Great Demon Sun Wukong

"Xi Zhao, are you sure you didn't get a fake to tease me?" The muscles on Flame God's face twitched as he turned his head to look at Xi Zhao and asked. Without another word, Xi Zhao directly kicked Flame God's buttocks and then said irritably, "You have the nerve to ask me. If I had known this would happen, I would have rather kept that Heavenly Stele. You are supposed to be a genius of the Burst Phoenix Clan, yet this Heavenly Stele rejects you so vehemently. I really want to give you a good beating right now!"

Flame God quickly shrank his neck. If he had to name the person he feared the most in the Netherworld World, it was definitely Sun Wukong, because every time, whether it was a tentative exchange of blows or his own elaborate sneak attacks, every episode ended with him being brutally suppressed by Sun Wukong. But if he had to say who he was most wary of, it was unquestionably Xi Zhao. Xi Zhao's extreme cold ice power could suppress him to the point where he couldn't even manage an explosion.

"Hehe, Brother Xi Zhao, what exactly is going on here? How can the World Suppressing Stele even fly on its own?" Seeing that Xi Zhao was really getting angry, Flame God quickly switched to a grin and approached with a flattering expression on his face. Xi Zhao let out a deep sigh, a look of regret flashing in his eyes. He waved his hand, signaling Flame God to sit down, and took a seat next to the table in the room himself.

He downed a cup of tea in one gulp to suppress the extreme frustration in his heart and then said, "The World Suppressing Stele, being the highest divine object in this universe, operates autonomously; that is to say, they decide their masters and, after the death of a master, they determine whether to stay or leave. The Burning Fire Stele did not leave immediately for some reason after Tongtian's death, so I was able to subjugate and imprison it. Later, I sensed that the Burning Fire Stele had no intention of leaving, so I let you come over and try to claim it as yours. As long as you succeeded, our Netherworld would have two World Suppressing Steles."

After speaking, Xi Zhao paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "But who knew you would be so severely repelled by the Burning Fire Stele. By the seventh attempt at claiming, I realized something was wrong. Alas, my greed got the better of me, and in the end, the Burning Fire Stele just couldn't take it and disappeared all of a sudden. Now it's gone, I don't even know if there will be a chance to encounter it again in this lifetime!"

In the entire universe, there are only nine World Suppressing Steles. Being able to see one is an enormous stroke of fortune, let alone possessing one and having the chance to claim it. It can be said that each person who gets a World Suppressing Stele is recognized by destiny, and each such person will have great fortune. After Xi Zhao obtained the Destruction Stele, both his cultivation and his status prospered and he eventually became the number one person in the Nine Great Divine Kingdoms.

If it hadn't been for Mo Mietian's betrayal, if Mo Mietian hadn't paid a huge price to frame him and ultimately steal the World Suppressing Stele leading to everyone abandoning him resulting in his untimely death, Xi Zhao – or rather the Demon Monarch and the Annihilation Demon Nation – would have already become the premier Divine Kingdom, in the truest sense of the word.

Flame God, somewhat dazed, suddenly slapped himself in the face, then despairingly buried his head in the table, incessantly muttering to himself. Compared to Flame God, however, Xi Zhao's feelings of regret and dejection were far more acute because he truly bore a vengeance unimaginable to ordinary people.

The current Domain Lord of the Annihilation Demon Nation, Mo Mietian, had a blood feud with him. Besides that, Mo Mietian had seized his Annihilation Demon Nation, and after Xi Zhao's death, Xi Zhao had heard that Mo Mietian, having ascended the throne, ordered the extermination of all Xi Zhao's loyal followers and relatives with his bloodline.

This hatred is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. But over the long years, Xi Zhao had learned to bury his hatred deep within his heart. As long as he did not yet have the strength to easily kill the Domain Lord Mo Mietian who possessed the World Suppressing Stele, even if he were to encounter Mo Mietian, Xi Zhao could maintain a natural smile and engage in pleasantries. Such is the magnanimity forged over a hundred and fifty thousand years by the once most revered.

Moreover, there was another thing that Xi Zhao had not mentioned, and that was that his efforts and considerations for this mission in the Patrolling Celestial World were not solely for Yue Huangquan or the Netherworld World. Because his ultimate goal in the Patrolling Celestial World was to completely annihilate everyone from the Annihilation Demon Nation and the Myriad Demons Country. Although he was unaware of the current condition of those two Divine Nations, Xi Zhao always remembered that the Annihilation Demon Nation, as the last participant in the Six Kingdoms War, had to endure the assaults of ferocious beasts three times.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhao's mood slightly improved. Having gone through life and death, having fallen from the pinnacle of the divine hierarchy to become one with the masses, Xi Zhao's heart had become extremely resilient. Now that the Burning Fire Stele was lost, there was no help for it. Even if he were to beat or kill Flame God right now, the stele wouldn't come back. Although losing it would greatly impact his revenge plans, it wasn't too big of a deal since the Burning Fire Stele could be considered "unexpected wealth"—obtaining it was certainly good fortune, but its loss might not necessarily be bad.

Patting Flame God's shoulder, he signaled him to return to his own room. Flame God lifted his face, more bitter than a bitter melon, nodded dejectedly, and left Xi Zhao's room. Failing to make the Burning Fire Stele acknowledge him as master was also a huge disappointment for Flame God, as his own hatred ran deep.

