Sun Wukong was stunned. He had considered many possibilities, even that the God-Slaying Beast might have intercepted that fool midway, causing him to return to myth before reuniting with his brothers. But he never expected to be held up by such a thing.
Forget it. For this monkey, such things were rather normal.
"Old Man of the Earth, get your ass out here!" Sun Wukong impatiently stomped on the ground below him.
Boom! The ley lines trembled, and the spirit residing here was forcibly gathered, materializing into a short old man leaning on a staff—the Earth Deity, forcefully summoned by divine Authority. Though not a true god of the earth, he possessed the most basic form of godhood.
The little old man trembled as he cupped his hands:
"Great Sage... what are your orders?"
"I'll trouble you, old man, to go and drag that idiot back for this Old Sun!" Sun Wukong pointed with his Golden-Hooped Rod, his voice like a thunderclap.
"Pass on this Old Sun's words: if he dares to dawdle again, this Old Sun's Golden-Hooped Rod will be rapping a few tunes on that pig head of his!"
"Senior Brother, do you still wish to become the Jade Emperor? After we succeed, this old pig only wants Japan." Zhu Ganglie revealed a lecherous grin.
"Ha... As for me, Old Sha, there's nothing I particularly desire. But allow me to accompany you to the very end," Sha Wujing followed.
Words are law! For his subordinate gods, Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie, Sun Wukong's will was nigh absolute.
The Earth Deity vanished in a puff of smoke.
A moment later, a languid, auspicious cloud drifted over from the horizon. Atop the cloud, a youth with disheveled clothes and a handsome but panicked face was holding a screaming woman.
Sha Wujing, seeing this, quietly chanted a Buddhist phrase, unable to bear the sight.
Bi Mawen? Yun Mawen? Arguing over what kind of 'wen' it was now was meaningless.
The youth on the cloud—the incarnation of Zhu Ganglie—once he landed, began cursing furiously, "You damn plague-ridden Bi Mawen! Always ruining this old pig's fun! Go and ask around the villages near Gao Village; this old pig never leaves a job half-done...!"
And the call girl, shrouded in clouds and mist, rolled her eyes the moment she saw Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing, completely unable to accept the reality before her, and fainted dead away.
Two hours later, Zhu Ganglie, having returned on his cloud, had reverted to his original appearance.
A plump face and a robust, prosperous physique, but beneath the fat hid extraordinary muscle. He had a long snout, and his face was covered in dense, short black bristles. His eyes were round and glossy, and his short, stumpy triangular ears stood erect. On either side of his nose were short, sharp tusks.
Seeing Zhu Ganglie, Sun Wukong couldn't help but curse, "You pig demon, you'll never be able to quit your attachment to the mortal world!"
"That's not right, not right at all. Fine wine, fine food, women, and wealth—without these, life isn't worth living. It's you, Senior Brother, who should change your ascetic and joyless lifestyle. How about getting the scent of rouge and powder all over you... Also, Senior Brother..."
"What is it, idiot?"
"I just wanted to say, this island nation is a wonderful place... The girls on those few streets have faces like white jade. Truly beautiful. They are very beautiful. With lips like cherries, their slender or plump figures are also full of interest."
He replied, or perhaps, fighting alongside his Senior Brother once more was in itself a matter of great excitement and joy for him.
With the promises of Zhu Ganglie and Sha Wujing, the blessing from the Great Covenant Law further enhanced the power of the three.
Unlike the Great Covenant Law of the Last King, Sun Wukong's was based on his status as the Senior Brother of the Journey to the West pilgrimage group, summoning Zhu Ganglie and Sha Wujing as his junior brothers—allowing them to manifest in their identities as the Heretic Zhu Ganglie and the Heretic Curtain-Lifting General.
This was an extremely rare ritual capable of forcing other gods to descend. Even among deities, only a select few possessed the ability to activate the Great Covenant Law.
This is also why the Wheel of Friendship, which could similarly command the power of other gods, and even the gods themselves, was considered a divine artifact that Hera, the Queen of Heaven in Greek mythology, absolutely had to obtain.
Feeling the boundless divine power, far greater than before, surging restlessly within him, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven stood proudly atop the mountain peak!
His Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils pierced through a thousand miles of mountains and rivers. A colossal divine power was released like a tidal wave, sweeping across the entire Mount Nantai region, forcibly branding this land with the mark of a "Pseudo Flower-Fruit Mountain"!
Waah, yaah, too, ee—!
On the surrounding volcanic rock, a sudden transformation occurred! Countless reddish-brown monkeys with a metallic sheen, broke forth from the stone!
They chattered and screeched, their bodies strong and robust, a manifestation of the "monkey children and grandchildren" from myth!
However, only four of them exuded a terrifying pressure approaching that of a Heretic God!
They were precisely the four stalwart generals: Ma, Liu, Beng, and Ba. They possessed the constitutions of the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey and the Long-Armed Ape Monkey respectively, their strength far exceeding the standard for divine beasts.
Sun Wukong's gaze swept over the four familiar figures, a joyful grin spreading across his face.
Among the four generals, General Beng, clad in heavy crimson armor, had at some point raised a great banner like a blazing flame, upon which were written four large, golden characters: "Great Sage Equaling Heaven"!
He vigorously shook the flagpole!
Wooosh—!
In an instant, sand and stones flew, and a furious wind howled! The storm kicked up by the banner, carrying the aura of a legion of demons, shot into the sky, stirring the clouds and winds, and rolled towards the distant horizon!
"That monkey... is issuing us a challenge," Seiya said, sensing the immense demonic aura erupting from the direction of Mount Nantai. "Is he trying to reenact the havoc he wreaked in the Heavenly Palace back then? Or is it that... the constraints of summoning his kin are forcing him to take the initiative?"
"Since this is the land under your rule, I'll leave those little monkeys for you to handle." Luo Hao rose to her feet eagerly, her robes fluttering. Her phoenix-like eyes burned as she stared at Seiya.
"Don't you dare slack off, Saint! Prove your worth to me!"
Seiya said nothing.
Behind him, the Wheel of Friendship, representing space and amity, silently manifested and began to slowly turn.
With a flicker of light, squads of elite Onmyoji dressed in special kariginu robes, their auras sharp and formidable—the strongest fighting force of the reorganized Japanese Spirit Division—were precisely teleported to preset defensive nodes.
Their task was to intercept the undying demon monkeys who possessed the trait of "not being recorded in the Book of Life and Death."
In the Astral World, the Monk Tenkai's face was pale due to the ritual being disrupted, but he suddenly felt that what should have been severed...
"Do you feel it?" His voice was hoarse as he looked at the Lapis-Eyed Princess beside him.
"The spiritual power of the ley lines is still surging... but its source is now completely under the control of that Divine Monkey Lord! He... is turning that land into his dojo!"
Meanwhile, the unopposed Sha Wujing, still wearing a pained expression, dragged his heavy feet and slowly walked towards the edge of the battlefield. He seemed uninterested in the slaughter before him, or perhaps... he was searching for an opening in Seiya's and Luo Hao's defenses.
However, the Wheel of Friendship in the sky turned once more!
Light flashed, and a figure completely out of place on the grim battlefield suddenly appeared on Sha Wujing's path—it was the Goddess of Love, holding a large tub of Häagen-Dazs ice cream and eating with great relish!
Stella licked her spoon with satisfaction, and as she looked up, her eyes met Sha Wujing's fierce, ghost-like, and deathly-still face. The smile on her face froze instantly, her pretty eyebrows knitted together, and she let out an incredulous shriek:
"Are you kidding me? I have to fight Sha Wujing?!"
Zhu Ganglie leaped from the black cloud to the ground. He paced back and forth on the reddish-brown rock, reminiscing about the tender paradise he had just left.
At this, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven kicked a small stone at his feet. The stone whistled through the air and struck Zhu Ganglie on the forehead, but the old pig didn't get angry.
The three brothers shared a look and smiled. In that moment, the light in Sun Wukong's eyes shifted, a hundred emotions welling up at once.
"That's right," the laughter gradually subsided, and Sun Wukong's voice grew deep, with a rare frankness. "Those five hundred years of imprisonment..."
