The Hero Returns

Act 3

Wenchang Jun and the other soldiers of the Heavenly World all forgot to breathe.

The Great Sage Heaven's Equal descended from the sky to make his grand entrance. The sense of presence this one creature exuded was more than enough to instantly overwhelm the Heavenly World's army that gathered in this place.

Only one being remained unaffected by the pressure—the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly God, Li Jing. He was the father of someone who had fought against Sun Wukong for a long time, Prince Nezha.

"I've heard many stories about you. You must be the younger brother of the Bull Demon King, Great Sage Heaven's Equal."

"And who might you be, old man?"

This was Sun Wukong's first time meeting the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. The latter belonged to the generation of gods that came well before the former decided to wage war against the Heavenly World.

"I'm called the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. Indeed, this occasion is our first meeting. How is the Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven these days?"

"Eh? Are you acquainted with my big brother?"

"We are, indeed."

"I thought as much, what with you being so old and all. Which means you're now at the age where your back is giving you trouble and even your bones are withering away, too. Old man, you should just run back home now. If you twist your hip or something at your age, it's gonna be really hard to mend that."

Sun Wukong deliberately tried to provoke the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

He almost never bothered to use his head during normal times, but at least when it came to battles, his brain spun so fast that one could even label him a demonic genius.

He already figured out that this Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King was unlike most other opponents and shouldn't be rushed at without a plan. So, he chose to use cheap provocations to disrupt the other's mental state.

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King chuckled. "I've already lived a lengthy and fulfilling life, so dying today would mean it's an honorable end for me. What is there to fear when I'm about to dedicate my last breaths for the glory of the Heavenly World? Besides…" The light burning in the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's eyes, plus the tone of his voice, transformed in an instant. "I always wanted to fight you at least once, too."

"Oh, is that so?"

Pahk—

Spiiiin—

Sun Wukong yanked out the Ruyi Jingu Bang stabbed into the ground and, while grinning brightly, began spinning the pole in his hand. "You know, I also want to have a go at you, old man. Looks like you and I are alike in at least one aspect."

Crack, crackle—

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King slowly cracked his knuckles. Unlike his snow-white beard and hair, plus countless wrinkles dominating his face, his entire figure didn't seem all that different from his prime.

"I heard that you were fighting Lord Erlang Shen."

Before the battle commenced…

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King recalled the news he heard just now about Sun Wukong fighting Erlang Shen somewhere else and had to ask that question.

"Oh, that punk?"

Pahk—

Sun Wukong gripped the spinning Ruyi Jingu Bang in one hand and replied, "That guy must be really pissed off by now."

* * *

Stab—

Erlang Shen's guandao stabbed deeply into the heart of the Great Sage Heaven's Equal.

It was a truly satisfying attack, one that was more than enough to divide oceans and cleave mountains in half. No one alive would believe that they can evade or block this attack.

"What?"

However, the guandao-wielding Erlang Shen didn't feel that way.

For a while now, he found this situation too strange. Even if this attack was difficult to dodge, similar attacks had been exchanged countless times with the Great Sage Heaven's Equal during their numerous battles against up until now.

If it was anyone else, it was fine, but Sun Wukong, proclaimed as heaven's equal, not blocking this attack was too strange to behold.

"Could it be…?" he thought.

The moment that thought popped up in Erlang Shen's mind…

"Got you."

Sun Wukong, who was suffering from that "grievous wound," suddenly smirked and poked his tongue out.

Poof—!

His body with the guandao stabbed deeply in his chest went "poof!" and turned into a puff of smoke. Erlang Shen slowly lowered his pole weapon at this development.

"Ha…"

He covered his face with one hand. Although he wasn't the type to smile often, he couldn't hold back his laughter this time.

Ha, hahaha!

But then, his laughter came to an abrupt end as if it was all a lie. Only a blink of time was needed for his dismayed laughter to morph into pure rage.

"You…Damn dirty ape dare to…"

Grit—

That was a clone.

He had been wondering why this Great Sage Heaven's Equal felt different from the one he was familiar with. Something about it seemed to be lacking and not quite good enough—and here was the reason.

Its combat capability had been enhanced sharply by keeping its overall number of clones low, but in the end, a clone was still a clone.