It can be said, except for those who died normal deaths or were born and bred in the Netherworld, nearly every person in the Netherworld World has some resentment about their past lives. Of course, most felt a lingering attachment and an unwillingness to let go of their previous lives, and Yue Huangquan's most formidable aspect was his ability to transform all these emotions—hatred, longing, reluctance, etc.—into a driving force for these people to grow stronger or to strive for a cause.

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Therefore, the Netherworld World could only, by virtue of the eighty percent outsiders, by virtue of those Soul Bodies after death, become one of the Six Great Divine Nations. It's known that the people of the Netherworld World come from various high-level worlds or the other major Divine Kingdoms, and it is impossible to make these people fully integrate as citizens of the Netherworld. This is also the most important constraint on the further development of the Netherworld World.

At the moment, aside from Sun Wukong who was still studying the twelve Ancestral Witches, most people in the Netherworld World had either entered a state of cultivation or directly gone to sleep. Of course, Xi Zhao and Yan Shi Market were definitely sleepless. Moreover, Xi Zhao had to consider this matter, how to explain it to everyone in the Netherworld World tomorrow; otherwise, if things went wrong, it was feared that the people of the Netherworld World would start infighting.

The next day, as soon as it was light, Xi Zhao gathered everyone in the Netherworld World in the grand hall of the Netherworld Palace. After scanning everyone's faces, he fell silent for a moment. Finally, Xi Zhao slowly began, "Everyone, I have something to tell you. The World Suppressing Stele we got from Master Tongtian of the Myriad Spirits Realm, it's gone!"

As soon as these words were uttered, the people present were immediately in an uproar. The scene instantly exploded, as many were excited the night before due to the Netherworld World's unexpected acquisition of the Burning Fire Stele, even fantasizing about the shocked expressions of the other forces when the Netherworld World used the two World Suppressing Steles to attack them.

With the addition of Yue Huangquan's Soul Suppressing Stele number five, the Netherworld World alone possessed three World Suppressing Steles, out of only nine in the entire universe, holding a third of them. But before the Stele even got warm, Xi Zhao said it was lost? What was the situation? Could a Heavenly Stele be lost? Could it be that someone sneaked into the Netherworld Palace last night and stole the Burning Fire Stele?

Soon, everyone quieted down, but they all looked at Xi Zhao with burning eyes, especially Ming Wanjie and the Netherworld Five Battle Generals, who seemed as if they would attack Xi Zhao directly if he couldn't provide a reasonable explanation. In their hearts, they were not very approving of Xi Zhao.

Before Xi Zhao could speak, the Flame God suddenly slapped himself and then said with a crying tone, "It's my fault, last night Xi Zhao asked me to attempt to become the master of the Burning Fire Stele, but I didn't expect that the Stele would reject me so much that it broke through space and left on its own. I have let everyone down, and even more so, I owe Yue Huangquan."

After the Flame God spoke, the crowd's gaze softened slightly, but they were still fixed on Xi Zhao. Xi Zhao nodded and also spoke with a bitter expression, "The truth is exactly as such, the Burning Fire Stele broke through space and disappeared, and it seems to have already left the Patrolling Celestial World. You may doubt me, or even think that the Flame God and I are putting on an act to deceive everyone, but that's the fact, and there's nothing I can do if you don't believe it. What I want to say, though, is that, although the World Suppressing Stele is a Supreme Treasure, I, the Demon Monarch, would not ruin my reputation for it. And once the Patrolling Celestial World trial is over, I will personally explain the situation to Yue Huangquan. But before that, I hope this incident does not have too serious an impact on our trial in the Patrolling Celestial World. And I promise, despite losing the Burning Fire Stele, I will still lead everyone to fight to the end!"

Having heard Xi Zhao's speech, Sun Wukong was the first to voice his support. And because of the strong power he had shown in previous battles, seeing that Sun Wukong had already taken a stance, others like the Rogue Heart Sword Hero also expressed trust in Xi Zhao's words. Then Zijing also voiced her opinion, retaining some doubt about Xi Zhao, but agreeing with Xi Zhao's point that regardless, they had to complete the Patrolling Celestial World trial first. The rest would be dealt with upon the return to the Netherworld World.

And as the original lord of Supreme City in the Netherworld World, who had a very high status, Zijing's leading stance led another part of the people to also express that they would set aside this affair for the time being, prioritizing the Patrolling Celestial World trial. In the end, the third part led by Ming Wanjie and the Netherworld Five Battle Generals had no choice but to reluctantly agree, giving priority to the Patrolling Celestial World trial, with the expectation that Xi Zhao would do everything possible to ensure the Netherworld World's score, and Xi Zhao himself would explain to Yue Huangquan after the trial.

Finally, the affair of the Burning Fire Stele's disappearance could be considered to have come to a close. In the end, the people of the Netherworld World still prioritized the overall situation, and did not succumb to serious internal strife over the Burning Fire Stele.
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And just as the Netherworld World had resolved the matter of the Burning Fire Stele, the Allied Forces of the Annihilation Demon Nation and the Myriad Demons Country also successfully withstood the second onslaught of ferocious beasts. Moreover, both sides only suffered minor losses.

So far, eight of the ten powers remained, with the Netherworld unscathed, Genesis down by three. Myriad Demons and the Annihilation Demon Nation, after their previous explorations and two beastly sieges, now totaled fifty-eight people. The Myriad Gods Hall lost six and had thirty left, the Ancient Primordial World had thirty-one, and the Canglan River Realm twenty-nine.

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