Seeking Patriarch Bodhi

The Great Peng Spirit's pupils contracted to pinpricks!

His instincts told him—he had to run. Now!

But it was too late.

Goten appeared right in front of him—not by teleporting, not by flying—just by taking one step across a hundred-yard distance!

One punch!

Simple and direct—no fancy moves—just one punch.

The Golden Winged Peng crossed his arms to block—

Crack!

Both arms broke at once!

He was sent flying at ten times his previous speed!

He spun through the air for thousands of meters, smashed through more than a dozen mountains, and finally embedded himself in a mountainside, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.

Instant kill.

The third one.

But Goten didn't stop.

He turned and looked at the White Elephant Spirit.

The White Elephant Spirit's legs were shaking.

He had lived for thousands of years, but he had never seen power like this—power that made no sense, power he couldn't understand. His thousands of years of demonic cultivation felt as flimsy as paper!

"W-wait—I surrender—"

Boom.

The White Elephant Spirit went flying.

The same fate as the three before him—a punch sent him flying, his life or death unknown.

Goten stood where he was, red light mingling with the golden aura blazing around him, like blood on fire.

At last, he looked at the Bull Demon King.

The Bull Demon King had returned to human form and was curled up among the rubble, covered in blood.

When he saw Goten walking toward him, he felt more terrified than he ever had in his fifteen hundred years of life.

"D-don't kill me! I have information—I know the secrets of the Heavenly Court—"

Goten stopped in front of him.

There was no emotion in his golden eyes.

"Talk."

"The Jade Emperor—the Jade Emperor isn't really afraid of you. He's afraid of him—Sun Wukong!" the Bull Demon King shouted incoherently. "After Sun Wukong caused Havoc in Heaven five hundred years ago, the Jade Emperor knew that one day someone would inherit Sun Wukong's power—someone would come back—"

"Get to the point."

"The Moonlight Box! The Moonlight Box isn't just a tool for traveling through time. It's a key Sun Wukong left behind. It can open something—something beneath Five Finger Mountain!"

Goten's pupils shifted slightly.

"What thing?"

"I don't know—I really don't! Only the true inheritor can open it! The Jade Emperor sent Heavenly Soldiers to capture you to stop you—"

Goten fell silent for a moment.

Then he lowered his fist.

"Go."

The Bull Demon King froze.

"Huh?"

"Come after me again," Goten said, turning away, "and I'll punch your head clean off."

The Bull Demon King scrambled away.

Six

Dawn was near.

The moon sank below the horizon, and the eastern sky turned pale.

The Moonlight Box dimmed, returning to its ordinary purple color.

Goten knelt beside Zixia and tightly bandaged the wound on her shoulder. The bleeding had stopped, but her face was as pale as paper.

Zhi Zun Bao limped over, clutching his chest. The Bull Demon King had hurled him away, and he'd landed hard enough to break two ribs.

"She... is she all right?"

Goten shook his head. "She needs a doctor...but I don't know if doctors in this world can treat an immortal's injuries."

Zhi Zun Bao fell silent for a moment, then said:

"I know someone who can."

Goten looked up at him.

"Lingtai Square Inch Mountain," Zhi Zun Bao said, his expression complicated. He didn't know why he was saying that name. "When he possessed me earlier, he showed me that place."

Goten tightened his grip on the Moonlight Box.

"The Moonlight Box showed me that place too," Goten said softly. "Patriarch Bodhi—the only person in this world who can teach me how to truly fight."

He stood, carrying Zixia on his back, and looked toward the brightening eastern horizon.

"How do we get there?"

Zhi Zun Bao pointed west.

"That way. It's a long journey—five days on foot."

Goten nodded.

"All right."

Carrying Zixia on his back, he walked west, one step at a time.

Zhi Zun Bao stood where he was, watching Goten's retreating figure. Suddenly, he felt that the boy was far stronger than he'd imagined.

Not in terms of strength.

In spirit.

Zhi Zun Bao looked down at his hands. Just now, he'd clenched a wooden staff in them and charged at a ten-zhang-tall bull.

He smiled and followed after them.

Amid the ruins, four enormous Demon Kings lay sprawled in different directions.

In the distance, the first ray of dawn broke across the horizon.

A new journey had begun.

Let's go. Let's find Patriarch Bodhi.

No one knew what awaited them up ahead.

But Goten knew one thing: he would grow stronger. Strong enough to fear no one. Strong enough to protect everyone. Strong enough to find his way home...