Chapter 326 : The Seven Great Saints
Chapter 326: The Seven Great Saints
Jang Woo-hyun was about to head back outside, but he stopped when he remembered the words telling him to trust his companions.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage had confidently declared that he had a way.
'Then I'll trust him.'
The Wind-Passing Great Sage had become someone like a friend. Trusting the friend he had met after arriving in the Central Heavens Realm, Jang Woo-hyun stood before the Silver Sphere once more.
The moment he placed his hand on it, the surroundings changed.
Back in the modern city, Jang Woo-hyun continued walking while reading the words written across the ground.
Sometimes, the people wandering nearby would directly point him toward the path he needed to take.
As his sense of time gradually dulled, he could feel himself drawing ever deeper inside.
How much time had passed?
Rumble!
A deafening explosion echoed loudly enough to shake the entire city. An overwhelming wave of Qi swept across everything, causing even the scene before his eyes to ripple.
Jang Woo-hyun halted.
Then, as the sound of something collapsing reached his ears, he returned to reality.
The first thing he saw was a building with one side completely destroyed and the Wind-Passing Great Sage rolling across the ground.
"Kyahahahaha!"
Missing his right arm and left leg, the Wind-Passing Great Sage rolled to a stop near Jang Woo-hyun. Lying flat on the ground, he looked him in the eye.
"I tried to eat twenty sweets at once and got a stomachache! Wahahahaha!"
"What?"
This lunatic had confidently claimed he had a plan, only to come back beaten half to death before even a quarter of an hour had passed.
Watching him laugh so happily, Jang Woo-hyun let out a long sigh.
'This is my fault for trusting him.'
His faith and trust disappeared in an instant.
It had been impossible from the beginning. His opponents were three members of the Seven Great Saints who stood on the same level as him.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage had acted so confidently that Jang Woo-hyun thought he had some secret strategy, but after hearing him babble about sweets, it seemed he had simply charged in because he wanted to fight.
'Then again... he had been quiet for a while.'
Considering the Wind-Passing Great Sage's personality, he had already shown tremendous restraint.
He had only come this far because of Jang Woo-hyun. Normally, instead of retreating, he would have simply charged straight into battle.
"Can you stand?"
"Of course."
Balancing on his one remaining leg, the Wind-Passing Great Sage sprang to his feet.
"Can you still fight?"
"Of course."
As the Wind-Passing Great Sage extended his hand, a silver blade appeared.
After confirming his condition, Jang Woo-hyun looked beyond the shattered ceiling and walls toward the three Great Monsters.
The three monsters, including the Roc King, did not attack immediately.
Though they did not show it, they were all shaken.
Even fighting three against one, they had failed to overwhelm him.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage's body had been half destroyed, yet the three monsters had also suffered injuries. The Ox King had half his face crushed, while the Roc King had lost an arm. Only the Lion Camel King, whose body was by far the toughest, remained uninjured.
All three arrived at the same conclusion.
'He's gotten stronger.'
The Wind-Passing Great Sage had fought countless battles, giving him unparalleled combat instincts.
He was not necessarily the strongest, but he excelled at fighting itself.
That was the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
Now he had become even stronger.
More precisely, it was not that his raw power had increased, but that he had become far better at fighting.
The three monsters had clearly dominated the battle, and the Wind-Passing Great Sage had been torn apart.
Yet none of them felt as though they had won.
For a brief period, the Wind-Passing Great Sage had even matched all three of them at once.
"Big Brother, stop here and hand over the human."
"You think I'd do that after coming this far?"
"Even if you're our elder brother, if we keep fighting, you could die. We're still brothers, after all. I'd rather not see that happen."
Jang Woo-hyun summoned Baekmu, making it clear he had no intention of standing by.
The instant the sword entered his hand—
His presence completely transformed.
Except for the Roc King, who already knew how powerful Jang Woo-hyun was, the other two monsters twitched their brows.
"I told you to do what you were supposed to do."
The Wind-Passing Great Sage grabbed Jang Woo-hyun's shoulder.
"You're saying that in your condition? You always brag about winning, and now you've been smashed to pieces."
"I told you, I have a plan."
"What plan?"
"Just wait."
Smiling to himself, the Wind-Passing Great Sage looked far into the distance.
"Little Brother... and my elder brothers."
His gaze shifted toward his brothers.
"If this had been the old me, I'd have simply charged in."
But that was no longer the case.
Now he could think.
Now he could make plans.
The time he had spent with humans had changed the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
Perhaps this, too, was a kind of growth.
"So I prepared something."
