Fourth Sister's Delight! Going Home for the New Year!

At this moment, Wukong sat cross-legged on the rooftop.

He tilted his head slightly upward, gazing at the lone moon on the horizon.

Deep within his unfathomable eyes, brilliant crimson-gold light gleamed like two lamps lit in the night.

In a dimension beyond ordinary sight, strands of invisible, intangible, yet incomparably pure Faith Fortune flowed in from every direction like rivers converging upon the sea. His bright, majestic eyes seized it all, then refined it into his body bit by bit.

Time trickled by.

After roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick.

Wukong's eyes trembled slightly before slowly closing.

When he opened them again, the golden glow within his pupils had fully withdrawn, restoring them to the clear black-and-white eyes of an ordinary child.

"Phew—"

Wukong raised a hand and vigorously rubbed his slightly throbbing temples. A trace of fatigue showed between his brows as he sighed helplessly. "Old Sun's spiritual power is still far too weak."

"Even going all out with the Truth-Breaking Golden Eyes to gather Fortune, I can only hold on for the time it takes to burn an incense stick. If my spiritual power were a little stronger and I could last longer, why couldn't my efficiency in refining Fortune double?"

At that thought.

The image of an Immortal Herb surfaced in Wukong's mind—Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew!

In the original story, Tang San had relied on this Immortal Herb to raise his Purple Ultimate Devil Eyes to the Mustard Seed Realm.

And now, this heavenly treasure that specialized in strengthening spiritual power lay inside his Hundred Treasures Pouch.

If he wanted to break through the shackles on his spiritual power, consuming this Immortal Herb was undoubtedly the best choice.

Wukong calculated silently. "Although I haven't fully digested the medicinal effects of the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid in my body yet."

"Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew is a support-type Immortal Herb. It shouldn't conflict with the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid."

"I'll have to eat it sooner or later anyway, so once I break through to level thirty, I might as well consume it."

Wukong's Soul Power had already reached level twenty-nine.

He was only one step away from the threshold of level thirty.

After a few more days of steady cultivation, he would naturally break through.

However, his physical body left Wukong somewhat disappointed.

Over the past few months, he had visited nearly every apothecary and seafood shop in Dragon Rising City, yet he had never again stumbled upon Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

Meanwhile, the medicinal bath formulas available on the market barely had any effect on him anymore.

These two gaps in resources alone had greatly slowed the progress of his body refinement.

Without fresh opportunities to stimulate him, the residual medicinal effects of the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid were also being digested more slowly.

As a result, his body refinement had completely stalled.

Even now, his body could only withstand a Soul Ring of thirty-five thousand years.

He was still quite a distance from the fifty-thousand-year mark.

"Looks like I'll have to go back and ask Boss Di Tian for sponsorship."

Wukong dusted himself off and stood. "And with the New Year approaching, I can buy some holiday goods and head back to Star Dou for the New Year."

Over the next few days.

Aside from his daily meditation and cultivation, Wukong went out shopping.

He bought new clothes in the eastern market, swept up New Year goods in the western market, picked out gifts in the southern market, and purchased strong liquor in the northern market.

By the time his Hundred Treasures Pouch was stuffed full, he had also firmly crossed into level thirty.

Before leaving, Wukong made a special trip to Ink and Brush Bookstore to inform Li Shoumin. He only said that he was returning to his rural hometown for the New Year and would come back to the city once spring arrived after the holiday.

Upon hearing this, Li Shoumin insisted on dragging Wukong to a restaurant for a lavish farewell feast. During the meal, he did not forget to subtly press him about the progress of his new book, while Wukong merely laughed it off.

After eating and drinking his fill, Wukong bid farewell and left the city.

He first walked beyond Dragon Rising City's borders. Once night had fallen and there was no one around, the purple Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed.

"Somersault Cloud!"

A mass of white air supported him from below. Wukong transformed into a streak of light and, under cover of darkness, sped toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

The high-altitude winds were fierce, yet they could not disperse the contentment in his heart.

By the time the Soul Power in his body was nearly depleted, the vast Star Dou Great Forest, like a black ocean, already stretched before him.

