At the instant the man and the stone monkey locked eyes, the stone monkey's eyes suddenly lit up. Two golden vortices seemed to form within them, spewing out a great deal of light that scattered in all directions.
Shen Luo found the sight quite strange, but he made no move, merely watching in silence to see what would happen.
As the golden light gradually spread, the stone monkey's originally grayish-white body seemed to have been painted over, slowly taking on the color of golden fur and becoming increasingly lifelike.
Just then, a shrill "Screech!" rang out. The golden stone monkey hanging from the tree by one arm swayed, then leaped straight out of the stone wall and pounced at Shen Luo.
Shen Luo remained calm. With a slight circulation of Magic Power, he raised a hand to block it.
However, the instant his palm touched the golden stone monkey, it flashed with golden light and transformed into a streak of golden radiance that entered his body.
"Damn, I was careless!"
Shen Luo's heart skipped a beat, and a wave of scorching heat immediately rose from his Dantian.
Before he could do anything, the Magic Power in his Dantian began circulating on its own. It surged upward along the Conception Vessel and flowed through the major acupoints in his body.
Although Shen Luo felt that scorching force racing wildly through his body, it did not seem to cause any other abnormality. Reassured, he hurriedly circulated the Nameless Art, intending to guide the Magic Power back into his Dantian.
Yet the moment he began trying, the Magic Power that had just reached the Zhongwan Acupoint seemed to suffer a backlash and resisted his control. A sharp pain stabbed through his chest, forcing him to stop at once.
"What is going on?" Shen