Chapter 72: The Death of Great Victory

“Father, I heard you’re planning to find a demonic cultivation technique for Uncle Monkey? Please don’t do it!” Yuan Er burst into the study, calling out loudly.

Yuan Yi’s face darkened to iron, and he roared, “Silence! Who’s been filling your ears with such nonsense?”

“Father, Uncle Monkey’s strength is already beyond anyone’s control. Those monkeys of his—calling them pets isn’t accurate. In truth, they’re the masters, and the cultivators are no more than slaves who feed them.”

“The situation is already so dire. If Uncle Monkey’s strength leaps even further, things will only get worse.”

“When that happens, whose will is the Monkey Head Gang following?” Yuan Er pleaded, his words relentless.

Yuan Yi’s lips trembled slightly as he sank into a deathly silence.

The Monkey Head Gang’s foundation was something he’d fought his whole life to build. It’s easy to seize power, but guarding it is another matter entirely.

He was old now—even in his youth, he’d only just managed to keep the gang’s balance.

Yuan Dasheng, being a Fire-Forged Demon Ape, was indeed a formidable force here. On the battlefield, this was an absolute advantage. But now that the Monkey Head Gang was firmly established, with no other sect posing a threat, such an advantage had become an internal concern.

Yuan Er was his only blood heir; the gang was meant to pass to him. But would he be able to hold it?

Yuan Yi trusted himself and the relationship he had with Yuan Dasheng completely. But when it came to Yuan Er and Yuan Dasheng, his confidence crumbled.

He pondered for a day and night. In the end, pale as death, he summoned Yuan Er and exhorted him, “Remember this! You must treat your Uncle Monkey well. Show him more respect than you do to me. Do you understand?”

“I understand!” Yuan Er promised immediately, a surge of joy in his heart.

Carrying guilt, Yuan Er truly did show more reverence than before.

All the members of the gang treated Yuan Dasheng with greater respect as well.

But when Yuan Er became the leader, his position grew awkward. He had to rely on Yuan Dasheng to command respect. And because he relied on Yuan Dasheng so often, he could never truly win the hearts of the people.

Kneeling before the bed, Yuan Er looked at Yuan Dasheng.

“Uncle Monkey, your kindness to me is as deep as a mountain—I know it, and I remember it always.”

“But the envoy was right. Forcing you to linger on this sickbed is the greatest insult to you!”

“I—I don’t want to do this, because I respect you! I admire you!”

“I think, if my father’s spirit knows, he would approve of what I’m doing.”

“I know he would understand me… The enemy is too strong; not even the whole Monkey Head Gang could stand against them.”

“So, I’ll join them!”

“My father always said, a true man must know when to bend and when to stand tall.”

“All I do—all this humiliation and burden—is to preserve our foundation.”

“Uncle Monkey, you must understand my pain!”

“The Monkey Head Gang is the result of a lifetime of struggle by you and my father. I cannot let it be destroyed in my hands.”

“I must pass it on—to my son, and my grandson.”

“If we grow and thrive this way, one day, the Yuan family will become a true cultivator clan and rise as the fifth great power in Firespersimmon City!”

“Uncle Monkey, please understand me—don’t blame me! You can understand me, can’t you?”

Yuan Er repeated the words over and over in his heart.

Suddenly, Yuan Dasheng slowly opened his eyes.

Yuan Er shuddered as if struck by lightning.

Yuan Dasheng’s eyes were a murky white, clouded and lifeless. He could see nothing, nor could he hear, but some sense of smell lingered, and he caught Yuan Er’s familiar scent.

He tried to rise, but his body was heavy as a mountain. He tried to lift his hand, but there was little sensation left.

In the end, he could only slowly extend a finger, pointing at Yuan Er.

Startled, Yuan Er fell backward to the floor.

The next moment, Yuan Dasheng’s index finger slowly dropped, and with it, all signs of life disappeared.

He was gone at last.

Yuan Er stared in a daze for a moment, then suddenly burst into loud, weeping sobs. Crawling forward on his knees, he threw himself onto Yuan Dasheng’s corpse, crying out, “Uncle Monkey, Uncle Monkey!”

He finally voiced the words his father had left unsaid on his deathbed: “Uncle Monkey, I’m sorry. Uncle Monkey, I’ve failed you…”

At some point, Ning Zhuo had stepped out of the study as well.

He stood behind Yuan Er, bearing witness to Yuan Dasheng’s final journey.

So, Yuan Dasheng was truly dead.

Yet the moment of success did not fill Ning Zhuo with the joy he’d imagined. It was far less fierce and overwhelming than he had expected.

His feelings were complicated.

Yuan Dasheng’s fate had been sealed by Ning Zhuo’s own hands. Yet to his dying breath, Yuan Dasheng never even knew of Ning Zhuo’s existence, nor did he understand how he’d earned such a deadly enemy.

And Ning Zhuo?

Ning Zhuo had never wanted to be Yuan Dasheng’s foe. Before Yuan Dasheng stormed the Immortal Palace, Ning Zhuo had never even seen him.

Yet fate had made the Lava Immortal Palace their stage, forcing both Ning Zhuo and Yuan Dasheng onto a path where only one could survive.

There was no other choice.

“If I had a choice, Yuan Dasheng, I would have rather fought at your side as comrades!”

“What a pity…”

With that regret, Ning Zhuo stepped forward and began to tend to Yuan Dasheng’s corpse.

Startled, Yuan Er instinctively reached out to stop him.

But Ning Zhuo kicked him aside, finally revealing the scorn and anger he had kept hidden, and scolded in a low voice, “Out of my way!”

Even with cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage, what use was Yuan Er with such a feeble character?

When Ning Zhuo saw Yuan Dasheng in the bedroom, he immediately recognized that the Autumn’s End Life-Preserving Pill had not been used.

Zhu Xuanji had clearly handed the pill to Yuan Er, but the latter had never given it to Yuan Dasheng.

Was it a matter of time?

He’d had plenty of time!

From this alone, Ning Zhuo deduced Yuan Er’s true intentions, which is why he’d pretended to have Yuan Er ask Yuan Dasheng’s opinion. As expected, Yuan Er had knelt from the start, only calling out in his heart, never daring to speak aloud.

“Leader Yuan Er, please restrain your grief.” Ning Zhuo stuffed the ape’s corpse into his storage pouch and prepared to leave.

Yuan Er, kneeling on the ground, clung to Ning Zhuo’s leg and looked up at him. “When will I see my Uncle Monkey again?”

“As soon as the production schedule is set, I’ll let you know. Don’t worry—it won’t be long.” Ning Zhuo gave a perfunctory reassurance, then wrenched his leg free and left without a backward glance.

He left Yuan Er alone in the empty bedroom, frozen as if turned to stone.

Ning Zhuo walked away calmly. As he neared the edge of the Monkey Head Gang’s stronghold, he overheard returning members talking among themselves.

“All the fire persimmon groves have been stripped bare, but that shadow demon cultivator never showed up!”

“Didn’t they say he was hiding in the groves, trapped by the array?”

“How could he just disappear?”

“Yeah, I was looking forward to a good hunt.”

“You should’ve seen Lord Fei’s face at the time—he was livid!”

“Now all the Core Formation cultivators from the various factions have appeared, scouring the groves.”

Hearing this, Ning Zhuo’s heart tightened. “This is bad!”

His mind was sharp—he instantly realized he’d stumbled into another crisis.

Leaving the Monkey Head Gang, he hurried his pace, racing against time, making straight for the flying disc workshop.