Ye Qiu discovered that within the territory of the Holy Beast, there were no ancient beasts at all, as if it was a vacuum zone.

Seeing this situation, Ye Qiu understood in his heart that this could only mean that the Holy Beast was extremely powerful, creating an aura of intimidation that deterred other ancient beasts from stepping into its territory.

Much like tigers and lions that mark their territory by urinating in certain areas, using scent to warn others that this is their domain, entering unexpectedly would be an offense and very dangerous.

Ye Qiu was very curious about the strength of this Holy Beast, so he wanted to come and see anyway, as he was on a journey and it wouldn’t delay him.

Without the presence of other ancient beasts, Ye Qiu found several places where Spiritual Medicine was growing, and without hesitation, he collected them into his pouch. To his surprise, the Holy Beast did not appear.

Onward he went, and it must be said, there were plenty of good things in this area. Ye Qiu discovered multiple Spiritual Medicines and collected them all without hesitation.

When Ye Qiu saw a large red Cang Tian tree, his expression froze, and he couldn’t help but stop his steps.

This is... a Magic Tree!

A Magic Tree! Even at the Pill Tower, Ye Qiu had only seen a few, but compared to this Magic Tree before him, they were insignificant.

What a treasure.

Ye Qiu swallowed his saliva. The tree was laden with fruits, and each one was a natural elixir with efficacy equivalent to a Sacred Pill.

Of course, if refined by Ye Qiu, they would become Divine Pills.

However, the fruits of this Magic Tree are naturally delicious, and refining them into pills would be somewhat wasteful; eating them directly is best.

The appearance of the Magic Tree felt like a bandit encountering several chests of gold falling from the sky, an unexpected windfall.

Without hesitation, Ye Qiu, sensing no other presence, leapt onto the Magic Tree and began picking the fruits.

Snap.

Ye Qiu randomly grabbed a red fruit, taking a bite. It was fragrant, juicy, and incredibly delicious, comparable to the premier peaches of the Turquoise Pool Sacred Land.

"Delicious!"

Ye Qiu hadn’t had enough of those exquisite peaches previously, and now he was delighted, picking and eating these fruits that were no less superior.

In no time, the fruits on the Magic Tree were entirely gone, picked clean by Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu ate four or five, with his stomach so full that the Spirit Fruits in his belly transformed into a warm current, continuously flowing towards his limbs and bones, making him feel extremely comfortable.

While Ye Qiu lay leisurely on the tree, enjoying the comfort brought by the Spirit Fruit, a loud roar of anger bellowed, blowing the leaves off the Magic Tree.

"Finally here?" Ye Qiu chuckled, standing up suddenly, looking at the furious presence.

The Holy Beast, as described by those Void Realm ancient beasts, was actually a youth about fifteen or sixteen years old, glaring at Ye Qiu with eyes full of fury, as if wanting to devour him whole.

"Skyfall Realm level!"

Ye Qiu instantly gauged the opponent’s strength; it was an ancient beast at the Skyfall Realm level, currently in human form.

"Die!"

Faced with Ye Qiu, the ’fruit thief,’ the Holy Beast was filled with murderous intent, charging at him at once.

Ye Qiu smiled gently and casually released a palm, causing the Holy Beast to halt suddenly in mid-air, unable to advance.

"You want to kill me? You’re not quite there yet."

The Holy Beast was infuriated, immediately shaking its body and losing its human shape to revert to its true form.

Rumble.

The ground shook violently, and Ye Qiu focused, realizing that the Holy Beast’s true form was a gigantic gorilla.

Roar!

The gorilla drummed its chest, reminding Ye Qiu of an animation he once watched, "Ape-Man Tarzan."

Suddenly, as Ye Qiu was lost in thought, the gorilla ancient beast vanished from sight.

Ye Qiu felt a chill behind him, realizing the opponent was right at his back.

Indeed, the gorilla ancient beast threw a punch at Ye Qiu’s back, but immediately a palm blocked it.

Ye Qiu didn’t even turn back, just extended his hand behind him, stopping the gorilla beast’s attack.

Grabbing the gorilla beast’s five fingers, he suddenly opened it, ejecting the gorilla immediately.

Only then did Ye Qiu turn around.

The gorilla beast, still in a rage, charged again. Ye Qiu observed its attack, extending a hand again to constantly block.

After clashing over a thousand times, the gorilla beast couldn’t even touch the hem of Ye Qiu’s clothes.

The gorilla beast stopped attacking, standing there panting. It wasn’t stupid; rather, it was quite intelligent, only previously blinded by rage. Now calmed, it realized that this human was terrifying.

Ye Qiu, seeing the gorilla beast unmoving, retrieved five Spirit Fruits from his storage ring, placed them on the ground, and said, "Regardless, these are yours, as for the rest, I need them."

Leaving the five Spirit Fruits, Ye Qiu prepared to leave, knowing that the gorilla beast could understand him. If it was wise enough, it would know not to attack again.

In the previous encounter, Ye Qiu hadn’t used his full strength, just casually exchanging moves. Although the gorilla beast was strong, it only relied on brute force, lacking much technique. Even though ancient beasts of the same realm were generally superior to human Martial Artists, compared to Ye Qiu, they would still kneel, especially ones like the gorilla beast that only understood brute strength.

Whoosh.

Ye Qiu had only taken a few steps when the gorilla beast blocked his path again.

"You want to die?" Ye Qiu said calmly. If the gorilla was still inclined to attack, he wouldn’t hold back anymore.

The gorilla beast quickly shook its head and stammered, "Can I follow you?"

"Follow me?" Ye Qiu was taken aback.

"Yes." The gorilla beast nodded, displaying a human-like expression.

"Give me a reason!" Ye Qiu said.

"Because you are stronger than me!"

"Alright then!"

With the gorilla beast, now his companion, the journey ahead became even smoother.

The gorilla beast, being a native, was extremely familiar with the area. Under its guidance, it was a breeze, not even encountering a single ancient beast along the way, truly because the gorilla beast was too intimidating. Unlike Ye Qiu, it didn’t even bother to conceal its aura, leading all nearby ancient beasts to retreat in fear.

This made the journey less interesting for Ye Qiu, but he didn’t mind, as it meant he could leave the entire journey’s arrangements to the gorilla beast.

Noting the gorilla beast’s diligence, Ye Qiu realized it wanted to learn his battle techniques. Ye Qiu wasn’t stingy, nor afraid of a student surpassing the master; even if the gorilla beast learned, it wouldn’t rival Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu even gave the gorilla beast a name: Tarzan.

And so, with Tarzan paving the way, Ye Qiu strolled behind, drawing ever closer to the center of the Southern Wilderness.