Immortal Druid

It had been a few days since I began my earnest exploration of the Emerald Verdant Forest. Willow had already left some time ago, returning to the Willow Order. That left only me and Roo traveling together through the endless sea of green.

“This place is weird,” Roo complained for perhaps the fiftieth time that day as he hopped over a fallen trunk. “Too many vines. Too many bugs. Too many monkeys. Your forest was better.”

I glanced back at him. “You’ve spent half the journey punching wildlife.”

“That’s because the wildlife here keeps looking at me funny.”

“They’re animals, Roo.”

“So am I.”

“…Fair point.”

The Emerald Verdant Forest differed greatly from my forest. My territory had a calmer atmosphere, perhaps because my druidic powers unconsciously influenced the environment over time. This place felt older, wilder, and significantly more hostile. Even the trees seemed to compete against one another for sunlight. Thick roots twisted over the earth like giant serpents, while the canopy above swallowed much of the sky.

“Break time,” I announced.

Roo immediately dropped onto the ground with exaggerated relief. “Finally. Sage Wo Li has shown mercy.”

Ignoring him, I searched for a suitable tree before activating Nature’s Stride. The world blurred into flowing green qi, and I reappeared atop a tall branch near the upper canopy. The trunk behind me was thick enough to comfortably lean against, so I settled there and pulled out my parchment.

Over the past several days, I had been creating a detailed map of the Emerald Verdant Forest.

Flying overhead in eagle form gave me an excellent bird’s-eye view of the region, but aerial observation alone lacked detail. Rivers hidden beneath dense foliage, beast trails, underground caves, medicinal herb clusters, and territorial boundaries were easier to identify while traveling directly through the forest itself.

Carefully, I marked another section onto the parchment.

Below me, I heard a loud cry.

“BLOW JAB!”

A violent gust exploded somewhere nearby.

“BLOW JAB! BLOW JAB!”

I rubbed my forehead.

Roo had apparently decided that “break time” meant “martial arts training.”

The kangaroo was currently punching a tree at terrifying speed while hopping around in circles like an overexcited disciple who had consumed too many spirit herbs.

“BLOW JAB!”

THUD!

“BLOW JAB!”

THUD!

I sighed deeply.

I already began regretting inviting Roo along on this adventure.

It seemed Zhen Ai’s education was not working, huh?

…No, that was unfair.

I should be more patient.

After all, I genuinely wanted Roo to grow stronger. One day, he would likely become a guardian beast of the forest. Zhen Ai’s teachings would undoubtedly prove valuable for him in the future. Cultivation was not solely about strength. Wisdom, discipline, and understanding mattered equally.

That said, we also could not neglect Roo’s combat training.

Beasts cultivated differently from humans. They relied more heavily on instinct, survival, and overcoming their inherent limitations. In many ways, beast cultivation resembled evolution itself. Each battle, each hardship, and each adaptation refined their bodies further.

Unfortunately, Roo seemed to believe this meant screaming attack names at maximum volume.

“BLOW JAB!”

“Roo,” I called tiredly, “inside voices.”

“THE WAY OF THE BOUND SKY STRIDER REQUIRES PASSION!”

“I’m beginning to hate that technique.”

Before Roo could defend his martial pride, another voice suddenly erupted nearby.

“HEY! YOU! LEAF-STEALING TREE-HUGGER!”

I slowly lowered my brush.

A yellow-furred monkey stood several branches away from me. He was roughly at the Foundation Establishment realm, though his qi felt unstable and aggressive. Veins bulged across his arms as he pointed furiously at me.

“That’s my tree!” he screeched. “Get your skinny bark-loving backside off it before I kick your teeth into the dirt!”

I blinked.

The monkey continued without pause.

“You ugly moss-sniffing branch parasite! Looking at your face makes me want to gouge my eyes out! What kind of idiot sits around drawing leaves on paper?!”

…Wow.

Even by human standards, his vocabulary was remarkably colorful.

“You overgrown squirrel with mange! Your mother probably dropped you from the canopy as a child!”

I genuinely felt impressed. If ordinary humans could understand beast speech, this monkey would probably make a lot of people blush. Without warning, the monkey launched himself at me with a flying kick.

I casually activated Nature’s Stride.

The monkey crashed through empty air as I reappeared on another branch several meters away.

Unfortunately for him, Roo happened to be standing exactly where he landed.

The kangaroo’s eyes widened with delight.

“WAY OF THE BOUND SKY STRIDER!”

Roo delivered a devastating flying kick directly into the monkey’s stomach.

BOOM!

The monkey shot through the trees like a yellow meteor before crashing through several branches.

I calmly returned my attention to the parchment.

Below me, violence continued.

“BLOW JAB!”

THUD!

“BLOW JAB!”

THUD!

“FOOT JAB!”

“EEK—!”

“BACK SHOTS! BACK SHOTS!”

A terrible image suddenly formed in my mind.

I froze.

“…Damn it.”

“BACK SHOTS!”

“PIPE DOWN, ROO!” I shouted. “I CAN’T CONCENTRATE!”

“THEN YOUR MIND IS WEAK!” Roo shouted back immediately.

