5 Ruyi Bang

"Well, that's that taken care of." Lin Tao was standing outside of the cave entrance. All the blood was still there, however, there was no one around. Shi Munyi and Shi Heng were gone without a trace.

"But what now?" He really didn't have a clue. He had somehow merged with Sun Wukong. He now had fragmented memories of another's life in his head. It ate at him, like an itch that would never go away. At the same time, despite getting used to this body something still felt wrong.

The good news was, unlike Sun Wukong, he wasn't drifting into oblivion. The bad news was he couldn't rearrange his own memory. It took him an outside force along with Unfractured Soul Gem to even attempt it last time. If he wanted to even try then stealing The Heavenly Preta Stone was a necessity.

'Ayy… I have no money, no identity, and everything else is up in the air.' Rubbing his head Lin Tao sighed to himself.

"Well, it's not like I could go back to my routine even if I wanted to. Now that I think about it this feels like it's more of a curse than anything else." Despite hearing himself say it Lin Tao was actually smiling while talking to himself. Though even he couldn't guess why. And so his journey began there.

Meanwhile back at Astral City, the Shi Clan was experiencing an uproar. Their Patriarch and their Young Master had yet to return. Not only that but a majority of their fighting force had disappeared entirely. They were fighting just to keep this information from leaking to the outside world.

"What do I do? If Lord Shi doesn't return then we're doomed!" Cupping his hands in his head, an older man who was in charge of the Shi Clan's Factuality and Servants was at a loss. He was isolated inside of a room that would normally be used for meetings.

"Dammit… This is all because of that one person. If anyone would know where they are it would be-"

Suddenly an idea struck him. If they simply couldn't find Lord Shi and Young Master Shi then the entire Clan would be done for. Without anyone in charge, it would only be a matter of time before they were absorbed and wiped out.

'But if I say Lin Tao kidnapped them… Then maybe I can buy some time. Surely if I set a warrant out for his arrest then, the other Lords won't touch the Shi Clan in such a weak state. They'll be looked down on as cowardly if they did so.' Of course, it would be a lie on his part but all that mattered to him was that the Shi Clan would live a little bit longer.

"Bring me a Sound Transmission Talisman!" Standing up he called out, to one of the Servants outside of the chamber.

Since those events around a week had passed. The Sky Profound Continent in general was extremely large. As such it contained seven nations which were all located in different locations. Taking up the central landmass and the south was the Divine Phoenix Empire.

Just westwards from its southern border would be The Grand Asura Nation where Lin Tao was now. Meanwhile, the Blue Wind Empire, where The Heavenly Preta Stone was in the northeast. Which meant it was also directly opposite to where Lin Tao was now.

Walking down a road, that cut through a large forest. He didn't have any other mode of transportation, so his feet would have to do. Still, the differences he was finding comparing this body to his old one continued to grow.

He had been walking for days now, but aside from the sun, he hadn't gotten tired at all. Aside from that even though he was hungry it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

'Sun Wukong's body relied on a different method of cultivation than my own or anyone else's for that matter. I wonder if that means I've inherited it to its fullest. Or maybe I've been set back to square one.' He knew he was stronger than a True Profound Realm Cultivator but other than that the limits of his power at the moment were unknown to him.

'Still… I would really love a bath about now. And a nice soft bed. Plus a whole table full of food.' The thought made his imagination take hold of him. However, his delusions were quickly shattered when he suddenly heard something from behind it. A violent roar, of what sounded like a giant beast.

Turning his head around he immediately preparing himself for a fight. However, when he looked he didn't see anything. The roar had seemed to fade away and the forest around him was quiet. But he was sure he had heard it. It was too loud for it to be his imagination or his mind playing tricks on him.

It was then that he heard again. It was even louder this time around. Lin Tao's eyes trailed upwards as he looked towards the sky. And that's when he finally saw the culprit behind the roar. He was right when he thought it was a beast because it happened to be a Profound Beast causing the noise.

Size-wise it was massive, each of its wings was large enough to span an entire building and its body was equivalent. It was hard to see its feature's due to the fact it was coated in what looked like a shadow. It left trails resembling dark smoke through the sky as it flew. If he had compared it to something it would be a hybrid between that of a dragon and a bird of prey.

