Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"I am the Primordial Heavenly Venerable!"

A contemptuous voice arose from the mouth of the Dharma Body of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, shaking heaven and earth, "Ao Tian, I have already deduced your origins. You had perished during the great Ancient Primeval turmoil between the Witch Race and Demons. Now, being reborn from the Sea of Blood with the restoration of your Spiritual Wisdom is indeed a fortunate blessing from heaven.

You should be obeying the heavenly fate, devoutly cultivating yourself. Why then, have you caused chaos in the Heavenly Court and committed acts of violence?"

Obey heavenly fate? Nonsense! When my Demon Clan ruled the world, your Human Race was nothing but cowering ants, confined to corners. What right do you have to talk to me about heavenly fate?"

Ao Tian, the Blood Dragon, roared unwillingly, struggling to break free, but the great hand of the Dharma Body of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable was like an unbreakable iron hoop, impossible to escape from.

"That was then, this is now. Indeed, during the ancient primeval times, it was your Demon Clan that ruled the world. Yet you demons, ungrateful and reckless, triggered a massive war with the Witch Race, leading to widespread misery. The Heavenly Dao is sentient; how could it allow such creatures as you, with scales and claws, to occupy high positions indefinitely?

The Human Race, born to inherit the operations of heaven and earth, replacing you, fits the will of heaven. How is that wrong?"

"You…" Find your next read on empire

"The facts are before us; I do not wish to argue further. Now that you are in my grasp, considering that your death and rebirth can be seen as a twist of fate—and the heavens cherish all life—I am willing to give you a chance for survival.

Swear a vow with a heart-devil blood oath, take me as your master, follow my commands, and from this day on, I shall not hold your crimes against you and will let you live. In the future, I shall impart to you the Supreme Great Dao. How about that?"

Another heart-devil blood oath! All cut from the same cloth!

Hidden on the side, Sun Wukong secretly sneered. In his past life, atop Spiritual Mountain, Tathagata Buddha had made the same offer to him. These humans, what do they take his Demon Clan for? Hell-bent on enslaving them—detestable, despicable!

Sun Wukong clenched his fists, forcefully suppressing the anger in his heart. He could not afford emotional disturbances now; otherwise, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable would detect him. In that case, not only would he fail to save Ao Tian, the Blood Dragon, but he might even end up captured himself!

Yes, a rescue!

Since Ao Tian, the Blood Dragon, was an expert of the Ancient Demon Clan and possessed such fiery blood zeal, he certainly couldn't be compared with the spineless worms of the current Dragon Clan of the Four Seas. With the Demon Clan's ranks presently thinning, the emergence of such a potent Quasi-Saint was extremely rare.

Had Sun Wukong not encountered him, he might have let it be, but having met him, he could not just watch as the other fell before his eyes!

Yet, rescuing him had to be done cleverly. Just charging out now would likely not only fail to save him but might also jeopardize himself, and he wasn't capable of contending with the Heavenly Dao Saint—not yet.

What to do?

As thoughts flashed through Wukong's mind, his eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, to create a diversion!

Since the Primordial Heavenly Venerable had revealed his Dharma Body to deal with Ao Tian, his true form must have also come to this Ninth Layer of Heaven Palace. Perhaps it was even inside the Dharma Body. At this moment, his dwelling in the Miro Palace in the Greenwave Heavens must be unguarded, right?

If someone were to create havoc there now, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable would surely sense it. With his lair under attack, would he still have the leisure to tempt and threaten Ao Tian here?

Then, the opportunity to save him would come!

Thinking thus, he immediately acted. Sun Wukong's mind moved, and, activating his Cloning Divine Powers, a clone flew out of his body, turned into a wisp of green smoke, and silently left the scene, rushing towards the Greenwave Heavens in the Thirty-Three Layers of Heaven via the Heavenly Ladder.

Outside the Southern Heavenly Gate.

A streak of sword light approached and halted in front of the Southern Heavenly Gate, revealing Luo Bai's figure within it.

"So, to the Heavenly Court! Tsk, tsk, to think he would smash the Southern Heavenly Gate itself, that Blood Dragon sure has a fiery temper! Wondering how Brother Monkey is doing now? Let's head inside and see!"

After leaving Flower-Fruit Mountain, Luo Bai arrived at the Polar Realm of Heaven as proposed by Sun Wukong's clone, but found nothing. However, remnants of the aftermath of a great battle lingered, and with his spells, Luo Bai recreated the battle scene, witnessing Blood Dragon Ao Tian slaughtering Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

Following the trail of evil Qi left by Ao Tian, he pursued it all the way to the Southern Heavenly Gate. Knowing Sun Wukong, it was almost certain he had followed as well!

With a smirk, Luo Bai transformed back into a sword light and flew through the broken barrier at the gate, spotting from afar the immense Dharma Body of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable and Ao Tian, whom he held in his grip.

The surroundings were pervaded with evil Qi and the stench of death, and floating corpses of Heavenly Soldiers in the Heavenly River hinted at the ferocity of the preceding battle, indicating significant losses for the Heavenly Court.

"Where's Brother Monkey? Why don't I see him?"

Since obtaining the Chaos Primordial Force, Sun Wukong's ability to conceal himself had greatly increased. By completely restraining his aura and merging with the surroundings, he evaded detection even by the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, let alone Luo Bai.

Looking around, Luo Bai quickly realized the situation. Sun Wukong was a wanted fugitive by the Heavenly Court, with the Jade Emperor decreeing his arrest. If he were to brazenly appear within the Heavenly Court, wouldn't the Primordial Heavenly Venerable have captured him by now?

