Great Demon Sun Wukong

The words of the Flame God startled everyone. In fact, what the Flame God said was not entirely accurate. He didn't actually see Ziling himself, but rather, he noticed a large stone with a depression like a big water jar. In that depression, a stone statue with a face identical to He Ziling's was emerging from the big stone. But this was not just a statue, because one could clearly sense that the seemingly statue-like Ziling still possessed life force, though weak, it indeed existed.

After speaking, the Flame God squatted down, wanting to take a closer look at what exactly was going on with Ziling. He had already heard Sun Wukong mention the battle between Ziling, the Heavenly Patroller, and the Primordial Honor. But as the Flame God leaned forward and was about to extend his hand, the eyes of the stone statue-like Ziling suddenly opened. The Flame God's heart leaped with joy; he was just about to tell everyone that Ziling was indeed still alive when, in a flash, the Flame God felt a pain in his chest.

In disbelief, he looked down to see Ziling's right hand had already pierced through his chest. The Flame God's pale golden blood swiftly flowed out from the wound created by the penetration of Ziling's right hand. The instant pain left the Flame God's thoughts in a blur. By the time he realized what had happened, his life force was already rapidly fading. Shocked and overwhelmed by the loss of life force, the Flame God found himself momentarily unable to speak.

Ziling said nothing as well, his right hand plunged into the Flame God's chest, clenched forcefully, and then yanked, directly pulling out the Flame God's heart. Without hesitation, Ziling tossed the Flame God's heart into his mouth, chewing vigorously. This scene was witnessed by everyone who had already flown to the surroundings of the big stone, leaving them so astonished that they couldn't speak. If the defeat of the Primordial Honor felt unrealistic to them, the events unfolding before them were simply incomprehensible.

The person inside the big stone was indeed Ziling, but why did Ziling kill the Flame God? And in such a brutal manner? Even without a heart, the Flame God did not die immediately. Being from the Burst Phoenix Clan, although the Flame God's life force wasn't as terrifying as Ye Zi's, it was far beyond that of an ordinary person. Moreover, even if his physical body died, his soul could still escape, and the Flame God had a chance for rebirth through fire.

However, Ziling seemed to know a great deal about the Flame God. After extracting his heart, Ziling immediately reached into the Flame God's chest, which now had a large gaping hole, feeling around before pulling out a flaming, red, flame-shaped crystal. Looking at the item in his hand, Ziling had a peculiar expression. Then he tossed the Flame God's body aside and played with the flame-shaped crystal in his hand, saying, "They didn't lie to me after all, the Phoenix Heart truly exists. It seems I indeed misunderstood her back then. It's all because of those two despicable thieves."

Finishing his words, Ziling casually popped the flame-shaped crystal into his mouth. At that moment, the others finally reacted; Ziling had killed the Flame God. The Flame God had been with them all along, he certainly was not the problem. Therefore, it was Ziling who was the issue. A few who reacted quickly were already preparing to attack, when suddenly they felt the air tremble. Then, on the stone beside Ziling, a small green sprout emerged, which rapidly grew into a towering ancient tree in an instant. Whether it was Ziling or the others, they were all bound by the branches of the giant tree.

However, Zhu Bajie and his companions were carried to a distance by the branches of the giant tree, while more branches wrapped layer upon layer around Ziling. Yet Ziling's expression did not change at all, as he remained relaxed and smiling. When the giant tree completely enveloped Ziling along with the big stone, the crowd saw the original tree suddenly turn into stone. This was an extraordinary transformation—a wooden tree suddenly turning into a stony structure, unbelievable indeed.

At that moment, everyone heard a voice from the sky: "Mountain of World Suppression, suppress!" It was clear that the voice was Sun Wukong's. As Sun Wukong's voice echoed, the sky above everyone darkened, and soon they saw an unimaginably gigantic mountain blocking out the sky, hanging upside down, with its sharp peak aiming down and descending with unmatched momentum toward the giant tree that had turned to stone.

Seeing this, everyone quickly backed away. Though they knew Sun Wukong's attack wouldn't harm them, no one wished to be caught in the aftermath. The enormous peak descended with a crash, grinding the petrified giant tree into powder. The colossal mountain embedded itself into the ground. The vast weight of the mountain punctured a massive hole in the earth, dirt and rocks pressed aside. As all the force dissipated, more than half of the enormous mountain sank into the ground. As the dust gradually settled, Sun Wukong could be seen standing at the very center of the flat bottom of the inverted mountain, shouldering his Jingu Bang.

