Chapter 20: Evolution!

  When Sun Wukong heard Tang Sanzang's anxious voice, he was taken aback for a moment before quickly realizing what was happening. His heart filled with wild joy. As he retreated with difficulty, he used his remaining magical powers to rapidly examine his body. Suddenly, just as Sun Wukong was retreating, his body stumbled and in that brief moment, the aura emanating from Tang Sanzang's body sent him tumbling over. However, it seemed like Sun Wukong didn't feel any of this. Because he had already been completely stunned by the strange sensation within his body, his thoughts were short-circuited.

  In Sun Wukong's body, there were two irregular stone blocks, one black and one yellow, one large and one small, in the shape of Tai Chi, constantly rotating and floating. Moreover, around them, a pair of wind and fire wheels, a fiery red mixed heaven ribbon, a golden shining Qian Kun circle, and a pitch-black nine-toothed nail rake, plus his own Ruyi Golden Hoop Rod, all rotated counterclockwise with the two stone blocks. This left Sun Wukong stunned for half a moment, unable to speak. How did Nezha's weapon and Zhu Bajie's nail rake end up inside his body? What was that nail rake in my ear just now?

  As he thought of this, Sun Wukong didn't care that he was lying on the ground and quickly dug into his ear, pulling out a golden needle and a black nine-toothed rake. Looking at the two weapons in his hand, Sun Wukong couldn't speak for a long time. Could it be that there were two Golden Hoop Sticks and two Nine-Toothed Rakes? How was this possible? Under the drive of curiosity, Sun Wukong threw out the Golden Hoop Stick in his hand and muttered: "Big, big, big." Then he saw the Golden Hoop Stick slowly growing bigger, quickly becoming the usual size used. After that, Sun Wukong also threw out the Nine-Toothed Rake and muttered: "Big, big." A strange thing happened, the Nine-Toothed Rake also grew bigger, becoming as large as when Pigsy used it normally.

  Sun Wukong immediately retracted the two weapons, his mind sank into his body, and he faced the floating Golden Hoop Rod. His mind stirred, but the Golden Hoop Rod inside his body showed no reaction, still floating and spinning as usual. Then, one by one, he began to communicate with the other several weapons, but all of them were indifferent to Sun Wukong's mental guidance, ignoring him completely.

  No choice, Sun Wukong had to temporarily ignore these things and began to examine his injuries. Suddenly, Sun Wukong was stunned again. It seemed that the strange things he encountered today were more than in his entire lifetime. At this moment, the injuries inside Sun Wukong's body had almost healed, and whether it was his muscles, bones, internal organs or blood and skin, everything was renewed. The most obvious change was in his blood, which had turned from bright red to a dazzling golden color, like molten gold.

  Sun Wukong knew that he had benefited from the disaster. To say nothing of anything else, the power contained in that golden blood was already three times more than before. Moreover, his muscles, bones, skin and flesh were all strengthened, it could be said that he had undergone an evolution. Although he was extremely weak now due to exhaustion of magical powers and physical strength, Sun Wukong believed that once he fully recovered, his real power would definitely increase by two or even three times compared to before.

  But then he thought, the good and evil thoughts that he had painstakingly killed with great effort, were lost during the battle with Jade Emperor. This made Sun Wukong suddenly feel hopeless. Without the body of good and evil thoughts, it was impossible for Sun Wukong to achieve enlightenment. Alas, he was too impatient, if only he could have waited a bit longer, until he had killed the three corpses and become a saint, until the demons had gathered more power, until he had a greater chance of winning, perhaps the outcome would have been completely different.

  Unfortunately, there are no ifs. I was thoroughly defeated, completely and utterly defeated. The Mountain of Flowers and Fruits is gone, the demon tribe is gone, even Old Sand, Zhu Bajie, and Little White Dragon are all gone. Thinking about this, Sun Wukong's nose suddenly felt sour, two lines of tears flowed out from his eyes. Just then, Sun Wukong felt himself being lifted up by someone, turned his head to look, and it was none other than his own master, Tang Sanzang.

  At this time, Tang Sanzang's Taoist robe was tattered and covered in blood. More importantly, his master's eyes had gone blind! Sun Wukong, who was already extremely sad, couldn't hold back his tears and turned to throw himself into Tang Sanzang's arms, wailing loudly. He cried like a child.

