Chapter 475

mayiwsk

Cold winds blew outside Mount Fuling; the Journey to the West restarted as Master Sanzang returned.

It was said that the holy monk from Tang China, guided by Yuanshi Tianzun, found the hiding place of the demons, chanted the Great Radiance True Sutra, and pierced the Yellow Robe King's treasure with a Buddha spear, creating a breach, then led his four disciples and two guards to enter and subdue the demons.

Several miles away, demonic clouds rolled and miasma filled the air; the Gold and Silver Niu Mowang arrived with a horde of demons, intent on capturing the outsider demon who had stolen treasures and thrown the world into chaos. The false Kui Mu Lang, bearing the stellar destiny and layered with foreign sorcery, once again manifested the anomaly of stellar malefic influence, as the White Tiger of the West roared in the heavens, and all Minor Thousand Worlds observed dark stars turning bright.

Indeed:

Dark clouds swallowed heaven, hiding snow and moon; the Golden Rope buried and bound gods and immortals.

True and false stellar constellations returned to their places; all stars in heaven resonated together.

The Seven-Star Sword calls forth ten thousand armies; who says fate is written by heaven?

The Gold and Silver Niu Mowang wished to depart, seeking a chance of survival by slipping into the cycle of reincarnation.

Seeing this, Master Sanzang trembled, his eyes flared with Buddhist light, he clasped his hands together and chanted "Amitabha," and in the heavens and earth, strange celestial music secretly sounded.

At once, a feeling arose—wind and rain were coming, mountains darkened, and cold currents swept through the shadows of ten thousand pines.

Master Sanzang's intuition struck like divine inspiration; his eyes flashed like lightning, and he was about to chant a poem: "Buddha's mercy. Wuuu—hmm?!"

But the Monkey King covered his mouth, just as he had done when the monk had acted on the Golden Throne, and pulled him behind himself.

"You! #" Su Lin cursed as he turned off the song, and instantly the suppressed, explosive tension about to burst vanished from everyone's hearts.

Both Meng Qi and the demons felt something missing from within, a hollow, desolate sense of loss.

"." Meng Qi, shouldering the Ruyi Jingu Bang, glanced back at Su Lin, his eyelid twitching.

The demon monk turned off the speaker.

He took a deep breath, steadied his composure, then heard from not far away, Jinjiao, having exited his role, raise the Seven-Star Sword and point it at him shouting:

"You're pretending to be that stinking monkey pretty well—hand over Grandpa's Purple Gold Gourd if you know what's good for you!"

"Kneel three times and bow nine times, return it to Great King me, and I'll spare your life!"

"Of course, that bald monk is out."

Meng Qi, upon hearing this, looked at Jinjiao and Yínjiǎo in surprise, then lifted the Purple Gold Gourd hanging at his waist: "You mean this?"

'It wasn't stored elsewhere?!' Jinjiao was astonished, but without hesitation, he chanted a spell to establish a connection with the Purple Gold Gourd; the next instant, he commanded inwardly for it to fly up and open.

But resistance came— the Purple Gold Gourd wobbled once in the Monkey's hand and then fell still.

Jinjiao: "."

Yínjiǎo: "Big brother, the Golden Rope won't obey!"

The Golden Rope had sunk into the snow, but the next moment it emerged from beneath Meng Qi's feet—not following Yínjiǎo's command to coil around him, instead rising like a serpent's body, straightening and swaying left and right.

Meng Qi: "."

Am I the Monkey King now?

As if Yínjiǎo had grown impatient, the Golden Rope shot out, brushed twice against Meng Qi's side, circled him several times, then flew to his left hand and sharply yanked the Purple Gold Gourd away.

Finally, it shrank to a few inches, coiling around Meng Qi's hand.

"I always said this Crown Prince came to take over overseas assets."

"Meng Ge is amazing."

"Isn't this just another kind of cheat?"

"Congratulations, Brother Meng."

"Meng Tingzhang, after I graduate, what's my job assignment...?"

