Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 89: Long Time No See, The Insect Turns into a Dragon

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Long Time No See, The Insect Turns into a Dragon

Bai Jingjing was indeed fortunate to have Wukong and Yuan Hong coming to her doorstep at such a time. Moreover, she displayed cleverness as well, serving tea and fruits to keep them there, only waiting for that spider spirit to call out for a challenge.

Wukong, who had vowed for equality among people, now discovered such acts of force, intimidation, and coercion, naturally felt dissatisfied. And this person was called Nine-Headed Dragon? In the past, he had invited the true immortal Yang Jian to fight the Nine-Headed Worm, which fled in defeat without a trace. Could it be that it has returned with a new name?

Yuan Hong also frowned slightly and said, "Since we have drunk your tea and eaten your fruits, we shall help you."

Bai Jingjing bowed in gratitude and said, "I thank you, Divine Monkey Great General and Green Emperor."

After a short wait, another voice came through, no longer that of the spider spirit, but the Nine-Headed Dragon.

"Bai Jingjing, if you do not come out, I will have to come in and take you." Upon hearing this voice, Wukong knew it could only be the Nine-Headed Worm!

Wukong then said, "Miss Bai, you go inside. I’ll deal with this Nine-Headed Worm."

Bai Jingjing thus went deeper into the cave abode. Yuan Hong concealed his form while Wukong chuckled softly, wiped his face, and transformed into Bai Jingjing’s appearance. Yuan Hong watched from the side, secretly amused, thinking to himself that Wukong truly enjoyed playing tricks. In the past, he teased Zhu Bajie at Gao Village, and now he was fooling this Nine-Headed Dragon.

After Yuan Hong concealed his form, Wukong said in a tender and charming manner, "Nine-Headed Dragon King, I am a girl, how can you ask me to come out?"

The Nine-Headed Worm, upon hearing this, was overjoyed and rubbed his hands together while laughing, "Right, right! Does that mean you’ll let me come in?"

Wukong responded, "Indeed, I want Nine-Headed Dragon King to come inside."

The Nine-Headed Worm then entered the White Bone Cave. When Wukong lifted his gaze to inspect, he found the creature quite formidable, noting: "Wearing a decrepit silver helmet, shining brighter than snow; clad in a complete set of armor, gleaming more than autumn frost. Draped in a brocade expedition robe, truly like colored clouds enveloping jade; girt with a rhinoceros belt, indeed like a floral python twisting around gold. Holding a crescent shovel, radiating like lightning; wearing pigskin boots, creating ripples in water. From afar, each head was a different face; up close, every side was human. Eyes at the front, eyes at the back, seeing in all directions; mouth on the left, mouth on the right, speaking in nine mouths. A shout could shake the heavens, like cranes soaring with a piercing cry through the celestial sphere."

The newcomer was none other than the Nine-Headed Worm, which had one head regrown after being bitten off by the Howling Heavenly Dog.

The Nine-Headed Worm laughed and said, "If only Miss Jingjing had agreed earlier, how good that would have been!"

Wukong simply said, "You are not a girl, so naturally, you don’t understand a girl’s mind."

The Nine-Headed Worm nodded again and again, all nine heads shaking as it said, "What Jingjing says is absolutely right, absolutely right indeed!"

Wukong then asked, "Did you bring a betrothal gift with you?"

The Nine-Headed Worm was surprised and asked, "What betrothal gift?"

Wukong retorted, "Oh, I thought you were sincere. You want to marry me without even bringing a betrothal gift!"

The Nine-Headed Worm felt embarrassed, but upon hearing Wukong’s angry shout and seeing him brandishing a staff, said, "Bring it on!"

The Nine-Headed Worm, knowing Bai Jingjing’s cultivation level, was not worried and reached out to block. But as soon as he stretched out his hand, he felt the staff whip up a fierce wind, painfully stinging his arm. Shocked, he quickly retracted his arm and raised his crescent shovel to block. This staff strike, charged by Wukong, was not so easily deflected. The impact numbed his arms immediately, sending him flying.

"Who are you? You’re not Bai Jingjing!" the Nine-Headed Worm shouted.

