The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 423: Outbreak of the Monkey Tide

At the Same Time

Central Lands, Radiant Moon Empire

After two months of recovery, Qi Chi finally healed from his injuries. Carrying his Prison Heaven Staff, he returned to his sect with joy on his face. However, the scene before him quickly froze his expression.

Half of the sect's mountain gate had collapsed, and behind the gate, large sections of the buildings had turned to ruins as if they had suffered the ravages of war.

The ground was littered with countless corpses of the Sect's disciples, their blood long dried into dark stains. Even more horrifying was the sight of numerous female disciples' corpses, lying exposed with scars covering their bodies.

Qi Chi's eyes were bloodshot, and he collapsed to the ground, completely drained of strength.

"Master! Senior Sister!"

As if remembering something, he suddenly got up and frantically rushed into the sect, searching desperately for his master and senior sister.

He searched everywhere, calling out loudly, his voice echoing through the ruins.

After a long time, he finally learned from a passerby that his master and senior sister had been publicly executed by Lingchi (death by a thousand cuts) in the capital of Radiant Moon Empire for the crime of colluding with foreign races.

At that moment, Qi Chi’s world collapsed. Overwhelmed by sorrow, he pulled out his Prison Heaven Staff and went berserk, smashing everything around him.

His furious roars echoed through the mountains for a long time…

Exhausted, Qi Chi returned to Mountain of Ten Thousand Monkeys, to the most beautiful valley in the area, where he erected two tombstones. As he gazed at them, hot tears streamed uncontrollably down his face once more.

In front of the Artifact Sect’s mountain gate, a young boy wearing thin clothes had been kneeling for a long time.

It was winter, snowfall covered the land, and the bone-piercing wind howled. His head and shoulders were already buried under thick layers of snow.

"Why go this far? Why humiliate yourself like this? My king, as the ruler of our race, why would you kneel to a human?"

"Is it just for some lowly Artifact Refining Techniques? We can simply choose not to learn them! No matter how powerful human spiritual artifacts are, can they really surpass the natural claws and fangs of our spirit beast race?"

Behind him, a long-haired old ape walked forward, his voice filled with disappointment.

"Old Ape, you don’t understand… Humans are the spirits of all living beings, the most skilled race in utilizing external forces."

"The Human Race may have fragile bodies, but their wisdom is unparalleled. With their intelligence, they created spiritual artifacts, alchemy, formations, talismans, puppetry, Gu techniques, zombies, vengeful spirits, beast taming… and countless other mystical abilities."

"It is precisely by relying on these external forces that humans have continuously strengthened their combat power, step by step, rising from the weakest race to one of the strongest in the world."

"External power is also a part of one's strength. Never underestimate it."

"As for our monkey clan, our bodies are already similar to humans, making us highly compatible with using spiritual artifacts. Our race is naturally strong, but if we arm ourselves with spiritual artifacts, our overall strength will increase exponentially!"

"Besides… I truly love human spiritual artifacts! Old Ape, stop trying to dissuade me, my mind is made up." His eyes gleamed with determination.

"Sigh… Until now, you are the only Monkey King in history who wishes to equip our race with spiritual artifacts. Since you have made up your mind, I will not try to stop you. I just hope… you will succeed and return stronger, for the sake of Mountain of Ten Thousand Monkeys."

The Old Ape turned and left, leaving the Monkey King to continue kneeling in the freezing snow. His eyes burned with resolve—he firmly believed that sincerity would move the human Artifact Refiners.

Many people passed by the sect, casting him strange looks.

He waited in the snow for a long time, his body nearly buried beneath the falling flakes. Just as despair crept into his heart, believing that no one would take him as a disciple, an elderly man leading a young girl appeared.

The old man, with a kind smile, brushed the snow off his head, while the beautiful young girl handed him a bowl of hot soup.

Staring at the steaming bowl, his throat tightened, and for the first time in his life, he felt an unprecedented warmth. In that moment, he swore to protect this girl for the rest of his life.

He had successfully become a disciple.

