Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

Chapter 148 Today, I'll Behead You

"Sun Wukong, the Sword of Annihilation has already fused with my lifeblood essence. There's no way you can steal it! Return the Sword of Annihilation to me, and I promise I won't vie for the treasures in the Dragon Nest with you!"

Blocked firmly by Sun Wukong's clones, Cultivation Heavenly Venerable exerted all his strength but couldn't break through. Growing more and more anxious, he finally couldn't help shouting out loud.

"Return it to you?"

A smirk formed at the corner of Sun Wukong's mouth. This old fart had admitted defeat!

But what of it if he had?

Past experiences had taught Sun Wukong a firm rule: never show mercy to a confirmed enemy, or else one is just asking for trouble! The enmity between him and Cultivation Heavenly Venerable had already reached a point of life and death. If he let the tiger return to the mountain, who knows what future troubles could befall him or even the whole of Flower-Fruit Mountain!

"If you want Brother Wukong to give you back the Sword of Annihilation… Well, it's not impossible…"

Having made up his mind, Sun Wukong appeared tempted, but his hands were busy as he continued to drive Primordial Force into the sword to dissolve Cultivation Heavenly Venerable's essence imprint, "First, tell me what you can offer Brother Wukong. If you want the Sword of Annihilation back, you must pay a price, right? There's no such thing as a free lunch, after all."

"A price? Name it—whatever you want, as long as I can make it happen!"

Hearing the change in Sun Wukong's tone, Cultivation Heavenly Venerable couldn't help but feel elated, promptly agreeing. Right now, all he wanted was to reclaim the Sword of Annihilation. As for the rest—hah! The grass stays green, and the rivers flow forever; there will always be a time for revenge!

"Hmm, Brother Wukong really needs to think about this… Yep, gotta think this over…"

While Sun Wukong muttered about thinking it through, his hands gripping the sword hilt didn't stop pouring Primordial Force into the blade. He didn't look like he was contemplating at all. He was clearly stalling for time!

"Demon Monkey, dare you deceive me?"

Cultivation Heavenly Venerable was no fool. The Sword of Annihilation was a divine weapon that had fused with his essence blood; he was acutely aware of any changes to it. Sensing his essence imprint within the sword fading rapidly with no sign of stopping, he immediately realized Sun Wukong was tricking him and was intentionally delaying to erase his essence imprint!

"Deceive? Where is this coming from?"

Sun Wukong feigned innocence. "Isn't Brother taking time to consider? Consideration takes time..."

The essence imprints of Cultivation Heavenly Venerable inside the Sword of Annihilation were nearly dissolved, with just the final one in the Sword Heart remaining. Once he broke through and assimilated it, the Sword of Annihilation would turn into an unmastered divine weapon, no longer under Cultivation Heavenly Venerable's control.

"Nonsense!"

Furious, Cultivation Heavenly Venerable realized Sun Wukong was blatantly lying. His essence imprint was about to be completely erased, yet he was spouting lies. How vile, how detestable!

Just a little more, only a tiny bit left!

Sun Wukong didn't respond and focused all his concentration on enveloping the last essence imprint within the Sword Heart with the Chaos Primordial Force. Cultivation Heavenly Venerable felt the final shred of his essence imprint loosening and, in a panic, bit down and sprayed a mouthful of essence blood onto his Demon-Subduing Pestle.

Instantly, the pestle burst forth with dazzling cyan light, and a surge of overwhelming strength erupted, blasting Sun Wukong's clones violently away.

"Demon Monkey, stop! "

A sickly flush crossed Cultivation Heavenly Venerable's face as he forced himself forward, raising the Demon-Subduing Pestle high above, and brought it down on Sun Wukong's head with unprecedented power. This was strength gained from the sacrifice of his lifeblood essence, only available for a fleeting moment.

At this instant, Cultivation Heavenly Venerable possessed destructive power on par with a peak Quasi-Saint like Ying Long and Ying Tian. To block this blow, Sun Wukong had to let go of the Sword of Annihilation. Otherwise, if he took the hit with his body, he would at least be severely injured.

Clamping his teeth, about to take the risk of withstanding the blow with his body, suddenly a figure leapt from his neckline to guard in front of him—the Dragon Cat, bringing out the coquettish hand and mimicking the cute divine skills again!

Cultivation Heavenly Venerable tragically fell for it once more. His originally fierce attack came to an abrupt stop, and he stiffened mid-air, only to be rammed hard into the chest by the Dragon Cat - who had just used its charming divine skills - and sent flying.

"Ahh~! You scoundrel, I'll slaughter you, beast!"

The Dragon Cat's combat power was inferior, and this headbutt didn't injure Cultivation Heavenly Venerable at all. But he was inflamed that his vigorous attack was interrupted by its cute divine skills and the collision. The time for the sacrifice of his essence blood had passed, making this spit of essence blood a waste.

Furthermore, the Dragon Cat's interference caused him to collapse mentally, as the clones of Sun Wukong that he had previously sent flying were rushing back to entangle him once more!

