Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"Indeed, that sinner indeed said so! Hateful, so hateful!"

Roaring full of infinite hatred, the voice echoed from the spatial passage. Sun Wukong's face changed as this fellow claiming to be Amitabha Buddha actually roared out loud this time, not merely transmitting his thoughts. He heard it so clearly at the mouth of this passage; how could the experts of the Buddhist sect not notice it?

"Damn it, you bastard, you have doomed old Sun!"
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A flash of anger crossed his eyes, Sun Wukong turned to leave, but a divine transmission from the spatial passage stopped him: "Fellow Daoist, do not hurry, listen to my words once more!"

"What else do you want to say? Old Sun has been doomed by you!"

Sun Wukong roared angrily. The earlier turbulence would definitely alarm the people of the Buddhist sect, and Buddha could arrive at any moment. This was no place to linger; he had to leave quickly!

"I truly am Amitabha Buddha. It was that sinner Tathagata who conspired against me, imprisoning me here, using me to extract my merit and Dao fruits. What he desires most are my Buddha Spirit Path Traces, and he has exhausted all means for them over these years! I do not know how much longer I can hold on, and I truly do not wish for the Buddha Spirit Path Trace to fall into the sinner's hands!

Since you have come today, it must be fate. I am willing to give the Buddha Spirit Path Trace to you. If one day you have the ability, please cleanse this deceitful and unfilial sinner for me. Even if I truly perish here, I would have no regrets. Would you be willing?"

Amitabha Buddha's words left Sun Wukong stunned. Buddha Spirit Path Trace? What is that? Is it valuable?

Hmm, even Tathagata Buddha is deeply coveting it, it must be quite valuable. Amitabha Buddha is actually willing to give it to me?

A strange light flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes as he stroked his chin and said, "Are you truly willing to give that Buddha Spirit Path Trace to old Sun? Are there no other conditions?"

"None! The only condition is that you make a vow to avenge me when you have the strength!"

Amitabha Buddha's reply was categorical. Sun Wukong did not hesitate anymore and directly made an oath with his lifeblood essence: "Alright, old Sun swears to the heavens, having received the gift of the Buddha Spirit Path Trace from Amitabha Buddha today, should I have the opportunity one day, I must slay the old Tathagata to avenge him. If I violate this oath, may heaven and humanity abandon me!"

"Good! Good! Fellow Daoist indeed has a resolute nature; I have not misjudged you!"

Amitabha Buddha had only wanted Sun Wukong to make a vow as a consolation, but Sun Wukong was so straightforward in initiating the life-threatening blood oath. His attitude was beyond reproach, greatly comforting Amitabha Buddha's heart, leaving no trace of hesitation as he released the Buddha Spirit Path Trace.

A Swastika Rune, shimmering with a faint golden light, flew out from the spatial passage towards Sun Wukong. It directly entered his body through his forehead and settled into his niwanyuan center. Sun Wukong closed his eyes to sense it and felt nothing amiss. Of course, he didn't have time to feel it slowly now, as a sound of tearing through the air arose outside the hall.

It seemed that Amitabha Buddha's roar had indeed alarmed the Buddhist sect; he had to leave quickly!

He retrieved the Void-Breaking Divine Light back into his eyes, and the spatial passage quickly shrank back to a spatial node. Sun Wukong dashed towards the exit of the hall, but his face suddenly changed as he reached the entrance. His body abruptly halted, shooting back even faster than before.

"Boom!"

The hall's door shattered and a massive golden cymbal smashed ferociously onto the spot where Sun Wukong was about to land. Had Sun Wukong not retreated in time, he would have been decidedly smashed!

"A golden cymbal? It's Maitreya Buddha!"

Sun Wukong's pupils shrank sharply. Among the Western Buddhist Sect, apart from Tathagata Buddha, the most unfathomable was always the ever-smiling Maitreya Buddha.

His cultivation might not have completely broken through to the Heavenly Dao Saint realm like Buddha's, but he was at the peak of a half-step Saint, and combined with two magical treasures, the golden cymbal and the human seed bag, his combat power was absolutely terrifying!

He had actually been discovered by this fellow, damn it!

"Esteemed Master, isn't it a bit too bold to intrude into the Great Thunder Sound Temple of Spiritual Mountain without cause?"

Laughter rang out as the golden cymbal turned into a beam of golden light and flew back, landing in the incoming person's palm. It was indeed Maitreya Buddha, still sporting a friendly smile, yet beneath that warm gracious smile hid a profound indifference that regarded all beings as mere trifles!

"Bold your mother's head! Get out of old Sun's way!"

Extracting the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod from his ear, Sun Wukong directly launched the Heaven-Breaking Seventy-Two Sticks at Maitreya Buddha. Since he had been discovered, there was no point in hiding anything now. He attacked with full force!

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

A myriad of stick shadows bombarded Maitreya Buddha, whose smiling face momentarily stiffened, caught slightly off-guard. He had never encountered such an unceremonious individual who would start fighting without a word, and with such fierce moves right from the start!

"Golden cymbal, go!"

Dodging was already too late, Maitreya Buddha could only throw out the Golden Cymbal in his hand, which suddenly enlarged and blocked in front of him. A fierce, thunderous roar erupted as countless rod shadows struck the Golden Cymbal, sending it flying back, crashing towards Maitreya Buddha.

