Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

Chapter 154 Separating Dragon Soul

As one of the three great Divine Dragons of the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Clan, Candle Dragon, even now reduced to only a Dragon Soul residing within the body of a Golden Dragon Puppet, Ao Tian was extremely sensitive to the aura of the Ancestral Dragon Pearl, belonging to his elder brother, the Ancestral Dragon.

It was precisely because he sensed the aura of the Ancestral Dragon Pearl that he actively emerged from the imitation Qiankun Bag.

Hum~!

A ripple of space appeared, and not far away, a spatial vortex tunnel materialized through which Ying Long, Ying Tian, and Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan entered.

"Is this the Origin?"

Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan looked around in astonishment, his expression resembling that of a country bumpkin entering the city for the first time, filled with novelty and wonder, which soon turned into ecstasy, "Chaos Qi, is the air here saturated with Chaos Qi? And it is even showcasing the properties of generation!"

Chaos Qi has a nature of assimilation, capable of generating or erasing all things in heaven and earth, and whether it generates or erases depends on the state it manifests. Evidently, the Chaos Qi in this Origin is in a state of generation. Absorbing it for cultivation wouldn't burden the body but would greatly benefit it, definitely surpassing the Immortal Spirit Qi!

"Younger brother Wukong, I need to meditate here for a while; this Chaos Qi is hugely beneficial for recovering my cultivation!"

Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan's face was ecstatic as he excitedly addressed Sun Wukong.

Without waiting for Sun Wukong's response, he immediately sat down cross-legged on the spot, formed an odd Dharma Seal with his hands, and slowly, as if drawn, wisps of Chaos Qi began to trickle towards Mu Chenxuan, entering his body through the Dharma Seal, and his facial expression looked as if he had consumed something greatly nourishing.

Sun Wukong laughed. The reaction of Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan was within his expectations. Upon entering this Origin Space, he immediately felt the uniqueness of the prevailing Chaos Qi here, all in a state of generation.

It seemed Ying Long and Ying Tian were right; the outer space was indeed a spread from this Origin Space, and its expansion into a larger space was due to the generative properties of this Chaos Qi.

Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan had been trapped within the Stellar Spiritual Qi light sphere for thousands of years, suffering substantial damage to his body and regression in cultivation to an earlier age. Critically, his internal foundation was also secretly damaged. If the foundation's secret damage was not repaired, the speed of cultivation recovery would be extremely slow.

Even if he regained his original Quasi-Saint cultivation, he would still be much weaker than other Quasi-Saints due to the unrepaired foundation secret damage, let alone the future prospect of Proving the Tao and Becoming a Saint. With the foundation's secret damage, aspiring to Prove the Tao and Become a Saint would truly be a fool's dream!

Sun Wukong had contemplated this problem long ago; in fact, he could use his own Chaos Primordial Force to help Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan recover from the foundation's secret damage, but that would require consuming a large amount of Chaos Primordial Force, which was also a great burden for Sun Wukong.

Besides, the relationship between him and Mu Chenxuan had not reached a stage that justified such sacrifice. Moreover, time did not permit, so this thought merely flitted across Sun Wukong's mind and was immediately dismissed.

But now there was no need to worry. Letting Mu Chenxuan stay in this Origin Space for a while to fully absorb the Chaos Qi here would suffice to completely repair his foundational secret damage. Once the foundation's secret damage was repaired, would there still be concern that the cultivation couldn't be recovered?

Turning his gaze away from Heaven-Defying Demon Emperor Mu Chenxuan, Sun Wukong looked towards the Ancestral Dragon Pearl. Compared to Mu Chenxuan, he was much more concerned about Ao Tian. After all, Ao Tian had signed a Dragon Clan blood pact with him, making him his pact partner. If Ao Tian could reconstruct his dragon body, it would be a great assistance to Sun Wukong, with many benefits indeed!

Moreover, previously Ying Long and Ying Tian had intervened to save him, not on his merit but for Ao Tian's sake. Otherwise, he might have already been defeated by the hands of the Cultivation Heavenly Venerable, and would have missed all the opportunities he now faced.

"Ao Tian, how do you plan to use this Ancestral Dragon Pearl to reconstruct your body? If you need my help, just say the word; I will not hesitate to provide it!"

Sun Wukong moved closer to Ao Tian, looking at the Ancestral Dragon Pearl enclosed by the Golden Dragon Body, and spoke earnestly to Ao Tian.

"I really do need your help, Wukong!"

Ao Tian nodded and said, "Previously, to nurture my Dragon Soul, I merged with this Golden Dragon Puppet body, although it was only a temporary measure. However, my Dragon Soul has now formed a connection with this Golden Dragon body. To reconstruct my physical body, I must first break free from the constraints of the Golden Dragon body and completely separate my Dragon Soul.

I cannot do this on my own; I need your help, Wukong."

"No problem! What do you need me to do? Just say it!"

Sun Wukong answered very decisively, without any hesitation.

"Actually, it's simple. Wukong, since you possess Chaos Primordial Force, you just need to channel your Chaos Primordial Force into the Golden Dragon body, envelop my Dragon Soul with it, and gradually pull it out from the Golden Dragon body. Wherever there is a connection, use the Chaos Primordial Force to sever it."

