Great Demon Sun Wukong

It had been about three Chinese hours since they arrived, and because there was no specific measure of time here, Sun Wukong didn’t know exactly when it was. However, during this time, Xi Zhao had already absorbed the entire soul of the Three-eyed Martial Saint.

After the last bit of the soul passed through the Zhen Yuan Bodhi Treasure Tree and the Five-Colored Divine Stone and was absorbed by Xi Zhao, the quantitative change finally triggered a qualitative change, and the enormous soul power of a Four Patterns Martial Saint allowed Xi Zhao to advance.

Following the descent of a Cosmic Law, Xi Zhao finally woke up. Upon waking, the first thing Xi Zhao did was to close his eyes once again, sit cross-legged on the ground, and begin to comprehend the hint of Cosmic Law he just received.

Previously, Sun Wukong had heard from Xi Zhao that each pattern represented a Cosmic Law. One must comprehend this law as soon as they level up. Those with high comprehension could fully grasp it, while those with poor comprehension could only understand a part of it, resulting in a waste of the law. This was also why, within the same realm, some were vastly more powerful than others.

As he watched Xi Zhao earnestly comprehend the law, Sun Wukong felt dejected. Because when he advanced to the rank of One Pattern, he was in a frenzied state and had no idea about comprehending any law at all. Moreover, when he later tried to sense it after hearing Xi Zhao describe it, he got nothing. It seemed that his first encounter with the Cosmic Law had been for naught.

This was truly a tragedy, and the later in life it unfolded, the more apparent it became. Others, even those with lesser talents, could at least grasp some of it, but his own first law had vanished completely. This meant that even if he reached the peak and became a Nine Patterns Supreme, he would always know one less law than others.

Every time he thought about this, Sun Wukong was filled with extraordinary sorrow; it was clearly a congenital defect. Because of this, Sun Wukong didn’t know how many times he had secretly cursed the Heavens.

Mired in grief, Sun Wukong took out the World Suppressing Stele and carefully observed it. Today’s battle had been quite shocking for Sun Wukong. It seemed even the World Suppressing Stele was not invincible; if it could be withstood by Four Patterns, then what of Six Patterns or Seven Patterns? Could they blow away the Stele with a single sneeze?

Before Sun Wukong could think any further, Xi Zhao had already woken up again.

"How are you feeling? No serious issues, I hope?" Sun Wukong hurriedly turned and asked, in truth, he was unwilling to see someone else die.

"I feel great. The soul body has this advantage; as long as the soul hasn’t completely dissipated, no matter how severe the injury, one can recover by absorbing souls. And now, I am a Four Patterns Martial Saint. By the way, I have to thank you for this; I owe you my life!"

"Heh heh heh, don’t mention it. Next time when your humble Sun is struck down, it’ll be your turn to save me, haha."

The two shared a smile once again, then Sun Wukong suddenly asked, "Friend Xi Zhao, which Cosmic Law did you comprehend this time? As you know, I’ve lost one, so I’m still quite unfamiliar with them."

"When I was at One Pattern, I mastered the Ice Law; at Two Patterns, it was the Frost Law; at Three Patterns, the Stealth Law, and just now, I comprehended the Explosion Law! It’s just that my grasp on the Stealth Law and Explosion Law is still very limited."

"No worries, no worries, you are still far stronger than me. By the way, now that you are at Four Patterns, does that mean we can enter the city?"

"Of course we can. But when we enter the city later, I’ll say you’re my servant, otherwise you won’t be able to get in due to your low level."

"Okay, okay, let’s hurry along!"

Curious about new things, Sun Wukong was very interested. What exactly would the city that Xi Zhao mentioned, which only Four Patterns Saints could enter, look like?

With anticipation, Sun Wukong and Xi Zhao set off again. Although Xi Zhao had only possessed the strength of Three Patterns before, he had gained a certain understanding of the Netherworld World, so he was relatively familiar with the locations of the one hundred and eight Outer Cities.

Thus, leading Sun Wukong along quickly, they finally arrived at the gates of a city before dark. Here it must be mentioned that the Netherworld World has both day and night. The daytime there has no sun and the sky is yellowish; as for the night, it is utter darkness without stars or moon.

Just as Sun Wukong was excitedly preparing to enter the city, Xi Zhao suddenly grabbed him. Not only did they not enter immediately, but they also started running in the opposite direction. Sun Wukong was puzzled but nonetheless followed Xi Zhao. They ran for a full three Chinese hours.

"Xi Zhao buddy, what are we running for? The city gates were right there; why did we suddenly run away?"

After catching his breath, Xi Zhao looked around. It was now completely dark. "That city just now, we can’t enter it. You’re new here and unfamiliar with this place, and I only knew there was a city, but I had somewhat forgotten what city it was. However, when I saw the emblem on the city gate, I remembered – that city belongs to the Three-eyed Clan. If we entered, wouldn’t that be asking for death?"

Hearing Xi Zhao’s explanation, Sun Wukong did recall the emblem with three eyes on the city gate tower. Thankfully, otherwise, if they had entered and discovered that he had killed their people, they would indeed be on a suicide mission.

