Mortal: I'm in Tianxing City, intelligence updates daily.

Being mocked by a beast ignited a fire of anger in Li Shizhou's heart.

However, he was not blinded by greed. Qi Boyuan's whereabouts were currently unknown, and killing this monster would inevitably come at a great cost, leaving him unable to fight again.

During their brief exchange, Li Shizhou discovered that although the monster possessed immense strength, it was not particularly agile on its feet.

After cultivating the Pure Yang Technique, he became agile and had the added advantage of the Spirit Boots, making it the best strategy to deal with this fiend.

In that instant, Li Shizhou made his decision.

With a thought, a suit of silver armor covered his entire body, and he infused his spirit boots with magic power. Then, he put away the talisman and the silver sword, turned around, and ran away.

Upon seeing this, the originally leisurely red-browed black ape's expression changed, and it pounced towards Li Shizhou with a kick of its legs.

Li Shizhou easily dodged with a swift movement, and the man and the beast began a chase inside the cave.

He only used half of his strength in his footwork, and the monster couldn't catch up. It roared angrily and could only pick up stones to throw at him.

Li Shizhou dodged while pondering.

Qi Boyuan went to such great lengths, there must be Blood Spirit Fruit inside the cave. It is highly likely that he used Qi Boyuan to restrain the demon beasts so that he could go and pick the fruit himself, and then take advantage of the chaos to leave the cave.

From the moment the Red-browed Black Ape appeared to the time it took to block the passage, less than half a cup of tea's time had passed. Qi Boyuan should still be inside the cave, perhaps even nearby.

Thinking of this, Li Shizhou channeled his magical power into his eyes and began to use the "Spirit-Seeking Technique".

A moment later, a red light flashed in his eyes, and whenever he had a spare moment, he would scan his surroundings.

But after searching inside the cave for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, they still hadn't seen anyone, and they began to feel anxious.

"Could Qi Boyuan's black cloak be a rare treasure?"

Thinking of this possibility, Li Shizhou glanced at the blocked passage, and a flash of inspiration struck him. After dodging the flying boulder, he ran deeper into the cave.

After making several turns and running for about twenty feet, they stopped and continued to fight the pursuing monsters.

He pricked up his ears, listening carefully to the sounds coming from the passage. He did this because if the black cloak was a rare treasure, it would definitely consume a lot of magical power, and Qi Boyuan would not be able to hold on for long.

With the passage blocked, Qi Boyuan would have to break the rocks to get out, which would certainly cause a great commotion.

That's why he lured the monster away so that it would show itself.

Sure enough, after only a short while, faint cracking sounds could be heard from outside.

Li Shizhou breathed a sigh of relief. The spirit boots on his feet not only increased his movement speed, but also made no sound when he walked.

With a swift change of direction, he shook off the red-browed black ape and silently rushed back.

Upon arriving at the location and taking a closer look, Qi Boyuan was wielding a high-level magical artifact, a golden mace, striking the rocks blocking the passage.

The hard stone turned into powder like tofu dregs.

Just as the passage was about to be opened, Li Shizhou was about to intervene when he heard a whooshing sound behind him.

He dodged to the side, and when he looked back, he saw a huge rock flying through the air and hurtling towards Qi Boyuan.

Qi Boyuan noticed the strange thing behind him, turned around and slightly moved his fingers, and the three-foot-long golden mace shattered the flying boulder into pieces.

At the same time, the red-browed black ape behind Li Shizhou roared and abandoned him, rushing towards Qi Boyuan.

Seeing this, Qi Boyuan showed no panic. He took out a black tortoise-shaped shield and held it in front of him, while his golden mace slashed at the red-browed ink ape.

Although the golden mace was powerful and heavy, its speed was far inferior to that of a flying sword.

The red-browed black ape first leaped towards the cave wall, and then kicked off the cave wall with a sudden force.

He dodged the attack and then leaped to Qi Boyuan's side using the cave wall, smashing the tortoise-shaped shield with a punch that made it vibrate incessantly.

The monster seemed to have gone mad, its punches were much harder than before.

Qi Boyuan spun his golden mace in the air and slashed at the back of the red-browed ink ape.

The beast didn't dodge at all, only kept swinging its fists. Even after taking a blow to the back with the golden mace, it didn't stop. Blood seeped from the corner of its mouth, and its eyes seemed to be burning with fierce flames.

Although Qi Boyuan's tortoise-shaped shield was also a high-level magic weapon, its spiritual light began to dim after taking seven or eight punches.

Before him stood a mountain of crimson-browed black apes, and behind him was a blocked passage. There was nowhere to move, and sooner or later his shield would shatter and he would die.

Seeing this, Li Shizhou did not stand idly by. Letting the man and the beast wear each other down was the best solution at the moment.

He swung his arm, leaving afterimages, and in the blink of an eye, he unleashed five fireball talismans, which blasted the red-browed ink ape into a stagger.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qi Boyuan bent down and rolled on the ground, crawling out from under the monster's crotch and running towards Li Shizhou.

"Shi Zhou, thank you for your help."

"Of course."

Now is not the time to turn against each other, so Li Shizhou pretended not to know anything about what had happened before.

While the two were talking, the red-browed black ape had already caught up.

Of the two people and one beast inside the cave, Qi Boyuan was the slowest. He was caught up in no time and fought with the monster.

