Monkey of Stone

Zhao Zhelan descended further into the cave, her eyes calmly surveying the oppressing darkness. This sort of darkness was not natural. It was malicious, blotting out everything. Zhao Zhelan started to cycle her Qi.

She open her palm. Suddenly, a burst of flame hovered over her open palm. However, it only illuminated a few inches into the darkness. The only other source of light were glowing mushrooms.

Zhao Zhelan sent a burst of Qi through her meridians and into her eyes, using her ocular skill. With that combined with the illumination, she could se just fine.

She was in a wide, open area. The ceiling was impossibly high, and the area of this cave was much larger than anything ever seen before. Grass crunched lightly beneath her as she walked. In the center of the mysterious cave lay a lake.

It was most likely undisturbed, as it looked like black glass. It radiated and aura of purity, as everything near it was cleansed. At the end of the cave lay another open hallway, which descended further into darkness.

Zhao Zhelan kept her Qi in motion as she carefully surveyed the area, gently walking towards the pristine lake. However, something moving at the corner of her vision prompted her to dash backward.

Zhao Zhelan was glad she did. in her place, what appeared to be a monkey slapped the air at where she had been just before. The monkey let out an enraged screech as it turned towards her, giving her its full profile.

Zhao Zhelan did not recognize it. It appeared to be a monkey from afar, but had no fur. It was instead made out of ornately carved stone, like a statue come to life. Its eyes were glowing red, with no pupils. The monkey stood straight on two feet, and bared its stone teeth.

Zhao Zhelan did not sense an ounce of Qi from it, making believe that it was some sort of avatar. Still, she was not sure. Zhao Zhelan drew her sword out from her storage ring, the white blade flashing in the little light.

In one movement, the monkey pounced, crossing the distance between them in one instant. Zhao Zhelan was ready, striking upward with full strength.

Zhao Zhelan met little resistance as he sword cut through the stone monkey, perfectly cutting it in two.

The light in the monkey's eyes dimmed as it fell to the ground, suddenly rigid.

Zhao Zhelan narrowed her eyes at the monkey. She crouched down, titled her head, and examined it.

Upon closer examination, the monkey wasn't perfectly carved. Some joints were uneven, or there was a finger larger than the other. The way the monkey fought was weird as well.

It fought with wild abandon, crazed and angry. But why? Was it because Zhao Zhelan had made her way toward the pond? And were there more?

As if answering her question, a rock whizzed past her nose, nothing but a blur. Zhao Zhelan narrowed her eyes and back away from the body, spinning to face her new attack her.

In front of her were a dozen or so stone monkeys, each enraged and making a ruckus at the sight of their fallen brethren. Zhao Zhelan frowned.

Dozens of monkeys, and more were appearing from the ground and through the walls. Zhao Zhelan immediately circled her Qi through her blade to use her skill, creating a phantom edge 5 meters wide.

Weaving another rock, she dived into the thick of it, slashing. Each swipe of her sword took out dozens of monkeys, leaving rubble on the ground. The monkeys gave no Qi when dead, making her believe that they weren't real.

The monkeys fought recklessly with wild abandon, but they did not real damage to her. At this rate, Zhao Zhelan would die of exhaustion. She even had to deactivate her phantom edge to conserve Qi.

Time passed as Zhao Zhelan fought more and more monkeys, standing on a small hill of rubble. They were never-ending.

But one thing she noticed was that the monkeys never got too close to the lake, always staying some distance away from it, as if afraid of something. Zhao Zhelan resummoned her phantom edge and pushed it to the maximum, 30 meters, and continued to mow down monkeys in the direction of the lake.

The horde started to thin, just as Zhao Zhelan entered the vicinity of the lake. The monkeys growled but didn't approach, watching her with glowing red eyes. Zhao Zhelan sighed and sat at the edge of the lake, her sword loosely gripped.

What would she do now? Recuperate, and continue fighting? But there was no end to the monkeys. The only way was to go deeper, and wade through the lake.

Zhao Zhelan looked at the black, glassy surface of the lake. She could sense no Qi from it, but who knew what lurked in the depths? With a sigh, Zhao Zhelan adopted the lotus position to start absorbing the Qi she lost, but to her dismay, something odd happened.

There was no Qi at all throughout the cave.

It was completely vacant. Zhao Zhelan had grown accustomed to Qi, but now she couldn't even cultivate. It really seemed like the only choice was to go deeper.

Zhao Zhelan stood. The monkeys, seeing this, snarled. Without wasting time, Zhao Zhelan put her sword back inside of her ring and slowly stepped into the lake.

Cold water surrounded her calves, but that was it. No hidden challenge or lucky encounter lay. It really seemed like a normal pool. Zhao Zhelan sighed and waded deeper.

The lake seemed to stop at neck level, and it took a while for Zhao Zhelan to cross. The monkeys got smaller and smaller as she made her way across. The lake was also completely devoid of life.

Zhao Zhelan was starting to doubt the manual was even here. But right before she made it safely across, something changed in the water. A sudden foreign energy. Zhao Zhelan wasted no time and immediately pumped her legs full of Qi, launching herself 15 meters into the air.

And just in time too, as a giant, stone, clawed hand extended itself out of the water at impossible speeds. The previously undisturbed surface of the lake rippled, as the hand suddenly clenched into a fist.

"Give me a break..." Zhao Zhelan muttered, brandishing her sword as she landed back in the shallow part of the water. The monkeys watched like spectators at a arena match, watching eagerly as the holder of the stone hand slowly clawed to the surface.