Great Demon Sun Wukong

While Sun Wukong did not join the team to rescue the Flame God, he indeed felt somewhat helpless, which is why he had Bajie join the effort—it was as if Zhu Bajie had taken his place in the mission to rescue the Flame God. Did Sun Wukong not want to save the Flame God? Naturally, that wasn't the case. Sun Wukong cherished the Flame God deeply and truly considered him a brother. Yet, when compared to rescuing the Flame God, Sun Wukong still chose to enter the Life and Death Blood Realm in search of the Fallen Tomb. Sun Wukong knew that there were only eighty years left until the next opening of the Fallen Tomb, and he must unravel all mysteries within these eighty years and then prevent that adult's earth-shattering plan.

Sun Wukong had a strong premonition that stemmed from the destiny power of the Nine-Headed Dragon that he had merged with. This power of destiny allowed Sun Wukong to have a subtle premonition, a vague sense of an impending major event in the future. Within this sensation, Sun Wukong felt an overwhelming pressure. Although not entirely clear, Sun Wukong interpreted this feeling as the Fang Universe perhaps facing another cosmic war in the not-so-distant future, a time when the entire universe would undergo a great reshuffle. Sun Wukong never saw himself as a Savior, but he certainly did not wish for such a reshuffle to really happen, as it would inevitably drag his brothers and friends into it, leaving uncertain how many would survive in the end.

One thing Sun Wukong could now be certain of was that his master, Bajie, Old Sha, White Dragon, and himself were definitely key figures in this great reshuffle, and it was likely that sword heroes like the Flame God would be unable to escape involvement. Therefore, Sun Wukong's goal had shifted from initially wanting to figure out what exactly was going on to now preventing certain events from happening. Sun Wukong knew he lacked the strength to contend with all powers, so he could only do his utmost to find the root of all issues and then try to stop them.

But in reality, he also didn't know exactly how to proceed since there were many things that Sun Wukong knew only the tip of the iceberg about. Thus, he needed to learn more before understanding what he should do. Entering the Life and Death Blood Realm was Sun Wukong's first step in his endeavor.

Upon entering the Life and Death Blood Realm, Sun Wukong was stunned; it was completely different from what he had imagined. From the outside looking through that entrance, one could only see a dark red world without any excessively special characteristics. But once inside, Sun Wukong realized he had truly underestimated the Life and Death Blood Realm—it wasn't a realm of life and death; it was purely a realm of death, devoid of any hope for life. As soon as he arrived, Sun Wukong was immediately attacked. Thankfully, he had been warned by Hei Kui and had maintained a defensive stance; otherwise, the sudden attack would have seriously injured him.

As he observed the blood dripping continuously from the World Suppressing Stele, Sun Wukong's brow furrowed deeply. The Life and Death Blood Realm, as far as the eye could see, was desolate, dotted everywhere with pools of blood of various sizes. But this place was not just home to pools of blood; there were also blood-colored stones of assorted sizes. Overall, almost everything within the Life and Death Blood Realm was red—the dark red sky, the deep red earth, the blood-red stones, and the thick scent of blood. This world seemed to be composed entirely of blood. Though there was air here, the smell of blood in it was so strong that every breath would inhale a lot of blood.

The vital energy here, aside from the foul odor, wasn't poisonous or else Sun Wukong would have no choice but to hold his breath indefinitely. The creature that attacked Sun Wukong earlier had sprung out from one of the blood pools nearby—a blood snake. "Hei Kui was indeed right; this place is no place for humans," Sun Wukong grumbled, then began to survey his surroundings. After all, he had a vital task to accomplish here, and it seemed he would definitely have to stay for a long time.

Within this universe, besides the known worlds, there existed many unknown or scarcely known secret realms. The Life and Death Blood Realm and the Illusionary Bug Domain both counted as one such secret realm. Moreover, they were extremely dangerous secret realms, but within them undoubtedly lay immense secrets, as the very existence of each secret realm was itself a secret. Taking out Hei Kui's blood, which was stored inside a transparent Jade Vase, Sun Wukong saw the blood within the vase slowly begin to float and then cling to one side of the vessel.

"It seems Wu Ming is in this direction. I wonder if he still remembers me!" Following Hei Kui's instructions, Sun Wukong found himself merely at the periphery of the Life and Death Blood Realm. It was one of the relatively safer places, and the deeper one went, the more dangerous it became, with increasingly more powerful creatures of the Blood Realm. The blood snake that attacked him earlier was one of the lowest beings in the Life and Death Blood Realm, which could survive only by relying on the blood pools; once they left the pools, they would quickly dissipate into vital energy. Even so, that blood snake's attack had startled Sun Wukong—not because of its high Attack Power but because the blood it spewed contained a potent corrosive effect.

