Wukong hovered above him.
His golden armor shone brightly.
His long plumes swayed in the river.
Great King Linggan stared at him, his chest heaving violently. His twin hammers had flown who knew where.
A golden net wrapped around him.
Broken stones lodged between his scales, and red light flickered wildly in his eyes.
He thrust both hands through the gaps in the golden net, its sharp strands scraping the scales on his arms backward.
Yet he seemed utterly oblivious to the pain. All ten fingers suddenly clawed at the water around him!
The scattered rubble and river water were instantly hauled up by an invisible force.
One, two, three... in the blink of an eye, they were packed densely together!
Countless water spears formed in the river, their tips gleaming with ominous black-red light, staining the entire stretch of water dark red.
The water spears pressed against one another, forcing shrill sounds through the Tongtian River.
A hoarse roar squeezed from Great King Linggan's throat:
"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die!"
Thousands upon thousands of water spears shot forth together like a school of man-eating fish, surrounding Wukong on every side.
But Wukong did not move. He did not dodge.
He let the black-red water spears stab at him.
Ting.
A water spear shattered.
The instant its tip touched his golden armor, it crumbled from the point downward like an icicle striking a branding iron, turning into specks of golden light.
The second.
The third.
The fourth.
Ting, ting, ting, ting, ting.
More and more water spears shattered.
More and more specks of golden light appeared.
They drifted down slowly, gathering once again.
They became a golden staircase.
Wukong stepped onto it.
Great King Linggan seemed not to see it, still clawing at the water to form spears.