His first plan had failed.
He had never expected the Ox King and the Roc King to join forces and arrive so quickly.
He had thought the second plan would fail as well.
His brothers had moved much sooner than he anticipated.
However, just as he had failed to predict the speed of the Roc King and the Ox King...
The one from whom he had requested help had also arrived much faster than expected.
"What in the world are you talking about?"
"You still haven't noticed?"
At the Wind-Passing Great Sage's words, the Roc King frowned.
At that moment, an ominous sense of dread washed over him.
"He's here."
The Wind-Passing Great Sage grinned.
His brothers instinctively turned around as the ominous feeling swept over them.
But something was even faster.
Boom!
The entire Living Spirit Mountain Range shook violently as a golden wall descended, blocking their vision.
"Uh..."
The sudden barrier startled everyone.
Jang Woo-hyun quickly realized what it truly was.
'That's not a wall.'
Far above, he could see the massive surface curving away.
What stood before them was not a wall.
It was a colossal pillar.
A pillar so enormous it seemed capable of holding up the heavens had suddenly appeared, crushing the three monsters beneath it.
Strangely, although the ground trembled violently, no shockwave spread outward.
Even Jang Woo-hyun had been unable to react in time.
Had it been aimed directly at him, he would not have been able to evade it.
"Kyahahaha!"
A moment after the gigantic golden pillar appeared—
An endlessly frivolous voice rang out from the sky.
Spinning through the air in a series of somersaults, a monkey wearing robes of gold and crimson descended from the heavens.
Its bright golden-yellow fur gleamed brilliantly.
Its crimson eyes burned like blazing flames.
Jang Woo-hyun recognized him instantly.
There was simply no mistaking him.
The moment he saw him, he knew.
"Son Goku?"
The youngest of the Seven Great Saints.
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven—
Son Goku had suddenly appeared.
The one the Wind-Passing Great Sage had contacted through the elephant monster Gong Ryo was none other than Son Goku.
The traitor of the Demonic Spirit Realm.
No longer a monster, but one who now sat among the Buddhas.
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Monkey King.
Now known by the Buddhist title Victorious Fighting Buddha, Son Goku had arrived at the perfect moment to aid the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
"Well now, just as expected of my battle-loving big brother. How could you start fighting before I even got here? If you were going to call me, you should've waited."
"I didn't expect we'd start fighting this quickly. Things didn't go according to plan."
"It's a good thing the old geezers on our side helped me get here faster than expected. Otherwise, there would've been nothing left of you but your head. You never contacted me while you were alive, so when you suddenly did, I rushed over. What exactly is going on?"
"What's going on? We're fighting. That's all."
Hearing the answer, Son Goku frowned for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Big Brother hasn't changed a bit."
He had always been like this.
He simply loved fighting and paid little attention to anything else.
Even when the other brothers called Son Goku a traitor and a filthy turncoat, the Wind-Passing Great Sage would simply challenge him to a fight.
He never cared about Son Goku's actions.
He only fought because he wanted to.
Then, just as suddenly, he would attack the other brothers as well.
Whenever the Wind-Passing Great Sage got involved, every battle turned into complete chaos, regardless of friend or foe.
Since they fought each other without any deeper reason, neither of them held any lingering resentment.
They were not mortal enemies.
Nor were they particularly close.
It was precisely because of that relationship that Son Goku had accepted the Wind-Passing Great Sage's request and come to the Demonic Spirit Realm.
"But, Big Brother... you seem a little different."
His blazing crimson eyes carefully examined the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
"Me? Different how?"
"Did you gain some new divine ability or something? Something definitely feels different."
"Oh, that. I learned a bit of martial arts."
"Oh my!"
Letting out an exaggerated cry of surprise, Son Goku performed another backward somersault in midair.
"You learned martial arts?"
"Stop making such a scene. You're giving me a headache."
The Wind-Passing Great Sage himself was already carefree enough.
But Son Goku was so carefree that he looked as though he might float away.
"What do you mean making a scene? I'm simply expressing my emotions. I knew something felt strange, but to think you'd actually learn martial arts. Is all this because of this fellow?"
Only then did Son Goku's gaze shift toward Jang Woo-hyun.
"I'm Son Goku. Just call me Brother Son."
"Jang Woo-hyun."
"So Brother Jang is the mastermind behind all this."
Son Goku's burning crimson eyes fixed themselves on Jang Woo-hyun.
The Fiery Golden Eyes.
Eyes that could see through all things.
"Hmm."
