Chapter 203: Beyond the Dao, the heart is true!

He took a step.

Sun Wukong's feet landed.

The aftershocks of the trembling void faded behind him.

He coughed violently, spitting out several dark red clots of congealed blood.

The clots fell at his feet and were instantly swallowed by a pale gray mist.

His chainmail was already torn to shreds.

Metal fragments clinked softly with each breath.

Yao lay soft and limp against his chest.

Her nails dug hard into Sun Wukong's alloy shoulder guard.

Sun Wukong spat out the metallic taste of rust in his mouth.

He stared at his feet.

There was no solid ground here.

His soles pressed on the illusion, giving a feeling like stepping on cotton.

Yao's eyelashes twitched.

She opened her eyes, and the blood color in her pupils faded rapidly.

She braced herself against Sun Wukong's shoulder.

"Wukong brother, loosen your grip, it hurts."

Only then did Sun Wukong look at his right arm.

His knuckles had turned white from overexertion.

The force constricting Yao's waist was enough to crush raw iron.

He slowly loosened his five fingers.

Yao collapsed onto the ground, greedily sucking in the air here.

Each breath of cool air lessened the pallor on her face by a bit.

"Did that old man not come after us?"

Sun Wukong turned his head, staring at the direction they had just come from.

There was only a slowly flowing expanse of gray substance there.

No cracks.

No thunder.

Nor did he see Hongjun's cold face etched with order.

He straightened his body.

The Heavenly Dao pressure that could crush bones to powder vanished.

The nauseous feeling of the whole universe rejecting him also disappeared.

All gone.

Completely clean.

Sun Wukong raised his right hand.

That key had already fused into his flesh and blood.

A hint of dark gold pattern showed through the skin of his palm.

He spread his palm and grasped at the empty space ahead.

A clump of mist was pulled before him.

The mist pulsed between his fingers, as if alive.

He frowned, trying to blow a breath.

The mist exploded, turning into a swarm of translucent fireflies.

These insects circled him once, emitting a faint glow.

Yao stared, dumbfounded.

She extended her fingertip, lightly touching one of them.

At the moment of contact, the firefly turned into a thread of clear spring, dancing around her fingertips.

"This is not an illusion."

She climbed up from the ground and spread her hands.

"Wukong brother, I want to sit here for a while."

Her words fell.

Pale purple mist gathered from all directions.

A cushion covered in soft feathers appeared behind her.

Yao plopped down onto it.

The cushion sank into a comfortable angle.

She gripped the armrest tightly.

The plush texture felt so real it made her palms itch.

Sun Wukong watched the scene, a fire lighting up his eyes.

He also wanted to try.

His thought stirred.

In the distance.

The silent Chaos began to churn violently.

A mountain's outline rose from the ground.

That mountain, towering into the clouds, resembled Mount Huaguo from memory by seventy or eighty percent.

"Make it more solid."

Sun Wukong let out a low roar.

The mountain's outline became solid in an instant.

The moss on the stone still carried a damp earthy scent.

The mist between the mountains began to swirl.

The sound of the waterfall striking the rocks was deafening.

Grand.

Majestic.

Sun Wukong grinned.

Here.

He could command all light and shadow.

He could define all matter.

The words that sprang from his mouth.

The thoughts that rose in his heart.

That is the rule here.

That is the absolute law here.

This power of Words Follow Law surged through his limbs and bones.

He suddenly remembered his Master.

He remembered his Master's words about the Great Void Dao.

From nothing, something arises.

From something, nothing returns.

All things arise from the mind.

He lowered his head and looked at his palm.

The key had completely vanished, turning into a warm current.

The divine mark on Sun Wukong's brow glowed with a soft light.

That light seemed to be nodding.

Here.

This is the last pure land his Master left him.

The true Spirit Terrace Fangcun Mountain.

Heavenly Dao cannot reach here.

Hongjun cannot enter.

A completely independent place beyond the Dao.

Yao gazed at the huge mountain that had appeared out of nowhere.

A storm stirred in her little head.

She had always believed that Heavenly Dao was the iron law of this universe.

Hongjun was the great mountain that no living being could surmount.

But beyond this Heavenly Dao.

There lay a rift transcending all rules.

