52: Chapter 52 Battle of Wits in the Southern Frontier: Cleverly Obtaining the Soul Wood

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

When Tang Xun reappeared on that familiar reef by the East Sea, his Storage Pouch was already stuffed to the brim.

That Three-Headed Flood Dragon was truly a local tyrant who had occupied the East Sea for centuries; the treasures collected in its lair were indeed quite numerous.

Various Deep-Sea Sinking Silver, Ten Thousand Year Profound Iron, as well as some corals and pearls rare to the outside world, allowed Tang Xun to make a massive fortune.

"Not bad, not bad. This trip wasn't in vain."

Tang Xun stretched contentedly and then turned his gaze toward the distant south.

"Next stop, the Hundred Thousand Mountains of the Southern Border!"

He closed his eyes, and in his mind, he began to recall that boundless primeval jungle filled with a primitive and wild aura.

"Free and Easy Wandering!"

Light and shadow shifted; the stars moved and the world changed.

In the next moment, Tang Xun's figure appeared within a primeval jungle where miasma permeated and ancient trees reached the sky.

The air was filled with a humid, sweltering atmosphere, mixed with the scents of various peculiar plants and decaying soil.

From time to time, the cries of unknown venomous insects and wild beasts reached his ears, full of danger and primitive wildness.

"This place is as unpleasant as ever."

Tang Xun frowned; he did not like this humid and sweltering environment.

"Let's go!"

Tang Xun identified the direction, and with a flicker of his body, he moved through the dense forest as silently as a wisp of green smoke.

In the third simulation, while he and Jian Yi were traveling through the Southern Border, they happened to hear that the 'Tongtian Ape Clan' deep within the Hundred Thousand Mountains had a piece of the ancient divine wood, 'ten thousand year soul nurturing wood,' in the hands of their Clan Chief, the 'Tongtian Great Sage.'

Back then, they had exerted immense effort just to find the territory of the Tongtian Ape Clan.

Then, relying on the powerful effect of the [Nemesis of Foreign Races], Tang Xun had a great battle with the Tongtian Great Sage, eventually winning by a narrow margin to trade for that half-section of Soul Nurturing Wood from him.

This time, he followed the familiar path and headed straight for his destination.

In less than half a day, he arrived at the foot of a towering mountain shaped like a giant ape.

Countless treehouses and stone halls were built upon the mountain, and many tall apes covered in golden fur could be seen playing and training among them.

This was the territory of the Tongtian Ape Clan—Flower Fruit Mountain.

"Ahem, this mountain was opened by me, and this tree was planted by me. If you want to pass through here, leave behind your road toll!"

Tang Xun cleared his throat and channeled his mana; his voice, like rolling heavenly thunder, spread across the entire mountain peak.

With this one shout, he immediately stirred up the monkeys' nest.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

"What petty thief dares to come and act wild at our Flower Fruit Mountain!"

"Kill him!"

Countless angry shouts came from the mountain peak.

Immediately after, hundreds upon thousands of golden apes holding clubs rushed down the mountain like a tide, surrounding Tang Xun.

Leading them were two giant apes about ten feet tall with knotted muscles, each holding a massive stone club; their cultivation was surprisingly at the peak of the Second Rank, comparable to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

"Human! You have quite the nerve! To dare come to our Flower Fruit Mountain and provoke us!" one of the giant apes barked in a muffled voice.

Looking at this formation, Tang Xun was not panicked at all.

He picked at his ear and said lazily, "Don't get excited, I'm not here to fight. I have some business to discuss with your Great Sage."

"See our Great Sage? What kind of thing do you think you are!" the other giant ape said disdainfully. "Is our Great Sage someone you can see just because you want to? If you're smart, kneel down immediately, kowtow to admit your mistake, and then get out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Otherwise, we'll smash you into meat paste today!"

"Sigh, why can't we talk this through?"

Tang Xun sighed and shook his head.

"It seems that with you monkeys, I still have to speak with my fists."

