Chapter 454: The Last Nail!
Pull out the root of the concept!
That scarlet-gold heart beat in Sun Wukong's palm.
Scorching.
Powerful.
With each beat, a massive surge of energy poured along his arm into his body.
Sun Wukong froze for two seconds, then reacted.
This thing popped out of that lump of rotten flesh.
In other words, that extremely disgusting lump of rotten flesh hid a living heart inside.
And this heart now belongs to him.
In the distance, Bodhi still leaned against the broken cliff, the mysterious smile on his face not yet faded.
Sun Wukong was about to speak.
Just then, a shrill howl came from deep within the void.
"Give it back to me!"
"That's my heart!"
"You damned monkey, give it back!"
Sun Wukong looked toward the sound.
He saw that in the void a hundred zhang away, a lump of rotten flesh larger and more disgusting than before was writhing wildly.
Its volume was more than ten times larger than before.
There were more faces on it, and the expressions were even more twisted.
Only then did Sun Wukong understand.
The lump he had just drained was only a small part of the Original Mistake.
The true main body had always been hidden in the darkness.
"No wonder Master laughed."
Sun Wukong turned his head and glanced at Bodhi.
Bodhi nodded slightly, then closed his eyes.
The meaning was clear.
Fight it yourself.
Sun Wukong turned around, stuffed the scarlet-gold heart into his bosom, and placed it together with Master's teacup.
"Your heart?"
He hoisted his iron staff, the corners of his mouth turning up.
"Now it's mine."
"Want it back?"
"Come and take it."
The Original Mistake went completely mad.
On its massive rotten-flesh body, thousands of rifts exploded simultaneously.
From each rift extended a thick tentacle.
They were thicker and longer than before, with larger barbs.
Thousands of tentacles surged forward, blotting out the sky and covering the void above Sun Wukong's head.
Sun Wukong did not dodge.
He stood in place, shouldered his iron staff.
He waited.
The tentacles reached him.
The first one wrapped around his left arm.
The second one wrapped around his right leg.
The third, fourth, and fifth came one after another.
In the blink of an eye, Sun Wukong was wrapped up into a meat cocoon.
Millions of tentacles constricted him tightly.
The barbs pierced his skin, and the grayish-white power of negation began to pour in frenziedly.
The faces on the Original Mistake showed a manic grin.
"Devour you!"
"And eat the heart your master gave you as well!"
"Let you master and disciple become my nourishment!"
The grayish-white energy surged like a floodgate opened, pouring wildly into Sun Wukong's body along the tentacles.
The amount was terrifying.
It was stronger than before by an unknown factor.
Inside the meat cocoon.
Sun Wukong made no struggling movements.
He closed his eyes.
He felt the power rushing into his meridians, bones, and flesh.
Then he smiled.
The Monkey Heart in his chest began to beat.
It was not an ordinary beat.
It beat like an engine that never stops.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Each beat sucked in all the Power of Negation that surged into his body.
Digesting.
Transforming.
Turning into crimson-gold Chaos Dao Rhythm.
Then poured back into himself.
His body was glowing.
Crimson-gold light seeped out from the cracks in the cocoon, growing brighter and brighter.
The Original Mistake's smile froze.
It sensed that something was wrong.
The power it had poured out was completely gone.
Not even an echo remained.
Like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
"What's going on?"
"Why can't I absorb him?"
It increased its output.
It mobilized all of its Power of Negation throughout its body and poured it in through its tentacles.
Sun Wukong's Monkey Heart beat even more vigorously.
It devoured whatever amount came its way.
It was not picky.
The more frantically it output, the brighter the golden light on Sun Wukong's body became.
That light was no longer just seeping through the cracks; it directly burned through the tentacles' skin and exploded outward from within.
The Original Mistake finally panicked.
It wanted to sever its tentacles.
Retract its power.
Stem the loss.
It discovered a horrifying fact.
It could not cut them off.
Those tentacles were no longer under its control.
Sun Wukong's Monkey Heart generated a reverse suction, firmly locking all the tentacles in place.
It was not the tentacles entangling Sun Wukong.
It was Sun Wukong sucking the tentacles.
"Let go!"
The Original Mistake struggled desperately.
Its rotting flesh main body retreated, trying to distance itself.
But those tentacles were as if welded shut, completely immobile.
On the contrary, its own body was being dragged inch by inch toward Sun Wukong.
"No!"
"Impossible!"
"I am the Original Mistake!"
"I am an existence predating the birth of the universe!"
"How could a mere monkey like you possibly draw me in!"
Inside the cocoon.
Sun Wukong opened his eyes.
Crimson-gold light shot from his pupils.
He spoke a sentence.
His voice was not loud, but it exploded in the void.
"You're right."
"You are the universe's first mistake."
