Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

So cute! The creature in front of me is practically a carbon copy of Sun Wukong from the animated series "Journey to the West"—no, to be precise, it's even more advanced than Sun Wukong.

That snow-white fur was far more beautiful than Sun Wukong's yellowish-brown fur, and there was also a petite and exquisite "Mother Wukong" here.

Their clothing is similar to that of Sun Wukong, with animal skins wrapped around their waists to cover their private parts, and the females also wear an animal skin bodice.

Mo Yuming almost couldn't help but shout and rush up to hug them, if it weren't for the constant warning messages coming from the hand that Old Man Mo was holding.

Old Mo imitated the roar of "Sun Wukong" a few times. Judging from their actions and "conversations", it can be seen that these "Sun Wukongs" have a very harmonious relationship with Old Mo, and Old Mo is quite popular here.

They showed great respect for Elder Mo, which was clearly evident in their reverent attitude and the way they looked at him.

After some "conversation," the adult male "Sun Wukong" pulled out a cub slightly taller than Mo Yuming from behind, brought it to Mo Lao, and made the cub turn around.

The cub was deathly pale, its eyes seemed to be filled with tears, and it had a pained expression on its face.

As the cub cautiously turned around, a heartbreaking scene unfolded before the three of them:

The cub had several crisscrossing wounds on its back, as if it had been injured by some sharp weapon. Although the bleeding had stopped, its entire back was still stained red with blood, and the rolled-up flesh at the wounds looked scarlet and terrifying.

After examining the items, Old Mo called out a few words to the male "Sun Wukong," then released his hands from Mo Yuming and the other man, and took out a bunch of bottles and jars from his storage bag and placed them on the ground.

The male "Sun Wukong" also followed Old Mo's instructions, sat down on the ground, held the cub's body in his arms, let it lie on his lap, and held its arms, ready.

Old Mo took some medicine from the medicine pot and carefully cleaned the bloodstains and dirt from the wound, causing fresh blood to seep out again. Then he sprinkled some medicine powder on the wound and gently smoothed it out.

After everything was taken care of, Old Master Mo did not stop the treatment. Instead, he put away the medicine, closed his eyes slightly, and began to practice his internal energy.

Then, he stretched out his arms and slowly moved his palms back and forth about an inch away from the wound where the medicine had just been applied.

Mo Yuming and Xinlan, standing to the side, could see clearly that a faint green light was emanating from Old Master Mo's palm.

The soft green light did not leak out at all, but shone entirely on the freshly treated wound.

The wondrous sight once again entered Mo Yuming's vision, stirring his soul:

Those wounds that were slowly bleeding stopped bleeding quickly and began to heal rapidly after being exposed to green light.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the smaller wounds had healed completely, and the larger wounds had all scabbed over, showing signs of healing. The injured cub also stopped groaning, and its complexion had noticeably improved.

"So! Now, feel free to ask me any questions you have?"

An hour later, the three of them walked out of the cave and came to the stone tablet again. Old Mo stopped and smiled at the two little guys who had been holding back their desire.

He knew that if he didn't let the two little ones ask questions, they would definitely get sick from holding it in.

"Lanmei, you go first!"

Although Mo Yuming had many questions to ask, seeing Xinlan's impatient look, he smiled and said to her.

"Um! Grandpa, who hurt that little monkey? How cruel! It bled so much, will it be alright!"

Xinlan blinked her big, watery eyes and asked worriedly.

"They'll be fine. They're very resilient. With my treatment, they'll be fully recovered in three or four days. As for what hurt them, it was one of their natural enemies, the iron-billed eagle. In this canyon, apart from the iron-billed eagle, no other creature would dare to harm them."

"Old Mo said."

"What is an Iron-beaked Vulture? Is it very powerful?"

Xinlan then asked.

"The Ironbeak Vulture is a metal-type mutated magical beast with a trace of wind attribute bloodline. Its wingspan is six or seven feet, making it a mid-level flying magical beast."

Adult Ironbeaks can reach magic level six. When their wind bloodline awakens, Ironbeaks fly very fast and make no sound while flying, making them very difficult to spot.

The iron-billed eagle's best attack method is ambush, using its sharp beak and steel claws, capable of shattering gold and stone, to harm enemies or hunt prey.

However, its magic level is not high, and it is difficult to fight against the white ape head-on. It can only rely on sneak attacks to hunt small animals with low resistance.

They particularly prey on baby Homo sapiens. Although the success rate is low, they still pose a significant threat to Homo sapiens.

"Based on my observations over the past few years, there are only three to five iron-beaked vultures that have attacked Homo sapiens and white apes."

I tried to help the white apes get rid of this menace, but I couldn't succeed. Besides being very alert, they are also incredibly fast fliers; they fly away as soon as they sense danger.

Even the elders of the Homo sapiens tribe couldn't do anything about them.

Although the elders of the Homo sapiens white ape clan possessed unfathomable magical power, they cultivated earth-based magic. Even though they could fly and burrow underground, their flight speed was still no match for those iron-beaked vultures.

The main reason is that they have no nests in this canyon. They simply fly away after each attack.

Mo Wen explained.

"They just flew away? Don't they even have a fixed landing spot? The canyon isn't that wide, if everyone pays more attention, we should be able to find something."

Could it possibly fly out of the valley? Aren't they afraid of the myriad thunderbolts and the cloud-condensing illusion array within the clouds?

Mo Yuming couldn't help but ask.

