Chapter Ninety: The Pursuit Through the Ascending Clouds Realm

With a hiss of air, they had only just begun the pursuit of Lin Qingyun when countless demon monkeys surged in from all around. Before the monkeys even arrived, stones and cold metal weapons in their hands were already screaming through the air, followed by a storm of wooden spikes specially grown from the forest itself.

In an instant, thousands upon thousands of attacks erupted, each one fiercer than the bolts of the strongest bows and crossbows. Seven or eight of the weaker men were too slow to evade and were instantly skewered and pierced.

"Watch out! What the hell are you doing, you fool monkeys? We're chasing an enemy, not here to deal with you!" one deputy captain roared. Half his face had been mangled by a beast, and his features were hideous. Now, with one of his men just slain beside him, fury exploded from him.

"We mean no harm—"

At that moment, several other deputy captains also raised their voices. They knew the monkey kings could understand them.

"Hahaha! Kill them all! A pack of monkeys thinks it can turn heaven upside down? Our main force is still behind us. Break through, rendezvous with the rest, and wipe out this place completely. They actually dare to keep us beast hunters from going deeper, forcing us to detour when we come and go here. What are they supposed to be? Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Just as they were still trying to explain and negotiate, a voice suddenly rang out. It vibrated through some secret art, like the wondrous chant of a Buddhist sermon, drowning out every other sound.

It was Lin Qingyun, fleeing ahead. Not only did he openly provoke the demon monkeys, but as he spoke and moved forward, several special crossbows appeared in his hands.

These were treasures taken earlier from the men of Deputy Captain Wang and the others. Each one could instantly unleash dozens of crossbow bolts from its magazine, terrifying in power when triggered, though only for a single burst.

Lin Qingyun happened to have several of them. After firing them at random, he simply discarded them.

The surrounding monkeys, already closing in, suffered terribly. In an instant, dozens were either slain or gravely wounded.

At that, the monkeys completely exploded into rage.

They had no time to think calmly or analyze the situation now. There was only one thought left: kill these damned intruders.

Dozens of especially unusual monkeys even swelled in size and shot forward with suddenly heightened speed, pouncing directly toward the largest clusters of humans.

Crack. One man's skull was pierced clean through by a monkey's claw, after which the beast bit through his carotid artery in one savage motion.

Another monkey directly stabbed through the heart of a beast hunter at the eighth level of the Heart of the Zither realm, then actually tore the heart out.

"Damn it, he's trying to use these monkeys against us. Kill them! Break out!" At this point, Zhou Wanhu and the others also realized that no amount of explanation would matter now.

The monkeys were far too numerous, and in the initial reaction they had not been as fast as Lin Qingyun and Zhou Wanlong. Very quickly, many fell behind and were killed by the endless wave of monkeys.

Even the strongest among them dared not linger for a moment. After all, there were several monkey kings here who had already half-stepped into the Cloud Treading realm.

That was precisely why even ordinary Cloud Treading realm cultivators would not dare enter this place lightly.

They had too many people, and their speed was a little slower besides, so they naturally became the primary target.

Ahead, Lin Qingyun flew through the forest at high speed, constantly using every method at his disposal to thread between the trees. He only drove two defensive magical artifacts while also activating the artifact boots on his feet. At a time like this, increasing speed and strengthening defense came first.

He no longer used the flying swords meant for offense. Instead, he casually hurled the non-artifact weapons he had acquired before at the monkeys, thoroughly enraging the monkey kings in different regions and driving them into a frenzy of encirclement and slaughter.

"What insolence. To dare return and counterattack, you're digging your own grave." By now, Zhou Wanlong could also hear the men behind him dying one after another, and he knew that aside from the top few, the rest would have little chance of surviving such a siege.

But he paid them no mind. In his eyes, a flash of excitement instead rose.

So he came back. Looking at the things he kept pulling out one after another, one could tell he must have plenty of storage treasures and other valuables.

As a Cloud Treading realm expert, Zhou Wanlong's speed was astonishing. Yet at this moment, he too was being assailed by endless attacks from all around him. Some monkeys even went so far as to burn through their own strength just to throw themselves at him in mortal combat.

Though in his hands they could be sent flying with ease, or swiftly evaded, it still delayed his progress somewhat.

As for Lin Qingyun, not only did he possess many treasures, but he kept weaving through the forest, his magical tools and agile footwork working together with exquisite finesse. Even someone like Zhou Wanlong, a Cloud Treading realm expert, could not use the advantage of realm and power to rapidly close the distance.

Once one stepped into the Cloud Treading realm, the Dao foundation had already transformed into a golden core. The speed at which the golden core absorbed spiritual energy was several times, even dozens of times, that of the Heart of the Zither and Foundation Establishment realms. The body itself also completely broke free of the ordinary mortal condition, becoming as refined as gold and iron.

The Buddhist path of cultivating the Golden Body Arhat also truly began only upon entering this realm. As for the transformation of spirit and power, it was even more astonishing. The refinement of body and power allowed one to ride the clouds and mist; in ancient times, such figures were called immortals of the mortal world. When the spirit transformed and the body became a true golden body, one could even fundamentally alter the limit of one’s lifespan. This was a change in the very essence of the body.

At the very peak of the Cloud Treading realm, it was said one could extend life by a hundred years. Of course, that was an idealized maximum, but so long as one stepped into the Cloud Treading realm, living several decades longer was no problem at all.

Because of this, cultivators in the Cloud Treading realm were also known as true experts. For an ordinary Cloud Treading realm expert to kill someone in the Heart of the Zither realm, even if the other party were at the ninth level, it would still be a matter of lifting a hand. Even with a superior treasure, the opponent could only block one or two more blows.

