Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 178 - 174: Gonggong’s Carelessness Costs Jingzhou

Chapter 178: Chapter 174: Gonggong’s Carelessness Costs Jingzhou

The terrain along the coast of Southern Ridge was all submerged in seawater. Gonggong and Houtu arrived just in time, employing their great divine powers to manage the flood.

Looking at the mountains and rivers drowned by the sea, Gonggong remarked, "Tsk! Wu Zhiqi’s divine skills are indeed remarkable, almost as formidable as mine, the Water God! It seems I really must meet him to see whose divine power is greater, heh!"

Houtu responded, "Aren’t you the one who always boasts about being the best at water control in the world?"

Gonggong laughed and said, "Wu Zhiqi must be the world’s second-best then!"

Houtu chuckled, "You really know how to brag."

Gonggong then declared, "Then I shall head to the Abyssal to meet him and see what skills this monkey has! The Long-Armed Ape, General Yuan Hong, had impressive skills and earned a great reputation in Ancient Times; the Intelligent Stone Monkey, Sun Wukong also has notable abilities, as evidenced by his ties with our Lady Houtu..." As Gonggong spoke earnestly, Houtu burst into laughter beside him, "Hmmmm, this Six-Eared Macaque’s skills are indeed mediocre. Wu Zhiqi, having emerged after the war between ancient witches and demons, caused a disturbance before being suppressed by Da Yu. After cultivating for tens of thousands of years, his abilities must have become impressive."

The Ancestral Witches liked to talk about these topics, but naturally, no one dared to mention it in front of Xuan Ming. However, knowing the past, present, and future, Xuan Ming likely knew what they said, he simply chose not to point it out. After all, at nearly one hundred thousand years old, finding entertainment was not easy.

Houtu then asked, "Are you not afraid of dying?"

Gonggong responded with a laugh, "I posses an immortal body!"

And then... he felt a chill, as the void split open and a jade bracelet flew out, striking Gonggong on the head and sending him tumbling to the ground, face covered in dust and dirt. Houtu pointed at him and burst into hearty laughter, tears almost streaming down her face.

"Who dares ambush me?" Gonggong got up in a fury, but on seeing the bracelet, he sheepishly smiled, "I’m off to test my skills against Wu Zhiqi, don’t be mad, don’t be mad!"

Gonggong swiftly used a water escape technique and disappeared into the sea in a splash, leaving no trace. Houtu, holding her sides with laughter, said, "Aren’t you supposed to be immortal?"

The jade bracelet disappeared as quickly as it appeared, clearly Xuan Ming had taken action to discipline this tactless fellow.

Seeing Gonggong fall, Houtu’s mood brightened considerably. She wandered along the coast with hands behind her back, building a dam wherever the defenses seemed weak. She felt that the more Gonggong was beaten, the faster her cultivation level would rise! Lost in her thoughts, Houtu began laughing again.

"Damn, that really hurt!" Gonggong muttered, rubbing the back of his head, feeling extremely embarrassed for being humiliated in front of Houtu. She would surely tease him about this in the future.

Gonggong headed towards the Abyssal, feeling the water currents around him flow faster and encountering tremendous resistance.

Meanwhile, Wu Zhiqi was severing one fine gold iron chain after another, with only two left.

Dragon fire fell upon them, melting the chains in moments. Then, with a "snap," the last chain was severed.

Igniting another streak of dragon fire with his left hand, Wu Zhiqi grabbed the last chain around his waist. A surge of water immediately followed, intensifying the fire and breaking the chain instantly.

"Finally free!" Overcome with emotion, Wu Zhiqi couldn’t help roaring, causing the surrounding sea to boil.

Gonggong, witnessing the scene, spoke out, "Your roaring is causing a flood, which is hardly ideal."

Wu Zhiqi couldn’t help but curse, "Which wretch is spying on me?"

Gonggong chuckled inwardly and revealed himself, saying, "You impudent monkey, how dare you call your elder Gonggong a wretch!"

Gonggong was also in a foul mood, having just been struck. He needed to vent his anger on someone.

"Gonggong? The Water God Gonggong?" Wu Zhiqi also broke into a smile. "I had heard of your unmatched water control skills, but unfortunately, you were suppressed by the Heavenly Emperor by the time I was born. Today is a good day to test our strength together and see who truly is the supreme master of water control!"

Gonggong cursed, "Foolish monkey, you really don’t know better!"

Wu Zhiqi raised his fine gold iron rod, aiming to strike Gonggong. His attack was fierce, coming down straight as if to cleave Gonggong in two.

Gonggong scoffed. Formulating a spell, he suddenly produced dozens of water thunders in his hands and launched them at Wu Zhiqi! Having only ever fought Da Yu and having been suppressed afterwards, Wu Zhiqi lacked fighting experience. His forceful strike, though overwhelming, couldn’t be adjusted in time to avoid the water thunders raining down on him without an escape.

With a loud shout, his muscles tightened as he used his unique talents to abruptly halt his momentum, then waving his rod defensively to keep the water out. The water thunders exploded upon meeting the rod, creating thunderous blasts and stirring the waves.