  "Master, Master. Waaah, I was wrong, it's all my fault. I killed Old Pig and Old Sand, and also destroyed the entire Mountain of Flowers and Fruits and countless demons. Master, I even made you blind. It's all my fault, waaah, it's all my fault. Master, forgive me, forgive me!" As he spoke, Sun Wukong cried even more sorrowfully.

  Tang Sanzang felt his way, and touched Sun Wukong's head. Hearing Sun Wukong's sorrowful and indignant crying, Tang Sanzang simply quietly stroked Sun Wukong's head, letting him cry loudly. After a long time, Sun Wukong cried himself to sleep in Tang Sanzang's arms. At this moment, two tears finally flowed from the corners of Tang Sanzang's eyes. One hand gently patted Sun Wukong's back, while the other tightly grasped the soil, even his fingernails were all bloody, yet he didn't notice.

  "Tathagata, you will eventually pay the price. You are no longer worthy of being the ancestor of all Buddhas. One day, I will let you know what a true Buddha is."

  It seemed that Sun Wukong had heard Tang Sanzang's words, and the two strange stones and many weapons inside his body shook slightly at the same time. A small blood-colored flower floated out from Tang Sanzang's head, slowly rotating around the two masters while sprinkling down a trail of emerald light. Meanwhile, Sun Wukong's depleted spiritual energy was growing at an incredible rate.

  However, if you look at it yourself, you will find that this little red flower is actually vague and unreal. Moreover, in the depths of Tang Sanzang's originally blind eyes, there seems to be a pupil like a flower bud opening and closing.

  ! When Sun Wukong woke up, a pile of bonfire was burning crackling beside him, and waves of warmth radiated from the fire. Sun Wukong's divine sense scanned his body and was delighted to find that all his injuries had healed. Moreover, they were completely healed, without even a hint of internal injury or blood stasis left behind. Not only that, but his strength seemed to have increased significantly. Although his magical powers hadn't increased, the terrifying power contained in his limbs, muscles, and blood had indeed increased.

  He got up and moved his limbs. His stiff body gradually became flexible. At this time, Sun Wukong had a good look at the cave he was in. He couldn't help but smile wryly when he thought about it. Why did Master bring him to Panxi Cave? But thinking again, Huaguo Mountain was destroyed, and the Buddha would definitely send Buddhist soldiers to search for the two of them. Except for Panxi Cave, there really wasn't a better place to hide.

  More branches of the bitter tree were added to the bonfire, and at this time, Tang Sanzang walked in with a large pile of wild fruits. "Hehe, Master, it's your turn to find fruit for me to eat." Sun Wukong took the wild fruits from Tang Sanzang's arms with a smile, picked one randomly, and bit into it fiercely. "Who made me your master? Can't let you starve to death. How are you feeling now?"

  "Now I can beat three Jade Emperors. It feels better than ever before. Master, how about you? Looks like your injuries have also healed?"

  "Ah, this is all thanks to the power of your golden blood. Not only have my injuries been fully restored, but the Transcendence Flower has also completely merged with me and even advanced further. It has become the Void Transcendence Flower, which not only transcends but also heals wounds."

  Before he could finish speaking, Sun Wukong interrupted and said: "And also cured Master's eyes. Haha, I don't know if this counts as blessing in disguise?"

  Tang Sanzang smiled calmly, his finger flicked, and a small blood-red flower appeared on his fingertip. At the same time, Tang Sanzang's pupils began to rotate strangely, and then the two pupils also turned into the shape of blood-red flowers. Sun Wukong saw it and couldn't help but praise: "These eyes are probably even more powerful than my Fiery Golden Eyes! Now, Master, you won't scold me for killing monsters again. I'm afraid nothing in this world can escape these eyes."

  "You monkey, you're exposing Master's shortcomings again. However, these eyes are indeed extraordinary. Not only can they see through the void, upwards to the heavens beyond the sky and downwards to the nine layers of the underworld. Moreover, it seems that within these eyes is hidden a rather terrifying flame, but I'm not yet familiar with it, don't know what kind of flame it is." Tang Sanzang said, lightly patting Sun Wukong once.

  "Or, Master, let's try? If it's the most powerful flame, we'll have another way to deal with our enemies in the future." Sun Wukong said with a smile while scratching his head. "Okay, trying is fine, but what should we use to try?" As soon as Tang Sanzang agreed, Sun Wukong grinned and pulled out the Golden Hoop Staff from his ear, but then thought for a moment and also took out the Nine-Tooth Rake.

