Feng Yun and the others had no idea of the words and thoughts of the Great Devil Ape due to the major distance. They did not have the capabilities to be able to sense the ape. Although this was true, they still could feel the ground shaking beneath them and the massive power erupting forth from some unknown location on the mountain. Everyone looked down instinctively to see that the rocks were jumping up and down from the pressure. Many found it quite hard to stand properly and sometimes slipped. Only after a few minutes did the shaking calm down.

Though it was over, it had still left a negative impact on the army. They all looked at each other with fear in their eyes and their weapons trained at whatever may appear from the unknown wilderness. They were clearly suffering from paranoia. The mountain had given them much to be frightened about and every sound that was made would prompt fifty heads to turn in that direction. Some of them had even stifled their pace a bit, making the journey seem to go that much slower. Feng Yun sighed as he saw the reactions of the army to the wilderness. Dong Fuzhen saw it too. How could he not? These were his troops which he was supposed to command as the chief and thus he had payed careful attention to every move that they had made. Upon seeing their silly actions, he too let out a sigh and looked over at Feng Yun. The latter nodded his head at Dong Fuzhen, as if prompting him to say something.

"Oi, you guys. What the hell are you doing? You are cultivators, dignified individuals possessing strength far beyond the level of ordinary people. An earthquake and unfamiliar surroundings has got you this spooked? Ridiculous! Cultivators are supposed to take risks, do what others cannot, and attempt to reach the level that can stand alongside the heavens! Do not be cowards, do not burrow into holes in an attempt to escape reality! Accept it and grow stronger with the new experiences. We are Death Singer Mercenaries, we fear nothing!" Dong Fuzhen's voice carried a great amount of force and persuasion to it. The army was woken up from their stupor and stared blankly at Dong Fuzhen for a moment, registering the words he had said into their heads. They began to nod their heads and felt great shame at their earlier behavior. Such a cowardly attitude was not worthy for a cultivator! Raising their heads, their hearts became steeled and firm. They moved forward at an even faster pace than they had before. They were much more determined compared to the attitude they displayed at the beginning of their ascent up the mountain. Feng Yun was surprised. He had never thought that Dong Fuzhen's words could hold this much persuasion and power to them. Even he himself felt moved by the speech.

Zhou Yanling and Elder Zhou heard the commotion and stuck their heads outside of the carriage that held them. Elder Zhou snorted as he listened to the words spoken by Dong Fuzhen. With an arrogant tone he said,

"Not bad charisma to be a leader. However, the things he spouts are ridiculous. Fear is something you will learn to have in this mountain if you haven't learned it already. With this sort of ignorant attitude, he will definitely die here. In fact, even he himself doesn't believe in the words he spoke. Death Singer mercenaries, hmph, they are merely a big faction in a Second Class City. Their strength is worthless in comparison to those monstrous beasts in the Kaidu Mountains!" Elder Zhou's eyes turned dark as if he was remembering something rather unpleasant. Zhou Yanling shook him out of his silent state and the two turned their gazes back into the carriage.

With the newly regained motivation, the speed at which the group traveled was several times more than before. They did not pay too much mind to some of the light disturbances that came across their group and thus, they were able to make sufficient progress. However, they still had a lot of distance to cover. If they kept going at the same pace that they were going at now, then they could probably be out of the mountain in a couple weeks. If they suffered a large setback, it would probably be dragged out to one month. The Kaidu Mountains was one of the major obstacles in the journey. If they managed to get past this boundary, then the rest of the journey would go by much easier. With that thought in mind, the group moved on.

They began to observe their surroundings and saw that there were many plants and herbs that they had never seen before. Half of them were things that they could not identify. Feng Yun took them along just in case they became useful later. He could also sell them for some good money if need be.

The outline of a cave could be seen as the group moved increasingly forward. It was incredibly tall, about five meters in height, and was covered in gray rocks. The cave exuded a great amount of pressure and danger was spelled to those who remained outside. The army felt very uncomfortable. However, the effects were even stranger for Feng Yun and Xia Qing. The two could feel their Void element surge from within them and long for whatever it was that was in the cave. It was almost as if it was calling to them. Driven by curiosity, Feng Yun wished to explore the cave and find out what treasures may lay within its boundless darkness. Xia Qing too felt the urge to see what was in there. Perhaps it was an object that could help them raise their cultivation?

