Immortal Refiner

In the outer sea of the Azure Floating Islands lay Monkey Island, home to various monkey demons. Monkeys could be seen everywhere, swinging through the trees and scrambling across the island.

Today, however, this tranquil island welcomed two uninvited guests.

”Are you sure we’ll make it in time?” Li Qing whispered. ”The token registration for the teleportation formation is almost full.”

The one-eyed Xia Wushuang waved dismissively. ”Fellow Daoist Limitless, relax. I bought a ticket too. I’m not about to let thirty thousand spirit stones go down the drain, am I?”

With that, he led Li Qing to the edge of Monkey Island and began quietly deploying a formation.

Li Qing frowned and leaned closer, eager to observe Xia Wushuang’s formation deployment techniques. But before he could, Xia Wushuang suddenly called out:

”Senior Monkey King, I’ve brought the human race. You can show yourself now.”

At these words, Li Qing’s pupils constricted sharply, and a chilling killing intent radiated from his body.

He was about to draw his sword and strike when he realized there was no reaction from Monkey Island.

”Heh heh, look at your face! Just kidding!”

”As a fellow human, how could I ever betray you?”

”But seriously, when you eventually travel to the Heavenly Origin Continent, don’t trust anyone too easily. Otherwise, you might end up getting sold out and even paying the seller spirit stones for the privilege!”

The perpetually mischievous Xia Wushuang didn’t even look up, his attention fully absorbed in carefully refining the hexagonal formation plate in his hands.

Soon, a hazy glow emanated from the plate, and intricate formation patterns began to spread outward, coalescing into a miniature formation.

Li Qing’s interest vanished. He said coldly, ”Fellow Daoist Xia, this joke isn’t funny. Do you realize you almost lost your life just now?”

Indeed, had Li Qing not realized it was a prank and immediately stopped his attack, Xia Wushuang would have been decapitated.

”Hahaha, I know, I know! Thank you for sparing me, Senior Li. It was all my fault!”

Xia Wushuang drove the final formation flag into the ground, clapped his hands, and the miniaturized formation was complete.

This was the first time Li Qing had ever seen such a small-scale formation, completely shattering his preconceived notions about formations.

Li Qing remained skeptical about the purpose of the small formation, wondering if it could truly serve any practical function.

”Alright, I’ll infiltrate now. We’ll move into action at nightfall.”

”The formation is in your hands. As soon as you see a signal flare in the sky, activate it immediately, understand?”

”My life depends on you! Don’t let your guard down for a moment!”

To this, Li Qing replied, ”Rest assured, This Li handles matters with utmost care.”

”Good! That’s all I needed to hear. I’m off!”

With those words, Xia Wushuang vanished into the lush vegetation of the island. His concealment techniques were astonishing; he quickly masked his presence, leaving no trace of his aura or form.

Li Qing attempted to sense him with his divine sense but found even his divine sense couldn’t detect Xia Wushuang’s presence.

”He must possess an extraordinary concealment treasure, likely of considerable rank. No wonder he dares to stir up trouble on this island.”

Before arriving, Li Qing had thoroughly investigated Monkey Island’s intelligence to ensure a safe operation.

This was indeed an island inhabited by monkey demons, ruled by a powerful monkey king in the late void refinement realm, just a step away from breaking through to the body integration realm.

In addition to the monkey king, the island was also home to several early void refinement realm monkey demons.

These formidable members of the Monkey Clan resided in the monkey settlement at the island’s center, where Monkey Wine was brewed in tree hollows hidden within the settlement.

Many had coveted the Monkey Wine, but few had ever succeeded in obtaining it, most meeting a gruesome end at the hands of the monkey demons.

On this island, even an ordinary wild monkey served as an informant for the monkey demon clan. Infiltrating the monkey settlement undetected was virtually impossible.

”This island is truly unique,” Li Qing murmured to himself. ”Not only does it have a natural flight restriction formation, but even space itself is sealed off.”

”Can such a small formation really shake the entire island?”

He submerged his consciousness into the magical formation, fully taking control of it.

He hoped to glean some knowledge of formation patterns from it, but the complexity of this miniature formation far exceeded his expectations.

The formation patterns above were intricately interwoven, densely intertwined yet remarkably orderly.

With his current understanding and mastery of formations, he couldn’t glean any new knowledge from this magical formation.

However, he sensed a subtle power within it. If fully activated, it could indeed shake the island’s natural restrictions.

As dusk gradually deepened, the last rays of twilight faded from the horizon, and the bright moon hung high in the sky.

Li Qing roused his spirit, vigilantly observing the island’s movements.

In the dense groves of Monkey Island, a figure slowly emerged.

”Damn it, the security is tight. These damn monkeys are running wild everywhere,” Xia Wushuang muttered, tugging at the blindfold on his face. Unable to fly, his stealthy infiltration had cost him considerable effort.

He stared at the monkey settlement before him, unsure how to infiltrate it. Monkey demons guarded every approach.

Within the settlement, towering trees rose from the ground, some hollowed out to form treehouses.

The Monkey Wine he sought was hidden within these treehouses, a precious spirit brew unique to Monkey Island, its value astonishingly high.

”I’ll have to search each treehouse one by one,” Xia Wushuang muttered. ”Hopefully, I can find the tree stump where the Monkey Wine is hidden soon.”

With that, he reactivated the concealment treasure he wore, completely erasing all traces of his presence.

Using the treasure’s concealment, he crept down the tree trunk and stealthily infiltrated the monkey settlement ahead.

Like other demon races, the Monkey Clan maintained a strict hierarchy. Every guard monkey was highly vigilant, constantly scanning their surroundings. Not even the slightest rustle of leaves escaped their notice.

Having already entered the monkey settlement, Xia Wushuang quietly approached a massive treehouse, where two monkey demons stood guard on either side of the entrance.

Protected by the treasure’s concealment, he could stand right in front of the guards without being detected.

But how to enter the treehouse remained a problem.

The treehouse and the giant tree formed a seamless whole, with only the main gate serving as an entrance. Now, it was heavily guarded, leaving no opportunity for infiltration.

Xia Wushuang dared not even breathe loudly, fearing he might alert the monkey horde. If he provoked a powerful monkey demon in the void refinement realm, he’d be in serious trouble.