Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

(PS: Yesterday was 520, I stayed up a bit late and only finished writing three chapters, so I'm sending them now and will continue with the fourth chapter. Once it's done, I'll publish it!)

The Sarcophagus Lamp, one of the Sacred Objects obtained by Ran Deng Buddha upon enlightenment, is one of the Four Great Innate Lamps. Inside it, a grey Flame burns all year round—the Netherworld Ghost Fire from the Four Great Heavenly Fires. It can display the life scenes of the deceased and has the capacity to incinerate the Soul's True Spirit. Its adhesive power is extremely strong, and if one is not in the Quasi-Saint Realm, once tainted by it, it's impossible to shed. It could be considered the most venomous Flame among the Four Great Heavenly Fires.

This Sarcophagus Lamp is a Spiritual Treasure born with Ran Deng Buddha. The characteristics of the Netherworld Ghost Fire within are quite in line with his temperament. Deploying it now to form a firewall to block the sonic attack was a reluctant move by Ran Deng Buddha.

The renown of the Donghuang Bell is widespread, and sonic attacks are inherently formless and intangible. If it weren't for the sonic waves from the Donghuang Bell causing tremors in the Three Realms Space, Ran Deng Buddha might not even have been aware that the attack had begun.

Perhaps only the equally venomous Netherworld Ghost Fire could withstand this formless and intangible sonic attack.

Humm~!

The sonic wave struck the firewall formed by the Netherworld Ghost Fire, causing ripples of Flame to spread and hiss. The whole firewall seemed to be hit by an invisible hammer, deeply caving inward. This made Ran Deng Buddha's scalp tingle with numbness. Fortunately, the firewall did not burst open. After a standoff, the sonic wave dissipated, and the firewall returned to its original state. Ran Deng Buddha finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his gaze towards the Donghuang Bell was filled with even more fear and wariness.

This Donghuang Bell truly lived up to its reputation. Just a single sonic attack almost overcame his Netherworld Ghost Fire wall. If such a powerful wave were to hit him directly, he feared that even a Heavenly Dao Saint might not be able to withstand it!

"This Demon Monkey, how does he have so many treasures? Where on earth did he get them from?"

Ran Deng Buddha clenched his teeth, his heart filled with envy and jealousy, while the greed in his eyes intensified.

Ruyi Divine Armor, Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod, Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, Chaos Divine Pearl, and now the Donghuang Bell—if he could kill Sun Wukong and seize all these Spiritual Treasures, his strength would increase by more than several times!

At that time, the entire Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain would revere him as the most honored one. What would Tathagata Buddha be but someone fit only to crawl at his feet and take orders!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and the murderous intent on Ran Deng Buddha's body suddenly boiled over. With a grim laugh, he placed his hand on the Sarcophagus Lamp, frantically infusing it with Buddha Primordial Force of a Heavenly Dao Saint level, fully activating the Netherworld Ghost Fire within.

As Ran Deng Buddha pushed with all his might, the Netherworld Ghost Fire within the Sarcophagus Lamp seemed to be stimulated, roaring expansively and sweeping towards Sun Wukong.

"Demon Monkey, I will completely incinerate your Soul's True Spirit into nothingness, and see how you will recover then?"

The defensive power of the Donghuang Bell was exceedingly extraordinary, and ordinary physical Spell attacks simply couldn't harm the person it protected. But Ran Deng Buddha had great confidence in his Netherworld Ghost Fire. Being the most toxic and tedious Flame among the Four Great Heavenly Fires, the adhesive power and corrosive nature of the Netherworld Ghost Fire were sufficient to break through the Donghuang Bell's defense. Once Sun Wukong was touched even slightly by the Flame, it would cling to him like a festering disease. It would not rest until it had completely burned him from the outside in, from his Physical Body to his Divine Soul!

Ran Deng Buddha seemed to already envision the scene of Sun Wukong screaming miserably as he was burned to ashes, a triumphant sneer surfaced on his face.

"Starting to feel triumphant now, don't you think it's a bit too early?"

Watching the surging Netherworld Ghost Fire, Sun Wukong wasn't in the least bit flustered. Others might fear this Netherworld Ghost Fire, but he did not!

Back in the Netherworld, he had come into contact with the Netherworld Ghost Fire. The Heavenly Demon Body had great Resistance against the Netherworld Ghost Fire; not to mention with his Chaotic Divine Body, even if he stood there and let the Netherworld Ghost Fire forge him, it might not necessarily harm him, especially since his body contained Flames of a higher grade than the Netherworld Ghost Fire.

The source of a myriad of fires, the Chaos Fire!

Boom!

The waves of the Netherworld Ghost Flame assaulted the golden aura on the surface of the Chaos Bell, and as Ran Deng Buddha had predicted, the Chaos Bell's defense was not very effective against the Netherworld Ghost Flame. Faint wisps of the ghostly fire eroded small holes in the aura, worming their way in and advancing toward Sun Wukong, who was shrouded in the bell's radiant light.

Pop~!

A small cluster of flames suddenly ignited in Sun Wukong's palm, then promptly flared up, rushing to meet the incoming Netherworld Ghost Flame.

"Think you can use Alchemy Fire to stop my Netherworld Ghost Flame? How naïve... What?"

Ran Deng Buddha hadn't clashed with Sun Wukong in a long time, let alone competed in flames, and thought Sun Wukong's Chaos Fire was just ordinary Alchemy Fire. His face was full of mockery, but before he could finish speaking, his smile abruptly froze, and a look of horror emerged in his eyes.

What had he seen? The Netherworld Ghost Flame was actually being repelled by the flame emitted from Sun Wukong's palm!

No, it was more than just being repelled, it was being devoured, assimilated, turning into a flame of the same color as the one in Sun Wukong's palm, and it seemed to decrease significantly in number.

Wait, grey flames, could it be…

"Chaos Fire?"

Tathagata Buddha sneered from the side. He had long known that Sun Wukong possessed Chaos Fire, which was why he had initially been so eager to take Sun Wukong under his wing and have him join the Buddhist Sect.

To possess the Chaos Fire at the Quasi-Saint Realm meant limitless potential for future achievements. If he could become a protector of the Buddhist Sect, swear allegiance to him, then he would undoubtedly become a tremendous asset on Tathagata Buddha's path to the pinnacle of the Three Realms.

Unfortunately, while the wish was beautiful, Tathagata Buddha soon realized that Sun Wukong could not be subdued, and moreover, this monkey seemed to harbor a natural enmity towards him, as if they shared a deep hatred from a past life. It was futile to try and take him under his wing; they couldn't even be friends!

Between him and Sun Wukong, they were destined to be mortal enemies!

Since they were mortal enemies, there was no need to show mercy! It was a pity, though, that several attempts to kill him had failed due to various reasons. Now, this Demon Monkey was still lively and active, utilizing Chaos Fire to suppress Ran Deng Buddha's Netherworld Ghost Flame.

"Ran Deng Buddha, that is the Chaos Fire, your Netherworld Ghost Flame is ineffective against it and will instead serve as nourishment for it to grow. Withdraw it quickly!"

Tathagata Buddha called out to Ran Deng, "This Demon Monkey is too cunning. To deal with him, we can only suppress him with Supreme Magical Power!"

"Suppress with Mana? Right, why didn't I think of that?"

Ran Deng Buddha's eyes brightened. Compared to Sun Wukong, besides the power of the Twenty-Four Heavens' Worlds, his greatest reliance was the peerless Mana as a Heavenly Dao Saint!