The chirping of the birds welcomed the beginning of a new day. The fresh air and morning dew painted a relaxing,  picturesque scene, perfect for meditation.

Jon Qao sat cross-legged as he opened his eyes. Disappointed. After an entire night of constant chi absorption, he sensed almost no progress. He was so close to breaking into the 7th level of Qi Condensation, but still so far away.

After another meal, Jon Qao gathered everything back into his ring and resumed his journey towards the mountain range.

With each mile he got closer, the trees were taller and taller. Even the magical beasts populating the forest were getting stronger the closer he got to the mountain range.

Yet, his expectations dropped lower and lower the closer he got. The energy in the air wasn’t as potent as he had initially hoped. No, it was so negligible that if you weren’t focused on it you could have missed it.

Jon Qao dashed from tree to tree.

The more he advanced, the fewer magical beasts he sensed. But, one beast, in particular, the strongest presence he had felt in this world, ceaselessly followed him. It kept its distance and didn’t project any malicious intent and he never bothered with it.

The forest ended and a fissure in the ground appeared in front of Jon Qao. It was deep, there was no end to it, only darkness, no sound of running water, just the whistling wind passing through. But it wasn’t very wide, just 7 feet tops. An easy jump.

Jon Qao crossed over and stopped. He wanted to deal with the unwanted stalker and what better, effortless way than throwing it into the crack.

A giant wolf stepped out of the forest, taller than him by quite a few heads, with pure white fur. It looked at Jon Qao, uncertainty in its eyes. No predatory gaze, no aggressive tendencies, just curiosity, and doubt.

The wolf growled, it even barked as it looked at the forest behind the man. Then the wolf did something unexpected before turning and walking away. It shook its head?

Jon Qao frowned. It felt like the wolf was… warning him?

The mountain range was just 30 miles away from the crevice. It had small peaks and tall ones, wide and narrow. However, behind the average mountains in front, stood the true monsters. Summits as tall as the sky and wide as much as your imagination could fathom, flowing one into another like an impenetrable wall.

The mountain peaks simply could not be seen, even if there were no clouds. Very few sceneries impressed Jon Qao at this point, but this, this was one of them.

Only now did Jon Qao truly understand its magnitude. Yet the energy he felt coming from it was disappointing. It didn’t feel the magnitude of such a natural formation.

“Let’s hope my luck didn’t leave me,” he said, thinking about all the fortunate encounters he had had in his past world.

Jon Qao advanced for another couple of miles. But at a much slower pace. This new environment made him feel uneasy.

Suddenly, he frowned and focused on the trees ahead, where cracking sounds came from.

“Haa-wah-haah-waa!” The screeching of a monkey filled the air as… Wash! …a freshly uprooted tree flew towards him.

Jon Qao jumped back, surprised at the speed. Bam! And at the power behind it.

“Hah-wa-haa-hah!” 

A white ape jumped from between the trees high in the air towards Jon Qao. Its fists clenched to smash him.

Boom! 

The ape landed. The ground cracked, but Jon Qao dodged to the side. Yet he was still in danger. A furry white backhand came flying towards him.

Bam! 

Jon Qao crossed his arms to block it but flew into the trunk of a tree. Hard.

“Haaah-wah-waaa-ha-wah!” The 11 feet tall white ape smashed its own chest with its fist and screeched as thundering booms filled the air.

Jon Qao was dumbfounded by the ape’s speed and strength.

This, however, wasn’t an ordinary magical beast and the most evident clue was the lack of energy surrounding it. At the very least, the lack of color.

There were still traces of energy—similar in some aspects to Weller’s, but also different—coming from the beast, engulfing it. But the air around it was colorless, blurry, similar to the air above a hot fire.

Jon Qao knew this wasn’t a joke. He felt it. Weller, the snake, even the other animals he had encountered on the way were a joke compared to the beast in front of him.

“So not everything is a weakling in this world,” said Jon Qao as he massaged his forearms.

BOOM!

A strong pressure came down on the ape. A powerful killing intent, that stopped the ape from moving. A fearful look spread on its face but was soon replaced by an enraged one.

“Waa-haah-haaa!” Frantic screams came from the beast, hammering its chest.

The white ape rushed towards Jon Qao, running on its knuckles, thumping on the ground. Jon Qao took a fighting stance, palms extended and knees bent.

The ape’s hand smashed down. Jon Qao barely avoided the strike, the white fur passed inches from his face. The ground shook beneath his feet. Yet his balance was perfect.