Wukong lowered his cloud and descended into the dense forest.

"Cai Lin, come out."

A streak of multicolored light flashed as Cai Lin leaped out of the Hundred Treasures Pouch.

Wukong swung himself onto Cai Lin's back.

"Let's go home."

Cai Lin flicked out her tongue, her agile body swiftly weaving through the forest.

Sitting atop her, Wukong quickly recovered his depleted Soul Power and stamina.

The low-level Soul Beasts on the outskirts had long since retreated at the aura Cai Lin gave off.

Thus, they traveled without obstruction. By the time a pale glow appeared in the eastern sky, man and snake had reached the poisonous miasma at the edge of the core region.

Wukong patted Cai Lin's head to signal her to stop, then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Fourth Sister! Your Monkey Bro came to see you!"

"Hiss hiss—rustle rustle—"

Accompanied by a scalp-numbing sound of friction, the thick purple miasma rolled apart to either side, and the enormous, sinister body of the Death Spider Emperor slowly emerged.

"Stinking monkey, you're not dead?"

"Hehe, you're not dead yet either. How could Old Sun bear to die?"

"You sharp-tongued stinking monkey."

Fourth Sister gave a cold snort, then asked, "Didn't you just go to human society? Why are you back so soon? Don't tell me you ran into some enemy out there and came back to hide from trouble?"

"Then you're really overthinking it."

Wukong rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Your Monkey Bro has been living better than you can imagine in human society, eating and drinking well every day. Not only have I not made any enemies, I'm admired and welcomed everywhere. I came back this time specifically to celebrate the New Year."

"Celebrate the New Year? What's that?" Fourth Sister was full of confusion.

"It's a human custom."

Wukong patiently explained, "At this time every year, families gather together and visit relatives and friends. Old Sun is all alone in human society. After thinking it over, you Soul Beast friends are the only ones I have, so naturally I had to come back and see you."

"Pah! Who's friends with you!"

Although Fourth Sister's words were harsh, a strange flicker of delight rose in her heart.

"Fine, fine, not friends. You're my defeated subordinate, then. Happy?"

Fourth Sister immediately grew anxious and was just about to curse at him.

Wukong directly pulled a large wooden box from his Hundred Treasures Pouch and threw it over.

Fourth Sister instinctively released a stream of purple Soul Power, steadily catching the wooden box. "What's this?"

"A New Year gift for you. Old Sun doesn't know what spiders like, so I just picked something at random. Open it and see whether you like it."

Suspiciously, Fourth Sister used her Soul Power to lift the lid of the wooden box. Inside lay a huge scroll of woven silk.

She used her Soul Power again to unroll it, revealing the entire painting before her.

On the scroll woven from high-quality ice silkworm silk, a majestic and lifelike Death Spider Emperor had been embroidered in gold thread and purple ink.

That arrogant, peerless posture was precisely Fourth Sister's true form!

"Old Sun spent a great deal of money to have the best embroiderer in the city custom-make this."

Wukong raised his brows proudly.

Fourth Sister stared at the painting, and the light in her eyes grew brighter and brighter.

As a spider Soul Beast, she naturally loved such smooth, soft silk fabrics, not to mention that it had her own image embroidered on it.

"Hmph, it's barely acceptable."

Fourth Sister forcibly suppressed the upward curve of her lips and put away the scroll with feigned composure.

"Seeing as you traveled all this way to bring me a gift, this Empress will reluctantly accept it."

"Fine, the gift's delivered. Old Sun will be off first."

Wukong patted Cai Lin. Before leaving, he turned back and reminded her, "Oh, right. Remember to come for New Year's Eve dinner in a few days. We'll all get together!"

With that, man and snake disappeared into the morning mist.

Only after their figures had completely vanished into the depths of the forest did Fourth Sister impatiently spread out the silk scroll again. She looked it over from every angle and could not help letting out two pleased hisses.

Once Wukong's aura had completely faded away, Fourth Sister impatiently unrolled the silk scroll again. The more she looked, the more delighted she became, and she could not help humming, "Stinking monkey, at least you have a little conscience."