Chapter 20: Ice Silkworm Strength
Ape Peak above.
Ye Qinghe happily sipped the monkey wine poured full from the gourd, her pretty face flushing red, her previous depression completely swept away.
“Burp.”
She let out a wine burp, grinning at Ning Qi as she said:
“Little Nine, this monkey wine is a good thing. Drink more of it; it’ll greatly benefit your bone refining too.”
Ning Qi looked at the various large and small bamboo tubes hanging on Ye Qinghe’s body and couldn’t help but rub his forehead.
What she said was true, though. When he later reforged his foundation, the monkey wine could accelerate the process.
He turned back to glance at the Iron Arm Ape and the many gibbons, clearly seeing lament in their eyes.
This was their accumulation over many years, but now it had been swept clean by Ye Qinghe.
“Thanks, monkey boys! I’ll come play with you again when I have time!”
Ye Qinghe waved at the apes behind her.
The crowd of apes wanted to cry but had no tears.
Ning Qi shook his head with a smile. His senior sister could be quite mischievous at times, acting on whims.
The Little White Ape also had bamboo tubes hanging on its body. It turned around, making faces and winking at the crowd of apes, gloating in their misfortune.
After seeing Ye Qinghe and Ning Qi go far away, it shuddered and hurriedly followed.
This little thing had perfectly demonstrated freeloading off the mighty.
“Alright, Little White Ape, give us the bamboo tubes, and we’ll part ways here.”
Ning Qi said with a smile.
The White Ape immediately panicked.
It scratched its ears and cheeks, jumping up and down, urgently trying to express something.
Ye Qinghe watched with great interest.
Ning Qi quickly understood its meaning. With his comprehension, from the earlier exchange between the White Ape and the Iron Arm Ape, it wasn’t hard to discern the pattern. He asked in surprise:
“You mean, you have something for us and want us to follow you?”
At these words.
The White Ape was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. If not for the bamboo tubes on its body, it would have done a couple of somersaults.
Ning Qi and Ye Qinghe exchanged a glance.
Both saw the curiosity in each other’s eyes.
As long as one wasn’t blind, it was clear this White Ape was extraordinary. Though not an exotic beast, it was better than one.
“It’s still early in the day. Shall we go take a look?” Ye Qinghe became interested.
Ning Qi looked up at the sky. Though the sun was setting in the west, it was still some time before it fully sank.
“Let’s go.”
The White Ape was even more excited and hurriedly led the way ahead.
The two humans and one ape shuttled through the mountain forest. The White Ape frequently looked back, as if afraid they would suddenly leave.
Soon.
The White Ape stopped in front of a cave, beckoning them inside like it was returning home.
Ning Qi and the other exchanged a glance. Ye Qinghe slightly raised her guard and entered first, followed by him.
The cave interior was somewhat dark. Ye Qinghe lit a fire starter and saw the scene inside clearly.
Completely ordinary, with nothing unusual at all.
She was a bit disappointed.
She had thought a fortuitous encounter was coming.
But right then.
Her eyes lit up.
She saw the White Ape rummaging in some corner, then it came over holding something. Only when it got close did they realize it was a roll of parchment.
“A fortuitous encounter for real?”
Ye Qinghe laughed.
Ning Qi also found it amusing. He hadn’t expected the White Ape to truly bring a surprise.
The two looked at the parchment.
They were immediately drawn to the first three words.
《Ice Silkworm Strength》.
“This is a stacked strength technique.”
Ye Qinghe’s interest grew even stronger. She read through it rapidly, ten lines at a glance. Ning Qi was also looking. He read even faster, but since he hadn’t yet entered the Inner Yuan Realm, this cultivation method was useless to him for now—at most, it would build his foundation.
A moment later.
The two came back to their senses.
“Ice Silkworm Strength: once the strength is formed, it flows endlessly, bone-chilling frost. What’s even more ingenious is that the senior who created Ice Silkworm Strength drew inspiration from the ice silkworm breaking its cocoon and rebirth. Each cocoon breaking and rebirth is one layer of stacked strength.”