Wukong let out a cold laugh and said, "Nine-Headed Worm, you can’t even recognize your Grandfather Sun’s staff!"

Having said that, Yuan Hong revealed himself, raising his staff towards the Nine-Headed Worm’s back. But the Nine-Headed Worm’s nine heads were alert to actions from all around, and his movements were not going to elude the Eighteen Eyes of the Nine-Headed Worm. Quickly he contorted himself into a backbend. Yuan Hong’s staff just grazed past his face.

Thinking he had dodged danger, the Nine-Headed Worm was unprepared for Yuan Hong’s staff to suddenly curve back in an unbelievable trajectory, striking directly onto his shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

The Nine-Headed Worm, now not daring to underestimate the situation, thrust his crescent shovel towards Yuan Hong’s feet.

Yuan Hong performed a backward somersault to evade the Nine-Headed Worm’s crescent shovel.

The Nine-Headed Worm cursed, "It’s you, you macaque! You’ve come looking for trouble with your Nine-Headed Grandfather again, have you had too much to eat and now you’re looking for trouble?!"

Sun Wukong revealed his true form, slinging the Buddha Beating Staff over his shoulder and chuckling, "Nine-Headed Worm, your Grandfather Sun is now leading a revolution for equality among all beings. Yet here you are, using your strength to snatch a wife? You didn’t even ask if she’s willing! Today, I’m going to subdue you."

The Nine-Headed Worm, furious, shouted, "A defeated foe dares to speak of courage."

Wukong also recalled the incident where he was defeated by the Nine-Headed Beetle years ago, and his anger surged as he roared, "Let’s fight again!"

The Nine-Headed Beetle sneered, "This place is too cramped. I really want to see if you, the Green Emperor of the Demon Tribe, are as formidable as they say."

Years had passed, and the Nine-Headed Beetle had actually achieved the Cultivation Level of a Daluo Golden Immortal—a true prodigy! If it hadn’t been for Wukong and Yuan Hong’s sudden attack, defeating him would not have been easy.

Wukong, too, felt a surge of stubborn resolve and said, "Fine, let’s take it outside!"

With that, he transformed into a streak of gold and slid out of the cave abode; his feet tread upon the void as he ascended to the sky.

The Nine-Headed Beetle chuckled coldly, his nine heads shaking as he grabbed his crescent shovel and rode the clouds to ascend across from Wukong, two zhang apart.

Wukong, unable to contain his impatience, swung his staff and attacked. With one blow, countless shadows of his staff, gleaming with golden light, bore down on the Nine-Headed Beetle’s skull!

The Nine-Headed Beetle shook all nine of his heads, gathering his spirit. He lifted his crescent shovel to meet the attack. Now prepared, he managed to withstand the millions of jin of force thanks to his Daluo Golden Immortal techniques. The Nine-Headed Beetle kept all possible angles under surveillance with his nine heads and eighteen eyes; no matter where Wukong attacked from, he was able to intercept it.

Ever since Wukong had comprehended the one thousand and first Dharma Gate, he was able to bend the rules like a Daluo Golden Immortal, but his true cultivation and mana were slightly inferior compared to the Daluo Golden Immortals. However, his own Cultivation Method was miraculous, and he possessed many powerful Magical Treasures. An average Daluo Golden Immortal fighting against him would likely suffer a disadvantage.

After practicing staff techniques with Yuan Hong, Wukong’s martial arts skills had greatly improved, far surpassing his previous capabilities, to the point where even the Bull Demon King could not match him for a hundred moves.

The two were locked in battle, and although the Nine-Headed Beetle was not particularly skilled, his nine heads and eighteen eyes were formidable. Wukong’s every attack, from any direction, was timely blocked by him. Both fighters tread upon the void, kicking tirelessly while blasts of air boiled and weapons clashed incessantly, creating showers of sparks, gusts of fierce wind, and rifts in the clouds revealing sunlight.

"Heavenly Emperor’s Giant Seal!" Wukong formed a spell with his hands, and instantly, a massive handprint descended.

