Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 97 Battle Against Red Boy (Part 1)
Meanwhile, the essence and blood of the Ancestral Witch entered Ao Tu's body and began to be refined.

The endless innate laws within his essence and blood merged into Ao Tu's flesh and blood.

Ao Tu's flesh and blood rapidly disintegrated and then regenerated.

During his time in Pingdingshan, Ao Tu attempted to control himself and use the innate laws within the essence of the Ancestral Dragon's blood to transform his flesh and blood.

However, he ultimately failed because his physical body and soul were not strong enough to withstand the innate laws within the ancestral dragon's blood essence.

Now, the power of the ancestral witch's blood essence has taken its place.

Twelve different powers merged into his body.

The heart was the first organ to undergo changes.

Flames burned in Ao Tu's heart. Fire is the most violent force in the world, capable of burning everything. The killing sword law left in his heart dissipated under the burning flames.

If Ao Tu had known this would happen, he wouldn't have needed to use the Five-Colored Divine Light to cleanse his heart more than 49,000 times.

Within his heart, as flames burned, light was born, and pure innate laws merged into Ao Tu's heart.

After the heart, the kidneys and liver begin to change.

Within the kidneys, water accumulates, concealing its essence. When this accumulation is sufficient, the sound of water ceases, its flow reaching the heavens. Wherever this mysterious water reaches, all things are submerged.

Within the liver, a bluish light manifests, signifying the cycle of life.

The power of the divine tree brings forth all things; withered trees come back to life, and wherever its green shoots reach, life flourishes. The power of creation is inexhaustible.

One after another, the innate laws merged into Ao Tu's kidneys and liver.

The spleen and lungs also begin to change.

The spleen governs the generation and transformation of substances, possesses great virtue and carries all things, stabilizes the earth and brings peace to the heavens, and is covered by thick soil, impervious to all laws.

The lungs govern the contraction and restraint of the body, including the power of killing and the sharp metal energy, which are contained and released within them.

One after another, the innate laws merged into Ao Tu's spleen and lungs.

As the five elements circulated and life continued endlessly, Ao Tu let out a dragon's roar and transformed into a golden dragon with five claws, nine feet nine inches long, at the bottom of the pool.

Ao Tu had cultivated diligently since childhood and possessed no demonic aura, only pure dragon energy. Yet, at this moment, a powerful, primal aura suddenly appeared around him, pressing down on the White Bone Demon and Tiger Vanguard, who knelt on the ground, trembling all over.

Ao Tu's dragon body hovered at the bottom of the pool, and the essence of the ancestral witch merged into his bloodline, causing his body to evolve in a strange direction.

Ao Tu wanted to control this evolution, but he couldn't.

His left hand's dragon scales turned crimson, burning with flames; his right hand's dragon scales turned deep blue, condensing mysterious water; his left leg's dragon scales were covered with a thick layer, heavy as gold; his right leg's dragon scales were covered with lush vegetation, green as wood; and his dragon tail behind him turned earthy yellow, controlling the earth's veins.

That's not all; there's something else about to emerge from behind Ao Tu.

Ao Tu held his breath, trying to stop him.

But just as a person cannot stop breathing, Ao Tu could not stop this change.

With a hiss, a pair of golden wings sprouted from Ao Tu's back.

The two wings flow through the space, seemingly close yet worlds apart.

Ao Tu's spine arched, and a row of long, dark thorns grew out.

The thorns pierce to the bone, the wind howls and the rain pours down.

Ao Tu's eyes transformed into double pupils.

Double pupils allow one to observe the sequence of time and glimpse the past.

A vertical eye appeared between Ao Tu's eyebrows.

A vertical eye can turn sunny weather into gloomy weather, reversing the weather pattern.

Ao Tu kept his mouth and nose tightly shut, not daring to make a sound.

Once Ao Tu speaks:
A hum becomes thunder; divine thunder emerges, shattering all laws.

A cough transforms into lightning, piercing the universe and vanquishing evil.

With a single breath, it transformed into a hurricane that soared through the heavens, its howling winds unstoppable by any magic.

