Chapter 279 (1/2)
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Ka-boom—!
Craaaack, rumble—
The extended Ruyi Jingu Bang shaved a chunk off a cliff. Unlike its title of “Heavenly World’s prison,” the surrounding location currently resembled a devastated warzone, its previously stunning scenery completely destroyed beyond recognition.
CLANG—!
The Ruyi Jingu Bang that was seemingly extending forever was suddenly deflected upward. Erlang Shen swung the guandao upward from below and then spun his body to initiate his next slash.
Baaaaang—!
Sun Wukong’s powerful punch and Erlang Shen’s slash collided mid-air. Two gigantic powers canceled each other out and completely overturned the already ruined ground once more.
Fuu-haa—
“Man, you’re really something else. You actually blocked that again?”
“Right back at you.”
The exchange of blows had come to a brief standstill, and both Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen glared at each other as they formed mirroring disgusted expressions.
This fight had been going on for several days already. Never mind food, they didn’t even have time to take a short break. Of course, such a thing didn’t pose any problems to these two who had far surpassed the limits of common Yogoes or gods a long time ago.
Their real issue was with the intensity of this fight.
Both of them thought of this battle as their real last fight, so they didn’t bother to hold back. As such, their stamina got depleted far quicker than usual, and even their powers of concentration had run out by now.
“How long are you planning to stand there and pant away? Are you tired already?” Sun Wukong asked as he raised his Ruyi Jingu Bang again.
Despite their fatigue, they still kept on fighting.
Even if their stamina had reached rock bottom, they still continued to fight by scraping off whatever little energy they could find at the bottom of the barrel itself.
This was all for the sake of determining once and for all who was stronger between them.
“It’s only because you fool looked far too exhausted. I merely waited for you to take a breather.”
“Hey, Mister General! I can see you still putting up useless airs over there, buddy.”
“I’ve already resigned from my post.”
“If you did, then you should learn to be more humble, you know? Humans nowadays call guys like you a bum. An unemployed bum.”
“…Stop talking and come at me, you damn dirty ape.”
Veins bulged on Erlang Shen’s forehead.
Sun Wukong cackled and began spinning the Ruyi Jingu Bang once more. “Get bigger, Ru—”
Gu-wuwuwu—
But right at that moment, Sun Wukong’s ears perked up. He could sense an immense aura. His head spun in that direction, and Erlang Shen belatedly turned his head in the same direction as well.
“Isn’t that…?”
“Last bro?”
The playful smile on Sun Wukong’s face disappeared in an instant.
Soon after that, he turned around while still holding the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Erlang Shen was far too distracted to notice this and belatedly shouted at Sun Wukong who was about to abandon their fight and go somewhere else. “Where do you think you’re going, Sun Wukong?!”
“Sorry! Let’s finish this some other time!”
“Are you running away?”
“I’m crazy about fighting, you know!” Sun Wukong replied while summoning a cloud to ride on by using his Sage Art since he no longer had the Somersault cloud with him. “But even then, my family comes first!”
Swiiiiish—
In the end, Sun Wukong left the battlefield using the cloud he summoned.
Erlang Shen could have chased after the Monkey King if he wanted to. He could have even prevented his opponent from leaving if that was what he desired.
However, he chose to do neither of those things. This fight wasn’t about capturing Sun Wukong but to finally end their rivalry once and for all, after all.
“Dammit!” Erlang Shen spat out an expletive, which wasn’t like him, and slung the guandao over his shoulder. “Looks like I’ll have to wait until next time.”
**
Swiiiiiiiish—
Riding on the cloud, Sun Wukong directly headed toward the Bull Demon King’s residence.
The location of that immense aura was the mountain behind the residence. Both the Bull Demon King and the Roc Demon King had already arrived there.
Ta-dak—
Sun Wukong lightly leaped off from the cloud and landed next to the two Yogoes. They were currently staring at the top of the cliff found near the summit of the mountain. More specifically, they were looking at the semi-circular dome of an aura surrounding it.
“First and second brothers? What’s going on?”
“Ah, you’re here? So, did you win?” the Bull Demon King replied to Sun Wukong’s urgent question in his usual relaxed voice.
The latter felt frustrated by such a laid-back response and hurriedly replied, “Bro, that’s not really important right now. What about our last brother?”
“Well, you can see he’s right over there, can’t you?”
“But is it really him?”
Shudder, shudder—
Sun Wukong formed a flabbergasted expression after sensing the aura from a much closer vantage point. Without a doubt, this aura belonged to Su-hyeun. Yet the sheer scale or the purity of it was on a completely different realm compared to before.
“I’ve given him a Peach of Immortality, you see.”
“A Peach of Immortality? Really?”
Sun Wukong soon figured out what happened to Su-hyeun from the Bull Demon King’s statement.
The Peach of Immortality, a treasure of the Heavenly World and a miraculous heaven-defying elixir. It had already been several tens of thousands of years since Sun Wukong stole and devoured all the peaches, so a new batch must have matured by now in the Heavenly Peach Garden.
“Big brother, how did you even find a peach?”
“I was merely a delivery man. In any case, the important takeaway here is that our last brother has eaten a Peach of Immortality,” said the Bull Demon King, but despite how his reply sounded, an expression of puzzlement was also etched on his face. “However, this still seems a little excessive. He may have consumed a peach, but such a level of concentration of energy is…”
Their last brother. He was not a Yogoe but a human being.
Even then, he possessed strength equal to the Great Sage Heaven’s Equal. Not to forget, this little human brother of theirs was responsible for defeating the God of War Prince Nezha and the Jade Emperor.
“You’ve finally managed to get your foot in.”
While both Sun Wukong and the Roc Demon King were swimming in shock, the Bull Demon King’s eyes taking in the sight of Su-hyeun’s transformation were filled with rueful sorrow.
Normally, possessing that much power as a human should mean that you would have no equal in this world. Maybe Su-hyeun was now powerful enough to wage war against the Heavenly World and take the Jade Emperor’s head all by himself.
Even then, the Bull Demon King knew.
Su-hyeun had only managed to get his foot in the door. In a way, this situation was similar to him reaching the peak, only to be told that it was merely the beginning.
After learning about the kinds of monsters Su-hyeun would have to fight from here onward, as well as the height he was striving to reach, the Bull Demon King felt pity and sorrow from Su-hyeun’s strength growing even greater.
“Yes, you should try to rise up even higher,” the Bull Demon King muttered as he watched the aura spread out in a dome start swirling around Su-hyeun. “Aim to reach godhood, last brother.”
**
Everything felt hazy.
This must have been his first time experiencing such a sensation, yet with every passing second, it became more and more familiar. Su-hyeun thought about it some more and realized that he had felt this sensation once before.
“When was it?”
It was as if he was being pulled into the depth of a deep, deep ocean; his consciousness just didn’t want to emerge outside. It almost felt like he was waking up from a long dream.
The gears in Su-hyeun’s head finally started moving again and forcibly recalled some memories of his past.
“Kim Sung-in.”
The past or should that be the future rather?