Chapter 190: Karmic Entanglement, Old Grudges, New Feuds!

He crushed the largest Heavenly Dao Debris.

His five fingers exerted force, and the golden crystal turned into powder that slipped through his fingertips.

Sun Wukong flicked his hand and exhaled a breath of foul air.

He felt the oppressive thunder pressing on his chest dissipate by more than half.

Although this was only a lingering fragment of Hongjun's will.

But the feeling of slapping that old fellow right in the face.

Indeed made his whole body feel clear.

He took Yao's hand and lightly tapped the void with his toe.

The two continued to traverse this murky realm of lost paths.

In the Chaos Realm, black wind carrying piercing shrieks slammed against the golden aura shield.

The shield rippled densely, humming loudly.

The surrounding temperature dropped to freezing, and the air became as viscous as frozen grease.

Clearly, the earlier action hit the sore spot of this Heavenly Dao's owner.

More Jīnsè guāngdiǎn gathered from all directions.

They no longer evolved into those intimidating divine weapons or spirit pills.

Instead they began to knead and stretch in the void.

Over ten silhouettes that Sun Wukong knew all too well gradually solidified.

The one in the very center was stout and corpulent.

He sat steadily atop the Ninth‑rank Golden Lotus, his eyes half‑open, half‑closed.

His whole body radiated dazzling Buddha light.

That was the Rulai Buddha whose Divine Soul Sun Wukong had shattered with a single swing of his Golden Cudgel.

"Sun Wukong!"

Rulai Buddha's illusion slowly raised a hand, pointing at the monkey ahead.

His eyebrows trembled violently with anger.

"You mischievous, unruly monkey!"

"Do you realize the enormity of the crime you have committed!"

"For your selfishness, you have destroyed the millennial foundation of the Fómén."

"The Faith of the Three Realms has collapsed because of you, and Living Beings have nowhere to call home."

"Your whole blood debt, what crime does it merit!"

A booming voice rolled by Sun Wukong's ear like a millstone.

Before he could even speak.

From behind Rulai Buddha, another towering figure stepped out.

The person wore a robe embroidered with countless stars.

His gaze bore a gray, defeated aura of death.

This was the Pantheon Lord, a being who once ruled over the heavens.

"It is you."

The Pantheon Lord's voice was extremely dry, like sandpaper being rubbed.

"You madman, you personally smashed the Heavenly Dao that keeps the Universe stable."

"Countless worlds that once ran smoothly are now devouring each other."

"Stars fall, and countless Living Beings turn into ash in the chaos."

"You are the true source of disaster in this world, an unforgivable sinner."

Sun Wukong looked around.

More phantoms emerged from the darkness.

There were the Celestial Realm emperors whose thrones he had once overturned.

There were the monstrous leaders of the demon race who had died beneath his Golden Cudgel.

Even there were the mortal grudged souls that perished in the aftershocks of the great war.

They packed densely into a circle, forming a massive round formation.

Trapping Sun Wukong and Yao tightly at the core.

The phantoms' facial features were grotesquely twisted by resentment.

Each mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

Countless accusations, insults, and curses converged into a terrifying tide.

This is not an ordinary attack.

It is the most genuine karmic backlash, outlined by Heavenly Dao Debris.

Each voice is a "cause" that Sun Wukong once sowed.

Now, these "effects" have come knocking.

"Monkey..."

Yao's hand trembled.

She clutched Sun Wukong's arm tightly.

Her nails were nearly digging into Sun Wukong's flesh.

Because of the terrifying resentful shock, her lips had lost all color.

She could smell the blood scent that pierced from all four directions.

It was the hatred of countless living beings toward Sun Wukong.

Each strand of hatred was heavy enough to crush a mountain a thousand zhang high.

Sun Wukong stood there.

He let those curses rain down upon him.

His expression was extremely indifferent.

Not a single monkey hair quivered.

The black‑golden Dao Rhythm was like a thin film clinging to his skin.

Whenever the ash‑gray resentment brushed against him,

it sparked a tiny cluster of electric sparks.

His heart was crystal clear.

Hongjun, that old fox, excelled at this kind of soul‑killing drama.

His cultivation had reached this stage.

The hardest hurdle was not the heavenly tribulation.

but one's own Dao Heart.

Hongjun wanted to use these former foes to prove Sun Wukong wrong.

He wanted him to admit that the Freedom he pursued was actually the source of Chaos.

If Sun Wukong showed even a trace of regret,

or the slightest wavering,

his Equal Heaven Path would fracture from within.

Then,

Hongjun would only need to blow a breath, and Sun Wukong would vanish like smoke.

These karmic cause‑and‑effects would gnaw his bones to dust.

"Hahaha!"

Sun Wukong suddenly lifted his head and let out a burst of wild laughter.

