awakened ahead of time.

"Run... run!"

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