Longevity by Grinding Skills

The two fruits he'd eaten at noon had been completely tasteless. Thinking back now, he couldn't even recall their flavor. Wukong, naturally, couldn't stop thinking about it.

In a flash, an unbearably itchy, monkey-like expression appeared on Wukong's face. He scratched his ears and cheeks and said, "Aiyaya, just talking about it is making my mouth water."

"So many fruits hanging on that tree, all bright red and fragrant."

"We're honored guests, and we're doing hard work on our master's behalf. The Observatory Master letting us eat a few was to build good rapport. If we eat a few more, well, that's just him being a thorough host."

"The way I see it, the Observatory Master must be a hospitable man. How could he be so stingy?! Come on, let's go! It's easier to get things done under the cover of darkness. We'll go snag a few more to satisfy this craving. I'll handle Master myself."

Wuneng and Wujing exchanged a look, their eyes filled with both desire and a hint of hesitation.

Sha Wujing hesitated. "Eldest Brother, this... I don't think we should. Master already gave us strict orders not to entertain any improper ideas."

Wuneng gulped. Although he was desperate with cravings, he was also worried. "Brother Monkey, this is a True Monarch Dojo, after all. If we steal... no, if we go *pick* more, won't we make them angry?"

Wukong immediately glared, giving them a look of profound disappointment.

"Bah! You two cowards! What do you mean, 'steal'? This is called 'gathering'! We've been running around all day without a single grain of rice, and we're starving and parched."

"This whole garden of fruit is for honored guests to quench their thirst and sate their hunger. We brothers just arrived this morning, and we haven't had a proper meal yet."

"They can't possibly expect us to starve to death, can they?! Let's go, let's go! I'm taking responsibility! What is there to be afraid of!"

Wukong, of course, had not yet tamed his restless "heart-monkey." With just a little prodding, his true nature was let loose.

Xu Yunfan, meanwhile, was making precise calculations.

'I've already memorized the locations of the four core Immortal Peaches. I have to get Wukong to grab them as quickly as possible.'

'As for the others... every extra one is a bonus. Whether it's for me to condense my Divine Dao Foundation or for Clone Wukong, all this Gang Evil Qi will be incredibly useful!'

At this thought, Xu Yunfan couldn't help but sigh.

In the end, it was all a matter of one's background.

Just look. A single True Monarch from the Primordial Sect could pull off so many schemes, while low-level Cultivators would beat each other to a pulp for a single wisp of the essence of Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends.

It was the same old story: the rich feast while the poor starve.

Xu Yunfan couldn't help but sigh. He wondered when he'd finally get to slaughter a fat sheep and make himself rich.

Back at the observatory, goaded on by Wukong and tempted by the delicious prospect before them, what little hesitation Wuneng and Wujing had was instantly swept away.

"Alright! Let's do it!"

"We'll listen to Eldest Brother!"

The two responded in unison, their eyes glinting with avarice.

As Demon Fiends, even though Sanzang had taken them in as disciples, how could their fundamental natures be so easily changed?

Besides, it wasn't like they were murdering someone or setting a fire. They were just eating some fruit.

What was the big deal?

「Around midnight, under a bleak moon.」

Three figures slipped silently out of the guest rooms and, following the now-familiar path, crept back to the Central Courtyard where the Immortal Peach Tree grew.

In the darkness of night, the gnarled, ancient peach tree appeared even more wondrous. The radiant Immortal Peaches nestled among its branches and leaves glittered like stars, emitting an alluring fragrance and the fluctuations of a pure Heaven and Earth Evil Qi Origin.

Wukong had already locked onto his targets.

He moved like a bolt of lightning, with no need to search as carefully as Qingfeng Mingyue had during the day.

He vaulted between the branches a few times, his claws a blur. With unerring precision, he snatched the four Immortal Peaches that respectively contained the auras of the "Celestial Spirit of Divine Sky Purple Mansion's Destruction," the "Earth Evil of the Nine Heavens Profound Vault Prison Guardian," the "Taiyi Qingyuan Demonic Purification Evil Qi," and the "All Heaven Star Pivot Golden Gang." In the blink of an eye, he swallowed them whole.

