Chapter 175: The Master's Illusory Form, Hongjun Appears!

That roar piercing the Chaos Realm was both a proclamation and an oath!

Sun Wukong's Equal Heaven and Void Dao Rhythm,

At this moment, it reached an unprecedented harmonious resonance!

He is the king of this newly born world!

He is the sole truth of this heaven and earth!

The water dragon below let out a joyous dragon cry, circling as it lowered its head.

The distant mountain stone statues, moreover, under the blessing of the world's will, emitted an immortal divine radiance.

And it was at this moment, when his heart surged and his fighting spirit soared to the heavens!

Hum!

At the point between his brows, that seed which had completely merged into his divine markings—the Void Seed—

Suddenly it burst forth with a golden light, a hundred times warmer and a hundred times vaster than before!

This power had no aggression.

It was more like a gentle great hand, lightly, yet irresistibly,

It violently pulled Sun Wukong's consciousness out of his body!

Before his eyes, everything blurred!

Everything around him vanished.

The bustling world, the reverent living beings, the worried Yao…

All of it vanished in an instant.

Sun Wukong discovered that he had come to a pure space composed of light.

Here there was no up, down, left, right; no past, no future.

Only eternal, warm, comforting gold.

He knew.

This is the primordial space of Master's Void Great Dao.

He had been here once before.

And at the center of this golden space, a familiar silhouette, etched into his soul, stood silently there.

He wore an ancient Daoist robe, his posture upright.

Just as when he first saw him, years ago, at Fangcun Mountain's Slanting Moon Three Stars Cave.

«Master! »

Sun Wukong could no longer suppress his inner excitement; he hoarsely shouted, and his eyes instantly reddened.

From his throat came a repressed low growl, like a beast returning to its den.

He summoned strength in his limbs, treading ripples in the golden light sea beneath his feet, and charged forward without hesitation.

Five hundred years of loneliness beneath the Five Elements Mountain!

Countless frustrations on the Journey to the West!

Upon Ling Shan, the towering hatred of being schemed against!

And the fatigue and longing from searching through endless chaos since the dawn of this era!

All emotions, at this moment, turned into the most primal impulse!

He wanted to embrace Master!

He wanted to tell Master that he had not disappointed expectations!

He wanted to ask Master how he had been these years!

However!

Just when he was only three steps away from that silhouette!

«Boom! »

An invisible yet indestructible barrier blocked his path!

He slammed into it with his whole body, unable to move an inch!

The entire golden space trembled.

Sun Wukong froze.

He reached out his hand, touching the void before him.

There was nothing there, yet it felt as if separated by the entire multiverse.

He could clearly see the corner of Master's robe, and even feel that reassuring aura.

But he could not pass through!

Why?

Master, why won't you see your disciple?

And just then.

That silhouette slowly, slowly turned around.

It was still that familiar face.

His brows bore gentleness, and the corner of his mouth held a faint smile.

In that smile lay gratification, approval, and a hint… of something profound and ineffable.

«Master! »

Sun Wukong shouted again, striking with all his might at that invisible barrier!

His fist struck the void, only sending out ripples of golden light.

But that barrier remained completely still!

The Bodhi Patriarch's illusion merely stared at him silently, without speaking.

That gaze seemed more like looking at a painting, recalling a past episode.

Sun Wukong's heart sank little by little.

His pounding arm slowly drooped.

Those Fiery Golden Eyes, blazing with towering flames, their light

faded bit by bit, until only a death‑gray stillness remained.

He understood.

This is not the Master's true form.

It isn't even a divine‑thought clone.

It is merely… a segment imprinted within this Dao Seed, a projection of the Master's deepest memory!

It bears the Master's voice, visage, and smile, yet lacks the Master's will.

It is just an illusion.

A massive sense of loss instantly swept over Sun Wukong's entire body.

So… I still haven't seen you, old master…

But just as his heart grew despondent, ready to accept this fact,

a sudden anomaly erupted!

Behind the Master's smiling illusion,

without any warning.

A still blurrier, taller silhouette silently and noiselessly materialized!

That figure's face was indistinct, its shape unrecognizable.

It resembled a chaotic shadow, yet also a condensed starry sky.

When that silhouette appeared, the warm aura of the Primordial Source space vanished instantly.

In its place came an absolute coldness, a Deathly Silence devoid of any emotion.

The aura emanating from it made Sun Wukong's Dao Heart tremble sharply!

What is that aura?

Ancient!

Vast!

Supreme!

It seemed to tower above all Dao, as if it were the Universe itself!

It was a cold, emotionless, absolute "Principle"!

The Way of the Equal Heaven began to spin wildly uncontrollably within his body!

It was a deepest-level resistance and repulsion originating from the Primordial Source!

Because Sun Wukong represents "Unyielding"!

And that silhouette represents… Heaven!

Heavenly Dao!

A legendary name thundered in Sun Wukong's mind like a flash of lightning!

Hongjun Daozu!

The legendary Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who merged his body with Heaven and became the embodiment of Heavenly Dao!

Sun Wukong's pupils contracted in an instant into the most perilous needle‑like points!

Why?

Why does Hongjun's shadow appear within the Master's memory projection?

Moreover, look at that position—Hongjun stands right behind the Master!

That posture doesn't resemble an enemy; rather, it feels like… protection?

No!

Sun Wukong's throat rolled.

It seemed more like… surveillance!

An unprecedented, bone‑piercing chill surged from Sun Wukong's soles straight toward the Celestial Crown!

He felt a trace of extreme unease!

He has spent his whole life rebelling.

Rebelling against the East Sea Dragon King, against Yama of the Underworld, against the myriad gods and Buddhas.

He thought he was battling fate.

But what if even fate itself is merely a piece on someone's board?

Is the Master's self‑collapse, transforming Dao into myriad forms, truly voluntary?

Or perhaps…

Behind this lies a deeper scheme beyond his imagination?

The Master's illusion still smiles.

Hongjun's shadow remains silent.

These two silhouettes stand quietly, one in front of the other.

Without a single word.

There was no communication.

But this scene was like the sharpest carving knife,

It fiercely branded the deepest part of Sun Wukong's Línghún!

It, left a seed of Doubt.

One, for all this, for the Master's Dao, even for one's own path, a seed of Doubt!

Wha—

The golden space before the eyes shattered like a mirror.

Sun Wukong's consciousness was thrust back into the body by a massive force!