The voices behind him were especially noisy; Meng Qi treated them as part of subduing his restless mind, expressionless as he picked up the Purple Gold Gourd from the snow.

He looked at Jinjiao and Yínjiǎo, raised his hand, and said: "Here, come and take it."

Jinjiao: "Brother, my incantation doesn't activate the Purple Gold Gourd—it ignores me."

Yínjiǎo: "Big brother, I'm starting to feel the aura of this Monkey King of Flower-Fruit Mountain, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, is familiar—is it my imagination?"

Jinjiao: "."

Yínjiǎo: "It's getting more familiar—should we try the Jade Vase too?"

Try your head!!

Thud!

Jinjiao and Yínjiǎo stared blankly as the "Sun Wukong" holding the Purple Gold Gourd dropped to his knees with 100% synchronization.

"What are you two doing?" Meng Qi, seeing their action, unconsciously twitched his eyebrows twice.

"Big brother told me to!"

"Brother came up with the idea!"

They pointed at each other, their eyes overflowing with despair and terror.

Especially Jinjiao—he had come up and screamed at him from the start! After yelling, he ordered the other to kneel three times and bow nine times to return the Purple Gold Gourd!

"Master!" Jinjiao bowed his head first, wailing: "You've finally returned! Little Yin was about to drag me into that reincarnation space!"

Yínjiǎo stared in shock at Jinjiao beside him, as if holding back a mouthful of blood; he trembled with rage but quickly followed suit and bowed:

"Master, this big brother said you were already gone! I always said Master could never just vanish!"

Jinjiao protested: "I said even if you were gone, we'd still overturn that reincarnation space and avenge you!"

The Gold and Silver Niu Mowang were terrified, yet Meng Qi's doubts surged like a thousand-layer wave—he was now simulating the Great Sage Equaling Heaven with the Eight-Nine Profound Art, and activating the Great Celestial Immortal Decree.

How could this be?

He suddenly looked up at the sky, his fiery golden eyes flashing, as if piercing all illusions, with black and white hues swirling in his gaze, staring at the ethereal heavenly palaces and

beyond the ninety-ninth layer of heaven.

Merely this one glance, Meng Qi instantly felt his heart explode—then abruptly stop.

The horrifying wound in heaven, connecting to the outer chaos and void, its abyssal mouth held dozens of powerful beings—each with different forms and attire—slowly falling, filling him with unspeakable dread.

There were women with serpentine bodies entwined in misty vapors and human heads, giants clad in ancient sacrificial robes, a bronze sword inscribed with mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and all races of beings, a broken set of twelve lotus thrones, imperial figures in dragon robes, and dragon-faced beings whose eyes held sun, moon, and the flow of time.

Some were merely shattered limbs or torsos, others broken divine artifacts and spiritual treasures; only a few bodies remained relatively intact.

All of them carried an aura that nearly silenced all things, as if everything would return to its primordial origin and sink into endless darkness.

These beings' bodies were crumbling, vanishing; only scattered sparks of their primal luminescence remained—true spirits that even time and the river of fate could never erode now began to dissolve into the Dao.

Suddenly, one among them—a sovereign wearing a golden dragon crown and a grand fur cloak, beneath which lay a golden robe adorned with sun, moon, stars, and Shanhe—opened his eyes and gazed down at Meng Qi from infinite heights.

It was as if ten thousand bolts of lightning exploded, a grand scene of the universe spontaneously birthing and naturally perishing struck the soul—vast beyond measure, embodying all the transformations of nature itself.

But in an instant, he turned his gaze elsewhere, his eyes sweeping lightly over the others behind Meng Qi, pausing briefly on Shi Hao and Su Lin before closing them, his form dissolving into a single wisp of spiritual light that flew deep into the Heavenly Court.

Nüwa, Hun Tian Di, the Human Emperor, Great Demigods, Zhu Long, Buddhist Saints—some could be identified by features and legends, others left no legends at all. Then, as he looked upon the wound in heaven, something indescribable seemed ready to flood into this realm. Watching this, Meng Qi's limbs turned icy, his mind plunged into chaos, the only thought flashing through him: flee this realm—but his inner Qi felt like lead, his thoughts muddled.

