Wukong opened his eyes as he watched us wipe out the last of the black wolves, nodded, and said, "Not bad. I initially thought those monsters would at least cause you some trouble, but I see you won with surprising ease. It seems I underestimated you."

Before we could speak, he continued, "The coordination among the three of you is commendable; perhaps it's a rapport forged through shared life-and-death experiences. However, your individual combat strengths are uneven. When faced with a more complex situation, you might not have time to study an enemy's weakness, and you could even end up fighting one-on-one."

Just as I was about to speak, Wukong waved his hand dismissively. "Save it. We move on. Those short-legged black wolves were merely an appetizer. You all need to be prepared."

The way he said it made it sound as if he had arranged the entire encounter, which left us somewhat speechless.

Considering how the black wolves hadn't attacked Wukong at all, I even began to suspect that all these monsters took orders directly from him.

"Master, what kind of creatures will we encounter in the next wave?" I asked tentatively.

Wukong shot me a glare. "Fool! How should I know? These monsters here were supposed to be handled by me alone; I was just using this chance to train you. Did you really think I possess foresight?"

The Monkey King never lies—that's what the Journey to the West describes—so I had no reason not to believe him. I just scratched my head sheepishly and mumbled, "It seems I overestimated Master."

Wukong refused to be mocked. He hopped in front of me and declared, "Fool! Do you think Old Sun is like the Diting from the Netherworld? Old Sun doesn't need to know what demons lie ahead, because no matter what monster appears, none of them can withstand a single blow from Old Sun's staff."

I chuckled awkwardly and explained, "I didn't mean to belittle Master; I just let it slip, it was a slip of the tongue."

Wukong pulled his face away from mine, scratched his cheek, and said, "Though I don't know what monsters lie ahead, I do know there's a particularly formidable demon in this forest. If you run into it, you need to be extremely careful."

With that, he leaped onto a massive boulder and gazed out into the surroundings. His eyes darted around as if an idea was forming.

I knew this Monkey possessed some mischievous plan. Although he was my master now, Sun Wukong was still Sun Wukong; anyone who had read the novel or seen the adaptations understood his nature well enough.

Sure enough, after a few rotations of his eyes, Wukong yawned and said, "Old Sun is thirsty, hungry, and sleepy. You three, as my disciples, haven't paid any initiation fee, nor have you fetched water or made my fire. This does not align with the way of master and apprentice. Therefore, your master has decided: you three will proceed forward, and I will take a nap here. When I wake up, I'd best see food and water, or else it will be one beating from me for each person."

I thought, This is bad. I mocked Wukong just now, and now I’m facing retribution. Finding food isn't inherently difficult, but in this perilous jungle, we might become dinner for wild beasts before we even find sustenance.

The three of us hesitated, having witnessed the power of the black wolves earlier. We felt that setting out alone would be extremely dangerous.

However, as soon as Wukong finished speaking, he was already dozing on the rock.

The words I was about to utter got stuck in my throat and I swallowed them down.

I pulled the other two aside. "We stick together, absolutely no separation. This will reduce the level of danger."

Nie Chuan nodded. "Food should be easier to find—wild fruit or beasts will suffice. The main priority is water. This time, our goal is to find a small river."

Daxiong scratched his head. "Is there really a small river here?"

Nie Chuan gently patted his head. "Since there's a waterfall coming down from above, there must be a river formed somewhere."

Daxiong realized it with a sudden enlightenment. "Oh, right! Shouldn't we just go back to find the pool where the waterfall lands?"

No sooner had he spoken than a dark shadow flashed across the sky. We watched a colossal object descend onto the path we had just taken, completely blocking our retreat.

Looking back, we saw it was the Ruyi Jingu Bang, enlarged.

Wukong remained on the rock, eyes closed as if he had done nothing, but the staff’s presence clearly told us there would be no turning back—that path was too easy.

The three of us looked awkward and could only set our sights deeper into the forest.

Actually, in such a quiet wood, finding water shouldn't be hard; following the sound of running water would certainly lead us to it.

So, the three of us stopped talking, bid farewell to Wukong, and headed toward the depths of the forest.

Our formation was simple: the strongest, myself, walked at the very front; the fiercest, Daxiong, walked at the very rear; and the weakest, Nie Chuan, was sandwiched in the middle.

We followed the path cleared by the staff when it fell, but after walking perhaps ten or twenty meters, the path practically vanished.

