Chapter 178

Sun Wukong's heart felt as if a lump of divine iron, smashed down from the Ninth Heaven, was pressing down heavily.

He couldn't breathe.

It was a feeling of suffocation, a hundred times more oppressive than when he was once crushed under Five Elements Mountain.

Ji's words were like bone‑deep maggots, burrowing into the depths of his Dao Heart.

Every word and sentence gnawed at everything he took pride in.

A scheme?

What a damn scheme!

Sun Wukong instinctively wanted to refute, to search his mind for a loophole in that bastard's words.

He began to frantically recall.

The memories were of every day and night spent in the Slanting Moon Three Stars Cave on the Spirit Terrace of Fangcun Mountain.

His master's earnest teachings when transmitting the Dao arts.

"Wukong, you are by nature mischievous; these Seventy-two Transformations can make you invisible or let you escape form, so in the future you'll cause less trouble."

"This Somersault Cloud carries you 108,000 li in a single flip; the vast heavens and earth are yours to roam—don't let yourself be confined to one place."

"Remember, your name is Sun Wukong; you must comprehend the character 'emptiness' to attain great freedom."

Those words were once his warmest memory.

It was the sole light in his drifting, rootless monkey life.

But now…

Yet these words were like cold needles with barbs, stabbing back into his heart.

Cause less trouble?

Or did it teach him how to more covertly pierce that heaven?

The heavens and earth allow free passage?

Or did it give him the swiftest blade to cut, at utmost speed, those so‑called rules?

Understand "emptiness"?

Is it to let him see through illusion, or to let him……from the very beginning,

just accept that he is merely a pawn that can be discarded at any time?

Everything, everything, was so natural and inevitable.

So natural and inevitable that it sent waves of bone‑deep chill rising from his very soul.

Too smooth.

Too perfect.

It was as if an omnipotent painter had long ago drawn a perfect scroll of his life.

All he needed to do was follow the trace on that scroll, step by step.

Every struggle he thought was his own, every act of resistance,

perhaps were merely a bold stroke of the painter's brush.

"Wukong…"

Yao's voice rang out again.

She looked at Sun Wukong's ever‑changing face, feeling that aura about him,

an icy chill that could freeze the world, and her heart filled with helplessness.

She wanted to comfort him.

But what could she say?

She simply did not know Sun Wukong's past.

She did not understand how, in his heart, the master named Bodhi was a sacred being.

So she could only watch helplessly as this heaven‑standing, earth‑seizing monkey king was tormented by an unseen foe to the brink of collapse.

Sun Wukong slowly raised his hand.

His fingertip lightly touched the spot between his brows, that golden divine rune that had completely merged with his Divine Soul.

Void Seed.

Master's Dao.

Before, what he felt was warmth, a closeness of the same origin.

But now, within this warmth, he detected a hint… of unfamiliar flavor.

Is this Dao Seed truly something Master left for him, to let him retrieve Master's token?

Or perhaps, this itself is the most exquisite shackle placed around his neck?

A thought, without any warning, surfaced from the depths of his sea of consciousness.

Pantheon Lord!

That deity who claimed to represent 'Absolute Order'.

He clearly remembered that, before fading away, that guy had once said.

He said, he had once discussed the Dao with Bodhi.

Then, he was 'persuaded'.

Would an entity representing 'Absolute Order' be easily persuaded by a Master representing 'Void' and 'Variables'?

How is that possible!

Unless…

Unless Master's realm has reached a point where he can arbitrarily twist, even Definition others' 'Great Dao'—the terrifying extent!

That is a kind, nearly at the 'creation' level, of a Dimensional Reduction Strike!

Sun Wukong's heart sank another notch.

If Master truly has such ability.

What's so hard about him arranging for himself a so-called 'Unyielding' path?

Everything, is it all arranged?

From his emergence from stone to every step now, are they all within the calculations of some Supreme Existence?

Sun Wukong fiercely closed his eyes!

No!

I can't think any further!

If he continues thinking, his Dao Heart will truly split!

Heart demon!

This is truly the most terrifying heart demon!

It is not an external enemy, but arises from within, the most fundamental negation of one's own existence!

He must stop.

He must tightly suppress these crazy thoughts, capable of destroying everything!

He began forcing himself not to think of Ji, not to think of Hongjun, and not to think of that damned game!

In his mind, only a single thought remained.

Find Master!

Find him!

Ask him face to face for a clear answer!

Whether true or false, whether a scheme or a trick, he demands an answer!

An answer spoken personally by Master!

This thought, like a divine stabilizing needle, forcibly held his sea of consciousness that was about to boil and about to collapse.

The chaotic, violent aura around his body began to contract inward at an astonishing speed.

Not a calming.

But a compression!

He compressed all his anger, all his doubt, all his confusion into a single point!

A point, ultimate, icy, sharp… killing intent!

Yao looked in astonishment at Sun Wukong's change.

Just a moment ago, he was still a gunpowder barrel that could explode at any moment.

But this moment, he became a deep, bottomless ancient well.

The well opening, chillingly cold.

The well bottom, however, seemed to hide a terrifying beast capable of devouring the entire Multiverse.

Sun Wukong opened his eyes again.

In his Fiery Golden Eyes, there was no longer a trace of confusion.

Nor a trace of fury.

Only remained a kind of purity and indifference that made even Yao feel unfamiliar.

That is an indifference that regards all of heaven and earth as dust.

That is an indifference that regards gods, buddhas, and saints as ants.

He is no longer the carefree, grudge-bearing Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

He has changed.

In this brief moment, his state of mind underwent a transformation that no one could comprehend, a terrifying metamorphosis.

He slowly turned his head, looking toward Yao.

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

"We should go."

Yao blinked slightly, then nodded firmly.

"Where to?"

Sun Wukong raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce the barrier of this newly born world,

directed toward that expanse of chaos void he once knew all too well and loathed deeply.

He did not answer directly.

The golden divine pattern on his forehead flashed.

A crystal-clear coordinate has been etched into the deepest part of his sea of consciousness.

That is the position of the next Dao Seed.

That is also the endpoint of this journey.

He curled the corner of his mouth into a cold arc, speaking word by word.

"Home."

"Return…… to the Three Realms!"