Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 173: Leaving the Three Realms

Within the Three Realms, a scene of apocalypse reigned—sea waters surged backward, mountains collapsed, and dust filled the sky. There were still a hundred years before the Three Realms were destroyed, but it was no longer safe to stay here for long.
Wukong and Dayu hurriedly found the Bull Demon King, the Qilin, Zhu Rong, and others, but the Three Pure Ones and the Five Dragons were nowhere to be seen; they must have left early.
The Bull Demon King led everyone straight into the magical realm, heading toward the Qingwei Heaven.
With clouds obscuring the view, the Qilin let out a long sigh and said, “I never expected to return to the world of heaven and earth in this life; it feels like rebirth.” In fact, not only him—Dayu, Zhu Rong, Ru Shou, and Ju Mang all shared the same feeling.
Wukong, fearing they might say more words of gratitude, quickly said to the Bull Demon King, “Brother, take the elders to meet Hou Yi and Chi Songzi. I’ll return to Flower-Fruit Mountain by myself.”
Dayu, unaware of Wukong’s plans, asked, “Why? Are you going to act alone?”
Wukong replied, “It’s too complicated to explain. Let Brother Niu tell you.” With that, he leaped down from Qingwei Heaven and headed straight for the Eastern Ocean.
It was a vast expanse of ocean, with towering waves rolling without any wind. Upon closer inspection, two fierce dragons were fighting inside—the green dragon was none other than Wan Sheng! His opponent was the ruler of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, the Eastern Sea Dragon King, Ao Guang!
Wukong hid among the clouds and watched for a while, growing increasingly astonished. The Eastern Sea Dragon King was no less powerful than the Sea Devouring Dragon; he too was at the level of a Taiyi Golden Immortal. Remembering how they were controlled by gods in “Journey to the West,” who would have guessed they could be so formidable if not seen with their own eyes?
Still, it made sense—since the Nine Sons of the Jing River Dragon King, including the Little Turtle Dragon, could fight evenly with Sha Wujing, and the Western Sea Dragon King’s prince, Mo Ang, could defeat the Little Turtle Dragon in just a few moments with a single strike, his strength was evident. Mo Ang’s younger brother, the White Dragon, could also fight against the Wolf Star for many rounds—clearly not an ordinary fighter.
By this logic, it was only natural that their fathers, the Four Sea Dragon Kings, were even more powerful.
But why were the Four Sea Dragon Kings so low-key?
As the saying goes, where there’s chaos, there’s always a villain. Besides bringing rain, what else did the Four Sea Dragon Kings do in their daily lives? Who exactly was the Ancestral Dragon mentioned by Wan Sheng? Was this Ancestral Dragon the leader among the five types of dragons?
While Wukong was still pondering, Wan Sheng and Ao Guang stopped fighting. They separated to the east and west and began to talk amidst the storms.
Wan Sheng said, “We bear the bloodline of the Ancestral Dragon—how could we willingly serve as poodles for the Heavenly Court?”
Ao Guang sneered, “You may refuse, but since you’ve changed your surname to Wan, never mention the word ‘Ancestral Dragon’ again!”