This was not merely a divine ability.

This was opening a world beneath Hongjun's eyelids.

Sun Wukong ignored Yao's astonishment.

He slowly closed his eyes.

His Master's aura filled every corner of this place.

This feeling.

It felt closer than any Dao Seed he had ever merged with.

It was as if.

The Bodhi Patriarch had never left.

Sun Wukong sprang up and ran toward the mountain.

He shattered the cloud layers along the way, his toes leaving shallow pits in the rock.

Yao hurried after him, her steps slightly unsteady.

Sun Wukong charged into a mottled stone gate.

The ancient pines behind the stone gate swayed in the wind.

The sound of falling pine needles was clearly audible.

The hall was empty.

The incense burner on the table still sent up a wisp of light smoke.

The smoke rose straight up, without a hint of sway.

Sun Wukong lunged to the grass mat where his Master usually sat.

The grass mat was withered.

A thin layer of dust had settled on it.

He reached out and touched it.

His fingertips were stained with dust, yet there was no Master's warmth.

His eye sockets were filled with bloodshot.

Both hands tightly gripped the edge of the grass mat.

Hiss—

The grass mat was torn open a slit by him.

"Old man?"

His voice echoed in the spacious cave dwelling.

Besides his own panting, there was no response.

Suddenly.

From deep in the cave dwelling came a heavy footsteps.

Thud.

Thud.

Sun Wukong's body hair instantly stood on end.

He lifted the Golden Cudgel with one hand, its tip pointing toward the corner.

A black shadow slowly walked out.

That was Hongjun's outline.

Purple Dao robe.

Cold gaze.

"You can't escape."

The black shadow spoke.

Sun Wukong's teeth gritted loudly.

He leapt up, the Golden Cudgel bringing a heavy shadow smashing down.

Golden Dao Rhythm burned fiercely along the staff.

Boom.

The black shadow was hit into a scattered gray mist.

The gray mist swirled in the air.

Finally it condensed into a huge mirror.

Inside the mirror.

It reflected Sun Wukong's ferocious monkey face.

Sun Wukong stood stunned.

He looked at the mirror, panting heavily.

Yao came running, panting, and held the doorframe of the cave dwelling.

"Brother Wukong."

"That's the fear you left just now."

Sun Wukong smashed the mirror with a punch.

The mirror's shards turned into golden light, entering his brow.

That icy oppressive feeling disappeared.

Instead, a surge of hot spring rushed through the meridians.

Sun Wukong looked at his own chest.

The shadows of nine Dao Seeds jumped at the heart's position.

They are no longer violent here.

Each is like a gentle pearl.

Sun Wukong walked to the cave dwelling entrance.

He looked at this Fangcun Mountain he himself had shaped.

The cloud sea surged.

The immortal crane cried long.

He sat on the stone steps, laying the Golden Cudgel across his knees.

Yao walked over and sat beside him.

The sunlight here shining on the body is warm.

There is no such bone‑chilling law surveillance.

Sun Wukong grabbed a handful of ground soil.

The soil slipped through his fingers.

He suddenly let out a low laugh.

"Since he doesn't let us live."

"Then here."

"This old monkey will let him die completely."

He clenched his fist, his gaze pierced the cloud sea of Fangcun Mountain.

Now.

The nine Dao Seeds inside his body began to rotate on their own.

Strands of black‑gold energy began to reshape his bones.

Every inch of bone became as hard as Chaos Realm divine gold.

Sun Wukong stood up.

He felt himself filled with power.

It was not merely an increase in Xiūwéi.

It was also the confidence that breaks all shackles.

"Yao."

"You stay here."

Yao lifted their head and grabbed his collar.

"Where are you going?"

Sun Wukong turned his head back, flashing a set of white teeth.

"Return to the Three Realms."

"Some accounts must be settled one by one."

He raised his hand and made a slash into the void.

The pattern of that key flashed across his palm.

A portal radiating a ferocious aura opened again.

Beyond the gate.

It was the withered Ling Shan.

It was the decayed Heaven.

Sun Wukong stepped through the portal in a single stride.

The Golden Cudgel traced a long line of fire across the void.

Those lofty gods and Buddhas.

Their end.

Has arrived.