I Want to Go Home
Three great apes lunged in a heartbeat at the short-haired boy hanging in midair.
What the hell is this?!
The short-haired boy had been radiating killing intent from the open sky when three black shadows came screaming in from the side. Before he could even grasp what was happening, he was smashed from the air straight into the dirt.
The ape that had led the charge let out a scream of pure, vindictive bliss.
Why had this one charged first? Because this particular ape had been assigned to guard the Monkey King's trotters. A month ago, those trotters had been stolen on its watch, and the Monkey King had beaten it half to death. Its backside was still swollen an angry red. So yes—it was pissed.
This time, it had finally brought that wretched human down. The ape had always had a vicious temper; even tigers didn't dare mess with it. It swung two fists the size of cauldron lids and started pounding the boy's face. Thud! Thud! Blood poured from him in streams.
The other two were not about to sit idle. They stretched out great gray-furred feet and stomped his body without mercy—and the places they were kicking were rather unsportsmanlike. Where these apes had learned such tactics was anyone's guess.
"Aagh!"
The short-haired boy screamed. The physical pain nearly knocked him unconscious, but his mind was even more lost.
Where the hell did these monkeys even come from?
And with so many people standing around, why were they only attacking him? He couldn't make sense of it.
But he was an elite soldier of the Cheonbong Legion, a master of the 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm. After weathering that first assault, he realized that while the apes were strong, they couldn't inflict a truly serious wound on him. He roared and surged to his feet.
"Get off me!"
Power erupted in all eight directions, a violent bloom of force that blasted everything away.
The three apes were hurled backward, tumbling through the air in several somersaults before crashing to the ground.
"You filthy monkeys!"
The short-haired boy bellowed in rage, his face a mask of blood. Behind him, everyone—including Sa Cheonseong—still stood staring in a daze.
What? What the hell is going on? Monkeys injuring people on Taibai Peak?
They had never heard of anything like this.
The three apes on the other side were equally stunned. Once they'd taken stock of the situation, they scratched their heads.
What is going on here? Why are so many people all wearing the same clothes?
Sometimes fortune simply defied all explanation. The atmosphere at the scene had just begun to settle when the short-haired boy—the one who'd taken the beating to the face—saw that there were only three apes in front of him. Uncontrollable fury surged up.
"You bastards dare lay a hand on me? Die!"
"Don't—!"
Behind him, Sa Cheonseong sensed something was wrong, but it was already too late to shout.
The speed of a 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm martial artist was a matter of an instant. The short-haired boy's sword was already at the first ape. Sword-light flashed sharp, and blood sprayed in that same heartbeat.
A scream rang out as one of the ape's arms was severed in midair. The creature staggered back toward its companions, its face twisted in terror.
"Hmph. Trying to run?"
The short-haired boy shouted, his voice thick with arrogance. That single success only fed his bloodlust. He leapt again. His sword-light was even more dazzling than when he'd attacked Yeop Pung, his razor-sharp Profound Qi painting a blossom of blades through the air, driving straight at the three apes' throats.
"All of you, die!"
His roar and killing intent painted a cruel picture across the sky.
But Yeop Pung watched that valiant young man and, expressionless, took a few steps back.
Rumble—
The next instant, a thunderous boom shook the mountain peak.
BOOM!
The cliff wall beside them exploded under a massive black shadow. In a blink, that shadow crossed nearly three hundred feet and appeared beside the short-haired boy like a meteor of death.
Damn it, there's more of them?!
The short-haired boy startled again. A violent wind slammed into his face, and his guts ran cold. But thanks to the Cheonbong Legion's brutal training, even in that desperate instant he gripped his sword tight and thrust fiercely at the black shadow.
"Whatever monster you are—die!"
The sword strike was immensely powerful. But what he faced this time was an entirely different being. The black shadow did not dodge the sharp sword-light. It met the boy head-on and, in that same instant, swung a fist down onto the blade's tip.
The treasured sword wailed in grief and shattered into two pieces in midair.
Pshhkt!
The Cheonbong warrior was broken. Struck by the terrifying wind of that fist, the short-haired boy was sent flying with his chest completely caved in, vomiting blood as he tumbled away. Even if he lived, he was clearly grievously wounded.
"Yue Feng!"
A warrior of the Cheonbong Legion shot into the air and caught the boy called Yue Feng. At the same time, the remaining eighteen exploded their Profound Qi and charged at the terrifying black shadow that had landed on the ground.
Good God—
The moment they saw that black shadow, every one of them found their breath catching.
"That's… a mature Furious Golden Ape!"
This time, even Sa Cheonseong's perpetually expressionless face was filled with shock.
Somebody tell me—what the hell is going on here?
How had this happened? How had a perfectly proceeding Ascent Battle suddenly turned into a war between man and beast? What Sa Cheonseong understood least of all was why these Furious Golden Apes had suddenly started attacking Yue Feng. The apes looked as if they harbored some deep, personal grudge.
Where on earth did we manage to piss these monkeys off?
No matter how he turned it over, he couldn't understand. But he no longer had time to think. The massive Monkey King had turned, white steam blasting from its nostrils, its face savage.
Huh?
