Chapter 53: The Seven-Year Pact
Feng Wu logged off, breathing heavily.
Her dark hair, dampened by sweat, clung in disarray to her flushed cheeks.
She threw herself heavily onto her bed, her eyes unfocused and vacant as she stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
"That gaze..."
Feng Wu murmured softly, her mind replaying the recent battle, her body unexpectedly beginning to shiver and tremble slightly with an inexplicable shudder.
She reached out and gently touched her own fair, tender neck.
The suffocating sensation of being gripped relentlessly by Ten Feathers' iron hand had not yet dissipated.
No one had ever treated her this way, neither on the Primordial Web nor in the real world.
It had subjected her to an unprecedented experience.
The fiercely lunging figure, the robust muscles, the unflinching defiance amidst blazing fire.
And those immensely powerful hands!
Even the hot breath expelled near her ear had felt so scorching...
A flush suddenly bloomed across Feng Wu's earlobes, and a wave of crimson rapidly surged up her cheeks.
"Damn it, why..."
Her legs began to cross and rub against each other involuntarily.
"Ten Feathers, who are you..."
***
In the arena zone of the Primordial Web's Foundation Establishment Tier rankings, an uproar had erupted!
[King of the Bronze Zone, Ten Feathers, secures his first victory in the Silver Zone!]
[Witnessing history: Ten Feathers achieves eleven consecutive wins!]
[Ten Feathers, when will you ever stop?!]
[Silver martial artists, it is time to rise!]
[Who can possibly stop him?]
The homepages of both the Silver and Bronze zones were flooded with similar headlines.
Qian Mingjie was beside himself with excitement, acting as though he had been pumped full of adrenaline, as if he were the one who had won the match.
He frantically edited the battle footage, titling the video: [An Inside Perspective from the Loser: Experiencing the Journey of Ten Feathers from a Different Angle].
***
Shi Yu stood within his personal lobby, silently reviewing the battle that had just concluded.
Feng Wu certainly lived up to her reputation as a top-ten warrior in the Silver Zone, providing him with a combat experience entirely distinct from those in the Bronze Zone.
Of course, that ranked match had been somewhat demanding. For one thing, close-combat against a ranged opponent was naturally challenging, and he had only equipped a single dark iron staff without properly configuring other defensive gear.
Secondly, due to the constraints of the Primordial Network, he was entirely unable to unleash his true strength.
If they were in the real world, Feng Wu would undoubtedly have suffered a crushing defeat the moment she faced him.
A punch force of 5,922 kilograms! A speed of 74.8 meters per second!
Faced with such terrifying strength, the question was not whether Feng Wu would lose, but how many seconds she could possibly survive under his hands.
***
The next day, Sunday.
Shi Yu opened his eyes inside the martial arts chamber.
The moment to re-enter the Divine Soul Pod was fast approaching.
It was time to enter Journey to the West and cultivate with all his might.
He stepped out of the martial arts chamber, crossed the bustling martial arts hall, and walked across the playground.
He arrived at the exclusive training area for faculty members on the fourth floor of the training building.
The T-800 Divine Soul Pod slowly closed.
[Welcome, user Shi Yu!]
[Cultivation mode selected, cultivation duration: 60 minutes.]
[Adjusting environment, please wait...]
Shi Yu slowly closed his eyes.
The seven-year pact had arrived as promised.
***
A clamor of noise suddenly rushed into his ears.
"The Great King Shi is here!"
"The Great King, Great King Shi has really come!"
Shi Yu slowly opened his eyes, and what came into view was a countless throng of joyful, leaping monkeys.
Leading the pack and parting the crowd to reach the very front was, naturally, the immensely excited Stone Monkey.
"Elder Brother, you really came!"
"Seven years, 2,555 days—not a day more, not a day less!"
Shi Yu looked with deep emotion at the Stone Monkey before him, reaching out to stroke its head; the fur was still as soft as ever.
"I've kept you waiting..."
The Stone Monkey grinned and said, "Not at all, not at all! Actually, every day I've been very happy."