"What?"

Maitreya Buddha was shocked; his Golden Cymbal had actually failed to block Sun Wukong's attack! What kind of origin did this Demon Monkey have?

There was no time to think further; Maitreya Buddha withdrew towards the outside of the hall while stretching out his right hand to press on the Golden Cymbal, activating his Buddhist powers to retrieve it. Looking at it, he flew into a rage— the Golden Cymbal was covered with the marks of the staff, and in the center, a large hole had even been punched through, almost completely destroying it!

"Damned Demon Monkey, daring to destroy my magical treasure!"

Despite Maitreya Buddha's usual cheerful appearance, he was more ruthless than anyone when it came to fighting. Almost all followers of the Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain had gone to listen to the Tathagata Buddha's teachings, except him. At his level of realm, mere advice from others wouldn't improve him; he had to perfect his own Great Dao and attain sainthood on his own.

Thus, Maitreya Buddha didn't need to attend the teachings of the Tathagata Buddha. He was strolling slowly around the Great Thunder Sound Temple when he heard a low roar from the forbidden side hall and hurried over, never expecting to encounter Sun Wukong nor foreseeing that his Golden Cymbal would be broken by him!

Swish!

Sun Wukong didn't care about Maitreya Buddha's feelings. After smashing the Golden Cymbal, he immediately used the Shrinking Earth into Inches divine power, stepping right out of the grand hall's door and darting towards the temple gate of the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

"Bastard! Stop for Buddha!"

Maitreya Buddha was furious; Sun Wukong dared to smash his Golden Cymbal upon their first meeting, showing no respect for him!

With a stretch of his hand, Maitreya Buddha reached out towards the sky above Sun Wukong, forming a massive, shining golden hand that pressed down towards him.

"Mysterious Heaven Nine Transformations, White Cloud Smoke!"

Sun Wukong made no attempt to resist and, without stopping, continued to rush towards the temple gate. His body flickered and transformed into something like cloud smoke, executing the Mysterious Heaven Nine Transformations, White Cloud Smoke.

"Boom!"

Maitreya Buddha's golden hand passed through the cloud-like body of Sun Wukong and fiercely slammed into the ground, causing the entire Spiritual Mountain to violently shake, while Sun Wukong took advantage of this gap to restore his body's form several meters away and dashed through the temple's entrance.

"What's happening?"

Tathagata Buddha was sitting atop the Great Buddha Hall of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, delivering teachings when he suddenly felt the ground shake and stopped, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes. Upon calculating, his expression darkened immediately.

"Where did this Demon Monkey come from, daring to create havoc on my Spiritual Mountain!"

Sun Wukong's life trajectory was not controlled by the Heavenly Dao, and the Heavenly Dao Saint couldn't probe it using the Heavenly Dao. But now, since he was within the Great Thunder Sound Temple on Spiritual Mountain right under the eyes of the Tathagata Buddha, how could he escape unnoticed when Tathagata Buddha intended to investigate?

Immediately, his fleeing form caught the eye of Tathagata Buddha, although the Tathagata Buddha didn't know Sun Wukong's true identity and didn't expect Sun Wukong to dare to escape from the entrance of the Great Thunder Sound Temple into the Twenty-Four Heavens' Worlds!

Last time, when Tathagata Buddha sent his Dharma Body's Golden Buddha Palm through time and space to strike at Sun Wukong in Flower-Fruit Mountain, he hadn't paid much attention to Sun Wukong's appearance, and coupled with the inability to calculate, he didn't really recognize Sun Wukong's appearance, not to the extent of recognizing him at a glance.

"Amitabha, stay for me!"

Just as Sun Wukong had rushed out of the temple gate and was about to flee on his Somersault Cloud, suddenly a Buddhist chant echoed through the skies, and an even larger palm than that of Maitreya Buddha's emanated from within the Great Thunder Sound Temple and fiercely grasped at him—it was the Golden Buddha Hand of the Tathagata Buddha!

"Hmph! Did you think I, Old Sun, still fear your Buddha hand?"

A fierce gleam flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes. His cultivation allowed him to stand up to the Tathagata Buddha's Golden Buddha Palm even back when he was just a Taiyi Golden Immortal, much less now!

"Heaven-Breaking Thirty-Six Sticks!"

The power of the Tathagata Buddha's Golden Buddha Hand was not the same as Maitreya Buddha's, and Sun Wukong didn't dare to be careless, gritting his teeth and channeling all his Chaos Primordial Force through the Heaven-Breaking Thirty-Six Sticks, sending massive shadows of the rod, solid-like, towards the Golden Buddha Hand.

In the thunderous noise like muffled thunder, the Golden Buddha Hand clashed with the rod shadows in mid-air, causing Sun Wukong to spurt a mouthful of reverse blood which he fiercely swallowed back.

His Cloning Divine Powers activated, and a clone emerged from his body, taking the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod from Sun Wukong's hands, and launched another Heaven-Breaking Thirty-Six Sticks against the Golden Buddha Hand.

With the forces stacked, the Golden Buddha Hand eventually crumbled, and Sun Wukong dared not delay. Mounting his Somersault Cloud and activating Shrinking Earth into Inches divine power, he initiated Streaming Light Escape and turned into a streak of golden light, fleeing Spiritual Mountain.