Upon witnessing Ziling kill the Flame God, Sun Wukong immediately understood everything; he finally realized what the Primordial Honor's final plan was. But following this realization came deep regret and pain. They had all fallen into a trap; everyone had been deceived by the Primordial Honor. All of this had been calculated from the very beginning to the very end. Everyone believed that they were forcing the Primordial Honor into a corner, bit by bit, battling him repeatedly. And ultimately, the Primordial Honor was suppressed by Sha Wujing's World Suppressing Stele.

But they all didn't know that all this was just an illusion, designed by the Primordial Honor to achieve his ultimate goal. They thought they were forcing him into a corner bit by bit, but in fact, they were stepping into the desperate situation created by the Primordial Honor for everyone. And indeed, it was a true deadlock.

The Primordial Honor first died, and after his resurrection, he obtained that little monkey, which is the spirit, and found a safe place to undergo fusion. After his second apparent defeat, he gained the skeleton and truly possessed a physical body. Then, when the Primordial Honor seemingly failed for the third time, he appeared in a stronger form and easily eliminated the Flame God. Fortunately, Sun Wukong had already escaped the restrictions of the Netherworld Fortuity Fruit, or else he would have died then.

Originally, the Flame God still had a chance for resurrection through fire, but when his Phoenix Heart was taken away, it meant that the Flame God truly died, both in body and soul. Sun Wukong frowned, having realized that the one who killed the Flame God earlier was not Ziling but the Primordial Honor. Moreover, it was the Primordial Honor who had a complete physical body and soul. "Sun Wukong, I'm curious about what you're thinking now. Are you considering how to defeat me or how to escape?"

As Sun Wukong pondered, someone appeared slowly from the rocks at the base of the mountain behind him, soon standing back-to-back with Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong remained unperturbed, took a deep breath, and then said, "If I flee, it would only mean lingering for a few more days. If I preferred that, I wouldn't be here." Ziling, or rather, the Primordial Honor in Ziling's form, laughed heartily, "I really appreciate you. I once had a subordinate just like you, also from the Demon Monkey Tribe, also someone unwavering in battle till death. Now, he has become the Primordial Honor of my original universe and my biggest enemy hereafter. How about considering becoming my subordinate? We could conquer together."

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "Someone told me that a long time ago, except that person asked me to become an official under him. But later I thought the position was too small, so I tore down his house." The Primordial Honor chuckled, "That was the Jade Emperor's fault, I'm not so petty. If you agree, I can make you the ruler of this universe!" Sun Wukong replied with interest, "Oh? If I become the ruler of the universe, what would you be?"

Sun Wukong's words sent the Primordial Honor into fits of laughter: "Sun Wukong, do you think there's only this one universe? There exist countless universes beyond your knowledge, and my ambition extends far beyond just one or two universes!" Sun Wukong retorted, "Actually, I'm not interested in being the ruler of the universe. My only thought now is to defeat you and return to Flower Fruit Mountain!"

"What a pity, although you've refused, I believe there will always be someone who agrees. But before that, you can go to hell!" With that said, the Primordial Honor flashed a purple-gold light in his hand, and a purple-gold halberd appeared. It was the Demon Emperor Halberd, with the Artifact Spirit of the Heavenly Patroller's soul. Back then, Ziling and the Heavenly Patroller joined forces to battle the Primordial Honor but ultimately lost miserably. The Heavenly Patroller's body was devoured by the Primordial Honor, and his soul was sealed away.

As for Ziling, the Primordial Honor erased all of Ziling's soul and essence and then merged most of it into Ziling's body, which was just a shell. Because the Primordial Honor knew that the explosion Ziling caused would certainly get noticed, and Ziling's body would quickly decay without his soul and essence, he had to remain in place and conduct a resurrection ritual.

To avoid drawing attention, he concealed Ziling's body among large rocks and split off about a fifth of his soul and essence to continue controlling his skeleton. Since he needed to use the skeleton's power to strengthen Ziling's body, his skeleton had to remain in contact with Ziling's body, which is why his skeleton couldn't leave or even move.

Moreover, because the skeleton only contained a fifth of his soul and essence, and his main consciousness needed to conduct the resurrection ritual, the skeleton only possessed close combat capabilities, and very weak ones at that. This is why Sha Wujing could easily seal it, although the solidity of the Primordial Honor's skeleton was uncanny and suffered no real damage after the battle. Therefore, after the Primordial Honor used Ziling's body to resurrect, he smoothly broke the seal of the World Suppressing Stele from the outside and merged his skeleton with Ziling's body.

In other words, the current Primordial Honor is a resurrected body with a fusion of his physical body, skeleton, and soul and essence, with strength almost identical to his peak period. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Starting Point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)