Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong was slightly surprised by what "once was Houtu" meant, but he did not ask, seeing that Meng Po originally intended to tell him.

"In those years, the Demon Clan ruled the Heavenly Court, and our Witch Race ruled the earth. There were no issues between us at first, but disputes suddenly arose overnight, growing increasingly violent until they escalated into a great war between the Witch and Demon Clans."

A hint of reminiscence flashed in Meng Po's eyes as she spoke softly, "The Ancestral Witches were warlike, and for some unknown reason, Gonggong and Zhu Rong had a quarrel at Mount Buzhou, where they fought and both perished. With the loss of two of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, our Witch Race was inherently weaker in the subsequent conflicts.

As you may well know, in his rage, Gonggong damaged Mount Buzhou, causing the pillar of heaven to break, tearing a great hole in the barrier between the Heaven Realm and the Mortal Realm, bringing down Heavenly Thunder and fire from the skies, and calamities upon all living beings on earth. Fortunately, Sister Nuwa mended the sky with refined stones, repairing the breach in the Heaven Realm.

It was then she foresaw a tremendous catastrophe between the Witch and Demon Clans that could change the heavens and the earth."

"I didn't understand what Sister Nuwa meant by the tremendous catastrophe, she always said that the secrets of heaven cannot be revealed. She only told me to take care of myself when the catastrophe came so that I could preserve some of the Witch Race's bloodline."

At this point, Meng Po paused and looked at Sun Wukong with warmth in her eyes, but Sun Wukong felt she was not looking at him; instead, she was looking through him towards her mother, Goddess Nuwa.

"The ten sons of the Demon Clan's Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, the Ten Great Golden Crows, roamed the Primeval lands, with their brightness scorching the earth, causing suffering among all living beings. Yet Di Jun dealt with them too leniently. Great Witch Kuafu, dissatisfied, pursued the sun, meeting his death at the hands of the Ten Great Golden Crows.

This incited the wrath of Great Witch Great Yi, who with the help of the entire clan and various secret techniques of the Witch Race, forged divine arrows and shot down nine of the Golden Crows. After Great Yi's sun shooting, he too was killed by many Demon Gods. The conflict grew more intense until it erupted into a full-scale war between the two great races."

Meng Po sighed, "When Di Jiang, the elder brother, led us, the remaining Ten Great Ancestral Witches, and a multitude of Great Witches from Primeval times to fight in the Primordial Ancient Heavenly Court, I finally understood what Sister Nuwa's tremendous catastrophe meant. But at that point, it was a fierce you-live-and-I-die battle between the two races, something I couldn't stop.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Sister Nuwa, being a Heavenly Dao Saint, couldn't forcefully intervene against heaven's will; she could only watch. That battle ended with both the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court and the Witch Race using the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Formation and the Duotian Divine Demons Great Formation, respectively, leading to mutual destruction."

"I couldn't bear to see the masters of both races vanish like smoke, so I transformed into the Six Paths and became reincarnation, in the hope of preserving some of the Primordial Qi for both races. My soul should have dissipated, but Hong Jun Daoist Ancestor, using a Supreme Daoist technique, coalesced my soul and spirit, using the Netherworld Ghost Qi to reforge my physical body.

Renamed Meng Po, I've been guarding the Naihe Bridge of the Netherworld, safeguarding the Six Paths of Reincarnation for my Witch Race, to atone for my kin's residual killings, day after day, year after year. I no longer remember how long I've been here, nor has anyone been willing to talk to me. Wukong, you are the first person in years that has listened to so much of what's in my heart!"

"Aunt's great virtue, I admire you," said Sun Wukong, moved. "You've suffered much over these years!"

Had he been in Houtu's place, Sun Wukong knew he couldn't have made the sacrificial act of turning into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. He bowed respectfully to Meng Po, who was the embodiment of Houtu. Seeing the close relationship between Houtu and Nuwa, who called each other sisters, it didn't seem excessive to call her "aunt."

"There's no great virtue to speak of; I was merely fighting for my own race," she said.

Meng Po, or rather, it would be more accurate to call her Houtu, although only possessing one soul and two spirits, had, having guarded the Netherworld's Naihe Bridge for so many years, already recondensed her lost soul and spirit, and her mana had returned to half of what it once was. Otherwise, she wouldn't have reached the Realm of a half-step Quasi-Saint.

"By the way, Wukong, what is the current situation of the Witch and Demon Clans? Why have you come here in the flesh?"

Houtu, who had transformed into the cycle of reincarnation and did not participate in the final bloody battle of the Witch-Demon War, had not been informed of the outcome of the tremendous catastrophe by Hong Jun Daoist Ancestor. Although she had been guarding the Naihe Bridge of the Netherworld for many years, she had never heard the conclusion of that war from anyone's mouth.

Deeply concerned, she seized the opportunity to ask Sun Wukong as he had come.

"The Witch and Demon Clans..."

Sun Wukong sighed with a wry smile and shook his head, "Not good! Very bad!"

"How bad?"

Houtu's heart tightened as she pressed for details.

"After the devastating catastrophe of the Witch-Demon War, both the Witch and Demon Clans were greatly weakened and could no longer dominate the Ancient Primeval times. They had to retreat to various mountains and rivers, mainly congregating in the Northern Continent of Cattle-grazing, eventually evolving into what is now the Barbarian Race there.

