Thousands of years ago…

“This is not fair!” Sun Wukong yelled as he dodged another spear the size of his torso. “You four promised me immortality.”

Chasing after the monkey king were the four cardinal mythical spirits, the vermilion bird, the white tiger, the black tortoise, and the azure dragon. It was the dragon that was throwing these spears at Sun Wukong.

“I defeated every one of you. You all promised to let me into the spirit realm. You call yourself gods but you never keep your words.” Sun Wukong did a somersault to avoid a jet of water from the black tortoise.

Before Sun Wukong could recover, the white tiger pounced above him with her powerful paws that weighed the equivalent of ten mountains.

The monkey king blocked it with his golden staff. The ground below him cracked into spiderwebs. He shoved the paw away.

Sun Wukong dropped to his knees as he held onto his golden staff for support. He had never kneeled to anyone except his sifu. This is ridiculous.

The beasts didn’t let up. The azure dragon shot a barrage of spears at Sun Wukong.

With his golden staff, he blocked them all, but with every spear he shattered his arms quaked from the impact.

The vermilion bird shot a ray of fire at Sun Wukong. It was the hottest, strongest fire spirit energy in the entire world, burning the very land the monkey king stood on until it turned into molten slag. The black tortoise shot its jet of water at him, instantly cooling the molten slag. An enormous cloud billowed up around Sun Wukong. The white tiger stood its ground and used its roaring technique that disoriented its victim.

Despite all their attacks, they were still wary of the monkey king. They didn’t dare come close to him, for each remembered the defeat Sun Wukong dealt to them.

The vermilion bird flapped its wings to clear the smoke.

Sun Wukong was burned into ash and frozen in ice from their attacks. Yet he still stood defiantly with his golden staff raised, pointed to the sky.

“This impudent ape thought it could threaten us. What a joke,” the vermilion bird said. He perched atop a mountain and folded his wings around himself. The flames snuffed out.

“But he defeated us,” the white tiger said. “There have been none since the elementals in the spirit realm that have been able to do so.”

“Indeed.” The black tortoise closed her eyes and rested her head on the ground.

The azure dragon coiled itself atop a small forest.

“My siblings, we are lucky he didn’t kill us when he defeated us. Otherwise, we would be having this conversation in the Spirit Realm.”

The vermilion bird screeched.

“Kill us? He could never. He only beat me with his dirty tricks. Can’t do that now, can you monkey king?” The vermilion bird thrust his wings at Sun Wukong’s body and shattered the ice into pieces.

“If he shattered our bodies, he would have opened the doorway to the spirit realm,” the azure dragon said. “Then he would have caused havoc and many spirits would die forever.”

The white tiger shivered.

“I can’t imagine dying forever.” She licked her left paw, which was still bruised from Sun Wukong’s earlier attack.

“Indeed,” the black tortoise murmured.

Sun Wukong’s golden staff shot up from the ground, piercing the vermilion bird’s chest and going straight toward the sky. It pinned the bird atop the mountain like a skewer of meat.

“So that’s all I have to do?” Sun Wukong called out from above. He was riding on a cloud right above the vermilion bird. He held onto his staff and twisted it, causing the vermilion bird to screech. With a hard yank, the golden staff turned back into a small size that fit in his hands.

Red spirit energy leaked from the vermilion bird’s chest.

“Retreat,” the black tortoise said. She pulled her head and arms into her shell and disappeared inside.

“We can’t retreat. No matter where we go, he’ll find us,” azure dragon said. He summoned a wall of spears to surround him. With a thought, he launched them all at Sun Wukong.

The white tiger used her roar technique, hoping to paralyze the monkey king.

Sun Wukong tilted his head and smirked. One somersault later, he appeared right on top of the black tortoise. He knocked on it gently.

“Miss turtle. I thought you learned the last time that you can’t hide from me.”

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Sun Wukong bashed his staff against the shell a couple of times. The last thing he needed was for the tortoise to shoot more of those jets of water while he dealt with the other two. This should keep her ears ringing for a while.

The azure dragon shot its spears at the monkey king, its sharp tips shattering on the black tortoise’s shell.

Sun Wukong ran into the forest the azure dragon laid upon.

“Such foolishness. You think you can overtake my command of wood?” The azure dragon coiled up around himself, glowing green. Soon, the forest answered his call and shook. Every piece of wood within turned into deadly spikes and struck at everything moving within.

The forest turned silent.

Sun Wukong’s golden staff shot up from within the forest, barely missing the azure dragon.

If the azure dragon didn’t have his shield wall of spears protecting him, he would have lost his head. He flew away before Sun Wukong came out of the forest.

When the monkey king came out of the forest, the white tiger pounced on him. This time, she used both paws despite the injury she already had.

“You cats need to learn new tricks.” Sun Wukong made copies of himself and then turned them all into his golden staff. They pointed right at white tiger’s attack.

