Following the fat man's description, Zhang Shi led the group around the dense forest and arrived at the foot of a mountain. The mountaintop was obscured by towering cliffs, and the specific situation on top could not be seen for a while.

According to the fat man, there's a path leading straight to the summit, where a secret realm lies—a place of both danger and opportunity, teeming with high-level beasts. The necklace he wore, capable of launching water arrows, was something he'd obtained by chance within that realm. If he hadn't been carrying a return scroll that day, he probably would have perished there.

As for the Dragon Tiger Alliance, they later sent people to explore this place, but no one who went in ever came out alive.

Zhang Shi guessed that this place was probably a gathering place for wild beasts, and should contain some rare treasures, or at the very least, a high-level treasure chest. Therefore, as soon as he was teleported here, he led over a hundred people into the mountains in a grand procession.

Because of the torrential rain, some of the weaker wild animals had long since stopped venturing out, and even the stronger beasts dared not challenge a group of over a hundred people, avoiding them at all costs. Therefore, the journey was exceptionally smooth. After finding a small path, Zhang Shi and the others slowed their pace and gradually climbed to the mountaintop.

For some reason, a thin layer of white mist rose from the mountaintop, which even the torrential rain could not dispel, as if it were a space isolated from the world.

Zhang Shi noticed something was wrong. He took out the old mortar and slowly approached the thick fog, trying to disperse it, but found it had no effect. This reminded him of his experience in Huojia Village.

"This should be the secret realm that the fat man was talking about. Once you pass through the thick fog, you'll find a primeval forest."

Zhao Feng looked at the white mist, and he also had some doubts in his heart.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Shi decided to go in and take a look. There were more than a hundred of them, so if they handled it carefully, there shouldn't be any major problems.

As Zhang Shi's body plunged into the white mist, he felt all his senses being blocked in an instant. The feeling was indescribable, bringing him only immense fear and confusion.

Fortunately, the sensation was fleeting. After passing through the white mist, he found himself surrounded by lush greenery. Birdsong occasionally drifted from the trees ahead, creating a scene of birdsong and fragrant flowers. There was no downpour here, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling on Zhang Shi's face, making him feel extremely comfortable.

"Holy crap, why does this place look so much like the Enchanted Forest?"

Zhao Feng followed closely behind, and was also shocked by the scene.

More and more soldiers emerged from the white mist into the forest. Zhang Shi watched each soldier intently, silently calculating their numbers in his mind.

Finally, when the hundredth soldier appeared before him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The fat man didn't describe the interior of the secret realm in detail, so Zhang Shi and the others had to explore it on their own. The primeval forest was dense with trees, and Zhang Shi led the group in a long line, carefully making their way inside.

Before long, trouble broke out ahead. The scout at the front was struck by a stone and fell to the ground. The stone struck the steel armor with a crisp sound, indicating that it had a considerable force.

Zhang Shi kept his Focused Realm active and immediately spotted a ferocious-looking ape with a blue face and fangs in the dense bushes. He decisively used Shadow Step to flash behind it and killed it with a single strike.

Zhang Shi emerged from the bushes carrying the monkey's carcass. Only then did everyone realize that the monkey was not only enormous but also extremely bizarre in appearance. Its nasal bones were prominently raised on both sides, and the skin on them was an unusual bluish-green, clashing sharply with its gray fur. Its nose and mouth were red, forming an inverted "T" shape on its face. A tuft of pale yellow hair adorned its chin, making it appear grotesque and monstrous.

"That's a mandrill, how come it's so big?"

Zhao Feng recognized the species of the ape and went over to fiddle with it a couple of times. But Zhang Shi had already slit its throat, and the mandrill didn't react at all.

"What do you call this thing?"

Zhang Shi was unfamiliar with the species of this creature, so he asked again. Unexpectedly, a series of dense howls suddenly came from the jungle ahead, and judging from the sound, there were quite a few of them.

Zhao Feng remembered that this creature was a social animal, so he reacted immediately, picked up his large axe, and shouted at the soldiers.

"All personnel on high alert. Kill any threatening species on sight."

Sure enough, not far away, a large group of mandrills swung down from the treetops. Each one was much larger than an adult human and looked quite intimidating.

“Where we come from, these things are normally about half a person tall and weigh about 50 kilograms. But these things are like they’ve mutated. Be careful.”

Zhao Feng offered a reminder, and Zhang Shi nodded.

In the forest, cavalry cannot make the most of their advantages. These primates are particularly agile and take advantage of their height to look down from above, not giving soldiers a chance to get close easily. The soldiers are at a disadvantage in their combat position. When they find an opportunity, the mountain demons swarm in. If it weren't for their fine steel armor, Zhang Shi's side would probably have suffered casualties as soon as they engaged in battle.

In addition, the mountain goblins' occasional stone-throwing attacks also served as a ranged attack, causing many soldiers to suffer injuries, which greatly annoyed Zhang Shi.

"Ten people per team, with me as the center, keep a distance from each other and spread out, and shoot when the opportunity arises."

Zhang Shi issued new orders, which the soldiers immediately carried out. In a short time, the woods were filled with the sound of gunfire, startling all the birds and animals in the area into scattering.

Although the mandrills were agile and fierce, the dense barrage of bullets still managed to hit their targets, leaving behind many mandrill corpses.

Zhang Shi, relying on the mobility of his Shadow Step, charged into the swarm of mountain demons, killing them one by one with a single strike. He then refreshed his Shadow Step again, flashing around as if mowing grass, swiftly reaping the lives of the mountain demons.

Zhang Shi's killing spree quickly attracted the attention of the high-level mandrills. Several larger mandrills appeared, surrounding a primate monster the size of the Hulk. The Hulk was like a small mountain made of muscles, exuding explosive power. Upon seeing the corpses of its companions on the ground, it pounded its chest and stamped its feet, charging towards Zhang Shi.

Zhang Shi examined the monster and discovered that it was actually of the exquisite level.

[Mandrill Leader (Green): A refined-level elite monster. After mutation, its body has been strengthened, with high strength and agility attributes, and it also possesses considerable intelligence.]

Zhang Shi glanced at the creature's strength and speed attributes, which were close to 50 points, and knew that he couldn't fight it head-on like he would with other ordinary mountain demons. He quickly activated Shadow Step again, teleported behind the ordinary mountain demon that was watching the show, and finished it off with a single strike.

Seeing Zhang Shi slip away and kill his subordinates, the mandrill leader seemed to be provoked. Enraged, he turned around, leaped up, and used the tree trunk as leverage to propel himself forward like a bullet towards Zhang Shi. A pair of footprints were left on the towering tree, deeply embedded in the wood.