Chapter 180

Sun Wukong stood before the jet‑black spatial fissure, not moving.

Three Realms

In that wind there was the fresh fragrance of Mount Huaguo, the salty brine of the East Sea, and also… the nauseating, stale scent of the Heavenly Court's rigid regulations.

East Sea

Heavenly Court

Heavenly Dao

Divine Soul

That sting, rebounded by the Heavenly Dao, still lingered deep within his Divine Soul, like a maggot clinging to bone, impossible to dispel.

Void Seed

Master

Dao Seed

Way of the Equal Heaven

Sun Wukong sank all his mind and spirit into his own forehead.

That golden divine sigil was now radiating a warm, gentle light.

Fixed Number

Western Heaven

He could feel the power of this Dao Seed, as it intertwined with his peerlessly domineering Equal Heaven Path,

at an unprecedented speed, perfectly fusing together.

Void is the end of all things, and also the beginning of all things.

Equal Heaven is the variable that shatters everything, the relentless struggle that never yields.

These two forces combined should be… invincible.

But Sun Wukong felt no joy at all.

Within the Dao Seed, a clear guidance naturally arose in his mind.

Go there.

There lies the next Dao Seed.

This guidance is so clear, so utterly natural.

Just as when hungry one eats, when thirsty one drinks.

But it is precisely this sense of inevitability that made Sun Wukong's heart sink even faster.

Who gave this guidance?

Is it the goodwill left by my Master?

Or perhaps...

Is this in fact the pre‑planned next move for him, this pawn, on that damned chessboard?

He felt himself like a marionette.

An invisible thread, descending from the Nine Heavens above, from beyond the Chaos Realm, is firmly tied to his Divine Soul.

His every action, his every thought.

Every choice he believed he made, every act of resistance.

Are merely, under the pull of that thread, performing a farce that had long been arranged.

Ridiculous!

Too ridiculous!

In Sun Wukong's mind, unbidden, the words of his Master from years ago rose again.

"Wukong, your Dao is "Irrational"."

"Your Dao is the greatest "variable" in Heaven and Earth."

Variable?

If even the "variable" itself is part of the "fixed number".

Then what meaning does this so‑called "variable" have?!

How is this any different from the bald donkeys of the Western Heaven who keep saying "everything is fixed number"?!

So that's it!

So the greatest deception is not the Tathagata!

Nor is it the Jade Emperor!

But rather, the one he most revered and trusted… his Master!

No!

Perhaps even the Master is merely a higher‑level pawn!

That thought, like a black lightning bolt, violently split his heavenly crown!

Hum—!

Sun Wukong's sea of consciousness surged violently again!

That icy, vague, lofty figure once again appeared without warning!

Hongjun!

That figure simply stood there, silent, in the Chaos Realm.

It emitted no aura.

It made no movement.

But his very existence itself represents a kind of absolute, undeniable… contempt!

That is a kind of indifference, watching ants struggle futilely in the palm of one's hand.

That is a kind of silent mockery, watching the figures in a painting think they can jump out of the scroll!

Ahhhhh—!

Sun Wukong could no longer suppress the fury in his heart!

He roared toward the heavens, a bellow that shook the entire newly born world!

He suddenly raised his right fist, the fist that had once shattered the Lingxiao Treasure Hall with a single staff strike,

It gathered all his anger, all his resentment, and all the Dao Rhythm of Equal Heaven!

One punch!

He fiercely smashed it toward that phantom in the sea of consciousness!

There was no sound.

There was no impact.

His fist passed through that phantom without any hindrance.

It was as if he had struck a mass of air.

The phantom showed not the slightest tremor.

That lofty contempt remained unchanged in the slightest.

Sun Wukong's fist froze in mid‑air.

A sense of helplessness, a hundred times deeper than the backlash of the Heavenly Dao, instantly engulfed him.

He felt it.

He truly, vividly felt it!

Above his Way of the Equal Heaven, above this supreme realm that could already crush a corner of the Multiverse.

Yet there existed an invisible, intangible… ceiling!

It is a barrier set by Hongjun, by the most fundamental 'rules' of this Universe, an absolute wall!

He was like an insect trapped in a glass bottle.

He could see the world outside.

He could feel his own power.

He could even make this bottle bang and clang!

But he just couldn't get out!

This invisible shackle is heavier than Wǔxíng Shān by a factor of hundreds of millions!

This intangible bond made Sun Wukong feel an unprecedented oppression!

A kind of… resentment that seeped into the marrow!

Why?!

Why should my fate be written by someone else?!

Why should my Dao be used as a mere pawn?!

Sun Wukong slowly lowered his fist.

The phantom in the sea of consciousness also slowly dissipated.

It was not scattered by his strike.

But rather, it disdained to glance at him again.

Sun Wukong's Fiery Golden Eyes, blazing with heavenly fury, cooled point by point.

Anger solves nothing.

Roaring cannot shake that damned rule.

He understood.

He finally, completely understood.

To break this game, his first step is not to overturn the board.

But to make himself also become… a player!

He slowly raised his head.

His gaze once again fell upon the spatial rift leading to the Three Realms.

On his face, there was no longer a trace of confusion or fury.

Only an icy, extreme madness remained.

A kind of resolve to drag this Heaven, this Earth, these gods and buddhas, this Saint, this Heavenly Dao, this Hongjun…

To drag everything into the Avīci Hell, with utter resolve!

He no longer pondered his Master's scheme.

Nor did he think about Hongjun's Dao.

From now on.

He trusts only himself!

He trusts only this staff in his hand, capable of shattering everything!

「Yao。」

He spoke, his voice hoarse yet terrifyingly calm.

「Stay close to me. 」

「This time… 」

He paused, the corner of his mouth splitting open a grim arc.

"I, Old Sun, will make the Three Realms change Heaven!"

Before his words even fell!

He stepped forward, his figure instantly sinking into that black fissure!

Yao followed closely behind, without hesitation.

Behind them, in that newly born world filled with infinite vitality.

The Monkey King stone statue, formed automatically as myriad mountains paid homage.

At the corner of its eye.

Without warning, a fine, pitch‑black fissure split open.