Daoist Competition

Lady Wang stepped down from the carriage, and had only taken a few steps when a maid beside her suddenly showed a look of panic, pointed upwards, and exclaimed, "Madam, look."

Lady Wang raised her head, and was immediately taken aback.

On the cliff walls on both sides, there had inexplicably appeared a dozen or so black-haired ape demons, hanging on vines and ropes, staring directly at everyone.

Among them was one ape demon, extraordinarily burly, with thick hair covering its entire body and extremely solid muscles, clearly the leader of these demons; on the top of its head were wisps of spiritual energy clustered into a cloud-like shape, a sign of impending transformation into a human form.

It looked at Lady Wang with eyes unexpectedly filled with lewdness like a human, excitedly let out a call, and following its voice, the other ape demons also issued sharp cries, making everyone dizzy and their hearts flustered.

Everyone’s faces changed color, and the caravan guards picked up their weapons, standing with their backs to the carriage, their faces extremely tense. The other monkeys were less problematic, but this black-haired Ape King was so fierce that if it charged down, it would be difficult to deal with.

After the Ape King shouted, it leaped and jumped down from the cliff, landing not far from Lady Wang.

Someone shouted loudly, "Protect the lady."

More than twenty house guards immediately surrounded Lady Wang, holding spears in one hand, forming a shield formation, protecting her and the two maids completely.

Facing the ape demons, they dared not be careless, and without hesitation bit and crushed the secret medicine bestowed by the Dao Palace in their mouths, a bitter taste flowed down their throats, instantly invigorating them, faces flushed with red, emitting low hums from their mouths.

Due to the abundance of spiritual energy in Central Pillar Continent, many demons and spirit monsters inhabit the mountains, but without some reliance, who would dare wander here?

Therefore, the caravan guards were often equipped with secret medicine made by the Lie Xuan Sect, just one "Divine Power Pill," and within a moment, it could give a person five times their strength to fight against demons and spirit monsters.

Though Lady Wang was leading the caravan for the first time, unexpectedly, upon encountering demons, she was not afraid, and instead shouted loudly, "Thank you, brothers, for protecting me; after repelling the ape demons, everyone will be rewarded with a silver ingot, I will not go back on my word."

Upon hearing these words, the guards were greatly invigorated, and a leader-like person shouted, "Did everyone hear that? The lady has given a reward, if anyone dares not put in effort and shirk, I’ll deal with them when we return."

These guards were very experienced in dealing with spirit monsters, and the shield formation was solid; the Ape King tried charging several times but couldn’t penetrate.

Just then, suddenly a loud shout was heard from behind, a figure leaped out, and smashed a fist towards the back neck of the Ape King.

The Ape King’s body, though large, was exceptionally agile; it turned around, and with both arms like pestles struck backward; after a muffled sound, the two retreated a few steps each.

This was when everyone clearly saw that the figure was a burly middle-aged man, just on top of his head at this moment, a talisman was suspended, occasionally emitting a clear qi, hanging down like tassels, covering his entire body, making him appear extraordinarily imposing.

Someone exclaimed, "It’s Qi Weiling."

The man and ape faced each other momentarily; the Ape Spirit seemed to know it couldn’t defeat this man, roared a few times as if in demonstration, then retreated a few steps, and suddenly leaped towards the cliff, snarled and roared, grabbed a vine rope, swung a few times, and disappeared, while the other monkeys retreated one after another.

The caravan breathed a sigh of relief and praised, "Qi Weiling has great skills."

Qi Weiling laughed heartily, turned to look at Lady Wang, and clasped his fists saying, "Madam was startled."

Lady Wang raised her wrist and said, "Come, give Qi Weiling two gold ingots, besides those reward silver, distribute twenty more strings of large coins to everyone." She motioned a salute to Qi Weiling and said, "In the future, I shall rely on you greatly, Weiling."

Qi Weiling waved his hand and said, "Madam, why say such words, but to pass this perilous path, only us old hands can do it, those outsiders are ultimately unreliable."

Lady Wang smiled faintly, said no more to him, and walked with the two maids towards the caravan.

Qi Weiling saw her still calm and unflustered even when the Ape King had targeted her, with some admiration in his heart, thought to himself, "This woman is truly bold, no wonder Deng Master has taken a liking to her."

Lady Wang headed to the middle of the caravan to find Zhang Yan and another. A maid beside her spoke up, "Earlier, surrounded by those monkeys, scared this little maid to death; those two Daoists didn’t even make a move, are they nothing but appearances? Madam, don’t let them deceive you."

Lady Wang coldly glanced at her and said, "I have my own plans for this matter, when did it become your turn to interrupt? If I hear such words again, you can take your monthly silver stipend and be on your way."