"Discovering the Iron Tree: Unleashing New Powers in the Silvermoon Forest"

Two months later, in a cave somewhere in the Silvermoon Forest, Huang Xiaolong sat cross-legged, his body emitting a constant glimmer of Battle Qi rays of light. Suddenly, the space fluctuated, and a Black Dragon appeared. As soon as the Black Dragon appeared, it swiftly disappeared, and then a blue light emerged, with a Blue Dragon hovering behind Huang Xiaolong. After two months of relentless training, Huang Xiaolong could finally summon his Twin Dragons Martial Spirit on his own. Yes, he could summon them alone now. During his intensive training in the Silvermoon Forest for two months, Huang Xiaolong's aura had greatly surpassed his previous level at Tianxuan Mansion, and his Battle Qi cultivation had advanced from Rank 6 Initial Stage to the peak of Initial Stage.

The moonlight bathed the surroundings, enveloping everything in silence. Inside the cave, black and blue rays of light alternated ceaselessly. After an hour, the rays of light disappeared, and Huang Xiaolong retracted his Twin Dragons Martial Spirit completely. He opened his eyes, stood up, and walked out of the cave. Looking at the tranquil moonlit scenery outside the cave, he couldn't see the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey anywhere. Huang Xiaolong shook his head, knowing that the little fellow must have gone off on its own while he was practicing and probably had no idea where it had run off to.

Huang Xiaolong jumped down from the entrance of the mountain cave and landed on the ground. Asura Blade appeared in his hand, and he floated forward, suddenly swinging it. Countless blade glows, resembling a shower of starlight, scattered in all directions, sometimes creating violent bursts and thunderous noises, while other times being more subtle and invisible to the naked eye. The sound of Asura's wailing echoed in the surroundings.

After two months of hard training, the power of the Tears of Asura move had greatly increased. At this rate, Huang Xiaolong estimated that he would be able to reach the peak level of mastery in another six months. As he practiced Tears of Asura, suddenly, the ground began to tremble violently, accompanied by booming sounds that grew closer and closer.

Huang Xiaolong turned to look and saw a giant orangutan, standing about ten zhang (33.3 meters) tall, chasing after a little monkey that was only half a meter in height. The monkey was heading in his direction, trying to escape the orangutan's pursuit. The orangutan continuously struck with its hands, but the little monkey managed to evade each attack, causing the orangutan to roar in anger.

Seeing this comical scene, Huang Xiaolong couldn't help but smile. It was clear that the little monkey was the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey that had been missing earlier, and it had been chased by this giant orangutan. Whenever Huang Xiaolong sat down to practice, the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey would always run off and come back later, followed by some pursuer. This mischievous behavior often gave Huang Xiaolong a headache.

"Squeak squeak squeak!" The Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey spotted Huang Xiaolong from a distance and happily beckoned and cried out, clearly indicating that it had found something interesting. At that moment, the giant orangutan swung its palm at the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey.

A loud bang resonated as the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey was sent flying, creating a huge crater upon landing. The little monkey quickly got up, feeling its behind in anger. It seemed that the giant orangutan had nearly smacked it on the backside.

Huang Xiaolong shook his head with a smile. He swiftly moved forward, wielding the Asura Blade, and attacked the giant orangutan dozens of meters away. Seeing Huang Xiaolong taking action, the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey stopped fleeing and joined forces with Huang Xiaolong to surround the orangutan.

The Iron Ape, as this giant orangutan was called, possessed immense strength and formidable defense. Its skin seemed as tough as iron, easily deflecting sword strikes. Iron Apes were rare to come across, so it was unclear where the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey had encountered one. Fortunately, this Iron Ape was only at Rank 6 Late Stage Peak, one step away from breaking through to Rank 7. Moreover, Huang Xiaolong's Asura Blade could easily cut through iron. After several minutes, Huang Xiaolong sliced the Iron Ape's throat with a single strike, causing it to collapse to the ground.

The beast's blood spurted, and the Iron Ape fell lifelessly. The Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey swiftly climbed onto the Iron Ape's corpse and began reaping the rewards of victory. With a swipe of its claw, the monkey removed the scalp and extracted the Monster Core, which it promptly devoured. It seemed that the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey had a unique ability to find Monster Cores within Rank 7 and below Monster Beasts. It had consistently done so whenever it provoked and hunted these creatures, making it a headache for Huang Xiaolong.

After the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey swallowed the Iron Ape's Monster Core, Huang Xiaolong approached. He extended his hands, assuming a claw-like shape, and began to absorb the Iron Ape's Blood Soul Qi. The energy flowed through Huang Xiaolong's meridians and entered his body. After a while, all of the Blood Soul Qi from the Iron Ape had been absorbed by Huang Xiaolong, causing his body to emit a radiant glow. He reached out his hands and grasped the empty space, causing two black claw-like images to manifest. From a distance of twenty meters, Huang Xiaolong caught hold of the tree trunk of a large tree, leaving a half-foot-deep imprint. The claw images on the trunk exuded a dark Death Qi, causing the leaves of the tree to slowly darken and turn yellow. Observing the formidable power of the Asura Ghost Claw, the first move of the Ten Thousand Ghost Howling technique, Huang Xiaolong nodded in satisfaction.

These two months of training in the Silvermoon Forest had not only allowed him to summon his Twin Dragons Martial Spirit on his own, but had also significantly increased the power of Tears of Asura, Ten Thousand Ghost Howling, Asura Arts, and Body Metamorphose Scripture. If he had stayed at Tianxuan Mansion to train, his progress would not have been as rapid.

At that moment, the Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey made a series of excited squeaks. It seemed to have discovered some treasure in the Iron Ape's cave. The monkey gestured with its hands, and Huang Xiaolong understood. The Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey turned and beckoned for Huang Xiaolong to follow, leading him back in the direction from which the Iron Ape had come.

After twenty minutes, the Iron Ape led Huang Xiaolong to a densely covered forest. Eventually, they arrived at a large hole. The Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey squeaked in excitement upon reaching the hole, and without hesitation, it disappeared inside. Huang Xiaolong followed.

Inside the hole, a faint, exotic fragrance wafted towards them, growing stronger as they went deeper. After a while, Huang Xiaolong reached the bottom of the hole. To his surprise, the bottom was incredibly spacious, spanning over 1,000 square meters, with the hole extending about 30 to 40 meters high. At the bottom, a giant tree, large enough for seven to eight people to join hands around it, grew. Its branches stretched out and took root at the top of the cave. In the canopy of the giant tree, a bright light shone.

Huang Xiaolong gazed at the giant tree before him, stunned at what he saw. Then, he erupted in joy, finding it hard to believe his eyes. "Could this be an Iron Tree?" he exclaimed.

The Iron Tree was known for bearing a unique fruit called the Iron Fruit. When consumed by a practitioner of Battle Qi, the Iron Fruit not only enhanced their Battle Qi but also tempered their physique, strengthening their muscles, bones, and even their internal organs. Continuous consumption of Iron Fruit would result in an iron-like defense, just like the Iron Ape, rendering them virtually impervious to sword strikes.

"Squeak squeak squeak!" Spirit Devouring Purple Monkey, having already climbed onto the Iron Tree, plucked an Iron Fruit with its hand and quickly devoured it. Huang Xiaolong smiled, sometimes wondering if the monkey had a dog's nose or something even more extraordinary, as it always managed to find rare fruits within a hundred-li radius wherever they went.