Taking a moment to breathe, Xi Zhao continued, "Let’s rest here for tonight. The nights in the Netherworld World are too dark, and many Soul Beasts emerge. It’s very dangerous."

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"What can soul beasts do?"

"Soul beasts are ferocious creatures from the Netherworld World that feed on souls. Each soul beast possesses a unique ability that can directly harm the soul, and most soul beasts are social animals. If you encounter them at night, the odds are against you."

Sun Wukong knew that encountering a pack of wild beasts was a particularly tricky matter. Since flying was not an option here, it was best to find a safe place and wait until dawn to continue on."

So, with the help of the light from Sun Wukong’s Five-Colored Divine Stone, the two of them found a recess on a hill, where Xi Zhao placed his two rings outside the recess, turning them into a huge ice shield.

Neither of them spoke anymore, each sitting in meditation to recover and contemplate.

During this period, both of them woke up several times. Once, they felt some trembling on the ground and peeked out to find dozens of soul beasts, as large as mammoths, stampeding at the other end of the hill. However, since the beasts were not headed their way, they decided not to meddle in the affairs of others and paid no further attention to them.

The second time they were awakened by the sound of fighting. Judging by the pressure emanating from the clash, the two combatants definitely possessed the strength of Five Patterns, or even stronger. Such a level of power was beyond what Sun Wukong and Xi Zhao could contend with. Fortunately, the fighters did not discover, or rather, did not care about Sun Wukong and Xi Zhao.

But as the fighters left, one of them suddenly unleashed a terrifying sword qi, shaving flat the hillock where Sun Wukong and Xi Zhao were hiding—as a warning. Explore more adventures at empire

The last time they awoke was because dawn had broken!

They exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly. After the two scares from last night, both realized that their strength was too lacking. Especially Sun Wukong, whose One Pattern strength put him at the very bottom of the food chain in this world, without any right to speak. Although Xi Zhao was a Four Patterns Martial Saint, his situation wasn’t much better.

So, at the break of dawn, the two rose at the same time, and both had the same thought: to increase their strength. Otherwise, with their current power, not to mention searching for other cities, even if they found one, what could they do? Without strength, they would be nothing more than lambs to the slaughter wherever they went.

Moreover, Xi Zhao knew that the distances between different cities were extremely vast. Without the protection of a powerful escort, given their own strength, they likely wouldn’t survive for long. Xi Zhao had always been active around another city and knew that a large military deployment from that city had recently occurred.

He had simply followed their army and made his way to the vicinity of the Three-Eyed City.

Therefore, the two decided to find a way to enhance their strength first and then search for the next city once Xi Zhao reached Five Patterns or Sun Wukong achieved Four Patterns.

With their decision made, the two no longer hurried on their way. Instead, they cautiously advanced toward a densely grown forest in the distance. There were three ways to rapidly increase strength: the first was to kill others and absorb souls; the second was to hunt soul beasts and absorb Soul Beads; the third was to find Heaven and Earth Treasures to consume and thereby increase strength.

Of these three methods, the first was too risky—if they encountered someone too powerful, they would probably end up as someone else’s prey. The chance of finding the third was too small, so the only option left was to hunt soul beasts.

Thus, Sun Wukong and Xi Zhao headed for the lush forest in the distance.

There’s a saying that when traveling in the wild, you should avoid the woods. But there’s also a saying that fortune favors the bold. For the sake of wealth and status, they had to take risks.

That being said, both Xi Zhao and Sun Wukong had great confidence in their own strength. They believed that as long as they worked together, even if they encountered a Five Patterns powerhouse, they could still put up a fight, and with some luck, they might even emerge victorious.

After their mad dash, they had entered the forest. And that’s when the soul beasts inside found themselves in trouble.

This was no nameless forest. On the contrary, it was well-known to the people of the Three-Eyed City, for the forest was somewhat special. Both the flora and fauna inside were neatly divided into three distinct parts, each living in order.

If the forest were compared to a circle, the outermost part of the circle would contain soul beasts with One to Three Patterns. The central part would consist of Four to Six Patterns, and the core area would be home to Seven to Nine Patterns. Moreover, the soul beasts in these three areas had strict territorial restrictions.

You would never find a Four Patterns or higher soul beast in the outer area, and so on.

So when Xi Zhao and Sun Wukong entered this forest, it was like wolves amongst a flock of sheep, especially for Sun Wukong, who wielded the World Suppressing Stele. No matter which soul beast it was, all were killed in one hit.

At that moment, Sun Wukong also discovered that the World Suppressing Stele had the power to instantly kill any beast with less than Four Patterns. It would be quite difficult to do the same to Four Patterns beasts; if they were prepared, they could completely withstand the attack. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

However, in the outer area of the forest, Sun Wukong was having the time of his life. He felt as if he had the world at his fingertips with the stele in his hand! (Sun Wukong was probably the first person to ever use the World Suppressing Stele as a brick.)

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