Chapter 46Chen Zhen, Mei Ling and the kids traveled north thru the forest. Chen Zhen used his spiritual sense to avoid the dangerous beast of the forest. He ranged ahead of Mei Ling and the kids to clear the path for them. This allowed him to keep training as they travelled. Chen Zhen was now hunting rank 7 and rank 8 spirit beast. He would bring the meat from these beast back to Mei Ling for them to eat at night. Because they had all started cultivating, including Mei Ling, the meat was very beneficial for them.
Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian would talk with Chen Zhen and advise him on fighting strategies. This allowed Chen Zhen"s overall battle experience to increase by leaps and bounds. He was now able to conserve energy as he fought. Chen Zhen began to understand the subtleties of using his energy to fight, how to maximize his power output when necessary. He learned to incorporate his speed techniques to his best advantage. Slowly his aura began to deepen, Chen Zhen was gaining killing intent. With his killing intent he could scare away some of the weaker spirit beast.
Their trek took them near the Specter Monkey troop. When they saw Chen Zhen they ran to him to greet him, jumping around him while laughing and playing. The Golden Specter King walked up to Chen Zhen and bowed to him in greeting. Even though the Golden Specter King was stronger then the last time they met, Chen Zhen was had grown at least twice as strong as then. The Golden Specter King naturally looked at Chen Zhen as his superior now. Chen Zhen asked if it was ok to travel thru their territory with Mei Ling and the kids. The Golden Specter King mistook them to be Chen Zhen"s family. It not only allowed them safe pa.s.sage thru but sent a group of the elite Specter Monkeys as a scouting party for them. To Chen Zhen"s surprise the Golden Specter King accompanied them a well.
The travel was much faster for them now that they had no obstacles in their way. The kids had fun playing with the Specter Monkeys, and the Specter Monkeys looked at it as an honor to be able to help a friend of their king. The way they traveled took them near the cave that hid the Monkey King Wine and 10,000-year stalact.i.te milk. Looking back at Mei Ling and the kids Chen Zhen had the idea to ask the Golden Specter King if they could use the stalact.i.te pool. The Golden Specter king was very observant and started to head to the cave before Chen Zhen even got a chance to ask. Chen Zhen very a great warmth blossom in his heart. He quickly got Mei Ling and the kids together and headed over to the cave.
"I have a surprise for you guys, but you need to swear that you will keep it a secret. You must never tell anyone of what you are about to do." Chen Zhen said to Mei Ling and the kids as he stopped by the boulder outside of the cave.
They could see the seriousness of this matter by the look on Chen Zhen"s face. They all swore right away.
"Inside this cave is a wonder of nature. It"s called a 10,000-year stalact.i.te milk pool. This is very beneficial for improving your bodies and your natural talent in cultivation. The Golden Specter King has agreed to allow you to soak in this pool. It is a very generous gift. This pool is a coveted treasure, if anyone were to find out about it, it would spell a disaster for the Specter Monkeys." Chen Zhen said hoping it would help drill into their minds the importance of their secrecy.
Since the Golden Specter King wasn"t in its ape form, Chen Zhen had to remove the boulder blocking the entrance of the cave. The dense pure spiritual energy once again diffused into the air. All of their body involuntarily shivered and relaxed from the aroma alone. As they entered deeper into the cave their cultivation techniques began circulating on their own. Their bodies were like hungry sponges soaking up the pure energy. Chen Zhen walked them to the edge of the pool, knowing that they would have to strip down, he gave them simple instruction and then left to give them some privacy. The Golden Specter King grabbed a medium sized bottle of Monkey King Wine, and then left the cave to join Chen Zhen outside.
When Mei Ling looked at the pool of milky white fluid, she really wasn"t sure what to do. She stripped down and walked to the edge of the pool. She slowly tested the liquid but putting her toes in first. She was surprised by how warm the fluid felt. It really felt like she was stepping into warm milk. Mei Ling quickly lost her apprehension and walked into the pool. She laid back leaving everything, but her head submerged in the pool. When there were no adverse effects she waved to the kids to join her inside. The kids being kids, quickly stripped down and then jumped in the pool. Mei Ling lay at one end and the kids lay at the over. Their bodies completely relaxed feeling as if they no longer had any bones in their bodies. Time was soon lost to them as they just laid there absorbing the energy in the pool.
Chen Zhen sat outside with the Golden Specter King enjoying the wine. Chen Zhen"s body had a qualitative change since the last time he was here. The alcoholic efficacy of the Monkey King Wine was reduce by 70-80%, this allowed Chen Zhen to handle his liquor much better than the last time. Unfortunately for the Golden Specter King that wasn"t the case, it became drunk very quickly. It was stumbling around trying to speak like humans do, it looked very funny make such a racket.
