Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"Ao Tian, it seems some of your Heavenly Dragon Clan have survived after all. But this Golden Dragon harbors a deep killing intent—why don't you show yourself and help him calm down?"

Sun Wukong, dodging the Golden Arrow attacks from the dragon, transmitted his thoughts to the Dragon Soul, Ao Tian, within his Dantian.

"No, there's something wrong with this Golden Dragon!"

Ao Tian's response was heavy with concern, "I can't feel the presence of its Dragon Soul. This creature is like a puppet without a Dragon Soul!"

"A puppet?"

Sun Wukong was shocked. His Void-Breaking Divine Eye swept over the Golden Dragon again. This time, his gaze penetrated the dragon's body to its interior, and indeed, as Ao Tian had said, there was no Dragon Soul inside the Golden Dragon, only surging Dragon Essence and a dark gold crystal core within the dragon scales beneath its reverse scales, controlling all the dragon's actions.

"Puppetry Technique? This Golden Dragon has actually been refined into a puppet!"

Sun Wukong furrowed his brows, feeling the situation might be more extraordinary than he had imagined. This place was the territory of the Heavenly Dragon Clan, yet not a single living Dragon had been seen since their arrival.

Now, encountering a Golden Dragon only to find it had been transformed into a puppet—what exactly had happened in Dragon Valley and who was capable of such audacity to refine the clansmen of the Heavenly Dragon Clan into puppets? Your next chapter awaits on empire

"Elder Brother Mu, this Golden Dragon is a puppet. Go all out and take it down!"

After calling out to Mu Chenxuan, Sun Wukong kicked fiercely off a chain, his figure soaring into the air towards the Golden Dragon. Midair, he reached into his ear and pulled out the Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod, evading two Golden Arrows and then striking fiercely at the Golden Dragon.

"Take this, my old stick!"

One end of the Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod suddenly enlarged and thickened, crashing towards the Golden Dragon's head.

The Golden Dragon did not evade; its cold draconic eyes fixed on the Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod as its entire body coiled up, and from its open jaws, a golden light sphere shot out, colliding with the end of the Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod.

"Buzz!"

A visibly expanding ripple spread out, the Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod met with the golden light sphere in a deadlock. The force of Reincarnation and True Solar Fire exuding from the rod could not suppress the power of the golden light sphere—an unprecedented situation in Sun Wukong's battle experience.

In his previous encounters, the True Solar Fire had broken through anything, its intense fiery force and scorching power recognized as the strongest among all Innate Divine Fires, clinging like a pernicious influence once touched.

The Power of Reincarnation, with its unique pulling force that could resolve most powers, had always been invincible in Sun Wukong's hands. No peer had ever been able to withstand it, yet it was blocked by the golden light sphere spewed by the golden dragon—truly astonishing to Sun Wukong.

"Heavenly Dragon Clan, truly worthy of being one of the pinnacle clans of Ancient Times! Ao Tian, if it weren't for your Heavenly Dragon Clan's difficulty in multiplying, possibly the Ancient Demon Clan of the Primeval Heavenly Court wouldn't have fallen under the control of Heavenly Emperor Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi, would it?"

Sun Wukong inwardly sighed, inquiring to Ao Tian.

"Naturally, my Heavenly Dragon Clan is very powerful!"

Ao Tian replied with a look of pride, but quickly added, "However, Demon Emperor and Eastern Emperor are indeed unparalleled talents that appear in the Demon Clan once every million years. Even though my clan is powerful, we still do not have anyone who can match them."

"Wukong, the Golden Light Sphere spit out by this Golden Dragon is the Lifebound Dragon Core of a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon within our clan, extremely powerful and capable of resisting most forces in the world. I fear your True Solar Fire and Power of Reincarnation might not be able to suppress it, you must not hold back if you wish to win swiftly!"

"Let's not rush that for now."

Sun Wukong nodded, having never fully revealed his Chaos Primordial Force as Ao Tian suggested, keeping it as his trump card. Certainly, this trump card wasn't to guard against Mu Chenxuan—Mu had already become aware of his possession of Chaos Primordial Force since the encounter with the Stellar Spiritual Qi light sphere at the Underground Dragon Vein of Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Sun Wukong was wary of an unseen enemy that had yet to reveal themselves.

Someone capable of causing such upheaval in Dragon Valley and refining a Taiyi Golden Immortal level Golden Dragon into a puppet was no ordinary foe. Their long concealment within Dragon Valley without any news leaking out in the Three Realms showed the grandeur of their schemes, making it unwise for Sun Wukong to reveal all his secrets before knowing the enemy's cards.

In that case, should a confrontation occur, Sun Wukong could still catch the enemy off guard and gain the upper hand.

