Chapter 32: An Astonishing Disparity
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Shi Yu gazed at the stone monkey hurtling toward him from the distance, his heart filled with emotion.
For him, their reunion had come after only a few days. To the Great Sage, however, several years had already passed.
Seeing how the troop of monkeys in the Water-Curtain Cave had flourished and grown during those years, Shi Yu knew that the Handsome Monkey King had been doing quite well.
Shi Yu smiled in satisfaction.
Yet a few seconds later, his smile began to stiffen.
The Great Sage was approaching at a speed unlike anything he had ever seen before!
Everywhere he passed, it was as though a hurricane had swept through!
Clouds and mist roiled violently, while giant trees toppled to the ground!
Moving at such tremendous speed, the stone monkey spread his arms wide and opened his mouth, preparing to give his elder brother a massive embrace.
Shi Yu saw that the Great Sage was far too excited, with no sign of slowing down whatsoever. His expression finally changed.
Did this reckless monkey not realize that his elder brother had a fragile body?!
The impact produced by such an embrace would far exceed that of a high-speed train traveling at 350 kilometers per hour!
Anyone standing in front of a high-speed train racing at full speed would end up crushed into minced meat.
“Don’t, Little Kong!”
Shi Yu only had time to shout those words before the stone monkey reached him.
“Boom!”
The stone monkey’s feet plunged deep into the rock. Shattered stones flew in every direction as he abruptly changed from extreme speed to complete stillness.
The tremendous burden caused by such a violent transition from motion to rest seemed to him no more than a feather brushing against his body. He did not feel it at all.
He could stop instantly, but the air driven forward by his supersonic speed could not.
Roaring and raging, it continued surging ahead!
Thus, an incomparably powerful shock wave swept across the earth with a thunderous howl.
Poor Stone King Shi Yu bore the brunt of it. His clothes were torn apart in an instant, while his muscles were squeezed and distorted by the shock wave, changing into all manner of shapes amid the raging currents of air.
“I…”
Shi Yu had barely uttered a single word before the atmospheric shock wave pressed down upon him so fiercely that he could no longer make a sound.
The next moment, his body was swept into the air like a leaf caught in a violent storm, then hurled away without mercy.
The savage shock wave sent unbearable pain through his eardrums, as though they were about to burst.
Shi Yu, the Great Sage’s elder brother, revered by the monkey troop as the Stone King—
in that instant, under the assault of a hurricane-like supersonic shock wave, fainted on the spot.
All the monkeys fell utterly silent.
What had just happened?
The Great King had happily rushed over. Excellent, he had stopped—but why had the Stone King been blown away?
And then fainted?
What was going on?
The stone monkey stared blankly as his elder brother drifted through the air like a willow leaf.
Had he done something wrong?
Heaven and earth knew he had not even touched his elder brother with a single finger!
“Great King, the Stone King is vomiting blood!” a little monkey shouted.
The stone monkey shuddered and cried out in anguish, “Save Big Brother!”
The monkeys swarmed forward, using all hands and feet to catch Shi Yu.
Everyone exchanged bewildered looks. The Stone King’s eyes were tightly shut, his face deathly pale, and his breathing was so faint that it seemed barely perceptible.
At last, one of the bolder monkeys stepped forward and checked beneath his nose.
“Congratulations, Great King! The Stone King is still breathing!”
“He’s still breathing! He’s still breathing!” the monkeys cheered.
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After an unknown length of time, Shi Yu slowly regained consciousness.
His entire body felt as though it had been torn apart by pain.
Where am I? What happened?
Several breaths later, his awareness finally returned in full.
“Elder Brother, you’re finally awake!”
An excited voice rang beside his ear.
Shi Yu struggled to turn his head. A furry face rested beside his pillow—it was the stone monkey.
He was lying at the edge of the bed, blinking his innocent, enormous eyes at Shi Yu.
“What happened to me…?”
“Elder Brother, you… accidentally took a tumble earlier!”
The stone monkey spoke cautiously, his eyes darting nervously over the floor. His tail stood rigid behind him like a stick, making his unease obvious.
Seeing him in that state, Shi Yu said irritably, “I haven’t lost any body parts, have I?”
“No, no.” The stone monkey shook his head frantically.
He leaned closer and said ingratiatingly, “Elder Brother, I’ve already had the children apply ointment to you. You’ll be fine in a few days.”
Looking at the Great Sage, who seemed like a child terrified of being scolded after doing something wrong, Shi Yu let out a soft sigh.
He reached out and rubbed the stone monkey’s fluffy head.
