Chapter 393: Seeing the Crimson Clouds in Doushuai Gong; Yuan Hong Receives Orders to Visit Wukong

Having made up his mind, Fang Longye

immediately selected some items from his own collection as gifts. He did not take a cloud chariot, but instead raised a cloud beneath his feet and headed straight for Lihentian.

Although Lihentian is ranked among the Thirty-Three Heavens and is a top-tier, vital location within the Heavenly Court, with his status as the Water Origin Holy Lord, Fang Longye was naturally unimpeded along the way and soon arrived at his destination.

"Doushuai Gong~"

Fang Longye stepped on the clouds, his eyes bright and piercing as he looked at the Doushuai Gong before him.

He saw that the entire palace had flying eaves reflecting the sun and moon, with clusters of stars gathered before the pavilions; the steps were clear and bright, washed by the passage of time, and the portals were covered in colorful clouds, remaining tranquil~

Outside the palace, rainbow lights rose repeatedly, numbering no less than ten thousand, stretching across the sky and trailing to the ground, intertwining white and blue, colliding and weaving together, suddenly blooming with billions of rays of light that cast upon Doushuai Gong.

Then, after passing through Doushuai Gong, the power of the restrictive Dharma array set by the Saint's power shifted; the miscellaneous colors faded and peeled away layer by layer, leaving only vast stretches of purple-blue golden radiance, shimmering with color and creating halos.

This purple-blue golden radiance was nothing else but the descending aura of merit, shaped like a treasure river, full but not overflowing, emitting a pleasant sound of water—the wondrous sound blooming into flowers, making a sound as it fell to the ground~

"A Saint's dojo indeed~"

Fang Longye could not help but murmur in his heart.

Well, even if Taishang Laojun is only an incarnation of the Taiqing Saint, a Saint is still a Saint, and Doushuai Gong is an unquestionable Saint's dojo.

Even though Fang Longye had already ascended to Taiyi Golden Immortal and his origin had been reversed to innate, standing before this Saint's dojo, he still felt exceptionally insignificant.

It was as if he were not facing a complex of buildings, but rather observing the heavens, looking at the earth, and seeing all living beings.

This is the place permeated by the power of a Saint: the Calamity does not add to his body, hardships do not descend, he is neither born nor destroyed, neither increasing nor decreasing, pure and transcendent, eternally existing, and sharing the same lifespan as the universe.

Fang Longye was certain that even if Honghuang were to suffer a Calamity and the Heavenly Court were to collapse, this Doushuai Gong would absolutely be the last place to collapse, and it might even be perfectly preserved.

There is no other reason; a Hunyuan Saint is simply that high to look up to, unfathomable, and even if one were to be stained by a trace of the Dao essence, extraordinary qualities would remain.

"This junior pays respects to Taishang Laojun!"

Fang Longye composed his mind, walked step by step to the gate of Doushuai Gong, bowed, and performed a salute with a respectful attitude.

Doushuai Gong.

Purple-blue mist permeated the hall.

Golden beds and jade tables, treasure shelves and bright racks.

On the branching coral trees hung gourds of all shapes and sizes; the gourds were large and small, of various colors, constantly colliding up and down, emitting a clinking sound.

After every sound, the pill fragrance in the room would spread, rising continuously and transforming into dragons and phoenixes, full of spirituality.

An Eight-Trigrams Divine Furnace sat in the center of the hall, the furnace flames burning bright, causing the surrounding temperature to rise, misting with a layer of color like smoke and water ripples.

Beside the divine furnace, there was a fire-tending Daoist, idly guarding this Eight-Trigrams Divine Furnace. Suddenly hearing Fang Longye's voice, he was taken aback and said, "Is this... the Water Origin Holy Lord?"

Clearly, this fire-tending Daoist was none other than Danxia the True Lord, who was acquainted with Fang Longye.

Just at this moment, a voice reached Danxia the True Lord's ears. He immediately straightened his expression, wore a respectful look, and said, "I will strictly follow the Master's Dharma decree~"

He then rose and headed toward the palace gate.

Outside the gate of Doushuai Gong, not long after Fang Longye spoke, he saw the portal open and a Daoist walk out. Without needing to look closely, he recognized who this Daoist was.

It was none other than Danxia the True Lord, with whom he had dealt before~

"Haha, before, the True Lord said it would take five hundred years for us to meet again; I never thought we would meet again in such a short time~"

Fang Longye said, feigning joy.

Danxia the True Lord shook his head and smiled, saying, "The Holy Lord should just address me by my name! The title of True Lord truly shames me. In Doushuai Palace, there is no Danxia the True Lord, only a fire-tending Daoist~"

"Then I shall call you Fellow Daoist Danxia!"

Fang Longye said with a smile.

"As you wish, Fellow Daoist~"

Danxia the True Lord shook his head and laughed, then said:

"Holy Lord, please follow me~"

Fang Longye collected his stray thoughts, let out a breath, and followed Danxia the True Lord into Doushuai Palace.

Unexpectedly, that big shot Taishang Laojun was not in Doushuai Gong.

The entire Doushuai Gong had only three or five lonely boy attendants and a dozen or so fire-tending Daoists.

