Chapter 372: Yao

Carrying that ordinary-looking stone staff, Sun Wukong felt an unprecedented strength.

The newborn 【Chaos Dao】 within him lay like a sated giant dragon, lazily coiled across his limbs and bones.

The gold, ash, and black three‑colored Dao Rhythm flowed slowly, forming a perfect, self‑contained cycle.

He felt that with a single thought he could make the Milky Way flow backward and remake myriad Dao.

This feeling was a hundred times more exhilarating than when he once wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace!

His gaze swept over endless bones and finally fixed upon that immeasurably huge gate forged from gold‑black divine chains.

Killing intent and the excitement of an impending rampage intertwined within his 【Monkey Heart】.

Just as he was about to step forward to properly "smash" that tortoise shell,

A faint groan, like a dream‑murmur, drifted from the nearby Demon God Rib Valley.

Sun Wukong's steps came to an abrupt halt.

His battle‑ready fervor was instantly replaced by a deeper emotion.

He turned and looked at the nine hundred ninety‑nine seals he had previously set.

Within the golden light curtain, a petite figure was gradually regaining consciousness from a coma.

It was Yao.

Yao's consciousness struggled to surface from the boundless darkness and exhaustion.

She felt her divine soul like a drained sponge, every thread suffused with weakness.

Her vision, from blurry, gradually grew clear.

At first glance she saw that familiar, mountain‑like reliable back.

"Wukong…"

She instinctively called out softly, her voice carrying the relief and reliance of one who had survived a calamity.

That back moved.

He slowly turned around.

The weakness and joy on Yao's face froze solid the instant she saw Sun Wukong's true face.

In its place erupted a boundless, soul‑shaking terror from the depths of her spirit!

That face was still Sun Wukong's face.

That armor was still the linked golden armor.

But……

No!

Everything is wrong!

Yao's 【Illusory Dream】 Dao granted her perception of "heart" and "essence" far beyond any being in the world.

And in her perception, the "Sun Wukong" before her was no longer the monkey she knew!

The hot‑blooded, sharp‑tongued Great Sage Equal to Heaven, whose heart forever burned with a rolling blaze of fire, had vanished.

In its place was an indescribable horror that made her very soul tremble.

He bore no pure malice; that would have made Yao feel at ease.

Wrapped around him were three ultimate auras she could not comprehend, let alone imagine coexisting.

That was the icy cold of 【Order】—like the most precise machine, devoid of any feeling!

That was the deathly silence of 【Negation】—like a black hole swallowing all, rendering existence meaningless!

That was the madness of 【Variable】—like the most unruly wildfire, seeking to burn away all rules and bonds!

These three utterly opposed ultimate Dao, capable of tearing the universe apart, now strangely, perfectly, merged within a single body!

He was like a cold‑running apocalypse machine, yet possessed a heart mad enough to overturn heaven and earth,

while the ultimate purpose of it all was to return to meaningless eternal silence.

Contradiction!

Distortion!

Chaos!

This is ten thousand times more terrifying than mere "Absolute Malice"!

For pure malice can still be understood and opposed.

Yet the very existence of this "Sun Wukong" before her is something that cannot be defined,

cannot be predicted, and even the notion of an "enemy" cannot be applied to him……a monster!

Yao's body began to shudder uncontrollably.

She strained with all her strength to squeeze out a few words from her throat; that voice was filled with fear and alienation she herself could hardly believe.

"You……"

"You……who are you?"

Sun Wukong's expression froze.

The gaze he had just softened upon Yao's awakening was instantly filled with immense astonishment.

He lowered his head to look at himself.

Still the same body.

His outward appearance showed no change.

"Yao? What nonsense are you spouting?"

He took a step forward, his tone carrying a stiffness he himself hadn't noticed, attempting to squeeze out a reassuring smile.

"I, Old Sun, am still I, Old Sun, aren't I?"

Don't come over!

Yao let out a piercing shriek, planted her hands on the ground, and desperately scrambled backward without regard for anything.

It felt as if what was walking toward her was the ultimate horror that came from the Abyss!

Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears, her voice trembling, she almost pleaded as she cried out.

