Chapter 709: Let Wukong Suffer a Little

Chapter 709: Chapter 709: Let Wukong Suffer a Little

A cold glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. Seizing the moment the White-haired True Monarch was stunned by the fall of True Monarch Tongxuan, he commanded his Wukong Avatar to strike without hesitation.

The reawakened Star Banner stirred with residual Star Power, and its three hundred and sixty-five Main Stars lit up once again. Countless bolts of Purple Gold Divine Thunder wove into a net, infused with a Divine Sky True Intent capable of shattering all laws, and hurtled toward the White-haired True Monarch.

The Thunder Attribute was ever-changing. Taiyi Qingyuan Demonic Purification Thunder, All Heaven Star Pivot Golden Gang Thunder, Earth Evil God Thunder... The various forms of thunder cycled through creation and destruction, completely locking down the space around the White-haired True Monarch.

"Petty tricks! I have studied thunderbolts for many years."

The White-haired True Monarch gave a raspy sneer as his withered hands flew through a series of seals beneath his gray robe.

His body abruptly turned ethereal, transforming into a wisp of grayish-white mist that merged with the churning Death Qi of the Sea of Suffering.

The net of thunder passed through the mist as if striking a phantom, merely evaporating a patch of the bloody waves and leaving a void.

The gray mist reconverged a hundred zhang away. The White-haired True Monarch’s face was a shade paler, yet the wound on his shoulder blade—previously pierced by a rain of swords—had bizarrely sealed shut as if it had never existed.

"Life and Death Reincarnation, the reversal of Yin and Yang."

The White-haired True Monarch looked up slightly. "Xu Yunfan, no matter how strong your thunderbolts are, I might have been helpless against them elsewhere. But here in the Netherworld, they cannot break my arts."

Xu Yunfan’s thoughts raced as he glanced at the notification that popped up on his Attribute Panel.

’Your attacks seem to have a greatly reduced effect on the White-haired True Monarch’s Nine Nether Reincarnation Secret Technique.’

With his first strike failing to land a decisive blow, Xu Yunfan decisively abandoned the idea of getting entangled with the White-haired True Monarch.

Although True Monarch Tongxuan’s Sword Spirit had been obliterated, a wisp of his Immortal Golden Nature still wrapped around his remnant soul, rushing toward the Netherworld. It was clear he was using the Immortal Golden Nature to protect his True Spirit and escape into Reincarnation.

’Killing a cultivator like Tongxuan, who had crippled his own Cultivation and was left with only his Divine Soul, was already a stroke of luck. I should be going for the real target now. Getting bogged down with this White-haired True Monarch for too long is simply not worth the cost.’

’First, I need to perceive the characteristics of the Taiyin Qiu Dragon Dao Fruit.’

"Go!"

Xu Yunfan commanded Wukong to transform into a streak of molten gold light, tearing through the bloody waves and hurtling straight toward White Bone Island.

Atop the gnarled, strange tree on the Qiu Long’s head, the Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit flowed with a clear brilliance. The scale-patterned, dragon-shaped fruit emanated a Dao Rhyme of the Supreme Yin and Cold, yet it concealed a sliver of Vitality—the perfect foundation to harmonize the solitary yang of his Divine Sky and Red Sun Thunder Fire Dao Fruits.

"Xu Yunfan! Are you using me as a sacrifice?!"

Wukong’s Molten Gold Pupils quaked as he instantly realized Xu Yunfan’s intentions. His Stone Embryo body hurtled onward under Xu Yunfan’s absolute control, but his Divine Soul struggled frantically.

Wukong’s furious roar echoed in their shared Sea of Consciousness.

"That Qiu Long is in the Golden Core Realm, and the Dao Fruit is symbiotic with it, sharing the same origin! How is sending me to snatch it any different from sending me to my death?!"

Xu Yunfan’s icy reply pierced through the barriers of the Sea of Suffering.

"You are a product of my Cloud Scripture Incarnation; the very origin of your True Spirit is bound to me. You must not retreat now. If not now, then when?"

Wukong roared in despair.

"I fought and killed True Monarch Tongxuan for you, and this is how you repay me?! You promised me! You promised me freedom!"

"How noisy."

Xu Yunfan’s Divine Thought remained completely unperturbed.

"If you retrieve the Dao Fruit, I will grant you a reforged Dao body. If you fall, you will merely return to the Star Banner. Your True Spirit resides upon it; as long as the Star Banner remains undamaged, you can be reformed sooner or later."

The Qiu Long’s blood-red eyes were already locked onto Wukong.

The Dao Fruit was its lifelong companion, the very key to its breakthrough to the Mid-Stage Golden Core. How could it possibly allow another to lay a finger on it?

"Ant! You dare steal my Dao?!"

The dragon’s roar shook the Sea of Blood. The Qiu Long’s sharp claws crackled with purple-black thunder drawn from the very Origin of the Sea of Suffering. Space shattered like glass wherever it passed.

More terrifying still, the Dao Fruit’s clear brilliance rippled outward. Its Supreme Yin chill froze the Star Power around Wukong, and his flight speed instantly dropped by a third.

The fruit was a manifestation of the Sea of Suffering’s Supreme Yin Origin, giving it a natural ability to suppress all external Magical Power.