  "Huh, Wukong, how did Zhu Bajie's rake end up in your ear?" "I don't know either, it was just there when I woke up. Let's talk about that later, I have something more important to tell Master first. Try the flame first."

  "Alright. You monkey, spare your own stick." Tang Sanzang shook his head and then pinched a strange hand seal with both hands. Suddenly, Tang Sanzang's eyes shot out red light, and the temperature around him rose by several hundred degrees in an instant. It was still Sun Wukong who quickly used his magical powers to control the heat within a small range.

  After the control, Sun Wukong saw that the small red flower in Tang Sanzang's eyes was spinning rapidly, and then two flames floated out of his eyes. They quietly floated around the blood-red small flower on Tang Sanzang's fingertips, and these flames seemed to be trying hard to condense into a floral shape. "Master, this flame seems to have spiritual intelligence and is trying to form its own original shape."

  When Tang Sanzang urged his eyes again and released a wisp of flame, all the flames gathered around the small blood-red flower on his fingertips. Gradually, all the flames condensed together. A moment later, Sun Wukong stared at Tang Sanzang with a look of horror, trembling: "Master, this...this is Red Lotus Karma Fire? And it's Red Lotus Karma Fire with Void attributes!" Tang Sanzang was also stunned, his divine thoughts stirring as he directed the Red Lotus Karma Fire to split off a spark and attach itself to the nine-toothed rake on the ground.

  Although only a spark of fire, the spark actually grew more intense, and soon the head of the nine-toothed rake was red. Tang Sanzang knew that if he continued to burn, the nine-toothed rake might be damaged, so he prepared to withdraw the flame. Suddenly, a mournful cry like a pig being slaughtered came from the rake. "Ahh, ahh, I'm burned to death, I'm burned to death! Master, Bajie doesn't dare anymore, I just wanted to sneak in a nap, but you didn't have to use the Red Lotus Fire to burn me, did you? Master, stop!"

  Tang Sanzang hastily withdrew the flames, but suddenly, he was stunned. "Bajie? Is that you, Bajie?" A figure emerged from the nine-toothed rake and immediately fell to the ground, rubbing his buttocks against the floor. "Master, Monkey King, it's me, old pig. I'm scorched to death, if you burn for a while longer, I'll become a roasted pig."

  "Idiot, what's going on with you? How did you end up in the rake, and why are you in a spiritual state?" Zhu Bajie rubbed his buttocks as he spoke: "That day, I was fighting with Zhiyu Dadi when suddenly a large group of monks arrived, led by the Tathagata. Without saying a word, they captured me and Zhiyu Dadi. Later, the Tathagata said he had brought 5 million troops to destroy the demon tribe and Heaven's Court, and forced me and Zhiyu Dadi to launch a sneak attack. Although I'm a bit lecherous and lazy, how could I possibly sneak up on the old Tathagata? I refused and even scolded him. In his anger, he almost killed me, beating me to the point where my body and spirit were almost destroyed. Luckily, I was clever and managed to hide my soul in the nine-toothed rake at the last moment. The Tathagata thought I was dead and didn't check again. And that Zhiyu Dadi, seeing that I had been beaten to death, surrendered immediately. Bah, what a useless Heaven's Emperor!"

  "How did this earring end up in my ear again?"

  "It wasn't until that old thing, the Tathagata, wanted to use my corpse to threaten you. Later, Master suddenly burst out of the golden coffin and rescued you. That's when I manipulated the nine-toothed rake to enter your ear. At that time, the Tathagata and others were blinded by Master's flower rain and didn't discover me."

  "What's with the cadmium in my body?"

  As soon as he said this, Pigsy's face fell. "You still have the nerve to say it, you wretched monkey! After I entered your ear, for some reason a suction force came from within your body and actually sucked away my treasured soul. Now this rake belongs to Sun and has become its temporary spirit. Otherwise, my soul would have dispersed long ago."

  Sun Wukong suddenly realized that this must be the work of Nezha's divine stone. Nezha had originally intended to make himself the new master of the Qiankun Circle and other weapons, but unexpectedly also took in the Nine-Toothed Rake. Thinking of this, Sun Wukong didn't know whether to feel happy or angry. He was happy that Zhu Bajie wasn't dead, but he was furious that he had become the spirit of his own weapon.

  At this time, Tang Sanzang suddenly spoke up: "Bajie, I may have a way for you to come back to life."