The Uninvited Monkey

The six sacred beasts unleashed their greatest divine abilities, the battle reaching a fever pitch of excitement and tension that stirred even the hearts of the older generation. All spectators were gripped by wild emotion.

At that moment, the snow-white little beast Xiao Chen had kept tethered by his side could no longer restrain itself. It vanished into thin air and slipped away. There was no need to guess where it was going. Of course, at this critical juncture, no one was paying attention to a small white creature roaming the Beast Arena. The battle on the combat platform had reached its most decisive phase.

The Golden Lion King opened its Karmic Eye!

An appalling dark light became the sole presence between heaven and earth, annihilating all other colors. Even the sun in the sky seemed to grow dim. A ghostly wail arose. Heaven and earth shook as if a mountain collapse and a tsunami had occurred. Waves of energy surged wildly.

At that moment, the dark light tore through space. A colossal gate opened, and an endless, gloomy tunnel appeared abruptly in the sky. After a brief deathly silence, a rumbling sound emerged from the great black hole—like an ancient iron door being pushed open. Chains clanked with a ghastly, terrifying noise, as if demons from the underworld were emerging to capture the living.

“Heavens, it really is the Gate of Hell!”

“The gates of the underworld have been opened!”

“Such terrifying power—it can directly cast an opponent into reincarnation!” Even the older generation were deeply shaken. The Golden Lion King made everyone feel a primal horror. Such a divine power should not have appeared on a young sacred beast.

A few elders over a hundred years old recalled certain legends and shivered inwardly. But they could not understand why two forbidden divine arts—Annihilation and Reincarnation—were concentrated in the Golden Lion King. It was incomprehensible, unimaginable. The skin on their backs crawled with dread.

The Five-Colored Peacock King cried out, its five-colored radiance blazing. It tried to fly into the distance, but the Golden Lion King’s third vertical eye was too terrifying—it had successfully opened the Gate of Reincarnation. The rumbling of the underworld’s palace doors and the dreadful clanking of massive chains drove a fearsome force. Black mist churned, swallowing the Peacock King whole.

Within the black mist, brilliant multicolored light flashed. The legendary Five-Colored Divine Radiance, said to be able to sweep away all things, pulsed and resisted the devouring power of Reincarnation. It was an intensely tense moment. Before the crystal screens, every spectator held their breath, their hearts flying into the battlefield, as if they themselves were falling into reincarnation alongside the Peacock King.

In the ancient age, the primordial being who wielded the Five-Colored Divine Radiance had forced gods and buddhas to retreat. Nothing could resist it, nothing could escape its sweep. Between heaven and earth, there was no match. Truly, the Five-Colored Divine Radiance was a taboo-level divine power. But this young Peacock King was still far too immature. Though the Five-Colored Divine Radiance was a forbidden art, it had not yet been cultivated to its peak—not like the ancient being who could sweep away all things.

It was now resisting the power of the underworld itself, which no longer belonged entirely to the Lion King’s energy. The Golden Lion had used its Karmic Eye to forcibly open the Gate of Reincarnation. The power behind it came from the Netherworld.

The light slowly dimmed. The Gate of Hell began to close. The sinister black hole shrank steadily, about to vanish completely.

At this point, everyone felt a chill down their spines. Many of the older generation were drawing in cold breaths. This Golden Lion King was absolutely not something a Spirit-Treasury realm practitioner could handle. It was too heaven-defying! A sacred beast king whose potential sent a chill through anyone who considered it. If it grew up smoothly, its power would be unimaginable.

“Quick! Use every resource to find out everything about this Golden Lion’s origins!”

“Find out who its master is!”

“At any cost, dig three feet into the ground—I want the most valuable information!”

In every private lounge, identical orders were being given.

And many more mourned the apparent death of the Five-Colored Peacock King. Struck down into reincarnation by the Golden Lion King—a grievous, heart-wrenching loss. Some elders even felt a pang of pain. If the young Peacock King had grown smoothly, the forbidden divine art of the Five-Colored Divine Radiance might have recreated the invincible glory of that ancient battle. To die in battle here was too tragic.

