A golden calabash appeared in Gu Hai’s hand as he looked coldly at the distant Sun Wukong.

“Returning is just changing locations. Perhaps you can return soon. If you do not return, my Han Nation might be destroyed. The hope of Laozi, Siddhārtha, Jesus, and the others might come to nothing. So, sorry for the offense,” Gu Hai said.

As Gu Hai spoke, he stomped.

Buzz!

-The ground immediately transformed. Large expanses of dirt and rock turned into bone. Gu Hai had also buried spirit stones in advance. At this moment, the bones traveled underground, pushing the spirit stones to specific positions.

Gu Hai set up a ritual array.

The Immortal Slaying Calabash was only for Gu Hai’s protection. The thing for dealing with Sun Wukong was the Go Dao ritual array.

Unfortunately, the Go Dao ritual array required too many spirit stones. Gu Hai used his treasures to power some of the nodes, slightly altering the Go Dao ritual array.

With Gu Hai’s current Go skills, he could alter the ritual arrays. However, the energy consumption was still significant.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The surrounding ground turned an eerie white. Streams of energy flowed toward the center. Then, a white fog appeared where Gu Hai stood, and a black hole slowly formed.

Suddenly, a transparent energy chain came out of the black hole and shot toward Sun Wukong in the air.

Sun Wukong was fighting Shangguan Hen, Chang Ming, and Ao Shun—three experts—alone. Despite exerting their full power, the three still could not compare to it.

“Hahahahaha! You are only so-so. Just so-so. Explode!” Sun Wukong struck Shangguan Hen’s tortoiseshell shield with his staff.

Boom!

Shangguan Hen’s shield shattered.

Blargh!

Shangguan Hen spewed a mouthful of blood as he went flying back.

“Explode again!” Sun Wukong swung his staff at Chang Ming.

The Malleable Golden Staff carried a great force. When it swung, it tore space, causing the air to explode and creating sonic booms.

“Oh no!” Chang Ming’s expression changed.

Chang Ming had no time to react. However, a ball of black light suddenly appeared around him, protecting him.

Boom!

The staff knocked the ball of black light along with Chang Ming away.

Nothing happened to the ball of light. However, inside, Chang Ming spewed a mouthful of blood.

Blargh!

Chang Ming was in the peak Middle Heavenly Palace Realm. He could participate in this battle because of the Primal Essence Pearl. Although the Primal Essence Pearl was fine, the impact had shaken him into vomiting blood.

“There’s you as well! Explode!” Sun Wukong showed a ferocious expression as it swung its staff at Ao Shun.

Ao Shun flung out a hundred sets of chains like one hundred dragons rushing at Sun Wukong.

Rumble…!

The Malleable Golden Staff was too powerful. The chain dragons immediately exploded, starting from the front and moving toward Ao Shun.

“Oh no!” Ao Shun’s expression changed dramatically as he punched with his full power.

Boom!

Blargh!

Ao Shun also spewed a mouthful of blood as the attack sent him flying. His right fist got mangled, and blood spurted everywhere. The staff had broken his bones, leaving him limp.

“Only so-so! Only so-so! Gu Hai, your subordinates do not seem like much. Hahaha! It’s your turn now!” Sun Wukong looked at Gu Hai ferociously.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a transparent chain grabbed Sun Wukong’s shoulder.

“What?” Sun Wukong’s expression changed.

Whoosh!

An immense force yanked Sun Wukong toward Gu Hai.

The force was so great that it induced fear.

“Something’s not right! Something’s not right!” Sun Wukong’s expression changed.

It had discovered that the ground below had turned an eerie, bone white.

Sun Wukong used its Fiery Golden Eyes.

It immediately saw past the mist and spotted countless spirit stones and enchanted treasures in the ground, forming a large ritual array. Gu Hai stood in the center of the ritual array, with a white foggy region before him. Although others could not see inside, it could with the Fiery Golden Eyes.

There was a black hole that gave off a terrifying aura. That black hole made Sun Wukong’s heart quake with fear.