It was said that this young girl had begged and pestered the Grand Elder of the Artifact Sect, convincing him to accept this "stubborn rock" of a disciple. This deepened his gratitude toward her.

Time flowed by.

Unknowingly, he had already spent three years in the Artifact Sect.

His talent was terrible, and in those three years, he had wasted countless materials, yet he hadn't even reached the lowest rank of a First-grade Artifact Refiner. He suffered endless ridicule from fellow disciples.

However, he never gave up.

If talent wasn’t enough, then hard work would make up for it. He refused to believe that putting in ten times the effort of others would still lead to failure.

One day, his master called him into the study. With his hands behind his back, the master spoke,

"Your obsession with artifact refining is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. From now on, you shall be named Qi Chi (Artifact Fanatic)."

"Thank you, Master!" Qi Chi was thrilled.

As a spirit beast, he never had a name. Now, he finally had one that belonged to him, and he loved it.

The elder nodded and then sighed.

"Qi Chi, your talent is poor. I originally thought you would never achieve much in this path. I only accepted you because of your senior sister's endless begging. But now, I was wrong."

Qi Chi scratched his head in confusion.

"Does Master believe I can achieve greatness in artifact refining? But… I haven't even refined a single First-grade spiritual artifact yet."

The elder shook his head, looking at him seriously.

"Interest is the best teacher. It can overcome all difficulties. Never underestimate the power of passion."

"Others refine artifacts for profit, treating it as a way to make money. Only you truly love it."

"Because of this, I believe you will surpass me one day."

The elder's words inspired Qi Chi, filling his heart with determination.

However, the elder's expression suddenly turned grave.

"Qi Chi, I will teach you everything I know, but on one condition—you must never refine artifacts for spirit beasts, nor teach them artifact refining."

Hearing this, Qi Chi understood. His master had already realized that he was a spirit beast.

Without hesitation, Qi Chi shouted loudly,

"I, Qi Chi, swear! I will never refine artifacts for any spirit beast, nor will I teach them artifact refining. If I break this oath, I shall die as punishment!"

His voice was resolute.

The elder smiled with satisfaction under the candlelight…

Yet, years later, standing before his master's grave, Qi Chi clenched his fists and whispered bitterly,

"Forgive me, Master… I must break my oath."

Qi Chi plucked a handful of monkey fur from his head.

With a gust of wind, the fur scattered and transformed into countless monkeys, each with a ball of colorful flame in their palms.

A grand army of artifact-refining monkeys had been born.

And their first target—Radiant Moon Empire's capital, Radiant Moon City.

Half a month later, on the walls of Radiant Moon City, the Gu-cultivators of various clans trembled as they gazed at the army of one hundred thousand Spirit Monkeys below.

If it were an ordinary beast tide, they wouldn't be so afraid. The real problem was that every single Spirit Monkey in this army was fully equipped with high-grade spiritual artifacts. Both in terms of quantity and quality, the equipment they carried far surpassed that of the city's defending forces.

Each monkey was armed to the teeth, even wearing ring-type spiritual artifacts that could amplify various powers—ten rings per monkey. How were they supposed to fight this?

Even in a one-on-one battle, human Gu-cultivators were already at a disadvantage against spirit beasts. Now that these spirit beasts were fully equipped with human spiritual artifacts, there was no longer any way to fight them.

Every one of these armed monkeys could probably take on ten of them. If this horde broke into the city, the consequences would be unimaginable. At this moment, everyone's faces on the city wall turned deathly pale.

Soon, the urgent sound of war horns echoed throughout Radiant Moon City—this was the signal for a top-level emergency alert. This sound had not been heard in the city for a thousand years, and every time it did, it signified an event that threatened the survival of the entire city.

The moment the deafening horn sounded, the entire city fell into chaos…

"Attack the city!"

With the command of Qi Chi, the army of one hundred thousand Spirit Monkeys charged toward Radiant Moon City in a mighty wave.