Ahead lay a dense thicket like a wall, where countless vines wound around tree trunks, blooming with huge, pale yellow, scentless flowers.

We stopped at the end of the path. Nie Chuan murmured, "This forest is certainly teeming with life."

I nodded mechanically, assessed the surrounding terrain, and then told them, "Trekking through woods this dense will be very taxing. To conserve energy, we must first map out the area."

Then I pointed to a tree not far ahead. "Look, this tree is much taller than the others, and its base sits right atop a slope. If we climb it, we can get a clear view of the surrounding terrain."

Daxiong agreed. "Good idea. Let's do it quickly. Master will only sleep for an hour or two; we don't have much time."

He then pushed aside the weeds in front of him and walked toward that tree.

He had only taken a few steps when we heard a rustling sound from the undergrowth.

Daxiong, having a fear of snakes, immediately jumped up in alarm and quickly retreated.

At that moment, we saw a pair of large, fluffy ears emerge from the grass, followed by a pair of eyes as large as black crystals.

The creature’s ears were brown, and the fur on its face was also brown, but around its eyes was a white ring, making it look somewhat like a red panda.

A creature resembling a red panda is incredibly cute and utterly harmless to humans.

So, the three of us let out a collective sigh of relief.

Nie Chuan even asked, "Little fellow, what are you doing in the grass?"

Unexpectedly, the little panda's ears twitched, and then it sprang out of the grass, soaring more than two meters high!

We were astonished to discover that beneath the head of the red panda was a serpentine body, and crucially, this snake body was equipped with a pair of enormous bat wings!

The creature flapped its wings, struggling as it lifted into the air.

We stared dumbfounded, yet we weren't gripped by fear. The bizarre combination made it look even cuter than a simple red panda. Furthermore, because its head was so large, it wobbled unsteadily as it flew.

Daxiong pointed at the panda-headed flying snake and laughed, "Haha, what a clumsy snake. Is it trying to be cute?"

The snake had intended to flee from us, but hearing Daxiong’s laughter, it seemed to sense the mockery in his words. It immediately stopped on a branch, turned back, and exhaled a puff of white mist toward us.

Nie Chuan and I knew this was dangerous and quickly backed away.

But Daxiong scoffed, "What kind of attack power could this thing have? Watch me."

He intended to disperse the white mist with a single punch, but the moment the mist touched his hand, his entire body was instantly encased in a layer of frost, quickly turning him into a large block of ice.

We were stunned again, sucking in a sharp breath.

The panda-snake monster squeaked twice, sounding rather pleased, even sticking out its tongue, before flapping its wings and wobbling away.

We immediately rushed over to check on Daxiong’s safety.

We saw a stream of red, fiery energy emanating from Daxiong's body, rapidly melting the ice block.

I thought that an ordinary person would have certainly frozen to death; thankfully, Daxiong possessed a Fire Physique and had learned some rudimentary spells.

When the ice completely melted, Daxiong stood there like a drowned chicken, shivering uncontrollably, sneezing several times, and grumbling, "This... this little guy is quite formidable."

Seeing he was mostly unharmed, we relaxed. "Did you forget what Master Wukong taught us? The black wolves were the weakest creatures here. You shouldn't go causing trouble carelessly; we might not be able to afford to offend even an ant in this forest."

Nie Chuan, however, offered a different view. "I think it's fine. Although these animals are powerful, that last one seemed to be a non-hostile demon. Even if we faced danger, the risk wouldn't be that high."

I nodded. "Agreed. As long as we proceed with caution, completing the mission won't be difficult."

After Daxiong swore never to mock any monster again, the three of us continued our journey.

This time, to avoid encountering hidden dangers in the grass, we used sticks to probe the ground first.

Indeed, several more creatures like the previous one flew up.

Among them were a few different ones: large roosters with snake tails and green combs.

I think I've seen this type of demon somewhere before; it's classified as a dangerous S-rank monster, possessing the ability to turn other things to stone, much like the legendary Medusa.

Fortunately, this creature wasn't aggressive and was rather timid; otherwise, we would have been in deep trouble again.

We carefully reached the base of that large tree and looked up, all letting out a gasp of surprise.

The tree's girth was so wide that ten men couldn't link arms around it, its height must have been at least fifty meters, and its canopy covered an area of over forty square meters.