"...that damn Bi Mawen's Golden Fillet bound my divine powers, smoothed out the sharp edges of the Handsome Monkey King, and turned me into a... harmless monkey."
He looked up abruptly, a blazing flame burning in his eyes.
"Now! This Old Sun will raise the war banner of the Handsome Monkey King again! I will shatter all shackles that attempt to suppress me! Starting with this island nation of Japan—I will re-establish the heavenly paradise of Flower-Fruit Mountain!"
At the lakeside hotel, Luo Hao seemed to sense something. When she turned her head to look at Seiya, the Saint and the Martial King met each other's gaze.
"It seems... you've sensed it too." An irrepressible, excited smile blossomed on Luo Hao's exquisitely beautiful face, her fighting spirit blazing like a fire.
They should still be up to the task.
The next instant, Seiya took a step forward! A deep blue whirlwind erupted into the sky, carrying him with it, and in a flash, he vanished from everyone's sight.
Luo Hao let out a light chuckle. With a slight movement of her feet, she activated the divine speed ability of Shrinking the Earth. Her figure, like smoke and illusion, moved without a trace of earthly effort, yet possessed a powerful, soaring feeling equal to Seiya's.
This power to alter the land was not like a property deed where your name is written and it belongs to you. It was, in a very real sense...
The Lapis-Eyed Princess closed her eyes to sense it, her beautiful face filled with gravity.
"This power that forcibly rewrites the ownership of the land... is spreading rapidly! If it isn't stopped, I'm afraid the entire Japanese archipelago will be reshaped into a new Flower-Fruit Mountain by his will!"
She had keenly felt that the vast ley line network, originally used to suppress the Divine Lord, was now being controlled by him in reverse, turning into a terrifying hub for polluting the nation's land and transforming its rules!
But more serious was the aura of this sacred steel, which reminded her, an ancient goddess, of her savior and lover from a distant past. After confirming the destination of this power, she issued a new spiritual decree to her subordinate maidens.
This pollution—at least, it was pollution to the curious Hime-Miko—was such that if they tried to probe it with spiritual vision, they would very likely be transformed into monkey demons by the ritual's effect.
A sublime, immense, and destructively-willed sacred aura appeared over Mount Nantai—oh, it should now be called Flower-Fruit Mountain.
The Lapis-Eyed Princess sensed this torrent just a few seconds after she, as the progenitor, had issued the warning to her Miko.
The Lapis-Eyed Princess's lapis-like eyes flew wide open, and she gasped in a low voice, "It's... starting already?! With no preparation, a direct... frontal assault?!"
At this moment, the Godslayer's lawless and unrestrained style of action...
His power suppresses the Eastern Ocean, his might awes the Azure Sea! When the tide surges like silver mountains, fish enter their caves; when the waves roll like snowdrifts, dragons leave their abyss!
At this moment, Mount Nantai—no, the vast area radiating for tens of thousands of meters around it—had completely become a "heavenly paradise" where monkeys ran wild!
Crimson cliffs and strange rock formations stood tall, sheer walls and wondrous peaks pierced the heavens!
On the cliffs, colorful phoenixes sang in harmony; before the precipices, unicorns rested peacefully.
On the peaks, brocade pheasants crowed at dawn; in the stone grottos, the shadows of dragons flickered.
Longevity deer and immortal foxes played in the forest, while spiritual birds and dark cranes perched on ancient trees.
Miraculous herbs and exotic flowers bloomed perennially; green pines and verdant cypresses were evergreen through all four seasons.
Immortal peaches hung heavy on the branches; tall bamboos and lush phoenix trees were wreathed in clouds.
Creeping vines densely covered the deep ravines, and fresh grass blanketed the fields like a carpet!
What a place: Where a hundred rivers converge, it is the pillar that holds up the sky; through ten thousand kalpas, it remains the unmoving root of the great earth!
Amidst a deafening thunderclap, Seiya's figure was the first to tear through space, appearing majestically above Flower-Fruit Mountain!
"Hmph!" Sun Wukong lazily propped the Golden-Hooped Rod on his shoulder, sneering at the Godslayer in the sky.
"Just the two of you isn't even enough to pick my teeth with. Heh, no need for modesty! This Old Sun has limitless abilities."
