Chapter 361: Sound in Desperate Times, Resonance of the Dao!

Hum——!!!

That sound wasn't loud.

It could even be said to be a bit dull.

But this dull hum was like an invisible heavy hammer, fiercely striking this ancient battlefield that had been deathly silent for countless eons.

It pierced through the torrent of resentment capable of devouring divine souls.

It drowned out the desperate cries of countless demon gods.

It domineeringly echoed with crystal clarity in every inch of space, in every crevice of law.

The black waterfall that was about to completely engulf Sun Wukong, under this hum, had a momentary… pause.

The monster, stitched together from countless god‑demon corpses and the resentment of 'Sun Wukong', had its arrogant and triumphant expression freeze.

On its countless faces of 'Sun Wukong', confusion appeared for the first time.

Next came bewilderment.

Finally, it turned into a trace of… fear that even it could not comprehend.

Sun Wukong also froze.

He had almost given up resistance, preparing to accept the ultimate fate of assimilation.

But the iron staff that had accompanied him all his life, this sudden change, rekindled a spark in his will that was about to die out.

He could clearly feel it.

The iron staff in his hand seemed to come alive at this moment!

It was no longer a cold weapon, but like a life that possessed its own heartbeat and breath.

A strange, mighty force, filled with absolute order and supreme law, was slowly awakening deep within it.

This force……

Sun Wukong's pupils shrank sharply.

He remembered!

This aura, he knew it all too well!

Back when he was above the Star Sea, he shattered Hongjun's wretched Dao Fruit with a single strike of his staff.

It was also this iron staff that, when no one had reacted yet, was like a taotie that had starved for countless eons.

It devoured the Primordial Source of Hongjun, which represented the Dao of Order, leaving nothing behind.

After that, the Golden Cudgel turned into this strange gray‑white appearance.

Sun Wukong had always thought that this power had been digested by the iron staff and become part of himself.

But now it seems, that's not the case at all!

It wasn't digested; it merely…… fell asleep.

And now, this Order power that had been asleep for who knows how long, seems to have been activated by something……

What activated it?

Sun Wukong's gaze unconsciously swept over the huge stitched‑together monster and looked toward the end of the blood‑stained battlefield.

He looked at the magnificent black gate, tightly bound by countless gray chains.

That sight struck him like a thunderbolt.

The gate that constantly emanated an aura of absolute 'Negation' and deathly silence, that tomb of all things devouring light and divine sense……

Actually……

It even produced a minuscule yet genuine resonance along with the hum of the iron staff!

Hum…… hum…… hum……

The iron staff was vibrating.

The gate was also vibrating.

Their frequencies matched perfectly, overlapping exactly.

That feeling……

It was like a lone key that had been lost for a long time.

Finally, after endless ages, it sensed again the unique…… lock that belonged to it.

Key?

Lock?

Boom——!!!

In Sun Wukong's mind, it seemed as if billions of thunderclaps exploded simultaneously!

A crazy one.

A bold one.

A thought that made his own scalp tingle with disbelief, utterly inconceivable, sprang up without warning.

He blankly lowered his head, staring at the gray‑white iron staff in his hand that kept humming.

He then raised his head, looking at the black gate that was likewise resonating.

A detail he had long overlooked suddenly surged into his heart.

The final clue left by his Master was the turtle shell used to prop up the table leg.

That turtle shell pointed to the lair of the hidden mastermind, pointing here.

His Master likewise left another clue.

"Slaying the followers is useless; its root lies outside the 'Lock'."

His Master clearly knew of the 'Lock's' existence, so why didn't he just tell him the 'Lock' was here?

Why go to all this trouble, letting him find it through the turtle shell?

Did Master forget?

Impossible!

At Master's level, every thought contains profound meaning; there is never any superfluous action.

So…

Master had him find that turtle shell propping up the table leg—perhaps it was never meant for him to find this place.

But rather…

But rather to have him notice the desk beside the turtle shell!

That desk he kicked over with one foot!

That… desk Master used to deduce the birth and death of the universe countless times!

That desk! It represents Master's lifelong Dao and Heart!

