Chapter 17: Defeat?

  At this moment, Sun Wukong's rationality had been completely consumed by hatred and anger. He let out a loud roar towards the sky, and in the next instant, he appeared behind the Buddha. Just as his right hand holding the Golden Cudgel was about to strike down, two golden lights flashed forth from behind the Buddha, forming a glittering lotus flower shape. Although it seemed like just a formation of light, it actually managed to block Sun Wukong's rod.

  These two were the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra, who stood under the Buddha's throne. Before Sun Wukong could even retract his Golden Cudgel, the Buddha suddenly snapped his fingers and sent Sun Wukong flying out. The Buddha declared in a loud voice: "Sun Wukong, you have lost! You have lost utterly and completely. Now, you have nothing left. Your demonic army, I will soon convert them all into my Buddhist warriors on the Western Spirit Mountain. Give up now, kneel down and surrender to me, and I won't kill you."

  Sun Wukong did not respond, nor did he insult anyone. He slowly stood up, suddenly raised his head, and glared at the Buddha with anger. Then, he forcefully inserted the Golden Cudgel beside him. Turning his head to glance at Zhu Bajie who was dying on the ground and Niu Mo Wang who was trapped by the Buddha's soldiers, Sun Wukong grasped the Golden Cudgel on top of his head with both hands. "Ahhhhh!" A heart-wrenching scream that proved Sun Wukong was enduring immense pain at this moment. The wounds on his body continuously spurted out scalding hot blood, and the muscles in Sun Wukong's arms even ruptured due to the enormous power that they could not withstand.

  Finally, just before Sun Wukong's arm muscles were completely shattered, he finally removed the golden hoop from his head. The moment the golden hoop fell to the ground, a violent and endless killing intent burst out. As the momentum continued to rise, Sun Wukong's injuries also gradually healed. When the momentum reached its peak, Sun Wukong's previous injuries and consumed spiritual power had fully recovered. Moreover, at this time, Sun Wukong's combat strength was twice as strong as before.

  "You old Buddha, this is all your fault! This is all your fault! Even if I die today, I'll kill you, kill you, kill you, KILL YOU!" At this moment, Sun Wukong had gone completely mad, the only thought in his mind was to kill the Buddha.

  "I didn't expect that this monkey actually had such a move. No wonder after I took the scriptures back then, I removed his golden hoop, but not long after, another one appeared on his head. It turns out that later on, he put it on himself. But this golden hoop has been suppressing his true strength all along, and it even poured nearly a thousand years of accumulated spiritual energy into this monkey's body in an instant, making it a rare treasure."

  The Tathagata Buddha, also known as the Many Treasures Tathagata, was delighted with the Dharma treasure. "All Buddhas listen to my command, set up a great array of millions of Buddhas to exterminate the demons!" Although he wanted to know what the golden hoop was, the Tathagata did not lose his head and immediately let all the Buddhas retreat behind him, while letting hundreds of thousands of Buddha soldiers come forward. The Tathagata knew very clearly that Sun Wukong's power had surged at this time, and it was likely that all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas would have to join forces to defeat him. However, this would inevitably lead to great casualties, with some Buddhas and Bodhisattvas losing one or two. But letting the Buddha soldiers come forward to consume them did not bother the Tathagata at all - there were plenty of Buddha soldiers, and it was easy to reincarnate them after they died. The demons and defeated heavenly soldiers present on the scene numbered over a million.

  So, the battlefield presented such a scene. The three million Buddha soldiers who came with Tathagata divided into one million to form the "Confining Magic Seal God Formation" to control nearly one million demon soldiers and heavenly soldiers. The remaining two million then surrounded the rampaging Sun Wukong in a circular formation. And if Sun Wukong wanted to kill Tathagata, he could only break through the grand formation or slaughter the two million Buddha soldiers.

  However, Sun Wukong had already gone berserk and was consumed by a single thought: to kill the Buddha. He had lost all reason. Therefore, Sun Wukong chose only one path: to kill. To slaughter everything in front of him, then take revenge, for Zhu Bajie, for Sha Wujing, for his master, for Mount Huaguo, and for the fallen demon soldiers. Unceasingly wielding the golden hoop rod, each strike would claim the life of a Buddha soldier, or even more. The sky turned red, the earth turned red, the entire world turned red. Before him were endless Buddha soldiers to kill and an infinite number of severed limbs, in his ears was only the sound of shouting for slaughter. The power within his body was slowly draining away, yet the Buddha soldiers before him showed no signs of decreasing. How many people had he killed? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? Or five hundred thousand?

  All of this, Sun Wukong did not know. What he knew was to continue wielding the golden hoop rod in his hand, killing as he went. Finally, after Sun Wukong killed a full 12 million Buddhist soldiers, he finally fell to the ground. His entire body was covered in thick, sticky blood, and the pungent smell of blood filled the air so much that it was visible to the naked eye. Even the indestructible golden hoop rod had several scratches on it. No matter how strong a person is, there will always come a time when their strength runs out, even if they are a god. Wasn't Pangu, the great god who opened up the heavens and earth, also exhausted to death in the end?

  Sun Wukong had given up all hope. His body was empty and hollow, not a single bit of energy left. So tired, so very tired. Just as Sun Wukong was about to close his eyes, a five-colored light flashed by.

