Unruly Monkeys

Misty Prefecture, Red Peach Ridge.

Red Peach Ridge lay in the southeastern part of Jing Kingdom's Misty Prefecture, over seven hundred li from Nine Peaks Ridge, where the Zhou Family was located.

The mountain range stretched for more than two hundred li. Its terrain was complex, poisonous insects and fierce beasts abounded, and demonic beasts often appeared there, making it a treasure-hunting and adventuring ground for many rogue cultivators from Misty Prefecture.

At this moment, Zhou Chun, Zhou Zhengyong, and Zhou Jiapeng, who had left the Zhou Family of Nine Peaks Ridge, were standing outside a valley deep within Red Peach Ridge.

"That valley ahead is the one. The Crimson Tail Monkey troop usually lives inside it, and many Mortal Beasts share the valley with them."

Beneath a towering tree whose crown spread like a canopy, Zhou Zhengyong pointed toward the valley ahead. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a twenty- to thirty-zhang-wide entrance, and he quietly described what he had discovered during his previous investigation.

After hearing him out, Zhou Jiapeng shook his head slightly. "Nephew Zhengyong, what you're describing was the situation several days ago. As for what it's like inside now, let me have Iron Feather Eagle scout it first before we say anything."

Without waiting for Zhou Zhengyong to reply, he reached out and slapped his Spirit Beast Pouch, releasing his spirit pet, Iron Feather Eagle.

As a First-grade High-tier Demonic Beast, Iron Feather Eagle was several times larger than the golden eagle Zhou Chun had seen in his previous life. Its wingspan reached a full thirteen feet, and every feather looked as if it had been forged from refined iron, gleaming with a metallic sheen.

After emerging from the Spirit Beast Pouch, it first swept its sharp gaze over Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong. Then it opened its beak and gave Zhou Jiapeng a low cry.

Once Zhou Jiapeng communicated with it mentally and issued his instructions, it immediately beat its wings, borrowing the force of the gale to surge forward several zhang before leaping into the sky.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhengyong said with unconcealed envy, "Uncle Peng, this Iron Feather Eagle of yours is truly magnificent. If it ever has offspring, you must consider your nephew. I'd sell everything I owned to buy one and raise it!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Jiapeng sighed gloomily. "Ah, it would have been better if you hadn't brought that up. Every time you mention it, my heart aches."

"More than two years ago, I had already found out that a female Iron Feather Eagle had appeared somewhere in Feng Kingdom. I'd planned to take Iron Peng there to find her and arrange a breeding match, but before I could even set out, that incident happened!"

"Now, who knows how many years it'll be before I can find another female Iron Feather Eagle suitable for breeding!"

Uh...

Zhou Zhengyong no longer knew what to say.

In truth, breeding spirit pets was indeed a long-standing problem that plagued beast-taming lineages like the Zhou Family.

Aside from a small number of spirit pet species, most of the Zhou Family cultivators' spirit pets had either been captured in the wild or purchased from other cultivators.

Once these spirit pets matured, leaving offspring through breeding was truly no easy matter.

Usually, they either had to inquire everywhere about cultivators who raised the same kind of spirit pet, then visit them to arrange a paid breeding match.

Or they had to search for the same kind of demonic beast in the wild and use either "seduction" or force to make it breed.

Under such circumstances, the rarer the spirit pet, the more difficult it was to find a suitable mate.

Thus, when they couldn't find one of the same kind, the Zhou Family cultivators could only search within the broader category for a compatible partner.

Just as lions and tigers could in fact breed, Iron Feather Eagle could also breed with certain eagle- or falcon-type demonic beasts.

However, there was no guarantee that offspring produced through such breeding would survive or possess any potential.

Most of the time, because the elemental attributes of the two demonic beasts were incompatible, even if offspring were born, they would be difficult to raise.

And even if they survived, the two bloodlines within their bodies would conflict, leaving them with little potential for cultivation.

Cases in which offspring perfectly inherited the powers of both parents and mutated into a powerful bloodline were exceedingly rare.

Thus, Zhou Zhengyong had no idea how to comfort his clan uncle Zhou Jiapeng. He could only conceal his awkwardness with silence.

As for Zhou Chun beside them, he had even less intention of saying anything.

He was not close to his clan uncle Zhou Jiapeng. He had only come here this time because of his connection with Zhou Zhengyong, so it would have been inappropriate to intrude rashly on such a topic.

After waiting in silence for roughly a quarter of an hour, Iron Feather Eagle, which had flown out earlier, circled down onto the treetop above them and transmitted the results of its scouting to Zhou Jiapeng.

After receiving the intelligence from his spirit pet, Zhou Jiapeng quickly said, "All right. Iron Peng has confirmed that there are indeed only those Crimson Tail Monkey demonic beasts inside the valley. It also didn't see any other demonic beasts or cultivators within several li of the area. We can safely make our move."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengyong could no longer conceal his excitement. He bowed deeply to him. "I'll leave everything to you, Uncle."

With that, the three of them immediately followed Zhou Jiapeng into the valley.

