Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-2164

Though Vahn and a few others had departed, that didn't mean the events in the banquet hall had come to an end. Not everyone was willing to immediately kowtow to Wu Kong. Many would rather suffer a beating than lower their heads to another, so, shortly after Vahn's departure, the banquet hall became a battlefield.

Among the group of Gods that refused to lower their heads was Erlang Shen. He had fought Wu numerous times in the past, and, at one point, he had even managed to defeat her with the help of the Buddhist Faction. He was one of the people responsible for Wu's transition from a Demon King to one of the Seven Great Sages, so, whenever she appeared to cause trouble, he would be among the first to butt heads with the mischievous monkey.

"Wu, you stone-headed monkey. Why couldn't you just participate in the banquet like a normal person? Thanks to you, I missed my opportunity to face off against the Sage Dragon Emperor...!"

Snorting through her nose, Wu performed a half-turn, smacking her left butt cheek and flaring her tail as she taunted, "Bite me, dog breath...!"

Baring his teeth as if he was tempted to do exactly that, Erlang Shen charged towards Wu with the momentum of a wayward solar flare. The space encompassing him illuminated as if lit by a golden flame, and, by the time he reached Wu, a draconic visage more than twenty meters in diameter had formed in response to the superheated spear in his right hand.

"Dragon Shatters the Rampart...!"

Under normal circumstances, Erlang Shen's attack would allow him to pierce through the heart of a mountain in a single thrust. Unfortunately, Wu's head was significantly harder, so, the moment Shen unleashed his attack, she reared her head back with a smile, shouting, "Monkey Shatters Illusions of Grandeur...!" before surging forward to headbutt the tip of his spear.

Refusing the backdown, Shen sent a surge of Divine Qi into his spear the moment it made contact with the center of Wu's head. Ancient runes immediately lit up across the body of the spear, and, as a result of the impact, a violent shockwave rocked the center of the arena before collapsing inward to produce a swirling, gravitational vortex.

Smiling even wider, Wu appeared as though she was fully committed to breaking the spear with her forehead. Even Shen believed this was the case, so, after a brief moment of hesitation, he clenched his teeth hard enough to produce blood as he sent nearly have of his Divine Qi into his spear.

Waiting for that exact moment, Wu sent chills through the bodies of nearly every God present by manifesting a clone right behind Shen. Then, before the God could react, she practically inverted her body as she raised her foot backward in the preliminary movement of punting motion.

"Soul-Shattering Branch Kick...!"

Hearing Wu's voice behind him, the ruddiness of Erlang Shen's complexion immediately faded away as he instinctually closed his legs. This disrupted his balance, and, as a result, Wu was able to smash through the tip of his spear before reversing the direction of her movement to give him a powerful uppercut to the lower jaw.

Though he was extremely angered by Wu's actions, Erlang Shen couldn't conceal an expression of considerable relief as he flipped in the air, massaged his jaw, and said, "You unscrupulous rascal..."

Sniggering in response to Shen's remark, Wu produced double-peace signs as she teased, "You're lucky I'm a magnanimous person. Even I wouldn't go out of my way to neuter a dog that has yet to leave behind a litter~!"

Clicking his tongue, Erlang Shen discarded his three-pointed, double-edged spear before forming a seal with his hands and shouting, "Heaven's Punishment...!"

As she was incapable of flying without assistance, Wu's brows perked up as an extremely complex, circular magic formation appeared beneath her feet. At the same time, five black pillars emerged covered in golden runes emerged along the periphery to form a pentagonal cage of vibrant golden electricity.

Spreading his hands apart, hazy golden triangles in the center of Erlang Shen's palms as the third eye at the center of his forehead began releasing an intense, blinding light.

"You think you can simply destroy my weapon and be done with it? Do not underestimate the spirit of those who pursue the Dao of the Spear...!"

Clapping his hands together, cracks appeared along the gauntlets adorning Erlang Shen's hands and forearms as he shouted, "Divine Art - Heaven's Divide...!"

Though most expected some kind of massive energy attack to be unleashed the moment Erlang Shen's slapped his hands together, a far more peculiar scene presented itself as the arena beneath Wu's feet spontaneously opened to reveal a seemingly bottomless chasm. The moment she began to fall, the fiery golden eye at the center of Shen's forehead ruptured, blood pouring down his face as a much larger version of his three-pointed, double-edged spear pierced towards Wu at a speed most of the Gods present couldn't even follow.

"Well, fu-"

With the spear impacting her the exact moment she became aware of its presence, Wu wasn't even able to finish her exclamation as the skyscraper-sized projectile impacted the center of her chest. Its momentum ended up carrying her deep into the chasm as Erlang Shen, anticipating this, produced a third and final seal as he shouted, "Divine Art - Earth Prison...!"

As a Stone Monkey whose legend included being sealed beneath a mountain for five hundred years, prisons formed from earth were one of Wu's only weaknesses. This was common knowledge in the Divine Realm, but, unless they were a literal Earth God or Goddess, most people were unable to take advantage of it.

Following the activation of Erlang Shen's third seal, the massive chasm formed in the center of the arena promptly slammed shut with enough force to compel numerous Gods to take a knee. A few of the younger Gods were even impertinent enough to cheer while those closest to Wu's stupefied clones adopted scornful, jeering smiles. This earned them incredulous looks from the clones, who, all at the same time, remarked, "Did someone replace your brains with a bunch of rocks?"

