After a moment, three streaks of golden light flashed by, and three Golden Crows, carrying the True Sunfire, streaked across the sky before transforming into human forms and gently descending.
"Di Chen, what is the meaning of this?" The middle-aged man had golden hair as dazzling as the sun, with golden-yellow eyes, and wore a robe embroidered with nine Golden Crows, exuding an awe-inspiring aura. Every movement he made was undeniably that of a king.
"Father, this Taoist came to our city and killed my subordinates. He also claims to be an old acquaintance of our ancestor Di Jun," Di Chen said. Though spoiled and arrogant from a young age, he still played the obedient child in front of his father, Di Lin.
Di Lin's eyes suddenly shone with golden light as he looked at Wukong and sneered, "I see you are young, yet you speak such big words!"
Wukong retorted, "I see you are old, yet you speak carelessly."
Enraged, Di Lin shouted, "Insolent! How many dare to speak to me, Di Lin, like this in the Southern Ridge Demon Mountain?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Di Lin soared into the sky and with a 'clang,' drew a sword enveloped in flames. The surrounding space warped under the intense heat of the flames. With a cold snort, Wukong performed a spell similar to "The Universe in the Sleeve," pulling Xiao Qing into his sleeve to protect her from sneak attack, and drew out the long spear that the Buddha Beating Staff had transformed into, striking towards Di Lin's head!
Di Lin, the leader of the Golden Crow Clan, had long achieved the level of a Taiyi Golden Immortal and could have joined the Immortal Ranks or achieved positions like protector, Bodhisattva, or Buddha in the Western Heavenly Buddha Land had he wished to.
"What a courageous Taoist!" Instead of getting angry, Di Lin laughed and parried the spearhead with his sword while continuously casting Dharma Decrees with his hands.
Wukong saw flames rising around him, burning intensely and seemingly stronger than the Samadhi True Fire.
Di Lin exclaimed in surprise, "I thought you were merely boasting, but it turns out you have some ability. Are you also a Taiyi Golden Immortal?"
Wukong scoffed and after exchanging more than thirty moves with Di Lin, he could no longer withstand the increasingly fierce flames. He pushed Di Lin back with a thrust of his spear and pulled out the World-Cleansing Dust Whisk from his waist. He swept it through the surrounding flames and with the emergence of the Seven-Colored Divine Light, the flames that couldn't be extinguished by the water went out immediately.
"Heh, Guanyin must be heartbroken to have lost this treasure to me!"
Wukong was even more pleased with himself as he witnessed the might of the World-Cleansing Dust Whisk. He had disrupted Guanyin's Daoist Temple and taken the seven-colored Bodhi Tree from it. It seemed that even though he had lost his Fiery Eyes with Golden Vision, his judgment was still sharp.
Di Lin was also taken aback. His own True Sunfire had been snuffed out by that simple whisking of the dust whisk?
The leader of the Golden Crow Clan put away his earlier underestimation and fully controlled the Flaming Sword in his hand, which was three feet and seven inches long. His moves were unpredictable, each one targeting Wukong's vital points. Wukong's martial arts were astounding, and when it came to hand-to-hand combat, there were few who could best him. Thus, he parried each move easily, even in face of this old Golden Crow who had been a Taiyi Golden Immortal for countless years.
After several hundred exchanges, the collision between sword and spear became even more intense.
Sparks flew in all directions, and the ground trembled beneath them.
Wukong used the Primordial Great Strength Technique, thrusting his spear with the force of thunder, weighing at least a million pounds!
Di Lin was terrified by the sheer power of this Taoist's physical body. Where would he dare to block it directly? Twisting a Dharma Decree of the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun, he was about to perform this superb movement technique. Unfortunately for him, Wukong had inherited knowledge from the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun and was exceedingly familiar with such techniques. Before Di Lin could even move, Wukong had already used his Primordial Spirit to wield the whisk, sweeping in all directions to cut off any escape.
Di Lin felt a tightness in his chest and thought to himself, "This fellow is so familiar with the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun Body Technique? If I move, I'll definitely be swept away by that whisk, and then he'll seize the chance to counterattack. If I don't retreat, I'll face a million pounds of brute force!"
With a grit of his teeth and a furious roar, Di Lin transformed into his true form, a Three-legged Golden Crow born of flames!
Wukong's spear was already crashing down!
Di Lin summoned the life-bound spell of the Golden Crow Clan, using the True Sunfire to create a shell above his head, which he then thickened layer by layer.
Wukong's spear smashed right onto it!
A series of crackling sounds followed as the protective shell of True Sunfire, which was formed like an eggshell, began to fracture. Di Lin felt a chill in his spine—what kind of cultivation technique had this Taoist practiced? Not only were his spells formidable, but his body was also so powerful that he could exert a million pounds of force!
With a light cry from Di Lin, he raised the Flaming Sword high, its sharpness intensifying!
The force of Wukong's spear was somewhat diminished by the True Sunfire, but the impact was still powerful. The sheer force caused the ground to shake continuously, and the very air seemed to creak under the immense pressure.
The sword wrapped in True Sunfire flew directly away upon contact with Wukong's spear.
And as Wukong's motion was interrupted, Di Lin spread his wings and tore through a streak of Seven-Colored Divine Light, breaking free from the battle. Just as Wukong was about to retract his move, he saw Di Lin already flying above him. With a flap of his wings, a turquoise Great Hand Seal flew out towards Wukong!