"If his clone was here, then…"

Erlang Shen's glare shifted behind him.

The long crater left behind by Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang continued into the Heavenly World's capital city, stretching to a far-off distance.

"By using a clone and its Ruyi Jingu Bang, they infiltrated the city's interior right away and then used that very clone to lure me here." Erlang Shen promptly analyzed the situation. "It can't be a plan cooked up by Great Sage Heaven's Equal, in other words."

There was no doubting Sun Wukong's combat prowess. He was so strong that despite declaring war against the Heavenly World alone, he still managed to fight for 15 days straight.

But when it came to thinking up strategies, he was worse than some random foot soldier. No, never mind "worse," it would be more correct to say he was too slow-witted to come up with one.

That's why Erlang Shen began thinking this way while observing the current situation. "It must be that human, isn't it?"

The human who killed Prince Nezha—it could very well be that he was far more dangerous than the Great Sage Heaven's Equal.

* * *

Ka-boooom—!

Kwa-dudududu—

The gigantic Ruyi Jingu Bang cleaved the center of the Heavenly World. The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, Li Jing, dodged the attack, and while wielding a sword in each hand, he quickly closed in on Sun Wukong's location.

Piiit, pii-iiit—

CLANG—!

Sun Wukong's fist and Li Jing's twin swords collided.

Even though it was only Sun Wukong's bare fist, the resulting noise sounded as if the collision was made by weapons made of hardened steel. Of course, that didn't mean Sun Wukong's hand was unaffected by the impact.

Buzz—

The impact force transmitted through his hand was rather considerable.

Bang—!

Sun Wukong smacked away the twin swords with his fist. The old man's speed was amazing, and his movements were also unpredictable. On top of this, his skill with the blades was second only to someone Sun Wukong knew pretty well.

"Hey, old man…How are you related to that fool, Nezha?"

Squeeze—

Sun Wukong clenched his fist tightly and hid how he felt the impact in his hand. That attack just now gave him the impression that he had come across something similar many times before.

"We were father and son."

"I'm guessing you taught him how to swing a sword, too?"

"Indeed, that is so. Before my son became the God of War, I was the previous one."

"I knew it! Makes total sense."

Strictly speaking, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's way with the sword was a lot different from Prince Nezha's. That's because the latter simply used his father's swordsmanship technique as a foundation to create and master his own unique style.

Nevertheless, that vague trace of old habits or the basics would remain in the end.

"By the way, looks like you're running out of breath, old man. You know that too, don't you?"

Grip—

Sun Wukong spoke as he gripped the Ruyi Jingu Bang after it reverted to its normal size. "Even if you ate the Peach and extended your life, you still can't hide your age unless you've become a true immortal like me or a real Taoist god."

"…"

The skillset of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly God was indeed worthy of praise. As befitting the previous generation's God of War, he was able to fight on even terms against the one and only Great Sage Heaven's Equal.

However, that was about it.

Sun Wukong enjoyed a near-infinite amount of energy and a body that could not be killed. If they fought during Li Jing's prime, then the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly God might have won somehow, but for the current him, achieving victory would be very difficult.

Not only that…

"Sorry about this, old man. But you see, I don't have time to leisurely fight against you."

"Sorry about this, old man. But you see…"

"Sorry about this…"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

His voice echoed from all directions.

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King immediately scanned his surroundings, an expression of astonishment etched on his face. Dozens upon dozens of "Sun Wukongs" surrounded him. They were all clones, with the real body hidden among them.

"So, this is…That rumored cloning technique."

Li Jing had heard a lot about this technique that allowed the Great Sage Heaven's Equal to wage war against the entirety of the Heavenly World all by himself.

For sure, now that Sun Wukong resorted to using his cloning technique, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing wouldn't be able to fight him alone.

"Everything you said is indeed correct, but hear me out, oh Great Sage. You have overlooked one thing."

"What did I overlook, then?"

The clones spoke up all at the same time, causing Li Jing's ears to ring loudly. He chuckled in amusement at this bizarre spectacle. "We're standing on the Heavenly World. And I am a proud warrior of the Heavenly World, so my duty is to defeat you, Great Sage Heaven's Equal."

