Chapter 328 - Hunting Divine Spirits (3)

Fire Monkey.

It means a burning monkey, but in truth, it is used to refer to a monkey that has absorbed the energy of a spiritual vein and is filled with Yang energy.

The Fire Monkey's core is counted as a spiritual elixir among spiritual elixirs, one that supplies endless strength to martial artists, especially male martial artists brimming with Yang energy.

Considering that what the Moyong Noble Clan's Minor Patriarch, Moyong Sangwon, tried to protect to the very end even in the face of death was none other than a Fire Monkey's core...

'That tells you how precious it is in Jianghu.'

Moreover, the Fire Monkey's core is valued even more highly not only because of its effects, but because of how difficult it is to obtain.

Who could possibly catch a nimble monkey with endlessly burning energy? A martial artist? A hunter?

In any case, for those reasons, even though it was clearly recorded in the Jianghu Spiritual Elixir Record, I had paid no attention to the existence of the Fire Monkey.

It was hard enough to obtain a spiritual elixir that stayed still in one place, so chasing after a Fire Monkey's backside all by myself?

I had thought that was impossible from the start.

ROOOAAAR!

I was certain I had thought that...

A massive monkey with a burly frame, baring fangs the size of thumbs as it roared savagely.

No, could I even call this a monkey? Its weight class alone was bigger than most people, wasn't it?

WHOOSH!

On top of that, the searing heat pouring out from its fur.

It clearly showed that this was a different existence from the demonic beasts I had seen in the Black Forest so far.

"... So the Sun Monkey Great Warrior Yang mentioned was you?"

ROOOAAAR!

The Sun Monkey roared as if answering me and poured out killing intent.

"... So there was a reason he said hunting it was impossible."

They wanted to hunt this thing?

Were they out of their minds?

The killing intent it gave off was enough to put most demonic practitioners to shame.

And the spiritual vein energy I could feel inside its body seemed easily ten times that of the demonic beasts I had seen so far.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.

Near its chest, black skin was exposed instead of fur, and every time it struck that place with its fists, space rang as if it had struck a lump of iron.

It was enough to make my mind go blank as I wondered how one was supposed to hunt this thing at all.

"... Ha, this is driving me crazy."

When I flinched and tried to back away, the Sun Monkey bared its fangs further and took a large step forward.

In that instant, my escape route was blocked.

The kind of qi pressure said to be used only by martial artists who had reached a high level.

'Is this thing really an animal?'

No matter how spiritual a creature it was, its beginning should still have been as an animal.

And yet somehow, it was blocking off space like a martial artist.

As if, if I showed even a single opening, it would never let it slip by.

Ha, but this was unfair.

"Fuck... Can't you just let me go? I'm a completely different person from them."

GRRRR.

"Fuuuck... I knew it."

As expected from its rugged appearance, words did not get through.

I no longer had any choices.

Praying that the Sun Monkey's feet were not faster than World-Traversing Lone Footwork, I turned my body slightly.

"Then... next time... huh?"

But something was strange.

I had been about to leave immediately, but for some reason, the Sun Monkey's behavior bothered me.

The other demonic beasts had attacked the moment they saw a person.

The Sun Monkey also seemed to want to attack me in the same way, but for some reason, I strongly felt that it was hesitating.

No, it felt like it was bluffing, hoping I would back off.

ROOOAAAR!

FWOOOSH!

With a great roar, searing heat spread in every direction, hot enough to cook my skin.

And between the flames that spread around us, I saw something.

'Wounds...'

Hard, dried clots of blood were stuck over a long wound that ran from its calf to its thigh, and the fist it was pounding against its chest had an empty space where a severed finger should have been.

They were not old wounds that had appeared and vanished long ago, but fresh wounds that had only just begun to fester.

Judging by the smooth cross-sections, they had not been torn open by a beast's teeth.

To begin with, there was no way the demonic beasts of the Black Forest could have faced this thing.

The countless fragments of information I had gathered since entering the Black Forest fit together into one picture.

'Was this what the instructors and academy students were chasing?'

The divine spirit that had been fighting the academy students day and night for the past several days was none other than the Sun Monkey.

And that Sun Monkey had escaped the academy students and happened to run into me.

"Hmm, is that so?"

GRAAAAR!

I stopped the movement of the internal energy I had been gathering in both feet.

"I don't know where you learned it, but when it comes to killing intent..."

To be precise, I began operating the Taiyi True Scripture in a different way.

From both feet to my entire body.

And among them, the place where the greatest amount of internal energy gathered was...

SHIIING.

The Red Light Sword gripped in my right hand.

"I don't exactly lose out to anyone either."

SCREEEECH!

Terrifying killing intent stretched out from the red Red Light Sword.

The Sun Monkey that had been beating its chest flinched backward, bared its fangs, and growled.

