The stone monkey transformed into a bolt of lightning with a laugh, shattering the roof and soaring into the sky before crashing down heavily.
The pile of straw beneath was obliterated into pieces, scattering clouds of dust.
As the dust settled, a figure emerged amidst the cracked ground.
A furry face resembling the Thunder God, wearing a Seven-Star Crown on its head, a Golden Chain Mail on its body, Cloud-Walking Boots on its feet, and wielding a dragon-and-phoenix-engraved Golden Cudgel in its hand.
This was Sun Wukong in his form as the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
"Hahaha, Grandpa Sun finally remembers!"
The short-statured monkey, with an extraordinarily ferocious laugh, stretched its muscles and roared with laughter.
After laughing, its eyes flashed, locking onto Aslan.
"Heh, clearly bearing the form of a Savior God, yet shrouded in an invisible black aura, and the Gods utterly despise you."
"You're quite the villain."
At this point, it muttered to itself.
"Strange, the Keeper of the Horses' seal has mostly vanished on its own?"
It talked to itself.
"It seems you're the ones watching over this Grandpa Sun, huh?"
Though it spoke to itself, its eyes seemed to peer into a deep, distant place.
"No worries, settling scores with you lot is for later. For now, this Grandpa Sun needs to deal with this Outer Demon God first!"
As it spoke, it raised its Ru Yi Bang, staring sharply at Aslan, who was clad in silver-white armor.
"Hehe, hold on a moment. Let Grandpa Sun handle some trivial matters first."
Hearing this, Aslan was momentarily stunned, looking at it with an odd expression.
"Why do you think I'd give you time?"
"Heh, do you think this Grandpa Sun didn't see what you're up to? You're searching for their traces, aren't you?"
Sun Wukong chuckled.
"If you defeat this Grandpa Sun, I'll give you all the coordinates of the Domain of Immortality I know. How about that?"
Sun Wukong answered thus. At this moment, it seemed to hear the curses of countless ancient Gods hiding in the Domain of Immortality.
But for some reason, it felt even more delighted.
Only a God deeply dissatisfied with mythology would choose to descend to the world and become a Heretic God. He, Sun Wukong, was extremely dissatisfied with this mythology.
Moreover, bound by the Keeper of the Horses, he knew it was the doing of those ancient Gods.
"Alright."
Aslan agreed to Sun Wukong's deal.
"This makes me somewhat admire you. You do seem like the Great Sage Equaling Heaven."
Aslan narrowed his eyes slightly, but his intent to kill Sun Wukong wouldn't waver.
He was merely giving it a bit more preparation time.
Sun Wukong glanced at Luo Hao beside him, then at Athena outside the Netherworld, clapping its hands and laughing.
"One God Slayer, one Heretic God. Perfect match."
As it spoke, it chanted an incantation loudly.
"I, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, by the Oath of Brotherhood, let my brothers manifest!"
"Come forth, Second Brother, Zhu Ganglie!"
A man with a wild boar's head, fat and prosperous, wielding a Nine-Toothed Rake, emerged from the void.
"Here, here. Big Brother only knows how to boss people around."
Sun Wukong glared at him, then continued shouting.
"Come forth, Third Brother, Sha Wujing!"
A bald monk with fiery red hair, a blood-smeared face with fangs, wearing a skull necklace and tattered robes, also appeared.
"Big Brother."
After summoning his two sworn brothers, Sun Wukong's magical power drastically weakened, but his fighting spirit soared.
"Two Brothers, please hold off the God Slayer and the Earth Goddess inside and outside the Netherworld. Give me space to fight!"
Hearing this, Zhu Bajie chuckled and swung his rake at Luo Hao.
"Pretty lady, let this Old Pig face you."
Luo Hao's face darkened, and she slapped Zhu Bajie away with deep resentment.
Not being able to fight Sun Wukong truly frustrated her. What to do when frustrated? Vent.
Instantly, countless palm shadows struck Zhu Bajie. Two vajras even kicked him like a ball.
Luo Hao spoke to Aslan with great displeasure.
"Leave that monkey to my husband."
Hearing this, Aslan nodded and looked at Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong glanced at Aslan, leaped, and transformed into a golden light, vanishing instantly.
Aslan frowned, his body flashed, and he disappeared from his spot.
He abandoned the idea of toying with Sun Wukong through space. He decided to crush it fairly head-on.
Otherwise, it would provoke too much resentment, and even Sister Monkey might not be too pleased.
He knew a bit about hand-to-hand combat. After all, he had been trained and educated by Scathach.
Though his path veered slightly, and he couldn't become a true warrior, his physique, comparable to a Star Spirit, could still be unleashed.
On a barren piece of land in the Netherworld, Sun Wukong landed on a cliff, slightly surprised to see Aslan suddenly appear.
"Spatial Divine Authority? You're not planning to toy with this Grandpa Sun, are you?"
"No. I said I'd crush you fairly, so I'll crush you fairly!"
Aslan said, a faint golden flame shadow appearing on his body. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Sun Wukong.
"Not planning to use The Great Ritual of the Old Covenant yet?"
"Yohó, seems you want to see it too. Fine, today I'll let you witness it!"
Sun Wukong laughed heartily, standing on one leg at the cliff's edge, stomping his foot, and chanting loudly.
"Gods of Heaven and Earth, honor the ancient covenant, grant me power!"
With the incantation came an overwhelming surge of divine power. Simultaneously, Sun Wukong let out an unbearable cry of pain.
"It hurts!"
