The Angry Golden Monkeys
East of Taibai Peak lay a small mountain that no human foot had ever touched. A troop of Angry Golden Monkeys made their home there.
These Angry Golden Monkeys numbered among the most notorious and vicious beasts even within the Dragon Tomb. Though they looked no different from ordinary monkeys, their tempers were savage beyond measure, and their inborn physical power was unmatched anywhere along the Dragon Tomb's outer reaches. They well deserved to be called the overlords of their domain.
Taibai Peak was not, in fact, a region the Angry Golden Monkeys frequented. A grove of blood-red Blood Palm Fruit grew there, however, and now and then a few of the monkeys would go to pick the berries. The fruit they brought back became a precious tribute offered up to their king.
Today, as it happened, the Monkey King found himself craving a cool drink of Blood Palm Fruit. Just as he reached for it, a commotion erupted outside.
"Your Majesty! Disaster!"
"What?!"
A roar like a collapsing mountain thundered through the cave where the Monkey King dwelled. He smashed the stone bed beneath him to rubble with a single fist and burst outside, eyes bloodshot with rage.
Never in his life had the Monkey King suffered such humiliation.
"You don't even know whose territory this is? Do you value your life so cheaply?!"
"All of you, follow me this instant! Tear that bastard apart!"
"Kieeeeek!"
In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred Angry Golden Monkeys charged toward Taibai Peak.
But something was wrong. When they arrived at Taibai Peak, they could not catch even a hint of that accursed human's scent.
As the monkeys fidgeted in growing agitation, that strange, bone-chilling laughter rang out once more from the mountainside.
"Hahaha! Hahaha!"
"That's him! He's over there!"
The Monkey King let out an eardrum-splitting shriek and charged toward the mountainside. His thick, powerful legs packed such tremendous strength that he scaled Taibai Peak's sheer cliffs as easily as walking on flat ground. In just a few leaps, he led his troop to the source of the laughter.
Meanwhile, Yeop Pung let out a hearty laugh, then swiftly left the spot and descended the mountain. He concealed himself in a hidden copse of forest and watched from afar as the massive troop of monkeys came charging with ferocious momentum.
When the Monkey King leading the charge came into view, Yeop Pung couldn't help but click his tongue.
That's incredible!
Even from a distance, the creature's formidable aura was threatening. He stood as tall as a fully grown man, and more than half the gray fur covering his body gleamed gold. This was clearly a monster whose power surpassed the Spirit Realm. He came crashing forward, trampling everything in his path with savage, unrestrained violence.
Damn. Good thing I smeared Bitter Cloud Herb juice all over myself beforehand...
Yeop Pung always prepared thoroughly and moved with caution. Thanks to that, even in a situation this dangerous, he never lost the initiative.
Watching the Monkey King and his troop frantically search for him in the distance, he decided his original plan needed a slight adjustment.
The Monkey King's power is far greater than I expected. If I just charge in blindly, I'm done for. But... now that it's come to this, this just got a whole lot more interesting!
A faint smile crossed Yeop Pung's face as he resolved to stay hidden for the time being.
For the next three days, the Angry Golden Monkeys who had once ruled this region were driven nearly out of their minds. Day after day, they suffered humiliation at the hands of some shameless human who had appeared out of nowhere.
First the man had burned their Blood Palm Fruit trees. Then he had snuck all the way to the monkeys' own mountain and smashed every last bottle of their long-aged liquor. On top of that, he had stolen the pork trotter jerky the Monkey King prized above all else!
But what they found most unbearable of all was this: after every outrage, the damned human didn't even bother to run. He would appear from somewhere, leave behind that bizarre, taunting laughter, and vanish.
"Wahahaha! Wahahaha!"
That laughter, like a curse, burned itself deep into the minds of the Angry Golden Monkeys. The moment they heard it, rage surged through them as if their blood were boiling backward, and they went charging madly toward wherever the sound had come from.
The Monkey King most of all.
Who do they think I am?! I am the ruler of the Dragon Tomb! And they dare toy with me like this?
Night after night the Monkey King ground his teeth, pining for his beloved trotter jerky and liquor. Yet no matter what he did, he could not catch so much as a whiff of that human's scent. The Dragon Tomb was so vast that finding one man was all but impossible, and so their fury only piled higher with each passing day.
On the night of the fourth day, that familiar laughter rang out once more. Drawn by the grotesque sound, they came pouring out of the mountain yet again.
At last, beneath the moonlight on Taibai Peak, they got a clear look at the human.
White martial robes with a red pattern...
They could not make out his face, but in that brief instant every monkey burned the figure into memory — and that hideous laughter along with it.
"That's him! Tear that bastard to shreds, all of you!"
Tears of rage welling in his eyes, the Monkey King led his troop in a charge straight at Yeop Pung.
But the monkeys never imagined what would happen next. The moment they drew close enough to reach him, that accursed human spat out that damned laughter once more — and vanished without a trace.
