At midnight, the seven-colored peach grove atop Flower-Fruit Mountain swayed without a breeze, each petal gleaming with a glaze-like luster. A newborn Little Monkey huddled in the shadow cast by the Qitian Great Sage's battle flag. His three eyes were not yet fully open, yet a trace of pale golden blood seeped from the third eyelid. The Mending Heaven Stone fragment clutched to his chest suddenly turned scalding hot; within the scene of primordial Chaos emerging on the stone's surface, Nuwa’s five fingers dripped with divine blood—and the trajectory of those falling droplets mirrored exactly the staff techniques Sun Wukong had wielded five hundred years ago when he wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Court!
The moment the Ancestral Dragon Reverse Scale burst from the soil, the very ley lines of Flower-Fruit Mountain roared. Fissures opened in the mountain's foundation, which had been forged from the bones of seventy-two demon kings, and black and red turbid energy seeped out. The scales of the reverse scale flew into the air, assembling into blood-colored armor across the Little Monkey’s gaunt frame; inscribed upon the joints of the armor, ancient dragon-race curse runes pulsed with light. As the first peach petal drifted onto his brow, the Sea-Pacifying Divine Needle, dormant at the bottom of the East Sea, suddenly let out a dragon’s roar. The shockwaves shattered the thunderclouds beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, startling the patrolling spirit official so badly that the demon-revealing mirror fell from his hand into the mortal realm.
The Little Monkey suddenly stood upright, his third eye opening fully. Within his pupils appeared the Slanted Moon and Three Stars Cave of Lingtai Square Inch Mountain! The phantom of Bodhi Patriarch was demonstrating staff techniques before the cave—the very moves Sun Wukong had learned all those years ago. The Mending Heaven Stone fragment fused into his brow, branding a flame-shaped mark upon his forehead. The curse runes on the Ancestral Dragon armor suddenly reversed, transforming into the cultivation techniques of the *Dragon Armor Heavenly Scripture*.
Deep beneath the sea, the Sea-Pacifying Divine Needle broke free from its final seal, and the nine dark-ice chains wrapped around its shaft shattered into the forms of dragons. They tore through the surface of the sea and lunged toward Flower-Fruit Mountain, yet turned as docile as serpents the moment they touched the Little Monkey’s fingertips. One of the ice dragons suddenly spoke in a human voice: "Young Master, the restrictions left by the old master have three layers remaining..." Before the words faded, the Heavenly Court’s Immortal Execution thunder tribulation had already coalesced. Within the flashes of lightning, the figure of Li Jing appeared, brandishing an improved version of his Exquisite Pagoda.
The nine ice dragons coiled into a formation, shielding the Little Monkey in the center. The moment the Immortal Execution thunder struck, the reverse scales on the Ancestral Dragon armor stood on end, refracting the lightning toward the Dragon Palaces of the Four Seas. The East Sea Dragon Palace collapsed by more than half in an instant, and Ao Guang’s dragon soul shrieked from the ruins: "It is indeed the spawn of that demon monkey!"
A golden light meant to trap demons shot from the base of Li Jing’s Exquisite Pagoda, only to be swallowed by the flame mark on the Little Monkey’s brow. In the depths of his consciousness, the Mending Heaven Stone fragment sighed with Nuwa’s voice: "Foolish child, witness now the true manipulation of creation!" Instinctively, the Little Monkey swung the ice dragon, executing the very moves Sun Wukong had used five hundred years ago to shatter the South Heavenly Gate. The seventh level of the Exquisite Pagoda suddenly exploded, and from within fell half a suit of gold chainmail—the very soul remnant that had been ripped from Nezha so long ago!
Just as the battle reached a stalemate, the humming of a judge’s brush echoed from the depths of the underworld. The Registers of Life and Death of the Ten Yama Kings flipped open without a breeze; Sun Wukong’s name suddenly oozed golden blood, rearranging itself on the page into four characters: "Qitian Successor Saint." The pot of Meng Po’s soup boiled and churned, revealing a vision of the future: the Little Monkey, wielding the Ruyi Jingu Bang, piercing through the Thirty-Three Heavens.
Avalokiteshvara’s jade vase suddenly shattered on Putuo Mountain, and the willow branch transformed into a green serpent, slithering toward Flower-Fruit Mountain. Amidst the ruins of the Five Elements Mountain at the foot of Lingshan, the palm prints of Rulai cracked open, seeping black, festering blood—and as that blood hit the ground, it transformed into three Six-Eared Macaques, which began to gallop wildly toward the East...
At the entrance to Guixu, the twin red lotuses suddenly trembled violently. Petals withered one by one, turning into blood-colored sparks as they fell into the abyss. Nezha’s lingering soul flickered in the heart of the lotus, each strand of his spirit bound by broken Karma Threads.