In the raging wind, Isabel Su (Yisu) sped toward South Heaven Gate, silently chanting to herself: "Don't die, please don't die, please, please don't die..."
In a daze, she seemed to recall their first meeting by the creek—how she had tried to run in fear, only to be forcibly taken away by him.
She remembered how, though he was supposedly vegetarian, he still took her through the forest every day to search for meat.
She remembered falling asleep with her head on his arm, gazing up at a sky full of stars...
Her eyes were already shimmering with tears.
"You have to wait for me... You must wait for me... Please... please don't die..."
Clutching her sword tightly, she used every ounce of strength to sprint forward, but with her shallow cultivation, she simply couldn't go any faster.
...
Outside South Heaven Gate, clouds of blood mist erupted among the crowd, triggering wave after wave of screams. Tens of thousands of Daoist disciples and Celestial soldiers jammed the passage so tightly that it was impossible to move an inch.
At this moment, it seemed that nothing in Heaven or Earth could stop him anymore.
Not just outside South Heaven Gate—the atmosphere of terror had already spread throughout the entire Heavenly Court.
No generals left to command, no fortresses left to defend—the whole Heavenly Court was in chaos.
Those immortals who once stood high above all now frantically packed their valuables, ready to flee Heaven at the first opportunity. Even the dignitaries standing in Lingxiao Palace were trembling with fear, unable to sit still.
This was a day they could never have imagined, even in their wildest dreams.
On the throne of Lingxiao Palace, the Jade Emperor could only sit in silence, his face deathly pale, saying nothing as Heaven's pride and glory slowly collapsed before him, turning to dust.
...
Outside South Heaven Gate, Monkey dragged the Golden Staff, barefoot, stepping over blood-stained rubble, and looked meaningfully at General Lee: "It was you who ordered the gate shut just now, wasn't it?"
General Lee swallowed hard, drew his sword, and took a sudden step back, roaring: "So what if you've won? Without the help of the great powers, do you really think you alone can restore order to the Three Realms?"
"Why do you all assume that if I win, I have to rule the Three Realms?" Monkey chuckled, spreading his hands. "I just want to wipe out you eyesores, because I've had enough."
Monkey planted the Golden Staff, then lifted his leg to step forward.
The surrounding Celestial soldiers were stunned; both General Lee and Master Taiyi had already assumed defensive stances.
Just then, a shout came from behind.
"Stop! Don't—don't touch my father!"
Monkey halted in his tracks.
Behind him, Nathan Young gasped for breath, clutching his abdomen, trembling as he struggled to stand: "Don't... don't touch my father."
Leaning on the Flame Spear, he gritted his teeth, shaking slightly, forcing himself to open his eyes and stare at Monkey. He looked so frail he could have been blown over by a breeze.
"Don't... touch my father. If you want to kill him... kill me first..."
General Lee stared at him in shock.
Looking at his father, Nathan Young managed a weak smile: "If you die, how... how do I explain to my elder brothers, to Mother...?"
At these words, tears streamed down General Lee's aged face; he could no longer utter a single word.
In the distance, Erik Yang's eyes narrowed to slits, his grip on the Trident Saber tightening until it crackled.
"General, don't be rash!" Skypride hurriedly stepped in front of him.
Monkey glanced back at Nathan Young, then slowly turned toward Erik Yang, his face expressionless as he said, "Take your father and your master down to the mortal world. If there's a next time, you'll all die."
Hearing this, Nathan Young felt a wave of dizziness and instantly lost all strength, collapsing to the ground. General Lee rushed over to catch him.
Erik Yang finally breathed a slight sigh of relief, while Master Taiyi frowned deeply. All the generals present were left in stunned confusion.
"You're not planning to stay and stand with your fellow disciples and followers, are you?"
Fat beads of sweat rolled down his forehead; Master Taiyi stood frozen, clutching his whisk, silent and unmoving.
"Good." Monkey strode past Master Taiyi, shoulder to shoulder.
