Chapter 222

Beneath Mount Wuzhi, the wind whistled.

Wen Zhong retracted his Heavenly Eye, the divine light receding into the vertical mark, his face devoid of any expression.

He did not expose the monkey demon's true form on the spot, nor did he even ask a single unnecessary question.

"Seal this place!"

Wen Zhong ordered the Lei Bu generals who had followed him.

"As you command!"

The Lei Bu generals behind him responded in unison, lightning light instantly intertwining, and countless lightning talismans flew out from their bodies, setting up a great array around Mount Wuzhi to seal the entire space.

After finishing all this, Wen Zhong gave a final instruction to his deputy: "No one is allowed to enter without authorization; violators shall be executed first and reported later," and then transformed into a bolt of purple lightning, flying straight toward the Dou Mansion in the thirty-three heavens of the Heavenly Court.

He had to report this discovery of his to his master, Doumu Yuanjun, before the Fomen could react.

Almost at the same time the Lei Bu sealed Mount Wuzhi.

Outside Mount Wuzhi, hidden in the air, the Golden-Headed Jiedi and others responsible for surveillance felt their hearts jump, an unease welling up.

"Not good!" The Golden-Headed Jiedi's face changed drastically. "That Wen Zhong came over aggressively, took one look with his Heavenly Eye, and left, and even set up a great array—he must have discovered something!"

They were guarding the Liu Er Mihou under Tathagata's orders and naturally knew the flaws in the Liu Er Mihou; seeing Wen Zhong's actions, they felt a sense of impending doom.

"Quick, send the message back to Lingshan!"

The four Jiedi dared not delay, immediately pinching the secret Buddhist seals and activating the secret Buddhist method for transmitting messages to send the situation at Mount Wuzhi to the Great Lei Yinsi on Western Lingshan.

The West, Lingshan Great Lei Yinsi.

Tathagata Buddha had just returned from the Dou Mansion and had barely caught his breath, not yet having eliminated the influence of Doumu Yuanjun's use of the Zhou Tian stars on him, when an urgent message arrived from Mount Wuzhi.

Upon receiving the message, Tathagata's slightly closed Buddhist eyes suddenly opened, a flash of gloom crossing them.

He knew Wen Zhong would surely be able to find clues, but he had not expected Wen Zhong's actions to be so swift.

Tathagata had calculated everything, but he had miscalculated that tight hoop he had placed on the Liu Er Mihou's head.

That tight hoop was concealed by him using a secret method; unless one's cultivation far exceeded his, an ordinary person would never detect the tight hoop he had hidden and rooted in the Liu Er Mihou's Primordial Spirit.

But the one investigating this matter happened to be Wen Zhong, whose Heavenly Eye possessed the divine ability to pierce through falsehoods; Tathagata's secret method for hiding the hoop was precisely countered by such divine abilities.

Even worse, Wen Zhong was a disciple of the Jie Sect and knew that the tight hoop was the Golden Hoop Immortal's item, so he naturally knew that the hoop came from the Fomen.

Once Wen Zhong spoke of the hoop's origin, the Fomen's act of swapping a real monkey for a fake one would spread throughout the Three Realms.

By then, the Fomen would lose not only the fortune of the future spread of Buddhism to the East but also the reputation the Fomen had cultivated for countless years since the Investiture of the Gods.

"You brat, how dare you ruin my great plan!"

Tathagata let out a low shout, the solemn expression on his face disappearing.

He immediately made a decision; he could wait no longer.

He had to go to Mount Wuzhi in person to retrieve the tight hoop before Wen Zhong could blow the matter out of proportion.

Thinking of this, the nine-grade lotus platform beneath Tathagata shone brilliantly, shooting into the sky once more, disappearing from the Great Lei Yinsi and heading straight for Mount Wuzhi in the Southern Chanbuzhou.

This time, he naturally dared not make a grand display, instead restraining his own aura and descending silently above Mount Wuzhi.

However, when he descended above Mount Wuzhi and prepared to take action, the scene before him made his face sink.

Below, the sky was filled with dark clouds gathering into a huge vortex, with lightning and thunder inside.

Thirty-six powerful auras shot into the sky, forming a lightning great array.

"Xiantian Bagua Lei Guang Great Array!"

Tathagata Buddha recognized the origin of this array.

This was the Lei Bu's array for sealing the void, specifically used to seal the space within the array to prevent anyone from escaping or entering.

With Tathagata's cultivation, he could naturally tear through the array and force his way in, but once discovered, his purpose for coming here would be unfulfilled, and he would instead provide others with grounds for criticism.

Just as Tathagata Buddha was secretly annoyed because of the great array set up by the Lei Bu gods...

Wen Zhong had already arrived at the Dou Mansion in the thirty-three heavens to report the situation he had discovered to his master, Doumu Yuanjun.

Inside the Dou Mansion, the galaxy flowed, and Doumu Yuanjun sat on the starlight Dao platform, her gaze cold.