"It's no use. I once teamed up with those old men from Yishi Valley to search for it."

Logically, for a species to survive, it needs a breeding population and a habitat.

But despite searching high and low, they found no clues. This meant there was only one possibility: they came from the outside, directly broke through the Cloud Condensation Illusion Array, and then flew out of the array.

Mo Wen sighed.

"How is this possible! Wasn't it said that the illusion array was impassable?"

Mo Yuming was puzzled.

"The logic is sound, but this is also an undeniable fact!"

Mo Wen shook his head and said.

"Doesn't this mean the illusion array isn't that powerful? If even a mid-level magical beast can pass through it, why can't we humans go up? Didn't Grandpa Dugu already know how to ride the wind and fly through the air? Why didn't he try it?"

Mo Yuming frowned. Although he had heard the old men talk about how powerful illusion arrays were, Mo Yuming had never actually come into contact with any arrays, so his understanding of arrays was always very vague, and he always felt that the old men were exaggerating.

"It's not like Elder Dugu hasn't tried. Over the centuries, many people have ventured into the canyon and attempted it, but without exception, they all failed."

They discovered that they couldn't even touch the rocks a dozen feet away from the illusion array.

When Boss Dugu saw that all of us who survived had fallen from those two places, he concluded that those must be the exit of the canyon.

So he ventured alone into the clouds of that place to try, but as soon as he entered the clouds, he began to hallucinate, his spiritual power rapidly diminished, and he could barely control his body, almost falling down.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, sealing off his five senses to stop his ascent and using his internal energy to protect himself, allowing himself to fall freely out of the clouds. Thankfully, his timely reaction and proper self-rescue measures saved his life from the fall. He then secluded himself for three months to fully recover.

Mo Wen sighed.

"Then why can that iron-headed vulture come and go freely? Is the mystical array only designed for humans?" Mo Yuming was even more puzzled.

"It's not just targeting humans."

Since then, I have observed them for decades and found that only a few iron-beaked vultures can enter and leave the clouds without any problems. Other magical beasts that enter the clouds either have a high survival rate when they fall off the Cliff of Doom or the Cliff of Sacrifice, just like humans, while almost none of them survive in other places.

Even those who miraculously survived, including flying magical beasts, had no chance of ever flying again.

Mo Wen looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Could the Ironbeak Vulture really have some special ability to resist magic arrays?" Mo Yuming wondered.

"It's hard to say!"

"It looks like we need to catch a beaked eagle and study it to find out the truth."

"Besides treating some diseases for the Homo sapiens in Xianghe Valley, I spent most of my time observing their movements, but I didn't gain much." When talking about this, Old Mo couldn't help but show a helpless expression on his face.

Mo Yuming could deeply understand Old Master Mo's feelings at that moment.

Although the purpose of capturing the iron-billed eagle was to protect the white ape, the greater significance lay in the hope of finding some clues from the iron-billed eagle to leave the canyon.

Who among those living in the canyon doesn't yearn to one day emerge from it? Therefore, even with the slimmest hope, they will not give up. The Ironbeak is undoubtedly a turning point.

Mo Yuming finally understood the reason behind Elder Mo's strange behavior of spending more time in Xianghe Valley than in Yishi Valley these past few years. Even if Elder Mo himself was unwilling to admit it, he could not deny this fact.

Mo Yuming finally couldn't help but ask Old Master Mo a question:

"Grandpa, I have a question, but I'm not sure if I should ask it. It's not a big deal, really. I'm just a little curious!" After all, Mo Yuming has only been in this canyon for a little over a month, and he has spent most of his time with Xinlan. He has spent no more than seven days with Grandpa Mo, and even less time talking to him.

Therefore, she is clearly not completely open in terms of emotions and behavior, and is far from reaching the level of Xinlan's unrestrained nature. Hence, she is still somewhat cautious in her speech.

Old Master Mo is nearly a hundred years old and a shrewd man; how could he not see through Mo Yuming's current state of mind? He couldn't help but smile and said in a gentle voice:

"Silly child, what is there that you can't ask in front of your grandfather? You can ask any question you want, there's no need to hold back. We're not strangers. It's a good thing for children to have questions, they should ask, otherwise how will they learn! Ask away!"

"Actually, it's not a big deal. I'm just a little curious. This Homo sapiens white ape is very similar to the ape-like magical beasts in Ruimu Valley. Why is this Homo sapiens white ape a spirit beast, while most other ape-like races are magical beasts? What are the differences between them?"

"At that time, there was no distinction between demons, humans, and other spirit races on the continent; it was an era in which various races lived together. These races fought and annexed each other for resources and interests."

At that time, the human race was relatively weak, with few strong individuals, far fewer than now, and few habitats. They had been struggling to survive among various powerful races.

To survive and thrive, one had to pay a higher price. This was because the continent at that time was home to many extremely powerful entities.

These powerful races are not only powerful, but also numerous. Each powerful race has its own territory, which it will not tolerate others from coveting.

Homo sapiens are one of these powerful species, and humans have to fight against them and compete for territory in order to survive.

In order to survive, the ancestors of humankind actively chose to attach themselves to the Homo sapiens, a species that was closer to humankind, and humankind became a vassal species of Homo sapiens.

As the saying goes, "two tigers cannot share one mountain." For the sake of resources, friction between powerful races is increasing, and conflicts are becoming more and more serious. In particular, those races that are naturally bloodthirsty and murderous often provoke fights and invade other people's territories.