Great Demon Sun Wukong

Finally, after who knew how long, Sun Wukong slowly awoke. The first thing he did upon waking was to immediately check on the Jingu Bang within his sea of consciousness. To his surprise, he found himself dumbfounded once again because the earth system Spiritual Charm that had been in his sea of consciousness had vanished without a trace.

All that remained was the empty sea of consciousness, and, no, not quite empty—there was also the Jingu Bang, floating up and down in the middle of it.

Wukong had no idea what had happened. He had tried every possible method but could not absorb the slightest bit of the earth system Spiritual Charm, and now it was gone. Where did it go?

Wukong immediately examined his body, hoping that his good fortune had kicked in and the earth system Spiritual Charm had fused with him automatically. Unfortunately, after a thorough investigation three times over, he came up with nothing. He even discovered that the metal system force inside his body had also greatly diminished. What was going on?

Where had the missing Spiritual Charm and metal system spiritual power gone?

Suddenly, all of Wukong’s attention was firmly fixed on the Jingu Bang, which was leisurely floating within his sea of consciousness. If anything in his body was acting strange now, it would be the Jingu Bang that had been with him for who knew how many years. Although it was unlikely, Wukong had no other options but to grasp at straws. Thus, he sent a strand of Divine Sense into the Jingu Bang.

As soon as Wukong’s consciousness appeared, he suddenly saw a vast expanse of dark, rich soil that stretched out for tens of millions of miles, dotted here and there with some not very tall mountains. The sight left Wukong uncertain whether to be shocked or delighted.

The shocking part was that the Jingu Bang had already outlined a whole world inside it. To create a world within a device was something that only ancient Ultra Divine Artifacts were capable of doing. For instance, the Pangu Axe used by Pangu the Great God to create heaven and earth, or the Eastern Bell of Donghuang Taiyi, the supreme leader of the Demon Clan.

But Wukong’s Jingu Bang, although a useful weapon, couldn’t possibly compare to those ancient Ultra Divine Artifacts.

Even when compared to such Divine Artifacts like the Sun Shooting Bow wielded by the great shaman Hou Yi, the Shennong Ruler of the sage Shennong, or Lu Ya’s Flying Knife, Wukong’s weapon was still far behind.

To put it frankly, Wukong’s Jingu Bang wasn’t really a weapon at all. The Ruyi Jingu Bang was originally just a probe that the great Yu the Great used to measure the depth of the Yellow River when he managed it. It wasn’t made explicitly for battle, so apart from its ability to change size and thickness at will, the Jingu Bang didn’t have any other functions.

If it had to be said to have any, it would only be its extraordinary toughness.

However, when Wukong saw that expanse of soil, he knew that his Jingu Bang was no longer just an ordinary sea probe. Although it still couldn’t compare to the weapons of the great ancient gods, it had greatly increased in power compared to before.

Weapons are divided into ordinary weapons, Immortal Artifacts, Divine Weapons, and Ultra Divine Weapons, each of which is further categorized into Lower Rank, Intermediate Rank, High Rank, and Supreme Rank.

Ordinary weapons are used by martial artists of the Mortal World and have no special traits other than being sharp and durable. Immortal Artifacts are used by those whose cultivation is below the Golden Immortal. These weapons are not just sharp and durable but also possess various Divine Skills.

For example, Lei Zhenzi’s Lei Gong’s Drill is a High Rank Immortal Artifact, and Mu Zha’s Wu Hook is also a High Rank Immortal Weapon.

Divine Weapons are the weapons used by Daluo Golden Immortals and those at the Emperor Level. Lu Ya’s Flying Knife is a Supreme Rank Divine Weapon, Li Jing’s Demon Suppressing Pagoda is a High Rank Divine Weapon, Nezha’s Qiankun Ring is a High Rank Divine Weapon, and the Pangu Banner and Liuli Bottle of the Primeval Heavenly Venerate are all Supreme Rank Divine Weapons.

And as for Ultra Divine Weapons, only Saints have the chance to possess them. Each one holds immense might and contains a world within.

At this moment, the Jingu Bang fell somewhere between a Supreme Rank Divine Weapon and an Ultra Divine Weapon because although it had already nurtured a world within, that world was not yet complete. Once the five elements within the Jingu Bang were assembled, that would be the moment for the Jingu Bang to ascend to an Ultra Divine Weapon.

Even so, this was still enough to astonish Sun Wukong.

Wukong’s Divine Sense patrolled the space within the Jingu Bang and suddenly, a dark stele appeared within his line of sight. The stele, about thirty feet tall, stood abruptly on the desolate soil.