Seeing Xu Yunfan act so recklessly, as if he had a death wish, made the White-haired True Monarch’s face turn livid.

He had plotted for many years, all for the sake of seizing Xu Yunfan’s Divine Sky Dao Fruit to extend his own lifespan. If the Qiu Long devoured this avatar of Xu Yunfan and used its own companion Dao Fruit as a catalyst, it would very likely evolve into a vicious spirit of the Sea of Suffering at the Mid-Stage Golden Core.

If that happened, all his plans would go up in smoke.

He simply couldn’t fathom why Xu Yunfan would do something that would only benefit a third party.

’Could it be that he’d rather hand it over to this wretched dragon than to me?’

"Don’t even think about it!"

He shrieked and lunged. Myriad Resentful Soul Chains shot from his sleeves, Reincarnation Runes flickering at their tips. Though launched second, they arrived first, wrapping around Wukong’s ankles in an attempt to pull him away from the dragon’s claws.

In an instant, the three deadly intentions became hopelessly entangled.

Xu Yunfan had Wukong detonate his final trump card.

The Main Stars on the Star Banner shattered one after another, and all remaining Star Power surged into the Stone Embryo’s right fist.

Using the body of an Innate Holy Spirit, Xu Yunfan infused it with Vast Magical Power. A boundless swell of Magical Power materialized like smoke behind Wukong as his fist erupted in a molten gold radiance, smashing down upon the point where the chains and claws converged.

BOOM!!!

The blood waves of the Sea of Suffering erupted ten thousand zhang into the air. The Resentful Soul Chains shattered inch by inch, and scales flew from the Qiu Long’s claws.

But the Star Power was finally spent, and that single punch had exhausted all its Magical Power. With a loud bang, Wukong’s Stone Embryo right arm exploded.

The White-haired True Monarch seized the opening to press in close, his withered palm striking like a blade straight for Wukong’s heart, his expression savage.

"Your Dao Fruit is mine!"

On the razor’s edge between life and death, the right-hand Dharma Aspect of Xu Yunfan’s Linn Character State was running endless calculations atop Divine Sky Peak.

In the Linn Character State, he decisively abandoned Wukong. His Divine Thought connected to the core of the Star Banner, using the Strong Control Attribute from his Attribute Panel to initiate a forced recall.

"Xu Yunfan! I hope you d—"

Before Wukong could finish his curse, the White-haired True Monarch’s palm-blade pierced through his chest.

Grayish-white Reincarnation Runes spread from the wound, instantly corroding the Stone Embryo’s shell.

In the same instant, the Qiu Long’s massive jaws snapped shut, and the thunder of the Sea of Suffering’s Origin engulfed Wukong’s ruined body.

Pfft!

The avatar disintegrated, and a speck of its True Spirit fled into the Star Banner.

The White-haired True Monarch’s hand closed on nothing but a cloud of stone dust. Meanwhile, the Star Banner had already transformed into a streak of light, torn through the barrier of the Sea of Suffering, and vanished without a trace.

"Cloud Scripture Incarnation Technique?!"

The White-haired True Monarch stood frozen, his face turning from livid to pitch-black with fury.

"What a magnificent bastard, that Xu Yunfan! To think he cultivated the *Profound Capital Eight Sceneries Celestial Refining Creation Cloud Scripture* to a level where the clone is indistinguishable from the real thing!"

He had meticulously laid this trap, even revealing his true self, only to find he had been hunting a mere avatar all along.

Xu Yunfan’s real body had been safely holed up on Divine Sky Mountain the entire time. Now that he had tipped his hand and startled his foe, plotting against him again would be nigh impossible.

At this realization, an indescribable, suffocating frustration welled up in the White-haired True Monarch’s chest. He wanted nothing more than to slaughter Xu Yunfan’s entire family to vent his rage.

ROAR!

The enraged Qiu Long closed in, its blood-red eyes locking onto the only intruder left.

The White-haired True Monarch stared at the Dao Fruit on the dragon’s head, his face twisting into a demonic mask.

His lifespan was nearly at an end. If he failed to obtain this fruit to balance his Yin and Yang, his only option would be to reincarnate using his Immortal Golden Nature.

But the memory of the world-shaking, murderous tribulations Xu Yunfan faced when he first attained his Dao was still vivid in his mind.

The Wansheng Sword Sect’s siege, the Puchen Pure Land’s treachery, the Primordial Sect’s internal strife...

’Would this world really give a reincarnated True Monarch the chance to set foot on the path of the Dao once more?’

"This fruit... is my last gamble!"

The White-haired True Monarch let out a sharp cry, and his gray robes erupted in eerie blue soul-flames as he lunged toward the Qiu Long.

Above the Sea of Suffering, only the roaring deathmatch between one man and one dragon remained, the churning blood waves like a prelude to the end of days.

-----------------

The Star Banner tore through the void to return, its surface covered in a dense web of cracks as it disappeared into Xu Yunfan’s palm.

He gazed toward the Sea of Suffering, the light deep within his eyes slowly dimming.

’True Monarch Tongxuan has fallen, the white-haired one has exposed himself, and the Qiu Long is grievously wounded... This trip was not a loss.’

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, however. ’The expedition had an inauspicious start, losing an avatar right off the bat.’