The passageway home?

Sun Wukong immediately reacted. That is the way home? Gu Hai wants to send me back?

The black hole was like a gaping maw waiting to swallow it up. Furthermore, it could clearly see the transparent chain with its Fiery Golden Eyes.

The chain coming from the black hole is trying to pull me in?

Sun Wukong jolted to its senses. The impulse to charge at Gu Hai promptly vanished. Now, the monkey king wanted to flee.

Boom!

Thousands of transparent chains burst out of the black hole and rushed at Sun Wukong like a large net.

“Gu Hai, how dare you?!” Sun Wukong fled in horror, looking like it had seen a ghost.

Capture Gu Hai? Capture my ass. It would already be pretty good if I could flee.

Sun Wukong appeared horrified. However, others did not think that much was going on.

The others could not see the transparent chains, only Sun Wukong desperately fleeing in fear of Gu Hai.

“The line pairs of Yi Qiu’s Go Dao ritual array, go!” Gu Hai shouted.

The transparent chains accelerated.

Sun Wukong did its best to struggle free of the chain around it, trying to somersault away.

“Hah!” Amid Sun Wukong’s horror, its figure suddenly enlarged.

Buzz!

A beam of golden light shot out of Sun Wukong’s head. Then, a towering monkey appeared.

“The monkey race’s deity?” Ao Shun said in shock as he wiped his lips.

“Break for me!” the monkey deity roared, appearing to give Sun Wukong boundless strength.

Boom!

Sun Wukong immediately broke free of the transparent chain entangling it.

Not daring to tarry, it soared into the sky with countless other chains in pursuit.

“Gu Hai, I will have my revenge! Just you wait! Just you wait! Hah!” Sun Wukong roared in rage.

The monkey deity returned to Sun Wukong’s body, and it immediately tried to flee this trap.

“Running away?” Gu Hai’s face sank.

Sun Wukong managed to run. It was truly crafty.

“Halt!” Ao Shun wanted to give chase despite being covered in blood.

Just then, a loud report came from the direction Sun Wukong fled.

Boom!

It sounded like two punches had clashed.

The immense force stopped Sun Wukong’s figure, even made it rebound slightly in the air.

“Who are you?” Sun Wukong demanded furiously while glowering.

There are others?

Gu Hai’s face sank as he squinted.

He saw two men standing in the distant sky.

One was previously the dragon race’s crown prince, Ao Sheng, Ao Shun’s younger brother, now the Northern Sea Dragon King.

The other was Long Shenwu, the third crown prince of the former Qian Heavenly Dynasty, Long Zhanguo’s third son. Previously, Gu Hai met his clone. Was this his true body now?

Long Shenwu wore golden imperial robes as he looked down coldly.

Ao Sheng slowly retracted his fist. Apparently, he had thrown the earlier punch.

Sun Wukong glared at Ao Sheng. It was Ao Sheng who had stopped it.

Ao Sheng had blocked Sun Wukong with a punch. Then, he turned his head to look at the blood-covered Ao Shun.

“Hah! Eldest Brother, how unexpected to see you here!” Ao Sheng sneered.

“Ao Sheng?” Ao Shun exclaimed as he wiped the blood off his lips.

“To think that you ended up this injured trying to deal with a mere monkey? Oh? You even worked together with these two? Hah! Eldest Brother, this is not like you. Weren’t you the pride of the dragon race previously? Why are you so disappointing now?” Ao Sheng sneered.

“You!” Ao Shun’s expression turned cold.

Below, Gu Hai withdrew his hand.

Whoosh!

The land of bones and the fog vanished. The black hole also disappeared. After the ritual array’s dismissal, everything returned to normal.

Sun Wukong paid attention to Gu Hai. It saw Gu Hai dismiss everything with its Fiery Golden Eyes. However, even after Gu Hai did that, it still felt incredible fear of him.

