While Pig Bajie (Pigsy) and the old turtle were talking, Axel walked past the trembling lesser demons and approached Kang.
As he drew closer, Kang looked up in confusion, her legs folded beneath her.
"Master… he…"
Axel clicked his tongue.
"He's dead. Torn apart so badly there's nothing left to piece together."
Kang's expression shifted instantly.
"The Great Sage's root essence…"
She turned sharply toward Merna's remains.
At the same time, Pig Bajie, in the distance, raised his hooves toward the corpse. A flash of golden light followed, and a ten tailed brocade carp emerged from the crushed flesh, floating in the air before him.
Kang's eyes locked onto it.
Axel followed her gaze and looked over.
Pig Bajie waved at him.
"Great Sage, I wouldn't dare touch that root essence. But shouldn't you store it properly?"
He glanced back at it with clear reluctance.
"That thing is more tempting than my master's flesh ever was. If you leave it out, this entire place will go mad."
Axel scanned the surroundings. Many demons were already staring at the floating essence with greed and hunger.
The red-bottomed macaque in particular could not take its eyes off it.
Without hesitation, Axel opened the storage bag and pulled the essence inside. It vanished in an instant.
He looked down at the bag in his hand, surprised.
"So I can use this thing too?"
He frowned slightly.
"No magic, no power, and it still works. What kind of system is this? Even a normal person could use it."
He tied it shut and held it firmly.
Beside him, Kang's gaze sharpened as she stared at the bag. The hostility in her eyes grew.
She rose to her feet and faced him.
"Since you defeated Merna, come with me to the Heavenly Court and receive your reward."
Her voice hardened.
"And hand over the root essence."
Before she could finish, Axel moved.
In an instant, he was in front of her, gripping her throat and lifting her off the ground.
He stared directly into her eyes.
"Your attitude is still wrong."
His grip tightened.
"When Merna was alive, you ignored me. Now he's gone, and you're still acting the same way."
His expression turned cold.
"If everyone treated me like that, what was the point of killing him?"
He threw her without warning.
Her body tore through two small hills before crashing violently into the ground.
Pig Bajie watched from a distance, stunned.
Kang Jinmei was one of the Twenty Eight Constellations, someone he had struggled to fight before. Yet in Axel's hands, she had been tossed aside like nothing.
Kang coughed up blood as she struggled to rise. Pain surged through her body, and in the next moment, she transformed into a white dragon and shot into the sky.
Her form was slightly smaller than the Greenback Dragon, but her presence remained formidable.
She steadied herself midair and faced Axel again.
"The root essence is dangerous," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady.
"Keeping it will bring trouble. I ask for your mercy. Give it to me, I…"
"You what?"
Axel tossed the storage bag lightly in his hand before throwing it toward Pig Bajie.
"Hold this."
Pig Bajie caught it instinctively, confused.
"What did you just call me?"
Axel ignored him and stretched his arms, looking up at Kang.
"You bow to the Jade Emperor. You bow to Maitreya. You even called Merna your master."
His tone sharpened.
"I'm stronger than him. If you can kneel to him, you can kneel to me."
He smirked.
"Or do I need to tear through the Heavenly Court before you figure that out?"
Before she could react, he vanished.
The next moment, Kang felt her tail seized.
The world spun.
From below, the demons saw Axel in the sky, swinging the massive dragon by her tail and slamming her into the ground again and again. Each impact shook the earth.
Pig Bajie stared, speechless.
If Axel treated Kang like that, then what chance had he ever had?
The Greenback Dragon watched with rising excitement. This was the strength needed to challenge the Heavenly Court.
The old turtle, however, shrank into its shell, trembling.
After dozens of impacts, Axel slammed Kang into the ground one final time.
Dust filled the air.
When it cleared, Kang had reverted to her human form. Her clothes were disheveled, her hair in chaos, her expression dazed.
Axel landed in front of her and reached out, resting a hand on her head.
She looked up at him, her composure shattered.
"Great Sage… please… give me the root essence…"
Her voice broke as tears streamed down her face.
"I will do anything… just please…"
She collapsed forward and began bowing repeatedly.
Axel watched her for a moment, then nodded.
"That's better."
He crouched slightly, looking at her.
"You should have acted like this earlier."
His tone shifted, turning more direct.
"Even if I gave it to you, what would you do with it?"
He held the bag up.
"Revive Sun Wukong? You can't even get past Merna. How do you plan to gather the rest?"
He scoffed.
"Or are you planning to keep finding new masters to kneel to?"
He reached out, and Pig Bajie reluctantly threw the bag back to him.
Axel caught it and shook it lightly.
"Listen carefully. I actually know Sun Wukong."
A grin spread across his face.
"I'll bring him back myself."
His eyes gleamed with amusement.
"And when I do, I'll laugh at him. Out of all the versions of him, this one is the most pathetic."
He stood upright.
"Then I'll show him what it really means to fight the Heavenly Court."