At that moment, the flesh and souls of those beings dissolved into forms of varying shapes; within mere breaths, countless ancient divine essences and vast Dao principles transformed into multicolored mists and vapors, and observing their shifts brought the sensation of being bathed in flame.

These colored mists gradually coalesced into one mass, and Nüwa reached out as if to touch them—but could not reach. Then, as an imperial-robed man's form shattered, a diagram of the Eight Trigrams encompassing the Three Realms and Ten Directions appeared, and golden specks rained down, merging into Nüwa's body.

She ceased her fall; the mass of colored mist flowing from her poured forth countless star-rivers, rushing toward the wound in heaven.

All distractions and thoughts were severed. In this suffocating, hopeless catastrophe, he had witnessed—again—another act of mending heaven?!

In the instant when blazing light and radiance burst forth.

Only then did Meng Qi see three invisible, colorless pure airs descend from beyond the cosmos, passing through ninety-nine layers of heaven, stretching all the way to…

Himself?!

"Where on earth did you lot attract this trouble?" Bo Xun's Buddhist light had dimmed considerably; he sat upon a black lotus, before him floated a stupa radiating deep purple light.

Wei Wu shook his head. "This pilgrimage team is a massive problem. They carry strange cursed artifacts I've never seen—this level of contamination is terrifying."

"Non-desire is not non-desire. Their desires transcend reason—they are not bound by objects, nor dependent on self, yet even the self is in chaos." Bo Xun placed the deep purple stupa into a brocade box inlaid with multicolored gems, his eyelids slightly relaxing:

"Had I not retrieved Buddha's body from beyond the cosmos, there would be no hope of surpassing the past—this matter would be hopeless."

Recalling that scene, Bo Xun still felt his heart tremble.

Since Maitreya's remains began to revive, the Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Bhikshunis had all taken on Maitreya's traits, as if forming a single whole—the empty vessels within them now truly regained their inner power.

If this continued any longer, he would face the fully transformed Buddhas of Lingshan.

"Fortunately, they were sealed within this false, perfect Buddhist realm—but what now?"

Bo Xun temporarily set the problem aside and asked Wei Wu:

"Your team leader has some ability, but now we'll see if he can pass the test of Bei Yin Da Di. The Abyss is truly unstoppable. Had those ancient immortals and gods not filled the wound in heaven themselves, this realm would already belong to the Abyss."

"But if these pilgrims truly succeed in completing this final link of the ancient heaven-mending array, I don't know if this realm can escape—but your plans will surely fail."

Wei Wu's cloudy eyes held unwavering resolve. He looked at Bo Xun and said: "Don't forget—you signed a contract with us. You cannot attack us."

"I pity you, burdened by your obsessions, which is why I wish you would willingly forget that contract and enter my fold to find liberation." Bo Xun's body radiated boundless Buddhist light, each strand reflecting Wei Wu's regrets and unattainable desires:

"Enough. The issue now is Jin Chanzi."

He stepped down from the black lotus, his right hand releasing the gesture of holding a flower. Several reincarnators emerged from it, carrying the Book of Ages; upon seeing Wei Wu, their eyes lit with joy.

"Buddha, you still have desires after all."

Bo Xun's voice, filled with countless desires, strangely allowed one to calmly perceive infinite wisdom: "From this moment on, I am Buddha, Buddha is me—illuminating the six desires perfected, delivering all beings from suffering."

All say the Heavenly Demon lures mortals to ruin, yet no one considers how bitter the mortal world is—how countless troubles, attachments, and bonds weigh upon the self, how many desires remain unfulfilled, how much grief, separation, delusion, suffering, and hatred abound.

The Heavenly Demon entering the host is salvation.

Unwilling to let the host suffer the pain of purity, he becomes the person the host loves. Unwilling to let the host hit a cultivation bottleneck, he helps him forget his constraints and steals divine treasures for him.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha."