Qi Chi leaped into the air, displaying astonishing jumping power, and crossed several hundred meters in a single bound. He soared above the city walls, raised his Prison Heaven Staff, and swung it down heavily on the city's semi-circular protective barrier.

Although the staff was not particularly large, in that moment, it suddenly bore the weight of a hundred mountains. The seemingly indestructible city barrier shattered upon impact.

The instant the city’s grand protective formation was broken, dozens of Gu Kings soared into the sky, immediately launching an encirclement attack on Qi Chi.

However, as Qi Chi wielded the Prison Heaven Staff, any spiritual artifact that came into contact with it was instantly destroyed, and any Gu worms that collided with it perished on the spot. Whether artifact or Gu, neither could withstand a single strike from this staff.

In just a short while, one Gu King had his skull shattered and fell lifelessly from the sky, his corpse crashing heavily onto the ground…

With the city’s grand formation broken, the hundred-thousand-strong monkey army poured in effortlessly, unleashing a massacre on the city's inhabitants.

The monkey horde, wielding swords, spears, and staffs, rampaged through the city with ruthless ferocity. One after another, human Gu-cultivators fell, slaughtered beneath the spiritual weapons wielded by the monkeys.

With the enhancement of their spiritual artifacts, each monkey seemed to possess unparalleled combat prowess, making them unstoppable against the city's defending forces.

It didn't take long for the city's defenses to collapse completely. The once-organized army was routed, soldiers abandoning their weapons and fleeing toward the city center.

At the Imperial Palace

"This is a disaster! Qi Chi has led the Spirit Monkey army into the city!"

"These monkeys are clad in impenetrable armor and wield deadly weapons. The defending forces were utterly crushed in mere moments. Even the Imperial Guard, which protects the royal family, won't be able to hold out for long. We must evacuate the key members of the royal family immediately!"

With that urgent cry, the palace descended into chaos.

"How is this possible?! The two hundred thousand city defenders—are they all pigs?!"

"I just received word of the monkey horde attacking, and now you're telling me the city has already fallen?! Even if the entire army were pigs, they wouldn’t have been wiped out this quickly!"

Wang An stormed out of a palace hall, his face twisted in fury. He ascended into the sky and looked down upon the blood-soaked streets, his rage boiling over.

Throughout the city, bodies littered the streets—almost all of them human. The monkeys, on the other hand, had suffered barely any casualties.

The overwhelming disparity in losses was due to the fact that every Spirit Monkey was equipped with high-quality spiritual artifacts—artifacts that had previously belonged only to humans. And their quality was even superior to what the city's defenders had.

Spirit beasts were already able to contend with armed humans even without artifacts. Now that they were fully equipped, humans had lost all advantages. This battle was unwinnable!

"Damn it! Qi Chi actually used artifact refinement techniques to arm his entire species. That Grand Elder of the Artifact Sect is a traitor to humanity! Accepting spirit beasts as disciples is a catastrophe for our entire race—he deserves to die a thousand deaths!"

Wang An's fury reached its peak as he roared in madness.

He thought about how the Phoenix Heaven Empire had already lost half of its national fortune, leading to the fall of its imperial city.

Could it be that Radiant Moon Empire was about to suffer the same fate?

Was this just a coincidence, or was it truly the effect of losing half of their national fortune?

Could losing half of the nation’s destiny really have such devastating consequences?

Wang An clenched his fists tightly, his face ashen. A faint trace of despair flickered in his eyes. This was fate—under its merciless grip, he felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

"Wang An, you wretch! Prepare to die!"

At that moment, a furious roar echoed from the sky.

Qi Chi, his Prison Heaven Staff already drenched in blood, descended from above, bringing the weapon crashing down toward Wang An’s head.

"Courting death! If a spirit beast who has learned human artifact refinement techniques is allowed to roam free, what will become of humanity in a thousand years? If we let you live, our entire race is doomed! Today, even if I have to lay down my life, I must eliminate you—this plague upon our kind!"

Wang An let out a thunderous roar, summoning all of his Life-bound Gu Worms, and charged head-on toward Qi Chi.