Prepared to be Restrained to Death!

'Hey, system. What did they say? I don't understand Chinese at all!'

Wang Shòu frowned as he sneakily trailed behind the group. The feeling of trying to understand, yet hearing incomprehensible words as if they were alien, was very unpleasant and irritated him.

[Nothing much. Though it is important to note that the young man said he is a spirit elder. He didn't say the specific rank, though.]

'Spirit Elder?!' Wang Shòu's eyes widened, and he involuntarily had the idea to retreat and run away, far away from here.

'No! I can't get scared because of his rank. The lives of the Wooden Monkey Clan are at stake!' Wang Shòu scolded himself, feeling ashamed that he wanted to retreat just by hearing how powerful the enemy is.

'But what can I do?... there's no way I can defeat a spirit elder... I need to be 1,000 years old, and only then there's a chance to beat him... but I'm level 15, which is only 250 years old....'

Wang Shòu was disheartened until the system reminded him.

[Did you forget about the moves you can use, which have the potential to turn things around?]

'Oh, do you mean Electro Ball I learned at level 12? But that's useless. The Electro Ball becomes more powerful the faster I am, but I doubt that will do anything against a spirit elder...'

[No, I'm talking about Nasty Plot, Growl, Thunder Wave, and Tail Whip.]

'....? They're not attack moves, they're only moves to-wait!' Then Wang Shòu's eyes widened as he immediately understood what the system meant.

'Hold on, they can be used to weaken the spirit elder! Quick, tell me what each of them does?'

Immediately, the four blue profiles appeared, showing the effects of the four moves.

[Nasty Plot: Raises your special attack by two stages. Can be used repeatedly up to six stages. Lasts 15 minutes.]

[Growl: Lowers the target's attack by one stage. Can be used repeatedly up to six stages. Lasts 15 minutes.]

[Thunder Wave: Paralyzes your target, making their speed decrease by 50%, and target have a 25% chance of not being able to move.]

[Tail Whip: Decreases the target's defense by one stage. Can be used repeatedly up to six stages. Lasts 15 minutes.]

'Yes... this could work! This can work!' Wang Shòu's heart was overjoyed as he finally saw the dawn of victory.

'But if I want this to work, I will need to devise a plan, and there must be no mistake, otherwise, me and the Wooden Monkey Clan will die!'

Wang Shòu thought, calming himself from being too excited. After all, it would be a huge joke if he failed just because he got too excited and went without any plan.

'Let's see... I can do Nasty Plot first, to raise my special attack by 6 stages, but there is a time limit of 15 minutes, so I gotta do this fast... then I need to use Thunder Wave on that young man, without alerting him. The best time would be when he summons his martial spirit...'

'Then after that, use Growl six times quickly, as he still has a chance of moving even with Thunder Wave... then use Tail Whip six times, and after that, use Spark Tackle and then Electro Ball to finish him off.'

After devising a plan that can succeed, Wang Shòu quietly followed behind the group, this time with a plan in hand.

-------------------------

"Su Yuntao, where exactly are we going?"

Yi Han, who has the Purple Ice Bird martial spirit and was silent during the whole journey, spoke as the group approached the area where the Wooden Monkey Clan lives.

After Yi Han said that, Rio Xi with the martial spirit Jade Violin and a cheerful girl spoke up. "Yeah, Mister Su Yuntao! Where're we going?"

"We're going to the habitat where the Wooden Monkey Clan lives," Su Yuntao replied, looking ahead.

Hao Yu, who was also silent, spoke up too. "But aren't the Wooden Monkeys weak, usually about 100 years old? And besides, their ability is not suitable for any of us."

"Yes, that is indeed correct. They are very weak, and that's the reason why we're going there. We're going there to make you get used to fighting," Su Yuntao said, and went on to explain further.

"The most essential thing for a spirit master is battle experience. Without that, even if you're a genius, you would be useless. After all, theory cannot replace the valuable experience of doing it yourself."

"I see, do we fight by ourselves, or do all five of us have to fight together?" Yi Han nodded, understanding what Su Yuntao meant, and asked another question.

"Each of you will fight by yourself, but if things get dangerous, I will join the fight. But until then, I will be watching you guys fight," Su Yuntao said.

"B-but what about me? I can't do anything with the Golden Pocket Watch as my martial spirit..." Zhang Wei said timidly, looking at Su Yuntao nervously.

"That's fine, you can just stand with me and watch as the four of them fight," Su Yuntao said, gesturing for Zhang Wei to come to him.

"O-okay, mister..." Zhang Wei came next to Su Yuntao, and the whole group continued walking.

"...! Spirit beasts ahead!" After some time, Su Yuntao, who had the highest spirit power, immediately sensed spirit beasts in front of them.

Every person except Su Yuntao and Zhang Wei took out their martial spirits. Soon, they saw the identity of the spirit beasts ahead.

"Grook! Grook!" Six Wooden Monkeys, each about 100 years old and wielding spears made out of branches, growled as they hung from the branches of the trees.

"Good, we found them sooner than expected. Four of you, use your martial spirits to the best extent that you can," Su Yuntao said, commanding the four kids.

The four kids nodded and then went to confront the six Wooden Monkeys, while Zhang Wei stayed behind with Su Yuntao.

"Are you sure they will be fine?... Four of them don't have any spirit rings, you know... and are at a huge disadvantage," Zhang Wei said, feeling nervous and puzzled at the same time.

It's obvious that without a spirit ring, no matter how good their martial spirit is, they can't beat a spirit beast who is 100 years old. Yet why did Su Yuntao want them to fight?

"I'm well aware of that, and that's my goal," Su Yuntao nodded, affirming Zhang Wei's suspicion.

"W-what do you mean by that? You sent them to deliberately lose?!"

Zhang Wei's eyes widened, as he couldn't believe what Su Yuntao said.

Su Yuntao glanced at Zhang Wei, then looked back at the four kids fighting.

"I'm perfectly aware of what I'm doing. In this world, there are many strange and powerful martial spirits. And often, someone will awaken Full Innate Spirit Power every year. But despite that, why do you think geniuses are rare? Because they are dead or become waste spirit masters due to their arrogance and inability to accept defeat."

Su Yuntao said coldly without any mercy.

"So yes, they will be defeated, but that's a good thing. If they can learn to accept defeat and grow stronger from this experience, then they have the potential to be excellent spirit masters, even if their martial spirit turns out to be weak. But if not, then their achievements will end as ordinary spirit masters, just like me..." Su Yuntao said, smiling wryly, self-deprecating.

"I see, mister... I understand," Zhang Wei nodded, finally comprehending Su Yuntao's good intention. At the same time, his tone when talking to Su Yuntao became full of respect.

"I'm glad you understand. Now let's watch them. Perhaps it will be a good experience for you too"

Su Yuntao nodded approvingly, and they both watched the four kids fight, blissfully unaware that a yellow, furry, powerful mouse was hiding, targeting them.