Of course, some were scattered elsewhere, but the Three Realms are now controlled by the Human Race, with the Human Heavenly Court replacing the Ancient Demon Clan's Heavenly Court. After the second tremendous catastrophe, the Divine Enthronement War, the Western Cult rose to become what is now the Buddhist Kingdom.

Both our Demon Clan and you Witches have become the targets of the Human Race's suppression. Either hiding in barren mountains and treacherous waters or being captured by those Immortals and Buddhas to serve as Spiritual Beasts and mounts..."

"Is that so?"

A trace of sorrow flickered in Houtu's eyes, "Fate, indeed, cannot be defied..."

"Bullshit that fate cannot be defied!"

Sun Wukong's eyes flashed coldly, his face showing a hint of defiance, "Fate is man-made, and if we ourselves submit to it without resistance, what future do we have to speak of? Aunt, didn't you transform into the Six Paths and become reincarnation precisely to break this so-called fate, to carve out a path of survival for both the Witch and Demon Clans?"

"This..."

A flicker of motivation crossed Houtu's face. Then she saw Sun Wukong stand tall, hands clenched, his eyes shining with unwavering determination as he declared loudly,

"My old Sun never believed in any destiny! So what if destiny is hard to defy, I, old Sun, insist on going against the Heavens! We are all born equal, who dares act so high and mighty? If the Heavens try to press down on me, I will break them apart, if the Earth tries to stop me, I will shatter it, my life is controlled by me, not by fate!"

"My life is controlled by me, not by fate!"

"Not by fate!"

The resounding and forceful voice echoed over the Naihe Bridge. Houtu watched Sun Wukong's spirited and unyielding appearance, a strange glimmer of light flashing in her eyes, she took a deep breath and smiled wryly, "Truly worthy of being Nuwa Sister's progeny, indeed extraordinary! Wukong, you're right, how would you know if you can change your destiny without trying?

It's just a pity, although I have already restored the missing soul, I have merged with the Netherworld and cannot leave, I am afraid I cannot help you."

With a sigh, a hint of melancholy flashed in Houtu's eyes, but in the next moment, it was as if she suddenly remembered something and abruptly lifted her head, her gaze intense as she stared at Sun Wukong, making his heart twitch slightly. Why did this aunt's stare feel so terrifying?

"Ahem, aunt, if you have something to say, just tell me, don't stare at old Sun like that..."

"You might be able to withstand the Essence Blood of the Ancestral Witch!"

"What?"

Sun Wukong was startled by Houtu's abrupt statement. What Essence Blood of the Ancestral Witch?

"Wukong, like Nuwa Sister, you have a Heavenly Demon Body, and within you is Nuwa Sister's Saint's Essence Blood. You might be able to absorb my Ancestral Witch's Essence Blood!"

"Hey, wait a minute! Aunt, how did you suddenly think of giving old Sun the Ancestral Witch's Essence Blood? What use would that have for old Sun?"

Watching Houtu suddenly become animated, Sun Wukong was truly confused. He was a member of the Demon Clan, completely unrelated to the Witch Race, what did he need the Essence Blood of the Ancestral Witch for? He didn't want to ruin his body by accident, that would be awkward.

"Wukong, what you don't know is that the Heavenly Demon Body and the Ancestral Witch Body have the same origin, both derived from the Great God Pangu.

All the Twelve Ancestral Witches were transformations of Pangu's Essence Blood, and most of Pangu's Primordial Spirit turned into the Three Purities, while a small part mingled with the clear and turbid Qi after Heaven-Opening to give birth to the Hundred Demon Races, and the Heavenly Demon Body is the special group among the Hundred Demon Races that received that part of Pangu's Primordial Spirit.

In all of Ancient Primeval, only the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, and Sister Nuwa held such a title."

"What's the significance of that?"

Sun Wukong was still somewhat puzzled. All this talk about Pangu opening the heavens and birthing hundreds of races seemed far too removed from him. His immediate concern was how to accumulate strength to confront the Heavenly Court, to settle the old scores with the Jade Emperor and Buddha. The things Houtu was talking about went over his head.

"It means you should be able to receive my Essence Blood of the Ancestral Witch, fuse it with the Saint's Essence Blood from Sister Nuwa inside you, and break through the Heavenly Demon Body to reach a Chaotic Body like that of Great God Pangu!"

A Chaotic Body?

Sun Wukong's eyes suddenly widened. Was it the Chaotic Body recorded in ancient books that only Great God Pangu possessed? The one that could directly absorb Chaos Qi, the unparalleled Physical Body capable of slicing through Chaotic God-Demons?

"Aunt, are you telling the truth? Can old Sun really possess a Chaotic Divine Body?"

Sun Wukong's breathing grew heavier. Not just him, but probably no one in the Three Realms could resist the temptation of a Chaotic Divine Body. This was the best chance to become an unrivaled powerhouse like Great God Pangu!

"It's true, but this is just my conjecture. Whether you can truly absorb and merge the Ancestral Witch's Essence Blood, I'm not certain. We should consider this matter carefully..."

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"There's no need for careful consideration!"

Sun Wukong cut off Houtu, "Aunt, give old Sun the Ancestral Witch's Essence Blood right now; I must try this opportunity!"

"Wukong, don't be hasty, this matter is not as simple as you think!"

Houtu shook her head gently, "The Heavenly Demon Body fusing with the Essence Blood of the Ancestral Witch to ascend to a Chaotic Body is the best scenario, but there are great risks involved. If anything goes wrong, and the two clash, you might end up completely obliterated!"