Great Demon Sun Wukong

As the light of day began to emerge, Sun Wukong halted his steps. After looking around, he found a low depression in the mountains and sat down cross-legged to recover the spiritual energy he had spent through the night.

Normally, with one somersault Sun Wukong could travel one hundred and eight thousand miles, but in the Extreme Northern Ice Field, he had managed only about three hundred miles in one night. The difference was like night and day, yet even this three hundred miles was enough to make Wukong proud. If it had been any other common Saint, perhaps a hundred miles would have been their limit.

For those whose strength had not reached the realm of Saints, they might not have been able to move at all.

Unfortunately, even with Sun Wukong’s strength comparable to the great witches of the ancient Witch Clan and his body, he couldn’t withstand the piercing cold. In one night, his spiritual power was almost completely depleted. Left with no choice, he had to meditate on the spot; otherwise, he would quickly freeze into an ice sculpture.

Besides, the Extreme Northern Ice Field was extraordinarily dangerous, and the severe cold was just one of its many threats.

Even more hazardous were the occasional snow tornadoes and the packs of Ice Field Demon beasts that would appear. These creatures were somewhere between beasts and Demons. They had little intelligence and only knew how to roam and hunt prey. If you took them lightly just because of their low intelligence, then you would be finished.

Their lack of intelligence meant they were reckless and fearless, with no concept of fear. What’s more, even the weakest of these Demon beasts had the power of a Heavenly Immortal. Imagine, in such a challenging environment, being surrounded by a group of fearless Heavenly Immortal-level Demon beasts; the consequences would be terrifying.

Therefore, when traversing the ice field, the most important thing was to never deplete all your spiritual power. At the very least, you had to retain thirty percent of your spiritual power in case of emergencies. Although Sun Wukong still had some energy left, he did not dare to be reckless. Moreover, this place was all ice and snow.

Except for the Water and Ice Systems, other elemental forces were extremely scarce, so Sun Wukong dared not risk his life. A million Buddhist Soldiers had been unable to detain him, but if he were to perish on the Extreme Northern Ice Field because of carelessness, it would be something Sun Wukong could never accept.

After three quarters of an hour, Sun Wukong stood up. Although he hadn’t fully returned to his peak condition, he had recovered about ninety percent of his spiritual power. As long as he refrained from using ultimate moves that required great magical power and continued walking slowly, he should be able to last until sunset.

The ice field was incredibly harsh, and every extra minute spent there meant countless more dangers.

Step by step, shielded by a spiritual energy protective shield, Sun Wukong moved forward slowly. At the same time, his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils were pushed to their limit. Otherwise, after spending too much time walking in the ice field, he would become snow blind. If there happened to be any Demon beasts around, he might not notice them.

When he first set foot on the ice field the previous night, Sun Wukong found that his spiritual sense was suppressed to the lowest level, only able to probe around a hundred meters. Beyond that, he could perceive nothing. For someone at Sun Wukong’s level, a hundred meters was almost as close as an arm’s length.

So Sun Wukong simply shut off his spiritual sense and relied solely on his eyesight and hearing for detection. This was where the importance of his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils was greatly enhanced.

With the help of his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, Sun Wukong had already successfully avoided two groups of Demon beasts. One of them was a pack of about fifty Demon wolves. Their fur was pure white, and had it not been for Sun Wukong’s Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, he might not have been able to recognize them even up close.

The strongest among the Demon wolves reached the peak of Golden Immortal, while the weakest was at the lower level of Heavenly Immortal. Under normal circumstances, this pack of Demon wolves wouldn’t have been enough for a sweep of his Jingu Bang. Unfortunately, here in this place, Sun Wukong had no choice but to take a detour.

Although Sun Wukong was not afraid, a battle could lead to an enormous expenditure of spiritual power and might attract nearby packs of Demon beasts. Sun Wukong’s goal this time was to find the Ice Clan to inquire about the Water System Divine Stone, not to wage a battle with Demon beasts.

With this in mind, although he felt slightly unwilling, Sun Wukong still chose to take a detour. Soon enough, Wukong realized just how wise his decision had been. He had traveled less than thirty miles when he stumbled upon a group of icy leopards. All these leopards possessed the strength of a Daluo Golden Immortal, and the leader was even an Emperor Level demon beast.

Wukong was immediately filled with relief. Had he acted impulsively and fought with the demon wolves, the scent of battle and blood would have surely attracted this group of leopards. By then, he would likely have been in grave danger. In this accursed place, he could at best exert only a fifth of his strength.

Unless he transformed into the giant ape form as he had in the battle against the Carefree Buddha, but the mere thought of the horrific aftereffects sent a chill down Wukong’s spine, and all thoughts of transformation were hastily concealed. He was now even more cautious as he tiptoed around the leopard group and proceeded slowly.

The reason was that when Wukong had transformed into the giant ape in a fit of rage that day, he had somehow triggered the Metal System Divine Stone within his body, causing an unstoppable and abundant flow of Metal System spiritual power to burst forth.

Part of it flowed along his meridians into his muscles and bones, while another part seeped out through his pores, infusing into his skin and body hair. This was why Wukong had possessed such terrifying speed and strength, as well as an astonishing defensive power.