  Then, Sun Wukong suddenly shook his whole body, and then, another stock of destructive momentum burst out violently.

  "Na Tuo, Na Tuo, I, old Sun, will never forget your great kindness. Your enemies, I, old Sun, will help you settle them all." Originally already exhausted and out of breath, Sun Wukong suddenly stood up again. Moreover, his aura became even more powerful. This scene instantly twisted the face of the Tathagata. Originally thinking that he could take advantage of the situation after the war between the demons and the heavenly court had weakened both sides, but unexpectedly, just one Sun Wukong made him lose 1.2 million Buddhist soldiers. If capturing Sun Wukong would lead to a great victory, then the Tathagata could accept it. However, just when everyone thought Sun Wukong was exhausted and fell down, for some reason, Sun Wukong suddenly stood up again. Moreover, he seemed even stronger than before, even surpassing the Tathagata by far.

  At this time, if he were to fight Sun Wukong one-on-one, Tathagata felt that he might not be able to withstand three moves. This made Tathagata extremely angry. In the past, he could easily crush and suppress small characters with a wave of his hand, but today, he was actually able to make himself feel fearful, which was unacceptable to the Buddha.

  "All Buddha's soldiers listen to the order, mobilize 3 million, join the siege of Sun Wukong's big array. Even if all die in battle, I must block Sun Wukong for you. The rest of the Buddhas, use all your strength, strike and kill the demon Sun Wukong!"

  At this time, the urgency and restlessness in Tathagata's voice could already be heard. This time, he thought he had a sure win, so he brought 50 million Buddhist soldiers. The troops were divided into two routes, with 20 million attacking Huaguo Mountain. However, what Tathagata did not expect was that Bodhi Patriarch and Jinchengzi were also on Huaguo Mountain. Moreover, Jinchengzi had already advanced to the rank of Saint. Two great saints sat in town on Huaguo Mountain, which undoubtedly made Huaguo Mountain much more difficult.

  But things have come to this, even if the two saints of Huaguo Mountain are here, the Tathagata can only bite the bullet. However, as the Buddha's soldiers attacked, the Tathagata found that Jinguang seemed to be seriously injured, and Bodhi Patriarch also suffered a great loss of his magical powers. Finally, under the Tathagata's attack without considering the losses, Huaguo Mountain was still breached. Bodhi Patriarch was sealed, and Jinguangzi was captured. However, out of the two million Buddha soldiers who attacked Huaguo Mountain, only about 700,000 were left. And these 700,000 did not follow the Tathagata to the Heavenly Court, but stayed in Huaguo Mountain to deal with the aftermath.

  So, at this point, the only usable amount is around 110 million. The remaining 70 million will be used to maintain the grand array. Otherwise, if the demon tribe's army breaks through the grand array, it would truly be a case of "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory".

  So, at this moment, the Tathagata used all his strength to try and kill Sun Wukong. More than a million Buddha soldiers immediately came forward, almost using their lives to stop Sun Wukong's footsteps. But then, everyone saw another terrifying scene.

  Previously, the Buddha's soldiers were able to consume Sun Wukong's power because he had already entered a demonic state, with only murderous intentions left. He was like a beast that only knew how to kill. However, this time is different. Before the Buddha's formation could even take shape, Sun Wukong suddenly vanished from his original spot. The next moment, he reappeared behind the Buddha's back.

  He didn't even have time to react, Sun Wukong only swung his staff once and it was already too late. This time, the Tathagata couldn't afford to be arrogant anymore. He hastily manipulated the lotus platform to dodge. The lotus platform was indeed a top-grade treasure, and the speed at which the Tathagata sat on it was as swift as lightning. Seeing that one strike would be enough to make them surrender, Sun Wukong suddenly twisted his wrist, and the golden hoop staff swept horizontally, striking towards Manjushri and Samantabhadra on both sides. These two had no choice but to harden their defenses, unable to dodge like the Tathagata who was sitting on the lotus platform.

  But just as the Golden Hoop Rod was about to sweep away Manjusri's lotus shield, the Golden Hoop Rod suddenly disappeared. Before Manjusri could react, a miserable cry was heard from afar, and when he looked up, he saw an arm flying off, and the miserable cry came from Bhaisajyaguru Buddha. Persimmons are soft to the touch, this is a universally acknowledged truth.

  Just as everyone had just prepared their magic treasures, the Monkey King in front of them disappeared again, followed by another miserable cry. This time, it was the eight arms of the four great Diamond Warriors that flew up. Next, all the Buddhas present witnessed what was called the earthly hell and what was called irresistible fear. In a flash, all the Buddhas present were either cut off their two arms or broken their two legs, except for the four people who were not damaged: the Ancient Buddha of Burning Lamp, the Tathagata Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, and Guanyin Bodhisattva.

  When Sun Wukong's figure was fixed, everyone looked at Sun Wukong with fear in their eyes. How powerful is this? This speed has already exceeded the understanding of all the people present, and it's likely that this speed is almost on par with thought itself.

  Everyone knew that at this time, it seemed that the only thing to do was to run away. Continuing to fight would likely result in their own demise. Just as everyone was thinking of retreating, Sun Wukong suddenly fell straight to the ground. It seemed like he had used up all his strength once and for all. However, no one dared to move, fearing that the next moment would be their own head flying off.

  However, after a long time of silence, it seemed that Sun Wukong had really exhausted himself to death.