He let out a furious roar, spat out the mud from his mouth, and quickly scrambled to his feet. Ignoring the Seven Star Immortal Zombie high in the sky, Shi Lei thought of the nearest Star Demon Bat corpse and hurried towards the location in his memory.
He took large strides and ran at full speed, smashing and trampling patches of trees flat. Seeing the Star Demon Bat's corpse still lying there in the distance, he couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
Swish, swish, swish!
Just then, three beams of golden light flew down from the sky.
The golden beams were incredibly fast and agile—they were three Flying Sword Rat Wilder Beasts.
Shi Lei let out a cold snort. Unwilling to be entangled, he raised his arms to protect his face.
Clang, clang, clang, clang…
The Flying Sword Rats' nails, long and sharp as swords, fiercely clawed at the Immortal Monkey King's massive body. However, not a drop of blood was drawn. Instead, they were completely blocked by the seemingly soft golden fur, producing the sound of metal clashing against metal.
The form Shi Lei had transformed into was inherently extremely defensive. The three Flying Sword Rats did not let him go because of this. They were small and agile, following him closely, continuously scratching and slashing at the Immortal Monkey King's body. Tufts of monkey fur fell from Shi Lei's body. Wherever Shi Lei ran, a trail of fur was left behind.
"Damn it!" Shi Lei cursed, lashing his monkey tail, sending a golden whip-shadow behind him. The Flying Sword Rats were sometimes hit by the tail and sent flying, but they would always come back, ceaselessly harassing him.
Just as he was about to reach the Star Demon Bat's corpse, a Diamond Bear ran over.
"Get out of my way!" Shi Lei was furious, clenching his fists. He swung his long arm, his fist sweeping horizontally, and his immense brute force directly knocked the heavy Diamond Bear away. The Diamond Bear flew a short distance through the air before crashing into the mountainside. It let out a muffled roar, shook its body, and although cracks appeared on its diamond-like body, it stood up again as if nothing had happened. Most Wilder Beasts had tenacious vitality and thick skin.
Shi Lei didn't want to tangle with the Diamond Bear. He was focused on retrieving his spoils and leaving. Enduring the harassment of the Flying Sword Rats, he finally reached the Star Demon Bat's corpse and reached out to grab it.
The image of the Star Demon Bat's corpse shattered, and he grabbed nothing but air.
Shi Lei reacted quickly, infuriated, and cursed loudly: "Son of a bitch! What kind of trick is this? The illusion is so realistic! Flying Bears... right, there are still Flying Bears nearby." Clinging to a sliver of hope, the golden-furred giant monkey changed direction and continued his charge.
Along the way, he encountered many Wilder Beasts blocking his path. Relying on his raw strength, he forced his way through. During this time, the Seven Star Immortal Zombie in the sky kept attacking, continuously bombarding the golden-furred giant monkey. Even though the Immortal Monkey King form was exceptionally defensive, the blasts tore open his flesh and blood.
Shi Lei finally arrived near the Flying Bear's corpse, only to see five Flying Bears surrounding it. Some were wailing in grief, others were licking the blood on the ground. One was nudging the corpse with its head, causing the image to ripple.
Seeing this, Shi Lei’s last shred of hope vanished, completely extinguishing his expectations. This was immediately followed by a surge of blazing anger: "Looks like all the Wilder Beasts I killed have probably been stolen by that sly and treacherous little thief, Fang Yuan!! These are all my things! *My* spoils! How dare he steal the property of me, the Immortal Monkey King? How long has it been since something like this happened?"
Shi Lei's enormous body immediately drew the attention of the Flying Bears.
Roar, roar, roar!
The five Flying Bears' eyes turned bloodshot, and they all pounced on the golden-furred giant monkey.
Shi Lei had no mind to fight them. At this point, he knew he couldn't get anything good, so he immediately wanted to escape from here. Although the Lord of Ten Thousand Phenomena was dead, and Shi Lei had lost his means to enter and exit the Starry Cavern Heaven, he knew the location of the crack in that heaven. As long as he found that spot and used brute force, he could blast out an even bigger hole and connect to the outside world of the Central Continent.
Shi Lei immediately changed direction, but discovered that five Flying Bears were charging at him from the front. On his left, three Red Rabbit Divine Steeds were rapidly approaching. To his right floated a massive Ghost Face Turtle, and behind him were seven Star Wasteland Hounds. In just a short moment, he was completely surrounded by Wilder Beasts.
Shi Lei tried to shoot straight up into the sky, but when he looked up, he saw three Wilder Beasts circling overhead: an Iron Crown Eagle, a Nine Palace Crane, and a Qi Sect Lion. Besides them, the Seven Star Immortal Zombie was poised to strike. "Three Wilder Beasts are manageable, but the real problem is that Immortal Zombie..." A glimmer of wariness flashed in the golden-furred giant monkey's enormous golden pupils.
He lowered his head, swept his gaze around, and decided to break through to the right. To his right was a Ghost Face Turtle, as huge as three mountains, hovering leisurely in mid-air. It was the largest, and turning was difficult for it. If the Seven Star Immortal Zombie continued its bombardment, Shi Lei could use the Ghost Face Turtle's massive body as a shield and cover!
Shi Lei made up his mind and immediately strode towards the Ghost Face Turtle. The golden-furred giant monkey he had transformed into was one and a half times larger than Fang Yuan's Eight-Armed Immortal Zombie. But in front of the Ghost Face Turtle, it was like a marble in front of a wolfhound.
The Ghost Face Turtle let out a whimper, and countless soul-beasts surged out from the pitted shell on its back. The deep blue soul-beasts quickly formed an army, densely filling the sky, rushing towards the golden-furred giant monkey like a tidal wave.
Shi Lei charged against the tide, his fists flying, sweeping aside all the soul-beasts blocking his path. The defensive power of his golden fur was extremely high. The soul-beasts, though ferocious in appearance, were ruthlessly slaughtered. Shi Lei, on the contrary, used the soul-beast army to separate himself from the pursuing Wilder Beasts. Only the three Flying Sword Rats continued to hound him, inflicting countless minor wounds.