Dong Fuzhen stared grimly at the cave in front of them and could tell that it was no ordinary cave. It likely possessed something so extraordinary that it could exude a presence of this much strength. In the end, he too was curious but he was also cautious. He sent all of his commanders in alongside with him, including Feng Yun. Xia Qing stayed behind at the orders of Dong Fuzhen despite her unwillingness. The five commanders entered the cave with caution and all of their protective treasures by their side, ready to be activated should the exploration turn to be fatal.

Their footsteps were quiet and careful, as if they might disturb something if they made even the slightest bit of noise. Dong Fuzhen's eyes were sharp, scanning everything along the darkness and surveying the area before moving on. Their enhanced eyesight allowed them to see in the dark to a very good degree and thus they had minimal difficulty in seeing. As they got closer, a bright light began to become apparent to the group. It glowered with a rainbow like color and grew ever brighter as they neared it. One of the commanders grew excited and even forgot his silence, exclaiming with joy.

"Haha, it is a great treasure for sure. With the level of brightness it is glowing with, it must be heavenly. I must have it!" The commander, driven by avarice, charged into the deeper parts of the cave toward the bright glow without hesitation.

"WAIT! Do not be driven by impulse you fool!" Dong Fuzhen yelled at him but the man would not stop to ponder Dong Fuzhen's words. He quickly neared the bright glow. Soon, his figure was no longer present in their line of sight. He had ventured too far into the darkness to be seen. The rest of the commanders frowned. They hadn't expected such an outcome. Waiting for their missing commander to come out, the other four waited. After what seemed like a whole ten minutes, Dong Fuzhen grew worried.

"Something's not right. He should have reported back to us by now." Feng Yun nodded his head. The commander should have let out a sound or alerted the other members that it was safe to go in. The fact that he hadn't was very strange and involuntarily gave the other four a sense of caution in their hearts.

Dong Fuzhen could not bear the dead silence and waiting anymore and decided to speak.

"We cannot wait here any longer. The four of us will venture down the cave to search for Qing Xin. With more people, it will be easier to avoid trouble." Qing Xin was the name of the commander who ventured through the cave. Feng Yun felt slightly uneasy with the judgement that Dong Fuzhen made. The Void element within him would not stop surging and was like a restless sea at night when the moon was up. The other two commanders besides Feng Yun seemed apprehensive as well, but not for the same reason as Feng Yun. They had pure caution and fear. They had no reason for it, it was just instinctive. However, they all knew that they could not just abandon a comrade and leave him for dead just because of fear. The group sucked in a huge breath of air and took a step further into the darkness. Using the momentum of the first step, they moved on to the second and third and eventually their steps turned into a light walk. All of Feng Yun's senses were focused on his surroundings and he spared no energy to make conversation with the scared commanders in front of him, who seemed to need something to take their mind off of the current matter.

As they traveled, the darkness seemed to stretch on forever. It was as if there was no end to the long trail that they traveled down. They all knew however, that they would be coming to a stop soon. They sensed a wall at the end that clearly marked the end of the trail. They also sensed the orb of light that had attracted them and dragged Qing Xin into the dark hall. They couldn't make out its details but they could feel the great undulations of power that erupted forth in the form of waves every couple seconds. The purity of the energy was enough to make Feng Yun clutch his head a bit from exhaustion. It seemed to have high potency and could not be underestimated. If it truly was a treasure, then it would be no doubt a heavenly one! Suddenly, Dong Fuzhen spoke, his eyes flashing sharply.