His laughter drowned out the dense curses.

It shook the surrounding Chaos Storm, causing it to stall for a moment.

"Is that all?"

He glanced sideways at Rulai's compassionate, sorrowful face.

"Hongjun, have you been in Zixiao Palace so long that your brain's rusted?"

"You plan to scare old Sun with these rotten, stinking husks?"

"Rulai, when you speak, don't you feel your throat leaking air?"

Rulai's illusion widened its angry eyes.

He pressed his palms together, unleashing a burst of pure black Buddha light.

"Stubbornly ignorant!"

"Look at all these wronged souls on the ground; none of them died without your cause!"

The Pantheon Lord also pressed forward.

"Admit your selfishness, Sun Wukong."

"Your Dao is the greatest flaw in this world."

Sun Wukong halted his laughter.

His eyes suddenly ignited two clusters of dark‑golden flame.

"Wrong?"

"What is right? What is wrong?"

"Is it you who sit on high seats, pointing fingers and dictating?"

"Or is it Hongjun, who hides behind the scenes scheming against living beings?"

He took a massive step forward.

With that foot, he cracked the void, opening a fissure a thousand zhang long.

An aura of ultimate tyranny surged from his spine.

"Old Sun tells you all."

"I've slaughtered my way here, indeed crushing countless bones."

"I tore Ling Shan apart; it was bound to collapse!"

"I upended the Pantheon; it deserved its ruin!"

"Old Sun never regrets what I've smashed."

"I only regret that I didn't smash thoroughly enough at first!"

His voice was like a giant hammer, striking those illusion heads again and again.

Those figures condensed from resentment were shaken apart continuously.

"These so‑called cause‑and‑effect, these so‑called karma."

"In others' eyes, they are death‑summoning talismans."

"In Old Sun's eyes, they are all medals of my life's achievements!"

"This proves that I truly lived in this broken Heavenly Dao!"

Why must it be cut!

Sun Wukong let out a great roar.

His movement stunned the nearby Yao.

He not only failed to disperse the gray‑black resentful qi that coiled around him.

Instead, he inhaled sharply.

Two massive vortices formed on either side of his nostrils.

Those poisonous, fierce energies representing karmic retribution.

Those curses and hatred accumulated over countless years.

Like a flood that has found an outlet.

Rushed into Sun Wukong's pores as if going mad.

Monkey! Don't do that!

Yao screamed.

Those things entering his body were no different from swallowing millions of rusted daggers.

Sun Wukong's body instantly swelled outward.

Beneath his skin, the gray‑black resentful qi writhed like snakes.

Due to excessive pressure, clusters of blood mist erupted from his shoulders and arms.

Giant gouts of karmic flame spewed from the Rift.

Yet the ferocity in his eyes grew ever stronger.

Give me, refine!

The Equal Heaven Path within him churned wildly.

His originally black‑gold magical power deepened further at this moment.

Those karmic shards that rushed in to tear his innards apart.

Were held down by a will raging to the extreme.

Then, as if thrown into the finest furnace.

That is the Unyielding will.

It is the Primordial Source of variables.

Those old grudges were forcibly crushed.

Shedding the gray‑black dead qi.

Transformed into the purest, most primal energy.

These energies began to flow backward along Sun Wukong's meridians.

Repairing his wounds.

Strengthening his sinews and bones.

His Dao itself was born to break conventions.

What others call obstacles are fuel to him.

The more obstacles you, Hongjun, send.

Laozi's furnace fire burns brighter.

On Sun Wukong's body surface, the previously ruptured blood wounds healed rapidly.

The newly formed flesh emitted a cold metallic sheen.

That incessant karmic entanglement.

At this moment became a stepping stone on his Dao.

His Dao Heart in this contest.

Turned as seamless as Divine Iron.

Hongjun!

Sun Wukong felt the sea‑turning power within his body.

He lifted his head, gazing toward the endless Deep Chaos.

Thank you for this generous gift!

You saved old Sun Wukong from tens of thousands of years of arduous cultivation!

Anything else?

Make another hundred and eighty phantoms for me!

My belly still isn't full!

The surrounding phantoms that were originally ferocious and terrifying.

Now, looking at Sun Wukong, their faces showed a humanized terror.

The Tathagata's phantoms stepped back three times.

The golden lotus beneath him had withered extensively.

These curses that should have been lethal.

Were taken as tonic by this madman.

They began desperately trying to break free from this area.

Seeking to flee this utterly Irrational monster.

Sun Wukong watched those figures trying to slip into darkness.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

He slowly raised the Golden Cudgel.

Lightning crackled along the Golden Cudgel.

"You want to leave now?"

"Too late!"

Ps: The Lantern Festival has passed, the year is over, everyone is getting back on track,

I hope your families, life and work go smoothly! Love you!