Wen Zhong told her everything he had discovered when he went to Mount Wuzhi, point by point.

"Golden Hoop Immortal..."

Doumu Yuanjun recited the name, no emotion audible in her voice.

"Hmph, what a fine Duobao, what a fine Tathagata Buddha." Doumu Yuanjun sneered. "The traitor of the past has now become a Buddha, even using the magic treasure of his own former sect members to do such dirty work."

"Wen Zhong, you have done well."

Doumu Yuanjun looked at Wen Zhong, her voice very calm. "However, you don't need to give this evidence to me. You are a righteous god of the Heavenly Court's Lei Bu, investigating the case under the Jade Emperor's orders; naturally, you must tell the Jade Emperor what you have found."

Wen Zhong was stunned for a moment, then looked up and said, "Master, the Jade Emperor and the Fomen are in collusion; if I tell him this, he will surely suppress the matter, or even..."

"He wouldn't dare." Doumu Yuanjun interrupted him directly.

"If he wanted to suppress it, he wouldn't have backed down when I went to the Lingxiao Hall last time." Doumu Yuanjun's voice was confident. "Now that the evidence is all here, as the Lord of the Three Realms, he knows what he must do."

"Go." Doumu Yuanjun waved her sleeve. "Tell the Jade Emperor what you have found."

"This disciple obeys!" Upon hearing this, Wen Zhong no longer hesitated, bowed to Doumu Yuanjun on the Dao platform, and transformed into a bolt of lightning, flying straight toward the Lingxiao Bao Dian.

Rear hall of the Lingxiao Bao Dian.

The Jade Emperor's face was very ugly, and the atmosphere in the hall was also very oppressive.

He had seen clearly that Tathagata had suffered a loss at the Dou Mansion and had run back to Lingshan in a sorry state.

The Jade Emperor had not expected Doumu Yuanjun to be so assertive, not only giving him, the Heavenly Emperor, no face at all but also showing no mercy to their former senior brother.

The Jade Emperor was furious but also felt very powerless.

The Jie Sect's influence in the Heavenly Court was too great; if they really fought, his position as the Lord of the Three Realms might become unstable.

"Your Majesty, the Nine Heavens Yingyuan Lei Sheng Puhua Heavenly Sovereign requests an audience outside the hall." The immortal official reported cautiously.

"Let him in!" The Jade Emperor's voice was clearly suppressing his anger.

Wen Zhong walked into the hall with large strides and bowed to the Jade Emperor: "Subject Wen Zhong pays respects to Your Majesty. I have already reached a result regarding the 'True and False Great Sage' matter you ordered me to investigate."

The Jade Emperor snorted coldly: "Speak."

Wen Zhong stood straight, his voice loud and clear: "I discovered that there is a tight hoop in the Primordial Spirit of the Great Sage Qitian suppressed under Mount Wuzhi; that tight hoop is an item of the Fomen. I suspect that the Great Sage Qitian under Mount Wuzhi is a fake controlled by the Fomen."

As soon as the words fell, a powerful pressure erupted from the Jade Emperor's body.

"What did you say?" The Jade Emperor stood up abruptly, staring fixedly at Wen Zhong.

But Wen Zhong's expression did not change, the Heavenly Eye at the center of his brow glowing slightly to block the Jade Emperor's pressure.

He repeated calmly: "This matter must have been planned by the Fomen; they deceived the Three Realms and also deceived the Heavenly Court. The evidence is irrefutable!"

"The Fomen is truly useless!"

The Jade Emperor cursed inwardly; he had not expected the Fomen to be so unreliable in their work, leaving behind such obvious evidence.

The Jade Emperor looked at Wen Zhong, his mind racing.

Suppress it?

No, behind Wen Zhong was Doumu Yuanjun and the vast old Jie Sect forces; suppressing it by force would be forcing them to turn against him, and the Heavenly Court would surely fall into chaos.

Deny it?

That was even more impossible. Wen Zhong dared to say it to his face, so he naturally had certainty; if he denied it, Wen Zhong could turn around and make this matter known to the entire Three Realms.

Thinking of this, the Jade Emperor understood instantly—this was Doumu Yuanjun's open scheme.

She wanted to force him to cut ties with the Fomen and also wanted to use him to take action against the Heavenly Court.

Now, there were only two paths before him.

Either preserve the alliance with the Fomen, but at the cost of his own reputation and control over the Heavenly Court.

Or, he could only take action against the Fomen, his ally, to maintain the dignity of his Heavenly Emperor.

After a moment of silence, he sat down slowly and withdrew his pressure, as if it were not he who had just been furious.

"Wen Zhong, you have done well."

The Jade Emperor's voice returned to calm. "You have merit in clarifying the truth of the matter; you may go down and rest first."

Wen Zhong bowed and left upon hearing this.

After Wen Zhong left, the Jade Emperor said to the attending immortal official: "Transmit my decree! Summon all immortal officials to the Lingxiao Bao Dian for a meeting!"