"Because with each passing day, I knew I was one day closer to the time of Elder Brother's return!"
"Over the years, we've brewed plenty of wine, just waiting for Elder Brother to arrive so we can drink to our heart's content!"
Looking at the intensely heroic Great Sage, Shi Yu felt a surge of emotion in his chest.
"Good! We will drink deeply together!"
"Bring out the wine!!"
At Shi Yu's command, the stone cave instantly livened up.
The Stone Monkey excitedly leaped onto a massive stone table, and with a wave of his hand, a swarm of little monkeys rushed forward swiftly.
They held wine jars of all shapes and sizes—some brightly colored, others quaint and heavy—with their mouths tightly sealed with thick mud, clearly aged vintages.
The moment the mud seals were cracked open, a rich aroma of wine immediately permeated the air.
"Elder Brother, this first jar of wine was brewed by my own hands. Have a taste first."
The Stone Monkey poured two bowls of wine, handing one to Shi Yu and holding the other himself.
The two struck their bowls together and drained them in a single gulp.
The liquor slid down the throat like nectar and ambrosia, carrying a hint of lingering sweetness that left one with an endless aftertaste.
Little Golden Fur also hopped over.
Seven years later, he had grown considerably, losing all the childish innocence he had possessed seven years ago.
Little Golden Fur held a wine bowl in one hand and a handful of sweet fruits in the other.
"Great King Shi, drink some wine, eat some fruit."
Looking at Little Golden Fur, who now reached half his height, Shi Yu smiled and said, "You still love eating fruit just as much as before."
By the time this lively drinking session came to an end, the monkeys were scattered about in heaps, fast asleep.
The Stone Monkey's eyes also narrowed as he slumped drunk onto the stone bed, snoring deeply and falling sound asleep.
Shi Yu gently set down the empty bowl in his hand.
For some reason, the more of this fruit wine he drank, the more clear-headed he became.
[Ding!]
[Host Divine Soul enhanced: Divine Soul level increased from 15.7 to 16.]
[Host Physique enhanced: Physique level increased from 18.7 to 18.8.]
He looked out over the slumbering crowd of monkeys and sighed softly.
Flower Fruit Mountain was truly a carefree paradise, enjoying at least several centuries of peace.
Unlike the Blue Planet, which was perpetually under the threat of otherworldly forces.
After sitting quietly for a while, Shi Yu rose, gently placed the Stone Monkey's legs up onto the stone bed so he could sleep more comfortably.
Then, picking up the Dragon Scale Mysterious Staff, he walked out of the Water Curtain Cave.
By now, it was the dead of night, and all was silent except for the occasional chirp of insects in the distance.
A full moon hung high in the sky, scattering silver sand across the earth.
In the moonlight, the Dragon Scale Mysterious Staff tightly gripped in Shi Yu's hand gleamed with a faint radiance, like a slumbering dragon awakening, poised to soar into the sky.
He took a deep breath, and his figure began to move.
Here, he no longer needed to seal his divine soul and physique.
He unleashed his power without restraint, going all out with full firepower!
The Dragon Scale Mysterious Staff fluttered and spun in his hands, resembling a silver dragon circling through the night sky.
The blur of the staff and the moonlight intertwined, indistinguishable from one another.
As he continuously practiced the staff techniques, his aura grew steadily stronger.
Every swing of the staff stirred the surrounding air currents, whipping up gust after gust of wind.
These breezes gradually grew stronger, the whistling sound of the wind rising.
Until it became a gale!
A hurricane materialized out of thin air, with Shi Yu at the center of the storm!
The violent wind swept away everything around him like scattered clouds.
Outside the Water Curtain Cave, the waterfall, which originally cascaded down from the top of the towering cliff to impact the deep pool below, suddenly had countless droplets of water halt their downward momentum and begin drifting upward into the air!
The current wrapped around the hurricane, rising toward the sky like a waterspout!
Magnificent and awe-inspiring!
[Heavenly Gang Universe Staff Technique - Second Form: Wind Sweeping Away the Clouds!]