Chapter 419

The yellow sand filled the sky as Tiger Vanguard used his token, along with Stone Vanguard's token, to open the secluded retreat of the Great Sage Yellow Wind, and everyone entered.

"The Great Sage Yellow Wind's divine abilities are not bad; his Three Flavors Divine Wind—unless one has the Calming Wind Pearl, it's truly difficult to endure!" Sun Wukong rested his staff on his shoulder and spoke.

Back when I encountered Yellow Wind Ridge, if it weren't for Bodhisattva Lingji's intervention, I truly would not have been able to handle this Three Flavors Divine Wind.

"I have no way back; why do you all keep coming!" Amidst the swirling yellow sand, the Great Sage Yellow Wind appeared, holding a massive Buddha head.

"That Buddha head seems somewhat familiar! This, this is Lingji's Buddha head!" Gazing at the enormous Buddha head before him, Sun Wukong said with a look of astonishment.

Although his mana and cultivation have diminished greatly, Monkey's eyesight remains keen; the Buddha head held by the Great Sage Yellow Wind is indeed the true skull of Bodhisattva Lingji.

Moreover, hidden within the opponent's skull is one of his own root instruments; it appears the Great Sage Yellow Wind intends to refine his own vital energy using the Buddha head to enhance his cultivation!

"Is it you? No? Not you, you are not him. He is already dead, already dead; at that time, I watched him die." Upon seeing Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Yellow Wind revealed a hint of surprise, as if truly resembling the monkey he had killed back then, but he knew this was not Sun Wukong, for Sun Wukong's root instrument remained in his possession.

"You yellow-haired rat, I never expected you to have the gall to sever Bodhisattva Lingji's skull; Old Monkey underestimated you—well done!" Monkey pointed his iron staff at the Great Sage Yellow Wind and spoke.

"You speak incorrectly, incorrectly; the Heaven's Chosen One does not speak, you are not the Heaven's Chosen One, who are you? Who exactly are you? Why impersonate him? He is already dead!" The Great Sage Yellow Wind seemed unable to believe the monkey before him was Sun Wukong, so he immediately spoke up to question.

Back then, those few demon kings received the edicts from Ling Shan and the Heavenly Court, following Erlang Shen Yang Jian, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals, together besieging that monkey, fighting fiercely for several days.

In the end, they killed that monkey; that monkey was utterly and completely dead, impossible to revive, impossible! "Old Monkey also thought he was doomed, forever unable to return to life, but Old Monkey indeed came back to life, truly and certainly, I had the aid of a great divine being who repaired my remnant soul, allowing me to return to yang." Sun Wukong spoke.

"Nonsense! Nonsense! Who in this world possesses such divine ability? You must be Lin Ji's second brother sent to disturb my Dao heart—die for me!" The Great Sage Yellow Wind clearly could not accept Sun Wukong still being alive, brandishing his steel fork and lunging at Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong let out a cold snort, raised his iron staff, blocked the Great Sage Yellow Wind's steel fork, then with both arms exerted force to push it back.

Although my body is not as strong as Stone Monkey's, it is vastly superior to that of the Black Monkey just now.

"If so, Great Sage Yellow Wind, we have not crossed hands in several hundred years—come! Let Old Monkey see what progress you've made." Sun Wukong let out a cold snort, gripped his iron staff, and charged directly into the yellow sand, engaging the Great Sage Yellow Wind in battle.

"Venerable Lord Wu Tian, this Great Sage Equal to Heaven lacks the Calming Wind Pearl and has not restored his former divine abilities; he likely cannot match this yellow-haired weasel." The horse-headed man spoke.

Back when Grandfather Sage was at his peak, he still could not overcome this yellow-haired rat, and would even have his eyes injured by his Three Flavors Divine Wind.

Now without a divine artifact in hand, how could he be a match? "If he dares to display that so-called Three Flavors Divine Wind, I naturally have a way to deal with you—no need to worry." Luode smiled and spoke.

"What a joke! What level of existence am I? Supreme among gods, only half a step away from joining the ranks of the Primordial Gods; in any world, I am a single-cosmos-level entity."

The Three Flavors Divine Wind truly cannot affect me; Luode remains confident—this yellow-haired sculpture will be subdued by him as soon as it displays divine ability.

"I'm exhausted to death! If not for the elder brother's command, I wouldn't come to this ghostly place!" At that moment, a monster clad in a large yellow robe, with fangs protruding and a wild boar's head, charged in.

"Zhu Bajie!" Luode said, looking at the pig-headed man before him.

"This venerable one indeed mistook the person; although both are from the old pig family, I am not that incompetent pig—I am the Yellow Robe Elder." The yellow-robed wild boar demon spoke respectfully.

