Great Demon Sun Wukong

The Spirit Controller really left abruptly; he actually just disappeared into thin air, not even bothering with the green-armored man anymore. Seeing the green-armored man suddenly vanish, Ye Zi hurried over to Sun Wukong's side and first cast a wary look at the Dragon Emperor, who was floating in midair with a strange expression on his face. Then she asked Sun Wukong, "Is he gone?" Sun Wukong nodded his head, but it was clear he was pondering something, appearing somewhat distracted.

After receiving Sun Wukong's affirmative answer, Ye Zi finally let out a sigh of relief. Ever since the Spirit Controller appeared, she had been on tenterhooks, scared that he would squash her with a slap. Although last time she risked everything to break through the Domain Lord's level, thinking she had sufficient strength to break that limit and even prepared to risk everything. But after failing and so many years later, her mentality had already changed a lot. If it were the past her, even dying in battle wouldn't have made her yield, but now things were different, she knew that only by living did everything become possible; death meant losing everything.

Patting Ye Zi's shoulder, Sun Wukong looked at the Dragon Emperor in midair with complex eyes and didn't know how to start for a moment. According to Sun Wukong's nature, he wouldn't force the Dragon Emperor to join him, since the Dragon Emperor was different from Ye Zi. Not to mention the Dragon Emperor was a Clan Leader, just like him at Flower Fruit Mountain. Just the fact that the Dragon Emperor possessed the strength to leave this place made Sun Wukong believe he wouldn't so readily obey the Spirit Controller's orders. However, before Sun Wukong could decide on what to say, the Dragon Emperor circled around Dragon Valley three times, then suddenly his whole body glinted with golden light, and he had transformed back into human form before landing on the ground.

After glancing at Sun Wukong, the Dragon Emperor walked towards the many dragons on the other side of Dragon Valley. They had watched the whole series of events, and although the Dragon Emperor appeared unharmed, they all looked visibly disheartened. They now knew two things: firstly, although their Dragon Race seemed mighty and able to do as they pleased, they were actually like prisoners trapped in this world, and there was someone with formidable power watching over them.

The second was that their Dragon Emperor might be leaving them. What the Dragon Emperor's recent actions meant was unclear to Sun Wukong and the others, but these dragons knew. Circling Dragon Valley three times signified that this dragon was saying farewell, either approaching death or leaving forever. And with what the Spirit Controller had said before, they understood that the Dragon Emperor had decided to follow Sun Wukong.

As he looked upon the future of his Dragon Race, the Dragon Emperor's eyes couldn't help but moisten. He reached into his chest and took out an object, handing it to a Golden Dragon, then loudly declared, "From now on, our Dragon Race shall abide by the rules and never entertain thoughts of escaping the Patrolling Celestial World. Today, I pass on the title of Clan Leader of the Dragon Race to Long Zhan. Our Dragon Race will not perish!" His voice choked up on the last words. He didn't even know where he was going to go or what he was going to do with Sun Wukong, but he knew that from now on, he would no longer be the Clan Leader of the Dragon Race; this was the consequence he had to accept.

He stopped the Golden Dragon named Long Zhan from speaking, as well as the other dragons, and without any hesitation, the Dragon Emperor turned around and strode towards Sun Wukong. Watching this, Sun Wukong also felt touched. Didn't he do the same when he left Flower Fruit Mountain in search of the Art of Eternal Life? But Sun Wukong reined in his emotions well and addressed the Dragon Emperor, who had already come to stand in front of him, "Welcome to the team!" The Dragon Emperor did not reply but simply nodded slightly.

Seeing that the Dragon Emperor showed no resistance, Sun Wukong also let out a sigh of relief. With this, the second goal of their journey had been achieved. Ye Zi was not harmed by the Spirit Controller, the Dragon Emperor had smoothly joined the fold, and they even gained Ming Tiekuang, who held another identity: the former Chief Combat Commander of the first regiment of the Underworld God Army. With his inclusion, they would undoubtedly have significant support in future encounters against the Underworld God Army. As to why the Chief Combat Commander of the Underworld God Army would follow the orders of the Spirit Controller, that was beyond Sun Wukong's knowledge.

So now, the only slight trouble was the little monkey, now the green-armored person. Previously, Sun Wukong had bound the green-armored person with Spatial Chains transformed from the Seal Heavenly Stamp, and then the Nine Decisions Vajra Ape desperately held him back with his life, preventing him from breaking free before Sun Wukong's attack arrived. Sun Wukong began to compress the size of Mountain of World Suppression continuously; he didn't want to involve the innocent because Mountain of World Suppression was immensely large. But when he compressed it to only a third of its original size, for some unknown reason, the Mountain of World Suppression began to shrink rapidly on its own.

