Great Demon Sun Wukong

And after fusing perfectly with World Suppressing Stele No.8, not only did Sha Wujing's strength immediately reach the half-step realm, but he also gained many abilities that even he himself was unclear about. Moreover, Sha Wujing could now harness the Nine Heavens Pure Water within the stela. Initially, a single strike of Nine Heavens Pure Thunder nearly killed Ye Zi, who was breaking through from Domain Lord Peak to Heavenly Venerate; hence, this Nine Heavens Pure Water must be anything but ordinary. Watching Sha Wujing, burning with rage, charge towards him, Xi Zhao didn't show any signs of panic.

Although there's only a "half-step" between a Heavenly Venerate and a half-step Heavenly Venerate, there's actually a considerable gap in strength. Sha Wujing's body charged explosively, and the pure Nine Heavens Pure Water seemed to sense Sha Wujing's anger, whirling around him and churning violently. Xi Zhao, with one hand dragging Sun Wukong and the other palm transforming, struck out directly at Sha Wujing. There wasn't any earth-shattering might in this palm, but what was shocking was that when it hit Sha Wujing's crescent shovel, it shattered it instantly, and without pause, the same palm landed on Sha Wujing's body behind it.

Then, an incredulous look clearly appeared in Sha Wujing's eyes, followed by his body exploding with a bang, turning into a mist of water. Xi Zhao's lips curled into a disdainful smile, "Half-step Heavenly Venerate, that's all there is." However, the smile hadn't yet faded from his lips when it froze on his face. For the Sha Wujing, who was supposed to be severely wounded or even dead from the explosion into a mist, wasn't as he had expected; the mist gathered in mid-air and started swirling around Xi Zhao seemingly pulled by a force.

This mist contained the Nine Heavens Pure Water that could dissolve everything; Xi Zhao dared not underestimate it any longer and quickly set up a Spiritual Power Shield around his body. With his strength as a Heavenly Venerate, even an ordinary Spiritual Power Shield was as tough as a defensive Domain Instrument. Just as the Spiritual Power Shield formed, the swirling mist around Xi Zhao shot towards the shield all at once.

After all the mist had cleared, Xi Zhao's Spiritual Power Shield remained undamaged aside from some fluctuations. He sneered again, "World Suppressing Stele No.8, that's all it amounts to." But just as the words left his mouth, Xi Zhao suddenly looked down at his right hand, and his expression turned particularly ugly, for the Sun Wukong he was holding had vanished. Slowly turning around to see Sha Wujing, who was kneeling behind him, Xi Zhao burst into a furious laugh, "Well played, well played. I underestimated you. A mere half-step Heavenly Venerate dares to challenge my authority?"

Ever since his fusion with the Evil Monarch, which restored his true strength, Xi Zhao's personality also began to shift slowly. When he first met Sun Wukong, Xi Zhao's outward demeanor was quite similar to that of the Flame God, but later he added much more composure and sophistication, and was relatively easy to get along with. However, the current Xi Zhao exuded the air of a superior ruler, displaying domineering arrogance. This was not hard to understand, as Xi Zhao had once been the first among the Nine Great Divine Kingdoms, the Domain Lord of the Annihilation Demon Nation, and naturally carried the dignified aura of one in a high position. Having recovered to the strength of a Heavenly Venerate, he naturally looked down upon all who were at most half-step Heavenly Venerate in strength.

Sha Wujing didn't heed Xi Zhao, and holding Sun Wukong, he took a few deep breaths before slowly standing up, turning around, and glaring furiously at Xi Zhao. At this moment, Sha Wujing could sense Sun Wukong's condition: though his life was not in danger, the flow of his qi and Spiritual Power was extremely chaotic, and his Divine Sense was also highly abnormal, as if he had gone mad during cultivation. If there wasn't a powerful being to sort out Sun Wukong's meridians and Spiritual Power and soothe and guide his Divine Sense and Soul, Sun Wukong might never come around, and his own Cultivation strength would gradually decline until he became nothing more than a cripple.

Snatching someone from the hands of a Heavenly Venerate was no light feat for Sha Wujing. But now was not the time for him to relax. Whenever it involved his eldest senior brother, Sha Wujing would become very shrewd, not as simple and honest as usual. Turning his head to look at the Rogue Heart Sword Hero, Xi Zhao spoke, "What now, do you want to accompany Sun Wukong in death? Though I can't kill the monkey, annihilating you is effortless."