The next morning Chen Zhen told the Golden Specter King his theory on how drinking the stalact.i.te milk helped strengthen his bloodline. He suggested that the Golden Specter King try it when Mei Ling and the kids came out. Chen Zhen cultivated while he wanted, even though he had plenty of spirit cores to use his dantian was so large that it was like a drop in a bucket. At this rate it would take him a very longtime to fill all three dantian.
It took two more days for Mei Ling and the kids to finish in the stalact.i.te pool. Their bodies weren"t like Chen Zhen"s and his void ability. They couldn"t absorb and refine the energy from the pool as fast as he could. When they finally walked out of the cave their auras were much stronger. There bodies has been thoroughly cleansed and all of their meridian pathways had been opened allow them to cultivate much more smoothly. Now they would have double the results with half the effort when they cultivated. They were all very happy and stood next to Chen Zhen when they came out.
The Golden Specter King went in after they came out to test out Chen Zhen"s theory. It didn"t take long before a power aura rushed out of the cave. The Golden Specter King could be heard howling like it was in pain. Chen Zhen pushed the boulder back in front of the entrance to the cave. He didn"t want howls to attract other spirit beast or random hunters to their area.
Chen Zhen and everyone stayed there for a couple more days cultivating. Every six hours Chen Zhen would open the cave to see if the Golden Specter King was done. One day while he was waiting the boulder began to move by itself. A bright glow brighter then the sun came out of the cave. The Golden Specter Monkey had grown half a meter bigger in height. It muscles had almost doubled in size. Parts of its body would phase in and out randomly as it stood there. Its power level had increased to a peak rank 8 spirit beast. It was very close to being a rank 9. The Golden Specter King was on his way to becoming the hegemon of this forest. There was no way for the golden Specter King to thank Chen Zhen for his advice. All of the Specter Monkeys and the king bowed down low to Chen Zhen. Chen Zhen was embarra.s.sed by this display of theirs. He quickly told them to stand up. They were friends and such a display was unnecessary between friends. Chen Zhen, Mei Ling and the kids were now members of their troop. Every Specter Monkey would gladly lay down their life to protect anyone of them.
Their journey continued, they followed the base of the mountain west for a week before turning north again. Chen Zhen learned some of the geography from Shanggu Feng along the way. This forest was located in a small obscure nation called the Ting Hai nation. It was small part of the Imperial Fudoki nation. The imperial capital was their final destination. It would take them many months to travel that distance by foot. They were hoping to make it to a small town on the other side of the mountain range to sell some of the spirit cores that Chen Zhen had been collecting along the way. Then they could purchase horses to use to travel to the imperial capital. It would save them at least a month"s worth of time.
As they came to the northern border of the forest the Specter Monkeys had sad looks on their faces. Everyone was sad to depart from here. Chen Zhou and Chen Xiao had been able to get some practice in hunting rank 1 and rank 2 spirit beast with the help of the Specter Monkeys. They were both progressing much faster since their stay in the stalact.i.te pool. They were both level 5 Body Refinement cultivators now. They would both be considered outstanding geniuses in any sect or clan. They both had high hopes of becoming inner court disciples when they arrived at the capital. Chen Zhen walked up to the Golden Specter King. It tried to bow to Chen Zhen, but he picked it up in a big hug. After Chen Zhen put it back down Mei Ling and the kids gave the Golden Specter King a hug as well. A couple of the Specter Monkeys that were especially close to the kids gave them hugs as well before running back into the forest. After a tearful farewell on both side Chen Zhen and everyone finally set off Qianbei, the small town on the other side of the mountain.
The travel thru the mountains was steady, there had to be more cautious as they moved forward. Chen Zhen resumed his role as the scout making sure they pathway was clear. Even though his cultivation hadn"t progressed much he was able to solidify his foundation more and improve his fighting skill every day. Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian even said there were very few flaws left in his technique.
They travelled this way for three weeks before finally leaving the mountains and joining the main road that lead straight to Qianbei. As they left the mountains they could see a merchant caravan coming up the road. The main carriage was painted a crimson red color and had a golden relief of a griffin on the sides. Many of the guards were in the late to peak Body Refinement Stage. Chen Zhen could sense that inside of the carriage was two cultivators at the Liquid Core Stage.
"HALT!", a voice belonging to a teenage woman shouted as the carriages were pa.s.sing by.
After the carriages came to a halt, the curtain of the main carriage was pulled aside, and a young redheaded girl looked back at them.
"What a lovely family. Are you any chance headed to Qianbei? If you are you can join our caravan. We are heading there to do some trading. I"m told that you all seem to be quite powerful. Since this road is none to have many bandits hiding along it, it would be benefit both of us to work together. Plus it would be a lot easier to travel by carriage then walking, don"t you think?"