"Brother Monkey is probably hiding somewhere and watching the battle!"

Luo Bai stroked his chin, "Who is this guy, such a strong aura, this kind of oppressive force, it must be that of a Heavenly Dao Saint, right? There are three Heavenly Dao Saints in the Heavenly Court, The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord, my master, and Primordial Heavenly Venerable, and The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord isn't like this, so it must be Primordial Heavenly Venerable!"

Luo Bai had heard about Primordial Heavenly Venerable from the Leader of Tongtian. As one of the Three Purities, Primordial Heavenly Venerable's cultivation strength was naturally extraordinary, very strong indeed.

However, according to what the Leader of Tongtian had said, while this second elder brother's strength was formidable, his nature was far inferior to The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord, especially his hatred for the Demon Clan, whom he mockingly called 'the scaled and clawed lot,' despising them thoroughly. With the Blood Dragon in the hands of Primordial Heavenly Venerable, it looked bleak for today!

"Not good, if Brother Monkey plans to save this Blood Dragon, wouldn't he be in danger as well?"

An idea suddenly flashed through Luo Bai's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed—given his understanding of Sun Wukong, it was very probable he would do so!

If the opponent were someone else, it might be okay, but facing a Heavenly Dao Saint like Primordial Heavenly Venerable, even if Sun Wukong's strength was formidable and his powers extraordinary, it was still like throwing eggs against a rock!

Luo Bai's brows furrowed tightly, and he abruptly clenched his teeth, turned around, and flew toward the direction of the Heavenly Ladder. There was no way around it; he had to find his master, the Leader of Tongtian in the Greenwave Palace, to help counteract Primordial Heavenly Venerable. It seemed he alone could be a match for Primordial Heavenly Venerable and might intervene.

"It's Luo Bai! How did he get here?"

Luo Bai hadn't noticed Sun Wukong's presence, but Sun Wukong had already seen Luo Bai's figure and was taken aback. Seeing Luo Bai turn and fly towards the direction of the Heavenly Ladder, his curiosity grew even more.

"Is he going to find the Leader of Tongtian?"

Luo Bai's master was the Leader of Tongtian, one of the Three Purities, which Sun Wukong was well aware of. Judging by the direction he was headed, he was likely going to the Greenwave Palace, but the purpose, Sun Wukong couldn't figure out.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Shaking his head, Sun Wukong temporarily set aside the matter of Luo Bai and refocused his attention on the center of the scene. Just then, Primordial Heavenly Venerable had demanded that Blood Dragon Ao Tian make a blood oath to serve him, but Ao Tian had flatly rejected him.

As a result, Primordial Heavenly Venerable suddenly clenched his Dharma Body Hand tightly, causing Ao Tian to let out a series of painful screams.

"Miscreant, my patience has its limits. I am giving you one last chance, make the blood oath and submit to me, or else, today I will annihilate you completely, leaving no chance for rebirth!"

Primordial Heavenly Venerable was growing impatient. If it weren't for Ao Tian's Quasi-Saint cultivation strength and his regeneration nurtured by the Boundless Blood Sea as a member of the Ancient Dragon Clan, he wouldn't have wasted so much time and would have simply crushed him outright.

"Old fool, dream on! I, Ao Tian, stand tall and proud. I will never submit to a bastard like you. You fantasize about being my master? Even in death, I would never agree!"

As Ao Tian spoke, the air around him abruptly turned colder, and Sun Wukong felt a chill in his heart, knowing that Primordial Heavenly Venerable was truly intent on killing now: "Idiot, couldn't you delay a little longer? Why be so defiant? As long as there are green hills, you won't worry about firewood—just trick him into letting go first! Oh!"

The Ninth Layer of Heaven and the Thirty-Three Layer of Heaven were too far apart, and Sun Wukong could no longer sense his clone's whereabouts. He didn't know if he had reached the Miro Palace in Heaven's Clear Sky or not; there was no time left!

"A miscreant is a miscreant, obstinate and unenlightened! Well then, since you seek death, today I shall grant it to you!"

As a cold scoff filled with anger and scorn sounded, a faint stream of Chaos Qi began to emanate from Primordial Heavenly Venerable's Dharma Body Hand. He clenched it violently, reaching into that realm of returning to the original true state after stepping into the Saint Realm, tapping into the most primal Chaos Qi. Primordial Heavenly Venerable intended to thoroughly refine Blood Dragon Ao Tian!

"Ang~!"

The painful dragon's roar rang out, and Blood Dragon Ao Tian struggled violently in the grasp of Primordial Heavenly Venerable's Dharma Body Hand, but like before, he was completely unable to break free. His dragon's body was squeezed so hard that cracks appeared, and Chaos Qi was injected into them.

In just a few brief moments, Ao Tian was on the brink of death, covered in wounds, his tough dragon's body unable to withstand the clenching of Primordial Heavenly Venerable's Dharma Body Hand.

"I can't wait any longer; if I don't act now, it will be too late!"

Sun Wukong panicked, as Ao Tian was almost gone, and his only outcome without intervention would be complete annihilation!

Clenching his teeth, just as he was about to rush out regardless of the consequences, suddenly there was a strange muffled sound from the firmament, and Primordial Heavenly Venerable's expression on his Dharma Body drastically changed—he raised his head in shock and anger:

"Who is it? Dare to disrupt the Dao Foundation of my Miro Palace!"

Heartened, Sun Wukong thought his clone had reached the Miro Palace and must have destroyed something critical, or Primordial Heavenly Venerable wouldn't have been so alarmed; the opportunity had come!