“I don’t blame you. After so many years apart, it was only natural for you to get excited.”
“Just be more careful in the future. Your elder brother’s body is nowhere near as tough as your innate spiritual body.”
Shi Yu sighed inwardly. The root cause of this accident was simply that the Great Sage was far too powerful.
It had been an utter case of a level-1,500 expert crushing a complete novice.
The difference between them was immeasurable.
If the stone monkey appeared in Great Xia without restraining his strength, he could create a hurricane with nothing more than a breath.
Even so, Shi Yu had truly seen in the Great Sage the goal he sought along the path of martial cultivation.
What did it mean to shock the heavens?
What did it mean to move the earth?
With a simple gesture, mountains and rivers collapsed, seas swallowed the land, and heaven and earth changed color.
Such might was something every martial artist yearned for.
Help me up. I have to cultivate!
Enduring the pain throughout his body, Shi Yu struggled to get out of bed.
The stone monkey gently pressed him back down.
“Elder Brother, don’t rush. Rest properly.”
Then the stone monkey took from a little furry monkey waiting nearby to serve them a bowl of translucent liquid. An intoxicating fragrance drifted from it.
“Elder Brother, this is fruit wine we brew ourselves. It nourishes the body and heals injuries, and it tastes quite good too.”
“Have some. You’ll recover much faster.”
Shi Yu twitched his nose. The fragrance seemed strangely familiar.
Curious, he took a sip.
The sweet, pleasant, wonderfully refreshing fruit wine slid into his stomach, bringing him indescribable comfort.
His body greedily absorbed the vital energy and nourishment within it, warm currents spreading through every part of him.
The pain throughout his body gradually eased.
But that alone was not enough to shock Shi Yu.
What astonished him was the golden scroll in his sea of consciousness, which began to surge violently.
The Divine Demon Contract System informed him that after drinking enough of this fruit wine, one’s soul and constitution could be improved!
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Shi Yu immediately remembered the achievement reward he had previously obtained: Monkey Wine of Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Could the wine he had just drunk be a lesser version of the system’s Monkey Wine?
Of course!
Wasn’t this fruit wine brewed by the monkey troop themselves?
Shi Yu’s face lit up with delight.
“What excellent wine!” he praised.
Seeing how highly his elder brother regarded the fruit wine, the stone monkey finally relaxed. It seemed the earlier incident had truly passed.
With a grand wave of his hand, he ordered, “Children, bring wine for the Stone King!”
“Elder Brother, today the two of us brothers shall drink to our hearts’ content!”
Barrel after barrel of fragrant fruit wine was carried over by the monkeys.
“Elder Brother, please!”
“Little Brother, please!”
Gulp, gulp.
Clunk, clunk.
When it came to drinking speed, Shi Yu naturally could not compare with the Great Sage.
By the time he finished one barrel, the stone monkey had already downed more than ten.
Once the wine took effect, the stone monkey became talkative as well.
With tears and mucus streaming down his face, he began recounting how much he had missed his elder brother.
His words made Shi Yu feel melancholy too, and he responded by pouring another barrel for the stone monkey.
“Elder Brother, are you… a deity?” the stone monkey asked, resting his cheek on one hand and tilting his head.
Shi Yu shook his head. What deity could be as weak as him?
Although the answer might disappoint the stone monkey, it was the truth. Perhaps only after cultivating to the Immortal Realm could he truly be called a divine figure.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Shi Yu’s answer, the stone monkey grew excited.
“Not a deity? Then you must be a monster!”
Shi Yu was speechless.
“I’m a monster, and Elder Brother is a monster too.”
“Ahem… a primate monster!”
The stone monkey still remembered the knowledge Shi Yu had taught him back then.
“We’re all monsters. The monsters of Flower-Fruit Mountain…”
Murmuring these words, the stone monkey eventually collapsed beside the stone bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Half reclining on the bed, Shi Yu looked at the Great Sage sleeping like an infant.
“That’s right. You were the first monster to storm the Sky Palace…”
He tipped his head back and drained the last barrel of fruit wine.
Ding!
[Host’s soul improved: soul level increased from 14.1 to 14.4.]
[Host’s constitution improved: constitution level increased from 16.6 to 16.7.]
Shi Yu glanced at the fruit-wine barrels piled across the floor, the corner of his mouth twitching.
After drinking so much wine, his soul had risen by only 0.3 levels, and his constitution by only 0.1.
The system’s rewards were still far more effective…
Still, that was a minor matter.
The important thing was that he had finally discovered a way to balance his soul and constitution.
The path to Foundation Establishment had already opened its gates to him!
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