A magic treasure that a higher Saint had focused his life on crafting was crushed in his bare hand, and such physical might was beyond comprehension. Tathagata had his head shattered without even having the time to react.

However, in this world, there is balance. Although the Metal System spiritual power initially granted Wukong terrifying attack power and defensive strength, he soon sensed something was wrong. After reaching a peak, Wukong’s body began to rupture rapidly from within.

Just after Wukong had smashed the Carefree Buddha into a pulp, the muscles in Wukong’s arms tore, followed by his meridians, and eventually even his bones cracked.

So, in the end, Wukong merely gave the Buddhas a glance and, without having time to slaughter them, hurriedly flew away. This was because Wukong did not know if in the next moment his whole body’s meridians would snap and he would be blown into dust by the Buddhist Soldiers.

When Wukong barely reached the Coiled Silk Cave, he immediately reverted to his true form, which finally stopped the internal ruptures, but it was slightly too late. By that time, Wukong was already on the brink of death from severe injuries.

At the critical moment, the Metal System Divine Stone within his body quietly emanated a soft golden light, shielding Wukong’s heart meridian and preventing him from dying.

Thinking back on it, Wukong was terrified. That power was indeed formidable, but it seemed his body was too weak to bear it. Yet, that was only the power of a single Divine Stone that Wukong was already unable to control, let alone integrate with it.

But this was far from enough; Sun Wukong still needed to find the Water System, Wood System, and Fire System Divine Stones and integrate them one by one into his body. However, with his current physical state, it was obviously a path to self-destruction. If he didn’t find a way to strengthen his body, even if he could find the other Divine Stones, being unable to merge with them would be pointless.

Therefore, during his journey to the Extreme Northern Ice Field, Sun Wukong harbored the idea of training his body. Walking in such a harsh environment and maintaining his body temperature using only spiritual power, he would only envelop himself with spiritual power to prevent his body from freezing when he absolutely couldn’t endure any longer.

If he could persevere until the end and make it out of the ice field, his body was sure to become much more powerful.

As he walked and pondered, suddenly, an extremely cold murderous intent locked onto Sun Wukong. He shivered and then instantly entered a state of readiness for battle. The killing intent was so intense it was almost tangible. One could imagine that the master of this killing intent was exceedingly powerful. It was very likely from an Emperor Level creature, and a mid-tier one at that.

While Sun Wukong activated his fiery eyes and looked around, an abnormally cold breath attacked him from behind. In the next instant, a huge snow-white tail stabbed out of thin air. Sun Wukong quickly turned around, his right arm bulging as muscles swiftly swelled. His entire right arm became extremely thick, contrasting starkly with his left.

Then, swinging the Jingu Bang in his right hand with a turn, it clashed with a "clang," the sound of metal striking metal ringing deafeningly in his ears. Sun Wukong only felt the Jingu Bang in his right hand vibrating intensely, and when he looked again, the giant tail was already deflected.

Sun Wukong was about to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly a piercing pain struck his back. He turned his head slightly and was shocked to discover that it was an enormous demon snake. It had used its tail to sneak attack, and at the moment he turned, it had suddenly thrust forward its gaping maw. Such intelligence this giant python had.

However, although shocked, Sun Wukong wasn’t panicked. Even though his current strength was only three or four-tenths of his prime, he still wasn’t someone that could be injured by a mere mid-tier Emperor Level demon beast, even in these extreme conditions.

Just as the giant python’s enormous mouth was about to swallow Sun Wukong, suddenly a red light shot out from his back and, after a few flashes, wrapped the giant python into a zongzi.

"Heavenly Silk, Tighten." Instantly, the red light from the Heavenly Silk intensified, severing directly at the python’s vital spot, killing the mid-tier Emperor Level Ice Python on the spot.

"Hmph, a mere big snake dares to dream of devouring yours truly, Sun Wukong; truly overestimating its capabilities. However, its arrival is quite timely. Yours truly has been walking for a day and night and is hungry; I’ll take this big snake to satisfy my hunger."

Having said that, Sun Wukong quickly skinned the snake and then found a spot sheltered from the wind. With a flick of his hands, a transparent little flower appeared. Then, with a wave of his hand, the flower settled a foot above the ground and began to burn fiercely.

However, it was only the ordinary Samadhi True Fire that burned, but it was enough, for Sun Wukong had summoned the Illusory Flower of Emptiness not for anything else but simply to roast the snake meat. If Tang Sanzang were to know, he would surely chant the Tightening Spell ten times.

While roasting the snake meat, Sun Wukong played with a snow-white pearl. This pearl was the demon snake’s inner core. It is well known that snakes, pythons, dragons, and turtles are prone to producing pearls, whereas ordinary demon beasts or demons only have inner cores.

Although inner cores are also treasured objects, especially those above the level of a Daluo Golden Immortal which are extremely precious, inner pearls are valued a hundred times more.

The reason being that inner pearls have the ability to strengthen the body. Among immortals, unless one practices body cultivation, their physical bodies tend to be weaker while their mana is stronger. Therefore, an inner core that can enhance physical strength becomes an invaluable treasure.

"Just right, yours truly Sun Wukong is preparing to temper my body, and this big snake has sent over an inner core. Heh, truly a timely help in the snow."