"Uncle Qi, I'm here to help you."

Li Shizhou shouted loudly from the side, but did not make a move; instead, he watched the show from the sidelines.

Qi Boyuan could no longer hold on, so he harassed the Crimson-browed Ink Ape again. Since he was not seriously injured, he continued to stand by and watch.

This process repeated itself for about half an incense stick's time, until cracks appeared on Qi Boyuan's shield.

Meanwhile, the Red-browed Black Ape's aura began to decline, and the poison in the berry finally took effect.

Qi Boyuan was overjoyed at the sight. He took out talismans to aid his defense while simultaneously manipulating his golden mace to attack.

After another dozen or so breaths, the red-browed black ape's steps became sluggish.

Qi Boyuan seized the opportunity and slammed his golden mace into the face of the demon beast. The huge head exploded instantly, and blood, flesh, brain matter, and bone fragments flew everywhere.

The headless corpse of the red-browed black ape staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Qi Boyuan wiped the blood off the golden mace, took out a pill and swallowed it, then bent down and began to cut off the hides of the demon beasts.

"Shi Zhou, you also contributed, so let's split this ape skin in half."

"Uncle Qi killed the monster, so I won't take credit for it. After you finish cutting, let's go pick the Blood Spirit Fruit."

Qi Boyuan remained silent, slowly finished cutting the ape skin, then looked up and sneered, "Blood Spirit Fruit? You're not worthy of it."

Unexpectedly, the other party turned hostile so quickly, Li Shizhou stopped pretending: "You want to take it all for yourself? Could it be that the previous truth-telling talisman was fake?"

"The truth talisman is indeed real. If you were truly my nephew Shi Zhou, you would have a Blood Spirit Fruit. Unfortunately, you are not."

Li Shizhou was startled upon hearing this. Qi Boyuan seemed to have seen through his identity, but he was unsure whether he was bluffing.

So he said sternly, "What nonsense are you spouting? If you're going to go back on your word, at least come up with a better excuse."

"Hmph, my sister-in-law was skilled at raising spirit snakes when she was alive. Shi Zhou has been accompanied by spirit snakes since childhood. He uses large snakes as his mount and small snakes as his belt. His eyes light up whenever he sees a long snake. But you are the complete opposite."

At this point, Li Shizhou's doubts were resolved. He never expected that his instinctive reaction on the wooden boat that day would reveal his possession and rebirth.

With no room for maneuver, he threw a fireball talisman at Qi Boyuan, turned and ran into the depths of the cave, while rapidly forming hand seals to cast the "Spirit Erosion Technique".

"Don't run away, give me back my nephew's life!"

Li Shizhou turned a corner, ran for less than a breath, then stopped and turned around abruptly.

At this moment, Qi Boyuan was within three zhang of him, with a black tortoise-shaped shield in front of him and a three-foot-long golden mace hovering to his side.

Li Shizhou waved his hand, and a gray mist rushed towards the opposite side, followed closely by a sword light talisman.

The distance was too close to avoid; wherever Qi Boyuan's shield was touched by the gray mist, it immediately turned grayish-white, like weathered rock.

The shield, already cracked from the attack by the Crimson-browed Ink Ape, was now corroded and pierced through by a sword beam, heading straight for Qi Boyuan's chest.

Qi Boyuan was startled, but he was also a seasoned veteran. In the blink of an eye, he managed to shift his body half a foot to the right.

Although he dodged the fatal blow, most of his left arm was severed by the sword light, leaving only a bit of skin and flesh connecting the arm, which hung limply from side to side.

With a single, decisive blow, Li Shizhou took out a golden hammer the size of an adult's head, donned silver armor, and strode to Qi Boyuan in three steps, raising the hammer to strike.

"when"

The golden hammer was blocked by a giant golden bell.

At the critical moment, Qi Boyuan summoned the Golden Bell Talisman. He endured the excruciating pain, his eyes hardened, and he tore off the swaying arm and threw it aside.

With Li Shizhou's strength, and the fact that the Golden Hammer was a remnant of a top-tier magic weapon, he shattered the giant bell in just three blows.

Qi Boyuan was quick; before the giant bell shattered, he applied a hemostatic talisman and took out a cyan bead, which, with a flick of his finger, transformed into a semi-transparent protective shield to protect himself.

This bead was only a mid-level magic artifact, and its spiritual light dimmed after only a few breaths.

Although Qi Boyuan used talismans to counterattack, they were all blocked by the silver armor.

He was a real man; he showed no fear whatsoever from beginning to end. The moment the protective shield shattered, he roared, "Damn you, God, you're unfair!"

After breaking through the protective barrier, Li Shizhou smashed Qi Boyuan in the chest with his hammer.

Qi Boyuan was immediately sent flying more than ten feet away, his chest caved in several inches, and he was already dead when he landed.

Li Shizhou ignited a ball of flame on the corpse while simultaneously snatching the storage bag into his hand.

Only after the corpse had burned to ashes did he put away the golden hammer and the silver armor.

"What is this?"

A black jade tablet, about two fingers wide, remained intact amidst the flames.

Li Shizhou took the jade pendant into his hand and was about to examine it when suddenly a green ball of light flew out of the jade pendant and flew straight at his face.

"Oh no, possession."

He had barely finished speaking when his vision went black and he fainted.