No matter what, I couldn't pass up the last hit.

#

The moment I took an attacking stance, the Sun Monkey charged first.

As if it knew just how advantageous the first strike was.

ROAR!

The flames pouring out from its mane moved to its arm, and it thrust its fist straight out.

BOOM!

Even though I raised the Red Light Sword to block, the impact was not neutralized.

My body floated into the air and slammed into a tree.

CRASH!

What the hell was with this destructive power?

I had only taken one blow, but my insides were shaking violently.

"Urgh."

The incredibly sturdy tree of the Black Forest had been nearly smashed apart.

I quickly got up and left the spot, and the tree with its broken base collapsed, raising dust in every direction.

THUD.

Fortunately, the shock was not as serious as I had expected.

No, should I say I felt a little less pain?

Even if I used internal energy, I could not disperse all the pain... Was this thanks to the Vajra Blue?

Thinking that, I looked for the Sun Monkey, but the Sun Monkey had long since left its original spot.

"Damn it, it ran aw... huh?"

CRASH!

A blazing crimson fist tore through the dust.

THUD! THUD!

After bouncing off a rock and crashing into a tree, right before my ribs were about to break, I clenched my teeth, twisted my body, and regained my posture.

SCRAAAAAPE.

As I barely managed to stand by scraping along the ground and raised my head, the Sun Monkey had already thrust its foot right in front of me.

Fuck, where did it learn something like this?!

I grabbed its ankle and unleashed the Flowing Cloud Divine Art's Lotus, slamming it into the ground.

ROOOAAAR!

Apparently the impact had not done much to it, because it supported its body with its tail and sprang right up from the ground.

Hoo, it feels like my body is loosening up for the first time in a while.

"Now it's my turn, right?"

SHING SHING SHING!

The phantom swords I began with the Great Heaven Sword Technique blocked its front, then surrounded its left and right.

TAP TAP.

TAP TAP.

The creature dodged the blades with swift movements, then seemed to realize it had been trapped in a net of swords and bared its teeth in frustration.

I did not miss the opening.

I immediately shifted my swordwork from the Great Heaven Sword Technique to the Twin Heaven Sword Art and pressured it.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH.

No matter how quick it was, there was a limit to dodging attacks poured out through sheer volume.

One by one, cuts began appearing on its body.

'Its skin is thick too.'

I was clearly cutting into its flesh, yet the blade could not dig in properly, as if I were cutting into hard paulownia wood.

I completely cast aside my carelessness and began drawing out Sword Force.

Until just now, the only light in every direction had come from its mane, but now blue Sword Force rippled all around, aiming viciously for its vital points.

The moment I was about to cut off the neck and arms of the creature surrounded by Sword Force without a gap to spare...

Its entire mane glowed red-hot, and it began advancing.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH.

I had expected it to soon collapse, spraying blood.

But it ignored the small wounds, barely avoided only the major ones, and closed the distance step by step.

As if it were a martial artist who knew perfectly well how to deal with phantom swords and variable swords.

"... What the fuck!"

Even as my mind reeled in disbelief, heat gathered once again in its arm, leaving me no room to lose focus.

"If you're going to make it that obvious, there's no way I won't notice, you bastard!"

With the single-minded intent to unleash Snowflake and slam it into the ground, I stretched out my hand.

THUD!

At the same time as a powerful impact struck my abdomen, bitter bile surged up to my throat.

'Ha, it used a feint?'

Because my body had been knocked into the air, I had no time to worry about how a mere monkey bastard was acting like a person.

A moment later, the creature thrust out the fist in which it had gathered its strength.

BOOM!

With a tremendous impact, my body shot backward like an arrow.

"Kuheuk!"

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, my insides felt a little better.

Before I crashed into a tree, I quickly drew out the Flying Dragon Claw and braked my body.

"Right... So this is why they call it a divine spirit."

The Sun Monkey once again lowered both arms limply like a beast and glared at me.

Looking at it, I spat out bloody phlegm.

"But... now that I've come this far, I have no intention of just going back."

I filled both legs with strength.

BOOM!

I flipped up the ground and shot forward.

If the creature was confident in its strength, then I only needed to compete with speed.

SLASH.

As expected, for the first time, I inflicted meaningful damage on it.

SCREEEECH!

The Sun Monkey looked down at its severed finger and screamed.

I shook the blood off the Red Light Sword and charged at it again.

The Lesser Heaven Sword Technique, brought to the extreme, carried Sword Force and dug toward its vital acupoints.

"Let's see you block this too!"

When flames rose from the mane all over its body, the sharpness of my Sword Force dulled once again.

'What the hell kind of trick is this?'

Sword Force could slice even the hardest steel like tofu.

Yet the creature's skin, once wreathed in flames, showed not a single opening, as if it had become diamond skin.