Wansheng snapped, “You ignorant brat! It’s a waste of my calling you a brother!”
Aoguang replied, “Times change. Though dragons can soar through the nine heavens, they’re still controlled by humans. Haven’t you seen through that yet?” His words carried an inexplicable sadness.
Wansheng said, “It’s not that I haven’t seen through it—it’s just too late!”
Aoguang said, “I advise you to endure. There’s a reason for that. Won’t it harm you?”
Wansheng glared coldly at Aoguang and shouted, “Endure? I’ve endured for tens of thousands of years!” With that, he spread his wings and flew westward.
Aoguang watched Wansheng’s retreating figure, looking dejected. He hovered motionless over the sea for a long time before diving into the water.
Hou Zhu, hearing from Wansheng that he still considered himself part of the dragon race, knew that his decision to change his surname was just a momentary impulse. No matter how much he changed, he couldn’t alter the fact that he was a dragon. Yet Wansheng’s hatred toward the Primordial Heavenly Lord remained unshaken.
Hou Zhu crossed the East Sea and headed straight for Guanjiangkou.
Yang Jian was overjoyed to see Hou Zhu coming alone. He immediately arranged a feast and insisted that Hou Zhu drink with him. Reluctantly, Hou Zhu drank a few cups but said, “Now that I’m a wanted criminal in the heavenly court, it’s inconvenient to stay here.” Yang Jian replied, “Even if you were my mortal enemy, you’d still have to stay for a few days first.”
With no choice, Hou Zhu spent the night drinking with Yang Jian.
The next day, Yang Jian asked, “How’s progress with mastering the Xuan Kong magic?” Hou Zhu replied, “It’s just so-so.” Yang Jian then asked, “What do you see in the distance?”
Hou Zhu used his mystical power to look and saw numerous celestial soldiers gathered among the clouds in the far sky. He laughed and said, “I told you I’d cause you trouble, but you didn’t believe me.”
Yang Jian said proudly, “Even if Li Jing came here, he’d have to submit a notice first before he could enter. You can just stay here in peace.”
Hou Zhu replied, “That’s highly inappropriate. How can I hide here to avoid trouble? It won’t benefit either you or me.”
So Hou Zhu went to Yijunling, where he met the Four Great Marshals and the Seventy-Two Demon Kings of the Caves. As per Hou Zhu’s instructions, they had already assembled the necessary troops.
Hou Zhu saw that there were over twelve thousand demons in total. After asking further, he learned that Yang Jian, knowing Hou Zhu needed troops, had assigned many of his own demons to him.
After some thought, Hou Zhu realized that when the celestial soldiers arrived, these demons would likely only be able to flee. Having so many people wouldn’t be of much use. So he carefully selected three thousand of them and said to Yang Jian, “Brother Yang, when we rebuild Flower Fruit Mountain this time, the heavenly court will surely come to attack us. Having so many people won’t help. I only need these three thousand to create a show of force. As for the rest, I’ll have to trouble you to handle them.”

Yang Jian found what Wukong said reasonable, so he asked, “Go on a trip? Where do you plan to send them?” Wukong laughed and said, “I don’t know either. You just go find the Bull Demon King first. Where he is now is the stronghold of the demons.” Yang Jian replied, “Good! I’ll take care of this right away!” Wukong then said to the three thousand demons, “I’ll go out and distract the heavenly soldiers. You all must be careful and find your way back to Flower-Fruit Mountain by yourselves. What do you say?” The demons replied, “We will surely follow the king’s orders!” Wukong quickly bid farewell to Yang Jian, swung his iron staff, and soared into the clouds, flying straight north. The reason for flying north was that Flower-Fruit Mountain was southeast of Guanjiangkou. Only by distracting the heavenly generals could the demons return to the mountain safely. Wukong deliberately flew slowly. Indeed, within a hundred miles, many heavenly generals surrounded him, led by the Tower-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing and the Third Prince Nezha, with the Twenty-Eight Stars following behind. Wukong sped up a bit, aiming to keep the heavenly troops at a distance, flying all the way to the northeast of Eastern Victory Continent—almost reaching the edge of the sky. Li Jing and his men had been searching around Guanjiangkou for days, determined to capture Wukong, and now they wouldn’t let him go, pursuing him relentlessly. Nezha kept reminding Li Jing, “Father, be careful—it might be a trick!” Li Jing replied, “The demon monkey is isolated and helpless now; surely no one will save him.” Nezha said, “Seeing him speed up and slow down alternately, it’s better to be cautious.” Li Jing said, “With so many of us here, what can he do?” At that moment, Wukong finally turned around and said with a smile, “A defeated foe still dares to fight again?” Li Jing was actually somewhat troubled. This monkey was extremely powerful; defeating it would already be difficult, let alone capturing it alive. But since the Jade Emperor had given orders, he had to fight at least a while, so he could report back regardless of the outcome. So he didn’t respond but gave an order. The Twenty-Eight Stars formed a large formation, blocking all paths—up, down, left, and right—leaving only the Tower-Bearing Heavenly King and the Third Prince Nezha in the center, with the Four Great Vajras holding their vajras and watching vigilantly from the corners. The Third Prince charged with his demon-slaying sword, while Wukong raised his staff to meet him. When the Ruyi Tianji Staff collided with the demon-slaying sword, Nezha felt as if his arm was being torn apart, filled with indescribable terror. How had this monkey become so powerful after four hundred years? Not daring to attack further, Nezha summoned the Heavenly Silk and wrapped it around Wukong. Wukong used several maneuvers, but the Heavenly Silk, as if it had eyes, followed him like a shadow, coiling around him like a serpent. Wukong simply refused to dodge, letting the Heavenly Silk wrap around him. Seeing Wukong trapped, Nezha was overjoyed and quickly cast spells, wrapping Wukong tightly with the Heavenly Silk.