The Immortal Ruins - Chapter 7 The Fight And The Monkey King
Much had happened in the world during Jiang Shaoliu’s month of training.
The fierce beasts kept on mutating, becoming stronger and stronger, and there were increasing amounts of beasts with life rings. They seemed to be invulnerable; even bullets and bombs couldn’t stop them. They slaughtered human beings with reckless abandon, as if they wanted to wipe out the human race.
The entire human world was quickly lost, other than a few key cities which had been desperately defended by the military from any encroachment by the mutated beasts. Other cities, villages, and towns had been completely overrun by the monsters. People from more rural regions could only run aimlessly for their lives, living in fear.
Another month passed, and things changed again.
The rain of light came again, but this was different from the previous one. The plants and animals weren’t affected this time; it was the humans who changed, their physical fitness and vitality suddenly improving through contact with this otherworldly rain. Many patients suffering from incurable diseases were cured instantly after being bathed in the light rain.
However, the humans were not affected by any bizarre mutations. They improved their abilities, such as strength and agility, but not to such an exaggerated degree as the beasts. Generally speaking, humans still didn’t have the capacity to fight against the beasts.
The light rain came with other strange things.
Some people were struck by flashing images that fell amongst the golden beams. These people changed rapidly and became extremely powerful, simultaneously learning new combat skills.
One man was hit by a silver sword and instantly mastered swordsmanship. He then singlehandedly killed a giant beast, armed with nothing more than a kitchen knife.
Copper bells, tassels, daggers… A few lucky people were hit by these strange “treasures” all around the world, as if Heaven was intervening to save the human race. They immediately acquired the means to fight back against the beasts.
People thought this was a miracle from Heaven. “God hasn’t given upon us! This gift of power tells us to fight to the end!”
“It’s amazing! Why didn’t I get these powers, too?”
As the rumors and legends spread, those lucky few who obtained the power and became mighty heroes banded together to fight against the fierce beasts.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shaoliu was becoming stronger and stronger. He could now easily kill the beasts with the fate rings.
As he practiced the Great Sage’s Formula and the Demon Fist, his movements became too fast to be caught by the naked eye, flashes of electricity following his strikes.
His blood would boil throughout his body, wisps of white gas wafting from his pores. The gas slowly drifted toward the murals. Suddenly, the stones began to glow with light and a message appeared in Jiang Shaoliu’s mind.
“Use this, my heirloom, when the Disaster occurs again, so that the next generation may survive. It is not my wish to pass on this Demon Fist, but it is what I must do. The second stage of the Shencang Realm of the Great Sage’s Formula has been left among these stones, and you can obtain it when you smash them after reaching the 9th stage of your life Chakra. Then, you will also know the location of the other manuals.”
“The Disaster?” Jiang Shaoliu thought about the cataclysmic changes occurring in the outside world with a frown. He became increasingly concerned about his parents.
The Monkey King began gesticulating excitedly. Jiang Shaoliu didn’t know why, but he found it far easier to understand what it meant these days. He was a little surprised when he realized the Monkey King was telling him that he could leave now.
“Really? I can go?”
The Monkey King nodded and went on to tell him in its sign language to continue to practice so that he could return to claim the treasure locked within the murals when he reached the 9th stage of the life Chakra.
“Are you coming with me?” Jiang Shaoliu could read the Monkey King’s mind.
The Monkey King shook its head, meaning that he would stay in the cave for now to take care of something else.
“Thank you for everything.” Jiang Shaoliu expressed his sincere appreciation, palms pressed together in front of him.
The Monkey King accepted his gratitude with a nod and told him to take Xiao Bai along with him, so that they could help each other.
Xiao Bai was the giant white tiger the Monkey King had caught and tamed weeks ago. It had been used as a punching bag and suffered a lot, but it also gained much strength, strengthening and growing through those fights just as Jiang Shaoliu did. Jiang Shaoliu could feel that it was on the verge of acquiring its own life ring.
The Monkey King made a basket from some vines and filled it with wild fruits. Then it indicated to Jiang Shaoliu that those fruits could make one’s bones stronger, and he could also share them with his parents.
Jiang Shaoliu heaved the basket up on his shoulder and mounted Xiao Bai, riding him out of the cave.
Xian Bai was much more submissive than when it first encountered Jiang Shaoliu. He had been tamed and trained by the Monkey King and suffered a lot, so it was very happy to be able to leave the cave at last.
The human and the tiger crossed the rainbow bridge, arriving in the outside world of Huaguoshan after going through a thick mist.
Huaguoshan was once so beautiful, but the Disaster had turned it into a wasteland. Massive landslides had completely blocked all the roads and grotesquely oversized plants and trees covered the mountainside. Xiao Bai, with Jiang Shaoliu on his back, crossed over 10 meters with each leap, easily surmounting the rocks and fallen trees.
Seeing the outside world, Jiang Shaoliu couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
When they were in the cave, the Monkey King could catch a beast at any time and make it fight with Jiang Shaoliu. Now, giant beasts could be seen all around them, and they immediately rushed at Xiao Bai and Jiang Shaoliu the moment they saw them.
“Xiao Bai, don’t mind them!” shouted Jiang Shaoliu. “Just get us off the mountain!”
Xiao Bai caught and effortlessly cast aside any beast that approached him, sending them crashing through rocks or giant trees with a shower of splinters or debris.
“Faster, Xiao Bai!”
After serving as a punching bag for Jiang Shaoliu over the past few weeks, Xiao Bai had become far more powerful. The tiger tore down the mountain like greased lighting. Some of the weaker beasts couldn’t even see its shadow as it zoomed past.
It was not long before Xiao Bai had carried Jiang Shaoliu from Huaguoshan all the way to the streets of Yungang City.
.
Yungang City was once crowded with people, but now it was deserted, rubble and shattered glass littering the roads. The buildings were covered with the scars of the earthquake and the streetlights and billboards were all broken. The streets were splattered all over with dry, black blood.
Not a single human soul could be found; only a few scattered giant beasts roamed the abandoned streets. Jiang Shaoliu’s hands curled into tight fists as a cold wind blew past his sad face.
Much had changed during the month he stayed in that cave with the Monkey King. The floating mountain in the sky was now almost touching the ground, while the people of Yungang City had suffered greatly at the hands of those mutated monsters.
Jiang Shaoliu had lost his phone during his escape on the Monkey King’s back, but that didn’t matter much, as the city’s power grid had long since collapsed into disrepair. He had no idea where his parents, younger sister, or friends might be now.
Not too far away, three wolf dogs as big as cows had spotted them and were slowly creeping closer, slobbering at the thought of the impending meal.
Jiang Shaoliu had fought with many monsters in the past month, which led him to develop a keen fighting sense. Normally, he would try to avoid a fight, but when he was ready to stand his ground, common monsters wouldn’t stand a chance against him, and even stronger beasts would be in for a hell of a fight.
Xiao Bai let out an earth-shattering roar, displaying the full might of the king of the beasts. Shockwaves kicked up dust in circles around him.
Those three big wolf dogs tucked their tails between their legs in fear, trembling as they slunk away dejectedly. After taking several steps backwards, the three wolf dogs turned tail and ran for their lives.
“Xiao Bai, let’s go to the city center.” Jiang Shaoliu patted Xiao Bai on the head.
The most important thing now was to find any human survivors and ask them what the situation in the world was, and to contact his parents if possible.
Jiang Shaoliu was deeply convinced that he could protect his parents and younger sister with his newfound power.