With an involuntary light "Huh," Wukong’s Divine Sense coalesced into a figure that looked exactly like his physical body and appeared before the stele.

The stele was engraved with countless mysterious runes, which seemed deeply cryptic at first glance, but on closer examination, everything appeared incredibly vague. Having no choice, Wukong gave up on continuing his observation of the stele. He then walked around the stele in a circle. When Wukong reached the back, he suddenly found a line of large characters engraved there.

"World Suppressing Stele, Wasteland No. 3"—these eight characters, despite their simplicity, exuded an incomparable sense of heaviness and grandeur, as if these words were the source of all power in the world. Merely by glancing at them, Wukong felt the forces within his body stirring, as though they were on the verge of boiling over.

"What on earth is this? World Suppressing Stele? Wasteland Number Three? Could there be other steles too? How many are there in total? The Golden Hoop, originally unremarkable, how did such a strange scene appear?

After I passed out, what exactly happened?"

Just at that moment, an extreme sense of crisis emanated from under Sun Wukong’s feet. Without any hesitation, he forcefully pushed off the ground, shifting his entire body to the side in an instant. Taking advantage of the moment he dodged, Sun Wukong turned his head and saw a figure descending from the sky at the spot where he had just been standing.

If he had been even a moment slower, he probably would have been caught by the sneak attack.

Before he even touched the ground, Sun Wukong kicked out, the Wind Fire Wheels appearing out of nowhere, then shifted his left foot, darting to the right again. At this moment, the figure that had soared into the sky also spotted Sun Wukong. In an inverted dive, the figure threw a punch towards Sun Wukong. Unwilling to show weakness, Sun Wukong clenched his right fist and attacked fiercely.

The next moment, their fists collided, an invisible shockwave rippling outward. Then the two figures each staggered backward. Sun Wukong took seven steps back, while the figure took five.

Since he couldn’t leverage the air, Sun Wukong found himself at a slight disadvantage. After both figures had stabilized, Sun Wukong shouted, "Who goes there? Why attack me without cause?"

After asking, Sun Wukong suddenly realized, where was he? This place was not the Three Realms’ Nine Provinces, this was the World Within the Artifact inside his own Jingu Bang. Aside from his own Divine Sense, how could anyone else have entered? Moreover, seeing that the opponent also had a Formless Body, it all seemed rather eerie.

But the person opposite seemed to have no intention of communicating with Sun Wukong; instead, they transformed into a streak of light, attacking Sun Wukong once again. Seeing that the opponent had no intention of replying, Sun Wukong also gave up on asking; no matter who it was, he would deal with them first.

So, facing the enlarging fist before him, Sun Wukong didn’t retreat but advanced, also hurling his body forward.

Within a few breaths, the two had clashed over a hundred times. Sun Wukong’s gaze grew intense. Putting aside why the other party attacked him without reason, just their speed and strength alone forced Sun Wukong to take them seriously.

During these rapid exchanges of over a hundred moves, the two proved to be evenly matched. Sun Wukong indeed landed a punch, but the other party also took the opportunity to strike him with a palm. Whether it was the instant shifts or the variations in their moves, the person matched him fairly evenly.

It seemed, deciding the winner would not be possible in a short time. Moreover, sustaining one’s form through Divine Sense could not last very long. Overextending could cause severe damage to oneself. Thus, the situation was quite disadvantageous to Sun Wukong.

Therefore, the only option was to use the greatest strength currently at his disposal to overwhelm the opponent in one fell swoop. Otherwise, his only choice would be to flee.

As Sun Wukong was gathering his strength for the final blow, the opponent seemed to have the same idea as him. They too were quietly accumulating power at their spot. It appeared that the intense fight was not easy for the opponent either.

After three breaths, Sun Wukong finally felt that the power he had accumulated had reached a critical point; continuing further might cause him to lose control. So, Sun Wukong raised his head, his right fist pulled back, and he charged toward the opponent.

The power behind the person opposite had also peaked, their right fist also drawn back before they leaped into the air.

In the instant before the two were about to collide, a fierce giant ape’s phantom appeared behind Sun Wukong, with a huge fist raised high, smashing fiercely towards the oncoming person.

And the person, not to be outdone, had a Buddha’s phantom wearing battle armor and a crimson cape suddenly appear behind them, delivering a punch towards the giant ape’s phantom.

Sun Wukong suddenly felt that the phantom behind the opponent seemed somewhat familiar, as if resembling the Battle-Defeating Buddha form he had once assumed.

The next moment, their fists fiercely collided.