"What can you do with small fries, though?"

"No, not the small fries, but…"

Slice—

Poof—!

One of Sun Wukong's clones was sliced in half and exploded into a puff of smoke.

"Well, a much better general than this old man has shown up, as you can see."

"Sun—Wu—kooooong—!"

Jiii-iiiing—

A loud roar reverberated along with that strike.

The voice itself was familiar, but Sun Wukong had never heard it roar that loudly before. He smiled awkwardly and raised his head toward the source of the voice. "Oh, hey man. You came sooner than I thought."

Sun Wukong formed a troubled expression next. He scratched his cheek with an awkward grin, but then, his eyes narrowed to sharp slits and quickly wielded the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

Whoosh—

Swiiish, claaaaang—!

With the spot Sun Wukong was standing on as the center, a massive amount of energy flooded out to the surroundings.

Soon afterward, two people's auras collided, causing the ground below to crack apart and crumble from the ripples of these two incredible powers.

"I finally caught you."

"Peek-a-boo! So am I 'it' now?"

Pah-ahck—

"Extend, Ruyi."

Sun Wukong deflected Erlang Shen's guandao and extended the Ruyi Jingu Bang toward the sky. The latter glared at the former, his whole body emanating a dense fighting spirit.

Sun Wukong thought inwardly, "Wow, he's really ticked off, isn't he?"

But then again, that made perfect sense.

Erlang Shen rushed to the gates to defeat Sun Wukong, only for his quarry to turn out to be a clone. On top of this, Sun Wukong did provoke him just now to piss him off even further.

"Erlang Shen and this old man I haven't heard of before," he mused.

Sun Wukong's gaze shifted over to the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. This warrior claimed to be the former God of War and Prince Nezha's father.

Even though he had to step away from the limelight due to his advanced age, there's no doubting his outstanding skills.

As proof, even Sun Wukong himself needed some time to subdue the old man.

"Even if it's me, fighting both Erlang Shen and this old man at the same time is too much," he thought.

To top it all off, most of the Heavenly World's generals should get here sooner or later. Sun Wukong could conceivably fight them all off using his cloning technique, but this whole thing would only end up a carbon copy of the events from 500 years ago.

"Well, at this point, you probably won't fight me one on one even if I ask nicely, so…" Sun Wukong contemplated his options for a bit and began scratching his head in dissatisfaction. "I guess there's no helping it, then."

"Sun Wukong—!"

Erlang Shen wielded his guandao and rushed straight at Sun Wukong.

Fwhooosh—

Boooom—

Craaaack—!

His polearm scythed through the air and split apart the Heavenly World's ground. Sun Wukong dodged that attack by tilting his body at a bizarre angle, but then, the twin swords belonging to the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King flew in next.

Swish, whoosh—

Clang, clang—!

Sun Wukong's clone swung its Ruyi Jingu Bang to deflect the twin swords. Dozens of clones surrounded Li Jing next, but he proceeded to cut them down one by one.

In the meantime, Erlang Shen gave chase to the fleeing Sun Wukong who had promptly seized this opening.

"Are you running away again?!"

"What do you mean, again? If the others hear you, they'll think I run away all the time, man!"

Veins bulged on Sun Wukong's forehead. However, there was not much he could do even if he felt wronged here. It was indeed him trying to avoid a frontal confrontation while using his clones and luring Erlang Shen away, after all.

"Hey, what are you going to do about this?" Sun Wukong asked in a seemingly angry tone.

That question was directed at neither Erlang Shen nor the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

"It can't be…"

Erlang Shen felt a deathly chill run down his spine.

This feeling was almost at the level of primal instincts. Right at that moment, Erlang Shen yanked out a shortsword mounted on his left hip.

Whoosh—

Ka-claaaang—!

His shortsword flew to collide against a longsword. Erlang Shen felt the considerable weight behind the strike and frowned deeply, which was unlike him. He glared at the human opponent who suddenly appeared.

"What do you mean, what?"

Creaaak, creak—

Su-hyeun glanced at Sun Wukong and then at the rest of the Heavenly World's generals before raising his voice. "We should see this thing to the end."