The power of reincarnation was fading. Sunlight streamed down. The Gate of Hell in the sky was almost fully closed. The black hole shrank, finally becoming a mere speck about to vanish entirely.

But at that instant, a point of cyan light penetrated through the black speck. Rippling waves spread across the sky. The vanishing Gate of Hell suddenly convulsed. An unstoppable cyan light burst forth!

The black speck of a gate was forced open in a flash. Blinding cyan light became the sole radiance between heaven and earth, tearing through the power of reincarnation. Thousands of multicolored rays bloomed. Countless auspicious lights rolled back across the sky. A cascade of brilliance blanketed the world.

With a peacock’s cry, as if clouds had parted to reveal the sun and moon, heaven and earth blazed with glory. The Five-Colored Peacock King had charged out of reincarnation, burst through the Gate of Hell, and returned to this world!

Its tail feathers had spread wide, their dazzling colors eclipsing all beauty in the world. And among those open tail feathers, a single cyan plume stood strikingly apart. Nearly half of the brilliant light in the sky radiated from that one feather. Cyan light shimmered. The three-foot-long azure feather was like a holy sword, flowing with a vast, majestic power—its mere aura could crush the breath from a person.

“The Five-Colored Chaos Divine Plume—the Chaos Azure Feather!”

“That… impossible!”

“Doesn’t that belong to the ancient being?”

The older generation abandoned all dignity. Shouts of surprise came from many private lounges. In that ancient age, the primordial being had swept away all things with the Five-Colored Divine Radiance, unmatched. But there was another crucial reason: that being possessed the Five Element Divine Plumes formed from primordial chaos. Each plume was like a holy sword, capable of cutting down any obstacle.

The Chaos Azure Feather had severed the power of reincarnation. The Peacock King broke free of its bonds and flew back.

The Five-Colored Peacock King seemed reborn from a bath of fire. Radiant light danced around its body. Misty color swirled. It almost seemed to recreate the majestic stance of its ancestor, who once looked down upon the world.

No one dared to covet the Chaos Azure Feather. Countless legends suggested that the ancient being had not truly died. Who would dare to lay hands on its descendant?

Staring at that azure feather at the center of the rainbow fan, the Golden Lion King’s third eye flickered repeatedly. But ultimately, it did not open again. The two kings faced off once more.

The Golden Lion King roared, its voice rolling like thunder across the sky. Aggression was its nature, its power made manifest. One eye represented Annihilation, the other Reincarnation. Even if the Peacock King possessed the Chaos Azure Feather, so what? It was capable of contending.

Suddenly, the Lion King transformed into a beam of golden light and dove toward the ground, abandoning its opponent with shocking speed. Its original goal had been to dismantle the opposing pair. Now that the Peacock King had proved difficult to kill, it changed targets, intending to take Gold by surprise.

The Peacock King could not stop it in time. Though the Five-Colored Divine Light was the fastest movement method in the world, the Golden Lion’s speed was in the same league. Having acted first, it could not be overtaken.

At that moment, Gold—its Nine Lives Immortal Form split into nine beams of light—was relentlessly attacking the White Tiger, occasionally charging into the condensed ancient metal-character formations, putting great pressure on the White Tiger.

Faced with the sudden arrival of the Lion King, Gold was caught off guard. It had already seen the Lion King open its third eye. The power of reincarnation was descending from the sky. Even with nine lives and nine bodies, if trapped within the attack range, it would be difficult to escape unscathed.

The White Tiger was equally enraged. The power of reincarnation had enveloped it as well. The dark light filled the void, and the Gate of Hell opened above them.

And there was one more little beast that was particularly displeased: Keke. It had made a full circuit outside and finally sneaked back in, just in time to witness the Lion King trying to cast its opponents into reincarnation. It was standing at the very edge of the dark light. The fearsome power nearly swallowed it in an instant.

“Ya-ya!” The snow-white beast was incensed. It glared up at the Golden Lion and grumbled angrily. With a casual swipe of its paw, it brushed aside the dark light around it.

In the private lounge, Xiao Chen leaned back in his rattan chair with a headache, slowly rubbing his temples. That little creature had finally gotten involved.