As if to punctuate their sonorous rebuttal, a tremor that seemed to shake the very foundation of the Jade Palace reached the Gods present within the hall. Almost immediately thereafter, the fissure at the center of the arena began to open up, and, despite his best attempts to keep it closed, Erlang Shen had already exhausted most of his Divine Qi. He could normally endure for weeks on end, but, against an opponent like Wu, he had to go all out from the very beginning.

"Dammit...!"

Realizing he wasn't going to be able to keep the fissure closed, Erlang Shen released the seal in an attempt to use his remaining energy to send Wu even deeper into the rift. The moment he did so, however, an angry and high-pitched voice could be heard bellowing, "Monkey Bounds Across the Heavens...!"

Like a golden beam of light, Wu emerged from the seemingly bottomless pit with an enraged look on her face. Her trusted Ruyi Jingu Bang had been used to pry open the rift, so, while she wanted nothing more than to smack Erlang Shen on the top of his head, she settled for wrapping her tail around his neck before treating his face like a speed bag.

Though he gave as good as he got, Erlang Shen lacked the ostensibly indestructible body of Wu. She literally had seven forms of Immortality overlapped on top of each other, two of which made her impervious to both physical and magical attacks. She was widely considered to be one of the most immortal and invincible beings in all of creation, so, by the time their exchange had come to an end, his previously majestic helmet looked like a crushed can while his face was battered to the point of resembling a Pig Demon.

With Erlang Shen's body going slack in her tail's embrace, Wu was about to discard him to the side when the unconscious God gave her one final slug across the face. It didn't do any damage, but, as she was about to say something, Wu ended up biting the tip of her tongue. This also failed to injure her, but, as she still felt sensations such as pain, faint moisture built upon the surface of her eyes as she grabbed the sides of Erlang Shen's head and gave him a parting headbutt.

Having been knocked out halfway through the exchange of blows, Erlang Shen ended up impacting the arena with meteoric force. Wu was half-tempted to throw him into the rift he attempted to seal her in, but, understanding his assistance would be necessary to retrieve her Ruyi Jingu Bang, she left him with easily treatable injuries. Most of his bones were broken, but, when it came to Gods on the level of Erlang Shen, even the destruction of their physical body wasn't an irrecoverable injury...

Landing outside the arena, Wu adopted a petulant glare as she snorted through her nose and said, "So, you thought you could laugh and jeer at me just because you thought I got trapped? We'll see how you like it...!"

Grabbing one of the Immortals who had laughed at her, Wu planted more than half his body in the ground before he could even hope to protest. Then, with an ostensibly murderous expression on her face, she glared at the group of Gods who had laughed at her, commanding, "Laugh...!" as her eyes shifted from beautiful, crystal-clear emeralds to fiery red orbs reminiscent of hot coals...

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While Wu was in the middle of bullying her fellow Gods, Vahn was enjoying a relaxing rest back at the pavilion prepared for him by the Jade Emperor. He had already retrieved Fenrir, Mikoto, and the Jade Rabbit from his Little Garden so he was unsurprised when, a few minutes after his arrival in the pavilion, a gentle, natural-sounding bell echoed through the halls.

Feeling a little lazy, Vahn simply answered, "It's open..." without rising from the hammock he was currently resting in. Shortly thereafter, Chang'e, accompanied by Xiao Yue and a few of her sister-cousins appeared at the entrance of the resting area with curious looks on their faces. They were unaccustomed to not following the Jade Palace's rules on etiquette so this was the first time many of them had entered someone else's pavilion without a guide.

Waiting for the moment Chang'e made eye contact with him, Vahn gently massaged the interior of the Jade Rabbit's ear. This caused a faint blush to spread through her cheeks, but, having prepared herself prior to coming over, Chang'e managed to appear calm and unflustered as she remarked, "I heard about what happened during the banquet. How did you manage to escape from Senior Wu's Gift Game...?"

As someone who had suffered as a result of Wu's antics in the past, Chang'e knew how difficult it was to escape the golden-haired monkey's grasp. She had suffered the effects of Wu's curse on no less than thirteen occasions. To have the curse removed, she had been forced to cohabitate with the aforementioned Monkey King for months on end. Wu could be exceptionally lazy, so, whenever her curse affected female Immortals and Goddesses, she had them wait on her hand and foot for a few months before sending them back. During that time, they would be tasked with hand-feeding her, filling her glass with wine, washing her back, brushing her hair, and, every now and then, caressing her head until she fell asleep.

Removing his hand from the Jade Rabbit's head, Vahn the three of the balls of fluff as he rose to a seated position and answered, "I gave Nezha a hand when they nearly got in over their head. She let me go after telling me she would stop by with a gourd of monkey wine."

Hearing that Wu would be coming by to pay a visit, the complexion of the various Yue's paled as Chang'e adopted a wry smile and muttered, "I see..." in a slightly troubled tone. She knew Wu was just lonely, but, much like Nezha, the golden-haired monkey girl didn't seem to know the meaning of the word restraint. She was also extremely daring at times, so, while many of the Goddesses had a secret fondness for the greatest of the Seven Sages, they didn't exactly look forward to interacting with her...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'I felt that kick...','Wukong, "Think, Shen, think! Everyone you know, everything you care about will get thrashed! What will you have after ten thousand consecutive punches to the face!?"','Erlang Shen, "My dignity...I'll still...have my dignity..."','Wu, "..."')