After entering the valley, Zhou Chun looked up and saw that it was quite large, seemingly two or three hundred mu in area. Groves of fruit trees grew throughout it, bearing many kinds of wild fruit.

Thus, besides the monkey troop, the valley was also home to some small beasts and birds that likewise fed on wild fruit.

Now that the three human cultivators had entered, the monkeys, birds, and beasts in the valley that noticed them immediately began shrieking sharply in warning.

Some bold and vicious unruly monkeys even stood directly on the treetops, grabbing wild fruit and branches and hurling them at the three men.

"These unruly monkeys!"

Zhou Jiapeng, who was leading the way, darkened his expression. He formed a hand seal, raised his hand, and swept it outward, sending thin blue-green needles shooting toward the unruly monkeys.

Any unruly monkey struck by one of those blue-green needles let out a miserable shriek and fell from the treetop. In an instant, more than a dozen monkeys had been hit.

This immediately frightened the remaining monkeys. They shrieked and fled toward the depths of the valley.

So this is what they call "killing a monkey to frighten the monkeys"?

Watching the scene, Zhou Chun laughed inwardly.

After advancing several dozen zhang into the valley, the group soon saw the Crimson Tail Monkey troop.

The monkey troop had already been alarmed, and the two sides had effectively run into each other halfway.

When the monkey king saw the three human cultivators, it immediately let out a furious roar and launched the first attack.

Fireballs and flaming arrows came raining toward the three men from all directions, their momentum astonishing.

The three men either brought out magical artifacts to block the attacks or took out magical talismans and activated them to form protective shields around themselves.

At the same time, Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong each reached out and slapped the Spirit Beast Pouch at their waists, releasing their respective spirit pets.

However, in a situation like this, Zhou Chun's Rock Earth Turtle could hardly display any useful ability. At most, it could serve as a shield for him and draw fire.

After all, the Rock Earth Turtle's main offensive methods could not reach the Crimson Tail Monkeys leaping back and forth across the treetops.

And the Crimson Tail Monkeys clearly weren't foolish enough to charge right up to it and engage in close combat.

Although the Rock Earth Turtle was of little use this time, several of Zhou Chun's magical artifacts proved extremely useful.

Driven by his magic power, the silver short sword and pale-gold flying knife attacked from both sides, each locking onto a Crimson Tail Monkey before shooting toward it.

These Crimson Tail Monkeys evidently lacked experience fighting cultivators. When faced with the incoming magical artifacts, they bounced around several times but still couldn't evade them. Their vicious nature flared, and they actually swung their claws to slap at the weapons.

One had its claw severed by the sword light erupting from the silver short sword, which then pierced through its chest and killed it on the spot.

Another had its palm pierced by the pale-gold flying knife and fell from the treetop.

At the same time, Zhou Jiapeng's Iron Feather Eagle descended from the sky and pounced directly in front of the monkey king. Its sharp claws swept out, releasing black Claw Strikes as it engaged the monkey king in fierce combat.

After roughly a quarter of an hour of fighting, nearly half of the dozen-plus Crimson Tail Monkeys had died beneath the attacks of the three Zhou Family members.

This greatly enraged the monkey king, which was still entangled with Iron Feather Eagle.

It suddenly let out a piercing shriek, and the remaining Crimson Tail Monkeys immediately abandoned their attacks and scattered in all directions.

Then it spat out raging flames to force Iron Feather Eagle back and likewise bounded rapidly toward the mountain forest outside the valley.

Seeing this, Iron Feather Eagle was about to pursue and kill it.

But Zhou Jiapeng shouted to stop it. "Don't pursue them. Let them go."

He then turned to Zhou Chun and Zhou Zhengyong and admonished them, "Our Zhou Family built its lineage through the Beast Taming Arts. Our ancestors often said that wild demonic beasts grow with difficulty. If there is no dispute over benefits, we must not exterminate them all, lest future generations be unable to find suitable spirit pets to contract."

"There isn't much oil to squeeze from these Crimson Tail Monkeys even if we kill them. It's better to leave them here to reproduce. When Nephew Zhengyong's Crimson Tail Monkey needs a mate in the future, we may be able to use them again!"

The two men pondered his words, then nodded thoughtfully and withdrew their magical artifacts.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiapeng nodded in satisfaction before waving his hand. "Let's go. Now we'll take a look at the treasure guarded by the monkey troop in the valley. Don't let those unruly monkeys get there first."

Some readers have said that the plot feels somewhat bland and lacks the exhilarating thrill that comes from intense conflicts. They're absolutely right, but that's a common flaw in the early stages of most mortal cultivation novels. Because they require buildup and progress unfolds slowly, they really can't match the pacing or cathartic excitement of stories that build tension and anticipation through fierce conflict. Still, please bear with it and read on patiently. Believe me, I'll definitely write a story worth reading. And as long as you settle down and keep reading, you'll gradually become immersed in it. I believe you'll be able to enter this cultivation world step by step, just like our protagonist. Look forward to tomorrow's developments! I'm truly begging you—this is still the free period, so you have nothing to lose by reading!