Great Demon Sun Wukong

Previously, I had planned to return to the Pangu Realm with the little monkey and Hei Kui in tow. However, Hei Kui later decided to stay in the Netherworld World temporarily. When Sun Wukong asked him why, Hei Kui was initially reluctant to say. It wasn't until later, after he'd had too much to drink, that he revealed his reason when Sun Wukong asked again. In Hei Kui's own words: "I'm not going back with you. I plan to take some time to fully consolidate my cultivation, then join the Flame God in seeking revenge. Heh, if you're a brother, don't try to stop me."

When Sun Wukong went to confirm with the Flame God once more, he found that the Flame God was already too drunk to speak coherently, so Sun Wukong had no choice but to give up. Although Sun Wukong didn't try to persuade Hei Kui otherwise, out of concern, he still secretly gave Hei Kui some items. These items were treasures Sun Wukong had taken from the palace of the nine-headed serpent. While they included no Domain Instruments, the set of top-level magic artifacts he gave Hei Kui could increase his combat power by more than one third.

When Sun Wukong found the little monkey, to his surprise, the little monkey also refused. The little monkey's reason for not returning to the Pangu Realm with Sun Wukong was simple: after things settled down here, he planned to take his three subordinates to the Fangcun Spirit Realm to prepare for Sun Wukong's future. Moreover, with Ling Yi and others taking care of the Fangcun Spirit Realm, there was nothing to worry about. So, in the end, Sun Wukong left with only Ye Zi, Ye Wu, and Sha Wujing.

In fact, Ye Wu didn't particularly want to follow Sun Wukong to the Pangu Realm; he would have preferred to make a big scene with the Flame God and Hei Kui, but in the end, he was forcibly dragged along by Ye Zi who grabbed him by the ear.

And so, the four of them flew toward another intermediate world. However, an intermediate world could only accommodate those at the Dao Transformation level, and each of Sun Wukong's group had surpassed the Dao Patterns level. So, after toiling for a day and a night in the cosmic starry sky, the four clearly began to feel the obstruction and rejection from the cosmic space. "If this continues, we'll reach our limit in a day's time, so the three of you should enter my space. I have a way to lower my cultivation down to the Dao Transformation Realm," Sun Wukong said.

The other three nodded, knowing it was no time for showing off their strength. Although they were powerful, they had no way to counter the force of cosmic rules. After Sha Wujing and the others entered the mystic space, Sun Wukong took out the Five-Colored Divine Stone he had been nurturing near his heart. Looking at the Five-Colored Divine Stone now, Sun Wukong felt completely different about it. He carefully recalled the method Yi Xuan had told him for using the Five-Colored Divine Stone to lower one's cultivation, then extended his right hand, concentrating on the incantation silently in his mind, gathering his spiritual power to the tip of his right index finger in a very special pathway, and then touched the Five-Colored Divine Stone with it.

When Sun Wukong lifted his finger again, an earring that looked like a burning flame, fiery red in color, surprisingly appeared below his finger. Staring at the earring, Sun Wukong was momentarily stumped. What was going on? How did an earring appear? Did he make a mistake somewhere? After recalling the method again, Sun Wukong was certain he had made no mistakes. But what did this earring mean, and why was it such a fiery red color?

Looking at the flame-shaped earring floating in front of him, Sun Wukong reached out his right hand and caught it in his palm. The instant his palm touched the earring, Sun Wukong couldn't help but show a look of surprise, followed immediately by embarrassment and anger. As soon as his palm touched the fiery earring, he understood its function and why a flame-shaped earring had appeared. The principle behind the Five-Colored Divine Stone's ability to lower cultivation was simple: to suppress and seal a portion of one's cultivation. The function of this earring was to condense the cultivation of a Nine Patterns Supreme down to the Six Patterns Realm.

What annoyed Sun Wukong was that it shouldn't have produced an earring at all; it should have been something like the restraining headband he wore when he went to obtain scriptures in the Western Paradise. However, because Yi Xuan was a woman and thought such restraining bands were ugly, she had modified the incantation on her own accord, changing the band's appearance to that of an earring! How could Sun Wukong not be infuriated by this? For him, a formidable Demon King, to wear an earring meant for women, how ridiculous would that look?