However, it wasn't flying wildly, its crimson eyes that seemed to glow were fixed directly on its target. A ship half the size of the beast chasing it, that looked as if it belonged in the water. Its sails were open and it had strange wing-like add-ons attached to its side. However, it was soaring through the sky all the same.

'A Profound Ark?' A ship that could fly through the air using Profound Energy as its source. Due to how expensive they were and the price of running them, they were a luxury. However, this one's speed was being pushed to its max. Clearly, the people on board were throwing money to the wind compared to their lives.

However, despite that, the Ark was slowing down. Looking closer Lin Tao saw it had been damaged. Narrowing his eye's Lin Tao began to smile. He couldn't sense the Profound Beast's Cultivation. It was strange, but nothing he could do as a Nascent Realm Cultivator worked now. It was when he thought about it, that an idea suddenly hit him.

"Looks like I just found my ride." As the Ark and the Profound Beast flew by a few hundred meters away Lin Tao began to give chase. Rushing into the forest he jumped on top of a tree branch and began rushing in the same direction as them.

After the merger Lin Tao was a lot quicker on his feet, however, catching up to a Profound Ark would be impossible. Luckily it was damaged and slowing down. Like a blur, he used his agile body to move from tree to tree while constantly looking up. He was nearly right under the Profound Beast as he looked towards the staff in his hand.

"Hey, you can extend, right? Like, grow longer? Do you mind doing that now?" He felt stupid talking to staff like this but he knew it could change its size. He also knew it could listen to him to some degree. He had done it subconsciously but the staff had flown to him despite him not saying a word.

However, this time around he didn't get a reaction. The staff wasn't silent and didn't change a bit. Seeing this Lin Tao could help but let out a groan.

"Oh, come on! I just need you to extend a bit? Just a little tiny bit up to that Profound Beast. If you do that I promise I'll take care of the rest ok?" Since asking didn't work Lin Tao decided to resort to begging. It was a strange sight, to say the least. However, this time around he did get a reaction.

The staff began to glow a bright golden aura and shake in his hands for a moment before the golden light faded and the shaking stopped. Staring at it Lin Tao expected something else to happen afterwards. But that was it.

"Huh? Seriously? What am I suppose to get from that? I ask you to extend and you do a little shake? You cant be cryptic when your gosh damn staff! This is so stupid…"As soon as Lin Tao said that last word's he suddenly felt the staff come alive. As if it had a mind of its own it suddenly moved in his hands.

It slammed itself into his face with its full weight behind it. Immediately Lin Tao was sent flying from the tree branch he was standing on down to the ground.

"Ow…" Holding his face and nose with his hand he writhed on the ground as the staff flew from his hands. As he was lying there it flew in front of his face, and spin itself around. Staring at it Lin Tao watched as it began to glow golden again as words etched into its surface appeared. Taking his hand off his nose Lin Tao read them out.

"Ruyi… Bang?" He was confused at first until a realization dawned on him. At the same time, on the Profound Ark, there were two Cultivators controlling it while another lied on the deck injured.

"Dammit, this thing is persistent!" One of them couldn't help but curse as he looked back at the massive flying Profound Beast.

"If only Senior Brother Feng wasn't injured… At this rate, the Profound Ark is going to give out." Once that happened they would be eaten for sure. The situation was grim the two of them knew that. Their face's looked horrible like pig's knowing they were going to be slaughtered. However, as the one manning the Ark turned to look behind him he spotted something.

"What is that?" His friend turned his head as well seeing the same thing. Something thin was quickly extending high into the air. It was pointed in their direction however they couldn't tell what it was. The next instant however the elongated object seemed to suddenly disappear as it retracted at an incredible speed.

"What the-" Seeing such a bizarre event as they were about to die they were utterly confused. And then that confusion turned to shock. Like a cannonball falling from the sky, a black figure suddenly landed directly on the back of the Profound Beast. The impact and weight immediately caused its altitude to decrease.

It let out a painful screech as the two of them stared at what had just landed on its back. Regaining his balance Lin Tao looked up towards the two of them as well before speaking.

"So how much do you three want to live?"