"Look at the name on my banner. If you bow to me as your master according to this name, I will not resort to arms, and the world will naturally be at peace. But if you do not comply in time, I will slay all you Godslayer demons, and I guarantee you will not live in peace!"
Seiya, hearing these lines that only existed in television dramas, squinted his eyes against the wind.
Sure enough, on the Flower-Fruit Mountain teeming with demons before him stood a tall pole, and on that pole was a banner, upon which was written the four great characters: "Great Sage Equaling Heaven".
And behind Sun Wukong, four giant apes clad in armor stood imposingly. They were the two Red-Bottomed Horse Monkeys, Marshals Ma and Liu; and the two Long-Armed Ape Monkeys, Generals Beng and Ba.
It was almost as if he himself were the villain. But this also piqued Seiya's interest.
"Demon monkey, cease your insolence! Behold, I, the Wheel-Bearing Star God King Pegasus, have come for you!"
With a booming voice, the Wheel of Friendship behind him shone brilliantly! Space warped, and two figures crossed a thousand miles in an instant, precisely teleported to the battlefield!
The young mistress of the Blandelli family, the current Crimson Devil, the first knight, Erica Blandelli.
The young mistress of the Kranjcar family, the Sword Fairy, Liliana Kranjcar.
Adding Ena Seishuin and Lu Yinghua, who were already on high alert, the four of them shot out like arrows from a taut bow, pouncing respectively towards the four divine monkey generals—Ma, Liu, Beng, and Ba—who radiated a terrifying pressure!
Such a scene, however, wasn't even worthy of a sideways glance from the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. A fierce grin spread across his face as he pointed his Golden-Hooped Rod at Seiya, his voice like a great bell:
"I, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven! By the blood pact of sworn brotherhood, I command my worthy younger brother to manifest! Come forth, Second Brother, Zhu Ganglie!"
A massive pig's head appeared out of thin air! His obese yet explosively powerful giant frame was encased in heavy, jet-black armor!
"Come forth, Third Junior Brother, Sha Wujing!"
A demon god descends! Upright crimson hair, a fierce face like an Ashura, skin as dark as iron, and eyes filled with a deathly gloom! Over his tattered clothes, he wore cobalt-blue battle armor!
And Sun Wukong himself let out a wild laugh, the Golden-Hooped Rod in his hand transforming into a golden light that tore apart heaven and earth, smashing viciously towards Seiya in the sky!
The Steel of Rebellion clashed with the Pegasus Meteor Fist. In the sky, a faint, ethereal chuckle could be heard.
Just as Luo Hao was about to make her move, an impatient figure blocked her path.
"Little beauty, what's the rush? Take a look and see if this old pig is fit to be your husband." The hideous Zhu Ganglie rubbed his belly and let out a lecherous, pig-like laugh.
His answer was a gigantic golden Buddha palm that blotted out the sun!
Luo Hao's face turned cold, and with a light wave of her jade-like hand, BOOM!
Before Zhu Ganglie could even scream, he was viciously slapped deep into the earth by the giant palm imbued with Adamantine Power, creating a massive crater!
"My name is Jiutian Shangfu, Lingxiao Baodian, Siyuan Taixu, Tianzun Du Lei Zun Zhenjun! The very incarnation of Taishang Laojun! With fierce and valiant martial prowess, I shall display the divine might of the North Star!"
Shouting this seemingly pretentious name, Zhu Ganglie's body began to grow gigantic.
The great divine arts that exist only in myth and legend, Heaven and Earth Manifestation and Three Heads and Six Arms, were displayed simultaneously.
Two more pig faces grew on the left and right sides of his head, and a pair of arms grew from each of his left and right shoulders. Each of his six hands held a weapon—a sword, a halberd, an axe, a staff, a bow, and arrows—while his body was still clad in jet-black armor.
Zhu Ganglie took a step with his bizarre body. CRACK! A loud bang! The earth began to shake.
Holding a sword, a halberd, an axe, a staff, a bow, and arrows, his body was still clad in jet-black armor. Zhu Ganglie took a step with his bizarre body. CRACK! A loud bang! The earth began to shake.
______
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