Teng Qingshan and Li Jun stood by the lake, gazing across the vast expanse of water stretching for dozens of miles, the cold wind whipping up ripples on the surface.
“The scenery here is truly beautiful,” Li Jun linked her arm through Teng Qingshan’s. “Qingshan, once we have children… to live here together, with Dao Chi, Xiao Qing, Big White, Big Black, and Xiao Hui nearby. Wouldn’t that be wonderful.”
Teng Qingshan looked down at Li Jun, a slight smile touching his lips.
“Master, Master,” a voice called from behind.
Both Teng Qingshan and Li Jun turned to see Xue Xin, Teng Qingshan’s third disciple, running toward them. Xue Xin looked somewhat stunned at the woman standing beside Teng Qingshan—clad in a pale blue robe, her smile and gaze carrying an effortless, noble, and distinct aura.
Li Jun, now the Acting Sect Master of the Snow Lotus Sect, held a high position, and naturally, her temperament had undergone a subtle transformation.
“Xue Xin, this is your Martial Mistress,” Teng Qingshan said with a smile.
Xue Xin was startled. This was his first time meeting his Martial Mistress, and he dared not be disrespectful. He immediately knelt formally, kowtowing in greeting: “Xue Xin greets Martial Mistress.” In his heart, he mused, Martial Mistress is truly young, almost like an immortal fairy. All the wealthy young ladies I saw in Wu’an County City cannot compare to her… Yes, paired with Master, they are a perfect match.
Li Jun was now both the Acting Sect Master of the Snow Lotus Sect and a Xiantian powerhouse. Her presence naturally set her apart.
“Xue Xin, your Martial Mistress and I have to leave for a trip… We should be back tonight. Nine Wolf Island is entrusted to you. If you encounter any trouble, seek out the Gale Hawk,” Teng Qingshan instructed. Xue Xin respectfully replied, “Yes, Master.”
“Let’s go,” Teng Qingshan turned toward Li Jun.
Li Jun nodded and immediately tilted her head back, letting out a series of low roars.
“Huh? They sound very similar to the Six-Legged Dao Chi’s roar,” Xue Xin muttered in surprise.
Just then, a deep, resonant roar echoed from the depths of Nine Wolf Island. A massive monstrous beast, the Six-Legged Dao Chi, streaked past like an afterimage and flew above Teng Qingshan and Li Jun. Both of them leaped up simultaneously, soaring twenty-three zhang high, and landed on the Dao Chi’s back.
“Go,” Teng Qingshan smiled.
Li Jun, however, let out a soft roar, signaling the Six-Legged Dao Chi to head south.
“Roar~~” The Dao Chi’s triangular head lifted high, its two pairs of wings beating powerfully, instantly carving a golden streak across the sky as it ascended rapidly, then vanished toward the southern horizon.
**
On the way to the Barren Lands, Teng Qingshan stopped in a city to purchase an extra-large water tank.
…
Hoo~~ Hoo~~~
Thousands of zhang high, above the clouds, the Six-Legged Dao Chi flew at top speed.
“The sun is really blinding,” Li Jun said, smiling as she looked toward the east.
Viewing the sun from above the clouds, even the morning sun, was dazzling to the eyes.
Teng Qingshan glanced affectionately at Li Jun, then turned his gaze south. The feeling of the couple riding the Six-Legged Dao Chi high above the Nine Heavens was indeed marvelous.
…
“We’ve reached the Barren Lands area,” Teng Qingshan looked below. The Six-Legged Dao Chi had descended, flying through the mist. Through the thin clouds, Teng Qingshan and Li Jun could see the earth below; even from this altitude, the Barren Lands seemed endless.
“This is my first time in the Barren Lands,” Li Jun remarked with a smile.
“Oh, we must take a good look this time,” Teng Qingshan teased back.
“Look,” Teng Qingshan pointed south. “That tall mountain is our destination this time—Iron Arm Ape Mountain.” Iron Arm Ape Mountain was immense, reaching nearly two thousand zhang high, its peak piercing the clouds and shrouded in thick mist. They could see it from a great distance.
“Quite tall,” Li Jun’s eyes lit up.
“The Iron Arm Apes’ lair is halfway up Iron Arm Ape Mountain,” Teng Qingshan chuckled. “The mountain cliffs there are too sheer. Back then, when I leaped down from halfway up the mountain, if there hadn't been a vine dangling close enough for me to catch with my Reincarnation Spear to slightly dissipate the force, I probably would have been seriously injured, maybe even crippled.”
It was that incident that taught Teng Qingshan that jumping off cliffs was extremely dangerous.
“Don’t be so reckless again,” Li Jun immediately cautioned.
“If I hadn't jumped then, I would have lost my life,” Teng Qingshan laughed. As the couple chatted, the Six-Legged Dao Chi, flying at incredible speed, arrived beside Iron Arm Ape Mountain.
“The Iron Arm Apes’ main nest is down there, about three to four hundred zhang below,” Teng Qingshan reminded her. Li Jun immediately used beast language to instruct the Dao Chi to dive.
Moments later—
“Yaa! Yaa!”
“Yaaa! Yaaa Yaaa~~~”
A chorus of jubilant cries erupted in the Iron Arm Apes’ lair. Apes covered in fiery red downy hair, their arms longer than their legs, were frolicking. Their blue pupils scanned their surroundings; some were eating wild fruit, others were tending to smaller infants.
Among the troop was a massive ape, clearly larger than the ordinary ones, with a tuft of silver down on its chest.
“Yaaa! Yaaa! Yaaa!!!”