In comparison to this seasoned Taiyi Golden Immortal, Wukong's mana was slightly weaker. Had Di Lin not underestimated him earlier and been unaware of Wukong's capabilities, it would not have been easy for Wukong to take the advantage. Seeing Wukong's formidable combat skills, Di Lin began to distance himself and use spells.
A Heavenly Emperor's Giant Seal came crashing down, compressing and folding space as it descended.
Wukong retorted, "You think you're the only one who can use Di Jun's Divine Skills? I received them directly from Di Jun himself!"
Having said that, he pinched a Dharma Decree with his fingers and fiercely struck out with his left palm, sending a cyan-colored Great Hand Seal flying forth.
As the two hand seals collided, they both emitted resounding explosion noises. Within the seals, the Heavenly Emperor's Dharma Body emerged, and two majestic, incomparable Three-legged Golden Crows engaged in battle, spewing forth True Sunfire...
"Heavenly Emperor's Giant Seal? How could you possess the divine skills of my Golden Crow Clan!" Di Lin exclaimed in shock.
"I told you it was imparted to me by Di Jun, yet you didn't believe me!" Wukong once again used the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun movement technique, catching up with Di Lin to attack.
Di Lin was also fast, continuously spouting True Sunfire. But as Wukong pressed him too hard, Di Lin finally summoned his energy into his Dantian and spewed out essence of sunfire from his mouth! It takes a full thousand years to condense each droplet of sunfire essence, which required basking in the sun every day and swallowing True Fire; the hardship was unspeakable... Di Lin had only managed to cultivate three droplets of this essence, and now he was using it for the first time, feeling immense pain in his heart.
Seeing a flame rushing towards him, Wukong's scalp went numb and his body hair stood on end!
With the World-Cleansing Dust Whisk in his left hand, he swept twice in succession, unleashing two tides of mighty, seven-colored divine light. Astonishingly, they couldn't even shake the flame, which continued to speed toward him!
Wukong had never seen an object that the World-Cleansing Dust Whisk couldn't sweep away. He let out a loud shout, the Golden Core within his body circulated, the breath of the Great Dao overflowed, and with a fierce wave of his whisk, the seven-colored divine light grew even more resplendent and tumultuous, mingled with the cries of a Golden Crow—it was the Dharma Body of Di Jun, transformed from the spiritual energy in his feathers!
"Forefather!"
Di Lin, Di Chen, and the two clansmen he brought with him suddenly felt a chill on their scalps, and the feeling of their connected blood almost made them unable to resist the urge to kneel.
What kind of person was Di Jun?
He was once the Heavenly Emperor, incomparable to decorative figures like the Jade Emperor, his legacy historic and bright, born with the sun, immortal and indestructible.
Even now, a Dharma Body without its soul was not to be underestimated; after all, the sunfire essence was condensed from True Sunfire. If it was born of the sun's power, how could it escape Di Jun's palm? The three-legged Golden Crow amidst the seven-colored divine light opened its beak wide and swallowed the sunfire essence in one gulp, and the divine light didn't stop there but continued straight towards Di Lin.
Caught off guard, Di Lin was brushed by the seven-colored divine light and tumbled over a dozen times.
"My essence of sunfire!"
A pang went through Di Lin's heart. It took a thousand years to condense a single droplet of sunfire essence, and its refinement was supremely arduous. Now, used against an enemy, it was swallowed in one gulp by Di Jun's Dharma Body... This essence of sunfire was not only tremendously powerful in combat but also, when kept within the body, could accelerate one's cultivation and enhance the might of Fire System Divine Skills. It was an extremely precious Fire System Magical Treasure.
After swallowing the essence of sunfire, Di Jun's Dharma Body let out a long, seemingly exhilarated neigh. Wukong waved the whisk, and it transformed into a streak of light that flew to the handle of the whisk, becoming a lively engraving.
Wukong readied the World-Cleansing Dust Whisk for another sweep.
But Di Lin said, "Hold on!"
Di Lin had already drawn on his ultimate Magical Treasure, but still, he was not Wukong's match and no longer dared to continue the magical confrontation with him. While it was unlikely he would be beaten to death, his pride would surely be the one to suffer! Moreover, the appearance of Di Jun's Dharma Body really gave him a fright; could this young Taoist really have some connection with Di Jun?
"What now? Are you admitting defeat?" Wukong taunted.
Di Lin certainly wasn't one to subdue his temper lightly. They'd barely exchanged a few words before he was ready to come to blows.
Luckily, Wukong was precisely the one who could restrain him, or else he really would have had his hands full with that essence of sunfire.
Di Lin asked, "The techniques you just used... were they the Heavenly Emperor's Giant Seal and the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun Body Technique?"
Wukong replied, "Can't you tell whether they were or weren't?"
Di Lin said, "I just wanted to be sure again. Now that the Taoist friend has said so, I believe him."
Di Lin couldn't help but marvel secretly; the Heavenly Emperor's Giant Seal was executed by Wukong with even more purity than his own, clearly showing that he had fully understood it! What he didn't know was that all of Wukong's Divine Skill Spells were transmitted by Di Jun, thus naturally containing their essence. Coupled with Wukong's Spirit Root, with just a little pondering, they could be wielded with ease.
"Then that whisk of yours, how could it unleash the seven-colored divine light? Isn't that the Divine Skill of Zhun Ti Taoist?" Di Lin suddenly inquired.
"Oh... That's because I flipped Guanyin's Daoist Temple upside down and obtained it from there," Wukong laughed.
Di Lin's heart skipped a beat. Was this fellow the same Heaven-Defying Taoist who had overturned Guanyin's Daoist Temple?!