How could such a formidable figure not have been mentioned by Second Uncle? Why would such a person be here?

Moreover, he followed along the way and overheard the earlier words—this Sun Wukong seems to have truly returned to life, which is indeed strange and marvelous!

"Venerable Lord Wu Tian! This fellow appears to be a subordinate of Erlang Shen; that Zhu Bajie is not as tall as him." The horse-headed man spoke.

"Oh! A subordinate of Erlang Shen, what brings you here? I've heard Sun Wukong was killed by Erlang Shen leading a group of demons." Luode asked.

"This venerable one has misunderstood; the specific circumstances will be known after Great Sage Sun clears up that monster—you may go ask him. If he truly is the Great Sage Grandfather, then he certainly knows why I came this time to deliver goods." The Yellow Robe Elder finished speaking, then produced a golden-yellow pearl from his pocket.

"Calming Wind Pearl? How did this end up in your hands?" Luode asked.

"This was entirely given by my elder brother; our original mission was to lure the Heaven's Chosen One to the ruins of Saha Li Country, let him dream of a hundred years ago, then give him this Calming Wind Pearl—but now it seems I need not intervene." The Yellow Robe Elder spoke.

Many forces have intervened in Sun Wukong's death; my elder brother aided Sun Wukong, the Buddhist Maitreya Buddha aided Sun Wukong, and within Daoism some also aided Sun Wukong—only this monkey himself remains unaware.

Buddhism and Daoism are not monolithic! Where there are people, there is the martial world; where there is the martial world, there are various factions.

"Oh! I understand—go on! Tell your elder brother I am Venerable Lord Wu Tian, the Great Divine."

"Ah, I've noted it down! I don't know where Venerable Lord Wu Tian plans to take Great Sage Grandfather next." The Yellow Robe Elder bowed to Luode and asked.

"Our next stop is Flaming Mountain, to assist. Sun Wukong's elder brother, the Bull Demon King, will conveniently retrieve his root instrument and dharma body there." Luode spoke.

"Flaming Mountain. If you heed my advice, after passing Yellow Wind Ridge, you should visit Little Western Heaven! It is said that Sun Wukong's junior disciple Zhu Bajie has already set out for Little Western Heaven to seek; Great Sage, if you go, you may encounter them." The Yellow Robe Elder spoke.

Second Uncle's assigned task cannot be neglected; the Heaven's Chosen One's route is planned—must first go to Little Western Heaven, then to Pan Si Cave, then to Flaming Mountain; the order must not be disrupted.

"Oh! You mean Zhu Bajie has also appeared? And he is in Little Western Heaven?" Luode asked.

Little Western Heaven should be the Yellow Eyebrow Old Monster, right? This one is a disciple of Maitreya Buddha.

"Venerable one, you should know Zhu Bajie's two strikes are not particularly powerful divine abilities; he can handle ordinary demon kings, but if facing that one in Little Western Heaven, let alone seeing the Yellow Eyebrow Old Buddha, even the Angry Gold Dragon King could deal with him." The Yellow Robe Elder spoke.

If Zhu Bajie were to go alone to Little Western Heaven, that pig would surely die—ten deaths, no life.

"Alright, I understand; I will relay this to Sun Wukong. If you have no further business, then go!" Luode nodded and spoke. "Very well! Lastly, one more matter: please inform Great Sage Grandfather that my elder brother, Erlang Shen Yang Jian, awaits him in the Floating Pagoda Tower.

If he can recover all his root instruments, he must certainly come to Little Western Heaven's Floating Pagoda Tower." The Yellow Robe Elder finished speaking, bowed again to Luode, then transformed into a gust of yellow wind and vanished.

Luode smiled, tossed the Calming Wind Pearl from his hand onto the battlefield; at this moment, the yellow-robed weasel had already stirred up his Three Flavors Divine Wind, and seeing Sun Wukong about to be blown away, the Calming Wind Pearl suddenly appeared, directly stilling the yellow sand across the sky.

"Hahaha! Yellow-haired weasel, did you see? This time, Heaven stands with me." Sun Wukong coldly chuckled.

Without this Three Flavors Divine Wind technique, you yellow-haired weasel are absolutely no match for Old Monkey—within ten moves, I will surely capture you.

"How could this be? This treasure, this treasure—why is it appearing here? That old thief, that old thief—I already severed his head; why, why must he still oppose me?" The Great Sage Yellow Wind instantly revealed an expression of utter disbelief.

Damn it! To ensure his death, to ensure the death of that hypocritical master.

He severed the opponent's entire head—could it be that even this fails to kill him?