“Yaaa—”
A sharp cry of terror, panic, and rage suddenly swept through the entire lair. Nearly a thousand Iron Arm Apes looked up at the sky, seeing a colossal, terrifying monstrous beast hovering above them. This beast was covered in golden scales and possessed six sharp, barbed, bladed legs, and—astonishingly—there were two humans, a man and a woman, on its back!
The apes sensed immediately that this sudden beast was not to be trifled with.
However—
This was their ancestral home. For countless years, relying on the strength of their troop, no monstrous beast had ever driven them out.
“Xiao Jun, they are not welcoming us at all,” Teng Qingshan said with a smile, looking toward a cave entrance.
Swish!
An ape, the same size as the ordinary ones but covered entirely in silver fur and possessing a pair of golden pupils, stared intently at the Six-Legged Dao Chi and the two humans on its back.
“It was this Ape King who forced me to jump off the cliff back then,” Teng Qingshan stood on the Dao Chi’s back, looking at the Ape King as if greeting an old friend.
“Yaaa yaa~~”
The Ape King furiously beat its chest, emitting sharp cries that seemed to warn Teng Qingshan and Li Jun. The other thousand-plus apes grew silent, all focusing their gaze on the intruders.
“Hahaha…” Teng Qingshan laughed, leaping down from the Dao Chi’s back as he began walking toward the Ape King.
Walking through the troop, waves of musky odor washed over him. The apes watched Teng Qingshan closely; without the Ape King’s command, they dared not attack preemptively.
“Yaa!” The Ape King let out a sharp shriek, its fur standing on end.
“I feared you back then, but now…” Teng Qingshan’s body blurred. A faint phantom remained where he stood, but another blurred phantom instantly appeared beside the Ape King. With an effortless grab, he seized the fur on the Ape King’s neck and hurled it flying backward.
The Ape King tumbled through the air, its golden pupils still fixed on Teng Qingshan in astonishment.
Upon landing, the Ape King instantly sprang up.
Whoosh!
The Ape King turned into a streak of silver light and shot toward Teng Qingshan.
“Too slow.” Teng Qingshan remained stationary. The moment the Ape King approached, he dodged the fierce swipe with astonishing speed, then easily grasped the fur around the Ape King’s neck again, hurling it violently backward a second time. Thud! It smashed into the nearby cliff face, leaving a crater.
“Yaaa yaa~~” Immediately, the entire troop, including the large apes, roared in fury.
In an instant, the thousands of Iron Arm Apes, the larger ones included, went berserk and charged toward Teng Qingshan.
“Yaaa!!!”
A piercing, angry roar suddenly rang out. The furious apes halted abruptly, simultaneously turning toward the cliff face. A shadow emerged from the hole in the rock—it was the Golden-Eyed Ape King. The King looked toward Teng Qingshan from a distance and let out a series of calls.
“Brother Teng, it admits defeat and asks you to spare the troop,” Li Jun also leaped down, landing beside Teng Qingshan.
“Ask it if it is willing to come with me,” Teng Qingshan instructed.
Li Jun turned and issued a series of calls toward the Golden-Eyed Ape King: “Yaaa yaa yaa~~ Yaaa~~” The calls emitted by the human clearly startled the surrounding apes. The Golden-Eyed Ape King was also shocked, then began gesturing happily, responding with its own calls.
Li Jun began communicating with the Golden-Eyed Ape King.
Moments later.
“How was it?” Teng Qingshan asked Li Jun. Li Jun shook her head helplessly: “The Ape King is unwilling. It doesn’t want to leave the troop.”
“Unwilling?” Teng Qingshan moved, reappearing on the Six-Legged Dao Chi’s back. He retrieved the extra-large water tank purchased en route—a pitch-black container, one zhang long and half a zhang high and wide.
Carrying the massive tank, Teng Qingshan stepped to Li Jun’s side.
“Let’s go in,” Teng Qingshan said.
“En,” Li Jun followed him, and the two walked together into the mountain gate beside the cliff face.
The Golden-Eyed Ape King, which had been confused why the two humans let it go so easily, was suddenly alarmed when it saw them enter the gate: “Yaaa yaa yaa!” That was the treasure trove of their troop. The King darted swiftly into the mountain gate, while the thousands of apes outside stared at the entrance, unsure what to do.
The Six-Legged Dao Chi lazily sprawled in the apes’ lair, paying no mind to the surrounding thousands of creatures.
…
Having visited once before, this time navigation was familiar territory.
“The wine scent is so strong,” Li Jun remarked as she walked the passage inside the mountain, a blush rising on her cheeks as she inhaled the aroma.
“We’re here.” Teng Qingshan and Li Jun arrived at the central area within the mountain belly. In the dim cavern, there was a large, square pit carved into the ground, filled with shallow, reddish liquid emitting waves of potent, rich wine fragrance.
“Qingshan, the ape troop only has this much wine. Aren't we being a bit too greedy?” Li Jun looked at the pit, then at the massive water tank on Teng Qingshan’s back—a container a zhang long and half a zhang in height and width.
“Yaa!”
A cry of panic sounded. The Golden-Eyed Ape King had darted into the mountain belly. It looked down at the stone pit, then at Teng Qingshan, and quickly picked up a stone wine jar from the cavern floor, offering it apologetically to Teng Qingshan: “Yaa, yaa yaa yaa!”
Teng Qingshan smiled faintly and began to lift the extra-large water tank from his back.
Seeing the tank Teng Qingshan was holding, the Golden-Eyed Ape King’s eyes turned purple: “Yaaa yaa~~” Simultaneously, it stared pitifully at Teng Qingshan, pushing the stone wine jar further toward him.