“He is your eldest brother? Hehehehe! Judging from your tone, you don’t seem to be working with him. If you are not working with him, why are you blocking me? Humph!” Sun Wukong snorted coldly. Then, it stepped forward, wanting to flee into the distance.

“Did I say you could go?” Ao Sheng’s figure flashed, arriving in front of Sun Wukong.

“Hah!” Sun Wukong glared as it swung its Malleable Golden Staff.

Boom!

Earlier, Sun Wukong only punched in a hurry. Now that it swung its Malleable Golden Staff at full force, the power it exerted was different. Sonic booms rang out as the staff swept towards Ao Sheng.

Ao Sheng’s expression changed. Suddenly, black energy appeared on his face, taking the shape of a dragon.

“Roar!”

The pained cries of countless dragons came from Ao Sheng’s body as he punched at the Malleable Golden Staff.

“Die!” Sun Wukong roared.

“Break!” Ao Sheng yelled.

Boom!

A loud report rang out in the sky.

A powerful shock wave surged out in all directions. Sun Wukong staggered three steps back, but so did Ao Sheng.

They were about equal in strength.

This said a lot. Right now, Ao Sheng was already much stronger than Ao Shun.

Ao Shun’s face sank.

After failing to achieve anything with its staff strike, Sun Wukong showed an unsightly expression. Am I unable to leave today? Most importantly, Gu Hai is below. It does not matter how long it takes for me to fight Ao Sheng. Back then, didn’t I fight Deity Erlang, Yang Jian, for a long time? The most important thing is Gu Hai. Although I won’t die if he attacks me from behind, I will have to return? I need to move fast.

[TL Note: Deity Erlang, also named Yang Jian, is a warrior deity in Chinese mythology. In Journey to the West, he is depicted as one of Sun Wukong’s rivals. Deity Erlang also makes an appearance in the Investiture of the Gods. There are many other stories involving him or about him. Here is the Wikipedia entry on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlang_Shen.]

“Little snake, take another one of this Old Sun’s staff strikes!” Sun Wukong suddenly roared.

“Little snake? Hah! Mischievous monkey, how rude of you!” Ao Sheng looked at Sun Wukong sullenly.

Ao Sheng had lived under the shadow of his eldest brother, Ao Shun. Everyone around him praised his brother, be it his father or the other dragons. Everyone adored Ao Shun and overlooked him. Even when introduced, he would be referred to as Ao Shun’s younger brother. Hence, Ao Sheng felt extremely jealous, wanting to prove himself. Since he was young, he had always wanted to prove himself stronger than his eldest brother. He had snatched the crown prince position and done many other things. As long as it could prove him stronger than his eldest brother, he would do it.

Defeating Sun Wukong would prove him much stronger than his eldest brother. However, this monkey did not cooperate, even calling him names. This monkey was simply seeking death.

Ao Sheng threw another punch.

However, Sun Wukong’s earlier words were just to trick Ao Sheng. It wanted to leave, not fight Ao Sheng. Hence, it called Ao Sheng names just to attract everyone’s attention.

Then, Sun Wukong suddenly rushed in Long Shenwu’s direction, as Ao Sheng had blocked off all other escape paths.

“Scram!” Sun Wukong swung its staff at Long Shenwu.

As that happened, Ao Sheng’s expression congealed—not out of rage but shock. You monkey, do you want to die?

Indeed, the staff strike infuriated Long Shenwu.

“Unruly monkey, you are seeking death!” Long Shenwu’s eyes turned cold as he thrust his hand forward, throwing a palm strike.

Boom!

Sun Wukong flew back like a fired cannonball falling from the sky and struck the ground below.

The ground shuddered, and a gigantic, palm-shaped pit appeared in the ground with the monkey king planted in it.

“You?”

Sun Wukong crawled to its feet in that deep pit, its entire body going soft as it looked at Long Shenwu in shock.

One palm strike? To think that I cannot last even one palm strike?

Long Shenwu stared coldly at Sun Wukong. The murderous intent in his eyes inspired fear in Sun Wukong’s heart.

Gu Hai’s expression suddenly sank.