It bears Master's weariness, confusion, struggle…

Finally, it also bears Master's ultimate resolve in saying, "Screw the Fixed Number! I'll just create a monkey!"

That desk is Master's true inheritance!

And he, Sun Wukong, is the "answer" finally born from the desk's calculations!

He himself… is the extreme of the Variable!

And what about Hongjun?

Hongjun is the embodiment of the Fixed Number!

This iron staff that absorbed Hongjun Chapter 359: Cry of Desperation, Resonance of the Dao! Jun's Great Dao, its function is fundamentally not for combat!

Variable… and Fixed Number…

Sun Wukong's breathing became extremely ragged, his heart pounding like it would burst from his chest.

He finally understood!

He finally understood what astonishing strategy lay behind Master's seemingly contradictory arrangement!

Master never expected him to defeat that behind-the-scenes old scoundrel!

Because that enemy has transcended the Dao; it is Negation itself!

Any battle, any resistance, is meaningless before Negation!

So, Master never intended for him to go "fight" from the start!

Master, is having him come… to unlock!

This iron staff that absorbed Hongjun Chapter 359: Cry of Desperation, Resonance of the Dao! Jun's Great Dao, its function is fundamentally not for combat!

It is the key!

It is the sole key to opening this ultimate prison before us!

Using the key of the Fixed Number, to open the lock of Negation, releasing the imprisoned… Master's Dao Heart!

This is the key to breaking the situation!

This is the true daring gamble behind Master's saying "Defeat, yet no regret"!

"Ha ha… ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Having figured it all out, Sun Wukong could no longer restrain himself, looking up and laughing wildly.

In that laughter lay the ecstasy of sudden enlightenment, boundless admiration for Master's heaven‑shaking, earth‑moving method,

and moreover filled with the boundless joy of soon rescuing Master!

"Old scoundrel! You could scheme a thousand times, ten thousand times, yet never anticipate this step!"

"You think driving me into desperation will turn me into part of this heap of trash?"

"You're wrong!"

"I'm not here to fight!"

"I'm here… to overturn the table!"

The sutured monster opposite was left bewildered by Sun Wukong's sudden burst of laughter.

It could sense that Sun Wukong's aura remained weak, and the injuries on his Dao body had not improved.

But why was the light in his eyes brighter and more piercing than ever before?

An instinctive, immense unease springing from that thread of Absolute Malice deep within its core left it unable to think any further.

"Playing at being divine and ghostly!"

The sutured monster let out a sharp shriek.

It decided not to delay any longer, and would use its utmost power to utterly crush the variable that made it uneasy.

Boom!

All the resentment of the ancient battlefield was completely drained by it at this moment.

Its massive body condensed at unprecedented speed, ultimately forming a black spear entwined with the vengeful poison curses of three thousand demon gods.

Upon its tip coalesced the billions of Sun Wukong's deepest despair and unwillingness.

"Die… for me!!!"

The black spear tore through the ashen sky, bearing the power to end all, thrusting straight at Sun Wukong's chest!

This strike, it had absolute confidence, could pin Sun Wukong together with his Divine Soul and Great Dao, utterly nailed to this graveyard.

Yet, facing this deadly blow, Sun Wukong's wild grin on his face did not diminish in the slightest.

He didn't even… glance at that spear.

His gaze remained locked onto that massive black gate.

He whispered softly, using a voice only he could hear.

"Master..."

"I'm here!"

The moment his words fell, he hadn't yet had time to figure out what to do next.

The Tiěbàng in his hand was completely beyond his control!

Hum—!!!

A louder, more urgent hum exploded!

It suddenly broke free from Sun Wukong's palm, which had grown slack from exhaustion!

Whoosh!

It turned into a streak of gray‑white light, as fast as possible, like a comet slicing through eternal night.

Its flight path was not the black spear that had come at him.

Nor was it the grotesque, roaring stitched‑together monster.

But it flew straight ahead, resolutely, with unstoppable momentum.

It shot toward that huge, magnificent structure that imprisoned the Master's Dao Heart and also suppressed the despair of ages——

The final gate!