"That doesn't mean I can't cut you!"

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH.

Its mane seemed to possess a certain degree of defensive power.

But that alone could not block all of my Sword Force, and in order to block the Sword Force as well, it needed to gather fire energy like when it thrust out its fist.

Each time the creature gathered more energy at the vital acupoints I persistently stabbed toward, I tenaciously cut away its flesh again and again.

At last, when blood began flowing from the large and small wounds all over its body, the creature seemed unable to endure any longer and began to flee.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Its movement as it climbed trees and crossed the forest was astonishingly agile, but not enough to escape World-Traversing Lone Footwork.

'I got scared for nothing.'

As I ran after the tail of flames it left behind, the Sun Monkey's body suddenly boiled as if about to burst, and then, in an instant...

FLASH!

A great mass of light burst out, large enough to block my vision.

My sight was stolen in an instant by the powerful light attack that stabbed into both eyes, and when the light vanished and I raised my head again, every trace of the creature had disappeared without a trace.

"What the hell is this..."

Did this make any sense? Hiding its body all of a sudden?

It could not have soared into the sky or sunk into the ground.

I quickly began reading the spiritual veins.

No matter how well it hid its body, it should not be able to hide the spiritual vein energy lodged inside it.

"Ha... It even knows how to use a natural formation array?"

The Sun Monkey was crouched not far away.

It had hidden itself tightly inside a natural formation array.

I deliberately looked around and said,

"Ah, where did it go? I can't find it at all. Guess I'll have to go back..."

And while saying that, I fired Sword Qi!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

SCREECH!

The Sun Monkey leaped out of the undergrowth, letting out a monkey-like scream for the first time.

As I chased after it again, I was dumbfounded by the antics it pulled.

Whenever the creature picked up branches and tossed them with a flick, its form vanished or its path shifted.

No, what is this, Sun Wukong?

At this rate, is it going to use a clone technique too?

'It knows every path in the Black Forest and directly uses natural formation arrays to flee from its natural enemy's attacks?'

If I had not been someone who could read spiritual veins, I probably would have lost the Sun Monkey long ago.

There were few things in the world that could not be solved by pushing with numbers, but no matter how I thought about it, I could not come up with any way to catch the Sun Monkey inside the Black Forest without reading the spiritual veins.

And even if one could read them, one had to be able to withstand this overwhelming energy as well.

"Therefore, you're out of luck."

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

When the Sword Qi tore through the creature's mane and erupted, it screamed in pain.

SCREEEECH!

"Because I happen to be a bastard who can read spiritual veins too."

The Sun Monkey's foot was cut open deeply, and it tumbled across the ground.

To subdue it completely, I brought Sword Force straight down.

BOOM!

For the first time, the Sun Monkey went flying.

Though not quite as fast as I had flown earlier.

The creature sprang up the moment it hit a tree, crouched low against the ground, and glared steadily at me.

GRRRR.

This was ridiculous.

Just as the creature had blocked my escape route, I had also blocked its escape route.

I had finished preparing everything so that if it moved even a single step wrong, I could immediately cut off its neck.

But this monkey bastard did not move an inch.

As if it knew every place I had blocked.

"Haha..."

For the life of me, I could not tell whether I was facing an animal or a human.

"Of course, even so, that doesn't change anything."

I stepped into Taiyi Eighty Thousand Divine Steps and created three phantoms, stealing its gaze.

SCREECH!

When the creature's flaming fist erupted against a phantom and struck empty air, I struck down at its head.

The mane on the hand it hurriedly raised shone brightly, but...

"Huap!"

This time, it was too late.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

With a great explosion, the Sun Monkey rolled across the ground.

GRRRR.

It tried desperately to rise with its broken arm and wounded foot, but its body did not seem to move as it wished, and it kept collapsing.

Seeing it refuse to abandon its fighting spirit to the very end, it was certainly a spiritual creature.

Even so, I could not shake off my regret.

"If only you could talk, I wouldn't have had to dig out your core."

As I observed it, I thought this could have become an incredible business hit.

If I just made the rounds of one province, I felt like I could quickly earn about a year's worth of the Daecheon Merchant Group's income.

But had it understood even those words of mine?

The Sun Monkey opened and closed its mouth as if it were about to speak.

For some reason, the sight sent a chill down my spine, so I quickly gripped my sword.

"I'll make good use of your core."

I gripped the Red Light Sword in reverse and stabbed down into its heart.

CRACK.

With the sound of stone breaking, the Sun Monkey's eyes flew wide open.

SLIDE.

When I pulled out the Red Light Sword, blood surged like a fountain from the small wound.

And then.

From the Sun Monkey's mouth, which had been opening and closing...

"He-Heavenly Demon..."

Human words came out, and I froze on the spot.

"..."

H-How did it do that?