Chapter 357: Kindness Doesn’t Make A King
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
“What? King, you want to train our combat strength and want us to fight against those tigers, leopards, wolves, and jackals?”
“How can that be? We would never be a match for those wild beasts.”
“We would really die!”
…
When the monkey crowd heard Feng Lin’s decision, they instantly argued back.
Many of the monkeys hugged each other as they trembled in fear.
…
“That’s right. Now, we already have the Water Curtain Cave, so there’s no need for us to fight to the death against those wild beasts!”
“Great King, have you gone muddle-headed?”
“We would definitely not agree with your decision!”
…
Some of the more unruly monkeys seized the opportunity to create chaos, challenging the prestige of the new monkey king.
A single stone toss gave rise to a thousand-layer wave!
The monkey crowd kept shouting. Their voices were extremely shrill, causing disorder and confusion in the cave, making them all giddy.
ROAR!
Feng Lin took in a deep breath and abruptly let out a howl of anger. In an instant, his voice suppressed everything, and the cave returned to total silence.
Those monkeys were so frightened that they didn’t dare to say anything. When they looked at Feng Lin, their gazes were like they were looking at a demon.
The monkeys were truly getting lazier. They were nothing but cowards now.
Feng Lin shook his head.
(Kindness doesn’t make a king!)
The monkeys were so cowardly. Other than the fact that all those with potentials had died in the past war, another reason was probably because of the doting love the previous monkey king showered on them.
The flowers in a greenhouse would crumble at the slightest storm.
The old monkey king’s cultivation was profound; thus, he managed to protect the monkey tribe, allowing their population to increase with his power alone.
However, under the doting love and care by the old monkey king, the monkeys lost their wild nature. They were now equivalent to being half-crippled.
If not, why would the monkeys and apes in the Flowerfruit Mountain be weaklings when they were supposed to be so imposing and famous in the mythologies?
Upon thinking of this, Feng Lin spoke in a heavy voice, “This is an order by me, the monkey king. It’s not up for debate or rejection. From today onwards, all of you have to give it your all to train your bodies. No one can escape the training.”
Murmurs could be heard from the monkeys. All of them had reluctant looks on their faces.
“What sort of king are you?” An inharmonious-sounding voice rang out. “Even if you are the king, you won’t be able to force us to send ourselves to the deaths!”
“We will never send ourselves to death!”
“We will most a.s.suredly not cultivate!”
…
Since someone managed to arouse the crowd, the monkeys all began to shout words of rejection.
Feng Lin wasn’t surprised or angered. He calmly glanced over at a baboon. Quite a few muscular monkeys were around it, and all of them were staring at Feng Lin maliciously.
“You want to rebel?” Feng Lin calmly asked. He recognized this baboon.
This baboon was born innately different from the others. Its form was huge, roughly two to three times the size of ordinary monkeys, and it also possessed startling strength. Initially, the monkey crowd thought that this baboon would be the succeeding king after the old monkey king pa.s.sed away. They didn’t expect the old monkey king to pa.s.s the throne to Feng Lin.
Hence, this baboon had always been extremely unconvinced about Feng Lin. Today, it finally found an opportunity to stand out.
“That’s right. You merely found the Water Curtain Cave for us, and you are not worthy to be the new monkey king. You must know that being the monkey king means that you must have the strength to make all of us feel convinced! You might not even be able to defeat me,” said the baboon with arrogance.
“Oh, so you mean you want to challenge me for the monkey king’s throne?” Feng Lin smiled.
“In the contest for the monkey king position, strength overrules everything. You merely found the Water Curtain Cave by chance and your origins are unknown; you don’t belong to our monkey tribe! How can we allow you to become the monkey king and lead us? I’m the first one to be unconvinced!” The red-faced baboon roared.
“Oh.”
Feng Lin calmly smiled.
It seemed like it wasn’t so easy to sit stably on the monkey king’s throne.
Even a mere baboon dared to challenge his authority?
He gave them some face, yet they wanted a mile after taking an inch?
Clearly, kindness doesn’t make a king.
If he treated these monkeys too well, they wouldn’t know the immensity of heavens and earth and would always rebut him, refusing to follow his orders.
“Fine then.” Feng Lin calmly spoke, accepting the baboon’s challenge. “I want to see what qualifications do you have to challenge me.”
A battle for the throne would soon commence.
The other monkeys exchanged glances. They stepped back and opened up a huge s.p.a.ce in the center.
The red-faced baboon paused. When it saw how easily Feng Lin accepted the challenge, it began to doubt itself.