Apart from that,

there were the branching coral trees,

and the Dharma Pill Gourds hanging on them moved without wind. The pill fragrance was faint, congealing without dispersing, suddenly descending like smoke and water, with five colors intersecting.

Just one look was enough to make one's heart and spirit sway.

"This is tempting me to commit a crime!"

Looking at the sparse situation in Doushuai Gong, Fang Longye continuously suppressed his increasingly fervent greed and grumbled in his heart~

Fortunately, he still knew his own weight.

Despite the urge to rob Doushuai Gong due to the nature of the Dragon Clan, he still managed to suppress it with his reason.

No longer looking at these exceptionally tempting Dharma Pill Gourds, Fang Longye turned his head to look at Danxia the True Lord beside him and asked, "I wonder where the senior Taishang Laojun is?"

Danxia the True Lord shook his head and said, "How would I know that? However, the Master did indeed prepare a gift for you, Holy Lord~"

As he spoke, he picked up a bright golden gourd and delivered it into Fang Longye's hands, saying, "Here, the Master said this is the kind of medicine you wanted." Upon repeating this, Danxia the True Lord could not help but glance at Fang Longye; this statement was truly too easy to be misunderstood.

"However,"

he paused and added:

"The Master said he has a junior of an old friend who is also an official in the heavens, and he hopes you will help look after them."

"Oh?"

Fang Longye could not help but exclaim in surprise, asking, "May I know who it is? What is their name?"

Since they are a junior of an old friend of Taishang Laojun, do they still need him, the Water Origin Holy Lord, to look after them?

I fear this is nothing more than a pretext!

"Hmm, you should recognize the Saintly Lord,"

A strange look flickered in the eyes of Danxia Zhenjun, who clearly did not understand the words of Taishang Laojun, but still recounted everything in detail: "What my master said refers to that demon Monkey named Sun Wukong, who was summoned to Heaven by Taibai Jinxing some time ago to serve as the Guardian Marshal of the East Tianmen."

Sun Wukong? Fang Longye's expression froze, his gaze flickering; he had originally thought Taishang Laojun was referring to the former incarnation of Zhu Bajie, the Tianpeng Marshal! He had not expected it to be Sun Wukong~

In this way, I fear the "looking after" that Taishang Laojun spoke of is not purely just looking after~ Fang Longye quickly understood the subtext of this sentence, and a message that merged into his mind after he took the gourd further corroborated his thoughts.

This Taishang Laojun's intention was to have him find a way to incite the Monkey to rebel against the Heavenly Court.

Whether he did it himself or sent his subordinates to probe and stir things up, it was all up to him, as long as the goal was accomplished in the end~ After some pleasantries with Danxia Zhenjun, Fang Longye took a greedy look at the treasures filling the hall, forcibly suppressed his greed, turned around, and left the Tushita Palace.

……

Inside the room,

The tripod's green smoke was silent, and the clouds and mist grew dim.

The branches and leaves in the vase on the desk were sparse, rustling with the color of rain.

Yuan Hong rose from the couch, looking at the Heaven and Earth Essence that his Great King had just had someone send over.

Some appeared like birds spreading their wings, lifelike; some like old vines with new branches, full of tender green vitality; others like lions and tigers facing each other, irreconcilable—a thousand postures, each different.

But looking closely, one would discover a misty aura of treasure, truly extraordinary.

Such Heaven and Earth Essence, even in the Earth Immortal Realm, was rare indeed.

In any case, Yuan Hong had never seen it before.

"It is still better to be an official!"

Yuan Hong sighed with heartfelt admiration; if he were in the Earth Immortal Realm, he did not know how much slaughter he would have to go through to obtain so much Heaven and Earth Essence. This was only because he had his Great King as a background that he had the qualifications to obtain this Heaven and Earth Essence, even though he had to put in effort and pay a price for it.

And now, following his Great King to the Heavenly Court, even if he did not yet have an official position, he could be considered to be eating the Heavenly Salary~

Hmm, Fang Longye was an official in Heaven, but he would not pay for things out of his own pocket; even the rewards for Yuan Hong and the others were taken from the Heavenly Salary provided by the Heavenly Court.

After all, he did not enter the Heavenly Court to be wholeheartedly public-spirited, but intended to take advantage and seek private gain.

Yuan Hong opened his mouth and swallowed all this rare Heaven and Earth Essence, and just as he was preparing to slowly refine it, he suddenly sensed something and looked outside the door.

He saw ripples rising in the air, and then, a large crane fluttered out, holding a plum blossom in its beak, with the setting sun behind it, looking exceptionally spirited as it arrived before him.

Then, it circled around him once and dropped a letter.

"The Great King's letter,"

Yuan Hong took it and looked, shaking his head. His Great King was a Taiyi Golden Immortal; no matter how far the distance, it was but a stone's throw away to him~ Yet compared to direct voice transmission, he still preferred using letters and Jade Volumes. He did not know why he did this—was it the style of a big shot, or a habit? "So it turns out I am to do this~"

Yuan Hong opened the letter and looked, his eyes bright; it was his Great King sending word for him to spend more time with the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and take the opportunity to incite the Great Sage Equaling Heaven to rebel and descend to the lower realm.

