158 I wouldn't mind having another dragon god on the list.
Chu Feng had lost all appetite for the scraps of these bronze statues; now a true immortal cultivator, he'd become picky about what he ate.
He kept rummaging through the rubble, hoping to find something belonging to Qian Renxue; without her company, he felt an unexpected emptiness.
Fortunately, the pills Qian Renxue had refined were still intact—yet as he reached below a chunk of stone for the pouch that held them,
a wild monkey snatched it first.
"Damn it—even a mangy monkey bullies me." Lately everything had gone against him, and his temper flared.
Following the monkey's trail, he was led to the mouth of an unknown cave; moonlight filtered in only faintly through the dense canopy.
Thorns scratched him, making him itch—he felt no pain.
The monkey shrieked, as if urging him forward, but Chu Feng quickly changed his mind about its intentions.
When he found the pouch at the cave entrance it was already empty, and his senses told him the tunnel stretched over ten thousand metres inside.
Going in or not didn't matter—if it led to the Ten Thousand Monster Forest it would save a lot of distance.
But the monkey wasn't ready to let him off; it called a horde of helpers to pelt him with banana peels.
Such humiliation ignited Chu Feng's fury in an instant.
With a few swishes he devoured the surrounding trees, leaving the monkeys nowhere to run.
Chu Feng gripped the monkey's throat; a slight squeeze would end its life—such a fragile little creature.
What intrigued him, though, was that the monkey could absorb his spiritual energy; surprised, he tried a few others to test the phenomenon.
Only the one that had taken his medicine pouch showed the same reaction.
Nothing strange about that—all things possess spirits; if humans can cultivate, so can beasts.
On account of fate, Chu Feng released it, but the monkey nimbly leapt onto his shoulder and refused to be shaken off.
"Little fellow, you planning to tag along?" Chu Feng teased.
The monkey chattered back, as if agreeing.
It was far more obedient than that talking panda; besides, Chu Feng wasn't a monster who killed indiscriminately.
Barely a kilometre into the cave, a swarm of serpent-demons blocked the way; their crimson bodies lit the passage.
As Chu Feng considered how to deal with them, the monkey charged—its small claws were razor-sharp, mowing down the serpents like grass.
When the snakes bit it, venom clearly seeped in, yet the monkey fought ever harder, its resonance with Chu Feng's spiritual energy growing stronger.
"Fierce little thing—from now on you're Red Fang. Stick with me and we'll reach the Great Dao." Chu Feng was delighted; a companion would spare him much trouble.
The monkey understood human nature and fed on spiritual energy; without a generous master like Chu Feng it would have amounted to nothing—truly destiny at work.
The reek of blood filled the path, yet no gore clung to Red Fang; it seemed to absorb the blood, its white fur taking on a reddish tint.
It could also shrink its body at will—something only possible with at least a century of cultivation.
The farther he went, the wider the passage became, like a trumpet flaring outward, and the heavier the monster aura grew.
The human realm was the smallest of the Xuanhuang World; thus, monsters lacking greater power could only settle here.
Yet some could rival tribulation-transcending or Soul Splitting cultivators; Chu Feng mused that devouring them would speed his ascension.
The System's greatest strength: the more he ate, the faster his cultivation rose.
Still, he found it odd that he barely encountered another human—however weak, humans should be present.
The farther he walked, the clearer it became this wasn't a straight route—merely a shortcut.
So he took a few forks and, by chance, arrived at a place called Wind Village; though he'd passed many such hamlets before,
he chose to linger here a while.
Because he caught the street gossip.
"Did you hear? Some shaggy kid destroyed the newly built temple under Cloud-Walk Mountain."
"Terrible sin! The temple enshrines great immortals!"
"The Old Woman there told me yesterday to offer more incense—what now? I fear for my luck."
Chu Feng could guess the rest: the temple was the one he'd wrecked; news travelled fast among these villagers.
Since Red Fang bared its fangs at strangers, Chu Feng found it hard to question anyone in the market.
Still, there were inns—something he hadn't seen in previous villages.
"Sir, we don't offer lodging—only meals," said a waiter in this age of Xuanhuang, oddly formal.
"Bring everything edible," Chu Feng replied offhandedly; mortal food could hardly satisfy him now.
Watching the crowds in homespun, he recalled a similar scene at the foot of Sword Sect Mountain—did these people never move?
"Waiter, what's the farthest place east of here?"
"You've got me; we common folk only need a bowl of rice. If you must know, ask the Song family at the village head."
Chu Feng left at once; he sensed no spiritual energy in the street, yet at the village head it surged violently.
From a fenced yard someone shouted, "Song Liu, you brat! Running off again and scaring everyone!"
The yard was the source of the spiritual aura.
Chu Feng stepped up and knocked. "May I ask something?"
"No visitors today—be off!" a middle-aged voice answered.
Then a youth called, "Yes, yes, come in!"
The boy opened the door at once, treating Chu Feng like a long-lost brother.
"You rascal—I said no guests and you drag people in," the man grumbled.
While the two bickered, Chu Feng studied the room.
Monster portraits lined the walls, identical to the carvings in the ruined temple, yet a small bronze immortal was enshrined.
Perhaps it was a local custom.
"Hey, kid, don't touch my things. Ask anything—within a hundred li, big or small, there's nothing I, Old Second Song, don't know."
The man gulped his water and spoke hastily; beside him the boy blinked at Chu Feng, thick spiritual energy radiating from his body.
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