“Nine rebirths mean nine layers of stacked strength. At that point, the divine technique reaches major accomplishment, with no equal opponents in the same realm.”
“Amazing!”
Ye Qinghe couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, her eyes shining with delight.
This Ice Silkworm Strength was no less inferior to the several top-tier stacked strength techniques of the True Martial Sect—in fact, its conception was even a notch higher.
But immediately after, regret appeared in her eyes.
“What a pity, this parchment only has the first three layers.”
If it were the complete nine layers of Ice Silkworm Strength, it would absolutely be tremendous fortune. But with only three layers, it was greatly discounted.
“Little White Ape, is there only this one parchment?”
Ye Qinghe asked with some expectation.
The White Ape shook its head.
Ye Qinghe sighed in regret, but then smiled. Gained it is fortune, lost it is fate. Having such a fortune was already quite good. Though she couldn’t use it, the sense of surprise was fully satisfied.
Her gaze toward the White Ape became even kinder.
Good ape.
Ning Qi was also a bit regretful, but not much.
When he advanced to the Inner Yuan Realm in the future, he could try to complete this incomplete Ice Silkworm Strength, or even surpass the original—it wouldn’t be a problem.
On the contrary, the conception of Ice Silkworm Strength opened his eyes.
Both were in pleasant moods.
“Thanks, Little White Ape.”
Ning Qi put away the parchment, planning to store it in the Scripture Depository later to bolster the sect’s foundation.
The White Ape grinned excitedly.
Then it pointed to the inside of the cave again.
The two grew even more curious.
They proceeded onward.
Unexpectedly, this cave was so winding and deep. The further in they went, the more they could hear a muffled rumbling sound.
At the end.
A water curtain shimmering with colorful light appeared, with strands of vines hanging down through it.
The rumbling came from behind the water curtain.
The White Ape took off the bamboo tube from its body and placed it on the ground, then cheered and, under their gazes, swung along a vine and rushed through the water curtain.
The two were startled.
Then faint calls from the White Ape came from the other side.
Ye Qinghe was eager to try.
“I’ll go first.”
She laughed heartily. Without using the vine, she just tapped her toes, soaring like a swallow and charging through.
“Little Nine, come quickly! It’s so beautiful here!”
Ning Qi no longer hesitated. He also didn’t use the vine, powering his feet and leaping like a fierce tiger crossing a stream.
After passing the water curtain, he found himself standing on a stone platform.
A whole new heaven and earth appeared before his eyes.
A waterfall plunged down beside him, the setting sun slanting from the horizon, water and light converging here in a breathtaking spectacle.
Birds soared in the distance, the view stretched extremely far, presenting a vast and boundless scene.
Ning Qi stared at the sight like a statue, spiritual insights surging in his mind like a spring.
Ye Qinghe was first drawn by the scene before her, then by the White Ape’s calls. Looking over, she saw the White Ape excitedly pointing at red fruits on a small tree by a side water cliff. Ye Qinghe didn’t recognize what kind of exotic fruit it was.
“Could it be that this White Ape became so intelligent because it ate these red fruits?”
She instinctively thought, because there were two more small trees below, but they were bare.
Then Ye Qinghe understood the White Ape’s intention.
“You sneaky Little White Ape. Giving me the secret manual was fake; getting me to pick the red fruits for you was the real goal.”
She couldn’t help laughing.
At the same time, she sighed inwardly at how innocent this White Ape was. If it had been someone ruthless, it would have lost both the wife and the troops.
But Ye Qinghe clearly wasn’t that kind of person.
She unleashed her strength, light as a swallow, spun in the air, deftly plucked the red fruit, and tossed it to the White Ape.
The White Ape’s eyes showed gratitude. After bowing in thanks, it eagerly ate the red fruit.
Under Ye Qinghe’s astonished gaze, the White Ape’s fur seemed to flash with strange light, becoming even softer and snowier white.
She couldn’t resist wanting to share this wonder with Ning Qi.
Turning her head, the call on the tip of her tongue stopped abruptly.
Because she discovered.
Her little junior brother seemed to have entered a wondrous state.
