Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"Ao Guang, old bro, look at all these magical weapons and treasures; I can't carry them all by myself..."

Half a day later, Sun Wukong looked at the array of weapons and magical treasures filling the hall of the Dragon Palace, his face excited as he licked his lips.

"Great King, since they can't all be taken, how about taking as much as we can manage?"

The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, Ao Guang, brightened up and immediately spoke.

"No way, no way, how can that be?"

Sun Wukong immediately shook his head, "This is the heartfelt gift of the four Dragon Kings, old brothers. If I don't take them all, how could I honor your kind intentions!"

Kind intentions my foot!

The Dragon Kings of the Eastern Sea cursed inwardly non-stop, their hearts bleeding. These weapons and magical treasures were all scavenged from their Four Seas Dragon Palaces, at least of magic artifact grade and above. Sun Wukong had nearly cleared a third of the treasure from the Four Seas Dragon Palaces in one go. These treasures had taken them years and much effort to amass.

How could they not feel pained!

If it weren't for the fact that they knew they couldn't defeat Sun Wukong, they'd have torn this monkey to pieces to eat!

"How about this, Ao Qin, old bro, don't you have a replica Qiankun Bag? Just give it to me too. With it, we can definitely hold everything!"

"How do you know I have a Qiankun Bag?"

"Heh heh, a wise man has his own clever schemes. Don't worry about it, old bro Ao Qin; just hand over the Qiankun Bag!"

The news that the Southern Sea Dragon King, Ao Qin, possessed a replica Qiankun Bag was something Sun Wukong had heard when he was seeking scriptures in his previous lifetime. It was just a bluff, and unexpectedly, Ao Qin really honorably handed it over!

Of course, a replica Qiankun Bag can't compare to a real one, which can contain everything even the entire heavens and earth, but its space is still immensely vast. It could fit two big mountains without a problem, not to mention these weapons and magical treasures. Since obtaining this treasure, Ao Qin of the Southern Sea had never mentioned it to anyone.

Now it was exposed by Sun Wukong, and you can imagine the shock in his heart, even suspecting if there was a spy for Sun Wukong inside the Southern Sea Dragon Palace.

"Hey, what are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and hand over the Qiankun Bag! I'm in a hurry to pack stuff!"

Sun Wukong nudged the Southern Sea Dragon King, Ao Qin, with his elbow, eyeing him intently, his expression becoming impatient, "Or do you want me to take it myself?"

"I'll hand it over! I'll hand it!"

The Southern Sea Dragon King, Ao Qin, gave in, his face grim as he reluctantly handed over the replica Qiankun Bag into Sun Wukong's hands.

"That's more like it!"

Sun Wukong patted Ao Qin on the shoulder, satisfied, "Old bro Ao Qin, you really know how to be a good person. I'm keeping my eye on you!"

While praising with his mouth, Sun Wukong's hands were busy, activating the Qiankun Bag to collect all the weapons and treasures. It seemed that the Qiankun Bag only bulged a bit; there wasn't much of a change to it.

"Tsk tsk, what a great treasure! Even a replica is this powerful. No wonder that rascal Six-Eared Macaque was out of luck against King Huangmei in that small Thunder Sound Temple, he could only look everywhere for help!"

Sun Wukong mused internally. At the summit of Spiritual Mountain, he had been tricked by Tathagata Buddha, and Six-Eared Macaque, assuming his identity, continued to escort Tang Seng to the west.

All these later events were known to him from memories of another spacetime, where King Huangmei from the small Thunder Sound Temple, having stolen the Qiankun Bag from Maitreya Buddha, left Six-Eared Macaque in total disarray, forcing him to seek help from everywhere.

Sun Wukong had always felt it was an exaggeration; after all, Six-Eared Macaque, with methods no different from his own past life's strength, should not have been so easily defeated. But having seen the power of this replica Qiankun Bag, Sun Wukong now believed it.

The power of a genuine Qiankun Bag is probably several times stronger than this replica, capable of containing all creations within it, let alone people. King Huangmei calling it a "people bag" is an insult to the grand name of Ruyi Qiankun Bag!

"Thanks to the four Dragon King old brothers for your generous gifts; you're making me feel a little embarrassed!"

"Not at all, not at all, it was our fault in the first place. This is just a token to apologize, no trouble at all!"

The Four Seas Dragon Kings forced smiles, all the while cursing silently. What embarrassment? You have a face as thick as a city wall, monkey; where's the embarrassment in that?

"By the way, today's event was just a small jest among friends. Since it's been amicably resolved, there's no need for the four old brothers to worry about undue complications. I don't tolerate any nonsense, and I surely don't want to hear any rumors..."

Having packed the weapons and treasures, Sun Wukong stashed the Qiankun Bag inside his clothing, and after drinking a few glasses of the jadescent nectar from the Dragon Palace, he got up to leave. However, as he reached the palace gate, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Ao Guang and his companions with a half-smiling, half-serious expression.

"Rest assured, Great King, there absolutely won't be any rumors!"

"Rest assured, rest assured!"

Ao Guang and his companions instantly understood and quickly voiced their assurances. Only then did Sun Wukong nod his head in satisfaction, his figure flickering as he left the barrier of the Eastern Sea Palace, swimming above the surface of the sea.

"Big brother, are we really going to swallow this anger and say nothing?"

