Chapter 532: Fake Monkey

"Fake Monkey!"

Ao Yulie shouted loudly; even a fool could tell that the Sun Wukong who had suddenly appeared in the illusion was just a fake monkey.

Just as the two had guessed and anticipated, once the sinking technique failed, they could only resort to killing arts.

Dying in the illusion is the same as dying in reality, and it would also plunder everything belonging to Tang Luo and the others as its own power.

At that time, dealing with Nezha would be a piece of cake.

This world would then thoroughly fall into the hands of the Yellow-Robed King.

Whether Ananda, Kasyapa, or the sneaky Red Lotus Society — all would become his nourishment.

And those Outsiders... the glory of the Heavenly Court would spread to other worlds, spreading to every corner.

The radiance of the Old Gods has already dimmed, just like this abandoned world; they will eventually perish, becoming the dust of yesteryear.

The Yellow-Robed King will replace them and become the New God!

And all of this must begin with killing this white-haired monk.

The golden monkey brandishes the thousand-catty staff!

The As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff came down with the might to overturn mountains and seas, to turn heaven and earth upside down; the heavy pressure nearly made Ao Yulie kneel.

Although he had just shouted "fake monkey," facing this staff strike, he was in a trance, as if he saw the real Eldest Senior Brother.

The might of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!

The illusion that fakes the real created a Sun Wukong with extremely powerful combat strength.

Though merely a skin-deep phantom, the damage it can inflict is real.

"... Well met."

Tang Luo raised his head, looking at the descending staff, and smiled; the robes on his body billowed, rustling loudly.

His white hair floated and danced wildly, like a raging dragon roaring.

Tang Luo had crossed hands with Sun Wukong many times, but they were all sparring; in the past Tang Luo could go all out without worrying about hurting Sun Wukong.

Later, as time passed, the two's exchanges became increasingly unable to be fully enjoyed.

Now this fake monkey suddenly stirred Tang Luo's blood, making him genuinely want to have a good workout.

His right hand gripped the void; Xuan Bian was already in hand, forming the Xuan Bian Hammer; he used neither the Glazed Nirvana Great Hand Seal divine ability nor the Thousand Hands Cannot Defend technique.

Gripping the Xuan Bian Hammer with both hands, Tang Luo stepped back one pace, lowering the Xuan Bian Hammer to his rear side.

Then, with a backhand motion, he flicked upward!

No superfluous movements — just this simple backhand upward lift.

The ground beneath his feet instantly collapsed into a stretch of chaos; Tang Luo stood firm as Mount Tai; the motion was clearly fast as lightning, yet gave a feeling of extreme slowness, as if the whole earth were rising upward along with this single movement.

Heaven-Tilting Staff!

Earth-Overturning Hammer!

Before staff and hammer truly clashed, the surrounding Imperial Garden — every flower, grass, tree, pavilion, and tower — all turned to dust.

A stretch of chaotic blankness.

Ao Yulie had long since transformed into his true dragon form and fled "one hundred and eight thousand li," and was still running farther out.

If you can't fight and can't even run, you deserve to die.

The As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff and the Xuan Bian Hammer collided; Tang Luo wore a smile, his face not showing ferocity, yet his eyes, piercing like sharp swords, instantly made one's heart tremble with fear.

In his eyes, a "human figure" was reflected.

Golden-brown fur, seven parts human, three parts monkey; leaning toward human, not exactly handsome, bearing a few parts of wildness that seizes the soul.

If viewed from the monkey side, it was a thorough "beautiful monkey."

This fake monkey wore a Phoenix-Wing Purple-Gold Crown, clad in Chainmail Golden Armor, feet in Lotus-Silk Cloud-Stepping Boots; a red cloak billowed behind him, as if covering the entire sky.

Precisely the Great Sage Equal to Heaven's attire!

Those pair of golden pupils, like burning flames, like shining stars.

Full face of furious ferocity, domineering to the extreme!

Only, the overall size was a bit smaller; looking closely, one would discover it was barely 1.6 meters.

The golden light emanating from the Gold-Banded Staff was suppressed by Tang Luo's Xuan Bian Hammer.

Tang Luo looked at the fake monkey before him and shook his head slightly: "No good, still lacking quite a bit of heat!"

The motion that had stopped halfway continued; the Xuan Bian Hammer kept rising, drawing a black void trajectory through the air.

"Collapse!"

A sound rang out; the Gold-Banded Staff left the fake monkey's hand, spinning continuously in the sky, forming a circle, flying toward the heavens, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

One hammer smashed the fake monkey's Gold-Banded Staff from its grip — it simply couldn't hold on!

After losing the Gold-Banded Staff, the fake monkey not only did not perish then and there, but instead aroused a tremendous ferocity.

Its body suddenly swelled, turning into a two-meter-tall ape, lower jaw protruding, already bearing the aspect of a ferocious beast; only the golden armor it still wore masked a few parts of its savagery.

One saw the fake monkey reach out with incomparably thick arms toward Tang Luo, a bear hug, as if wanting to strangle him to death.

