The newcomer took a single stride, and his figure was already a hundred yards away.
He circled the Monkey King, pacing slowly, his orange-yellow Daoist robe billowing in the wind. Lowering his head, Lord Lao carefully examined the monkey demon who had shattered the Heavenly Dao.
His face was smeared with blood, brows faintly furrowed, teeth clenched, and his trembling body drenched in sweat, as if still enduring endless pain and nightmares.
"Awakened three hundred years too early, rewriting the Heavenly Dao, yet trapped in endless mortal suffering—was it worth it? Today, let me grant you release." Shaking his head, Lord Lao rolled up his sleeve, placed two fingers on the Monkey King's pulse, and slowly closed his eyes.
......
In the endless darkness, Lord Lao saw a monkey curled up, seemingly asleep.
With a flash, Lord Lao appeared behind the Monkey King, placing his left palm on the back of his head. His right hand moved swiftly, conjuring a cluster of white mist in his palm.
He held the white mist before his eyes and, with a gentle tap of his finger, began to write rapidly upon its empty surface.
In an instant, countless scenes began to take shape within the white mist.
There were mountains, rivers, a tribe of monkeys, and a stone monkey leaping into Cascade Cave to become their king...
After a while, a bead of sweat slid down Lord Lao’s forehead. At last, he finished writing and withdrew his finger from the now dazzling, multicolored mist.
"Forget everything, accept the memories you were meant to have, and be a proper Monkey King. Three hundred years from now, go to sea to seek immortality—I will prepare another Spirit Peak, Crescent Cave for you." He let out a long breath, and his palm on the back of the Monkey King's head began to turn, gathering radiant light.
In the unseen depths, the surrounding fear twisted, as if a door was about to open.
Yet just as the door cracked open, it slammed shut with a thunderous sound.
Afterward, no matter how Lord Lao tried to summon it, he could not even touch the lock.
"Unwilling to forget?" Lord Lao's brows furrowed slightly. "This is the first time I've encountered this. By rights, this monkey's soul is only a few decades old; it shouldn't be able to resist such techniques."
Withdrawing his left hand, he held the dazzling mist and began to spiral around, scrutinizing the Monkey King.
Only now did he notice the Monkey King's curled body, his hands tightly clasped to his chest as if holding something—though on closer inspection, perhaps not.
He reached out, trying to pry apart the Monkey King's tightly clasped hands, but the harder he pulled, the tighter the Monkey King held on.
"What could it be?" Lord Lao gently stroked his long beard.
Having come this far, it was impossible for him to simply give up in ignorance.
Pressing his hands together, he clenched his teeth as surging spiritual light gathered around him, turning his robes into a dazzling silver-white.
"Open—!"
With a thunderous roar, his voice echoed through the void.
The Monkey King's arms, clasped around his chest, were instantly torn apart by a mighty force.
At that moment, Lord Lao's eyes widened in shock.
"A heart!"
He saw a heart—a real, blood-soaked heart, riddled with wounds and streaming with fresh blood.
The heart was exposed outside the body, yet blood vessels threaded through the fur, connecting it to the inside, pulsing slowly.
To be precise, there were two hearts.
Lord Lao could distinctly sense another heart beating beneath the fur—that one must be the original.
"So that's it. This is the root of the Heavenly Dao's upheaval." He reached out, channeling all his power to the front, forming a faintly silver, insubstantial hand that extended toward the extra heart.
But the instant the silver hand touched the heart, the sleeping Monkey King awoke!
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open—no whites, only endless black, swirling with stars. The next moment, fury twisted his face, baring fangs, and his eyes turned blood-red.
"What is happening?" Lord Lao exclaimed, startled, as the silver hand vanished.
A stifling roar erupted from the Monkey King's throat.
This illusory world began to tremble; the entire realm quaked, thunderous booms resounding from all directions. The black sky shattered like glass, blood seeping through the cracks, instantly drowning all darkness in a sea of crimson.
Within this boundless, blood-red ocean, countless strange visions unfolded.
Lord Lao stared in terror at the scene before him.
For ten thousand years, there was nothing in this world he did not know—yet what unfolded before his eyes should not exist here.