"Mwahaha! Mwahaha!"
All that remained on Taibai Peak was a troop of monkeys shuddering with fury. They stood there at a complete loss, Yeop Pung's bizarre laughter still echoing around them.
Time to head back.
Yeop Pung had spent a full week completing every last preparation. A satisfied smile on his face, he stepped through the gate of time.
Over those seven days, the Golden Disc had absorbed far more golden energy than ever before.
It was a result that left both Yeop Pung and the Golden Disc thoroughly satisfied.
As he thought back over the plan he had so carefully prepared over the past week, anticipation swelled in his chest.
In truth, Yeop Pung had not needed to go to such lengths to prepare for this climb of Taibai Peak. But the Cheonun Sect's situation was desperate — they needed a victory, and they needed it now. Even Old Man Maeng, who had spent his whole life playing the fool, had willingly staked everything he had for the Cheonun Sect and for Yeop Pung. This was a chance Yeop Pung could not afford to let slip.
Above all, the plan had unfolded without a hitch. There had been dangerous, razor-thin moments, of course — but Yeop Pung could hardly wait for tomorrow to arrive.
Just wait. Tomorrow I'll show those bastards who swore they'd crush the Cheonun Sect who the real victor is!
That night, something strange occurred at the foot of Taibai Peak, which should have been as quiet as ever.
It happened the very instant Yeop Pung returned from his journey through time. Without warning, the whole of Taibai Peak shuddered with an inexplicable tremor.
KRRRUMBLE!
The shaking was not particularly violent, yet it felt as though a small earthquake had struck. Startled, people came rushing out of their tents.
"What's going on? An earthquake?"
No matter how they searched their surroundings, they found nothing out of the ordinary. Dismissing it as nothing serious, they returned to their tents to rest.
But no one knew. With that eerie tremor, everything that was about to unfold on Taibai Peak would veer in a direction no one had anticipated...
The next day, warm sunlight poured down and all things woke to morning. Mount Taibai stood towering like a great giant gazing down upon the world, waiting for the brave souls who would soon throw down their challenge.
The hundred participants who had passed the hunting tournament's preliminaries gathered at the assembly point from early morning. They followed Commander Naeng Chu and the other masters up the path that led toward the summit of Taibai Peak.
A cool wind swept along the mountain trail, and warm sunlight fell pleasantly across their faces — perfect weather.
They had not walked far, however, when a sharp monkey cry rang out from somewhere. At that ear-splitting, dreadful wail, everyone stopped in their tracks and looked around.
"Hm? What's that sound? Is that a monkey?"
Commander Naeng Chu and the masters swept the surroundings with their keen eyes, but they found nothing. Something felt wrong. No matter how they searched, though, they could not pinpoint the cause.
A short while later they arrived at the trailhead Yeop Pung had passed through before. The stone stairs soaring as if to pierce the heavens still presented the same imposing figure they had a month ago. The final battle would soon unfold here.
The thousands of participants who had been eliminated in the preliminaries had all gathered as well. They stood watching the hundred contestants at the entrance with tense faces. Among them, fifty-seven youths in snow-white martial robes stood out at a glance. They were the disciples of the Cheonun Sect — the biggest dark horse of this entire tournament.
To the Cheonun Sect's left, another group of martial artists in white had formed their own cluster. Red phoenixes were embroidered across their chests. Though they numbered only some twenty, everyone knew that at least six or seven of the top ten in this hunting tournament would come from among them. They were the youth heroes of the Heavenly Phoenix Legion — the undisputed strongest of the Phoenix Army.
Meanwhile, the three great families of old had been reduced to mere extras in this Ascent Battle. The most pitiful among them was the Gi Family, which had advanced only five people to the finals. The Oyang Family had seven, the Gongsun Family eight, and the remaining three were contestants from obscure clans. These were all the participants in this Ascent Battle.
Naeng Chu briefly reviewed the rules of the Ascent Battle for the hundred talented youths. He laid particular stress on the ironclad prohibition against killing, then gave the heads of each faction time to offer their last words of advice — as long as it took for a single stick of incense to burn. After that, the scramble of the Ascent Battle would begin at once.
"Maeng Chang-haeng, so you actually managed to stay sober on a day like this."
Maeng Chang-haeng had arrived with Han Un in tow. He locked eyes with Yeop Pung for a brief moment, then turned his gaze to Wang Maeng and the others behind him.
"Kids, don't you forget the job I gave you. Damn it, you'd all better come back in one piece! When you do, I'll treat you to a proper round of drinks at Nagun Peak!"
"Hehe, we'll take you up on that!"
Everyone burst out laughing. Anyone who had spent any length of time around Maeng Chang-haeng had, little by little, absorbed some of that boisterous temperament of his — the kind of man who would pull a blanket over his head and go to sleep even if the sky itself were falling.
And on the faces of the squad members, as they recalled the tactics Maeng Chang-haeng had spent the past few days painstakingly drilling into them, a distinctly knowing smile spread.