Something inside me snapped. Nature’s Stride activated instantly. One moment I sat on the branch. The next, I stood behind Roo with my staff already raised.

WHACK!

“GAH!”

WHACK!

“SAGE WO LI, WAIT!”

WHACK!

Roo shrieked and immediately began running in circles around the trees while I chased after him.

“THIS IS DISCIPLINE!” I roared.

“THIS IS ABUSE!”

WHACK!

“STOP HITTING ME!”

“You yelled ‘back shots’ five times!”

“I WAS IN THE ZONE!”

“You’re about to enter the afterlife!”

Roo screamed and leaped between branches with tears streaming down his face.

“SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!”

“Too late!”

“PLEASE! MY CULTIVATION WILL DROP!”

“GOOD!”

The entire chase devolved into something resembling a ridiculous cartoon. Roo bounced between trees while I repeatedly used Nature’s Stride to cut him off. Every time he thought he escaped, I appeared directly in front of him and smacked him with the staff again.

Eventually, Roo collapsed dramatically onto the ground.

“I can’t feel my tail…”

“Oh, don’t be dramatic.”

“I CAN’T FEEL MY SPIRITUAL TAIL!”

I planted one foot firmly on his belly while holding the staff over my shoulder.

Only then did I remember the monkey.

The yellow-furred beast stared at us with absolute horror.

His entire body trembled violently.

“T-That beast is terrifying,” he whispered.

Roo weakly raised a paw. “See? Even enemies respect me—”

“But you…” The monkey pointed at me with shaking fingers. “You beat him up without hesitation! You’re a demonic beast!”

I frowned.

“That feels unnecessarily harsh.”

The monkey immediately shut his mouth.

Honestly, the past few days had been somewhat frustrating. The beasts of the Emerald Verdant Forest were not very talkative. Every attempt I made at peaceful conversation usually ended with threats, screaming, or attempted murder.

Sometimes all three simultaneously.

I looked toward the monkey.

“Who’s the ruling beast of this forest?”

The monkey’s eyes widened, and he immediately turned around and tried to flee.

“…Rude.”

I raised one hand.

“Entanglement.”

Thick roots burst from the earth and wrapped around the monkey’s limbs before he could escape more than a few meters. He shrieked as the roots dragged him upside down from a branch.

“LET ME GO!”

I stepped closer while Roo remained sprawled on the ground behind me, still pretending to be fatally wounded.

“We can do this the easy way,” I said calmly, “or I can let Roo continue practicing the Way of the Bound Sky Strider on you.”

Roo weakly lifted his head.

“…Back shots?” he offered hopefully.

The monkey began screaming in terror.

Up until now, I never really considered interrogating the beasts of the Emerald Verdant Forest.

Mostly because they had not actually bothered me much.

Sure, several tried to attack me on sight, but that was fairly normal behavior for territorial spirit beasts. I simply beat them up a little and moved on with my day. None of them ever attempted conversation beyond insults and threats.

But now that I thought about it more carefully…

What were the chances that their refusal to speak proper dialogue with me had been deliberate?

I glanced toward Roo, who still remained sprawled dramatically on the ground in his “mortally wounded” pose.

“Roo,” I called, “do you like eating monkey for dinner?”

The monkey immediately froze.

Roo blinked lazily at me. “Not really. I like grass better than monkey.”

To emphasize his point, the kangaroo casually plucked a nearby patch of grass and began chewing while still lying on his back in submission.

The monkey stared at him in disbelief.

“You’ll get nothing out of me!” the monkey suddenly shouted. “Just kill me already!”

I frowned slightly.

I could certainly use heavier methods if necessary. Mental techniques, soul pressure, intimidation, pain. Cultivators had invented countless unpleasant ways to extract information. And my cultivator friends wouldn’t even bat an eye if I requested such a thing.

But honestly?

The monkey had not actually done anything wrong.

Well, aside from attempting to kick me off a tree while hurling enough profanity to spiritually poison the surrounding forest.

Still, that hardly justified torture.

I sighed and waved my hand.

The roots loosened immediately before sinking back into the earth. The monkey dropped onto the branch with a startled yelp before scrambling backward several meters. 

“Ha ha ha~! I am free, you stupid!”

The monkey immediately turned around and bolted deeper into the forest.

Roo lifted his head in confusion.

“Why’d you let him go?” he complained. “I just lost a sparring partner for the day.”

“Get up,” I told him. “We’re following him.”

Without hesitation, I activated Wild Shape.

My body shrank rapidly as feathers burst across my skin. A moment later, I leaped from the branch in eagle form and soared upward into the canopy.

The cool wind swept across my feathers as I climbed higher above the forest.

Below me, the monkey moved surprisingly quickly through the trees. His small frame darted between branches while using dense foliage as cover.

A familiar voice suddenly echoed directly into my mind.

“I got eyes on the monkey.”

I blinked in surprise.

Roo’s sound transmission was rough and somewhat clumsy, but it was unmistakably sound transmission.

I felt genuinely impressed.

Spirit beasts generally were not known for their learning abilities. Their strengths usually lay in instinctive combat and physical cultivation rather than delicate spiritual techniques. The fact Roo could already use sound transmission despite his terrible attention span was honestly remarkable.

