Dragon King's Gift! Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Staff!

"That old bastard ran pretty fast."

Wukong knew that with the man's vindictive nature, once he recovered, he would definitely gather experts and return for revenge.

"I can't stay here any longer."

Wukong smacked his lips, a trace of regret flashing through his eyes.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was a treasure basin nurtured by heaven and earth. He had hidden here for decades, and his cultivation had soared by leaps and bounds.

Now that he had to leave so suddenly, it truly felt like cutting off a piece of his own flesh.

But compared to his life, this little loss was nothing.

He turned and walked over to Medusa.

At that moment, Medusa was sprawled amid a pile of shattered rocks, her scales curled up, poisonous blood flowing steadily from her wounds, and her aura weak to the extreme.

Wukong crouched down and pressed his hand against her vital spot, sending a stream of pure Soul Power into her to stabilize her heart meridian.

"Hiss..."

Medusa laboriously raised her head, looking at him with exhaustion and gratitude.

Wukong frowned as he examined her injuries, then sighed. "Your wounds have damaged your origin. It will take at least three to five years of recuperation before you recover. That Old Poisoner is utterly vindictive. If he comes back and finds Old Sun gone, he'll definitely take his anger out on you, sick snake. By then, he'll skin you, tear out your tendons, take your Soul Ring and Soul Bone. You won't even have the strength to resist."

Hearing this, terror flashed through Medusa's eyes. Her forked tongue flicked in and out as she let out a weak hiss, seemingly asking what she should do.

"Old Sun plans to leave this damned place."

Wukong pointed at the Hundred Treasures Pouch on his waist. "There's a huge amount of space inside this thing, and it can hold living creatures. If you trust me, come with me. Once you've recovered, you can stay or leave as you please. What do you say?"

Medusa did not hesitate in the slightest. Her enormous head nodded heavily.

To her, this monkey had long since become someone she could entrust her life to.

"Alright, go inside and rest first."

Wukong activated his Soul Power. The mouth of the Hundred Treasures Pouch opened, generating a powerful suction force that drew Medusa inside.

After settling Medusa, Wukong did not leave immediately.

Instead, he set down the Hundred Treasures Pouch and leaped naked into the spring.

He then dived all the way down until he reached the Dragon Kings' skeletons.

"Two senior Dragon Kings, this junior has cultivated in this treasured place for decades and benefited greatly."

"Today, powerful enemies surround me, and I have no choice but to travel far from home. Before departing, I came specifically to thank you for your generosity."

Wukong's expression was solemn. He fell to his knees and respectfully kowtowed three times to the two massive dragon skeletons.

He had always been someone who clearly distinguished gratitude from grudges. Though he had stumbled upon this opportunity himself, he had received their benefits, and this thanks could not be omitted.

As his words fell, Wukong was about to turn and leave.

Buzz—!

The entire bottom of the spring suddenly shook violently!

The red and blue spring water churned madly as if it had been brought to a boil.

Two terrifying draconic auras awakened from the skeletons.

They instantly locked onto Wukong!

"What the hell is going on?!"

Wukong's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively tried to flee.

But his aura had been locked down, making it impossible for him to move.

Just as Wukong was gripped by uncertainty.

The next moment.

A translucent rib bone flew from each of the red and blue dragon skeletons.

The two rib bones spiraled and intertwined in the water, erupting with blinding light. In the blink of an eye, they fused into a long staff of dark gold, with red and blue twin-dragon totems coiled around either end!

"This... this is for me?"

Wukong's eyes widened instantly.

"Roar—"

As if it possessed a spirit, the long staff gave a dragon's cry before transforming into a streak of light and shooting into Wukong's brow.

Boom!

A vast force of ice and fire exploded within Wukong's body.

Intricate, ancient dragon patterns instantly emerged across the surface of his body.

The left half of his body radiated bone-piercing cold, while the right half blazed with towering flames.

"Argh—!"

Wukong threw back his head and roared, feeling every bone and tendon in his body being reforged by this power.

His cultivation also rose rapidly under the infusion of this pure origin energy!

Seventy-nine thousand years!

Eighty thousand years!

Eighty-five thousand years!

Only when he reached the threshold of eighty-five thousand years did that surge finally come to a halt.