"Heavens! Heavens! Haha, this is heavenly will, this is heavenly will, kill!" The Great Sage Yellow Wind let out a piercing, tragic cry.

Brandishing his steel fork, he fearlessly charged at Sun Wukong, adopting a completely desperate fighting style, even hurling the Buddha head in his hand upward to smash toward Sun Wukong.

"Never mind, never mind; you are currently not clear-headed, but Old Monkey will knock you back to your senses." Monkey let out a cold snort, waved his iron staff, and struck toward the Great Sage Yellow Wind's head.

After several exchanges, the two finally determined victory and defeat; the Great Sage Yellow Wind was struck down by Sun Wukong, kneeling on the ground, gasping heavily.

"Since I have already lost, I have nothing more to say; whether Heaven's Chosen One or Sun Wukong, I no longer care—do as you wish!" The Great Sage Yellow Wind seemed resigned, opened his arms, closed his eyes, and spoke.

"Old Monkey has no intention of killing you; you scoundrel are also a talent. Old Monkey respects you as a true man—I will not kill you, but wish to bring you to undertake a great endeavor—are you willing to join?" Sun Wukong stepped forward, seized the Great Sage Yellow Wind's collar, and asked.

"Hahaha! Undertake a great endeavor? Impossible, impossible—I have lost, we have lost. No hope exists; in this world, the highest are gods and buddhas." The Great Sage Yellow Wind spoke.

Clang clang clang clang! At that moment, a three-stringed lute's sound rang out; a headless monk wearing prayer beads playing the lute suddenly appeared.

"Unexpected, unexpected—the Great Sage Equal to Heaven has truly been reborn, you wretched creature, you stole the Great Sage's root instrument.

You learned Erlang Shen's divine arts, yet now you have even taken the master's skull—still, thank the Great Sage for retrieving the monk's skull." Bodhisattva Lingji finished speaking, then transformed into his true form, desiring to approach and take back his skull, but at that moment, an iron staff stood firmly before him.

"Old monk, wait a moment, I have something to ask you."

"Great Sage, please speak."

"Back then, were all the people of the Siharali Kingdom turned into rat demons by your hand? And are these meat Buddha heads on Yellow Wind Ridge also your doing?" Sun Wukong gritted his teeth and asked.

"Hahaha! Amitabha, Great Sage, you jest—monks are compassionate; how could we commit such evil deeds?

All this was done by my wicked disciple, and has nothing to do with this old monk." Lingji Bodhisattva smiled and spoke.

At this moment, Azeras stared in shock at the headless monk before him, leaned close to Luode's ear, and asked: "Is there a mistake? How is he speaking? Can one speak without a head? Can one live without a head?"

"He must be using the art of incantation or some other magic, but in this mythological world, it is indeed possible to live without a head." Luode spoke.

"Hahaha! Everyone thinks it was me who did it! Why would I do such a thing? Master? Why would I do this?" The Yellow Wind Great Sage let out a bitter laugh and asked.

"You wicked disciple, how would I know why you would do such a thing that harms heaven and reason!" Lingji Bodhisattva spoke.

"You old fool, in all of Ling Mountain, you are the most shameless.

These meat Buddha heads are your skull—you still dare to say they have nothing to do with you?

Turning all the city's people into rat demons—if this yellow-haired weasel truly had such power, then back then I, Old Sun, would not have dared to provoke him." Sun Wukong coldly snorted and said.

"Great Sage, the Buddha has already arranged everything for you; now that you have come back to life, do you still wish to rebel against heaven once more?" Lingji Bodhisattva asked.

According to the Buddha's words, this monkey-headed one should have been utterly dead; even if a new Sun Wukong were reborn, he would become a disciple of the Buddha's gate, meekly wear the golden hoop—how then has an unforeseen twist arisen now?

Sun Wukong gripped his iron rod and pulled the Yellow Wind Great Sage up.

"Yellow Wind, if you are still a man, rise up and join me, Old Sun, in killing this harmful old monk." Sun Wukong spoke.

Seeing this, the Yellow Wind Great Sage gritted his teeth, seized his steel fork, and forced his body to stand.

"Since the Great Sage wishes to cause a disturbance, I will accompany him—though it may end in death alone!"

"Hahaha! Then I shall, on behalf of the Buddha, discipline this monkey head, refit him with the golden hoop—I, uh-uh!" The headless monk suddenly froze, then collapsed silently to the ground.

A powerful intent of death enveloped him; in an instant, all his vitality was utterly severed.

What bodhisattva fruition, golden body relics—none of it helped; this was pure death energy, the strongest deathly power.

"Old monk, you talk too much." (End of chapter)