"Why do you monkeys all love using staffs?" Gonggong wondered aloud, pulling a long whip from the sea.

Without a word, Wu Zhiqi charged again, more cautiously this time.

Swinging his whip, Gonggong struck, Wu Zhiqi countered by hitting the whip’s tip with his rod, deflecting it. He then moved in close, aiming for Gonggong’s head with his rod!

Gonggong, relying on his powerful physical body, did not evade; he wanted to test Wu Zhiqi’s capabilities, so he stood his ground, intending to take the blow on his head! Undoubtedly, Gonggong’s physical body was the strongest among the Ancestral Witches—there was no question. In ancient times, he physically collided with Mount Buzhou and actually caused it to collapse entirely, ruining the foundation of Heavenly Court and directly leading to Di Jun’s defeat.

"Bang!"

Wu Zhiqi’s strike was solid and dazing, but it failed to reach the core of Gonggong.

Gonggong shook his whip and tied Wu Zhiqi up, cursing inwardly, "This fellow does have some serious physical strength!"

Wu Zhiqi’s muscles swelled as if inflating, and the whip binding him immediately burst apart, scattering into a spray of water that fell into the sea.

Gonggong employed an escape technique and entered the waters.

Thinking he had injured Gonggong with his strike, Wu Zhiqi, not realizing it was a trick, dove in after him.

But he was met by a gigantic palm, large as a hill, with razor-sharp fingernails that immediately grabbed Wu Zhiqi.

It turned out it was Gonggong’s ploy; he had feigned severe injury to lure Wu Zhiqi into the water. As Wu Zhiqi entered, Gonggong had already transformed into his Demon God Ancestral Witch form, lying in wait and easily capturing Wu Zhiqi.

"Hehe, hehe! Little monkey, playing with Gonggong, you’re still quite green, aren’t you?" Gonggong, holding Wu Zhiqi, laughed aloud.

Transformed into his true form, the physical strength of an Ancestral Witch was immense; wasn’t the power that collapsed Mount Buzhou terrifying? Now holding Wu Zhiqi, no matter how many divine transformations Wu Zhiqi used, he couldn’t escape from Gonggong’s grasp, held tightly as if clutching an ant.

Unable to hold back, Wu Zhiqi spat, "Pah! They call you the Water God, yet you resort to such despicable means to win!"

Gonggong laughed and responded, "Haha, hahaha! Despicable? What do you think is more important, life or face? Besides, the victor becomes the king, the loser the bandit. Outsiders only care about whether you win or lose, not how you win! Let me ask you, if you had to choose between life and face, which would you pick?" Gonggong answered himself, "If it were me, I’d choose the former; without life, face means nothing. Without face, you can still regain it."

Wu Zhiqi was left speechless by Gonggong’s words.

With a reluctant tone, Wu Zhiqi said, "Alright, I admit defeat!"

Gonggong then chuckled and released Wu Zhiqi.

At that moment, Wu Zhiqi suddenly attacked, striking Gonggong on the head when he least expected it.

Clearly, Wu Zhiqi had been ready to strike, and his blow, accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder, landed on Gonggong’s forehead, knocking him into the water and causing a surge of waves a hundred feet high, leaving Gonggong dizzy and his Primordial Spirit intermittently clouded.

With a twisted laugh, Wu Zhiqi said, "Hehe, Gonggong, you were right, life is indeed more important than face! If you lose face, you can always get it back!"

Gonggong shook his head and said, "You’re quite clever!"

With a loud shout, Wu Zhiqi picked up his rod to strike Gonggong again.

Knowing the situation was bad, Gonggong, who was hurt in the Primordial Spirit, had to continue fighting, so he directly used his escape technique to flee. Gonggong’s escape ability was formidable, and he vanished in the blink of an eye. Wu Zhiqi wanted to pursue but couldn’t catch up, only able to watch as Gonggong escaped.

Gonggong’s loss this time was indeed unjust. It was his own overconfidence that led to this result, truly a significant oversight. However, it also showed Wu Zhiqi’s cunning and ability to learn quickly.

Gonggong cursed internally: "I always end up on the short end recently! Dammit, it infuriates me!"

Gonggong touched his head, thinking, "I’m probably going to be the laughingstock of Houtu again!"

Seeing Gonggong leave, Wu Zhiqi stood where he was and burst into laughter, causing the surrounding sea waves to churn wildly, rising up to a thousand feet, wave after wave, moving toward the north... Wu Zhiqi, whether in rage or ecstasy, loved to disturb the water, and with his actions, it was hard to tell how many would suffer, especially since he had already turned the South Sea Dragon Palace upside down.

Just then, Wukong had also healed his Primordial Spirit and was coming out of seclusion.

A demon fetched the Evolving Cushion and went to the Reincarnation Netherworld to return it to Xuan Ming.

At the same time, Yuan Hong also came out of seclusion, having achieved Great Perfection in the Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm, and now he embarked on a special path—this path is called—War!

He wanted to nourish war through war, to break the shackles of the Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm and ascend to the Primordial Golden Immortal!

To see what happens next, please follow the upcoming installment. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, feel welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets or monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)