Cultivation Heavenly Venerable was nearly bursting with rage. To be repeatedly fooled by a minor being he'd never taken seriously was a profound humiliation. Worse yet, he couldn't free himself to deal with the Dragon Cat. Outrageous, simply outrageous!

After knocking Cultivation Heavenly Venerable away, the Dragon Cat shrank back into Sun Wukong's clothing, mumbling in a cheeky tone, "Oh momma, that guy has such a nasty temper, so frightening, baby's scared to death! Big bro, you have to protect me!"

"…"

Speechless, Sun Wukong could only shake his head. This Dragon Cat—if you say it's timid, it indeed isn't all that brave, but when it's bold, it can provoke anyone. Previously, it had caused Sun Wukong endless trouble along their journey, and now it even dared to act against Cultivation Heavenly Venerable, making him so angry he was nearly losing his mind.

Having a little brother like this following me does have its uses in critical situations!

Crack!

Finally, the last primordial imprint within the Sword of Annihilation also shattered, assimilated by the Chaos Primordial Force into nothingness. The trembling and resistance of the Sword of Annihilation completely stopped, and Sun Wukong immediately imprinted his essence blood inside without hesitation.

He did plan to return the Sword of Annihilation to Luo Bai for the Leader of Tongtian, but what good would it do to return just the sword? So, he thought he might as well borrow it for a while; it's not too late to return it all together later.

"My Sword of Annihilation!"

As the last primordial imprint in the Sword of Annihilation was assimilated, the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable immediately let out a muffled groan, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his eyes instantly reddening, his face twisted with ferocity and brutality, showing none of the elegance expected of an immortal.

With one move, he forced back Sun Wukong's clones and let out a roaring howl to the heavens.

"Sorry, but this Sword of Annihilation is no longer yours!"

Sun Wukong's mocking voice rang out, "It's mine now!"

"Sun! Wukong!"

The Cultivation Heavenly Venerable's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fiercely at Sun Wukong, his teeth clenched as he growled Sun Wukong's name one word at a time, "The hatred of today, I, the Cultivation, have etched into my heart. One day, I will make you pay back twice over..."

Before he could finish speaking, Sun Wukong had already flashed over with Streaming Light Escape, raising his hand and delivering a fierce slash to the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable's chest, "Pay back what, huh! Today, I'm going to slay you and see how you wait for another day!"

"Pfft~!"

The Cultivation Heavenly Venerable never expected Sun Wukong to strike before he even finished talking, completely unprepared to dodge, he was sent flying by a fierce slash from the Sword of Annihilation, his immortal robe torn open, revealing a deep bone-deep gash.

He had not cultivated the Eight-Nine Profound Skill and naturally did not have a Diamond Indestructible Body like Sun Wukong, almost no resistance to the sharpness of the Sword of Annihilation. This slash gravely wounded him!

"Demon Monkey, you dare..."

"You see if I dare!"

The Cultivation Heavenly Venerable looked up at Sun Wukong with disbelief, his right hand barely raised when a flash of sword light passed by, and a spray of blood appeared. His arm had been severed by the Sword of Annihilation, the fierce Sword Qi completely obliterating the severed limb into dust.

"Demon Monkey, if you dare to kill me, my master will never spare you!"

Fear flashed in the eyes of the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable; from Sun Wukong's eyes, he saw undisguised intent to kill—this demon monkey truly wanted his life!

"Master? Are you talking about that old ghost, Primordial Heavenly Venerable?"

A sarcastic smile spread across Sun Wukong's face, his gaze cold and merciless, "I, Old Sun, have always been at odds with that old ghost. Sooner or later, I'm going to settle the score with him. Do I need him to spare me? Even if the Heavenly King himself came today, I would still slay you!"

Whoosh!

Another beam of Sword Light slashed down, too fast for the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable to dodge, leaving another deep, bone-deep wound on his side. When he held the Sword of Annihilation in his hands before, he only found the act of slaying others extremely thrilling, but now that it was his turn to be struck by the Sword of Annihilation, he understood that indescribable fear and despair.

Escape!

Hurry and escape!

If I don't escape now, I'll truly lose my life here!

At this moment, the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable had completely abandoned any hope for the Chaos Dragon Divine Armor and the Ancestral Dragon Pearl. He had only one thought: to escape from the Heavenly Dragon Valley, to flee from this perilous place of death, to get as far from Sun Wukong, this freak, as possible!

"Clone Technique!"

Sun Wukong immediately saw through the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable's intention, plucked out one of his hairs from the back of his head and blew on it, creating a dozen clones which materialized and blocked all possible escape routes tightly.

Naturally, these clones could not be compared with those summoned through Cloning Divine Powers, but the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable, having lost an arm and been pierced several times by the Sword of Annihilation, with destructive Sword Qi rampaging within his body, had his strength severely diminished, and couldn't even break through the encirclement of these clones, being forcefully blocked back.

"Old scum! I told you, even the Heavenly King himself can't save you today. Accept your death!"

Sun Wukong brandished the Sword of Annihilation, bellowing as he charged into the sky, swinging sword after sword at the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable, while his clones also attacked with the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod, casting shadow after shadow of the rod.

Sword Qi soared through the air, rod shadows filled the sky, and the killing intent reached the heavens!