164 Ares and Tang San form a conspiracy.
In just two short days, Chu Feng had not only gained the Extreme Spirit Body that could control spiritual energy, but could also refine treasures with it—giving him several more cards to play when he marched into the Ten Thousand Monster Forest.
Old Second Song steadied his emotions and asked in puzzlement, "You're really just an ordinary cultivator? You should know I've spent ten whole years using the method and still couldn't find my own spirit body."
"You're joking! I'm just a small-time immortal cultivator with no great skill." Chu Feng could actually be modest.
The urgent task, however, was to hurry to the Ten Thousand Monster Forest and fill his stomach—Chu Feng was ravenous.
"By the way, seeing how impatient you are, surely you've heard the tales of the Ten Thousand Monster Forest? Plenty of hot-headed youngsters like you went in and never came back."
"What exactly is its background?"
"Twenty years ago, when I was fighting City Lord White God Path, many soldiers died there. For the next decade strange omens appeared; hordes of monsters escaped from the demon domain. The lonely ghosts of the dead met those monsters, and that's how today's Ten Thousand Monster Forest came to be."
"Then isn't living here terribly dangerous for you?"
"See that broken bronze statue? We've negotiated with the monsters: we decorate our houses with ferocious beasts and enshrine only immortals and buddhas—apparently that's the hobby of their big boss."
"How interesting! Then why didn't the city lord help you?"
"This is Fusen City's territory; if he helped, the two kingdoms would go to war."
"I see!"
"You're still planning to go after hearing all that? I've no idea whether your immortal-realm spirit body will work in the mortal world, and I can't stop you—but remember to take the dagger the city lord left you; it's a fine treasure."
"Thanks, big brother. I'll repay you handsomely one day."
...After bidding farewell to Old Second Song, Chu Feng set out again on his monster-slaying journey. The monkey was quite well-behaved; now that it had a spirit body, it could even channel spiritual energy to Red Fang from time to time.
But not too much—its cultivation couldn't handle it.
The people of Wind Village had been offering incense at the village's Earth God temple every day lately; destroying the shrine earlier must have left them fearful.
The monsters of the Ten Thousand Monster Forest had done great harm—he had to wipe them out quickly.
Demonic aura and spiritual energy repel each other, so when a spiritual-energy colossus like Chu Feng stepped up to the forest, many monsters already poked their heads out to look.
The place was thick with yin energy; the so-called forest was nothing but dead trees, kept unnaturally stiff and hard by a thread of baleful energy.
A filthy stream gave off a stench of rot; fresh red blood was almost invisible, evaporating the instant it met the black qi.
Far off, a huge volcano sent several rivers of molten rock flowing into the forest, yet you felt no heat—as though the lava simply seeped into the ground.
The scenery was basically that of a graveyard—utterly horrifying—but Chu Feng only found it slightly unappetizing.
He had thought "eat it all" meant devouring everything, but how could such trashy surroundings suit his golden palate?
Chu Feng shouted, "Monsters in the forest, listen up! I, Chu Feng, have come today to wipe you scum who run rampant in the mortal realm. Come out and die if you're smart, or I'll slaughter my way in!"
Red Fang the monkey also puffed up its throat and roared a warning to the birds and beasts inside... Moments later only a few wolf- or tiger-shaped mutants emerged—an outright insult that enraged Chu Feng.
"Then taste the might of my Extreme Spirit Body!" Chu Feng yelled.
His Five Elements Universe Cover could now switch freely mid-battle, and it was no longer just golden light—it could turn transparent.
Weaponless, he refined the Heaven-Destined Dagger the city lord had gifted him, using the treasure-refining method of spiritual energy. Though only ten inches long, it could extend by forming a qi hilt.
The power it unleashed could shear a huge swath of forest clean in an instant.
Naturally, the beasts became collateral sacrifices.
With spiritual energy blanketing the now-bare woods, the yin aura dispersed on its own.
Such a display was bound to provoke whatever boss lived here.
At last the Old Woman appeared to prop up the scene; she had changed into a black robe, a string of prayer beads in hand, muttering something under her breath.
"Brat! I thought you had sense—we only want the Holy Maiden, yet you delivered yourself to our doorstep." The Old Woman looked ancient, yet she possessed an Earth Spirit Body.
"Hmph! I've no time for chatter. If you don't hand over Ah Yin, you're courting death!"
"In your dreams!"
The stubborn Old Woman began circulating her spiritual energy; apparently she wasn't a monster, but in truth she had little cultivation.
At best tenth-level Foundation Establishment—about the same as Red Fang the monkey.
Chu Feng lowered his head with a cold chuckle; in the blink of an eye, before the crone could even launch her technique, she was reduced to ash.
With a light brush of his finger to his nose, Chu Feng absorbed her spirit body into himself.
All the old bones had was this spirit body worth taking—pitiful trash.
"Seriously? You monsters send an old granny as your vanguard—how shameless." Chu Feng mocked... It seemed the monsters of the Ten Thousand Monster Forest weren't in the woods at all, but beneath the volcano's lava-flow behind them.
Walking through the forest, Chu Feng purposely stamped his footsteps heavily, letting both ground and underground know his power.
Sure enough, the lava converged into a fissure that sank underground; the fiendish aura inside was so thick you could smell the monsters' stench.
Chu Feng simply hoisted a huge boulder from the surroundings!
And smashed it straight at the crack!
If the monsters wouldn't come up, he'd force them out!
Smash! Smash with all his might!
He pounded until the earth shook and mountains swayed, leaving a crater roughly a dozen metres across.
Purple vines sprouted from the pit, dragging a torrent of magma with them.
The collective roar of the monsters shook the heavens.
Chu Feng dodged aside as the vines lashed at him, regrowing as fast as they were severed.
Meanwhile monsters of every sort swarmed out along the vines like ants from a nest, wave after wave.
"Yes—this is exactly the effect I wanted." Chu Feng was delighted.
The last time he'd seen a scene like this was with those two hundred thousand corpses; this horde probably numbered in the hundreds of thousands as well.
No wonder no one dared wipe the place out—how could you deal with so many monsters at once?
Chu Feng told Red Fang to stand aside; he needed to work up his mood and let his stomach return to what he considered its ideal state.
The monsters were ugly, and Chu Feng had no intention of eating them whole—he only wanted their fiendish or spiritual energy. A few individuals, though, smelled quite delicious.
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