The Monkey King paused briefly at the sight of the people in white. But in the next instant, a beast's instinct left it no room for further thought. It slammed both fists against its chest and let out a mighty roar.
"Boys—kill them all!"
"Screee! Screee!"
A storm of howls erupted from the cliff walls once more. This time, nearly a hundred gray apes flooded into Sa Cheonseong and his companions' field of vision.
Damn it. This is insane…
The Cheonbong Legion's martial artists fell into despair. The situation was truly absurd. Even with a monster like Sa Cheonseong among them, they couldn't possibly fight this many profound beasts head-on.
Run. We have to run, now!
Sa Cheonseong bit his lip and, for the first time in his life, decided to flee. The others followed without hesitation, their feet already moving. They wanted to run as if they truly had wings.
But none of them noticed. From the moment the Monkey King had appeared, a certain disciple of the Cheonun Sect—the one who'd been wearing a bizarre grin in the background—had quietly vanished.
"After them!"
How terrifying was the Monkey King? It swept a great arm, roared at the sky, and led its subordinates into a merciless chase.
Meanwhile, several of the great personages at the summit of Taibai Peak had also leapt to their feet, startled by the Monkey King's roar.
What in the world is going on?
Naeng Chu had been drinking tea at a prepared seat on the summit. He rose at the sudden noise. The other great figures beside him, including Gi Yeo-hae, had changed expressions as well. Even Maeng Chang-haeng found this situation difficult to parse.
Maeng Chang-haeng knew Yeop Pung would pull some kind of scheme. But no stretch of imagination had prepared him for Yeop Pung luring Furious Golden Apes up here to cause this kind of chaos. Frankly, the situation was rather serious. If things went wrong, the Cheonbong Legion's twenty little monsters could be wiped out entirely.
"There were profound beasts this terrifying on Taibai Peak?"
Sweat beaded on Naeng Chu's forehead as he muttered to himself. He shot his body down the mountain.
"Let's go. We need to see this for ourselves!"
The assembled powerhouses summoned their flying vessels without hesitation and flew down the mountain.
From the Monkey King's appearance and roar, to Sa Cheonseong's group beginning to flee, to the great personages moving out—all of it had unfolded in a little over ten minutes. But those brief ten minutes became golden time for Yeop Pung to pull ahead of his rivals.
Charge!
Without the slightest hesitation, Yeop Pung raced up the cliff path he had created. There was not a flicker of wavering on his face. He already knew that luring Furious Golden Apes to Taibai Peak could bring about a great disaster. But from the very beginning, he had not a shred of pity for the people of the Cheonbong Legion.
Eight years of a dog's life had taught him how to protect himself, and how to discard mercy. To reach the highest peak in this world—just as one climbed Taibai Peak—one had to trample one's enemies.
"Those who would walk the hard road with me, those who would help me—those people I will take soaring into the heavens together."
"The human heart is treacherous."
"Those who block my path, those who mean me harm—I will erase them without a moment's hesitation."
Charge!
A fierce battle-fire blazed in Yeop Pung's eyes.
Golden lightning coiled around his entire body. With every leap of his hands and feet, he soared dozens of feet as if taking flight.
Like a rising golden star, he swiftly passed the midpoint of the chaotic climbing path and raced toward the highest peak.
Qi Gongtian stood with a blank expression, stripping the clothes from two people who had fallen to the ground.
"Sorry, but it's all because those Cheonun Sect bastards are so despicable."
He looked at the two unconscious unaffiliated boys without a shred of guilt and cinched his belt tight. Exploding the Profound Qi within his body, he ran toward the mountain peak.
Yeop Pung. Right now there was only one goal in his heart, and that was Yeop Pung. He had completely thrown aside any concern for the hunting tournament rankings. He just wanted to chase down that Cheonun Sect runt, tear him into eight pieces, and take revenge for himself and the Gi Clan. So he sprinted with everything he had, his feet spinning like wheels as he raced toward the distant summit.
But as he ran, the situation ahead looked somehow strange. Qi Gongtian gazed at the distant scene and thought.
Huh? Are they fighting over there? And it looks like an incredibly brutal fight…
Wait. That person over there—isn't that my father? Damn it! That really is my father! Why the hell is Father fighting monkeys?
And that's Commander Naeng? Clan Head Ouyang? Even Clan Head Gongsun?
Qi Gongtian felt as if his brain had completely run out of power over the course of this single day. He'd barely escaped from those Cheonun Sect thugs, only to run into this nightmarish battle ahead. He couldn't understand it.
As he stood frozen in place, staring blankly, a massive ape's cry suddenly erupted from the battlefield. A huge, blood-soaked ape, struck by one of Naeng Chu's blows, went flying through the air—and came plunging straight toward Qi Gongtian.
Oh, hell!
Qi Gongtian's entire body locked up.
"Gongtian, look out!"
His father Gi Yeo-hae's desperate shout rang out from the distance.
CRASH!
The massive ape hit the ground, but immediately rolled to its feet and stood right beside Qi Gongtian. He stiffly turned his head. There stood a terrifying ape, covered in blood, bared teeth locked on him. He wanted to drop to his knees right then and there.