To survive at the hands of a newly entered Cloud Treading realm expert with the aid of magical artifacts already counted as remarkable. This alone showed the gulf between the Cloud Treading and Heart of the Zither realms.

And yet, at this moment, while continuously provoking the monkeys, Lin Qingyun remained incomparably calm, without the slightest panic.

Feeling the speed and power of Zhou Wanlong behind him, and the man’s occasional methods for killing powerful monkeys, Lin Qingyun gradually curled his lip. This Zhou Wanlong, a first-level Cloud Treading realm cultivator, was far weaker than he had imagined. Just now, when a monkey king at the ninth level of the Heart of the Zither realm erupted in attack, Zhou Wanlong had failed to kill it in a single strike and only heavily wounded and sent it flying.

With the boost of his superior-grade artifact, Zhou Wanlong was not much faster than he was. In such complicated terrain, he also had no way to quickly catch up.

And his movement technique? It was merely passable. He had a superior-grade artifact as well, but its effectiveness was ordinary.

As for the methods of the Cloud Treading realm, it seemed he had not fully mastered them. The essence of Cloud Treading power had already changed in nature, no longer like the Heart of the Zither realm. His long-range attacks and spell use were also lacking.

If anyone knew what Lin Qingyun was thinking right now, they would surely want to beat him senseless.

For he was only in the Heart of the Zither realm, yet he was looking down on a Cloud Treading realm expert.

In truth, the Cloud Treading realm experts in Lin Qingyun's mind were not even from his past life. In that life, he had been in seclusion for far too long, meeting only great figures. By the time he truly began doing things in public, he no longer had any dealings with Cloud Treading realm cultivators.

It was only in this life, especially during the practical trial for new students, when he dealt with the beast tide and saw the methods of countless Cloud Treading realm experts from the military, the education bureau, and the schools, that he used them as the standard by which to measure Zhou Wanlong, a first-level Cloud Treading cultivator.

Precisely because of that, he had made many preparations. But now he discovered that compared to the first-level Cloud Treading cultivators he had seen in the military and the education bureau, Zhou Wanlong fell short by far more than just a little.

The first-level Cloud Treading experts from the military and the education bureau, under equal conditions, could easily handle Zhou Wanlong two at a time. In terms of strength, tactics, spells, physique, speed, and combat techniques, the gap was comprehensive.

The difference between itinerant cultivators and the experts and powerhouses cultivated by the state was truly considerable. Unless one had backing, inheritance, or some entirely different life experience, that was.

Boom.

At that moment, a gigantic monkey king, nearly two meters tall and radiating a faint golden light, suddenly appeared beside Lin Qingyun. Its claws descended, seeking to tear through Lin Qingyun's chest. When blocked by Lin Qingyun's shield, it directly slammed into him with its body and sent him flying.

Lin Qingyun rolled and crashed into a giant tree as thick as a man's embrace, blasting it apart.

"Reaping what you sow. Die—boom!" Although Lin Qingyun thought Zhou Wanlong, as a Cloud Treading cultivator, was only so-so, Zhou Wanlong was still a Cloud Treading expert. Seizing the moment when Lin Qingyun had been sent flying by the monkey king, he raised a hand and struck downward. A giant palm of condensed force, formed dozens of meters away, crashed down at once.

The shield held, and blood spilled from the corner of Lin Qingyun's mouth as he was slammed directly into the soft earth below.

"Not good!" Zhou Wanlong immediately thought of how well this fellow could also use earth escape. In an instant, a streak of sword light shot out and plunged straight into the ground, while Zhou Wanlong's spiritual sense locked onto Lin Qingyun.

Bang bang bang.

Underground, Lin Qingyun kept defending against the bombardment. Yet since he had already been locked onto and was being pursued by the flying sword, his repeated strikes against it caused the earth within several hundred meters to keep exploding apart.

Because he slowed just slightly on this side, Zhou Wanlong had already arrived after flinging away more than ten monkeys.

He suddenly drew in a breath, and his arm turned completely golden as his figure grew several inches taller. Once one entered the Cloud Treading realm, control over one's flesh and blood was completely different from the Heart of the Zither realm.

His hand extended, and under the combined pressure of the flying sword assault, he had already forced Lin Qingyun exactly where he wanted him.

His arm swelled and stretched greatly, then reached underground to seize Lin Qingyun by the ankle and drag him up from below in a single motion.

"Hahaha... Got you... You're finished!" At this moment, Zhou Wanlong was wild with delight. This brat had used the monkeys to pin down all of his men and still wanted to contend with him, a Cloud Treading realm expert. He was simply overestimating himself.

Now, at last, he had been caught. Once caught, he was finished.

The instant he had him in hand, Zhou Wanlong suddenly exerted force, first intending to crush the other's ankle, and at the same time gave a slight shake of his hand, trying to shatter every bone in Lin Qingyun's body.

Since there was an opportunity to take him alive, that could not be better. Perhaps more could be extracted from him.

"Hm?" Yet just as he applied force, Zhou Wanlong was startled. There was indeed a cracking sound of bones, but they did not shatter at once, and the tremor of his force failed to break every bone in the other's body.

Bang.

At that very moment, several poison pills burst in Lin Qingyun's hands.

"Hmph." Seeing Lin Qingyun use poison pills again, Zhou Wanlong gave a cold snort. This fellow had clearly never fought a Cloud Treading realm expert before. A Cloud Treading cultivator's body was already beginning to condense a golden body, and most poisons were useless. More importantly, spiritual power could be gathered into protective force to guard the body and isolate poison qi.

This trick might work on ordinary Heart of the Zither cultivators, but against him, it would only work if he were caught unprepared.