Chapter 118: The Third Transformation

"Why don't you hand Sun Wukong over to me, Jade Emperor?"

Taishang Laojun had returned to the High Heaven Palace and was preparing to take custody of Sun Wukong.

"Does the Old Lord have a solution?"

"That monkey stole five gourds of my Golden Elixirs. They have yet to be fully digested. I intend to take Sun Wukong back to my furnace and refine the lost elixirs out of him."

Five gourds of Nine-Turn Golden Elixirs? Even the Jade Emperor was startled by the Old Lord’s audacity—was he not afraid the monkey might burst?

Below, Yuan Wuji was momentarily stunned. Weren't there only three gourds? Why had it become five in the Old Lord’s mouth? Could it be that the ones he stole were fake?

"Since the Old Lord can recover the lost elixirs and punish Sun Wukong simultaneously, I am more than happy to oblige."

The Jade Emperor naturally did not believe that Taishang Laojun would truly refine Sun Wukong into a pill; it was more likely that he was enhancing the monkey's strength.

"Guards, take Sun Wukong to the Tushita Palace and follow the Old Lord’s instructions."

"The rest of the immortals may withdraw."

The Jade Emperor departed the High Heaven Palace first, and the remaining immortals began to exit in succession.

"Second Brother, let me take you back," Nezha said, supporting the injured Yang Jian.

"My thanks. Once I return to Guanjiangkou, I have the means to recover from these wounds."

"As long as there is a way, but what about your wife..."

"Does a mere woman dare to meddle in my affairs? Once I emerge from seclusion, I shall seek out Yuan Wuji to settle today's debt."

At the mention of Yuan Wuji, the hatred in Yang Jian’s eyes was undisguised, brimming over.

"But Second Brother, Yuan Wuji truly possesses some formidable methods."

"Rest assured, he was severely wounded as well. Why else would he flee Mount Huaguo before you arrived? It was precisely because his injuries were just as grave, and I had yet to reveal my true power."

Every word of the conversation between Yang Jian and Nezha reached Yuan Wuji’s ears.

"Do I lack methods of my own?" Yuan Wuji chuckled to himself, then departed for his Divine Ape Manor.

As for Sun Wukong’s plight, there was nothing more Yuan Wuji could do, nor did he have the strength to intervene. Taishang Laojun was not someone a person of his current standing could provoke.

***

"Old man, what are you doing?"

Sun Wukong was already in the Tushita Palace, and upon seeing the familiar surroundings—especially the alchemy furnace before him—he began to feel a sense of dread.

"You consumed so many of my elixirs; what do you think I am doing?" Taishang Laojun said with a chuckle.

To Sun Wukong, that smiling face was no different from a devil’s grin.

"It was your own fault for not guarding the pills properly! Why blame me for stealing them?"

"You stubborn monkey, still sharp-tongued even at death's door. Open the furnace!"

Taishang Laojun flicked his whisk, and the massive furnace split in two. A torrent of scorching heat turned the Tushita Palace into an inferno, the flames reflecting off Sun Wukong’s terrified face.

"Hey, old man, I’m done playing! I don’t want to play anymore!"

"Only now do you know fear? Get in there!"

Sun Wukong was tossed into the furnace. No sooner had he entered than Taishang Laojun slammed the two halves together.

"Boom."

"I must first temper your cultivation, otherwise, you might not survive the agony when your innate divine abilities are extinguished," Taishang Laojun murmured.

The Old Lord sat cross-legged before the furnace, appearing to merge with it. Within the Tushita Palace, only faint, muffled roars could be heard, which soon faded into silence.

He would have to wait forty-nine days for the furnace to open.

The fact that the Old Lord was using Sun Wukong as a medicinal catalyst soon spread among the minor immortals, and the once-benevolent Taishang Laojun suddenly appeared terrifying to them. Of course, he neither cared nor bothered to acknowledge their opinions.

Back at his manor, Yuan Wuji was busy treating his own wounds. He saw no need to trouble the Holy Mother of Golden Spirit; he believed he could heal himself.

However, injuries that touched upon one's very origin were not as easy to recover from as he had imagined—at least not with his current power.

"What is this..."

As he frowned in concentration, he noticed tiny golden specks outside his dantian. Focusing his mind to sense them, he felt a familiar energy.

"Nine-Turn Golden Elixirs? Why are they here?"

The consumed elixirs were meant to return to his dantian to bolster his metal-elemental cultivation, but his dantian already contained the Geng-Metal Golden Core. The power of Geng-Metal repelled other metal-elemental energies, preventing the Nine-Turn elixirs from entering. They had been trapped at the periphery of his dantian, only manifesting as these golden specks after his abdomen was wounded.

***

The Geng-Metal energy repelled the elixirs, but it could also refine them into fuel for its own growth. This would not only boost his cultivation but potentially heal his wounds.

The golden specks also stirred the Samadhi True Fire within his dantian. Since the Nine-Turn elixirs were refined using Samadhi True Fire, the fire felt challenged by their presence and hungered to consume the "specks" outside the dantian.

"If that is the case, then refine them all."

Yuan Wuji felt the Samadhi True Fire becoming unusually obedient. Under his control, it surged forth like a massive wave, engulfing the specks before they could react.

A problem arose: refining the specks risked scorching his own Geng-Metal Golden Core.

"True gold fears no fire—what is there to fear!"

A red glow erupted from his abdomen. The Samadhi True Fire began to burn, refining not just the specks, but the Geng-Metal Golden Core itself.

The specks turned into golden liquid, which circulated through his wounds before returning to the core.

Where the golden liquid touched, his injuries began to mend. Under the flames of the Samadhi True Fire, the Geng-Metal Golden Core did not suffer; instead, it grew more brilliant and refined.

Yuan Wuji could sense a sharper, more aggressive intent emanating from the core than ever before. Unbeknownst to him, his metal-elemental cultivation had reached ninety percent.

As the golden liquid merged with the core, three profound circular marks appeared upon it.

"This is... the third turn."

The Nine-Turn Golden Elixirs and the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art both took their names from the concept of nine turns. As the elixirs were refined into liquid and returned to his core, Yuan Wuji caught a glimpse of the essence of the "Nine Turns."

It was the imprint of the Nine Turns as carved by Taishang Laojun—a treasure of immense significance.

Even though his core had only achieved three turns, it was no small feat. While Yuan Wuji could currently only perform the second turn, the presence of the third turn’s mysteries on his core was an incredible opportunity.

The three marks would allow him to master the essence of the third turn of the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art with unprecedented speed. Furthermore, the marks seemed to have sublimated the core itself. Yuan Wuji did not know exactly what had happened, but he knew his power had undergone a monumental transformation.