The twelve innate laws from the Ancestral Witches flowed into Ao Tu's body. The power of these twelve innate laws was not very strong, because the power contained in a drop of essence blood was limited, resulting in a significant gap between their power and that of the Ancestral Witches.

However, this should be considered in comparison.

For the Ancestral Witches, this amount of power is not very strong.

However, for Ao Tu, the integration of these twelve innate laws into his physical body directly allowed his physical strength to leap to a new level.

The previous sword wound was completely removed.

The twelve innate laws within his flesh and blood permeated his entire body, granting Ao Tu twelve additional innate supernatural abilities.

The only drawback is that these twelve powers, when combined into one, are simultaneously merging and fighting against each other.

As a result, its outward appearance has resulted in this incongruous and bizarre transformation.

Ao Tu found it difficult to control these changes in his body.

These twelve forces surged wildly within his body. Although they had all merged into his body and become his power, it was difficult for him to integrate these forces together in a short period of time.

In situations like this, it would probably take a long time to gradually master these powers and achieve perfect control.

Or engage in several life-or-death battles and gain insights through combat.

Aside from this, Ao Tu could hardly think of any other way.

Suddenly, the purple-gold gourd in his arms trembled slightly.

Ao Tu took it out.

A pill, black and white, flew out of the purple-gold gourd.

"When?"

The elixir dissolved upon falling into the water, transforming into black and white that swirled around Ao Tu, suppressing the twelve innate laws.

The strange phenomena on his limbs and tail dissipated, his wings retracted, his double pupils returned, his vertical pupils closed, and Ao Tu once again returned to the form of a five-clawed golden dragon.

The power within him didn't disappear; it simply became more obedient.

If Ao Tu is willing, he can reveal himself at any time.

Ao Tu looked inward at his own bloodline and could see that the laws of the Ancestral Witch's blood essence and the laws of the Ancestral Dragon's blood essence were mostly mutually repelling each other.

These are two completely different forces, and they are difficult to merge.

Surprisingly, amidst the vast array of mutually exclusive laws, both sides shared a common law, independent of the others, which had merged with them. That law was chaotic, incomprehensible, and difficult to comprehend.

Ao Tu recognized that he had comprehended this law before at Pingdingshan, and his mind had been drained.

He didn't dare to look anymore.

With his current strength, he is not yet able to comprehend this law.

Ao Tu withdrew his true form and returned to human shape.

Tiger Vanguard and White Bone Demon stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty!"

Ao Tu said, "Tiger Vanguard, go out and scout out how far this place is from Kusongjian."

Tiger Vanguard received the order, emerged from the pool, transformed into a gust of wind, captured several small, shape-shifting demons occupying the mountaintops, inquired about their activities, and returned to report:

"Your Majesty, two thousand li to the east is Drill Mountain, and four hundred li further into the mountain is Dry Pine Ravine, which is the territory of Red Boy, the son of the Bull Demon King."

Ao Tu said, "I was seriously injured in the Heavenly Court that day and fled in panic, but I never expected to go this far."

Tiger Vanguard reminded, "Your Majesty, the Blackwater River is another six hundred li to the west."

Ao Tu nodded and said, "Let's go to Kusong Ravine first."

Ao Tu, along with Tiger Vanguard and White Bone Demon, arrived at Drill Mountain in an instant.

[Enter the mission area]

[Current Side Quest: Battle Against Red Boy]

[Mission Requirements: Block the pilgrims in the Drill Mountain area. Rewards will be calculated based on the time taken to block them.]

[Task Rewards: 3 days/Snow Lotus, 7 days/Six-Turn Golden Elixir, half a month/Purple-Veined Peach, one month/Demon Court's Great Zhou Heaven Formation, one season/Divine Power: Jade Purity Divine Thunder, half a year/Demon Emperor's Essence Blood, one year/Zhou Tian Star Array Diagram, three years/Innate Spiritual Treasure: Hetu Luoshu, twelve years/Chaos Bell, sixty years...]

Current progress: 125 days

Zhoutian star battle array!

