"Let's fight first and talk later!" The Golden Staff paid little attention to Li Xiaonan's words, fully focused on the battle.
He gripped the golden staff tightly and spun it with force, sending Li Xiaonan staggering back.
Before Li Xiaonan could respond, he had already swung down with the staff.
Li Xiaonan raised an eyebrow, her eyes narrowing slightly. With a swift tug of her clothing and a subtle movement of her feet using Swift Steps, she dodged and appeared behind the Golden Staff.
"How cool!" Several girls clasped their hands together, gazing at her with starry eyes.
Nearby, Sun Er, who was crouched on the ground, pouted and casually threw on a white robe before standing up slowly. Transforming into his human form, he said, "Am I not cooler?"
Yun Moyu shot him a cold glance and replied, "Do you think just because you put on clothes you're not a monkey anymore? You still look like one!"
"You!" Sun Er was momentarily infuriated, his hand instinctively rising.
Yun Moyu puffed out his chest defiantly and said, "What? Are you going to hit me? Hmph! I see you're itching for a fight!"
Sun Er sneaked a glance at Li Xiaonan in the air, shrinking his neck as he retorted, "Hmph! Once he gets knocked down by the Golden Staff, I'll deal with you all!"
"He won't lose!" In Six Shang's eyes shone blind trust as she spoke softly.
Only then did Yun Moyu and the others notice that another girl had appeared beside Li Xiaonan, and she looked somewhat familiar.
She glanced at Six Shang and then at Yuan Xian'er, suddenly realizing, "She looks just like her! So similar!"
Six Shang was taken aback and looked at Yuan Xian'er with some trepidation. "Sister, are you talking about me?"
Yun Moyu nodded vigorously and elbowed Yuan Xian'er, saying, "Xian'er, look at Xiao Nan's new love; she looks so much like you!"
Yuan Xian'er glanced at Liu Shang. Aside from the different silver-white hair, her features indeed bore a striking resemblance to her own.
She gave Liu Shang a slight nod.
Liu Shang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, thinking to herself: It seems they haven't recognized me. But then again, I am quite different from who I used to be.
She smiled friendly at Yuan Xian'er and once again turned her gaze to Li Xiaonan in the air.
Li Xiaonan had gone from dodging at the beginning to engaging in a fierce battle with the Golden Staff.
He was not relying on any Celestial Artifact's power, but purely using his Heavenly Gang Golden Body to counter the Golden Staff.
With each brief clash, Li Xiaonan's surprise deepened.
He had never seen a Celestial Artifact with such rich combat experience; without its owner's control, it could still stand toe-to-toe with a Celestial Being.
What was even more astonishing was the fighting spirit and bloodlust emanating from the Golden Staff. How many battles must it have endured to hone such ferocity?
Could its master truly be a hairy, monkey-faced figure like Sun Wukong?
If that were the case, I must see for myself!
Determined, Li Xiaonan held nothing back any longer.
As the Golden Staff swung towards him from the side, he did not dodge but instead channeled his Golden Yuan Power into his left forearm to block the attack of the staff.
With a resounding "clang," a strange golden light swirled around Li Xiaonan's exposed left arm, radiating an impenetrable defensive power.
A jolt of surprise shot through him. Although he knew that Li Xiaonan had tough skin, he never expected it to be this tough.
He was momentarily stunned, failing to notice the sinister smile curling at the corners of Li Xiaonan's mouth.
Li Xiaonan's right hand formed a palm, with his shoulder leading into his elbow, and his elbow guiding his arm. His fingertips struck sharply towards the ribs of the Golden Staff.
The Golden Staff, feeling the pain, finally snapped back to reality and was about to swing a hand at Li Xiaonan.
However, Li Xiaonan's fingertips bent twice in quick succession, first striking with his fingers and then with his fist against its ribs.
The Golden Staff let out a muffled groan, its grip on the golden rod gradually weakening.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Xiaonan pushed aside the golden rod with his left arm and began to alternate punches with both hands, targeting the ribs with the shortest distance and the fastest speed.
This was the simplest technique for subduing an enemy from the Martial Soul Technique, a move that Li Xiaonan had known back on Earth—the Continuous Punch from Eternal Fist.
"Bang!"
A dull sound echoed, the sound of bones fracturing.
The Golden Staff felt its strength drain away, its body going limp as it began to fall.
Li Xiaonan caught it with one hand and gently set it down on the ground. He smiled and asked, "Now can you tell me? Who is your true master? Where are they now?"
The Golden Staff sighed, not uttering a word. It transformed back into its original form and flew back into Sun Er's hands.
Sun Er tenderly stroked the short golden rod in his palm. A small indentation on its smooth surface stood out starkly.
He looked up, ready to complain to Li Xiaonan, but upon seeing the dissatisfaction in his eyes, he completely wilted.
Sun Er had completely understood how formidable Li Xiaonan was; even the Demigod artifact left by the old man was easily reverted to its original form by him.
"Does he even know?" Li Xiaonan felt a growing urgency in his heart.
After much effort, they had managed to find three of the five girls, only to encounter this bizarre situation.
Yanrong and Ling Er were still missing, and he had no idea if they had run into any trouble, especially Ling Er. With her half-dragon body, she would surely attract unwanted attention in the Immortal Realm!
But...
He glanced at Li Baobao and couldn't help but sigh.
