Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"Haven't you heard the saying 'pick the soft persimmons to squeeze'?"

Sun Wukong chuckled mischievously on the side, "It's obvious that this monster is treating you like soft persimmons!"

"Damn!"

Luo Bai felt a strong urge to give Sun Wukong the finger but restrained himself, channeling all his anger towards the crab-bodied, fish-tailed monster. His sword qi erupted suddenly, transforming into a violent sword qi storm that aggressively attacked the monster.

"Damn it! Picking the soft persimmons to squeeze, huh? Let me show you who the real soft persimmon is! You disgusting creature, die!"

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The dense sound of metal clashing repeatedly rang out as the sword qi storm completely engulfed the crab-bodied, fish-tailed monster. The entire Lava Sea was covered with Luo Bai's rampant attack, even the monster's fish tail hidden beneath the Lava Sea was no exception.

The magma was rudely pushed aside by the sword qi, revealing the monster's form. The hard shell on its crab body temporarily withstood the sword qi storm's assault, but the scales on its fish tail couldn't resist Luo Bai's ferocious attacks. It howled in pain, with strands of fresh blood spurting from its fish tail, only to be shredded into dust by the sword qi before splattering.

"Hiss~! Luo Bai is terrifying when he's furious!"

Leng Xuan couldn't intervene at all and simply retracted his true Celestial Fox form, hopping onto the stone bridge to stand alongside Sun Wukong, watching as Luo Bai violently wielded the sword qi storm against the crab-bodied, fish-tailed monster. Usually, Luo Bai was fond of being slick and talkative, and while Leng Xuan knew Luo Bai was quite strong, he hadn't expected such ferocity when he got mad. Now he finally witnessed it!

"This isn't even Luo Bai's strongest form!"

Sun Wukong laughed; he could tell Luo Bai was still holding back. The sword qi storm looked ferocious but wasn't Luo Bai's strongest attack!

The attack power of Sword Cultivators was already unmatched in the world, not to mention Luo Bai was a standout among Sword Cultivators, like the Leader of Tongtian. He had achieved a very high level of comprehension in the Sword Dao. If he were to unleash his full power to concentrate a fatal sword move, it would take far less time to deal with this crab-bodied, fish-tailed monster in the Lava Sea—one strike might suffice!

Luo Bai's current display was merely venting his inner resentment!

Even so, the fierce sword qi storm was beyond what the crab-bodied, fish-tailed monster could bear. Soon, its entire fish tail was scarred by the terrifying sword qi, white bones exposed in many places. If the storm continued, the whole fish tail might be scraped to bare bones!

"Roar!"

A massive roar came from the monster's mouth again. Sun Wukong and Leng Xuan could hear the fear in the roar; the monster was terrified!

"That guy is about to flee!"

The corner of Sun Wukong's mouth lifted into a cold grin. Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the monster, bearing its pain, swung its large claws fiercely, breaking open the sword qi storm and diving into the Lava Sea, fleeing towards the depths of the magma without daring to look back, afraid the sword qi storm might catch up.

"Bastard! You coward, stay and fight me three hundred more rounds if you've got the guts!"

Luo Bai cursed and jumped on the stone bridge, angry he hadn't vented enough before the monster fled!

If it weren't for the terrifying heat of the Lava Sea, he would have wanted to chase after it and cut it into a thousand pieces to quell his anger!

"Alright, alright, Luo Bai, calm down, calm down!"

Sun Wukong walked over amusingly to Luo Bai and patted him on the shoulder, "At your age, why are you still acting like a child? That monster has already been chased off by you, that's enough! Save your strength, we may encounter more monster attacks ahead, keep this energy to unleash on them then!"

"Brother Monkey, I just can't stand even a monster with little Spiritual Wisdom looking down on me! Do I look like a soft persimmon? Do I?"

Luo Bai was still a bit indignant; he was the Leader of Tongtian's prized disciple, his achievements in Sword Dao now no less than the Leader of Tongtian's. So many experts from the Northern Continent had been felled with two or three strikes. What was this monster in the Lava Sea that dared to look down on him?

"You don't, you don't. It was the monster blind enough to provoke you!"

Sun Wukong chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, don't hold a grudge over this. In terms of the palace, we are outsiders. That monster was likely a guardian beast placed by the palace owner in the Lava Sea, coming out to block when it sensed our intrusion."

"Exactly, Luo Bai, there's no need to be angry. Wasn't I also treated as a soft persimmon? You don't see me that angry! Compared to the leader, our strength is indeed somewhat lacking. The monster could sense that our leader was not to be trifled with, so it locked its attack on us. It's not surprising."

Sun Wukong and Leng Xuan's persuasion finally soothed Luo Bai considerably. He took a deep breath and suppressed his resentment, returning to his normal state, while reining in his intense Sword Intent.

"I'm sorry, Brother Monkey, I lost my composure earlier."

Luo Bai wasn't sure why he had gotten so angry earlier, as if a desire to cut down everything before him had welled up inside. Thinking back now, it was a bit frightening. A true expert must learn to control their emotions, using anger to boost their power but never letting anger control them lest they truly be in danger!

"Alright, it's understandable, but Luo Bai, you should be more careful in the future. If such emotions appear a few more times, it will surely lead to an unsteady state of mind."

Sun Wukong nodded in caution. Some things didn't need to be said aloud; Luo Bai naturally understood them, a hint was enough.

After the disturbance with the crab-bodied, fish-tailed monster, Sun Wukong and the others weren't in the mood to linger on the stone bridge. They quickly crossed the bridge and entered the next stone slab, continuing forward.

...

At the entrance of the Lava Sea, three figures appeared, exactly the Kun Yang Saint King trio who were following Sun Wukong and his companions. After traversing the secret passage, they too arrived at the Lava Sea.

"What is this place, why is it so hot?"

"This palace really is full of wonders, even containing such a vast lava expanse!"