With so much force and weight, the white tiger couldn’t pull her attack back. She watched as her paws pierced through the golden staves, pinning her to the ground. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t pull out her paws. White spirit energy leaked from them in torrents.

The azure dragon didn’t have enough time to help as Sun Wukong was already in the sky with him, riding his cloud. With every strike of his golden staff, the shield wall protecting azure dragon splintered and cracked.

“You were smart enough to surrender last time,” Sun Wukong said, punctuating every word with a heavy swing from his staff.

“You underestimate us,” the azure dragon said.

A large ray of fire hit the monkey king right on the back, scorching him. The vermilion bird didn’t stop and shot ray after ray at Sun Wukong, forcing him to defend.

A large spiked tail smashed him from above, breaking his defenses.

Before Sun Wukong could get up, a loud roar deafened him. His mind didn’t work properly, as he wasn’t sure which way was up or down.

Soon enough, large spikes of wood pinned him to the ground.

All four mythical spirits stood above him, throwing every attack they had at him. These were attacks that would level mountains, dry up rivers, and destroy forests.

“Is it over?” the white tiger asked, her voice hoarse from using her technique.

“This is his real body. I can sense the monkey spirit within him,” the azure dragon said.

All four mythical spirits shrank in size, no longer able to maintain their gigantic bodies. They spent more spirit energy in that fight than they ever had.

Sun Wukong laughed.

“He’s still alive?” The white tiger took a step back.

“That was the most fun I have ever had,” Sun Wukong said. “But now it’s time to end this.”

All four mythical spirits jumped away.

Sun Wukong’s body disappeared again. His golden staff shot up into the sky and turned into his true body.

“You like being big? So do I!” The monkey king transformed in size until he was as big as a small mountain. One swing of his golden staff leveled the area where the mythical spirits stood.

“Hide,” the black tortoise said. She shrank back into her shell. The other three mythical spirits teleported inside her shell.

“You can’t hide from me, you lying, cheating spirits.” Sun Wukong swung his golden staff down on the shell. Every swing had the strength of a million monkey kings. Yet the shell held up.

After the hundredth swing, a crack formed along its spine. Sun Wukong smiled. He shook his tired arms a little and stretched. He knew he would only need another few more swings before breaking through.

“The first thing I’m going to do once I reach the spirit realm is to cook me some tasty turtle soup. And then I’ll wear a beautiful tiger skin coat and fly a vermilion bird kite. For the dragon, I think a nice meal where I invite all my subjects to enjoy rare dragon meat.”

“Wukong,” a voice called from above.

Sun Wukong stopped his swing midway. He turned to look at the sky and got on his knees.

“Sifu.”

A large yellow dragon flew down in front of Sun Wukong and turned into a human with a long black beard and a golden tunic that had a yellow dragon on it.

“What are you doing, Sun Wukong? Why are you disrespecting the four cardinal spirits?”

“Sifu, these four promised me entry into the Spirit Realm if I defeated them. I did and now they are trying to kill your disciple. So I’m just paying them back.”

The man stroked his beard and walked up to the beat up black shell. He cupped his hands and bowed to it.

“Elders, I apologize for what my disciple has done to you. I will resolve this on your behalf.” The man turned toward Sun Wukong. “I didn’t teach you to do this. I taught you so that you can protect yourself and your monkey spirits. You disrespect the order of things. This will bring chaos and cause death on a massive scale.”

“But sifu, think about it. We can have immortality. We can protect everyone forever. These spirits are greedy. If you help me, we can both enjoy limitless power.”

“I have failed you as your sifu. This is not why we practice the summoner arts. Leave with me and we shall repent together.”

Sun Wukong looked from his sifu to the defeated black shell. One more strike was all he needed to break it open and then he could share in the spoils with his sifu, the only person he ever respected.

“No sifu. I have to do this for us.” The monkey king lifted his golden staff above his head and swung down.

Except it missed.

The man turned back into a yellow dragon. He held the golden staff in his claws. With a twist, the golden staff turned into a ring.

“No, sifu. You can’t do this. Not when we’re so close,” Sun Wukong said.

“I’m sorry, my disciple. It is my fault for not teaching you better. I’m taking back the golden staff.”

Sun Wukong didn’t need his master’s golden staff. He would punch the black shell until it cracked like an egg. He was so close and not even his sifu would stop him.

Before he could get punch it, the golden ring wrapped itself around Sun Wukong’s head and tightened itself. This caused such a major headache that the monkey king collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.

“Now I shall seal you so that you can learn your lesson,” the yellow dragon said. “You will see how these elders stabilize the world and allow it to flourish. Afterwards, you will rejoin me and continue learning.”

The yellow dragon carried his defeated disciple into an enchanted forest and sealed him underneath a mountain. No matter how strong Sun Wukong was, he could not lift the mountain off his back. Yet those that enter that forest can hear the monkey king’s crying and wails, asking to be released.