“Yip-yip!”

A tragic canine whimper resounded over heaven and earth.

When Jiang He rushed to the scene, he found Dumbo rolling around and wailing, while covering its crotch with its two front paws. Beside it were three burly monkeys, baring naked hostile intent.

“Yip… Master…”

Dumbo whimpered, before standing up while clutching its crotch and pointing a paw at the three monkeys, barking, “Monkey, those monkeys attacked me… they… they actually used the underhanded technique of… Monkey Stealing Peaches!” (1)

Monkey Stealing Peaches?

That was quite a fitting move.

Jiang He shot Dumbo a glare then and scolded angrily, “Useless thing! How much of my resources did you eat up, but you still lost to three monkeys of the same tier? You are really embarrassing me!”

Dumbo kept clutching its crotch, afraid to say anything then.

In truth, Dumbo’s combat ability was not low.

At the very least, there were rarely any daemon cultivators of its same tier that could beat it. It was also equipped with a full set of premium-grade sage items, but the problem was that the dog had basically zero combat experience… therefore, it made sense that the monkeys had managed to get its balls.

Soon, the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers, the golden eaglet siblings, Hu Mei, Boa Hancock, Sora, and Trumbo had all hurried to him. Upon seeing that, the three daemon monkeys quickly turned around and tried to flee.

“Trying to run?”

Jiang He smiled faintly and grasped from the distance.

Oom!

The air quaked.

The three daemon monkeys that had ran a thousand meters away were pulled backwards to him and slammed heavily on the ground.

“Speak. Which Holy Ground do you belong to?”

“How dare you beat up my master’s dog! You’ve had too much to live, don’t you?”

Dumbo had already ran up before Jiang He could say a thing, and stamped one paw on one of the monkey’s head, baring a ferocious look as it barked, “Talk! If you don’t, I’ll crush your brains with my foot.”

Jiang He was dumbstruck.

He truly understood the saying ‘dogs bully with their master’s influence’ then.

Meanwhile, the daemon monkeys were squeaking endlessly on the ground, baring their teeth and fangs with rage filling their faces.

“Hmmm?”

Jiang He’s eyes shifted. His immortal will extending, he felt out the brainwaves of the daemon monkeys and soon understood what they were saying…

They were ‘greeting’ Dumbo’s ancestors.

Meanwhile, Dumbo was utterly baffled.

It could not understand at all, and so exclaimed in surprise, “Can’t you talk? No, there’s no way you wouldn’t know how to talk after cultivating to your level. Even the Ferals that have never trained in Daemon Cultivation could speak human language once they ascend to Feral Emperors.”

Just then, Jiang He remembered that Lin Tianzheng had spoken to him about the monkeys of the Yuntai Mountains… and wasn’t that valley in front of them now the Yuntai Mountains?

Still, he was quite surprised…

How long had it been?

Lin Tianzheng had mentioned about that little tidbit just one and a half months ago, and there were already full-fledged Convergence daemon monkeys amongst the troop?

The Yuntai Mountains…

Mount Huaguo…

Could it be that legendary Mount Huaguo?

Could the Great Sage be residing in that the mountain?

Jiang He could not help smiling at the thought. “Lift up your paw, Dumbo.”

Dumbo retreated and the three daemon monkeys got up. Though they couldn’t speak, they were highly intelligent—they were even looking at Jiang He warily, as the technique he demonstrated had clearly stunned them.

“Fear not, for we mean no harm.”

After looking around at the vineyard, Jiang He then had an idea while the three daemon monkeys would gang up on Dumbo.

There was not even a single tuft of weed around the vineyard—these monkeys must have been managing it after the farmers moved away, and they were naturally displeased when Dumbo tried to dig out an entire grapevine.

Meanwhile, the three monkeys were still hooting and squawking.

Jiang He said, “The grapes here are quite good, which is why I had my pet dig one vine out to replant. Don’t worry, I’ll just need seven or eight of these.”

When Dumbo stepped up to dig out the grapevines again, the monkeys did not stop him this time.

It took ten grapevines and placed them in his Spatial Ring before it reared its head and puffed its chest. It then went to stand beside Jiang He, glaring at the three monkeys with the stink-eye and looking very pompous.

As a matter of fact, Dumbo could have long since assumed human form with its current cultivation.

Still, it would not change forms usually and lived like a dog.

