Chapter 158

"Oh." The Bull Niu Mowang asked upon hearing this: "Brother Su Chen, what other deep meaning do you think the Heavenly Court has in this move?"

"I think the scheme behind the Heavenly Court must be the same as their original goal of forcing Brother Monkey into rebellion. But as for what the specific goal is, I cannot guess either," Su Chen shook his head, feigning ignorance while knowing the truth.

Returning to the Heavenly Court, the Liu Er Mihou, having smashed the Jade Emperor's event in full view of everyone, left Yaochi, escaped the sight of the heavenly soldiers and generals pursuing him, and turned into a streak of golden light, heading straight for the Thirty-Three Heavens.

His target was very clear—the Doulugong Palace.

According to the script, the next act he was to perform was the "stealing and eating of immortal elixirs."

In the Heavenly Court, the Pagoda-Bearing Li Tianwang Li Jing, holding his pagoda, followed by the Giant Spirit God and a group of heavenly generals, led the heavenly soldiers to seal off all the main thoroughfares in and out of the Heavenly Court, beginning a carpet-style search within the Heavenly Court.

"Search for me!" Li Jing's voice resounded through the clouds, "That demon monkey cannot run far; he must be hiding in some immortal palace! Even if you have to dig three feet deep, you must find him!"

The heavenly soldiers and generals roared in response, scattering in teams and rushing toward various jade palaces and pavilions.

For a time, the entire Heavenly Court was plunged into chaos.

Just as the heavenly soldiers and generals were conducting a massive search in the Heavenly Court, at the Thirty-Three Heavens.

The Liu Er Mihou had already snuck sneakily to the entrance of the Doulugong Palace.

The gate of the Doulugong Palace was, contrary to normal, left slightly ajar, and there wasn't even a gate-keeping Daoist boy at the entrance.

"Hehe, the Old Lord is not at home, which is just convenient for my Old Sun."

The Liu Er Mihou whispered, pushed the door open, and slipped inside.

The Liu Er Mihou entered the alchemy room of the Doulugong Palace without any obstruction.

In the center of the alchemy room, the Six-Ding Divine Fire was burning brightly in the Eight-Trigram Furnace.

On the table nearby, there were several medicine gourds containing elixirs.

The Liu Er Mihou walked up and, without being polite, pulled the stopper off a gourd and poured the Golden Dans inside into his mouth like beans, chewing them with a crunching sound.

"Hmm, the taste is not bad, just like eating roasted beans."

As he ate, he commented, and in a few quick movements, he had eaten all the Nine-Turn Golden Dans in the five gourds clean.

After eating the immortal elixirs, he felt thirsty again, so he took a jar of immortal wine from his storage magic treasure, hugged the jar, and drank it until it was bottom-up.

Full of wine and elixirs, he let out a long, satisfied burp, and golden light surged all over his body; clearly, the medicinal power was taking effect.

"Not good, the alcohol is hitting me, I must quickly find a place to hide."

The Liu Er Mihou muttered to himself, stumbled out of the Doulugong Palace, lost his sense of direction, and blundered around until he finally crashed into the West Tianmen and slipped directly down to the mortal world.

And just after he left, the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord returned to the Doulugong Palace.

He looked at the empty gourds and the wine jar thrown on the ground, stunned at first, and then became "furious."

He puffed out his beard and glared, rushing angrily to the Lingxiao Palace to present a "complaint" to the Jade Emperor.

"Your Majesty! You must uphold justice for this old Daoist!"

The Old Lord said: "This old Daoist worked hard to refine several furnaces of Golden Dans, intending to offer them to Your Majesty for the 'Danyuan Assembly.' Who would have thought that demon monkey would break into my Doulugong Palace and eat the immortal elixirs like food, eating them all clean! Your Majesty, this loss is too great! This anger, this old Daoist cannot swallow!"

After hearing this, the Jade Emperor cooperated by looking "shocked," and then became "furious."

"How preposterous! This demon monkey, his crimes are doubled! He deserves to die!"

He roared at Li Jing and the others below the steps: "Li Jing! What are you all good for! One hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, and you can't even catch one monkey! Letting him cause such a monstrous disaster!"

