Fairy Zixia

Her Violet-Azure Treasure Sword was humming within its scabbard.

"This aura..."

A flash of astonishment crossed Fairy Zixia's eyes. "This is not a power that should exist in the mortal realm."

She gripped the hilt, the corners of her mouth curling upward slightly.

"Interesting."

With those words, she leaped into the air, transforming into a streak of violet light as she streaked toward the west.

The Axe Gang's stronghold was built upon a loess hill. Calling it a stronghold was generous; it was really just a few dilapidated wooden shacks arranged in a circle, with a bonfire crackling in the center.

Goten sat by the fire, holding a bowl of murky wine, curiously observing everything around him.

"Drink up! Why are you just sitting there?" Zhi Zun Bao sat opposite him, taking a boorish gulp of his own drink. "This wine is something I... cough, cough... 'procured' from the best distillery in town!"

Goten took a cautious sip, and his entire face immediately puckered.

"So spicy!"

"Hahaha!" Zhi Zun Bao slapped his thigh, laughing until he doubled over. "I knew it, you're just a greenhorn! You've never even had a drink before!"

The surrounding lackeys burst into laughter as well.

Goten felt a bit indignant. He tilted his head back and took a large gulp, this time forcing himself not to frown. "Who says! I have too!"

Zhi Zun Bao's eyes lit up. "Oh? Not bad."

He set down his bowl and leaned forward slightly. "Tell me, kid, where are you from? Looking at your clothes, and that little trick you pulled... you don't look like a local."

Goten fell silent for a moment.

He didn't know if he should tell the truth—that he had traveled here from another world? Who would believe that?

"I come from... a very far place," Goten said, choosing his words carefully. "A place completely different from here."

"Oh?" Zhi Zun Bao raised an eyebrow. "How far?"

"So far that... I don't even know how to go back."

Zhi Zun Bao stared at him for a long time, then suddenly waved his hand with a laugh. "Forget it, forget it. If you don't want to say, don't. Come, eat some meat!"

He tossed a piece of charred scorpion meat to Goten.

Goten caught the meat and asked, "What about you? Who are you? And where is this place?"

"Me?" Zhi Zun Bao grinned. "I'm Zhi Zun Bao, the head of the Axe Gang. As for this place... this is the Western Regions. Keep heading east, and you'll reach the territory of the Great Tang."

"Zhi Zun Bao..." Goten chewed on the name. "Have you ever heard of someone named Sun Wukong?"

The moment the words left his lips, the atmosphere around them suddenly froze.

The smile on Zhi Zun Bao's face stiffened.

All the lackeys stopped what they were doing and stared at Goten in unison, their eyes filled with an incredulous, palpable terror.

Goten was startled by the reaction. "W-what's wrong?"

Zhi Zun Bao's expression became incredibly complex. He remained silent for a long while before speaking in a strange tone. "Sun Wukong... where did you hear that name?"

Goten's heart began to pound wildly.

This world... it really had a Sun Wukong too?

"I... my dad mentions him often," Goten answered cautiously. "He says Sun Wukong is the strongest warrior in the universe... and that he's my dad's friend."

"The strongest warrior in the universe?" Zhi Zun Bao frowned. "The Sun Wukong your dad talks about... what does he look like?"

Goten thought for a moment. "Orange martial arts gi, spiky black hair, and he always has a confident smile on his face—"

"Wait," Zhi Zun Bao interrupted. "You said... black hair? Not golden fur?"

"Fur?"

Goten was stunned.

His father, Sun Wukong, definitely had spiky black hair—but judging by Zhi Zun Bao's reaction, was the "Sun Wukong" of this world not a human?

"The Sun Wukong you're talking about..." Goten asked tentatively, "what does he look like?"

Zhi Zun Bao's gaze grew deep.

"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong—covered from head to toe in golden monkey fur, wearing a purple-gold crown, clad in chainmail, wielding the Ruyi Jingu Bang, and capable of traveling a hundred and eight thousand li in a single somersault..."

Goten's eyes widened.

A monkey?

The Sun Wukong of this world... was a monkey?!

"He wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, stole the Peaches of Immortality, pilfered the elixir of the gods, and turned the Celestial Court upside down," Zhi Zun Bao's voice dropped low. "In the end, he was suppressed under the Five-Finger Mountain by the Buddha for five hundred years."

Goten's mouth hung open.

Although he didn't quite understand what the "Celestial Court" or the "Buddha" were, it sounded like the Sun Wukong of this world was even more incredible than he had imagined!

"Then... where is he now?"

Zhi Zun Bao's eyes flickered for a moment.

"I heard... he's already dead."

"Dead?!"

Goten stood up abruptly.

Sun Wukong—the warrior who shared the same name as his father—was already dead?

"I don't know the specifics myself," Zhi Zun Bao waved his hand, "it all happened five hundred years ago."

Goten clenched his fists.

An indescribable emotion surged within his chest.

His father, Sun Wukong—the strongest warrior in the universe who had crawled back from the brink of death countless times to defeat Frieza, Cell, and Buu—was actually dead in this world?

No.

Goten suddenly realized something.

This world... might not have his father at all. There was only a monkey named "Sun Wukong," an existence completely different from the one in the Dragon Ball world.

Just then—

ROAR!!!

A deafening roar erupted from the depths of the desert, causing the entire ground to tremble!

Goten jumped to his feet: "What is that?!"

Zhi Zun Bao's expression also changed as he grabbed his sword and shouted: "Everyone, take defensive positions!"

"Ch-Chief! The direction of that sound... it's... it's Black Wind Ridge!"

"Black Wind Ridge?"

"A Demon King lives there—the Bull Demon King! He has cultivated for fifteen hundred years and doesn't even hold the Heavenly Court in his eyes!"