As Son Goku widened his eyes, the crimson irises briefly shimmered with golden light.
He stared at Jang Woo-hyun for a long moment before shaking his head.
"Big Brother, what's with this fellow? I can't see anything at all. Is he really human? He's not some fallen True Immortal or Martial God, is he?"
"He's human. I've known him since the Lower Realm."
"So he Ascended? Good heavens!"
Once again, Son Goku exaggerated his surprise and flipped backward through the air.
"Enough already. What's with all these ridiculous antics?"
"They're not entertaining?"
"No. Not at all."
Son Goku's shoulders drooped slightly.
"The old geezers on our side kept urging me to hurry to the Demonic Spirit Realm. Now I understand why."
He pointed at Jang Woo-hyun.
"It was because of Brother Jang."
Jang Woo-hyun looked at him with a confused expression.
"I'm not entirely sure myself, but they acted as though something huge had happened and told me to hurry over. They must've sensed something from Brother Jang."
"What are you talking about? Explain it so I can underst—"
Boom!
Before Jang Woo-hyun could finish speaking, the earth shook violently.
Even the massive golden pillar before them began vibrating.
"I stacked thirty-two layers of Daoist arts, but it won't hold much longer."
The three monsters pinned beneath the pillar were moving underground.
"Gong Ryo, you should head back now. You can make it on your own, right?"
【Y-Yes... I shall.】
Having done nothing but tremble the entire time, Gong Ryo fled at top speed the moment the Wind-Passing Great Sage spoke.
This was no place for him.
Five of the Seven Great Saints were about to fight.
Such a sight was almost impossible to witness.
More importantly—
Among those gathered stood the youngest of the Seven Great Saints.
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Son Goku.
The traitor of the Seven Great Saints.
The betrayer of all monsters.
The number of monsters who had died by his hand was beyond counting.
Once word spread that Son Goku had entered the Demonic Spirit Realm, countless monsters would come after him.
Absolute chaos was about to erupt.
"Jang Woo-hyun, get back inside and finish what you were doing."
"You want me to go back in? Can you really hold them off?"
Jang Woo-hyun looked toward the Wind-Passing Great Sage's missing arm and leg.
"This is a problem between us brothers. We'll handle it ourselves. You just finish your business inside and come back afterward."
"Brother Jang, don't worry about Big Brother's injuries. This will solve everything."
Rummaging through his robes, Son Goku pulled out a peach.
Its fragrance instantly spread through the entire area.
The aroma was so overwhelming that Jang Woo-hyun unconsciously swallowed his saliva.
No one could mistake it for an ordinary peach.
"This is a Heavenly Peach I was saving for myself. One of these will heal everything."
The Wind-Passing Great Sage accepted the peach and took a bite.
Steam poured from his missing arm and leg before they regenerated in the blink of an eye.
Then Son Goku plucked out a handful of his own fur and tossed it into the air.
Pop!
Dozens of identical Son Gokus instantly appeared.
"Take care of Brother Jang."
At the original's command, dozens of Son Gokus rushed toward Jang Woo-hyun.
"Let's go!"
"Brother Jang, this way!"
"Wait! Just wait a second! I still have questions. Let me go!"
"You can ask later. First, let's finish what needs to be done."
"That's right. Didn't you say you still had something to do inside?"
"We're not going anywhere, so finish your business first."
The swarm of Son Gokus carried Jang Woo-hyun into the black building before splitting into two groups.
Half of them lifted the building itself and carried it far away.
The other half plucked out their fur, transformed it into shields, and surrounded the building.
"Brother Jang's part is settled. Now let's handle our own business."
Rumble—! Boom! Boom!
The earth shook more violently, and the golden pillar trembled even harder.
Realizing there was little time left, Son Goku extended his hand toward the sky.
"Ruyi."
With a single word, the golden pillar instantly shrank and flew back into his hand.
At the same moment, a sound far greater than a volcanic eruption echoed through the heavens.
An immense killing intent and aura exploded upward from deep below.
【Son Goku! You traitorous wretch! How dare you come here!】
The voice overflowing with rage cracked the very sky.
Thunder roared beneath the earth.
Enormous fissures split open the land.
The world itself screamed.
Then the three Great Monsters who had been driven deep underground by the Ruyi Staff rose into the air once more.
"Oops—"
"Don't."
As Son Goku prepared to perform yet another somersault in the middle of this deadly situation, the Wind-Passing Great Sage grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
"Aw, come on. I was supposed to do that."
Even amid enough fury to shatter the world, the monkey brothers with different-colored fur remained completely unconcerned.