"Clang!"

Gu Yuan did not turn his head, but the Profound Turtle Seal had already fallen behind him, its deep tortoiseshell glowing with strange brilliance, blocking his back.

The sound of metal clashing abruptly rang out, and the terrifying surge of Qi Power was overwhelming, even the Profound Turtle Seal, reinforced by the Little Giant God Seal, couldn’t withstand it. The shell trembled violently, seemingly cracking.

The dim Dharma Seal wobbled as it fell into Gu Yuan’s Dantian, unable to fight further, requiring nurturing. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Roar!"

The gigantic roar did not cease, another wave of terrifying Qi Power carried with it a fierce gale, threatening overhead.

"Bang!"

Yet above Gu Yuan’s head, a yellowish-brown Seal had appeared at some point, casting down shadows like mountain ranges that enveloped him entirely.

The terrifying Qi Power came crashing violently, striking against the mountain shadows, causing a tremendous collision sound as Qi waves billowed.

However, the Seal of Mount Yin, a top-grade Protective Dharma Artifact, was quite powerful, and the mountain shadows rippled like waves but managed to firmly block this attack.

In contrast, the assailant couldn’t help but stagger back two steps, emitting rough gasps.

Taking advantage of the moment, Gu Yuan turned and looked back, seeing the appearance of the assailant clearly.

This was a tall ape very similar to the previous Silverback Ape, but taller and muscular like forged iron, with golden glimmers faintly emanating from the fur on its back.

At this moment, it was holding a silver stone rod, glaring viciously at Gu Yuan.

"Golden-backed Ape, there’s definitely an organization behind these Spirit Apes!"

Looking at the Golden-backed Ape before him, Gu Yuan was not surprised.

In this Water Curtain Cave, the yellow-brown apes were clearly miners, with the Silverback Apes merely guards, there had to be a stronger organization behind them.

Gu Yuan had intended to catch them off-guard, play the thief, and take the Spirit Stones and leave.

But unexpectedly, he was cornered inside the cave.

"Roar Roar!"

Just then, two more tall Golden-backed Apes leapt in from outside the waterfall, and behind them were several Silverback Apes.

But instead of holding stone rods, they carried jars of Spirit Wine and Spirit Fruits, the Spirit Wine being unsealed, releasing a potent aroma.

Upon seeing Gu Yuan, the group of apes immediately set down their wine and fruits hastily grabbing various weapons, glaring fiercely at Gu Yuan.

"Silverback Ape, one of Spiritual Crane Island’s most spiritual Spirit Beasts, low-grade Spirit Ape, fur yellow-brown, strength about Third-Layer Qi Refining, middle-grade Spirit Ape, Silver-backed Iron Arm, strength about Sixth-Layer Qi Refining, when gold fur appears among the silver, it becomes a Golden-backed Ape, starting at Qi Refining Seventh Layer, the more gold fur, the stronger the power."

"These apes live in groups, capable of brewing Monkey Wine, which is extremely delicious, intoxicating, and greatly beneficial to Qi Refining cultivators, one of the main outputs of Spiritual Crane Island."

Witnessing the scene, records about Golden-backed Apes from Spiritual Crane Island resurfaced in Gu Yuan’s mind.

He also formed a conjecture on the matter.

The Golden-backed Ape clan must have accidentally discovered this miniature Spirit Ore, but worried about being discovered by Spiritual Crane Island’s cultivators, they secretly mined with a few clan members, while the other Spirit Apes continued brewing Monkey Wine, deceiving everyone.

After all, the everyday cultivators on Spiritual Crane Island mostly reached about Sixth-Layer Qi Refining, and weren’t abundant. The island itself was vast enough that with some caution, they remained undiscovered.

They didn’t anticipate encountering Gu Yuan, and getting their home unexpectedly invaded.

Fortunately, the jungle was filled with the ears of the Golden-backed Ape clan, who quickly alerted them, calling back Golden-backed Apes of Qi Refining Seventh Layer strength.

And before him, the three Golden-backed Apes each with Qi Refining Seventh Layer strength, along with several Sixth Layer Silverback Apes, formed a formidable force.

But Gu Yuan remained unmoved, merely watching them coldly.

For a moment, the cave was tense and charged.

"Roar Roar Roar!"

The leading Golden-backed Ape glared fiercely at Gu Yuan, then pointed to the Spirit Wine and Spirit Fruits on the ground, beckoning furiously towards outside the waterfall.

Then it gestured towards Gu Yuan’s lips.

"Do you mean I should take the Monkey Wine and Spirit Fruits, leave here, and not spread a word?"

Gu Yuan asked hesitantly.

"Oh Oh!"

The Golden-backed Ape quickly nodded.

Transforming into human form and speaking human words is not easy for the Demon Race, the stronger the bloodline, the harder the transformation.

Moreover, the human form is not necessarily superior, many Demon Beasts prefer living in their original form over adopting the Human Race’s elegant garments.

But being unable to speak doesn’t mean low spiritual wisdom; though the Golden-backed Ape hasn’t refined the Horizontal Bone to speak, its intelligence is certainly human-like.

At this moment, it was clearly negotiating with Gu Yuan.

Yet Gu Yuan shook his head: "You’re merely Spirit Beasts raised by the Daoist School, enjoying its protection to live peacefully, growing your clans, but instead of repaying, you secretly mine Spirit Ore, which is a grave offense!"

"As an Inner Sect disciple of the Daoist School, I certainly cannot watch your banditry!"

"If you’re sensible, leave promptly, and I’ll gather the Spirit Stones to report to the Daoist School!"

Gu Yuan’s voice was filled with righteousness, rock-solid in principle.

But the Golden-backed Ape couldn’t help but roll its eyes.

"Screech Screech Screech!"

It gestured, calling the low-grade Spirit Apes behind Gu Yuan to push around a hundred Spirit Stones from the pile, then pointed to Gu Yuan.

"You!"

"You wretched monkey, do you intend to bribe a Daoist School disciple? Leave immediately!"

Gu Yuan remained unmoved.

The Golden-backed Ape’s eyes flickered with anger, it seemed ready to strike, but its ears twitched as though hearing something, it forcibly suppressed its fury and called out to the low-grade Spirit Apes behind Gu Yuan again.

This Spirit Ape then pushed out over a hundred more Spirit Stones.

More than two hundred Spirit Stones piled up together, emitting a faint glow in the cave.

Yet Gu Yuan shook his head: "This ore belongs to the Daoist School and cannot be defiled by demons!"

"Roar Roar Roar!"

Seeing this, the Golden-backed Ape could no longer restrain itself, wielding its stone rod, it charged furiously at Gu Yuan.

Behind it, the other Golden-backed Apes and Silverback Apes joined in, demon Qi surged in the Cave Mansion.

But Gu Yuan remained unmoved, merely breathing out a sigh.

"Hoo!"

In an instant, a thick mist spread, torrential rain poured like the waterfall flowing into the cave, dense with water vapor, obscuring everything.

Gu Yuan also made his move.

How could two bandit encounters be resolved with words when it comes to distributing treasures?

A battle must ensue, after measuring each other’s strength, the treasure’s ownership can be determined.

After Gu Yuan’s breakthrough, his power greatly increased, he wouldn’t let go over mere two hundred Spirit Stones, a battle first.

"Roar Roar Roar!"

However, the Golden-backed Ape was equally fierce, failed negotiations leading directly to confrontation, its golden fur sparkled brightly, with fluid-like luminous circulating, charging it with power.

Though the fog thickened, rain fell ceaselessly, it was quickly suppressed.