Outside South Heaven Gate, a one-sided massacre began.
As the Daoists scattered in panic, Monkey—already on the verge of losing control—brandished the Golden Staff and leapt into the crowd. No one present could even see his movements.
This was pure domination by strength and speed; wherever the Golden Staff swept, flesh and blood flew.
Sky-barges tried to ascend into the air, but without exception, every one crashed down amid thunderous roars—no one could even tell what struck them.
The Daoists fled in all directions, but Monkey seemed omnipresent, always appearing just as they were about to escape South Heaven Gate, driving them back to the killing ground.
Fight? They couldn't win. Run? They couldn't escape.
In just moments, the ground outside South Heaven Gate was soaked in blood, littered with Daoist corpses and shattered sky-barge wreckage—a truly horrifying sight.
The survivors could only huddle together, shivering and helpless, crying and cursing—yet utterly powerless to change their fate.
Before Monkey, they were simply too weak—even in their thousands, sheer numbers could not bridge the gap. All they could do was watch as their companions were slaughtered.
Inside South Heaven Gate, General Lee gripped the Far-Seer, staring in stunned silence. After a long, heavy pause, he finally squeezed out a single sentence: "Report this situation to His Majesty."
"Yes, sir!" The Heavenly General beside him received the order and turned to leave.
Master Taiyi slowly closed his eyes, stroking his long beard. "Just outside this gate alone, there are a hundred thousand Daoists... a hundred thousand lives. The demon monkey's baleful qi has eased quite a bit now."
Setting down the Far-Seer, General Lee sighed softly. "At this rate, even the baleful qi from slaughtering a hundred thousand will only buy him a little more time."
"Not necessarily," Master Taiyi shook his head. "In my view, before his baleful qi truly erupts, the Heavenly Tribulation will likely arrive first."
"Heavenly Tribulation?" General Lee was taken aback.
Master Taiyi nodded. "All cultivators know of 'Heavenly Tribulation,' but few have ever witnessed it. In the past ten thousand years, even fewer have triggered it."
"Master, could you explain 'Heavenly Tribulation' to your disciple?" Nathan Young asked quietly from the side.
"When a tree stands out in the forest, the wind will surely break it." Master Taiyi raised his head slightly and spoke softly, "The Traveler’s Path is like a demonic art—it proves the Dao by force, a side path. When taken to extremes, Heaven and Earth reject it. In chaotic times, it is a tool for survival and victory; in times of peace, it becomes a burden. Absorbing too much spiritual energy... ha ha ha, even without mentioning baleful qi, there is also 'karmic burden.'"
"Unlike 'baleful qi,' 'karmic burden' is formless and invisible, impossible to remove—only suppressed and delayed. That’s why the greater one's power, the more they understand the principle of 'leveraging the small to move the great,' and never recklessly use spells... because spiritual power is condensed from spiritual energy, and absorbing spiritual energy accumulates karmic burden."
"Once karmic burden builds up too much, depending on each person's potential, Heavenly Tribulation will inevitably arise. If you endure it, you ascend and prove the Dao; if you fail, your body and soul are annihilated. But alas, throughout history, no one has truly survived it. Countless ancient powers have fallen here. The strength of Heavenly Tribulation always matches the one who triggers it—the stronger you are, the greater the scale. The Traveler’s Path suffers this most of all."
Hearing this, Nathan Young instinctively shrank his neck.
Seeing this, Master Taiyi reached out and patted Nathan Young on the head, speaking gently: "Don't worry. You're still young—if you counted one day in Heaven as a year, you'd barely be over a thousand years old. Wait until you’ve lived ten thousand years before you worry about karmic burden. But if you absorb spiritual energy and abuse spiritual power like Monkey, especially on the Traveler’s Path... it’ll come quickly."
Gazing at the blood-soaked ground outside South Heaven Gate, watching Monkey endlessly slaughter the Daoists, Master Taiyi could only sigh deeply.
Monkey is Master Sage Subhuti’s disciple, but why did Subhuti choose to train a student like this?
If it was merely to shatter the Heavenly Dao, then now that the Dao is broken, why has he not come forth to clean up the aftermath?
It’s truly impossible to fathom.
Monkey only formally left Crescent Star Cave after the events at Avalon Mountain, didn’t he?
It’s all cause and effect. If I hadn’t been too lazy to intervene back then—if I hadn’t ignored the injustice, failed to help, or even helped the Heavenly Generals distract my own junior so they could capture him—maybe he wouldn’t have turned to the demonic path so quickly, and none of this would have happened.
Looking back now, it seems even I was played by Master Sage Subhuti. For ten thousand years, the Celestial Sect has hunted demons, and that old man knew I wouldn’t step in to save Monkey—so he used me and the Celestial Army to push Monkey to the brink.
But now, what use is regret?
'The older, the wiser.' With this thought, Master Taiyi could only smile wryly in resignation.
General Lee hesitated and asked, "So, according to you, once Heavenly Tribulation arrives, Monkey will surely die?"
"That should be the case—so long as... the South Heaven Gate Grand Formation remains intact."
"As long as the South Heaven Gate Grand Formation remains intact?" General Lee was startled, as if he suddenly thought of something. He quickly bowed, saying, "Master, I have urgent matters to attend to. Please excuse me."
Master Taiyi waved his hand. "Go, the matter is urgent."
"Thank you, Master." Turning, General Lee said to Nathan Young, "Come with me."
With that, he strode rapidly toward the long staircase of the city wall.
"Me too?" Nathan Young was momentarily stunned, but hurried to catch up.
Inside the Hall of Silent Meditation, the senior brothers all silently watched Monkey’s Soul Token hanging on the wall.