The Black Wind Mountain Earth God took a step forward, scrutinizing Zhong Yuan, and exclaimed, "Like, really like."
Zhong Yuan asked, "Black Wind Mountain Earth God? Like what?"
The Earth God was taken aback, his eyes widening with surprise, "Good, good, good. You can actually talk."
"..." Zhong Yuan didn't know how to respond.
He thought for a moment, realizing that other Heaven's Chosen hadn't even learned to speak properly.
He simply stopped talking.
The Earth God shifted the topic, introducing, "Going forward, you'll reach Guanyin Zen Temple. It used to be a place of great incense and devotion."
"Sadly, that fire… After that, the temple was rebuilt."
"But if the hearts of people are burned away, what good is repairing a dilapidated temple?"
Zhong Yuan remained silent. The Guanyin Zen Temple and the fire, it was all connected to this Black Wind Mountain. It seemed the Earth God meant he looked like Sun Wukong.
However, he felt that every Heaven's Chosen had a similar monkey-like appearance. Their faces were mostly obscured, and he couldn't tell much difference.
Zhong Yuan was about to ask if the Great Sage's six faculties were in the Guanyin Zen Temple when a wolf howled, startling a flock of birds.
The Black Wind Mountain Earth God seemed frightened and turned to leave.
"You don't remember this place, but something here remembers you."
"The comer is not friendly, little monkey, be careful!"
Zhong Yuan slowly looked up, unafraid.
"The comer is not friendly? I am the comer!"
The Guanyin Zen Temple with its burned-out hearts, it seemed this place had become a den for monsters.
And these monsters, after centuries, had probably become the man-eating demons Jade Emperor spoke of.
Sun Wukong had killed countless monsters along his journey, it was natural that people would remember him, and monsters that had become demons would be even less polite.
The Heavenly Court wanted them to kill each other, wanted him to slay these demons?
Truly a cruel tactic!
He didn't know if every Heaven's Chosen began their journey here, or if previous Heaven's Chosen had already slain many demons, and he was just inheriting their progress, only reaching this point now.
Zhong Yuan felt he could go further.
Being able to recover strength and magical power through earth vein sensing, he could use the Primordial One-Staff technique without reservation, unleashing his full power.
His strength could increase tens of times over in an instant.
Zhong Yuan directly went forward, encountering several lesser demons in the forest.
Most were wolf demons. He also encountered two sheep demons and a crow demon.
The crow demon was quite nimble. Zhong Yuan had to strike twice before hitting it and killing it.
None of these lesser demons could withstand his single staff blow.
Each of these lesser demons had clearly consumed many people, allowing him to gain a bit of merit, increasing his magical power.
From their conversations, it was clear that not a single one of them was unjustly killed.
As he killed, Zhong Yuan was somewhat conflicted, considering the cause of these monsters' predicament. But he did not hesitate.
No matter what, right now, improving his strength was paramount. These humans and demons would only want to kill him anyway.
It had become a case of either you die or I die.
They'd rather be killed by a descendant of the Monkey King than by a mortal-slaying immortal.
When his strength was enough, perhaps he could find an immortal to help them avenge their deaths.
Zhong Yuan didn't hurry to climb the mountain. He swept the surrounding lesser demons, familiarizing himself with how to better utilize the earth vein energy to replenish his strength.
Initially, he could only stand still for a few seconds, sensing carefully before he could recover.
After a few uses, he gradually learned to stand still and recover fully in just a second.
Even while moving, as long as his feet touched the ground, he could also recover some strength and magical power. However, the speed was much slower, about one-tenth of standing still.
But since his magical power wasn't very high, even one-tenth recovery speed meant he could still recover all his magical power in two seconds.
However, it took him longer to recover his physical strength.
His physical strength was more abundant than his magical power.
In terms of game data, his current magical power was only about 20.
But his physical strength was 100.
And when he stood still, his physical strength and magical power could both recover by 100 per second. While moving, it was only 10 per second.
If he used the Primordial One-Staff technique to unleash all his power in an instant, he either had to stand still and focus on sensing the earth vein, or he had to wait a few more seconds.
But the effect was already pretty good.
Zhong Yuan practiced in the mountains for half a day, combining earth vein sensing and his staff technique, and the skill level increased by two levels, before he continued climbing the mountain.
As he reached the dilapidated mountain gate halfway up, he saw a tall bull demon, wielding a large halberd, looking extremely formidable.
"I, the Guarding Bull, am here. Monkey, you shall not pass. Die!"
As soon as Zhong Yuan approached, the bull demon roared and charged forward, swinging his halberd to strike.
Zhong Yuan became serious. Without rushing to attack or dodge, he raised his long staff to block.
"Clang!" Zhong Yuan firmly blocked the Guarding Bull's attack, but his hand felt numb. This Guarding Bull's strength was not much weaker than his own.
Although he had the skill, Zhong Yuan was still confident he could easily take him down, but he felt the demons further ahead would be harder to deal with.
Zhong Yuan pushed the Guarding Bull aside, dodging to the side, not rushing to attack.
He was considering whether to temporarily retreat and find a place to practice.
However, the Earth God was watching from below, and he didn't know how many immortals and Buddhas the Heavenly Court had watching, nor did he know if they would allow him to retreat.
"Immobilize!"
Just as the Guarding Bull raised his halberd again, ready to strike, and Zhong Yuan was about to dodge, a golden light flashed, and the Guarding Bull froze in place.
Then, the Black Wind Mountain Earth God carefully climbed down from the Guarding Bull's head.
Zhong Yuan fell silent again.
The Black Wind Mountain Earth God landed and stood, looking at the Guarding Bull with a hint of satisfaction, "I haven't used it in a long time, but this immobilization technique still works."
Then he turned to Zhong Yuan, "Since you're an old friend from the Flower Fruit Mountain, I might as well teach you a trick."
"Come, quickly extend your hand."
The Black Wind Mountain Earth God held a small staff in his hand, and as he waved it, a golden light flew out.
Zhong Yuan instinctively extended his hand to block, and the golden light landed on his hand, leaving behind a "Immobilize" character.
【You have learned the spell: Immobilization Spell, point your finger and immobilize your opponent, unable to move.】
Zhong Yuan sensed carefully, and the essence of the Immobilization Spell instantly emerged in his mind.
【You have studied the Immobilization Spell diligently. The Immobilization Spell level has increased, your Immobilization Spell has achieved small success.】