Tang Luo's expression didn't change, even carrying a few parts of a light smile; the brightness in his eyes had already receded, looking quite calm and breezy.

The Xuan Bian Hammer in his hand transformed into the Xuan Bian Sword.

Sword light flashed; two thick furry arms, along with the arm armor on them, flew off together.

If that staff strike just now still had seven or eight parts of Sun Wukong's bearing, then the current appearance barely manages four parts.

This neither-high-nor-low posture falls short by too much.

One sword severed both arms; before the fake monkey could react, Tang Luo had already slapped a palm solidly onto its armor.

The Chainmail Golden Armor instantly shattered; the fake monkey's body flew backward, and looking at its flight trajectory, it was actually consistent with the Gold-Banded Staff's.

Over there Ao Yulie was still flying when suddenly a staff fell from the sky, landing straight before his eyes, nearly piercing his skull with one staff strike.

He was startled, and before he could go around the staff and keep running, another figure flew in and landed heavily.

But he was pierced through by the golden hoop staff that was "nailed" to the ground, hanging on it, looking extremely miserable for a moment.

Ao Yulie immediately slipped away, running as fast as he could.

The fake monkey was pierced through by the golden hoop staff, yet remained ferocious, letting out a roar and reaching out to pull it out; the moment the golden hoop staff entered his hand, it expanded slightly, becoming more comfortable to hold.

The fake monkey gripped the golden hoop staff with both hands and thrust upward fiercely.

One staff thrust toward heaven!

At the same time, a black radiance descended, the spear emerging like a dragon!

The spear of Profound Transformation, its tip touching the golden hoop staff, caused the fake monkey's body to sink downward, a deep pit appearing beneath his feet, and even his lotus-silk cloud shoes shattered at the same time.

The sharp spear tip and the staff end collided, bursting forth with blinding golden light.

The spear of Profound Transformation pierced into the golden hoop staff, seemingly about to shatter it, when beside the spear-wielding Tang Luo, two identical burly monkeys suddenly appeared, likewise holding golden hoop staffs, and smashed down toward his head.

Unbeknownst when the "Monkey Hair Avatar" technique was employed.

Their strength was naturally not that of the fake monkey's true self, but at this moment, two staffs smashing down were enough to make one's "brains and liver spill onto the ground."

The Profound Transformation spear that had pierced into the golden hoop staff instead became a "chain" at this moment, binding Tang Luo's movements.

The two monkey hair avatars grinned ferociously, the staff transforming into layer upon layer of shadows.

Tang Luo gripped the Profound Transformation and gave it a slight turn, the spear transforming into the Profound Transformation Shield Umbrella.

The sudden change in form shattered the golden hoop staff, and Tang Luo casually flicked it, shouldering the Profound Transformation Shield Umbrella like a lazy pose of holding an umbrella.

Yet on the umbrella surface, no staff fell down.

When Tang Luo raised the umbrella, the two monkey hair avatars were cut into two segments by its sharp edge, turning into four strands of hair that fluttered down and disappeared.

The endless staff shadows naturally vanished as well, not even able to touch a single hair of Tang Luo.

However, Tang Luo's umbrella-holding was not for defense; with one hand gripping the Profound Transformation, he struck toward the shattering golden hoop staff, and the retreating fake monkey swung away.

Midway, the Profound Transformation Shield Umbrella transformed into the Profound Transformation Axe.

Unlike the heavy hammer, the Profound Transformation Axe came howling, carrying boundless ferocity.

The extremely sharp axe blade swept across, and even the fake monkey's "copper head and iron bones" could not withstand it, being instantly split in two.

Though it had some semblance of a diamond-like body, after being split in half, it did not fall but instead sought to reassemble.

Clearly, it was a fearsome form, a large two-handed axe, yet Tang Luo gripped it with one hand and swung it, as if the entire person were being carried away by the axe.

Tang Luo continuously swung the Profound Transformation Axe with one hand, axe shadows flashing.

He cut the fake monkey into countless fragments.

Aside from the first blow being somewhat evenly matched, this fake monkey before Tang Luo was actually utterly inadequate.

Ao Yulie in the distance scratched his head, originally thinking there would be a dragon-and-tiger battle, after all, the fake monkey's appearance truly reminded him of his senior brother.

Not an ordinary counterfeit, he had thought it was another Six-Eared Macaque.

He did not expect the Western goods to be so thorough.

But Ao Yulie changed his mind and thought he was mistaken.

It was not that this fake monkey was truly incapable, but that his master now was no longer the same as before.

Though his former master was extremely domineering, having risen step by step, he truly deserved the label "hasty for quick gain," arrogant and deviating from the proper path, too biased.

Originally, the path of the Great Dao was extremely arduous; let alone his master's "biased path," even the most stable and safe route was fraught with difficulty and danger.

Has the Earth Store Bodhisattva long delayed taking that step, and is he truly entirely bound by his great vow?

That is truly difficult.

From ancient times to the present, excluding innate extraordinary species, only six people have truly been able to walk that step and reach the "True Buddha (Great Luo) Realm."

The Supreme, the Numinous Treasure, the Original Beginning, the Lantern-Burning, the Tathagata, and Maitreya!

