Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"Wukong brother, I..."

The golden light in Sun Wukong's eyes faded, and Mu Chenxuan, who had been forced to close his eyes from the brightness, finally managed to open his eyes again. He was about to offer a few words of congratulations but saw that Sun Wukong ignored him completely, once again conjuring up a ball of stellar spiritual energy and swallowing it in one gulp, resuming his cross-legged meditation.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

A torrent of frustration swept through Mu Chenxuan's heart, but he swallowed the words that had reached his throat and, despite his speechlessness, could only wait patiently for Sun Wukong to finish his cultivation.

Another eight or nine years passed by, and Sun Wukong finished his cultivation. When he opened his eyes this time, he did not hurry to attract the bands of stellar spiritual energy. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue absorbing the stellar spiritual energy; it was simply that time would not allow it.

With only three years until his lifespan's end, the Netherworld would send soul-reaping messengers to claim Sun Wukong's soul. He had to deal with this matter now; otherwise, when the time came, there was a very likely chance that someone from the Netherworld would discover the secret of the Nine Dragons Gathering Stars Formation beneath Flower-Fruit Mountain.

"Mu Chenxuan, I have something to take care of that will probably take three to five years. After it's done, I will come back to rescue you, so wait patiently, and don't be anxious!"

After accepting Mu Chenxuan's congratulations and gratitude, Sun Wukong smiled at him and spoke.

"Something to take care of? Wukong brother, what do you have to do that must be done right now? Rescue me first, then I can go with you... Hey, Wukong brother, come back!"

Mu Chenxuan was stunned, full of questions. Sun Wukong had been right there, and he hadn't seen him receive any message or anything like that; how could he suddenly have something to do that would take three to five years? Unfortunately, Sun Wukong had no intention of explaining. He left a message, turned around, and earth-escaped away.

Mu Chenxuan instantly felt like he had a million suppressed curses he didn't know whether to voice or not. After swearing aloud a few times, he could only helplessly accept the situation, hoping that Sun Wukong would really come back in three to five years to rescue him as he had said...

Unlike when he earth-escaped downwards, as he departed, the repellent force of the stellar spiritual energy became a boosting force, and it didn't take Sun Wukong long to return to Water Curtain Cave Heaven. He had just sat down in the small log cabin for a short while when the door was nudged open a crack.

Sun Xiaoqing, the little fox demon, peeked warily through the gap into the cabin, meeting eyes with Sun Wukong, who had heard the noise and flashed beside the door.

"Yikes! Big brother, you're here?"

The little girl was startled, then called out in surprise and pushed the door open wide, flinging herself at him and burying her head in Sun Wukong's chest, "Big brother, you lied! You said you were in secluded cultivation, but you sneaked out to play by yourself and didn't even take Qing'er with you!"

"Uh..."

Sun Wukong was at a loss for words. "Qing'er, when did you find out I wasn't here?"

"Qing'er knew long ago, in the third year after big brother announced his seclusion."

Sun Xiaoqing lifted her head from Sun Wukong's chest, pouting, "Big brother, you're so mean. You said not to disturb you during cultivation, but you sneaked out. Tell me, where did you go to have fun without taking Qing'er along!"

The third year, he thought... Sun Wukong was speechless. For a cultivator, being in seclusion for a decade or two was entirely normal; decades or even a century was nothing out of the ordinary. He thought he could slip away unnoticed, but Sun Xiaoqing had discovered his absence so quickly. He hoped she hadn't spread the word yet.

"Don't worry, big brother! Qing'er isn't that stupid. You definitely don't want others to know where you went, so you used cultivation as an excuse. I won't betray big brother, I haven't told anyone!"

Sun Xiaoqing flashed a sly smile and wagged her finger, "I didn't even tell Brother Leng Xuan!"

Phew!

Sun Wukong let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, apart from Sun Xiaoqing, no one knew where he had gone. He would have had to spend time explaining again. The issue with Mu Chenxuan was something that Sun Wukong wanted to keep from others for the time being. The sealing formation had been set by the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord and stood with the backing of the Primordial Heavenly Venerate.

Let alone these two Saints, even the Quasi-Saint Xuan Du was not someone the current Sun Wukong could handle. The longer he could keep this a secret, the better. It would be ideal to expose it after he had fallen out with the Heavenly Court.

"Big brother, where have you been all these years? Qing'er has been keeping an eye on this place. Goodness, big brother, you were gone for over a decade. Are you finally willing to come back?"

Sun Xiaoqing pursed her lips, her face full of reproach as she looked at Sun Wukong.

"Well, big brother went to handle a very important matter, something that can't be made known for now. You have to keep this a secret for me, Qing'er!"

"Can't even tell Qing'er?"

"Qing'er, you have a habit of talking in your dreams. What if you accidentally let it slip out? That could bring big trouble to our Flower-Fruit Mountain. Are you sure you still want to know?"

"Well, then Qing'er better not know."