Visible to the naked eye, Sun Wukong's magical power swelled continuously, hundreds, thousands of times over.
Faintly, it seemed a human figure made entirely of golden threads hovered behind Sun Wukong, concealing strands of pathways in its body.
"This? Grandpa Sun's getting so many gifts from the Gods?"
Sun Wukong, recovering from the pain, felt his magical power swell thousands of times, looked up at Aslan, his face showing shock.
"How many Gods have you killed?"
"Hmm…"
Aslan tapped his chin, pondering for a moment.
"Don't know. Just dismantled a few Domains of Immortality. The Gods inside… weren't counted."
As he spoke, Aslan looked at him oddly.
"Do you remember how many peaches you've eaten?"
Sun Wukong's Fiery Golden Eyes, amplified to their limit by magical power, finally saw Aslan's actions.
A book filled with age was recording… no, plundering mythology.
Domains of Immortality were thrown into a grinding mill, forcibly crushed into ink. The Gods? They were powerless to resist, at best adding a touch of lamentation to the ink.
The heavy information, clearly seen by Fiery Golden Eyes, enraged Sun Wukong and made his blood boil.
"Demon! Truly a demon!"
"It seems today this Grandpa Sun will act on behalf of the true Heaven."
He unleashed his swollen magical power and laughed heartily.
"Come, demon! Let this Grandpa Sun see your power!"
With those words, the Ru Yi Bang, blessed with the weight of a continent, was swung with full force.
At lightning speed, a strike aimed at Aslan's head!
The Ru Yi Bang fell toward his head. The highly concentrated magical power even distorted space and time, trying to lock Aslan's movements.
But at that moment, Aslan raised his hand expressionlessly and gently touched it.
The Ru Yi Bang, condensing the mass of a continent, was halted by Aslan's touch, then grasped.
He slammed it left and right, dizzying Sun Wukong.
"You brute. Just how strong is your physique?"
Sun Wukong retrieved his now slightly flattened Ru Yi Bang, speaking in shock.
The golden light, blessed by the Gods' power, nearly condensed the mass of a continent under the magical amplification.
Yet under this blessing, it was still flattened in Aslan's hand.
(Even Old Man Buddha's Golden Body might not match this guy's physique.)
Sun Wukong sneered inwardly.
In his mind, Aslan was now not far off from Old Man Buddha, at least that monk couldn't lift a planet.
It seemed he couldn't compete in raw strength next. He'd have to fight evasively and find openings.
As Sun Wukong strategized, Aslan, waiting for him to recover his weapon, spoke with an admiring tone.
"Not bad. I'd say you're about equal to me three hours after gaining Divinity."
At that time, Aslan had just returned from an apocalyptic world. Under the observation of the Little Garden's Central Core, he achieved many feats, and his Spirit Status was strengthened to surpass Five-Digit standards.
Sun Wukong was roughly at that level now.
Hearing this, Sun Wukong fell silent. Because Aslan didn't seem to be lying.
Is this an Outer Demon God? Just a few hours after gaining Divinity, already possessing power comparable to him after being blessed by the Gods?
But this wouldn't make him retreat. It only fueled his excitement, boosting his fighting spirit even more.
When had the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, who defied Heaven and Earth, ever backed down?
"Though I don't know what your praise means, since it's praise, this Grandpa Sun accepts it."
Sun Wukong said, his body gradually turning bronze. Two heads emerged on his left and right cheeks, followed by four new arms.
The Divine Authority of the Three-Headed, Six-Armed Steel Body!
Using two Divine Authorities at once—Sun Wukong recalled doing so only three times before.
Nezha, Yang Jian, and the Dharma Protector King Lingguan.
And Aslan was the fourth, and he felt this was the strongest.
He unleashed his Divine Authority with unprecedented magical power. Yet even so, Sun Wukong, with his Fiery Golden Eyes open, had to sigh.
"Even like this, this Grandpa Sun still can't see the limit of your power?"
He could only tell his opponent was extremely strong, but how strong, he couldn't discern at all.
He couldn't even gauge how many times stronger his opponent was compared to him.
"Truly unprecedented and unheard of."
While admiring, Sun Wukong swung his weapon and leaped forward on his Kinton Cloud.
He didn't like trickery. All he excelled at was direct combat.
Just an incomprehensibly strong opponent, right? Face him head-on!
Two fists against six arms. A cruel smile appeared on Aslan's face.
He used both hands to tear with force. A colossal strength capable of ripping apart stars directly tore off the two heads and four arms Sun Wukong had transformed.
Sun Wukong's shocked eyes seemed to say, Impossible, how could there be such terrifying strength?
But before Sun Wukong could recover from his shock, Aslan produced a golden fireball in his hand.
"Eh? Even the True Samadhi Fire might not burn this Grandpa Sun. You think this unknown fire can burn me to death?"
Sun Wukong mocked. Didn't he know he was thrown into Lao Jun's Eight Trigrams Furnace and burned by the Six Ding Divine Fire for 49 days without change?
*SWOOSH!*
The fire landed on Sun Wukong's body. Almost instantly, before he could react, he was burned to ash without the slightest resistance.
Seeing Sun Wukong not rise again, Aslan's faint explanation echoed.
"This is called Golden Wing Flame. I learned it from Karyou."
Sun Wukong's eyes turned gray and white. Before vanishing, he forced himself to ask with his last breath.
"Who's Karyou?"
After speaking, his last trace of existence burned away. The golden flames slowly consumed space and time.