"I can sense the treasure clearly but I can't sense Qing Xin. I don't know what has happened. Proceed with the utmost caution." He warned the rest. Feng Yun already knew and had prepared the Void element in his palms ready to explode outwards if a conflict arose. They walked forward for about one more minute before entering a large circular shaped area. The wall in front of them was the end and there was nothing beyond it. They had reached the end of the cave trail. In the center of the room laid an orb of light that shone with bright luminescent colors. They were all dumbfounded by the level of purity it possessed. Dong Fuzhen walked forward to touch the item. Feng Yun and the others followed behind hi, curious to know what was the identity of the treasure. Dong Fuzhen's eyes shone with a fervent glare as his hands hovered over the orb. Then, he grasped the orb tight in his palm. The light on the orb dimmed a little as it twirled about in the palm. Once the light had completely dimmed, what was left was only a regular looking ball with some runes inscribed within it. The power had completely dissipated and its current status was akin to that of a normal rock. Feng Yun and the others were shocked. They had believed the orb to be a treasure of great value but instead, it was merely a piece of normal rock with some runes on it. One of the commanders managed to stutter,

"This...This, orb, is a completely useless piece of trash?" Not only him, everyone else was thinking the same thing. Feng Yun calculated quickly in his head. Why would there be a rock that was inscribed with runes and had a bright glow if it had no value? Suddenly, the realization came to him.

"SHIT! We need to get out of here, NOW!" He yelled at the others with a crazy expression. They all looked at him with confusion. Why was he telling them to go now? Suddenly, a maniacal laughter invaded the atmosphere. A monkey the size of half a meter walked out from behind one of the rocks, clutching its stomach in a way that suggests it had been trying to hold its laughter. Feng Yun and the others narrowed their eyes at the seemingly harmless monkey and unconsciously drew their weapons. Feng Yun especially felt caution towards this monkey. It appeared to be the source of the Void element's relentless surging! All of a sudden, the monkey began to talk!

"HAHA, sorry sorry! I didn't mean to laugh at you. I was just feeling the urge to laugh after seeing this kid finally figure it out!" The monkey was speaking fluently with the group and had no trouble communicating. What was amazing was that this shouldn't be possible unless the beast was of the Tyrant or Truth realm! Dong Fuzhen sucked in a huge breath as he said,

"Who exactly are you?"

"Who am I? Well, isn't that now the number one question on the list today? Hm, I am the Great Devil Ape!" Everyone felt col sweat run down their spine. The Great Devil Ape was supposed to be a very powerful beast that had the potential to become a Tyrant realm beast! Dong Fuzhen was shaken with fear. He managed to stutter,

"G...Great Devil Ape? Then, adding to the fact that you can speak the human language, that means you must be of the T...Tyrant realm correct?"

"Hoh, you're not that dumb. Though, that kid figured out what this place was quicker than I did." The monkey stared at Feng Yun with a wide evil smile that gave shivers down his spine.

"I don't seem to understand. What has the lord intended by placing the fake orb of light in this cave? And did you perhaps see our friend Qing Xin?"

"Isn't it obvious? If you're looking for your friend, you must look to the skies in order to know." Dong Fuzhen looked up and at the same time he did, a drop of blood fell onto his cheek. He stared in shock at the scene currently painted on the ceiling. Blood continued to rain from the ceiling as a body could be seen currently impaled to it. The body's expression was one of pure terror and contained a familiar face that everyone in the group knew. The body was that of Qing Xin's. Dong Fuzhen looked at the body with pure shock before turning his gaze away towards the seemingly harmless monkey in front of him.

"Lord, why would you do such a thing? As I seem to recall, our Death Singer mercenaries don't seem to have offended you before haven't we?"

"Tsk Tsk. See, it is not about grudges. Rather, I require you to die in order to stabilize my raging power that has been awakened from my breakthrough. It is a necessity. I'm sorry but such is the way of life. You must die today!" Dong Fuzhen tuned out of the conversation upon hearing the word 'die'. His eyes were almost devoid of expression. He seemed to have lost hope.

"But...But how did you know that we would come here?"

"Haha, you see I have been watching you guys ever since you've walked into the mountain. After you guys is the army you have outside the gate." The monkey licked its lips in anticipation. Feng Yun suddenly stepped forward and said with a solemn expression,

"Dong Fuzhen, can you not see. This cave, it was all intentional. This cave, the fake treasure, everything was all set up." Dong Fuzhen looked at him, realization dawning on him.

"Then that means..."

"Yeah. We have been caught in a trap."