Touching her lips and thinking it over, Sun Xiaoqing gave up the idea of probing into Sun Wukong's whereabouts. Indeed, she had a habit of talking in her sleep, and for some reason, she could never change it. If she really let something slip and caused trouble for Flower-Fruit Mountain, she would feel guilty to death.

At Sun Xiaoqing's insistence, Sun Wukong agreed to have a big meal with the girl and chat. After sending out a message, it didn't take long for the little demons responsible for the meals to bring in a table full of exquisite feasts into the wooden hut.

"You're not allowed to tell anyone about big brother's retreat, or I'll come after you! Go on now!"

She threatened the meal-serving little demon with a fierce look, and after receiving its compliant nods, Sun Xiaoqing smiled contentedly, closed the door of the wooden hut behind her, zipped into Sun Wukong's embrace like a wisp of smoke, and like when she was a child, leaned against Sun Wukong, clamoring for him to feed her.

"Qing'er, you've already grown into a young lady, so why do you still act like a child?"

Sun Wukong chuckled as he tapped her forehead, but still indulged her like in the past, feeding her the food. Time flies; the once skinny little girl had grown up beautifully and seemed to have improved her cultivation quite a bit, reaching the Earth Immortal Realm. Perhaps she had passed the Doomsday Thunder Disaster in the years he'd been away?

"Doesn't matter, I will always be big brother's little sister!"

Sun Xiaoqing happily enjoyed being fed by Sun Wukong while enthusiastically narrating the interesting events that had occurred at Flower-Fruit Mountain over the years. Though her storytelling was a bit disjointed, Sun Wukong managed to get a rough understanding of the situation at Flower-Fruit Mountain from what she told him.

Leng Xuan had established rules and regulations that had been quite effective over the years. The Flower-Fruit Mountain of today was no longer as laid-back as before. Every demon, big and small, had their positions and enjoyed different cultivation and living resources. Of course, these positions were determined by their abilities, not just their cultivation level, but also individual talents.

As for the specifics, Sun Xiaoqing wasn't quite clear, but Sun Wukong wasn't planning to manage these affairs, either. As long as the development of Flower-Fruit Mountain was on the right track, that would suffice for him. He would oversee everything from a global perspective, letting Leng Xuan, Sun Wushuang, and the others worry about these matters.

Besides Flower-Fruit Mountain's affairs, Sun Xiaoqing talked most about Luo Bai and Leng Xuan. It was obvious that Luo Bai had taken a liking to Sun Xiaoqing, following her around all day and trying to make her happy in various ways. Leng Xuan seemed to treat Sun Xiaoqing differently from others.

Of course, this was all inferred by Sun Wukong from Sun Xiaoqing's words. Although the girl had grown mature in stature, she remained quite naive emotionally and didn't notice anything unusual. While Sun Wukong picked up on these hints, he didn't say anything. He was quite a novice when it came to romance himself, hence he preferred not to meddle in the affairs of the little fox spirit Sun Xiaoqing.

However, no matter who Sun Xiaoqing chose in the future, they would have to pass his test, that much was certain.

After the feast, Sun Xiaoqing left contentedly. Sun Wukong reminded her not to leak out the news of his "emergence from the retreat." Having absorbed the stellar spiritual energy underground, Sun Wukong now was on the verge of a breakthrough, but he wasn't planning to advance to Taiyi Golden Immortal yet. With three years still to go, he decided to solidify his foundations a bit more.

Generally, advancing from Taiyi Scattered Immortal to Taiyi Golden Immortal didn't necessitate transcending a tribulation, but Sun Wukong had a hunch that his ascension would trigger a heavenly tribulation. Though it was just a feeling, at Sun Wukong's level, no spiritual sense reaction was without cause; there was a high likelihood that he would face a heavenly tribulation upon breaking through.

For this reason, he couldn't rush his breakthrough. He planned to delay his ascension as long as possible, using it as a contingency during an insurmountable crisis. When the catastrophe descended, apart from him, everyone else involved would be embroiled in the disaster, potentially becoming a trump card to turn the tide of battle.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye. Aside from Sun Xiaoqing visiting Sun Wukong twice, the members of the demon cult at Flower-Fruit Mountain were unaware that their Beautiful Monkey King had already finished his retreat. The fateful day had finally arrived.

Within the depths of Water Curtain Cave Heaven, a chilly wind suddenly arose, accompanied by eerie music. Sun Wukong, who was sitting cross-legged, felt a wave of dizziness and couldn't help but be alert.

"It's here!"

The Eight-Nine Profound Skill activated, expelling the dizziness from his body. Sun Wukong pretended to pass out and slumped onto the bed.

A gray vortex appeared on the ground, and two figures slowly floated up through it. One dressed in black held a black-and-white banner, the other in white held chains and a mourning staff—it was the Soul-Reaping Messengers Black and White Impermanence from the Netherworld.

"Strange, why isn't it the Ox-Head and Horse-Face this time? Instead, it's a pair of sobbing faces."