Sun Wukong, why won't you just die completely?
In a desolate wilderness of the Western Ox-Continent, Heavenly King Duowen, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, held his precious umbrella high in the sky, with crackling lightning flashing within it.
Beneath the umbrella, a figure was firmly suppressed, completely unable to move.
Heavenly King Duowen's voice was cold with a hint of irritation, as he used the endless lightning from the umbrella to grind away the figure's flesh and soul.
"Heh heh!"
"Duowen, you've improved. This Dharma Body of Old Sun's, which I cultivated for eighty-seven days, still couldn't defeat you."
"Indeed, being a dog of Buddhism has many benefits. Now that Buddhism is flourishing and the Gods and Buddhas of the heavens are retreating, you, as their dog, must have received many good bones, right?"
Listening to Sun Wukong's mockery from below, a flicker of anger flashed in Heavenly King Duowen's eyes.
"Sun Wukong, you're stubborn. The Buddha gave you the qualification to be a human, personally inviting you to be the exalted Victorious Fighting Buddha of Buddhism, but you refused. You insisted on playing tricks on the Journey to the West, trying every possible way to remove the golden hoop. Now look, it's all for naught. Not only did you lose the esteemed position of Victorious Fighting Buddha,"
"but your true spirit was scattered, leaving only these fragmented souls wandering like lonely ghosts among the Four Main Continents."
"It's been five hundred years. I, the Heavenly King, alone have killed you eight thousand six hundred times. Tell me, how many fragmented souls do you have left?"
"Hahahaha!"
"Can one still be considered human with the Tightening Hoop on?"
"Victorious Fighting Buddha?"
"Heh heh, what a load of crap, Victorious Fighting Buddha. Aren't you still a dog of Buddhism?"
Sun Wukong revealed a mocking expression on his face, and at this point, he couldn't help but grin and say, "Heavenly King Duowen, ever since Old Sun was released from under the Five Elements Mountain, I have been continuously condensing and releasing fragmented souls, precisely to guard against that old fellow, Tathagata."
"Guess how many fragmented souls your Grandpa Sun released throughout this Journey to the West?"
"If you have the guts, then chase your Grandpa Sun for another five hundred years like a persistent plaster, and see if you can completely kill your Grandpa Sun."
Heavenly King Duowen fell silent upon hearing this.
Sun Wukong's most formidable innate divine ability was the method of external incarnations, coupled with his Seventy-two Transformations, which meant that every single monkey hair on his body was a fragmented soul.
However many monkey hairs he had, that's how many fragmented souls there would be.
If Sun Wukong truly started preparing countermeasures from the moment he was released from under the Five Elements Mountain, then the number of fragmented souls he left in the Four Main Continents would surely be immeasurable.
"So what!"
"Sun Wukong, no matter how many fragmented souls you have, you are still a stray dog. You have already lost. Even if your fragmented souls cultivate for a thousand years, can you still become the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven you once were?"
"Rumble!"
With a deafening clap of thunder and Heavenly King Duowen's furious roar echoing across the wilderness, the desolate land fell into complete silence.
In the Southern Jambu Continent, on the Five Elements Mountain where Sun Wukong had been suppressed for five hundred years, an inconspicuous small stone scattered among the trees suddenly flashed with light and slowly transformed into the appearance of a small monkey.
Sun Wukong stood up and looked around, only to find that the place where this fragmented soul of his was located was very familiar to him.
This was the Five Elements Mountain.
The place where he had been suppressed for five hundred years.
"Heh heh!"
"I didn't expect Old Sun to actually leave a fragmented soul on the Five Elements Mountain."
"This is where I escaped five hundred years ago. Since this fragmented soul was left here, does that mean this is the first fragmented soul I left back then?"
Thinking of this, Sun Wukong immediately fell silent.
In order not to be completely killed by Buddhism, he himself did not even know how many fragmented souls he still had. Only when his previous fragmented soul completely died would his true spirit revive in the next fragmented soul.
In other words, it was very possible that this current fragmented soul of his was the last one.
If he were killed again, then there might be no more Sun Wukong in the world.
No... in the eyes of the Gods and Buddhas, Sun Wukong had always been alive. He had completed his Journey to the West, accumulated merits, and had now been conferred the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha by Tathagata, sitting high on a lotus platform in the Great Thunderclap Temple on Spirit Mountain.
Unfortunately, that person was no longer him.
"Hahahaha!"
Thinking of this, Sun Wukong immediately burst into laughter, looking up at the sky.
"Even if Old Sun has only this last life left, even if I die, I will not kneel to Buddhism again, nor will I wear that golden hoop."
Sun Wukong secretly swore in his heart, a ferocious expression on his face, his fists clenched tightly, his teeth grinding audibly.
"Amitabha!"
Suddenly, at that moment, a Buddhist chant sounded behind Sun Wukong.
In an instant, all the hairs on Sun Wukong's body stood on end. This fragmented soul of his had just awakened, and its power was still very weak. If it were discovered by Buddhism now, the result would surely be instant annihilation.
His first reaction was to run, but before he could even take a step, a handsome monk blocked his way.
"Little monkey, Poor Monk would like to ask, in which direction is the Great Tang?"
"Hmm?"
"Great Tang?"
Sun Wukong was startled; he felt his mind hadn't quite caught up.
Wasn't the Great Tang destroyed a hundred years after the Journey to the West ended and Mahayana Buddhism was brought back?
It's been five hundred years now, how could there still be a Great Tang!
"Yes!"
"It's the Great Tang where Li Shimin is the emperor."
Tang Sen smiled kindly and bowed again to the little monkey in front of him, saying, "Poor Monk is Xuanzang, the Dharma Master of Jinshan Temple. I am currently on my way to Chang'an City to attend the Water and Land Assembly, but unfortunately, I've lost my way here and don't know where to go."
Sun Wukong's hairs instantly stood on end again when he heard the name Xuanzang, his fangs bared, ready to fight this monk to the death.
But as he listened further, a strange expression immediately appeared on his face.
"Heh heh...!"
"Heh heh..."
"You are Xuanzang?" he asked, his face full of strangeness.
"Yes!"
"Is something wrong?" Tang Sen reached up and rubbed his bald head, feeling that his appearance was fine, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.
"Then, if I say I am Sun Wukong, would you believe me?"
Sun Wukong grinned, a hint of mockery in his smile, and asked.
"Don't be silly!"
Tang Sen curled his lips, speechless.
While he admitted that seeing a talking monkey was a bit bizarre and shocking, he couldn't just assume that any talking monkey he met less than three days after transmigrating to the Journey to the West World was Monkey Brother!
He even met a talking black pig yesterday that wanted to eat him!
It couldn't be that guy was Zhu Bajie, could it!
And wasn't Monkey Brother still suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain?
Thinking of this, Tang Sen couldn't help but size up Sun Wukong, shaking his head: "Your fur hasn't even fully grown yet, and you dare to claim you're Qitian Dasheng Sun Wukong?"
"Qitian Dasheng Sun Wukong?"
"It's been a long time since anyone called Old Sun that."
A flicker of daze passed through Sun Wukong's eyes as he murmured to himself, then tilted his head, scrutinizing the monk in front of him.
"Holy crap, a wild chicken!"
But before he could say anything else, the monk, who had previously worn a gentle smile, suddenly pointed behind him, his eyes shining like a hungry wolf, and sprinted away.
Sun Wukong watched him pounce on a wild chicken like a tiger, pinning it to the ground, then happily grabbing its wing and returning, his head full of question marks!
"Where on earth did this guy come from?"