However, Sun Wukong had already chosen this path, and no matter how dangerous, he must continue down it. With one hand on the World Suppressing Stele and another holding a shield made from the Three Thousand Barren Soil, Sun Wukong cautiously made his way towards the direction where Hei Kui's blood had drifted. Watching the blood pools on the ground and the blood snakes or blood fish swimming within them, Sun Wukong suddenly had a wild idea—what if he immersed the Three Thousand Desolate Sands into these blood pools? Surely, with the capacity of the Desolate Sand, it would dry up an entire pool of blood, but then, might the Desolate Sand turn into Blood Sand? Though the thought crossed his mind, Sun Wukong still resisted the urge to find out what would become of the Desolate Sand then.

It wasn't long before Sun Wukong started to feel that something was different about the surroundings. The blood pools had gradually become scarcer, and he could clearly sense that the air was beginning to heat up. The deep red ground under his feet also started to grow warm. In fact, Hei Kui was capable of sending anyone who entered the Life and Death Blood Realm through that passageway to any location at will, but that method was used by Hei Kui to kill enemies. Had Hei Kui directly sent Sun Wukong to the very center of the Life and Death Blood Realm, Sun Wukong estimated that he would have been killed off by the numerous powerful creatures of the Blood Realm as soon as he appeared.

Therefore, there was the current situation where Sun Wukong was making his way through bit by bit. This way, he would have a process to familiarize himself with the Life and Death Blood Realm and gradually adapt. Even if a battle was inevitable in the end, Sun Wukong would have significantly increased his chances of victory. The degree of adaptation to an environment can be extremely important at times. "Why do I suddenly feel that I've experienced this situation before?" It wasn't that the surroundings were familiar, but rather this feeling of walking in a strange place looking for something felt very familiar. However, that feeling was soon replaced by gloom.

From the moment he felt the changes in the surroundings until now, Sun Wukong had walked for another three Chinese Hours, and now, the area around him had completely turned into a vast desert with nothing but blood-red sand as far as the eye could see. "Why do I always encounter deserts lately, and moreover, this red desert feels too eerie!" Unfortunately, since Sun Wukong was alone, he had no one to complain to. As he walked on, he saw at the edge of his blood-red line of sight, an oddly different color appeared. He rubbed his eyes, at first thinking he was seeing things because viewing a single color with your eyes for an extended period was quite tiring visually.

But after rubbing his eyes, the patch of different color was still there. Sun Wukong grew excited and hurriedly quickened his pace towards that place. Now he could already see that in the midst of the blood-colored desert, so glaringly out of place, was a large cluster of buildings, resembling a palace complex, though somewhat dilapidated - part of the structures had already collapsed. This expanse of buildings was all made of black rock of unknown origin. Among them, one could see in the center of the complex, a statue carved from a single giant piece of black rock.

Sun Wukong was very curious, but he didn't rashly enter what looked like a small ancient town. Places like this in the desert, much like water sources in the jungle, are both the safest and the most dangerous. They're called safe because such places can ensure your survival, but they are deemed the most dangerous because they are favored by all creatures. Hence, Sun Wukong first used his Divine Sense and his Heaven and Earth Fire Eyes to carefully scout the area and only after finding no apparent danger did he cautiously step inside.

After walking through the desert for so long, stepping onto the firm black stone floor brought an indescribable comfort, but this wasn't enough to lower Sun Wukong's guard. It was only when he entered the complex that he started to feel an unexplainable sense of oppression. However, this oppressive feeling came solely from the tall buildings and black stone. After spending so much time walking in the open desert and then entering into towering structures, feeling oppressed was unavoidable.

Shortly after, Sun Wukong came upon a relatively intact house, also constructed of the same black stone, even the doors and windows. After a moment of hesitation, Sun Wukong slowly pushed open the stone door. Seeing such a cluster of dilapidated ancient cities built from black rocks in the middle of a blood-red desert definitely proved there was something within the ancient city. On this trip, Sun Wukong was searching for any possible clues, so naturally, he wouldn't overlook any potential leads.

Upon pushing open the stone door, what appeared was a very ordinary room with a stone table, stone chairs, a stone bed, and stone stools. Observing this home completely crafted from stone, Sun Wukong felt somewhat sentimental; his Water Curtain Cave at Flower Fruit Mountain was also made of stone. "Eh? Why are there three stone statues?" Just as Sun Wukong was looking around the room, he suddenly noticed three stone statues.

"No, that can't be, these aren't statues?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation votes and Monthly Passes at Starting Point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)