Yet, to Sun Wukong's despair, no matter what method he used, he was unable to change the earring's shape by even a bit, and he was also unable to conceal it. Having no choice if he wanted to return to the Pangu Realm, Sun Wukong gritted his teeth and reluctantly put the earring on his right ear. The moment the earring was placed, Sun Wukong's entire demeanor dropped to the level of the Six Patterns Dao Patterns. But that was still not enough.

Once again, he recited the incantation, and this time, what appeared was a black earring, only this time it was not the type to be worn on the earlobe, but rather to be clasped above on the ear's cartilage. Despite his tolerance for the red flame-shaped earring, Wukong effortlessly donned the much smaller new earring. Subsequently, Sun Wukong's cultivation fell from Six Patterns to the realm of One Pattern Dao Patterns. Sun Wukong felt like he was about to collapse.

A One Pattern Dao Pattern was still not adequate, he had to continue. Following the same process, this time it was a silver earring with the Metal Attribute, and the second one was the same, also clasped above on the ear cartilage. Finally, this time Sun Wukong's cultivation was reduced to the peak of Dao Transformation. It seemed that the three earrings, with their different attributes and colors, varied in their effect on reducing cultivation. But no matter what, at the very least, he could now head for that intermediate world. Once there, he could seek out the region of the small world where the Pangu Realm lay, and then, through the connection between the Five-Colored Divine Stone and the Pangu Realm, he could return.

Taking a deep breath, the irritation caused by the earrings dissipated, and once more, Wukong transformed into a streak of light and sped away. Just then, something occurred to Sun Wukong. Legend had it that the Pangu Realm was originally created by Pangu the Great God, whom Sun Wukong had actually met, confirming his real existence with strength at the Domain Lord level. However, this presented a paradox since the cosmic region where the small world resided did not allow the appearance of beings above the level of Saints of the Great Dao, yet Pangu the Great God appeared with the cultivation of a Domain Lord. What did this imply?

Perhaps there was a method to disregard such cosmic rules, or maybe Pangu the Great God was not his true self at that time but a doppelganger with only the cultivation of a Saint Realm, which, according to the myths of the Pangu Realm, seemed more likely. But then another question arose: to create a small world, does it require a Domain Lord-level being with the cultivation of a Saint to sacrifice themselves?

If every small world was created this way, how vast would the sacrifice be? If a small world requires the sacrifice of a Saint of the Great Dao, wouldn't an intermediate world require the sacrifice of a peak Dao Transformation? Surely, that cannot be the case; there must be more complexity to this Pangu Realm than imagined. Eventually, during the monotony of his journey, Wukong began to doubt the existence of the Pangu Realm, and unbeknownst to Sun Wukong, he had indeed guessed correctly, though he had only unraveled a fraction of the entire mystery. The Pangu Realm was not just complex—it was enormously significant in origin, but the exact nature of its significance was beyond Sun Wukong's current knowledge.

When he couldn't figure it out, Wukong decided not to dwell on it and awakened the nine-headed serpent slumbering in his dantian. This time, the voice that spoke to him was one that Sun Wukong was not familiar with. "Uh, which one are you?" The new voice seemed somewhat lazy but still answered Sun Wukong's question, "I am called Snake Seven, don't call me unless it's important, I was sleeping soundly."

Wukong did not care for such sentiments and directly said, "Don't you want to know about my lineage? I can tell you now, but you have to tell me how to resurrect my master." However, to Sun Wukong's surprise, Snake Seven did not possess the same level of curiosity as Snake One and Snake Two and seemed quite impatient as it replied, "I don't want to know. It's simple to resurrect your master. Don't you still have a segment of the Bodhi Branch? The one the little tree demon gave you. Once your strength reaches the terminus of the Supreme Path, you can use the heavens and earth as soil and the cosmic rules as water to revive the Bodhi Branch. Once it grows into a Bodhi Tree and cultivates to the point of being able to transform into human form, your master will be considered resurrected."

"Ah? Is it that simple?"

"It's that simple. However, there's one thing you should note—the shorter the time, the more of your master's memories will be preserved. If it's a million or eight hundred thousand years later, then even though they are resurrected, it would be a different person altogether!" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and Monthly Passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)