With a wave of his hand, and a chorus of screams, thousands of Daoist disciples blocking the South Heaven Gate exit exploded into clouds of blood.
The entire South Heaven Gate was drowned in crimson.
Monkey leapt lightly into the air, soaring through the blood mist and flying into the gate.
...
"General, shouldn't we stop him? If this keeps up..." Skyhowl asked in a low voice.
"Can he be stopped?" Erik Yang retorted.
The Seven Sages of Mount Mei, standing nearby, swallowed back the words they were about to say.
...
"What exactly is going on? What's happening! Will someone tell me! What happened to the Marshal? Will someone tell me!"
In Heaven's Prison, General Curtain gripped the iron bars and shouted desperately.
Outside the iron window, the sounds of chaos kept coming, but the entire prison was already empty—not even a single guard was left. No one was paying him any attention.
After hesitating for a long time, he raised his hand, broke the lock on the iron bars, and stepped outside.
...
The iron door was kicked open with a heavy thud. Prince Adrian, the Little White Dragon, rushed into the cell and lifted Belle Whitebone to her feet.
"Wh-what happened?"
"Everything's gone mad. My brother-in-law's brother-in-law has stormed South Heaven Gate—no one's got time for us. Let's hurry and get out of here, down to the mortal world."
"Down to the mortal world... Down to the mortal world? Wouldn't that make you a demon too?"
"Hahaha, right now being a god is more dangerous than being a demon. Besides, isn't it better to be a demon together?"
Belle Whitebone paused, blushing, and nodded.
...
At the borders of Blossom Mountain, the Nine-Star Grand Array was activated once again, with the Nine Immortal Disciples struggling to maintain it.
Countless monks charged at them, the demon army desperately fought back, and the battlefield remained a relentless meat grinder.
Gradually, the firing rate of the Nine-Star Grand Array slowed, and the demon army grew more and more exhausted.
Old Ninth Warren Hao's body tilted and quietly fell. Danny Crimson quickly left the array to catch him.
With their spiritual power nearly depleted, the Nine-Star Grand Array was finally dismissed. Forced to retreat, the demon army fought as they withdrew. Meanwhile, more and more monks surged forward, unstoppable as a rising tide.
"Elder Gale, what should we do?"
Elder Gale blinked, gazing in a daze at the endless monks flying across the sky.
This was pure human wave tactics, and among them, he couldn't spot a single high-ranking Buddhist official. But how did the Buddhist order have so many monks?
Staring into the distance, he murmured, "There must be trickery. Something's wrong over there."
With a sweep of his sleeve, he glided alone toward the source of the monks.
Behind him, his fellow disciples hurried to follow. Even Danny Crimson quickly entrusted the exhausted Old Ninth Warren Hao to Blackie, then turned and rushed after them.
Eight of them formed a wedge and skimmed low over the ground. The monks above were close enough to touch, yet seemed to ignore them, charging straight toward the battlefield.
"What's going on?" Elder Skyreach asked in alarm.
"From just now until now, we've lost at least half a million." Elder Stillwater said gravely. "Spirit Mountain may have ten thousand temples, but it's impossible for so many monks with cultivation to be mobilized. The only explanation is... these aren't monks."
Elder Gale's frown deepened, and all the disciples around him fell silent.
In the distance, they saw twenty-eight golden arrays hidden among the mountains, each radiating dazzling light, with countless monks crawling out and soaring skyward.
In this world lit only by moonlight, it looked from afar like a golden river flowing against the current.
"It's puppet magic," Elder Gale said with a resigned laugh.
All the disciples were stunned.
Elder Stillwater asked softly, "To cast this spell, there would be interference. For twenty-eight arrays to control puppet magic at once—could it be the Buddha himself?"
"No. There are others in the Buddhist order who can use puppet magic, not just the Buddha. Besides, interference can always be eliminated, and it's not necessarily a single person controlling all twenty-eight at once."
"That's right—it doesn't have to be just one person." A voice sounded beside them.