Besides, isn't there the Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan beside him? With such a formidable ally at hand, it would be good to let him show his capabilities, wouldn't it?

"Brother Mu, it's all on you now!"

Sun Wukong shouted loudly at the Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan and swiftly moved aside after retracting his Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod.

"Hey, watch my power!"

Mu Chenxuan could no longer hold back. After being freed from his seal for so long, he hadn't had a chance to show himself. When Sun Wukong and Manjushri Bodhisattva and later, when clashing with the Golden Buddha Palm of Tathagata Buddha, Mu Chenxuan was amazed and eager to try.

If Sun Wukong, merely at the level of Taiyi Golden Immortal, dared to resist the Mighty Hand of Heavenly Dao Saint, how could he, the proud Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor of the Demon Race and a former late-stage Quasi-Saint, let Sun Wukong take all the glory?

He had to display his strength and prove the worth of his title, the Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor, right?

"Ya~ Ha!"

With a low growl, overwhelming power surged from Mu Chenxuan. His entire being was shrouded in a dark cold light filled with ferocity and darkness. A pitch-black Square Sky Halberd appeared in his hand. The next moment, with a flash of black light, Mu Chenxuan's figure continuously darted toward the Golden Dragon.

In just a few flashes, he had reached close to the Golden Dragon and viciously thrust his halberd directly at the sensitive scales of the dragon.

"Roar~!"

A proud dragon roar erupted from the Golden Dragon, which had just retracted a golden light sphere from its mouth and then spat it out again, hurling it towards Mu Chenxuan's Square Sky Halberd.

'Lifebound Dragon Core, huh? If it were at the Da Luo Golden Immortal level, I might temporarily avoid it, but just a minor Taiyi Golden Immortal, and merely a puppet, thinking of stopping me? Ridiculous!"

"Wild Tyrant Demon Spirit Slash!"

The Square Sky Halberd lit up with countless snake-like writhing black lights. Mu Chenxuan's halberd collided fiercely with the golden light sphere, and unlike the previous encounter with Sun Wukong's Silver-Hooped Rod, it didn't create a ripple nor was there any stalemate.

The numerous snake-like black lights swiftly penetrated the golden light sphere from all directions, drilling countless holes in the blink of an eye and then exploding inside the sphere.

In a series of muffled thunderous roars, the golden light sphere was shattered into pieces, and the remaining snake-like black lights devoured all the fragments before returning to the Square Sky Halberd.

With the destruction of the Lifebound Dragon Core, the Golden Dragon's body violently trembled, a pained expression emerged on its dragon face, and with another roar, it lunged at Mu Chenxuan.

"Humph! A mere death struggle!"

A look of disdain curled the corners of Mu Chenxuan's mouth, and he dodged the Golden Dragon's lunge with a move, viciously slashing his halberd across the dragon's body, which produced a clangorous sound of metal striking metal.

This Golden Dragon had an extremely tough body; even Mu Chenxuan's Square Sky Halberd could only scratch the surface of its scales, which healed at a visibly rapid pace given its strong regenerative capabilities.

"The physical strength of the Ancient Dragon Clan is indeed formidable. This Golden Dragon, merely at the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm and in puppet state, displayed combat power that far exceeds the current Da Luo Golden Immortals of the Three Realms!"

Sun Wukong retreated far away and landed on a chain, watching the fierce battle between Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan and the Golden Dragon puppet, couldn't help but smack his lips.

"What's this? This little golden dragon's performance is just mediocre in our Heavenly Dragon Clan. Back in my day, I was much fiercer, nearly the second strongest in the whole clan!"

Ao Tian snorted with a face full of arrogance and disdain.

"Really? If you were so powerful, how did you end up in this plight?"

Sun Wukong directly doused Ao Tian with a bucket of cold water, finding him too boastful!

"It's just bad luck, bad luck!"

Ao Tian's face froze with a smug look, then he jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on, while Sun Wukong chuckled, shook his head, and did not continue the topic. However, Sun Wukong didn't buy into the notion of 'bad luck' as Ao Tian suggested.

Luck is an elusive but undeniable factor impacting everything from an entity's influence to personal growth. However, blaming everything on luck, as Ao Tian did, clearly lacked consideration.

If Ao Tian, as the second strongest of the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Clan, perished and his corpse sank in the Boundless Sea of Blood during the great battle between witches and demons, and had he not recklessly broken into the Heavenly Court later, but instead found a place to hide and recover, he might have returned to his peak condition and not ended up in a state where his physical body was destroyed and he could only reside in Sun Wukong's body as a Dragon Soul.

Therefore, luck is crucial, but often the decisions one makes are also crucial. Sun Wukong didn't want to end up like Ao Tian; he wouldn't discard his fiery rebellious spirit, but he knew better than to forego the necessary caution!