These Mars sparks might not seem significantly lethal, but the moment they touched one's body, an internal Yin Fire would immediately surge up from the Yongquan acupoint at the soles of the feet, spreading out toward the limbs and bones, and all the way to the Yintang acupoint between the eyebrows—frightfully powerful.
Practitioners of cultivation either focus on physical body refinement or on spell cultivation; very few can train both their physical body and soul to be as solid as an iron plank. The Yin Fire ignited by the Great Sun Fire Disaster aimed to scorch both the physical body and the soul concurrently. Without a method to evade disaster, one would quickly be burned to ashes, their organs turned to cinder and limbs to rot, making millennia of arduous cultivation nothing but an illusory bubble.
However, for Sun Wukong, this wasn't really an issue. His figure soared into the air, dodging the falling Mars sparks with agility akin to a butterfly flitting among flowers. On the rare occasions when a spark couldn't be dodged and touched his body, a wraithlike shadow would burst forth from him, turning to ash in his stead.
As the red sun in the sky spewed out even denser and more numerous Mars sparks, it violently trembled before exploding with a thunderous boom, transforming into a sky-engulfing fire rain that enveloped Sun Wukong. This was the final and most difficult strike of the Great Sun Fire Disaster, and in an instant, dozens of fire rain streams struck Sun Wukong.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
Shadowy figures of various shapes burst continuously from Sun Wukong, self-igniting into ashes amongst the fire rain, while Sun Wukong himself charged straight up through the fire rain. In a single leap, he burst out of its span, his clothes unscathed. Such was the nature of the Great Sun Fire Disaster: evaded it, and remain unharmed; failed to dodge, and be reduced to bone and ashes.
The moment Sun Wukong escaped, the fire rain turned into specks of red glow and vanished into thin air. A lucky cloud gathered beneath his feet, rising along his legs up to his waist, enshrouding him as if his lower body were wrapped in clouds. This was a sign of advancing to the status of a Heavenly Immortal.
"Woo~!"
Descending onto the lake surface, standing on the mirror-like water, Sun Wukong threw his head back, exhaling a breath of foul air from his chest, which transformed into a long howl that spread out in all directions. This place was the Northern Continent of Cattle-grazing, outside the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Court and the Western Buddhist Nation—this time, nobody ought to interrupt him anymore.
"Save us, save us!"
"Kill, kill them all, leave none alive!"
As his cultivation increased, not only did the Mana within him grow denser, but his senses heightened as well. Sun Wukong, satisfied after his howl, licked his lips, about to ascend and leave when suddenly he heard sounds of pleas for help mixed with crazed laughter from deep in the valley at the other side of the lake, faintly accompanied by the scent of blood in the air.
His brow slightly furrowed, Sun Wukong moved instantly, flying toward the direction of the sounds. Twisting his figure, he transformed into a tiny bee and alighted upon a tree branch, peering at the slaughter taking place a dozen meters away.
It was a small village, being raided and plundered by a gang of brutes, each taller than the average person by a head, wearing animal hide armors. They wielded large knives and axes, their bodies faintly exuding radiant glows, especially on their weapons, which shimmered with streaks of murderous aura. Their victims: a group of defenseless women and children.
To say the victims were completely unarmed might be an exaggeration, but against the brutes, they indeed held no power to resist. The little village with barely more than a dozen people had already seen half of its defenders slaughtered. The remaining villagers were gathered in the open space in front of the village, glaring in rage and grief at the brutes.
"You beasts! Luo Wen won't let you get away with this!" an energetically beautiful woman rebuked the brutes fiercely.
"You're talking about that Luo Wen? Hmph! I was actually hoping he wouldn't show up. Daring to kill a member of the Zhentian Gang, even if he flees to the ends of the earth, we will find him and flay him alive!" the lead brute holding a demon-head cleaver snorted disdainfully, his face twisted with ferocity. After eyeing the woman, a lecherous glint flashed in his eyes, "I didn't notice before, but Luo Wen's woman is quite savory. It's a pity to just kill her... I'll do Luo Wen a favor and savor her properly, heh heh!"
The brute's vile hand reached out toward the woman, about to touch her sensitive areas, but was caught by a hairy palm. A contemptuous snort of disdain rang in the brute's ear, "Preying on women and children, you despicable wretch, you're exactly the sort of cowardly scum Old Sun despises the most!"
"Who are you?"
It was naturally Sun Wukong who had grasped the brute's wrist. Initially, he intended to just watch the spectacle—conflicts outside the Demon Clan were not his concern; he wasn't like Tang Seng, that sanctimonious monk preaching false compassion. Yet, the brutes dared to harm powerless women and children and sought to disgrace a woman. A surge of indignation rose from the bottom of Sun Wukong's heart, and almost without thinking transformed back into his true form and acted. By the time he realized it, the punch was already thrown.