The Heavenly Court and the Thunder Sound Temple of the Spirit Mountain each have three.

This is the fundamental reason why these two colossal beings can "divide the world."

Though his master is astonishingly talented and magnificent, and also possesses "previous life's Yi Ze," in a short time he has walked a path others could not complete in a lifetime, setting foot in realms countless people can aspire to but never attain, even to the point of being unable to see.

However, speaking frankly, perhaps in this life he truly ends here, unable to advance even an inch.

Let alone that True Buddha Realm, even the distance to Earth Store and Guanyin Bodhisattva still leaves a gap.

At most, one can only say he fears nothing in battle—yet that is merely fearlessness.

After the westward journey, although Tang Luo occasionally went out, he mostly remained in seclusion, wishing to progress further.

One could describe it as "living deeply and going out seldom," but even so, his cultivation compared to the final period of the Journey to the West shows little difference.

The path ahead is cut off!

In the way of combat, advantages in evenly matched battles can "add flowers to brocade," but wanting to "send charcoal in the snow" is impossible.

One's own strength and cultivation are the foundation, the most important.

By comparison, Sun Wukong is the most hopeful, able to continue forward.

Tang Luo, hope is slim.

But now, it can be said that he truly turned misfortune into blessing.

The Mountain and Sea Realm collapsed, Tang Luo nearly suffered to the utmost extreme, yet in the end, it was no destruction, no establishment; after breaking, he stood, and though the road ahead cannot be said to be smooth, cracks have already appeared on the blocking boulders.

This road can continue forward.

Thinking of this, Ao Yulie again thought of Sun Wukong.

With the senior brother's ability, where is he now, and what does he look like?

Just as he was thinking, suddenly a great force struck, hitting his thigh, sending him flying directly, and he fell face-first into the mud.

"What are you thinking about, so dazed?"

Tang Luo said.

Ao Yulie came to his senses, instantly breaking out in a cold sweat.

All the surrounding scenery had vanished, leaving only the ground beneath his feet, while everything else was a blank void, yet this blankness carried a black hue.

The color of chaos.

The ground beneath his feet was entirely composed of flesh and blood, riddled with enormous black voids everywhere.

Tentacles burst from the ground, frantically waving about.

Numerous eerie voices began to sound in his ears; many sounded familiar to Ao Yulie—these were the voices of the old gods of the Heavenly Court.

Yet now, their lingering souls had merged, forming a new entity: the "King in Yellow."

A product dominated by ambition, a convergence.

As the tentacles writhed, Ao Yulie also "saw" numerous phantoms flickering before his eyes.

An endless "wind," resembling water, poured down from the blank chaos, seeking to engulf it.

"Wake up."

Ao Yulie was kicked again, regaining consciousness while being forced to dodge the incoming tentacles.

His heart suddenly tightened—this King in Yellow was intent on fighting them to the death.

Earlier, Tang Luo had shattered the false monkey, its fragments merging into the earth, causing the surroundings to shift; the flesh-and-blood ground beneath his feet gradually formed.

Black voids appeared, and massive tentacles danced.

A frenzied scene of the world's end.

Perhaps it was the fear formed in everyone's hearts when the Mountain and Sea Realm suddenly shattered and heavenly disaster struck, which, after years of erosion, became the "Source of Fear."

Indescribable; Ao Yulie, in his daze, had already been affected.

The false monkey was not the King in Yellow's final move; after Tang Luo destroyed it, the true "key" was revealed.

This was an enmity with the entire "world."

"Master."

Ao Yulie looked toward Tang Luo.

"That's all there is to it." Tang Luo retracted his Xuanbian, lightly shook his hands, and suddenly swung out.

Thousand Hands cannot defend!

The fake Sun Wukong disappointed him greatly; now he would shatter this illusion.

Endless palm shadows spread outward, and everything vanished like smoke.

"... How did we just come out?"

Nezha gazed at Tang Luo and Ao Yulie, "I was just about to put in effort."

"Forget it," Tang Luo said, "look at your little arms and legs—you'd break if you tried."

Upon hearing this, Nezha's eyebrows shot up, ready to fight Tang Luo.

Then he thought: compared to their current situations, he really was just all arms and legs—no wonder he felt so weary.

The three stood floating before the King in Yellow.

The illusion they had just experienced lasted only an instant to the outside world; Tang Luo and Ao Yulie had already escaped.

Meanwhile, the defeated King in Yellow had become an irregular mass of flesh, constantly writhing.

Faces occasionally appeared on the mass, then vanished.

Some of those faces looked somewhat familiar; others were quite strange.

Some wailed and roared in agiosis, caught between life and death in great terror, unwilling to die.

Others wore expressions of relief, as if escaping a sea of suffering: "My actions were not my true will; today I finally gain freedom."

Even some could be seen speaking to Tang Luo and Nezha, seemingly bidding farewell, offering thanks.

The ground beneath them restored to normal; Tang Luo and the others stepped onto the "ground," while the false heavenly gods around them had all perished—they were merely puppets and dolls of the King in Yellow.

Now that the King in Yellow had entered death, it naturally moved on first.