Sun Wukong's aura shield in hand was as thin as a sheet of paper.

Yet when the Jade Emperor and Buddha joined forces, a thousand divine skills and ten thousand assaults failed to breach it.

"Could it be a draw?"

Samantabhadra, frowning in the distance, inquired.

"It's definitely not a draw."

Lingji Bodhisattva spoke: "Sun Wukong still has one hand unused, he hasn't forgotten; he'll surely use it later."

It seemed as if Wukong had heard this voice, as he glanced in the direction of Lingji Bodhisattva.

Samantabhadra felt an ominous premonition, and sure enough, he saw Wukong take out his other hand.

"Lingji!"

Amidst Samantabhadra's roar, Wukong's hand, aglow with boundless radiance, struck down towards Buddha and the Jade Emperor.

The hand did not seem like just a hand; it was more like a colossal Star River descending from the heavens, its presence extraordinary and breath-taking.

The buildings of the Heavenly Palace upon the clouds, in an instant, crumbled to dust and smoke under the Star River's aura!

"Puh—"

The Jade Emperor spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body flung backward in flight.

"Is this the will of Heaven?"

The Heavenly Dragon, Buddha's transformed form, followed closely behind.

The vast Star River, resplendent, started to engulf the two figures.

This scene illuminated the Three Realms.

Everyone watched this unfold in shock.

"Your Majesty!"

"Buddha!!"

As the Immortals gazed in wrenching sorrow, the Star River hit the ground, and the Heavenly Palace thundered, the world turned a blank white, and nothing else could be discerned.

The Immortals from Lingshan and the Heavenly Palace frantically flew towards the battlefield.

By the time the clouds and mist had cleared, they found the Jade Emperor, covered in blood, standing upon the clouds.

Buddha's True Spirit hovered beside him, faint and intermittent.

"What is this pose you're taking?"

The Jade Emperor looked towards the sky.

In the sky, the light from the Jade Seal had vanished, and a divine ring appeared behind Sun Wukong.

The Immortals looked on.

The ring's aura was astonishing, blindingly bright, like an immortal Divine Ring.

This was a posture no one had ever seen.

It was a stance that transcended everything.

"The Jade Seal has changed."

Sun Wukong declared: "From today onwards, there is no one in the Three Realms who can match me."

The aura from behind him expanded, streams of golden energy radiated outward, transforming into a sky full of light sprinkled upon the earth.

The Three Realms were illuminated by his glow, as if bathed in an eternal divine light.

Everyone could see that he had become the only sovereign between heaven and earth.

"Heavenly Emperor."

One by one, people kneeled to the ground.

From the heavens to the earth, from the earth to the Netherworld, anyone who witnessed this radiance involuntarily knelt down.

After a long journey, Sun Wukong no longer had any adversaries before him.

He looked at Buddha and the Jade Emperor but felt an unexpected emptiness in his heart.

A wave of laughter reached his ears.

Sun Wukong suddenly looked up, towards the edges of heaven.

The recent strike had caused turbulence in the Barrier of the Three Realms; outside the Thirty-Three Layered Heaven, a dazzling golden line flashed past.

Sun Wukong grasped at this golden line, and the momentary contact felt like countless scurrying ants were running down his back.

A cold sweat broke out on his back.

"Is that so, so that's how it is..."

But then, Wukong's eyes reignited.

"That's good, otherwise it would be boring."

He withdrew his gaze, once again looking downward.

"Your Majesty."

Buddha turned to the Jade Emperor.

"No more fighting, it's pointless."

The Jade Emperor sighed and spoke with a wave of his hand.

Sun Wukong was already stronger than him, and now his power had grown unimaginably vast.

He was done fighting.

Buddha's radiance dimmed, and yet even so, he still gazed at Sun Wukong, unyielding light still present in his eyes.

"Do you still wish to fight?" Sun Wukong asked.

"Desire is the root of all suffering."

Buddha stated: "Sun Wukong, your path is wrong, it will only bring misfortune to the Three Realms."

"Not so."

Sun Wukong descended slowly: "Pleasure and pain are two sides of the same coin; desire can also lead to sweetness."

He was well aware that his disagreement with Buddha lay in their differing attitudes towards emotions and desires.

Buddhist practice suppresses desire, in search of the purity of the six senses, but Sun Wukong believed that if this world has bestowed the gift of desire upon sentient beings, it was not to be abandoned, but to be cultivated and utilized.

"Without desire, how could beings prosper?"

Sun Wukong looked at Buddha: "Buddha, relinquish your obsession."

This was a moment when Buddha was most able to heed his words.

"Obsession?"

Buddha shook his head and asked: "What obsession do I hold?"

"To universally save all sentient beings is an obsession."

Sun Wukong responded: "You have love in your heart, and you break your precepts because you also cannot achieve purity of the six senses."

If desire is the root of all suffering, then Buddha was now in a state of suffering.

"You cannot save everyone; only by letting go of your obsession can you find liberation."

Sun Wukong added: "The Buddhist Law is boundless, why must you place it above all sentient beings?"

Buddha fell silent.

"And what of the Heavenly Dao?"

He questioned.

"The Heavenly Dao is not perfect."

Sun Wukong faced this calmly: "The evolution of the Heavenly Dao will inevitably bring many issues; I need Buddha, why not join me side by side?"

"Lingshan too can claim a place within the Heavenly Dao."

Buddha looked at Sun Wukong with a hint of surprise.

"If I agree to help you, would you be willing to renounce your position as the Heavenly Emperor?"

He further inquired.

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