Until at last, it had turned into a fingernail-sized ball of dim yellow light, and when Sun Wukong tried to control it, the ball of yellow light complied very smoothly, thus he directly shot it at the green-armored man. It wasn't that he didn't want to explore it further, but he saw the Nine Decisions Vajra Ape collapsing covered in blood, and the green-armored man had already broken free from the last of the Spatial Chains. If he didn't seize the moment to attack, then all the Nine Decisions Vajra Ape's efforts would have been in vain.

And when that ball of yellow light penetrated the green-armored man's forehead, a message flashed in Sun Wukong's mind, and it was this message that made him stop paying attention to the green-armored person and instead go directly to rescue the Vajra Ape. The message was feedback from the attack a moment ago, detailing the yellow light's abilities: Suppression of the Soul, Imposing Seals, and Stripping. A simple sentence, but it revealed the power of the yellow light just now.

Soul suppression had rendered the armor-clad figure motionless in an instant. The binding seal caused their soul to lose control over the body; now, the final separation was gradually becoming visible. After the Spirit Controller Li departed, an ethereal human-shaped soul was being slowly peeled away from the armored figure's body. At this moment, Sun Wukong, the Dragon Emperor, Ye Zi, and Ming Tiekuang were gathered around, all wearing faces of curiosity as they observed the ghostly soul.

After about a quarter of an hour, a yellow light orb gently emerged from the chest of the standing armor-clad figure. The presence of the yellow light instantly attracted the forcibly separated Soul Body, which did not disappear but instead kept floating. In the mortal world, this would probably be considered seeing a ghost in broad daylight, right?

"What is this situation? Why is this soul so strange?" Ye Zi asked with curiosity. Sun Wukong did not answer, as he himself was not too clear on the matter, only having a rough idea. He was about to employ his Heaven and Earth Fire Eyes to see in detail when Ming Tiekuang suddenly spoke, "This is one of Lord Spirit Controller's Doppelgangers; it has cultivated its own consciousness. It must have occupied this body before, which is why it could survive, but now it has been, it has been..." He suddenly stopped speaking and looked at Sun Wukong with an odd expression on his face, not continuing.
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"Just call me Sun Wukong or Great Saint," Sun Wukong said with indifference. Ming Tiekuang let out a sigh of relief and continued, "Now, this Soul Body has been stripped out by the Great Saint's spell. Normally, a soul that leaves the body either dissipates on its own or heads to the Netherworld, but this soul is now trapped by the yellow light; it won't dissipate or be able to leave." Ming Tiekuang had followed Sun Wukong's orders as commanded by the Spirit Controller, but his pride prevented him from calling Sun Wukong 'master,' leaving him unsure of how to address him.

Upon hearing the words of the Spirit Controller, Ye Zi's eyes lit up and he asked, "So this soul can be absorbed now?" Ming Tiekuang thought for a moment and responded, "It's possible, but this soul's energy is immense; it's not so easy to absorb!" Ye Zi suddenly burst into laughter, "No problem, if there's one thing I have plenty of, it's life force. Great Saint Sun, what do you think, hehe!" Ye Zi then made a fawning gesture towards Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong first asked Ming Tiekuang, "If this soul has been stripped away, what about the original soul of the body? Will it be alright?" Ming Tiekuang answered decisively, "There won't be any big problems, but there might be some loss. It can be restored later with some Heaven and Earth Treasures. However, this soul—this one won't do." Sun Wukong nodded and then turned to Ye Zi, "This soul is yours. I hope your brother can recover soon!" After speaking, Sun Wukong turned his attention to the Dragon Emperor, who frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "The pride of my Dragon Race doesn't allow us to betray our trust. Moreover, tens of thousands of my Dragon Race are still under the watch of the Spirit Controller. I know what I should do!"

Sun Wukong didn't have a good solution for the Dragon Emperor; after all, they were practically strangers. Although he had also not known Ye Zi for long, Ye Zi's personality was quite similar to that of the Flame God, making them fast acquaintances during these past few days, which was partly why Ye Zi had openly asked for the soul. As for the Dragon Emperor, he was of a somewhat aloof disposition and not so amiable, yet sensibly he didn't create any problems.

As for Ming Tiekuang, he was now completely deferential to Sun Wukong, who was very curious about how the Spirit Controller managed to make such a formidable figure from the past so subservient. After casting a glance over the group, Sun Wukong said solemnly, "I know all of you have your own thoughts, but regardless, since you've made your choice, I hope you take it seriously. In the future, there will be many battles, and I hope we can become steadfast comrades who can trust each other with our lives!"

Having said his piece, Sun Wukong no longer concerned himself with the three of them and instead walked over to the armor-clad figure that was still standing rigid. As Sun Wukong was preparing to use his Spiritual Power to help the armor-clad figure recover, he felt a familiar presence, the breath of a soul. He knew that after the armored figure's soul had been peeled away, the soul of the little monkey was slowly waking up, although he didn't know what kind of trauma it might have caused the little monkey. But as long as there was life, there was hope!

(Today is Christmas, and although Sanzang does not celebrate Christmas, I still wish everyone a merry Christmas.)