Great Demon Sun Wukong

Even now, Sun Wukong still had no idea what the black and white shades of light within the World Suppressing Stele truly were, or who the two consciousnesses inside the stele might be. The only certainty was that these entities were incredibly powerful, and Wukong could hardly fathom how formidable they would become should they fully recover. Perhaps they would pose a threat even to the current Domain Lords, who might not be able to stand as their equals.

It wasn't until later that Wukong began to form some speculation about the identities of the two consciousnesses, but these remained speculations without confirmation from anyone or anything. Recognizing that the black figure was of the same origin as the black light inside the World Suppressing Stele, Wukong instantly became alert. He could not comprehend why such a small fortress of the Underworld God Army, with only three hundred soldiers, would harbor such a sinister being. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Without much hesitation, and after sending a casual order to the Twelve Ancestral Witches outside to wreak havoc, Wukong started his investigation with the Heaven and Earth Dao Eye on the black figure and the cracked black altar. Naturally, he also noticed Wu Ming and Hei Kui in their ragged state, but since their disarray was simply due to the Underworld God Army's relentless attacks, and with a bit more time, defeating these soldiers wouldn't be impossible. Therefore, Wukong did not focus too much attention on them.

As the Heaven and Earth Dao Eye continued its scrutiny, Wukong indeed discovered many things. The sudden influx of information was too much to take in all at once, but having gone through many things before, and having learned many truths from the mouths of Ming Tiekuang and the others, Wukong soon calmed himself down. Now, his gaze toward the shadow carried a sharp intent to kill.

The ambitions of the Underworld God Army were colossal, but did Myriad Demons Country, their collaborator, know of this? If they did, did that imply their participation in or at least non-opposition to the plan? And what about the Annihilation Demon Nation? As an ally of Myriad Demons Country, did they know as well? Could this be a scheme orchestrated by all three parties? But why would the Ancient Primordial World mingle in these affairs? If all this were true, did it not mean that Myriad Demons Country and the Underworld God Army had long been connected?

This must be why the Spirit Controller wanted him to annihilate the Underworld God Army to the best of his abilities. No, that can't be right. If the Spirit Controller knew about this, he would have taken action himself—why leave it to Wukong? The seriousness of the situation exceeded the control of a single law enforcer like himself. There must be another purpose. But what could it be?

His mind racing, Wukong quickly formed two dreadful thoughts. Upon realizing the true identity of the black shadow, Wukong thought back to the shadow in his own Wasteland Stele, suspecting his theory might be correct. No wonder the Wasteland Stele was deemed a forbidden artifact, almost causing the destruction of the entire Dominion of Soil. Now it seemed everything was clear.

Then, a mix of relief and fear filled Wukong's heart. It was fortunate that Master Zun had resealed those two figures; otherwise, if he hadn't been harmed by the black shadow, he likely would have doomed himself eventually and dragged the Netherworld World down with him. Wukong then immediately wondered—if that black figure was that person, what about the white figure? To coexist with him, could it be, could it be...

"Dragon Emperor, Ming Tiekuang, attack with all your might! Take down that shadow—make sure to annihilate it!" As he spoke, Wukong turned and fled, taking to the air in a matter of steps, escaping as if he had seen something unspeakably terrifying. Indeed, Wukong had "seen" a monstrous creature—not the shadow in the underground space but one from his own World Suppressing Stele.

Just moments ago, he had sensed the seal Master Zun had placed within the stele had begun to loosen, a presence akin to the one fighting the Dragon Emperor emerging within. Wukong realized that the black light inside the stele, influenced by that shadow, was striking against Master Zun's seal. This was why Wukong didn't hesitate to turn and run—he didn't know how to suppress the seal, so his only option was to distance himself from the black figure as far as possible.

After fleeing madly for an hour, the seal inside the World Suppressing Stele finally settled. Wukong hastily found a place to lie down, not caring for appearances, and gasped for breath. Whether it was the information from the black altar seen with the Heaven and Earth Fire Eyes or the speculations in his mind, Wukong needed time to digest and accept it all, especially the trembling from the stele that had brought his heart to his throat. He had never known that the World Suppressing Stele he held was such a dangerous thing.

The one in his possession was Wasteland No. 3, one of the nine Heavenly Steles—did this mean the other steles were like this Wasteland Stele as well? It seemed that after returning, he would need to study the one Old Sand possessed. As he lay on the ground, staring at the sky, his mind spun rapidly, chaotically threading together various thoughts and speculations, nearly overwhelming Wukong's brain.

