The Great Sage Equal to Heaven - Sun Wukong

A full moon hung in the sky.

The moon in the Western Regions was larger, closer, and brighter than the one in the Dragon Ball World.

Moonlight spilled over the Gobi Desert, coating the jagged, strange rocks in a layer of silver-white. The wind had ceased, the sand no longer stirred, and the entire world seemed as if it had frozen in place.

Outside the Axe Gang stronghold, Goten sat cross-legged on a giant boulder, the Moonlight Box resting before his knees.

The surface of the box was glowing with a faint purple light—not a passive reflection of the moonlight, but an active, rhythmic pulsing, like some sort of breath, some sort of heartbeat, some sort of ancient resonance.

Goten reached out and gently touched the surface of the box.

Hum—

A surge of warm energy flowed from his fingertips into his body.

It was not pain, nor an impact—but a long-lost, familiar sensation.

His Saiyan ki was awakening.

The power that had been suppressed by this world for three full days was like a frozen river, beginning to thaw under the illumination of the moonlight.

Goten closed his eyes, feeling the strength within him as it began to recover.

"Ten percent... twenty percent... thirty percent..."

He opened his eyes and clenched his fist.

Golden sparks of electricity danced across his knuckles.

"Forty percent."

Zixia sat on a rock not far away, watching him quietly.

Her eyes were swollen—she had been crying just moments ago.

But at this moment, her expression was calm, even carrying a hint of relief.

"How does it feel?"

Goten looked down at his hands. "It's like... I've been locked in a small room, and now the door has opened."

He raised his head and looked at Zixia.

"Sister Zixia, that voice—the Sun Wukong inside the Moonlight Box—who exactly is he?"

Zixia was silent for a moment.

"You should see for yourself."

Goten frowned. "How?"

Zixia walked over to him, crouched down, and gently placed the Moonlight Box between his hands.

"Close your eyes. Think about that power—that thing inside you called 'ki'—and let it flow into the box."

Goten did as he was told.

His Saiyan ki flowed down his arms and into the Moonlight Box.

Hum—!!!

The box erupted with a blinding purple light!

Goten felt his consciousness being pulled by a force—just like when he had traveled to this world, but this time it was much gentler—

He opened his eyes.

He was no longer in the Gobi Desert.

He was standing before a magnificent, golden palace.

No—not a palace.

It was the Celestial Palace.

The three large characters on the South Heaven Gate shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight, and behind the gate lay a road that seemed to stretch on forever, flanked by rows of celestial soldiers and generals.

But at this moment, the celestial soldiers were all wounded, their formations in disarray.

The ground was littered with wailing soldiers—their golden armor shattered, their weapons scattered everywhere.

And at the end of the road, before that highest palace—

A figure stood.

No taller than an average human, he wore a tattered suit of Chainmail Armor, and the Purple Gold Crown on his head was tilted to one side.

In his hand, he gripped a staff that glowed with golden light.

The Ruyi Jingu Bang.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven—Sun Wukong.

He stood with his back to Goten, walking step by step toward the gates of the Lingxiao Palace.

"Sun Wukong—!"

The roar of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li came from within the hall—"You've gone mad! Are you truly going to force your way in?!"

Sun Wukong did not stop.

He did not even look back.

He simply raised his Golden Cudgel—pointing it straight at the plaque that had hung upon the Lingxiao Palace for ten thousand years.

"Old Sun here—"

His voice was not loud, but every word struck like a hammer against a steel plate.

"—is done being an official of the Heavenly Court!"

The Golden Cudgel descended!

BOOM!!!

The plaque shattered! Golden light sprayed everywhere! The roof of the Lingxiao Palace was pierced through by a single blow!

Goten's pupils contracted violently.

In that moment—

He saw Sun Wukong turn his head.

On that golden monkey face, there was no anger, no madness—

Only a smile.

A smile that feared neither heaven nor earth.

A smile identical to that of his father, Sun Wukong.

The vision dissipated.

Goten opened his eyes to find himself still sitting on the Gobi Desert, tears streaming down his face without him even realizing it.

He reached up to touch his cheek.

"I... I'm crying?"

Zixia gently patted his shoulder.

"Everyone who sees him ends up like this."

Goten took a deep breath and wiped away his tears.

"He is so powerful."

"Indeed."

"No—not powerful—" Goten shook his head, saying earnestly, "It's... freedom."

Zixia was taken aback.

"Freedom?"

"My father once said that a true powerhouse isn't defined by great strength—but by a free heart." Goten clenched his fists. "That Sun Wukong—his heart is completely free. No one can bind him, and no rules can restrict him. Whether it be the heavenly soldiers and generals or the Heavenly Court itself, he doesn't care."

He looked up at the full moon.

"I want to become someone like that."

Zixia looked at him, a complex emotion flashing through her eyes.

This boy was unlike any other creature of the Three Realms she had ever known.

He carried no awe for the Heavenly Court, no greed for power, and no submission to fate.

He possessed only—pure curiosity, pure passion, and a pure desire to grow stronger.

Just like that person from five hundred years ago.

"Sister Zixia," Goten suddenly spoke up, "can the Moonlight Box take me back to the past?"

Zixia nodded. "It can. But you can only stay for the duration of one incense stick."

"One incense stick?"

"The power of the Moonlight Box has not yet fully recovered. Each time you travel, it can only sustain you for the duration of one incense stick before it automatically pulls you back."

Goten's eyes lit up.

"One incense stick—that's enough."

"What are you planning to do?"

Goten did not answer.