The Mountain Giant Ape didn't retreat, raising its five hundred yard-long foot to kick Li Xi. Unfortunately, just as the Mountain Giant Ape was about to kick Li Xi, Li Xi's body suddenly disappeared. The Mountain Giant Ape's kick left a large pit in the ground, nearly causing it to perform a split.
The moment the ground was kicked into a large pit, Li Xi used his Instantaneous Body technique to appear behind the Mountain Giant Ape's other leg. Since he wanted to turn the Mountain Giant Ape into his contracted beast, he couldn't seriously injure it. With its physique, a serious injury would cost Li Xi a fortune just in medicine. Li Xi directly used the flat of his saber to strike the Mountain Giant Ape's thigh tendon with a technique called Heaven-Splitting Earth.
A heavy blow landed, and a black-purple saber mark appeared on the marble-like muscle of its thigh at a visible speed.
"Roar!"
The numbness in its leg tendon caused the Mountain Giant Ape to let out a pained cry. Its supporting leg lost all strength, causing the Mountain Giant Ape to fall to one knee.
As soon as it knelt, the Mountain Giant Ape tried to stand up, but its leg felt like it no longer belonged to it. It was attached to its body, but it couldn't feel anything and wouldn't obey.
The Mountain Giant Ape then swung the remaining part of the tree trunk it held back at Li Xi. The howling wind generated by the tree trunk even whipped up the grass on the ground, but the powerful strike missed again. Li Xi's figure had somehow appeared beneath the Mountain Giant Ape's ribs.
The Decapitation Saber in his hand transformed into a fly swatter, and Li Xi, holding back almost nothing, directly slapped its ribs.
"Crack!"
A rib as thick as a person snapped. Hit twice by Li Xi, the Mountain Giant Ape's eyes instantly became bloodshot. With a roar, the Mountain Giant Ape's heavy hammer-like fists slammed into the ground. Li Xi didn't understand why the Mountain Giant Ape wasn't attacking him, but instead hitting the ground.
In the next second, he understood. The ground below seemed to be undergoing an earthquake, and the entire earth was violently trembling. The surrounding trees and shrubs were uprooted dozens of meters deep, and the soil and sand from underground were thrown onto the surface.
In just two breaths, the terrain within a radius of half a kilometer had drastically changed, as if seas had turned into mulberry fields in an instant.
Li Xi flew in the sky, his wings flapping, completely unaffected by the magic wave from the Mountain Giant Ape's earth-shattering attack.
However, seeing that the Mountain Giant Ape still possessed such magical attack capabilities, Li Xi's resolve to turn it into a contracted beast became even stronger. Area-of-effect skills were never too many.
"Since you won't yield, I'll beat you until you do."
Li Xi's current speed was already causing devastating damage to the Mountain Giant Ape, and his strength and other aspects were superior. If he hadn't been trying to capture it alive and avoid major injuries, this battle could have already ended.
The Mountain Giant Ape was furious. Although one leg was still unable to exert force, it didn't prevent its invincible iron fists from shattering the air.
Its massive body meant that every move and every strike it unleashed could generate a powerful air cannon. Even a second-tier magical beast would be severely injured if caught by one, but for Li Xi's current Dragon Scale defense, it was still a bit short of breaking through.
Li Xi continuously flashed around the Mountain Giant Ape's body, his fists, whip-like kicks, and the flat of the Decapitation Saber striking the Mountain Giant Ape countless times. Each attack was meticulously chosen by Li Xi, targeting either its weak points or crucial points for power conversion.
The playful battle continued for ten minutes. The Mountain Giant Ape panted heavily, its voice sounding like a bellows. Every movement now caused it excruciating pain.
Swollen lumps covered its entire body like grapes on a vine, one after another, making the Mountain Giant Ape appear a size larger.
Even its fierce face was bruised and battered, with one eye so badly hit by Li Xi's heavy punch that it could only be pried open a tiny crack.
Li Xi stopped in front of the Mountain Giant Ape and said solemnly, "I believe you understand my strength now. I formally invite you to be my partner and fight alongside me. Of course, you won't be shortchanged by following me. I can give you a few bottles of the dragon blood you like right now, and in the future, I'll definitely let you eat dragon meat until you're full and drink dragon blood until you're saturated. As for dragon crystals, I have one right now. If you agree to join me, I can give it to you immediately."
Li Xi was making a significant investment to win over the Mountain Giant Ape. He took out a dragon crystal the size of a human head from his spatial ring, causing the Mountain Giant Ape, which could only open one eye, to widen its pupil.
"I don't have many skills, but I always keep my word. If you ever find that I haven't fulfilled my promises, you can leave me at any time."
The Mountain Giant Ape's pupils vibrated violently, clearly undergoing intense internal struggle.
Li Xi then took out five more bottles of dragon blood from his spatial ring. Although each bottle weighed less than a pound, it was still one-third of Li Xi's current stock.
Like the last straw that broke the camel's back, the Mountain Giant Ape, a magical beast that had never tasted dragon blood, completely disregarded its pride as a Mountain Clan member upon seeing the fragrant dragon blood.
Its massive head nodded uncontrollably, giving it a surprisingly cute appearance.
Li Xi unhesitatingly took out a contract scroll he had prepared earlier and pointed to a spot. "Drip your blood here, and from now on, we'll be brothers fighting side by side."
The Mountain Giant Ape, with a finger as thick as an adult's thigh, dripped its blood onto the designated spot. A flash of fire appeared on the scroll, and Li Xi immediately felt an invisible connection between them. As long as he used the summoning technique, he could summon the Mountain Giant Ape regardless of its location or what it was doing.
"We are brothers now. All these things are yours."