Although he wasn’t convinced by this new monkey king, it also knew how difficult it must be to barge through the waterfall barrier. This wasn’t something a mortal monkey could accomplish as even the old monkey king failed to do so.
If they really fought, would it be able to win?
…
It began to hesitate.
Feng Lin was already burning with impatience. He laughed. “What? You don’t dare to fight now? As long as you can win against me, the throne is yours.”
As the sound of this rang out, the baboon got agitated. Its eyes immediately turned bloodshot.
“Roar, roar, roar!”
It stood up as its fists thumped its chest, as though it was encouraging itself.
Feng Lin calmly stood there and stared straight at it.
The baboon abruptly leaped high up into the air. It clasped its hands and formed fists, slamming down with the falling gravity impact that caused the air to shake.
Feng Lin was as though he was scared silly. He stood in his original location, not moving at all.
The baboon let out roars of excitement like it could already see the scene where Feng Lin’s head was smashed into pieces.
One must know that within the monkey tribe, there were no monkeys who could block this move from it.
The new monkey king was no exception as well.
“Flying Ape Topsy-turvy!”
When the fists neared him, Feng Lin finally moved, unleas.h.i.+ng the monkey form of the Beastlike Fist Art.
He stomped the ground heavily with his feet as he performed a flip through the air, hanging suspended topsy-turvy in the air as he punched out. It was wondrous to the extreme!
(What?)
The baboon only sensed the figure before him flas.h.i.+ng when a fist slammed into him, sending him flying through the air.
All its bones and muscles cracked apart with the force of a single punch. The baboon then slumped onto the ground like a pile of mud.
“Great King, please spare me!” The baboon instinctively shouted. Only now did it understand what was despair.
This punch was truly terrifying to the extreme, shattering his entire body.
It felt deep despair, understanding how foolish it was for him to challenge the new monkey king.
“Great King, please spare me this time. This subordinate will never dare to do so again!” It begged bitterly.
But if begging was useful, what was the point of a king’s prestige?
One must know that as a demon king, it didn’t simply mean protecting one’s tribe. The king could control the lives of the tribe members too.
Feng Lin’s gaze was as cold as ice. He directly walked over, ignoring the begging for mercy from the baboon. He picked it up and tossed it out of the Water Curtain Cave.
The waterfall thundered down. This baboon was just a mortal monkey, and since it was tossed from such a great height, it was impossible for it to still be alive.
The remaining monkeys all trembled, no longer daring to argue.
Feng Lin turned around and stared at them emotionlessly. “From today onwards, all of you will cultivate and train your combat strength. If you don’t agree, you will be made to leave the Water Curtain Cave. From now onwards, those who leave shall no longer have any connection to this monkey tribe.”
He gave the expulsion order.
“We will do it, Great King!”
“We are willing to cultivate!”
“Please give us another chance!”
…
Those monkeys knelt on the ground and begged.
Right now, they were totally devoid of combat strength. They were extremely weak. If they left the tribe now, they would become wild monkeys and their endings would be unimaginably dire.
If they landed in the hands of the wild beasts, they would be nothing but food.
“If you don’t want to leave, you best honestly start to train for me,” Feng Lin barked, appearing imposing without being angry.
“Yes!” Those monkeys groveled and trembled.
“Elder through-armed!” Feng Lin called out.
The through-armed Ape brought over a bunch of thick wooden cudgels over. He had long since made the preparations and gave each of the monkeys one.
“Look carefully. Follow my movements.” Feng Lin took up a cudgel and began to show them a few stances.
He didn’t display the Great Sage Cudgel Arts as these mortal monkeys would never be able to understand the essence of it.
What he imparted was only the basic techniques of using the cudgel: prodding, hitting, sweeping, cleaving, and encircling…
But given Feng Lin’s current strength, even the simplest moves he made were filled with power and appeared incomparably tyrannical.
With a simple sweep, his wooden cudgel could even shatter rocks.
Those monkeys yelled in shock and hurriedly dodged while a look of reverence could be seen in their eyes.
More and more monkeys began to feel more enthusiastic. These moves were actually so powerful?
It was like a brand new world opened up before their eyes. They stared in astonishment at the wooden cudgels in their hands.
Subconsciously, these monkeys took up the cudgels and began to follow Feng Lin’s movements. At the start, their movements were disordered and looked weak. But as time pa.s.sed, their movements grew increasingly unified and their reactions also quickened. Monkeys and cudgels seemed to be a perfect match!