Sun Wukong…… what happened to your Dao…… your Dao?

I can't feel…… I can't feel you anymore!

That scorching 'Monkey Heart' that would rage at injustice and roar with laughter at victory…… where has it gone?!

Sun Wukong's footsteps came to a complete halt.

He fell silent.

He didn't know how to explain.

Was he supposed to tell her that, to gain the power to overturn the board, he had turned himself into a monster even he couldn't comprehend?

Was he supposed to tell her that, the pure Monkey Heart had already fused completely with the icy order and the deathly silence of termination in the 'No Regret' flames?

He opened his mouth, but found that any words at this moment seemed feeble and pale.

In the end, he could only choose the most primitive way.

He slowly reached out his hand, palm upward, trying to let Yao feel that he was still himself.

Yao, don't be afraid.

His voice was very soft.

Yet, this very action, this outstretched hand, became the final straw that broke Yao's defenses.

She seemed to have seen a poisonous snake and beast, her pupils contracting violently, like a frightened rabbit, she scrambled backward, rolling and crawling!

No…… don't touch me!

Her voice was filled with desperate wails.

In her perception, the outstretched palm no longer held any familiar warmth.

It was a hand composed of absolute rules, a 'machine' hand.

It was a hand that could reduce all things to nothing, a 'termination' hand.

It was a hand that could wantonly knead everything, a 'madman' hand.

This hand could easily create a world, and in the next second, because it felt 'boring',

it would utterly erase that world and all living beings within it!

That was not protection.

That was playing!

Sun Wukong's hand remained stiff, suspended in mid‑air.

He could not retract it.

Nor could he extend it further.

Between them, there was clearly only a distance of a few zhang.

But at this moment, it seemed as if an invisible, bottomless heavenly chasm had completely severed them.

He had won.

He had obtained the ultimate power capable of resisting and overturning everything.

But when he lowered his head, he discovered that behind him, there was no one left.

This immense, indescribable sorrow and irony, like the sharpest blade, viciously pierced his freshly forged Monkey Heart.

It weighed heavier than being pressed under Wǔxíng Shān for five hundred years.

It hurt more than being burned in the Bāguà Lú for seven‑seven forty‑nine days.

Sun Wukong slowly, slowly withdrew his hand.

He gazed at his palm, where the three‑colored gold, gray, and black Dao Rhythm writhed like three mutually biting poisonous snakes.

Is this…… the Dao he has chosen?

Is this…… the price he must pay?

He lifted his head and looked toward the figure curled up in the distance, gazing at his own daughter with the eyes of one looking at a monster, filled with fear.

That was Yao.

She was the girl who would weep for his wounds and burn herself for his sake.

And now, she looked at him as if he were the most terrifying existence in the world.

An unprecedented sense of bewilderment surged upon Sun Wukong's heart.

He shattered Heaven.

He defeated the Dao.

He became the most Irrational being in this world.

But he did not know how to take another step forward to embrace the girl who was weeping for him.

Silence.

A Deathly Silence spread between them.

Finally.

Sun Wukong slowly turned around.

He no longer looked at Yao.

He feared that if he glanced again, the freshly forged 'No Regret' heart would show a crack.

He once again hoisted the ancient stone staff onto his shoulder and, step by step, walked toward that massive, cold, ominous‑exuding gate.

His silhouette, at this moment, was incomparably lonely.

It was also incomparably resolute.

In the valley, Yao watched the gradually receding silhouette; tears finally burst forth.

She covered her mouth, refusing to let herself cry out, but inside her heart a voice screamed wildly.

Come back……

Hurry back……

You liar……

You promised to take me home, didn't you……

But, Sun Wukong did not turn back.

Not even a step.

It seemed that behind him, that heart-rending sorrow could no longer move him in the slightest.

He merely walked silently, treading back onto that road which, from the very start, was destined to be a solitary……path of fate.

And what he himself, and everyone else, did not know, was.

At the moment he turned around.

In the deepest part of his eyes—left eye gray-white, right eye pitch-black, Chaos Realm eyes—a drop of imperceptible, scalding crimson‑gold liquid silently slid down.

Immediately, it was completely swallowed by the endless cold and Deathly Silence.