The Nine-Headed Beetle shook his head, employing his Divine Skills as one mouth of a head opened wide and spat out a bead that struck the Heavenly Emperor’s Giant Seal. A succession of crackling sounds resounded, resembling a volley of cannon fire, thunderous yet frequent.

This bead was called the Heavenly Constellation Thunderbolt, forged from the essence of the Heavenly Constellation.

Yuan Hong, watching intently from the sidelines, furrowed his brow and thought, "How is this Nine-Headed Beetle so similar to those creatures, Gui Che and Xiang Liu?"

Gui Che, also known as the Nine-Headed Bird, obviously had nine heads and extraordinarily fierce Divine Skills—an Ancient beast. However, at that time, it was not very powerful, merely at the Taiyi Golden Immortal Cultivation Level and absent from the Ancient Wars, seemingly in hiding; Xiang Liu, alternatively known as Xiang Yao, had a snake’s body with nine heads and a brutal and ferocious nature, known for devouring mountains. After eating, it would spit out saliva, forming great marshes—an Ancient beast that caused chaos in Ancient Times. Gonggong’s collision with Mount Buzhou triggered a flood, and during this period while the Human Race’s Sage King Da Yu was forging the Sea-Calming Divine Needle for flood control, Xiang Liu swallowed dams and sand, creating significant obstacles. Legend has it that it was eventually killed by Sage King Da Yu.

Both Gui Che and Xiang Liu were exceedingly formidable, each of their nine heads possessing a powerful Divine Skill; they could emit thunder, water, poison, fire... In summary, Yuan Hong thought that this Nine-Headed Beetle must have a significant origin.

Seeing the Heavenly Emperor’s Giant Seal shattered by the Nine-Headed Beetle’s Divine Thunder, Wukong unfolded the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun Body Technique and dashed forward, striking out with another palm!

The head of the Nine-Headed Beetle that had spat out the bead opened its mouth again, and another bead was spat out—this time unleashing a Xuan Yin Water Thunder that specifically countered the nature of the Heavenly Emperor’s Giant Seal. As they collided, another series of crackles erupted, and the Giant Seal was blasted to pieces.

At that moment, Wukong focused the Primordial Great Strength Technique, concentrating the force of 1,800,000,000 jin, pressuring space itself to the point of fracturing!

The Nine-Headed Beetle heard the sound of cracking space from around his ears, and in an instant, it turned into dust. He did not dare to raise his crescent shovel to block and could only roar, retreating repeatedly.

"Buzz!" "Thud!"

Two loud booms echoed, the first being the shrill sound of the staff slicing through space, and the second like the sound of striking a bronze bell. These two sounds alone were enough to chill the Nine-Headed Beetle to the core, knowing that had the staff landed on him, he would have been pulverized instantly!

"Sun Wukong, it’s been over a decade since we last met, and your skills have become so formidable," the Nine-Headed Beetle exclaimed. Seizing the moment Wukong was spent, he lifted his crescent shovel and lashed out a sharp whip aimed directly at Wukong’s neck.

Wukong snorted coldly and applied a technique to redirect the force. Twisting his body into a Taiji Circle, he borrowed the incoming energy to smash his staff onto the whip, shattering it instantly, and the momentum unabated, he generated a dark golden whip that slashed towards the Nine-Headed Beetle.

The Nine-Headed Beetle felt a terrible headache. As a Daluo Golden Immortal, he thought dealing with a Taiyi Golden Immortal would be as easy as reaching into a bag, but why was this monkey so difficult to handle? The Cultivation Method he practiced was extremely intimidating; that one staff strike was terrifying... And the Giant Seal was quite powerful too, costing him two Thunder Beads.

The second head of the Nine-Headed Beetle shook, opening its giant mouth to spew out something. It was hard to discern what it was, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a block of ten-thousand-year-old Xuan Ice!

The golden whip that Wukong struck only created a crack upon the ice.

The first head launched thunder, the second produced water, and each of the other heads had its own Divine Skill.

This ten-thousand-year-old Xuan Ice, refined by the Nine-Headed Beetle’s Divine Skills, possessed exceedingly strong defensive power.