Li Jing and the others hurriedly begged for mercy.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger! That demon monkey is cunning beyond compare, and we..."

"Enough!" The Jade Emperor interrupted him impatiently, "I don't care what method you use, go down to the mortal world immediately, go to that Flower-Fruit Mountain, and capture that demon monkey, along with his nest of demon children and grandchildren, and bring them all to Me! I want to tear them to pieces and destroy their souls!"

"As you command!"

Li Jing accepted the decree as if granted a reprieve, and hurriedly led the heavenly generals, mustered the heavenly soldiers, and marched majestically toward the mortal world.

In the Water Curtain Cave, Su Chen and the others did not yet know that the Heavenly Court had used the fake Wukong's creation of a monstrous disaster in the Heavenly Court as an excuse to prepare to wipe out the Demon Alliance in one fell swoop, so as to eliminate future trouble.

Following the Liu Er Mihou's disappearance after leaving the Heavenly Court, the Pagoda-Bearing Li Tianwang Li Jing, along with Nezha, the Giant Spirit God, and a group of heavenly generals, as well as one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, followed the Jade Emperor's decree to descend to the mortal world to capture the "fake Wukong" and to wipe out the Demon Alliance and flatten Flower-Fruit Mountain.

The Pagoda-Bearing Li Tianwang Li Jing had received secret instructions from the Jade Emperor that the focus of this trip was the Demon Alliance of Flower-Fruit Mountain, so after exiting the South Tianmen, the Pagoda-Bearing Li Tianwang led the heavenly soldiers and generals straight toward Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Nezha, however, was unwilling to bully his good brother's subordinates, so he told the Pagoda-Bearing Li Tianwang that he was going to investigate the whereabouts of "Sun Wukong," using this as an excuse to leave the main force and prepare to find a place to wander around by himself.

Although Li Jing really wanted to take Nezha with him to attack Flower-Fruit Mountain, he knew Nezha's temper, so he had no choice but to let him go.

Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Everyone watched as the overwhelming, murderous heavenly soldiers and generals pressed toward the direction of Flower-Fruit Mountain.

"The Heavenly Court's army has really come!" The Macaque King looked at the dark patches of heavenly soldiers in the sky, his voice seemingly trembling.

"Good! Let them come!" The Flood Dragon Niu Mowang stood up abruptly, a terrifying fierce light bursting from his eyes, "I have long been impatient! It's just right to use these heavenly soldiers and generals to sharpen my Fangtian Painted Halberd!"

"That's right! Let's fight them to the death!" The Lion-Camel King was also high in fighting spirit.

The Bull Niu Mowang did not speak; he looked at Su Chen, waiting for his opinion.

Su Chen's expression was unprecedentedly solemn.

He knew that the Heavenly Court's true intentions were finally revealed.

A large part of the reason for all the previous acts was for this scene—to send troops with a legitimate excuse and wipe out the Demon Alliance.

"Brother Bull, fellow Great Sages," Su Chen spoke slowly, "In this battle, we cannot retreat."

"But, we also cannot fight them head-on."

Su Chen's words made the several Great Sages, who were full of fighting spirit, pause for a moment.

"Cannot retreat, yet cannot fight head-on? Brother Su Chen, what do you mean by this?" The Flood Dragon Niu Mowang asked with a frown; he had already taken out his Fangtian Painted Halberd, just waiting to go out and slaughter everyone.

Su Chen looked at the dark, cloud-like mass of heavenly soldiers pressing down on the sky above Flower-Fruit Mountain and analyzed calmly: "The Heavenly Court's dispatch of troops this time is 'legitimate.' They are using the excuse of the fake Wukong's havoc in the Heavenly Palace. In the eyes of all living beings in the Three Realms, they are a righteous army."

"If we rush out now and engage them in a great battle, regardless of who wins or loses, we will have confirmed the charge of 'harboring accomplices and openly resisting the Heavenly Court.' This is exactly the result they want."

"Then you mean we should just shrink back into Flower-Fruit Mountain, act like cowards, and let them shout insults outside?" The Flood Dragon Niu Mowang looked displeased.

"Of course not." Su Chen shook his head, "I mean we must fight, but we cannot blindly go to war with the Heavenly Court. We must be prepared and fight the Heavenly Court strategically."