The Purple Mist Garment on Baobao couldn't be left unattended either. It seemed it was time to use the power Brother Yun had left for him!
Seeing Li Xiaonan's expression grow increasingly grim, Sun Er hurriedly communicated with the Golden Staff.
The Golden Staff in his hand bent its head and pointed downward.
Sun Er's face suddenly turned ashen, shifting from pale to white.
Li Xiaonan immediately sensed something was wrong. Where could that lead down?
Naturally, it was the Cultivation Realm!
And the only artifact he had that could descend to that realm—the Heaven-Defying Mirror—had already been handed over to Ni Zhi, who was sowing discord...
Sun Er bit his lip and said with difficulty, "He... he's in the Cultivation Realm, on Star Mirage Continent..."
Li Xiaonan nodded; it was indeed as he had suspected. He was somewhat familiar with that place, but the problem was how to get down there, and moreover, how to bring so many people with him.
He glanced at Sun Er and asked, "Do you have a way down?"
Sun Er shook her head vigorously.
Li Xiaonan scratched his head and sighed helplessly. It seemed he could only go find Brother Yun first, since it wasn't far from here to Cloud Sky Pavilion.
Without further explanation, Li Xiaonan swallowed two elixirs.
He activated Golden Yuan Power, enveloping everyone in a glowing circle.
With a large teleportation, they arrived at Cloud Sky Pavilion.
"Who are you! Ah, it's the Deputy..." The sudden appearance of Li Xiaonan and the others startled the deer that was patrolling.
Li Xiaonan nodded and interrupted, "Great-Grandfather, these people are my friends. Please take care of them. By the way, is my elder brother still in seclusion?"
"Yes, Master is still in seclusion. We are not allowed to disturb him."
"Alright! I understand!" He turned to Yun Moyu, Li Baobao, and Yuan Xian'er and said, "This is one of my Mei Family's elders, Great-Grandfather. You all follow him to find my grandfather."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiaonan used his teleportation technique again and vanished before everyone's eyes.
The deer sighed helplessly. It was unclear how this suddenly appeared Great-Grandfather had such great charm that even Master valued him so highly.
Master had already issued an order that during his seclusion, even if the sky fell, no one was to be seen. Yet this kid completely ignored that command.
In fact, the deer misunderstood Li Xiaonan; it wasn't that Yun Xinghe particularly favored him by granting him access to the forbidden chamber. Rather, Li Xiaonan had a certain understanding of Spatial Law himself.
He repeatedly formed strange hand seals with both hands while continuously reciting complicated incantations. The air in front of the Meditation Room suddenly twisted violently.
Li Xiaonan slowly walked in and soon appeared before Yun Xinghe.
Yun Xinghe's lips curled slightly as he opened his eyes and said, "I could guess it was you, kid!"
Li Xiaonan smiled lightly and replied, "Big Brother seems to be in a good mood. Have you found a way back?"
"Yes! Almost there! But why does your face look like it's covered in glue? What happened?"
Li Xiaonan's lips twitched slightly as he sighed and said, "My wives ascended!"
"That's a good thing! Did they bring anything back? Let me see!"
"They disappeared right after ascending."
"Disappeared?"
Li Xiaonan nodded, pointing at his own eyes with two fingers. "They vanished right in front of me! It was Spatial Power. I don't know if it was a coincidence or something intentional..."
Yun Xinghe couldn't help but furrow his brows. He slowly stood up and paced back and forth, saying, "It can't be a coincidence! I've studied Spatial Power for so many years, and the spatial structure of the Immortal Realm has always been stable. Did you offend someone recently?"
Li Xiaonan rubbed his forehead and chuckled bitterly. "I don't even know myself..."
"Don't worry! Big Brother will send someone to look for them! As long as they're still in the Immortal Realm, I can definitely help you find them!"
Li Xiaonan expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Big Brother! Right now, I've managed to find three of them, but..."
"What happened again?"
Li Xiaonan sighed helplessly and recounted everything that had occurred previously.
Yun Xinghe chuckled, "Your temper is too bad! But what if I were to directly take care of that Sun Er? What do you think of his cultivation?"
Li Xiaonan replied in disbelief, "Terrible! Really terrible!"
Yun Xinghe nodded, "But he's quite popular in the Immortal Realm, and even the Immortal Emperor takes good care of him. Can you guess why?"
"The true owner of the Golden Staff?"
"Smart! So who is the owner of the Golden Staff?"
"Sun Wukong?"
"Yes! Earthlings all know that! It's the same here. There are many rumors about the relationship between Sun Er and Sun Wukong; some say they are master and disciple, while others say they are father and son..."
This speculation had been swirling in Li Xiaonan's mind for a long time, so even after hearing Yun Xinghe say this, he showed no surprise.
"What do you mean, big brother? In the end, Sun Wukong is just a character from a book. No matter how impressive he is, I, as an Earthling, won't lose to him! Even if I can't beat him now, as long as I have enough time, what about the Victorious Buddha of Combat?"
"Good spirit!" Yun Xinghe praised as he patted Li Xiaonan on the shoulder and continued, "I'm telling you this just to make sure you're careful with your words when you descend. I've never met Sun Wukong myself, but if he's anything like the records in Journey to the West, that guy is definitely both protective and petty."
Li Xiaonan silently nodded, then a strange light flashed in his eyes. "Big brother! You mentioned descending? Do you have a way to let me go down?"
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