A million-strong army, cannon fire roaring in unison—the tumult reaches all the way up to the Thirty-Three Heavens, startling the Three Realms. It can tear apart anything, yet cannot break through the Heaven-forged barrier of the South Heaven Gate.
Amid the thunderous blasts, the red light cast by the barrage paints the entire sky the color of blood.
On the ground, everyone stares dumbfounded at this spectacle.
No one knows it is a pack of beasts howling in vain, roaring and crying out for the return of their king.
Just one wall apart—step outside South Heaven Gate, and he is the king of all demons; remain within, and he is Heaven’s prisoner.
Yet this one step is impossible to cross, no matter what he does.
Listening to the shouts outside the gate, he laughs madly, gripping the Golden Staff, and charges again and again at the barrier formed by countless Heavenly Generals—like a trapped beast.
On the Thirty-Three Heavens, Belle sits in a daze, her eyes vacant.
Amid swirling spiritual power and magical artifacts, he is forced back to the same spot again and again—yet each time, he stands up once more, facing the Twenty-Eight Mansions, Five Directional Wardens, Four Duty Officers, Eastern and Western Star Hosts, Northern and Southern Pole Gods, mountain and river deities—hundreds of Heavenly Generals.
Outside the gate, Anna Yang gazes at the crimson doors, her eyes brimming with tears.
In the chaos, faced with the elusive Adamantine Ring, he cannot even muster an effective defense.
It has been more than a hundred years. More than a century ago, he escaped from Kunlun Mountain; that moment, helpless beneath the gaze of endless gods and Buddhas, remains vivid in his memory. Enduring, waiting, sometimes lying low, sometimes defiant—over a hundred years have passed, and even now, nothing seems to have truly changed.
A single Adamantine Ring has already left him with nowhere to hide.
This is a battle he cannot possibly win, yet he still spits out searing breath, head thrown back and face smeared with blood, howling in defiance.
Perhaps this is nothing but madness born of despair.
In the courtyard of Tusita Palace, Birdie sits in a daze.
"It’s him, isn’t it? Something’s happened to him. She rushed out to find the old man—it’s for him, isn’t it? She’s called Belle, disciple of Elder Gale from Crescent Star Cave—Monkey’s junior-niece, right?"
The immortal maid before her simply gazes silently, expressionless.
A gentle breeze passes; she lifts her head to gaze at the falling leaves, lost in endless confusion.
......