"But I am the universe's greatest accident."
"Accidents are the cure for all kinds of 'impossible'."
His words fell.
The beating of the Monkey Heart turned into a long roar.
Boom!!!
All the tentacles burst open at the same moment.
It wasn't a break.
It was shattered from within by a crimson-gold force.
Bits of flesh and pus sprayed everywhere.
Sun Wukong walked out of the flesh cocoon.
His whole body blazed with golden light.
He had not a single wound on his body.
The holes left by those barbs were completely filled with crimson-gold Chaos Dao Rhythm.
He was stronger than before.
More than doubled.
The Original Mistake was utterly desperate.
Its main body shrank violently, and the broken tentacle bases were still oozing pus.
The whole rotting mass had shrunk to only one-third of its original size.
Sun Wukong walked over step by step.
The iron rod dragged behind him.
He traced a long crimson-gold light trail in the void.
He walked up to that mass of rotting flesh.
He lowered his head and looked at it.
Those faces no longer cried out.
All were weeping.
Wailing.
Begging for mercy.
Sun Wukong was unmoved.
His gaze passed over the disgusting pus-filled sores and twisted faces on the surface, locking onto the central point.
There was something glowing there.
A dim light.
Like a dying star about to go out.
That was the true core of the Original Mistake.
It was the foundation of its existence.
He raised the iron rod.
He aimed at that dim core.
All the faces of the Original Mistake lifted simultaneously, revealing a smile uglier than crying.
"Wait!"
"Don't rush!"
"Monkey, we can talk!"
Sun Wukong didn't put down the staff.
"Talk about what?"
"I can let you have this universe!"
The voice of the Original Mistake became urgent to the point of changing tone.
"You can become the new Creator!"
"All the stars, all living beings, will be under your command!"
"Whatever you want, I'll give it to you!"
"As long as you spare me!"
Sun Wukong looked at it.
His expression showed no change.
"Creator?"
He repeated those three words.
"What the hell would I want that for?"
His tone was flat, like saying what to eat today.
"All I've ever wanted in this life is to be something."
"The Handsome Monkey King of Mount Huaguo."
"You can't afford it."
The crimson-gold light on the iron rod surged.
He swung his arm round.
When he smashed down with this staff, it wasn't just strength.
There was also will.
A will of 'existence' pure to the extreme.
A will to live.
A will to fight.
The will to guard.
Like a Star, facing a stretch of void, declaring: I am here.
The moment the staff tip touched the dim core.
The whole void seemed as if someone had pressed the mute button.
All sound disappeared.
Then, it exploded.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Original Mistake let out the most shrill Cànjiào this Universe has ever heard.
A crack appeared on the dim core.
What seeped from the crack was neither light nor blood.
It was the void.
It was its own concept collapsing.
"No!"
I am 'Error'!
I cannot be negated!
To negate me is to negate Negation itself!
This is illogical!
Sun Wukong let out a cold chuckle.
"When have I ever talked to you about logic?"
Tiěbàng pressed down another inch.
The crack widened.
The core began to break apart.
The rotting flesh form of Original Mistake also shattered.
Those faces burst open one by one, turning to ash.
The pus evaporated.
The tentacles shattered.
The entire existence peeled away layer by layer, from inside out.
Turned into gray dust filling the sky.
Drifting in the void.
Growing fainter.
Becoming fewer.
The last hoarse whimper came from the ashes, like wind over dry leaves.
Then, nothing remained.
Clean and neat.
Sun Wukong withdrew Tiěbàng.
He gasped heavily.
He raised his head and looked around.
The void returned to calm.
That disgusting mass of rotting flesh vanished, leaving not a trace of breath behind.
"Is it over?"
He muttered to himself.
In the distance, Bodhi slowly opened his eyes.
In those cloudy old eyes, a trace of true peace finally appeared.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But in the end, he just gave a slight nod.
Sun Wukong smiled.
Grinning, he revealed a mouthful of white teeth.
Like a child.
He turned to walk toward his Master.
But just as he took his first step,
His peripheral vision caught something.
In the deepest part of the dissipating ashes.
In the most hidden corner.
There was a point of light.
It was golden.
It was extremely faint.
It flashed.
And then it went out.
Then, a crack as fine as a thread appeared in the void in that direction.
The crack existed for less than a breath before it healed and vanished on its own.
Sun Wukong's pupil shrank.
He recognized the aura of that golden light.
It wasn't the Original Mistake's.
It was something else.
What had always been hidden inside the Original Mistake was something else.
His smile remained on his face, but the warmth in his eyes had vanished.
Bodhi's voice came from behind, soft and faint.
"Did you see it?"
Sun Wukong gripped the Tiěbàng tightly.
"I saw it."
End of Chapter
