While fighting along the way, you found the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, a mere High-Grade Spirit Artifact, to be rather inadequate and unsatisfying to use.
So, carrying a storage ring full of Spirit Crystal reserves, you and Zhen Pin arrived at Divine Arms City, hoping to upgrade the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Here, you saw that so-called Great Vanguard Demon Ape.
The sixty-third year, age eighty-one.
In the skies above Divine Arms City, the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey, wielding a golden iron staff and clad in golden chainmail, fiercely battled his former junior brother, the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey, another heaven-and-earth-born divine beast.
This Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey wore a sinister-looking suit of bone armor and also held a large staff, though his was purplish-gold in color.
The two fought with magic, evenly matched, the shockwaves of their battle effortlessly flattening distant mountain peaks.
You and Zhen Pin were inside Divine Arms City, but were currently unharmed, as the city had activated its Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation, blocking all the shockwaves.
"Jiejie! Senior Brother, long time no see. You and Master aren't dead yet?"
The Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey now was vastly different in personality compared to when you first saw him.
That strangely-shaped little monkey who once only dared to hide behind the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey was now arrogant, overbearing, and reeked of demonic aura!
His demonic aura was so dense, anyone could see it with the naked eye.
Even his facial features had changed.
Before, though he looked strange, he was at most ugly-cute. Now, he wore a fierce and vicious visage, fully revealing his demonic nature!
"You wretched beast! Willing to become a demon, do you remember the vow you and I once made, to slay all the evil demons in the world and eradicate evil without mercy?!"
The Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey angrily rebuked him, his expression revealing complex emotions like anger, regret, hatred, and pity.
"Hahaha! We are demons to begin with, why should we kill demons? We should be killing humans!"
"Nonsense! You and I are Spiritual Monkeys born of heaven and earth, with heaven as our father and earth as our mother! How can we be the same as those man-eating demons!"
"Oh really?
Then why did Master forge the divine weapon from Celestial Gold Meteorite Iron and give it to you, not me?
Why did those commoners build temples and offer incense to you, enshrining you as the Divine Monkey General, but not me? Didn't I also help them exterminate demons??
Heh, let me tell you why...
It's because of my strange appearance!
I don't look like a human or a monkey!
Master! Fellow disciples! And those stupid mortals! Outwardly, they held back because of Master's face, but in their hearts, every single one of them thought I was a demon!
Even if I cultivated diligently to serve the sect, even if I was careful and cautious not to cause trouble, even if I eliminated evils for the people!
It was all useless!!"
"So because of this, you betrayed the sect, went to the Great Wastes to collude with the demon tribe, and started this war between the two races that has brought suffering to all living beings?"
"That's right!! Humans are not worth protecting! This world rightfully belongs to us, the demon tribe!!"
You saw that as the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey spoke these words, the demonic aura on his body grew even more intense.
His face, twisted with anger to the point of almost comical exaggeration, clearly conveyed that his heart had become obsessively biased to an extreme limit.
Zhen Pin let out a sigh of emotion.
"The prejudice in people's hearts is a towering mountain... If the Divine Arms Pavilion and the people of Divine Arms County had been a bit kinder to the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey, perhaps this great war would not have erupted..."
Some locals nearby scoffed at Zhen Pin's words.
"Get outta here! The Divine Arms Pavilion wasn't good to him? Back when those two monkeys were in the Divine Arms Pavilion, which senior brother or senior sister didn't dote on them? What cultivation resources weren't prioritized for their use?"
"Exactly. Maybe sometimes the distribution wasn't perfectly equal, but that was under circumstances where their treatment was better than the vast majority of fellow disciples. Take that big golden staff, for example. There was only one, both monkeys liked it, so naturally one monkey wouldn't get it! Does not getting it mean you have to throw a life-or-death tantrum?"
"When we built temples for the Spiritual Monkeys, we built one for the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey at first too. It was this monkey who threw a huge fit in the temple because his incense offerings weren't as plentiful as his senior brother's, scaring the commoners, so no one continued building temples for him."
Listening to the voices from all around.
You felt the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey's own issues were still the bigger problem.
Sometimes the prejudice in people's hearts, heh, might actually be right on the money.
The two great Spiritual Monkeys fought until the sky darkened and the earth blackened, grinding even the Great Dao into dust (not really).
To prevent the Divine Arms City below from suffering calamity, the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey feigned defeat and flew far away, leading the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey away from this area.
Although the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey had left.
The Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation of Divine Arms City still did not open for a long time, so you and Zhen Pin had no choice but to stay temporarily within the city.
During this period, you sought out some artifact forgers, hoping to have an Earth-Grade "Demon-Subduing Banner" forged.
However, their asking prices were all a bit high, and you were still comparing shops.
"Young Master, I think your business philosophy needs to change. Since you can't guarantee success and require customers to provide materials, the forging fee should adopt a profit-sharing model. Get a base fee for failure, and take a commission for success."
"No money and you want to forge artifacts?! Get out, don't disrupt our business!"
You failed at bargaining once again.
But this time, a handsome young man suddenly appeared and gave a storage ring to the master of this forging sect.
"I'll pay for this senior. Count it, the Spirit Crystals inside should be enough to forge several Earth-Grade Spirit Artifacts."
The other party took the storage ring, opened it, and sure enough, it was piled high with Spirit Crystals!
Their attitude towards you changed on the spot.
"Honored guest! Serve tea!!"
So this is what it feels like when someone pays for you?
Oh no, I'm feeling moved!
You took a look at this young man, and you recognized him.
"Sword Lord?"
The Sword Lord turned around and said with a smile.
"Long time no see, Demon Tribe's Bane. I'm glad to see you're still hale and hearty."
"Ah, this... hehe, yes, I, this..." You hurriedly changed the subject. "Right now, with the war between the two races, shouldn't you be at the front lines of Cangqiong Ridge?"
"Fighting isn't an everyday affair. Both sides need chances to catch their breath. I slipped away for a bit, specifically to find you."
Zhen Pin, standing to the side, heard these words and looked at you with a meaningful gaze.
As if saying: This humble monk always knew your relationship with Lord Sword Lord was extraordinary.
Zhen Pin straightened his patched-up, tattered kasaya, seemingly wanting to leave a good impression on the Sword Lord.
"Lord Sword Lord came specifically to find me? I... how am I worthy of such honor... You're not here to offer a loan, are you? If so, I don't want this Spirit Artifact anymore."
"You're too humorous. Those Spirit Crystals are a gift from me. If you can have a suitable weapon, it will also be very helpful for the matter I'm about to ask of you."
"Lord Sword Lord jests. I'm merely a lowly Soul Tempering realm Rogue Cultivator. What matter could you possibly have to ask of me?"
"Use your special constitution to take command of an expedition, to pacify the demon scourge!"
Hearing this, you thought of the Four-Eyed Spiritual Monkey that had appeared in the skies above Divine Arms City not long ago.
Deal with a demon of that level?
You might as well just kill me now!
"Lord Sword Lord jests again. I don't possess power like yours."

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