Before they even entered his mouth, the four fruits were teleported by the Cloud Scripture Exchange Technique into Xu Yunfan's hands, countless miles away.

The karmic threads of this technique had been severed by Ancestral Master Chunyang's "One Sword, No Return," so there was nothing to worry about.

With the four types of Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends he desperately needed in his possession, Xu Yunfan's Heart and Spirit finally relaxed.

Wukong, however, didn't pause for a moment. He continued grabbing peaches and frantically stuffing them into his mouth.

'Just a moment ago, didn't he say we were just picking a couple of fruits? Why is he stuffing his face like a madman now?' Wujing and Wuneng watched from the side, dumbfounded.

While eating, Wukong urged Wuneng and Wujing.

"Quick! Pick more! This is a rare opportunity!"

He himself moved with even greater frenzy, his two monkey paws a blur of afterimages as he specifically targeted the Immortal Peaches that were rich in Evil Qi and obviously of the highest quality.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

Ripe Immortal Peaches were violently torn from their stems and shoved into Wukong's mouth, juices bursting and dribbling everywhere.

Wuneng and Wujing followed his lead, scrambling up the trunk with their hands and feet to greedily pluck the radiant fruits.

Wuneng, especially, followed Wukong's example to a T. His large mouth never stopped moving; the moment he picked a peach, it was in his mouth.

"Delicious! So delicious!"

he grunted indistinctly. The earthy yellow and watery blue Evil Qi around his body churned violently, some of it even spilling from his mouth and nose as his belly stretched even rounder.

Sha Wujing was more restrained, but he still couldn't resist gulping down two. The Black Water Evil Qi on the surface of his body surged violently, nearly materializing into a liquid shroud.

But the monkey, Wukong, was eating on another level entirely.

He wasn't just swallowing whole a massive number of Celestial Spirit and Earth Evil Immortal Peaches with different elemental attributes; he wasn't stopping for even a second.

The aura around his body surged violently, like a chaotic Melting Furnace brought to a roaring boil.

Wisps of incomparably sharp Geng Metal Evil Qi, seemingly capable of tearing space itself, shot out from his pores like Silver Needles!

Explosive, surging Nine Heavens Thunder Fire Evil Qi, crackling with serpents of purple-white lightning, coiled around his fur.

A heavy, dense Cold Evil Qi, like that of Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice, condensed into a layer of white frost at his feet.

A scorching, violent fire-element Evil Qi made his golden fur glow with a faint reddish hue.

It made his entire body shimmer with a golden radiance, creating quite a spectacle.

Countless other types of Celestial Spirit and Earth Evil Qi, each with its own attribute, mixed together, forming a multi-colored storm of Evil Qi that enveloped his entire body. Wukong subconsciously began circulating the Fighting Buddha True Scripture. As his Magical Power surged, the energies were constantly being absorbed, refined, and rejected by his formidable Combat Physique.

He knew full well that the Celestial Spirit and Earth Evil Qi required by his Fighting Buddha True Scripture were all of the Geng Metal attribute. Now that he had eaten fruits of other attributes, he couldn't easily refine them into his Magic Power Dao Foundation. Only his Dharma Body, that of an Innate Dao Embryo, could possibly contain them.

In that instant, the scene looked as though a Demon God were devouring the Origin of Heaven and Earth Evil Qi to forge its Golden Body.

This was precisely what Xu Yunfan had intended.

Wukong was naturally cautious, but he couldn't withstand Xu Yunfan's covert influence. Once he started gorging on so many fruits, Xu Yunfan had plenty of ways to manipulate the situation.

Now that Wukong was forcibly containing multiple types of Origin Evil Qi far beyond his current cultivation realm, his body could no longer completely suppress the resulting Anomaly from manifesting externally.

How could such a huge commotion, along with the constantly leaking fluctuations of pure Evil Qi, possibly escape the notice of those within the observatory?

Wujing and Wuneng stared at the audacious monkey, their faces filled with utter horror.

"E-Eldest Brother, isn't this going a little too far?"

Wuneng's eyes darted about as he began to plot his escape route.

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