Perhaps Zhen Ai’s teachings really were working.

“Keep your distance,” I transmitted back. “Just follow him.”

“Understood.”

There was a brief pause.

“Can I punch him if he notices me?”

“No.”

“…What if he insults me first?”

“No.”

“What if he—”

“No, Roo.”

“…Tyranny.”

I ignored him and continued gliding above the canopy.

Eventually, the monkey slowed down near a particularly dense section of the forest. From my earlier observations and mapping, I immediately recognized the region.

It was monkey territory.

The trees here were thicker and interconnected by hanging vines. Fruit-bearing plants grew abundantly across the area, while crude nests and wooden platforms rested high among the branches.

I landed quietly atop a branch while maintaining my eagle form.

Below me, the yellow-furred monkey burst into a clearing while panting heavily.

“I survived!” he cried dramatically. “I escaped the pointy ears!”

Several nearby monkeys immediately gathered around him.

“The idiot got caught!”

“You probably tripped over your own tail!”

“Pointy ears?” another monkey snorted. “What’d he do? Get bullied by another squirrel?”

“I’m serious!” the monkey protested. “There was a terrifying weird rat-thing and a terrifying-er tree demon!”

The other monkeys burst into laughter.

“You expect us to believe that?”

“You probably lost another fight and made up stories!”

“Did the pointy ears steal your fruit too?”

“No! Listen to me! The rat-thing kept yelling ‘back shots!’”

Several monkeys nearly fell off the branches laughing.

“Idiot!”

“Your cultivation really damaged your brain!”

“I think he hit his head!”

The yellow monkey nearly cried from frustration.

Suddenly, there was a resounding THUMP.

A powerful pressure spread through the clearing.

The monkeys instantly quieted.

An old monkey slowly emerged from deeper within the territory. His fur had turned gray with age, and patches of balding skin showed across his scalp. He carried a long wooden staff polished smooth through decades of use.

Core Formation realm.

A rather stable one too.

The old monkey struck the ground once more with his staff.

THUMP.

The surrounding monkeys immediately straightened themselves.

Abruptly, the entire clearing erupted into excited monkey noises.

“OOH OOH OOH!”

“ELDER MONKE!”

“ELDER MONKE HAS COME!”

Several monkeys began wildly thumping branches while others bounced excitedly around the clearing. Oddly enough, they seemed genuinely happy to see him.

The elder monkey calmly raised one hand and the clearing immediately quieted.

Interesting.

That level of authority was not something ordinary beasts possessed.

I narrowed my eagle eyes slightly.

“Stay where you are,” I transmitted quietly to Roo.

“Aw.”

Below me, Elder Monke slowly surveyed the gathered monkeys as he slowly spoke in their native monkey tongue.

“The time has come.”

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Gone was the previous laughter and mockery.

Every monkey stared at him seriously.

“The Master of the Forest has given her decree,” Elder Monke continued solemnly. “The expanding forest outside the secret realm continues to encroach upon our sacred lands.”

Murmurs spread among the monkeys.

“The Willow Order has broken the laws established by our ancestors,” he declared. “They opened this secret realm without permission from the Master of the Forest.”

The old monkey slammed his staff against the ground.

THUMP.

“They must be taught a lesson.”

A wave of aggressive screeches answered him.

“We shall show no mercy to the humans who trespass upon our land without our master’s permission!”

The monkeys roared loudly in approval.

I remained completely still atop the branch.

…Well.

This was suddenly far more serious than I initially expected.

I was fairly certain the “Master of the Forest” they referred to was not me, which meant there was definitely a ruling entity somewhere within this secret realm that I didn’t know of. I’ve made quite a few rounds already, and didn’t feel anything that pop out from the forest, so they must be able to hide there spiritual pressure quite well.

Not only that, but these monkeys clearly possessed an established society. Leadership. Laws. Shared history. Territorial governance.

And apparently diplomacy.

Or war councils.

The thought unsettled me more than I expected.

War was fundamentally a very human concept. Certainly, animals fought each other constantly over territory, mates, and survival. Even ants conducted organized warfare.

But this?

This felt different.

There was ideology behind it, purpose, ancestral law, and what I believed to be political grievance. There awareness of the Willow Order for one thing, indicated knowledge of the cultivation world or perhaps a past relationship with them.

Moreover, the monkeys were not merely acting on instinct. They were discussing invasion and retaliation with frightening clarity.

Which raised an even larger question.

What were the chances these monkeys were the only beasts inside this secret realm to develop civilization?

If one group formed societies, established laws, and organized politically?

Then others probably had as well.

A cold realization slowly settled into my mind. The Emerald Verdant Forest might not simply be a dangerous secret realm. It might be an entire hidden world!

Elder Monke raised his staff once more.

“In three days’ time,” he declared, “I shall convene with the chiefs of the other beast clans alongside the Master of the Forest herself!”

The monkeys erupted into excited cries.

“We will discuss the fate of the invaders!”

“We will reclaim what is ours!”

“No mercy to the outsiders!”

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!