Now, he was absolutely certain that he had indeed been swept into a tremendous and perilously dangerous vortex—one careless step would surely lead to complete death, leaving no bone untouched. He did not know if the Dragon Emperor and Ming Tiekuang could defeat that black shadow, nor did he know how long it would take if they could do so. Therefore, for now, all he could do was wait and comb through all the questions and doubts in his mind.

First and foremost, Sun Wukong was certain that everything he had seen with his Heaven and Earth Dao Eye was real and that almost no one else knew of these things. Next, he wondered whether he should find a way to inform the Spirit Controllers. If he did inform them, would he still be able to live? Lastly, what should he do with the Wasteland Soil Stele? Should he continue to keep it, or should he discard it?

All these thoughts of Sun Wukong stemmed from what he had just discovered. Just now, being cautious, he used his Heaven and Earth Fire Eyes to inspect the black altar, and then he found that the black altar was actually a device for gathering energy and Spiritual Power, which was infused into the black shadow by means incomprehensible to Sun Wukong. That shadow was not an ordinary one but a shadow of the Underworld Venerate.

Or rather, it was formed by fragments of the Underworld Venerate's consciousness. The very existence of this Black Castle was to channel vast and pure energy into that black shadow formed by the consciousness fragments of the Underworld Venerate. However, due to the presence of the mysterious chains on the bodies of the Underworld God Army, this process was progressing incredibly slowly. A person could only absorb and transform a limited amount of Spiritual Power each day, and the Underworld God Army had to dedicate most of their absorbed Spiritual Power to those chains, leaving only a small portion for the black altar. Fortunately, aside from those squad leaders, the rest of the Underworld God Army truly resembled tireless and undying puppets, so over an extended period, the accumulated energy was still considerable.

Yet, this was not the black altar in question. On the backside of that black altar, Sun Wukong saw the number ninety-nine. He guessed the significance of this number meant this altar was the ninety-ninth one, with ninety-eight similar altars preceding it. And it was likely that this was the smallest one, so the black shadow it created, which was a remnant of the Underworld Venerate's consciousness, only had the power level of a Nine Patterns Supreme. However, since it had no physical form, it was quite difficult to deal with.

From this, Sun Wukong also figured out that the black shadow inside his own Wasteland Soil Stele was also a fragment of the Underworld Venerate's consciousness! Moreover, its strength was absolutely on par with a significant fragment. The identity of the entity that possessed an equal status to the Underworld Venerate, the white light consciousness body, could be inferred: the Pioneer!

Within the World Suppressing Stele Wasteland No. 3, fragments of consciousness of the Pioneer and an unnamed entity were sealed! Moreover, Sun Wukong had sensed the same Devouring Power within that altar as his own Three Thousand Desolate Sands, and so he immediately realized that the terrifying power of his World Suppressing Stele's Desolate Sands to devour all things was not the power of the Primordial Earth nor of the Stele itself, but rather a leakage of the Underworld Venerate's power that had influenced the Desolate Sands.

Continuing this train of thought, the tragedy of the Dominion of Soil back then, where the Wasteland Stele suddenly erupted and turned the entire Dominion of Soil into a desolate wasteland, must also have been the Underworld Venerate's doing, to absorb vast life force and Spiritual Power in order to awaken his own consciousness. Later, when discovered by the eight Law Enforcers, they ordered the destruction of the Dominion of Soil, and the Wasteland Stele was resealed by a powerful being from the Chaotic Giant Clan. Now it seemed very likely that one of those eight Law Enforcers personally sealed the Wasteland Stele.

For this reason, of the nine World Suppressing Steles, only the Wasteland Stele had abnormal occurrences and even had two consciousness entities appear inside later on. Sun Wukong had not heard of any other Steles containing additional consciousness entities, not to say there were none, but rather the consciousness entities in the other Steles had not received the immense energy needed to awaken.

Thus, Sun Wukong knew that the Wasteland Stele was not any Divine Artifact at all—it was more like a death-bringing specter. No wonder after news of him possessing the Wasteland Stele leaked, there was no one who tried to fight for it with him, not even anyone who desired to take a peek. Perhaps the dangers of the Wasteland Stele were known to many, with the sole exception of Sun Wukong himself, who still treasured it as a precious item!

Not only that, Sun Wukong also guessed that the Underworld God Army, in this Patrolling Celestial World, had been carrying out a most terrifying plan over these millions of years—a plan that sent shivers down Sun Wukong's spine and filled him with fear.

The plan of the Underworld God Army was the resurrection of the Underworld Venerate! (To be continued... If you like this work, please come to Starting Point ) to vote for recommendation tickets and Monthly Passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)