Li Xi, without any hesitation, threw the priceless dragon crystal and dragon blood towards it. The Mountain Giant Ape eagerly swallowed even the bottles.
The Mountain Giant Ape's gaze towards Li Xi was no longer filled with anger and killing intent, but with affection.
Li Xi looked at the Mountain Giant Ape, now covered in grape-like swellings. Although they were all superficial wounds, it was still too unsightly.
He took out all the Intermediate Holy Water given to him by Aisi and applied it to each wound. All the Holy Water was used up before he could even do a preliminary application. Still not fully at ease, Li Xi had the Mountain Giant Ape drink three bottles of the Advanced Holy Water gifted by Demanga. Only after completing all this did Li Xi feel reassured.
"Having a contracted beast that is too large is not without its drawbacks. At the very least, if I don't earn enough money, one injury could bankrupt me."
But thinking of the Mountain Giant Ape's formidable combat power, it was all worth it.
"I need to give you a name, otherwise it's inconvenient to call you. You're probably a type of monkey, so you should have the surname Sun. All monkeys share one surname. I'll call you Sun Er Dai."
The Mountain Giant Ape paid no mind to this, lying sprawled on the ground to recover its strength. It weakly responded to Li Xi's rambling, indicating that it had heard him.
"Since you're called Sun Er Dai, it's not right to have no staff. When I go back, I'll commission a custom-made one for you. The staff of your ancestor in the other world weighed thirteen thousand five hundred catties. You definitely can't wield such a heavy weapon, so I'll make you a fraction of that, enough to smash a dragon's brains out with one blow."
"Roar!"
Perhaps the mention of smashing a dragon's brains out piqued Sun Er Dai's interest, and it happily replied to Li Xi.
"Since you'll have a weapon, I'll craft a suit of armor for you too, guaranteeing you'll be a land tank once you wear it."
"Roar!"
The Mountain Giant Ape perfunctorily replied without much interest.
Since the contract had just been signed, Li Xi stayed in the Forest of Forgetfulness for a few days to play with Sun Er Dai, and also to hone their synergy, aiming to make their combined strength greater than the sum of their individual strengths.
When the human and beast finally reached a satisfactory level of coordination, Li Xi had to prepare to return. "You behave yourself. I'll come find you after I've crafted your weapon."
"Roar!"
The Mountain Giant Ape let out a soft cry, showing a hint of reluctance. It knew that Li Xi didn't belong in this forest.
After bidding farewell to the Mountain Giant Ape, Li Xi spent a day returning to Cardo City. He landed in a secluded spot outside the city and, driven by his thirst, hurried back to the mercenary hall. However, he was a little disappointed not to see Aisi anywhere after looking around.
He had been out for nearly a month, but thankfully, the harvest was very rich.
Li Xi first submitted the mission completion certificate from Demanga, earning two mission completion progress points, leaving him only two more to be promoted from an E-rank mercenary.
Then, he went to the E-rank mission hall and took on the 'Seek Clues to Dragon Feces' quest. He then returned to the D-rank mission hall and took on the 'Provide Dragon Feces' quest. He also found other quests related to dragon materials and took on the 'Seek All Dragon Materials' quest.
Afterward, he approached the counter. "I'm here to submit a quest."
The service staff saw the three quests and knew that this young mercenary must have dragon materials, otherwise he wouldn't have taken on so many quests. They silently wished him good luck, thinking that this single transaction could be equivalent to other mercenaries' income for several years.
"These three quests were all commissioned by the same person. Please wait in the reception room for a moment while I notify the employer."
"Okay."
For some important quests, the mercenary guild provided private rooms to ensure the smooth completion of the mission.
Li Xi hadn't been in the reception room for long before a dust-covered merchant ran over. Upon meeting, he grabbed Li Xi's hand as if he had found his long-lost lover after being separated by war.
"Let me see the goods quickly."
Li Xi waved his hand, and two oak barrels appeared on the ground. The merchant impatiently opened one, and a foul odor filled the entire room. Li Xi, disgusted, covered his nose and took two steps back, but the merchant seemed intoxicated, as if savoring fine wine, almost shoving his nose into it. The smell of feces had no effect on him.
After smelling it, the merchant took out a bowl, scooped out a bit of the feces, and just as Li Xi thought he might eat it, the merchant placed the bowl in the sunlight to examine it carefully, stirring it with a small spoon and observing its changes.
"Good stuff, very fresh. Although this dragon wasn't very strong, and its level didn't exceed six, it's fresh."
He raised the silver bowl to Li Xi again and smiled, saying, "Good stuff, a rare find."
Li Xi forced a weak smile in response. Only he knew how perfunctory his smile was.
"As long as you're satisfied."
The merchant carefully closed the oak barrel, then opened the one filled with Stark's urine, releasing a pungent odor that assaulted the senses.
After more than half a month of fermentation, the smell was indescribable, ten times stronger than the previous one. Li Xi held his breath, afraid that even one inhale would make him pass out.
But this merchant was truly not an ordinary warrior. He calmly and methodically inspected the contents. Li Xi couldn't bear to watch the process; it was too unpleasant, too brutal, too disgusting.
After a moment, the merchant finished his inspection and gave Li Xi a thumbs-up, saying, "Good stuff, a genuine item rarely seen in years."
Li Xi quickly waved his hand and collected the two oak barrels into his spatial ring. "Let's change rooms."
After moving to a new room, they officially sat down and began to discuss the price.
"I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Garrio, a small captain of the Beiros merchant caravan. According to our market rates, dragon feces and dragon liquid of this quality can be exchanged for gold coins at a two-to-one ratio. That is, two pounds of dragon feces can be exchanged for one pound of gold coins, which is five gold coins."