"Pull it out? Sever it? Will that really work?"

Sun Wukong was somewhat taken aback upon hearing this. This was Ao Tian's Dragon Soul after all; pulling it out so abruptly and severing its connections might also damage the Dragon Soul, wouldn't it?

"Indeed, this way my Dragon Soul will suffer some damage, but no matter, the Chaos Qi here has a regenerative effect. My Dragon Soul's injuries can absorb this Chaos Qi to replenish itself. Only by completely separating my Dragon Soul from this Golden Dragon body can I integrate this Dragon Ball and reshape my own dragon body!"

Ao Tian gave a bitter smile. He naturally knew that forcibly pulling out the Dragon Soul and severing the connections would hurt his Dragon Soul, but there was no other way. If he didn't do this, his Dragon Soul would be confined by the Golden Dragon Puppet's body, making it impossible to reshape a physical body.

Had he known earlier that there was a chance to reshape a physical body, Ao Tian would definitely not have chosen to merge with the body of the Golden Dragon Puppet to nourish his Dragon Soul. Of course, hindsight is always perfect, and although foresight isn't nonexistent, not everyone has it. Ao Tian simply made the best decision at the time, with nothing to regret or fret over.

"Alright, since you're confident, I won't say more. Let's start now!"

Sun Wukong nodded his head. Seeing that Ao Tian had thought it through clearly and was willing, why should he overthink? Just do as planned!

Placing his palm on the inverse scales of the Golden Dragon body, Sun Wukong channeled the Chaos Primordial Force within him along the inverse scales into the Golden Dragon body bit by bit. This Golden Dragon body had been refined into a puppet, utterly solid without the slightest gap, except at the spot of the inverse scales, which was the only pathway into the Golden Dragon body.

As the Chaos Primordial Force entered the Golden Dragon body, under Sun Wukong's control, it spread towards the head where Ao Tian's Dragon Soul was located within the brow center's Cinnabar Palace.

Arriving at the Cinnabar Palace, the Chaos Primordial Force spread out, enveloping Ao Tian's Dragon Soul within the Cinnabar Palace completely like a big net, pulling it towards the outside of the Cinnabar Palace.

"Augh~!"

A pained dragon chant arose from the Golden Dragon's mouth. The sensation of the Dragon Soul being forcefully pulled out from within the body was no fun experience at all. Ao Tian felt as if he was about to be torn apart, nearly giving in to the urge to just die, but he clenched his teeth and endured as hard as he could.

It was a critical moment for the separation of the Dragon Soul from the Golden Dragon physical body. He had to remain absolutely clear-headed, otherwise, if he couldn't control the points of connection between the Dragon Soul and the Golden Dragon body, the damage during the severance might not just be a slight injury to the Dragon Soul, but might entirely tear his Dragon Soul in two!

If that happened, there would be no talking of absorbing Chaos Qi to heal; his soul would disperse into ashes and vanish.

"Ao Tian, hang in there, it's about to come out!"

Sun Wukong was acutely aware of Ao Tian's condition. Although he had never experienced having his Divine Soul forcefully pulled out of his body, he could imagine the immense pain involved, certainly beyond ordinary imagination. Unfortunately, other than offering encouragement, all he could do was speed up the dragging process to spare Ao Tian from enduring the soul-tearing agony a moment longer.

"Wukong, just do it—I can hold on!"

Ao Tian's somewhat trembling voice echoed in Sun Wukong's mind. He was now focusing all his strength on enduring the pain of his Dragon Soul being pulled. He had no spare energy to speak and could only communicate through the blood contract of the Dragon Race.

Sun Wukong nodded his head, saying nothing more, and concentrated all his energy on controlling the Chaos Primordial Force to continue pulling Ao Tian's Dragon Soul, bit by bit, outside the Cinnabar Palace.

Finally, after half an hour, just when Ao Tian's body was nearly at its limit and could hardly hold on, his Dragon Soul was finally pulled out of the Golden Dragon's brow center Cinnabar Palace, still linked to it by several strands of light, likely the points of connection Ao Tian had mentioned.

Keeping the force of the pull steady, Sun Wukong allocated some of the Chaotic Power to form a Chaos Longsword and fiercely sliced through the strands of light.

"Augh~!"

The painful dragon chant sounded again as the strands of light connected to the Cinnabar Palace were severed by the Chaos Longsword, completely detaching Ao Tian's Dragon Soul from the Golden Dragon body. The entire Dragon Soul lay limp on the ground, drained of all strength to move, appearing semi-transparent and illusory, as if it might disperse at any moment.

"Ao Tian, are you alright?"

After withdrawing the Chaos Primordial Force, Sun Wukong, with a thought, stored the Golden Dragon Puppet's body in the replica Qiankun Bag and looked anxiously at Ao Tian's Dragon Soul. Golden light flashed in his eyes as his Void-Breaking Heavy Pupils thoroughly inspected Ao Tian's Dragon Soul from front to back.