It must be the memory influence of Lin Yi from the Time-Space Life-Death Talisman, Sun Wukong thought to himself, but no matter—with the deed done and feeling his fists itching, it seemed the right moment to send these villains flying to ease his limbs a bit!
"I am your grandpa Sun!"
With a cold laugh, Sun Wukong clenched his fist as large as a sand pot and smashed it onto the face of the villain. The crisp sound of bone cracking rang out as he blew the thug's entire head apart!
Clutching the headless corpse by the wrist, Sun Wukong rushed towards the stunned group of thugs as if he were carrying a human flesh sandbag, knocking down a swath of them in just two hits.
"He killed the ninth leader, slay him!"
"Charge, stomp this son of a bitch!"
I had thought the rest would be scared off and run away in all directions, but to my surprise, after the initial shock, these villains became even more ferocious. They all screamed and brandished their weapons at Sun Wukong. The faint glows on their weapons condensed into blades of light, whirlwinds, and flames, shooting violently at Sun Wukong. All were condensed from energy elements between heaven and earth, though this method of activation was different from the spells of both the Buddha Dao and the Daoist sects.
"Seeking death!"
Sun Wukong never thought of himself as a kind person—if these guys had run away, he might have been too lazy to chase after them. But they actually dared to confront him head-on!
With one punch, he obliterated a thug along with his weapon. Sun Wukong's back was then hit by a wind blade strike, tearing a large slit in his clothes. Although he was uninjured, the attack completely unleashed his ferocity.
With a strange cry, his entire being transformed into a golden light, darting swiftly among the thugs. The sounds of bone-cracking and thudding "bangs" ensued. After a few breaths, the golden light dissipated to reveal Sun Wukong's figure, while the gang of thugs had all stopped moving. The next moment, they exploded into a sky-full of blood and flesh.
"Pah! Disgusting!"
Spitting out with disgust, Sun Wukong waved his hand, and a True Solar Fire sparked from his fingertips, burning the blood and flesh on the ground to ashes. Only then did he nod in satisfaction and turn his head to the survivors among the villagers, women, and children. He frowned slightly. During the chaos of the fight, many of the thugs' attacks had gone awry, hitting these villagers and causing many deaths and injuries. Only a scattered few were still alive.
He stepped forward, wanting to console them with a few words, but unsure of what to say. In the heat of the battle, he had failed to pay attention to the safety of these people, inadvertently causing many casualties, and he felt slightly ashamed in his heart.
"Villain, take your life!"
Suddenly, a fierce shout thundered from the distance, and the next moment a gust of wind rushed from behind, striking towards the back of Sun Wukong's heart, giving him a sensation as if his body was about to split open.
Sun Wukong was greatly alarmed and hurriedly rolled to the side, turning into a stream of water to evade the strike. He reformed his body several meters away and turned to look at his assailant. The attacker wore plain green clothes and held a strange longsword in his hand—the sword tip had only half a blade, resembling the needle of a syringe, which was surely the weapon that had aimed at Sun Wukong's back.
The man was furious, his face contorted in anger. His gaze swept over the dead and the surviving villagers, his eyes filled with even more fierce energy. His hand trembled, and he released thousands of sword qi attacks, stabbing wildly at Sun Wukong: "How dare you hurt my kin, I'll skin you alive!"
"I didn't kill these people!" Sun Wukong hastily tried to defend himself, but the man didn't seem to listen to his explanation at all, attacking with lethal moves. Sun Wukong also became annoyed, "Damn it, do you really think I, Old Sun, am afraid of you?"
His form suddenly dispersed into a myriad of sand, passing through the overwhelming sword qi, moving behind the man in the green robe, reforming his figure. Sun Wukong viciously smashed a fist onto the man's back, sending him flying like an arrow, bringing down a large number of already tottering houses in the village.
Having mastered both the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Transformations and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Transformations, and after comprehending The Way of Transformation, Sun Wukong's combat style had become much more flexible than in his former life. Previously, his transformation skills were primarily meant to confuse enemies or to escape danger. Now they could be used in combat, his form changing spontaneously with a mere thought, unpredictable and impossible to defend against. The man in the green robe didn't expect Sun Wukong to avoid his attack in such a manner and was caught off guard during their first exchange.
"How dare you, scoundrel! I've underestimated you!" The man floated up from the ruins, his face filled with a cold and grim expression, his eyes like lightning staring intensely at Sun Wukong, "Even if you were the Emperor of Heaven's own father, you wouldn't be leaving this place alive for killing my kin!"
A powerful presence rose from the man in the green robe, and atop his head bloomed three splendid flowers. His entire body steamed with auspicious energy, and a gigantic phantom silhouette faintly appeared behind him.
Three Flowers Gathering at the Top, Five Qi Towards Yuan! Damn, this guy is a Daluo Golden Immortal!