"Yes, big brother, let's report it to the Heavenly Court, and ask His Majesty the Jade Emperor to adjudicate! I don't believe that a mere minor demon can turn the heavens upside down!"

Watching as Sun Wukong's figure disappeared, the smiles on the faces of the three Dragon Kings of the Southern Sea vanished without a trace, and they furiously started to growl at Ao Guang. They had originally been invited by Ao Guang to a feast, but instead, they had been extorted by Sun Wukong, which really stung!

Especially for Ao Qin, the Southern Sea Dragon King, who even had his Qiankun Bag snatched. It was not just a sting; it was like a pain in his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys!

"Report to the Heavenly Court? Have you forgotten the words the monkey spoke as he left? That was a threat!"

Ao Guang, the Eastern Sea Dragon King, looked grimly at his three brothers and coldly said, "The fact that he could immediately tell that you had a Qiankun Bag, second brother, shows how deeply he knows about our Four Seas. If we really were to petition the Heavenly Court, I fear the monkey would attack us even before the Heavenly Court could send troops!"

After a pause, Ao Guang smiled wryly, "My three wise brothers, do any of you think you could withstand that monkey?"

"This..."

Ao Qin and the others exchanged glances, finding themselves at a loss for words. Previously, just the oppressive aura of Sun Wukong had made them dare not move; if it really came to a fight, they feared none could match him even for a single exchange. How could they possibly block him?

"But, are we just going to let it go? I really can't swallow this insult!"

Ao Qin, his face a mix of coldness and ferocity, growled, unwilling to give up. The other treasures were tolerable losses, but that Ruyi Qiankun Bag was precious to him. Although it was a replica, it possessed the level of an Acquired Spiritual Treasure. Just like that, Sun Wukong had snatched it away—who could easily accept that?

"Second brother, forbear for a while, this matter won't end just like this!"

A glint flashed in Ao Guang's eyes, "That monkey is powerful and acts ostentatiously. He will surely offend other forces. When he accumulates enough enemies, we will find an opportunity to report him to the Heavenly Court together. I'm not afraid the Jade Emperor won't send troops. When he's surrounded by formidable enemies, he won't have time to focus solely on us!"

The three brothers nodded on hearing this, their anger somewhat abated. They followed Ao Guang back towards the Crystal Palace, completely unaware that a sea fish had been poking its head out from a nearby crevice, eavesdropping on their conversation.

As they returned to the Crystal Palace, the fish swished its tail and swam outwards, transforming back into its original form after several li—it was Sun Wukong himself.

"Four dimwits, standing right at the front gate chatting, don't they know walls have ears?"

A sneer crossed Sun Wukong's lips as he muttered under his breath, his heart finally at ease. He had threatened them before leaving because he was worried that the Four Seas Dragon Kings would report him to the Heavenly Court. Moreover, he had circled back in the form of a fish to eavesdrop.

It seemed his forceful display had indeed intimidated the four old Dragon Kings, and he likely wouldn't have any problems for a while.

Sailing away from the sea, Sun Wukong mounted his Somersault Cloud and flew towards Flower-Fruit Mountain. From a distance, he saw a convoy headed towards Flower-Fruit Mountain loaded with Spiritual Valley; the enforcers were Sun Wushuang and Sun Tong, accompanied by a human man.

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, but Sun Wukong did not descend from the cloud. Instead, he continued to fly into Flower-Fruit Mountain and landed his cloud in front of Water Curtain Cave Heaven. Greeted by a crowd of small demons, he entered the Water Curtain Cave Heaven.

Shortly afterward, the convoy escorted by Sun Wushuang and his group arrived, and bags of Spiritual Valley were carried into the Water Curtain Cave Heaven.

"Great King, the task is accomplished; this is the batch of Spiritual Valley."

Seeing Sun Wukong seated on his throne, Sun Wushuang and Sun Tong hurriedly stepped forward to report and perform their salutations.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Sun Wukong nodded, praised the two of them, and turned his attention to the young human man surrounded by little demons. This man possessed cultivation, had reached the realm of Ghost Immortal, and faced both him and the entire cave's Demon Clan without any sign of fear, maintaining a gentle smile. Intuition told Sun Wukong that this young man was no ordinary person!

"Great King, this is a person recommended by Taoist Heavenly Wood to help us establish management rules,"

Sun Tong whispered to Sun Wukong's ear.

"A person recommended by Heavenly Wood?"

A glint shot through Sun Wukong's eyes. He waved his hand, and the small demons quickly prepared a table filled with assorted fruits and fine wines, inviting the young man to join the feast.

The young man was named Leng Xuan, a wandering Taoist who had stayed at the Heavenly Wood Taoist Temple a few days ago. Hearing that the Flower-Fruit Mountain Demon Clan wanted to establish a set of reward and punishment rules, he volunteered and was sent by Taoist Heavenly Wood as a friendly gesture to Sun Wushuang and Sun Tong, subsequently arriving at Flower-Fruit Mountain.

After a brief introduction by Sun Wushuang and Sun Tong, a gleam of gold flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes. He discreetly activated his Void-Breaking Divine Eye and carefully observed Leng Xuan. Suddenly, his heart stirred, and his eyes narrowed slightly:

"You, are you a half-demon of mixed Human and Demon Clan blood?"