Saving the Monkeys

The circulation path of Wild Bull Force became more than three times clearer in an instant. He could summon and wield every strand of force as freely as his own limbs.

Even without the power of his flames, Jiang Zhe could take on monsters with his bare hands using nothing but his repeatedly cleansed body!

"Now that felt good!"

Jiang Zhe clenched his fist, felt the explosive power in his palm, and broke into a grin.

Just as he was preparing to venture deeper into the forest in search of his next unlucky little demon!

Suddenly!

A piercing cry reached his ears!

Screech, screech, screech!!

The noise was deafening, shrill and full of terror!

Jiang Zhe's expression changed slightly. Without a moment's hesitation, he shot toward the source of the sound like lightning!

At his current speed, he covered several hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Zhe sprang lightly onto a towering ancient tree and stood on a branch.

From his lofty perch, he could see the scene below in its entirety!

Dozens of bizarre-looking little demons, armed with cleavers, spiked clubs, steel forks, and all manner of other weapons, had surrounded more than a dozen monkeys.

The monkeys were all skin and bones, trembling with fear. Only two older gray-furred monkeys stood at the very front, gripping wooden sticks and baring their teeth, their entire bodies shaking.

What made Jiang Zhe's pupils contract even further, however, were the monkey corpses at their feet.

Every one of the dead monkeys had had its skull smashed open!

Shattered skulls, brains, and blood lay mingled on the ground, red and white fluid spreading everywhere.

And then there were the little demons!

Several of the monsters still had traces of red and white matter at the corners of their mouths, their eyes full of satisfaction.

"You bastards! When the king comes back, he'll never let you get away with this!"

The gray-furred monkey at the front roared in fury.

"Heh!"

A mocking chuckle rang out.

Their leader was a toad demon half the height of a man, covered in warts, with bulging eyes. Its mouth opened and closed, and the tongue it stuck out was a good foot long.

Leaning on a steel fork, it sauntered up to the gray monkey and grinned, revealing a mouthful of crooked yellow teeth. "You chose a monkey king, but he's been gone for over twenty years. He's probably forgotten all about you by now. Maybe he died long ago in some godforsaken corner out there."

"Your king? Ha!"

"You monkeys, if you know what's good for you, hurry up and hand over the Water Curtain Cave for my king to use as his residence! Otherwise!"

Its bulging eyes shone with undisguised greed and malice:

"My king, the Demon King of Havoc, will eat a monkey's brains every day!"

With that, it even stretched out its long, thin tongue and licked its lips. Its throat bobbed as it swallowed.

"Only demons who've tasted monkey brains know!" It lowered its voice, as though sharing some extraordinary secret recipe. "That stuff is tender, soft, fresh, sweet... practically like a Peach of Immortality in the mortal world!"

"No wonder the king has to eat one every day!"

It narrowed its eyes and muttered, "I always feel like the more monkey brains I eat, the smarter I get..."

"Bullshit!"

A child's voice, young but full of force, erupted from among the monkeys.

A fist-sized stone immediately flew through the air and struck the toad demon's bulging left eye with a smack!

"Ow!"

The toad demon clutched its eye and hopped about.

The stone had been thrown by the smallest golden-haired monkey in the group.

The little monkey was covered in golden fur, and its dark, bright eyes were full of anger. Its voice was sharp and clear:

"Our king didn't abandon us! He'll definitely come back and beat you monsters to death!"

"How dare you! Grab that little brat for me!"

The toad demon flew into a rage. Covering its swollen eye, it pointed its steel fork forward.

"I'm going to dig out his brains right here and roast them over a fire!"

"Kill!!"

The surrounding little demons answered with a roar. Raising their cleavers and spiked clubs, they prepared to charge at the monkeys.

The two gray-furred monkeys raised their wooden sticks, trembling all over, but stood firm in front of the little golden monkey.

But then!

At that very instant!

The air around them suddenly grew heavy!

A scorching wave of heat, hot enough to nearly suffocate them, came bearing down from the sky!

Boom!!

A green lotus of fire descended from the heavens and smashed into the center of the demons!

The instant its petals burst apart, they became a sea of green fire that swept over everything in its path!

"Aaagh!!"

"It's so hot!!"

"Help!!"

The little demons barely had time to let out half a scream before the Green Lotus Core Flame swallowed them whole!

More than a dozen little demons were reduced to humanoid lumps of charcoal almost in the same breath!

Only the toad demon was spared!

It reacted with astonishing speed. As the only one among the little demons to have barely crossed the threshold into the Great Demon realm, its senses far surpassed the ordinary.

At the critical moment, it kicked off hard with its two powerful hind legs. With a strange croak, the toad leaped clear of the edge of the sea of fire, narrowly escaping disaster!

"Who?!"

"What fiend is attacking me from the shadows?! Don't you know that Grandpa Toad has Lord Demon King of Havoc backing him?!"

The toad demon was drenched in cold sweat, and slime seeped from the warts on its skin from fright.

It held up its steel fork and looked warily around, its voice trembling.

Only when the green lotus slowly faded and the flames died away did a figure appear!

A tall, slender figure drifted down from the treetops.

He wore a plain robe, his skin was like jade, and his expression was calm.

"A human?!"

The toad demon's eyes bulged, and it sniffed instinctively!

The next second, its whole face went white!

An extremely dangerous presence faintly emanated from the young man!

It was the scorching presence unique to a body repeatedly cleansed by Samadhi True Fire and Green Lotus Core Flame!

I can't beat him!

I'm just a little mountain patrol leader under the Demon King of Havoc. I can bully beasts without awakened intelligence and passing mortals well enough, but a human cultivator of this level, who even has such terrifying flames!

There's no damn way I can beat him!

The toad demon's eyes darted around. Without another word, it turned to run!

But then!

Almost the instant it turned!

A jet of blazing white fire burst from Jiang Zhe's palm!