Without giving the Rogue Heart Sword Hero a chance to speak, he clapped his hands together, and all of a sudden the temperature within the entire space plummeted, followed by goose feather-like heavy snow beginning to float down. In the instant that this snow appeared, Xi Zhao's figure vanished. The snow was extremely cold and completely obscured everyone's vision and even their Divine Sense. In this blizzard, each person felt isolated, or rather abandoned, as if the whole world had only them left. The sensation was quite distressing, but fortunately, the chaotic snow didn't last long before it turned into a sky full of raindrops, the snowflakes instantly transforming into a torrential downpour.

However, within this heavy rain, though everyone's vision was still somewhat affected, their Divine Sense was fully restored. The snowstorm before had been Xi Zhao's doing, while the rain that followed was Sha Wujing utilizing the Nine Heavens Pure Water to turn the snowflakes into raindrops and also dispelling the snow's blockade on the Divine Sense. But when everyone's Divine Sense was restored, each one of them showed a look of mortified anger, particularly Wan Jun and the Flame God, whose anger almost seethed visibly.

The reason for this was that, at that moment in Xi Zhao's hand, he was holding the corpse of Ling Weiyang. The heavy snowfall just now was not a means of attack, but Xi Zhao had seized the opportunity to snatch away the body of Ling Weiyang, which had been under the control of Wan Jun and the Flame God, after shielding the sight and Divine Sense of the crowd. In fact, with the strength of Xi Zhao as a Heavenly Venerate, forcibly taking it back would not be a problem at all, but he worried that Wan Jun and the Flame God might harm Ling Weiyang's physical body. Even though he was very fast, Xi Zhao still didn't dare to risk it.

"It's just a corpse, is it really worth all this trouble? Xi Zhao, if you want this corpse, just call me Grandpa Flame God and I'll give it to you," said the Flame God, who had always harbored resentment towards Xi Zhao. This resentment stemmed not only from Xi Zhao's betrayal of the Netherworld's people but also because he was in cahoots with the Myriad Demons Country—with whom he, the Flame God, had a blood feud deep enough to warrant annihilation.

Xi Zhao glanced at the Flame God and scoffed, "Flame God, don't think that I can't kill you just because you're reckless. It only takes a flick of my fingers to deal with you, you're just a jumping clown." The Flame God was naturally hot-tempered and could not bear such remarks from Xi Zhao. He was about to draw his sword and charge up, but the Rogue Heart Sword Hero moved in a flash, grabbed the Flame God's shoulder, and whispered, "Don't be rash, you're courting death if you face him alone. His strength far surpasses yours."

And when the Rogue Heart Sword Hero used the Power of the Stars to instantly appear beside the Flame God, Xi Zhao raised an eyebrow and thought to himself: Strange, how did the Power of the Stars from Ling Weiyang end up with him? Could it be that he killed Ling Weiyang and then took his Power of the Stars? Ling Weiyang really had it tough, I wonder if he will be so ashamed that he would rather die upon resurrection. Thinking this, Xi Zhao grabbed Ling Weiyang's collar with one hand, preparing to leave.

But how could the people present let Xi Zhao leave so easily? Apart from Po Jun, who had lost all his Spiritual Power, and the Yu Fan Taoist Monk, who was still unconscious and being treated by Ye Zi, everyone present, including the Nine Decisions Vajra Ape, immediately surrounded Xi Zhao, looking at him with unfriendly expressions.

"What's the hurry to seek death? Do you really think there's strength in numbers? If it weren't for the important matter I have to attend to, do you think I would spare you?" Xi Zhao said this, but he seemed to have no intention of attacking. Seeing Xi Zhao appearing somewhat blustering but inwardly craven, the Rogue Heart Sword Hero stepped forward and said, "Whether it's courting death or not, we won't know until we've fought. I don't think you came out of your battle with Sun Wukong unharmed. Moreover, I'm quite eager to test this newly acquired strength and see how powerful it is. Sha Wujing, take action."

With the Rogue Heart Sword Hero's final bellow, Sha Wujing, who was holding Sun Wukong, suddenly raised his left hand and then swung it down fiercely. Instantly, thunder boomed in the skies, and large raindrops fell like a torrential downpour, but this heavy rain was just a prelude. What followed was a bluish-green thunderbolt from above the Nine Heavens.

The Nine Heavens Pure Thunder triggered by Sha Wujing and the little monkey directly struck at Xi Zhao.

At the same time, the Annihilation Nine Headed Serpent, which had been sealed by Dao Zhun all this while, suddenly stirred. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Starting Point (qidian.com), including Monthly Pass. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please access m.qidian.com to read.)