But now it looked completely different. It was no longer snow-white. It resembled a golden monkey. On closer inspection, it really was a golden monkey. It could walk upright like a human, and it had not only put on a monkey pelt but had also—in a bizarre imitation of proper dress—put on clothes. The effect was absurd.

This was the fruit of Keke’s big circuit outside. Xiao Chen had forbidden it from entering the arena, and the little beast understood that he was afraid it would cause trouble. Sometimes it was very confused; other times, it was cunning.

Every day, the Beast Arena saw sacred beasts die in combat. Their valuable pelts were carefully processed and sold to the north. Keke had roamed the arena, spotted a golden monkey pelt, and roughly draped it over itself as a disguise. To make matters worse, it had “borrowed” a set of clothes from some young master’s private lounge, wearing them to keep the monkey pelt from slipping off.

Thus disguised, walking on two legs, most people would indeed take it for a one-foot-tall golden monkey. If not for Xiao Chen’s familiarity with it—recognizing it by those lively, intelligent eyes—he might have been fooled.

In every private lounge, before every crystal screen, countless spectators watched with jaws dropped. Where had this little monkey come from? Weren’t there six sacred beasts? How had a seventh appeared?

“Where did that monkey come from?”

“An illusion. It must be an illusion!”

“No way… I must be seeing things. How did a seventh beast show up?”

At that moment, the Gate of Hell had opened again, ready to swallow Gold and the White Tiger. The two beasts stopped fighting each other. Both displayed their divine powers to resist the terrible dark force. If cast into reincarnation, everything would be over in this life. Prideful as they were, how could they accept such a fate? Especially when struck down by an unexpected attacker.

Though the black mist had swallowed them and the sound of chains grew clearer, the two beasts struggled desperately. Brilliant light pierced the darkness. Gold swept out beams of golden light. Meanwhile, the White Tiger’s floating ancient characters trembled, releasing terrifying energy fluctuations.

At this moment, the Golden Lion King had already landed on the ground. As it drew near, the power of reincarnation grew even stronger. It was determined to cast both beasts into reincarnation.

But then Keke moved. It transformed into a beam of golden light, shot straight at the Golden Lion, which had just landed. Then, as if teleporting, it vanished and reappeared—already firmly seated on the Lion King’s back. It was clutching the Lion King’s golden mane, which shimmered like silk thread, and grumbling with indignation.

From the private lounges came the sound of jaws hitting the floor. Nearly every spectator was dumbfounded. What was the origin of this little monkey? How had it gotten onto the Golden Lion King’s back? Insanity!

No one could believe their eyes. How had this seventh little beast infiltrated the arena? And it dared to lay hands on the Lion King itself?

Jaws shattered. The crowd was too stunned for words.

The Golden Lion King, interrupted by surprise, was so shocked that it closed its Karmic Eye in an instant. Then its entire body blazed with blinding golden divine fire, trying to fling Keke off.

But in that moment, everyone saw the little beast, as it was thrown off, angrily grab the Lion King’s mane. With a motion so clean it looked like upturning a sack, it tossed the Lion King away. It landed lightly on the spot, both paws full of radiant, golden, silken mane.

Every spectator before every crystal screen was utterly stupefied.

It had actually thrown the Golden Lion King? If not for the two handfuls of the Lion King’s most precious mane still clutched in its tiny paws, no one would have believed their eyes.

The bold little beast gave an unreal impression. Everyone stared, numb with shock.

“I didn’t drink much today… why do I feel dizzy?”

“Me too… my head is spinning.”

“I must have seen wrong. I’m definitely dreaming.” This muttering spectator pinched himself hard and immediately yelped in pain.

“An illusion. Damn it, why are the illusions coming back?”

Keke proudly puffed out its chest. “Ya-ya-ya-ya!” It grumbled angrily. The infantile, babbling voice was still crisp and clear through the crystal screens, reaching every ear.

In the private lounge, Xiao Chen groaned softly and leaned deeper into his rattan chair, rubbing his temples with both hands. That little thing had finally gone down.