"Senior Sister, it's fine!"
Xuanming waved his hand, signaling Yunxiao to release the monkey. His strength was now on par with the monkey's, so he wasn't worried about being ambushed.
"Junior Brother, better safe than sorry. He's about to be controlled by his Inner Demons!"
Yunxiao didn't release him at once. Instead, she frowned and warned him. She could sense the monkey's Inner Demons growing stronger.
"What?!"
Xuanming was taken aback. Where had Brother Monkey's Inner Demons come from?
Compared with Nezha and Yang Jian, those two biggest rebels in the Heavenly Court, he was practically a model student.
But throughout the entire Journey to the West, he'd always been other people's Inner Demons, hadn't he?
Where could he have gotten Inner Demons of his own?
He was the tough guy who'd fought his way into the underworld after finding out his soul was being summoned. What could possibly weigh on Sun Wukong's mind?
"You heard me right!"
Yunxiao didn't know how well Xuanming knew the monkey before them. Seeing his startled expression, she gestured for him to look at the monkey's eyes.
"See? Once those black lines cover his eyes, he'll fall into the Devil Dao!"
"Is that so?"
Xuanming hesitantly rubbed his chin. Brother Monkey was really about to fall into the Devil Dao?
That wouldn't do!
Setting aside the fact that Brother Monkey had been his childhood idol, just his peerless combat strength and extraordinary cultivation talent were enough to make Xuanming want to bring him under his wing!
"Senior Sister, can you help suppress them?"
Xuanming turned to Yunxiao beside him. "Just for a little while. With his abilities, I'm sure he can break free of those so-called Inner Demons."
"Oh?"
Yunxiao glanced at Xuanming, surprised. "Junior Brother, you're interested in him? This fellow belongs to Buddhism."
"To put it simply, even if you help him, he won't be grateful!"
"Heh..."
Xuanming chuckled at her words. "Senior Sister, whether he's grateful isn't important. What matters is that I'll have a clear conscience!"
"Is that so? All right, then!"
Yunxiao didn't press him any further this time. She raised her hand and sent a streak of golden light toward the monkey.
In the next moment,
The golden light, shimmering with a mysterious aura of laws, began to flow around Sun Wukong's eyes. A moment later, it had circled his entire body.
"Huh? What happened to me, Old Sun?!"
Once the golden light had completed its circuit, Sun Wukong came to his senses and rubbed his head, seemingly trying to recall what had just happened.
A moment later...
"Many thanks, Immortals!"
Still shaken, Sun Wukong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and respectfully cupped his hands toward Xuanming and Yunxiao.
He hadn't expected to get so caught up in his own thoughts.
So what if his master belonged to Buddhism? So what if his master had someone lock him up for five hundred years? So what if his master treated him like a fool...
"Ow?!"
Before Sun Wukong could continue thinking, a sudden pain struck his head. He looked up and saw Yunxiao gently shaking her head.
"Junior Brother, this monkey's problem is quite serious. He could fall into the Devil Dao at any moment!"
"Hm?!"
Xuanming was startled. "Senior Sister, even you can't do anything? He's only a Golden Immortal, isn't he?"
"It has nothing to do with cultivation!"
Yunxiao frowned and sighed. "Junior Brother, the reason cultivators fear Inner Demons is that they can ignore your level of cultivation. What matters is the strength of your will."
"If your will is weak, even a Quasi-Saint could be seriously injured by Inner Demons!"
"On the other hand..."
"If your will is strong, you can suppress your Inner Demons until they can barely move. In time, they'll be refined and become part of your cultivation."
"I see!"
Xuanming felt a chill run through him. If he encountered Inner Demons with his level of willpower, wouldn't he be toyed with and killed in an instant?
He had no willpower to speak of!
Fortunately,
Although Yunxiao had been talking about the danger of Inner Demons, she could see how much Xuanming cared about the monkey. After thinking it over, she still decided to intervene.
"Whoosh!"
As a vast golden hand enveloped Sun Wukong, boundless black energy surged from his body, finally gathering into a pitch-black silhouette of a monkey.
"Roar!!"
As if it realized that Yunxiao had ruined its plans, the shadow roared and lunged at her. It wanted to tear apart the woman who had meddled in its affairs.
"Wretched beast, you're asking for death!"
Yunxiao furrowed her brows and slapped at it, instantly striking the shadow into nothingness.
"This...?!"
Sun Wukong had only just come to his senses. Seeing this, his pupils shook, and even his voice grew hoarse.
Since that shadow was his Inner Demon, it had to be about as strong as he was.
And she'd erased it with a single slap?
Who was this woman?
Among the famous female experts of the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain, he couldn't recall anyone like her.
"Heh..."
Seeing Sun Wukong's nervousness, Xuanming stepped forward and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Brother Monkey, let me introduce you... The Interception Sect's newly ascended Saint, Venerable Yunxiao!"
"What?!"
Sun Wukong had already been nervous. At those words, he panicked, afraid the woman would slap him into nothingness too.
After all, according to the rumors he'd heard, Buddhism and the Interception Sect were sworn enemies, weren't they?
"By the way, what are you doing here?"
After introducing himself to Sun Wukong, Xuanming ignored his nervous look and asked curiously.
Sun Wukong's strength was decent by the standards of the Primordial World.
But this was no place for him to get involved, was it?
Never mind him—
Even Xuanming wouldn't dare roam around in chaos if Nuwa and Yunxiao weren't there to protect him!
Wait!
Nuwa?
Xuanming turned toward Nuwa, who was watching the battle between the two Sect Leaders Tongtian and Jieyin and Zhunti nearby. His eyes suddenly lit up.
He might have found a way to win Sun Wukong over.
"I... I was brought here by my master!"
Sun Wukong had no idea what Xuanming was thinking. At his question, he thought for a moment before answering honestly.
At that, the smile on Xuanming's face froze. He hurriedly asked, "Your master? Which master? Your master, Tang Sanzang, is already dead, isn't he?"
"It's Patriarch Bodhi!"
Sun Wukong scratched his head and explained sheepishly, "I was only following Guanyin's orders to protect Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West. He's not my master!"
"Patriarch Bodhi?!"
As he listened to Sun Wukong's explanation, the last trace of hope in Xuanming's heart vanished, replaced by a deep sense of foreboding.
Damn it!
The plot of Journey to the West had gone completely off the rails. All the knowledge he'd accumulated from reading it seemed useless now!
Take Patriarch Bodhi, for instance.
Anyone could guess that he was Zhunti!
But in the entire Journey to the West of his previous life, aside from teaching Sun Wukong his skills early on, Patriarch Bodhi never appeared again.
What was going on now?
Was he bored?
Zhunti was a Saint, yet he'd gone looking for a Sun Wukong who was only at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal level—and even brought him along?
Was he trying to take him as a disciple?
Before you continue