Wukong opened his eyes, and a dragon's shadow flashed through his golden pupils.

With a thought, he clenched his right hand in the air.

Whoosh!

A dark-gold staff appeared out of thin air in his palm.

It was immensely heavy in his hand, as though he were gripping an entire mountain.

The laws of ice and fire circulated across it. With a casual swing, it tore open a vacuum in the surrounding spring water.

"What a treasure! What a treasure!"

Wukong stroked the dragon patterns on the staff, so excited that he scratched at his ears and cheeks. He could not help swinging it, stirring the spring water into violent currents.

Though this Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Staff was not a divine artifact, it had been formed from the ribs of the Icefire Dragon Kings. Its quality was no less than that of the Soul Bones of top-tier Ferocious Beasts.

More importantly, it could merge into his body at will, just like a natal magic treasure!

And this bestowal of treasure had also greatly increased his cultivation, saving him decades, perhaps nearly a century, of bitter training!

"If that Old Poisoner dared show up now, Old Sun would smash his skull open with one blow!"

Wukong's confidence soared. After kowtowing another three times to the dragon skeletons, he finally burst from the water.

Back on shore.

Wukong swiftly stripped the valley clean of its Immortal Herbs and spiritual plants.

In particular, he carefully stored the Lovesick Heartbreak Red close to his body.

Not only was this thing the finest among immortal-grade treasures, it could also perfectly conceal the origin fluctuations of a Soul Beast.

It was simply the perfect tool for undergoing Transformation and infiltrating the human world in the future.

After finishing everything, Wukong sat before the wooden cabin and considered where to go next.

His original plan had been to hide until he reached one hundred thousand years and underwent Transformation, but now that plan had been completely disrupted.

"I can't stay here. I need to find a new blessed land..."

The moment the thought surfaced.

Wukong immediately thought of a perfect location.

The Lake of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest!

That was the holy land of Soul Beasts across the entire continent.

Though its conditions could not compare to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, its life energy was abundant, making it an excellent place for Soul Beasts to cultivate.

More importantly, judging by the timeline, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had most likely already been captured by the Ferocious Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

"If I can sneak in and take a few bites of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's origin, won't my cultivation shoot upward like a rocket?"

Wukong licked his lips, his eyes full of greed.

If it had been before, he would not have dared to set his sights on the Lake of Life even if given ten times the courage.

After all, Di Tian and a host of Ferocious Beasts occupied that place, and the Silver Dragon King was even sleeping beneath the lake.

With his mere eighty-thousand-year cultivation, he could not even cross the threshold of the outer perimeter, much less get a share of the spoils.

But things were different now.

Wukong summoned the Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Staff and gave it a swing.

This was the token of the Icefire Dragon Kings, two of the Nine Dragon Kings!

With that connection, he could more or less be considered "one of their own juniors" in the eyes of the Silver Dragon King and Di Tian.

It was unrealistic to expect them to give him everything they had, but asking for protection and a place to cultivate should not be a problem.

"Besides, since Old Sun was reborn as a Soul Beast in this life, I'm naturally incompatible with those people from the God Realm. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Clinging to the Silver Dragon King's thigh early on can only benefit me."

"Though that Silver Dragon King isn't too bright, her strength and foundation are absolutely real."

With his plan settled, Wukong no longer hesitated.

He pulled a set of loose black robes from the Hundred Treasures Pouch and draped them over himself. He then tucked his tail into his waistband and pulled up the hood, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed.

With the Lovesick Heartbreak Red concealing him, so long as he did not encounter a peak Douluo deliberately examining him, no one would be able to tell that the black-robed figure was actually an eighty-thousand-year Soul Beast.

"Old Poisoner, Old Poisoner, your money pouch really helped Old Sun out this time!"

As Wukong counted the mountain of Gold Soul Coins, spare clothes, dried provisions, various herbs, and rare ores piled within the Hundred Treasures Pouch, he could not stop himself from grinning.

With these supplies, even if he underwent Transformation into a human and mixed among human society in the future, he would have no worries.

Under the cover of night, Wukong followed the map Dugu Bo had left behind, avoided human towns, chose only remote mountains and wilderness, and headed straight for the Star Dou Great Forest.