The Birth of the Black Monkey King

[The black stone the Star Apes gave you in gratitude for rescuing their Crown Prince has finally come in handy after gathering dust in the warehouse for more than a hundred years.]

[Nothing from the simulations can be brought out.]

[No matter how powerful this thing is, it’ll be completely useless if you don’t use it before you die.]

[If Ji Baiming, an Eighth-Order Immortal Lord, couldn’t beat Jinhai, you never imagined that even an Immortal King would lose to him—let alone one from the Ancient Divine Beast race!]

[However, crushing this black stone won’t be easy.]

[When we say “crush,” we really mean unseal it.]

[There is an Immortal King of the Star Ape race sealed inside this stone.]

[Sun Xiaosheng and the others gave you a spell for unsealing it.]

[The spell itself isn’t complicated. It simply requires a massive amount of divine power and a little time.]

[The moment Jinhai saw the black stone in your hand, he reacted. He was deeply wary of it.]

[He not only invoked his law once again, but also activated his racial talent—Dragon Transformation!]

“Roar!!”

[The earth-shaking dragon roar made everyone turn their heads in shock and terror.]

[Jinhai transformed into a golden divine dragon more than ten thousand meters long.]

[Golden light gathered inside the dragon’s mouth. He intended to blast you into oblivion right then and there!]

[Jinhai moved too quickly. Ji Baiming no longer had time to block the attack for you.]

[At this critical moment, inspiration struck.]

“Roar!!!”

[A stunning scene unfolded—you transformed into a dragon as well!]

[A divine dragon covered in crimson scales, with fiery clouds beneath its feet!]

[In terms of length, you were inferior to Jinhai.]

[This probably had something to do with your realms.]

[Your move terrified the entire Peace Army.]

[Dragon Transformation? That was clearly the mark of the Sacred Dragon race!]

[What was the Sacred Dragon race?]

[The most noble race in the entire Heavenly River star system!]

[Every Sacred Dragon was born with a noble status above all the myriad races.]

[Forget attacking a Sacred Dragon—touching one or even looking at one could be judged a crime!]

[Well, that settled it. The entire Peace Army stopped fighting.]

[What was the point of continuing?]

[After all that, it turned out to be an internal squabble among their own people.]

[They could claim that this was a life-or-death battle, but if they actually killed a Sacred Dragon, they would definitely be convicted.]

[Jinhai also halted his attack.]

[He was just as confused.]

[He was certain that you were not a member of the Sacred Dragon race. At his level, he didn’t know every Sacred Dragon personally, but he could say with certainty that there was no one like you on Vermilion Star.]

[And yet, whether he used divine arts or laws, he couldn’t see through your disguise.]

[It was as though you truly were a Sacred Dragon.]

[Ji Wuqing and Ji Baiming were baffled as well.]

“Nephew, are you a double agent?”

“No. Chen Yi is definitely human. This is probably just another one of his bizarre tricks…”

[Jinhai demanded an explanation from you, but you said nothing. You simply accelerated the unsealing spell.]

[To be cautious, Jinhai decided not to kill you outright. Capturing you alive would be better.]

“Seize this human!”

[No one moved.]

“You idiots! There’s no way he’s one of our noble Sacred Dragons!”

[Still, no one moved.]

[Jinhai was so furious he nearly cursed them out.]

“Capture Ji Wuqing!”

[This time, everyone moved.]

[The Sacred Dragon race was untouchable. Humans, however, were fair game.]

[You returned to human form and continued unsealing the stone as quickly as possible.]

[Although Jinhai wasn’t trying to kill you, he was still doing everything he could to stop you from completing the unsealing.]

[With the boost from the “Leader’s Aura,” Ji Baiming fought with everything he had to hold Jinhai back.]

[Fortunately, the Ji family had a profound foundation. Defensive, life-saving, restraining, illusionary—divine arts of every kind emerged one after another.]

[Ji Baiming couldn’t defeat Jinhai, but he could still delay him for a while.]

[Ji Wuqing dealt with the Peace Army.]

[She was already an Immortal Lord, and with the support of the “Leader’s Aura,” the Peace Army posed no threat to her.]

[The unsealing process didn’t take long.]

[Accompanied by a faint yet clearly audible sound of stone cracking, the seal was broken.]

“Crack…”

[Countless fissures appeared across the small black stone in your hand.]

[The black stone was no longer under your control. It flew into the sky on its own.]

[Black beams of light erupted from the fissures, extending endlessly in every direction!]

“Rumble!!!”

[With a thunderous boom, the stone shattered completely. Black light spread across the sky, blotting out the sunlight.]

[Within those black beams of light, a tall figure gradually came into focus.]

[For some reason, you suddenly seemed to hear that classic music that always accompanies the Great Sage’s entrance—the “Little Knife Society Overture.”]

[Jinhai turned strands of karmic connection into chains, bound Ji Baiming, and threw him aside.]

[Just as he was about to attack you, he witnessed the black stone being unsealed.]

“Not good! He’s coming out!”

[When all the black beams of light converged, and the figure emerged from blurred shadows into full clarity—]

[An invincible force exploded outward. A black shock wave swept across everything within a radius of ten thousand miles.]

[People from every faction were sent tumbling through the air.]

[All the onlookers were caught in the blast and forcibly driven back to the ground.]

[The Peace Army fell into chaos, their formation completely shattered.]

[The Ji family’s ancestral grounds suffered as well. Not a single city remained intact.]

[Only Jinhai and Ji Baiming were unaffected by the shock wave.]

“Clang!”

[It was the crisp sound of metal striking metal.]

[A pitch-black staff appeared in the hand of the figure who had emerged from the stone.]

[You took a closer look.]

[He resembled the Star Ape race, with the face of a hairy monkey and the mouth of a thunder-god spirit.]

[There was one difference, however.]

[He had normal facial features and body proportions, with no extra eyes or ears.]

[His fur was pitch-black, and the skin on his face, hands, and other exposed areas was dark as well.]

[His eyes, however, glowed red.]

[He wore a suit of armor, but it was battered and tattered, as though it had been burned by fire, with many pieces missing.]

[You had no idea whether the soot-black marks on his face were from being scorched.]

“Finally… we’re out!!”

[The Black Monkey King spoke his first words.]

[The moment he opened his mouth, a wisp of green smoke came out, as though he had really just been burned.]

[There was no time to admire the Divine Monkey’s emergence. If you kept watching, you would be the one in trouble, because Jinhai had charged over again.]

“Black Monkey King! Help me take down this Sacred Dragon Immortal Lord!”

[You were so anxious that smoke practically came out of your nostrils. The Black Monkey King, however, lay down on a dark cloud. He shrank the enormous iron staff in his hand to the size of a toothpick, then used it to pick his nose while looking at you.]

“Kid, who the hell are you?”

“I’m the one who unsealed you! I did you a huge favor!”

“Bullshit. We should’ve been released ages ago. You just opened a door—how does that count as a favor?”

“Damn it! Sun Xiaosheng set me up!”

[You had already suspected as much. How could those sly monkeys possibly give you an Immortal King for nothing?]

[So it really was just a favor that cost them nothing!]