According to said dog itself… it was Jiang He’s pet dog, so would it still be a dog if it assumed human form?

In truth, its human form was a burly man with a beard stubble of extreme ugliness, which was why it was reluctant to change forms.

“Alright, we got the grapevines. Let’s go.”

Jiang He waved his hand, leading his maids and pets as they left.

However, his immortal will was still observing the three daemon monkeys.

When Jiang He and the others were ten kilometers away, the three monkeys took to the air and headed deeper into the mountains on their daemonic clouds. That was naturally no secret from Jiang He, and he soon saw the monkeys flying to the vicinity of Mount Huaguo within the Yuntai Mountains.

Mount Huaguo was formerly a famous scenic route, boasting scenic spots such as Water Curtain Cave, Peacock Ditch, and the Seventy-Two Caverns. Now, however, Mount Huaguo had become drastically different—covered in thick, swirling mists, the Spirit Qi concentration there was up to sixty times higher than the outside. The plant life in its many locations had also mutated, and the fruits of certain trees were exuding concentrated Spirit Qi as well.

And in these mountains, the troops of monkeys fed on those wild fruits.

Jiang He was surprised by what his immortal will picked up, and could not help muttering, “The Spirit Qi here is so concentrated that it wouldn’t lose out to the Secret Realms of the immortal sects… moreover, these daemon monkeys feed on those spirit fruits every day, and it would be weird if their evolution proved slow… still, there must be something special in Mount Huaguo that allows so many powerful daemon monkeys to ascend in such a short time.”

Jiang He hence told Dumbo, Hu Mei and the others to wait while he flew to Mount Huaguo in a flash.

He did not conceal his presence. However, his immortal might that unfurled from his body and refracted the light around him was already the best measure in stealth… unless there was someone equal in cultivation with him, Jiang He would not be noticed even if he stood out of the crowd.

He hence strutted within Mount Huaguo, where troops of monkey were playing and chasing each other, grabbing tree vines from time to time to swing around.

Jiang He even saw a rank-nine Feral Python, which went inside Mount Huaguo for some reason and was beaten to an inch of its life, and now over two dozens monkeys were playing around its body.

He continued forward and soon saw Water Curtain Cave just ahead.

Like the legend, Water Curtain Cave of Mount Huaguo was a giant surging waterfall, behind of which was a lava cave…

That was the introduction of the scenic spot.

Jiang He even found inscription on a broken tablet that must have been raised when this place was a tourist spot, describing the formation of Water Curtain Cave as well as later rebuilding of the area.

Even so, Jiang He suspected right then that the tourist spot thing was a tall tale.

Perhaps, as the myths had put it, this was the old lair of the Great Sage.

Whoosh!

That was when the three daemon monkeys flew across the waterfall and into Water Curtain Cave. Jiang He strode forward to follow them and slipped inside the cave as well, only to find that it was the entrance to a Secret Realm.

“No! This is no Secret Realm…”

As Jiang He’s immortal will swept out, his gaze twitched…

The world within Water Curtain Cave was almost a thousand miles wide.

“A grotto-heaven!”

The term came to Jiang He’s mind then.

And at a peak the center of the grotto-heaven was a weirdly-shaped boulder.

It was emanating faint divine radiance, with many monkeys surrounding it. Each of those monkeys had were all powerful Convergence-pinnacle daemon monkeys as well, with some having reached Sufferance-tier.

Even so, Jiang He’s gaze was drawn to one particular elderly monkey that sat beneath the boulder.

It was hunchbacked and its fur was all-white. Though its aura was old and withered, it was Mahayana tier, with faint immortal might emanating from its body.

Jiang He’s current level of vision could tell immediately… that the reason he had sensed a faint immortal might from the elderly monkey was not because it would soon reach Heavenly Immortal, but because it was formerly an immortal daemon, and its cultivation had degraded at present.

After several glances at the old monkey, Jiang He then turned to look at the weirdly shaped boulder.

“Right now, I don’t have anything to use as a fake mountain to decorate my farm, but this boulder’s shape and size is just right…”

Even as the idea came to Jiang He’s mind, that was when godly radiance shone brilliantly at the boulder several hundred kilometers away. Beneath it, the old monkey abruptly opened its eyes and barked angrily, “Who is it?”

***

Translator’s Note:

(1) Monkey Stealing Peaches (猴子偷桃): a crotch hit.