Bam!

Jon Qao hit the ape’s arm. He frowned. He didn’t waste any time and immediately followed with a fury of attacks, striking specific spots. In less than a second, he delt half a dozen strikes.

But his strikes were ineffective. The beast’s skin was too tough and he lacked the strength to put enough pressure.

The ape growled and snapped at Jon Qao. It opened its mouth and tried to bite him, rip him apart. The man sidestepped. 

“Let’s test how tough you really are,” said Jon Qao. If finesse didn’t work, maybe pure strength would do. He clenched his fist. The air condensed around his fist, as power gathered around it.

The fist shot like a bullet as Jon Qao punched the ape's jaw.

Boom!

The ape’s head snapped to the side from the force behind the punch. But otherwise, it barely moved. The beast didn’t even flinch. The ape gave a low growl and gave a side glance to Jon Qao. It was filled with mockery. His frown turned deeper.

Bam! Jon Qao was too close to react and the ape slammed him into the trees. The beast didn’t even allow him time to breathe as it barreled into him, breaking tree after tree.

“Haaah-wah-waaa-ha-wah!” The ape slammed its fist into its own chest screeching to the sky, as Jon Qao slithered down from the truck of the tree.

“Ugh! That hurt,” he said as he stood up, his clothes destroyed. The ape looked at him. It had a human-like expression, a grin filled with provocation and derision.

The ring on his hand shone and a sword with a black hilt wrapped in a ragged cloth and a red blade appeared in his hand. Besides the odd look of the sword, there was nothing great about it.

Jon Qao brought the sword to his face. “I’m sorry, I lost the power to release you. But please lend me your strength.”

Then he bolted towards the ape. The target, its head. The beast blocked it with its forearm. An agonizing scream came from it as blood dyed the white fur.

Jon Qao smirked.

“You’re not so tough now, huh?”

The ape went into a frenzy as a fury of attacks came down on the man but he avoided them all. Bites, claws, punches, whatever the ape threw at him he dodged everything. He was on defense, just waiting for the right opportunity.

Then it came.

The ape smashed its palm down to crash Jon Qao. Bam! He swirled in the air and stabbed his sword into the beast's hand and into the ground. Deep into the ground, pinning the ape’s hand down.

He jumped and dodged the other claw. The ring shone and a small dagger with a red blade appeared in his hand.

Jon Qao stabbed towards the ape’s head, the softest part, its temple. 

Swish!

“Waaaaaaaahh!” an ear-piercing shriek filled the air. A piercing pain stabbed his eardrums. Jon Qao had to cover his ears. A mistake.

Boom!

The ape grabbed and slammed him to the ground. Boom! Boom! Boom! The ground cracked and caved with every slam.

Jon Qao stabbed the ape's hand. Bam!  It threw him. He landed on his feet. His breathing was laborious. His clothes were torn and even a droplet of blood came from the corner of his mouth. He groaned in pain.

The only silver lining in this situation was the beast's condition. The fight was nearing its end.

However…

“Wahh-ha-woo!” “Hoo-waa-hah!” “Waaa-wah-haa!” …

“This is bad,” said Jon Qao as more distinct screeching came from afar, all converging towards him.

It wasn’t just one, or two, or even three. No. There were many more apes closing in from different parts, their screeches echoing each other in the clear sky.

The biggest number came from the direction of the mountain. He had to run. If all of them were as strong as this one, then…

“Shit!”

Jon Qao stood up. His ring shone, the dagger was gone. He rushed towards the injured ape. He had to hurry, they were getting closer.

Boom!  A tree came howling down. He jumped and rolled forward, the injured ape screamed even louder. It was scared.

Jon Qao's ring shone as he barely touched the sword with the tip of his finger, absorbing it into his ring. The injured ape attacked him, he sidestepped. Another ape dashed from between the trees towards him.

Luckily for him, it stopped near the injured one as if to protect it.

He had to get away and bolted towards the crevice, that was the only direction no ape came from. He was injured but it didn’t affect his speed.

Trees were showering down on him and had to dodge as the apes got closer and closer. One ape from the side came into his view. It was larger than the one he had fought and faster. The distance was closing.

“Shit! There are stronger ones?”

He got closer and closer to the crack, and the ape got closer and closer to him. Jon Qao pushed himself to the limit. Luckily he was close enough to the crevice and once he crossed it and ape stopped.

The loudest deafening roar filled the air. However, Jon Qao didn’t stop. He continued running as fast as he could.