Wei Wu watched Bo Xun transform into a white-bearded Chan master, strolling toward the outskirts of Lingshan, and the stone in his heart finally settled.

"Sun Wukong, Sun Wukong." Su Lin called out.

Meng Qi snapped back to himself, looked at his hands, and said: "I'm fine."

"I thought you'd fallen prey to some demon's trick," Su Lin lifted the Tianqing Yu Xu Sword resting against Jin Jiao's neck. "Are you truly fine?"

"Master!" Jin Jiao's teeth chattered—he hadn't even seen when the monk had moved, and his treasure had already been reclaimed.

Who is this monk?! How dare he speak like this before Master?!

"I'm fine." Meng Qi waved his hand, dispelling his transformation and reverting to the image of a Daoist with streaks of gray at his temples.

He thought for a moment, then swept his sleeve and summoned Jin Jiao away.

"Master!" Yin Jiao cried, staring at the Dala Sword Embryo at his throat. "Your servant has never harbored rebellious thoughts!"

Meng Qi waved his hand. Shi Hao reluctantly lowered the Sword Embryo, his gaze sweeping over the demons, finally locking onto the Yellow Robe Demon—the one with the highest cultivation.

Jin Jiao and Yin Jiao are Laojun's attendants who descended to the mortal realm—their master is…

Yellow Robe Demon: "..."

Weren't you saying the other side were reincarnators?

Is Laojun descended to play Sun Wukong on this pilgrimage?

Or which team recruited Laojun?

Various questions surfaced—but in a flash, his body moved already, preparing to unleash the Yellow Wind Technique and flee.

If the other side truly is Laojun, how could he possibly escape?!

For a moment, all the demons stood frozen—especially those brought by Jin Jiao and Yin Jiao. Their own king had knelt. What should they do?

"They are reincarnators!" said the captain of the Huangban Team, the reincarnator who had replaced Kui Mu Lang, pointing at Su Lin and the others.

"Yin Jiao, don't be fooled! Look at their reincarnator wristbands!"

The reincarnator wristbands could be hidden, but these had thousands of functions—time display, voice recording, screen mirroring, video recording, movies, etc. —and Su Lin's group had been studying them, so they hadn't hidden them.

Yin Jiao glanced at the wristband on Meng Qi's hand, then at Meng Qi himself, then turned back to the other with a look as if staring at an idiot.

"It was the Heavenly Demon who disrupted Lingshan, possessing Ling Ji Pusa, who gathered us here—alongside him, the possessed Mu Zha and Guanyin are lying in ambush outside!" Yin Jiao said. "They've also prepared…"

"Bakka#!" The fake Kui Mu Lang cursed, drawing a gleaming long blade and activating his technique.

If you don't move now, the Silver Horn Great King will reveal all the arrangements.

Pfft!

He looked down at his chest, where his heart should be—a vast, hollow wound.

Smoke billowed; a paper doll appeared in his former position. The fake Kui Mu Lang drew a grotesque samurai sword covered in blood, flesh, and nerves. In that instant, a penalty alert sounded in his ear—his teammate had been killed.

The only one who could do this…

"Bai Mingsheng!!!"

He was about to draw the demonic blade when a clump of yellow sand wrapped around his wrist—his hand looked like a mummy's.

Swish! A three-pronged steel fork pierced him through.

It's the Yellow Wind Demon!

Yellow sand piled up, blocking even spiritual perception—his six senses were all shut out.

The Yellow Sand Demon, disregarding its own damage, burned its origin to unleash its strongest divine art!

Sparks crackled; a reincarnator's wristwatch flew out and landed in his hand.

"Put it on, then kill him!"

"Mr. Li Jiatu."

Lu Mingfei turned around—a plain-looking young man stood behind him.

Bai Mingsheng dropped a black cloak and said, "Back from hell, huh?"

Baiyu Squad's points completed; unconditional return permitted.

Lu Mingfei: "?"

Who the hell are you, bro?

(End of Chapter)