Before his voice had even faded, his figure instantly vanished from where he stood.

In the next moment, he had already appeared behind those two giant apes.

Thump! Thump!

Two dull sounds rang out.

Tang Xun struck out with both hands, one punch for each, directly slamming those two overbearing giant apes into the ground, knocking them unconscious on the spot.

The surrounding ordinary apes were scared silly when they saw this scene.

They never imagined that this seemingly frail human would possess such terrifying strength.

"Who else?"

Tang Xun clapped his hands, his cold gaze sweeping over every ape present.

When those apes were swept by his gaze, they all shivered, shrieked, and scrambled to flee back up the mountain.

"Great King! This is bad! Someone is attacking the mountain!"

Soon, an earth-shattering roar came from the stone hall at the mountain's summit.

"Who dares to behave so atrociously at my Flower Fruit Mountain!"

Boom!

A golden figure descended from the sky like a meteorite, heavily smashing into the ground in front of Tang Xun.

The ground shook violently, and a huge crater appeared before everyone's eyes.

As the dust settled, a massive ape thirty feet tall, wearing Golden Chainmail, a Phoenix-Wing Purple Gold Crown on its head, and holding a pitch-black iron staff, appeared before Tang Xun.

He radiated an incredibly violent aura, and those Fiery Golden Eyes stared fixedly at Tang Xun, filled with overwhelming rage.

He was the Clan Chief of the Tongtian Ape Clan, a Third Rank Late Stage Great Demon, the Tongtian Great Sage!

"Human, was it you who hurt my children?"

The Tongtian Great Sage's voice was like a great bronze bell, making one's eardrums ache from the vibration.

"It was me." Tang Xun nodded, his face still bearing that calm and breezy expression. "However, I only let them sleep for a while; I didn't strike heavily."

"Hmph! What a fine 'didn't strike heavily'!" The Tongtian Great Sage laughed out of extreme anger. "Speak, what is your purpose for coming to my Flower Fruit Mountain? If you can't give a proper reason, then today, your skin will stay here to be my seat cushion!"

"I said, I'm here to talk business." Tang Xun shrugged. "I want that half-section of 'ten thousand year soul nurturing wood' in your hands."

"ten thousand year soul nurturing wood!?"

Hearing this, a flicker of vigilance flashed in the Tongtian Great Sage's eyes.

"How do you know that I, Old Sun, have this item in my possession?"

"Don't worry about that," Tang Xun said. "Name a price; what will it take for you to sell it to me?"

"Sell?" The Tongtian Great Sage sneered. "That is a Legacy treasure of my clan; is it something you can just buy? Human, you are dreaming! Get out! Otherwise, don't blame my staff for being merciless!"

"So, there's nothing to talk about?" Tang Xun's expression also gradually turned cold.

"Talk about your grandmother's leg!"

The Tongtian Great Sage completely lost his patience; he let out a roar, and the pitch-black iron staff in his hand grew with the wind, transforming into a giant pillar that supported the heavens, bringing an atmosphere that could tear heaven and earth apart as it smashed down toward Tang Xun's head!

This one strike was enough to level a mountain peak!

However, facing this world-destroying blow, Tang Xun merely extended a single finger.

[Nemesis of Foreign Races], activate!

An invisible force instantly enveloped the entire area.

The Tongtian Great Sage only felt that the demonic power within his body seemed to be suppressed by something at this moment, becoming incredibly difficult to circulate.

And the human before him, clearly still at the Foundation Establishment Stage, radiated an aura that made him feel a fatal threat originating from the depths of his Soul!

Ding—!

A crisp sound, like a needle point hitting a grain of wheat.

Tang Xun's seemingly incredibly slender finger pointed precisely and accurately onto that iron staff that was like a giant pillar supporting the heavens.

Time, at this moment, seemed to stand still.

Under the Tongtian Great Sage's disbelieving gaze, his unstoppable full-power strike was blocked just like that, effortlessly, by a single finger.

"How... is it possible!?"