If he uses this formation, he shouldn't have to be afraid of that blood-red longsword anymore.

Ao Tu looked at the Soul-Scattering Gourd he had just acquired.

Both are annual rewards...

The Soul-Scattering Gourd, possessing a spirit, sensed Ao Tu's emotions and began to shake in dissatisfaction.

Ao Tu reached out and gently stroked it, calming it down.

The Zhou Tian Star Formation is excellent, but it requires many people to operate it together to unleash its power. For someone like Ao Tu, who is a loner with few friends, even if he possesses this formation, it would be difficult for him to make any difference.

In some ways, the Soul-Scattering Gourd is not as effective at boosting combat power as the Soul-Scattering Gourd.

Ao Tu traveled four hundred li into the mountains and arrived at Kusongjian.

It was a high mountain with strange peaks, and in the middle of the mountain was a strange rock cliff, below which was the Fire Cloud Cave.

But then they saw a group of little demons crowding around the entrance to the Fiery Cloud Cave.

Tiger Vanguard pointed and said, "Your Majesty, look! It's the Clever and Delicate Insect!"

Ao Tu smiled and shook his head, saying, "These two little demons have come here."

The Ingenious Ghost and the Clever Insect were directing something in front of the Fiery Cloud Cave.

Red Boy had six valiant generals under his command.

They are respectively: clouds in the fog, fog in the clouds; as urgent as fire, as fast as the wind; and rising and rising.

These six were all trusted and capable demons under Red Boy's command, but now they were being commanded by two lesser demons, the Fine-Headed Ghost and the Clever Insect, for reasons unknown.

But then they saw the meticulous ghost paint a red patch on the body of the swift-as-fire, and the clever insect somehow found a blue Taoist crown and put it on the head of the swift-as-wind.

The refined ghost path: "Fire God of the Fire Department, heed my command!"

He hurriedly said, "The Fire God, Ji Ru Huo, is here!"

The clever insect said, "Wind God, obey my command!"

Swift as the wind, he cried out, "The Wind God is here!"

The clever ghost and the nimble insect continued to dress up the other little demons.

They took the fog and mist, put on a gray umbrella, carried a black banner, and pretended to be the god of plague.

They lifted up Xinghong's mask, put on Xinghong's evil face, and dressed him up as a star god.

The rest of the lesser demons each carried swords, spears, and halberds, pretending to be heavenly soldiers and generals.

The clever ghost used yellow clay to build a tower and dressed up as Li Tianwang (a famous Chinese deity).

The clever insect made a hoop out of copper strips, which it used as a golden hoop. It also carved a willow stick, which it used as a golden cudgel.

The two demons, having made their preparations, approached the cave entrance and said, "Your Majesty, we are ready."

A voice came from inside: "Start quickly!"

The refined ghost picked up the pagoda, stood on a large rock, and proclaimed loudly:
"You audacious demon, how dare you capture the Great Tang Monk Sanzang! Come out and face your death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the Fire Cloud Cave opened, and Red Boy walked out.

The Red Boy appeared to be a child, with lips painted red and face powdered. He held a fire-tipped spear and wore no armor. Instead, he wore a battle skirt similar to Nezha's lotus-shaped battle skirt. In terms of physique, he was not as thin as Nezha, but rather plump.

Red Boy said, "I am the Little King of Mount Ling, who dares to fight me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tiger Vanguard almost couldn't help but laugh.

Ao Tu shook his head and laughed.

Seeing that Ao Tu was laughing, Tiger Vanguard could no longer hold back and laughed too.

The White Bone Demon was a cold-hearted corpse demon; even upon seeing this scene, she remained unmoved and did not smile at all.

Tiger Vanguard asked, "Your Majesty, what should we do this time?"

Ao Tu said, "I will not show myself this time. I will take advantage of my injury to stay behind the scenes."

Upon hearing this, Tiger Vanguard asked, "Then what should I do?"

Ao Tu said, "You should all follow him!"

Three streams of energy flew out from above Ao Tu's head.

(End of this chapter)