It seems there are truly quite a few schemes behind the Great Sage Equaling Heaven; he was not ignorant, and naturally knew that the schemes involved were certainly not the work of his Great King alone.

However, having eaten the lord's salary, he would be loyal to the lord's affairs; he did not care how the schemes were laid out, he would naturally do his best to follow his Great King's instructions.

He immediately rose and headed toward the East Tianmen.

……

Heavenly Court, East Tianmen.

Where the camp of the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals was stationed.

Inside a tent,

Sun Wukong was sitting behind a desk, crossing his legs, drinking small cups of wine and eating side dishes, looking quite comfortable, not at all like he was in a military camp.

If not for the fact that he was wearing armor and a helmet, dressed in the specific armor of a Guardian Marshal, he looked for all the world like a demon king who had occupied a mountain, not at all like a Heavenly General.

At this moment, his deputy general hurried in and shouted loudly: "Lord Marshal!"

"What is it?"

Sun Wukong put down his wine cup and let out a hiccup.

"My Lord,"

The deputy general came before Sun Wukong and reported: "There is someone outside asking to see you~"

"Someone asking to see me?"

"That is correct, they say they are an old acquaintance of yours from the lower realm," the deputy general recounted in detail.

"An old acquaintance from the lower realm?"

Sun Wukong scratched his head, his eyeballs rolling, and he roughly guessed who had come to find him.

His big brother had already come once before, so his deputy general naturally recognized him, and the fact that the deputy general spoke this way meant he did not recognize the visitor.

Excluding all other possibilities,

It was likely Yuan Hong from his big brother's command!

Thinking of this,

Sun Wukong immediately stood up, waved his hand, and said: "Let's go, let's go and take a look at this guest you speak of."

Just as he stepped out, Sun Wukong saw Yuan Hong standing at the entrance of the camp looking around, and could not help but laugh:

"I guessed it was you, Brother Yuan!"

As he spoke, he leaped in front of him in one step, patted Yuan Hong on the shoulder with his hand, and said:

"Say, you've been in the Heavenly Court for several days now, why did you think to come see me only now?"

Before he could react, Yuan Hong felt a surge of great strength on his shoulder, and immediately felt a wave of soreness and pain.

Hiss, this Great Sage Equaling Heaven still didn't know his own strength. He complained inwardly, shook his sore and aching arm, and responded with a smile: "I wanted to come see you, Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the very first moment I arrived, but I had just come to the Heavenly Court some time ago, was not familiar with everything, and had to help my Great King with work, so I was delayed until today."

"Great Sage Equaling Heaven, you wouldn't blame me, would you!"

"Haha~"

Sun Wukong waved his hand, then pulled Yuan Hong into the camp, laughing as he said: "Old Sun is not that petty~ Come, we haven't gathered in a long time, let's have a good drink."

Such enthusiasm, besides the fact that Sun Wukong did not care much for status and rank, also came from the desire to show off and boast in front of an acquaintance~ After all, he still had some self-awareness and knew that his own achievements were not worth mentioning in front of his big brother~

But Yuan Hong, this little brother, was different.

"Tell me, Brother Yuan, what official position do you hold in the Heavenly Court now?" Sun Wukong asked as they walked.

"I don't have any official position for the time being; I am currently serving in my Great King's manor~"

Yuan Hong replied honestly.

Hearing this, Sun Wukong's attitude became even more enthusiastic, and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Yuan Hong grew increasingly kind; he immediately reached out an arm to drape over Yuan Hong's neck and said passionately, "Let's go, we won't stop until we're drunk today!"

Just like that, the two Monkeys, with their arms draped over each other's shoulders, walked back into the camp tent where Sun Wukong resided.

Sun Wukong immediately ordered his subordinates to set up a banquet, bringing out the finest wine, spirit fruits, cooked food... delicacies and fine dishes, not a single thing missing.

After taking their seats, the two pushed cups and exchanged toasts, drinking to their hearts' content.

When they were tipsy and drunk, Sun Wukong patted his chest and said loudly to Yuan Hong, "Brother Yuan, your elder brother here is now a Marshal of a region; if you have any matters, just speak up. As brothers, we are of one mind, and I, Old Sun, will definitely help!"

"Beautiful Monkey King, you are drunk!"

Yuan Hong said in a deep voice, "You are the sworn brother of my Great King; what virtue or ability does this Yuan have to call the Beautiful Monkey King brother?"

"I, Old Sun, am not drunk!"

Sun Wukong let out a drunken hiccup, his eyes dazed, and patted Yuan Hong's shoulder again, saying:

"Brother Yuan, I, Old Sun, am not a heartless or unrighteous person. Although I have sworn brotherhood with your elder brother, that does not mean you are not a brother to me here~"

"Being brothers isn't just about looking at strength; it's also about looking at this~" As he spoke, Sun Wukong patted his own chest, looking every bit the person who valued loyalty.

"And to tell you the truth, your elder brother's cultivation realm is far higher than mine. If he hadn't lowered himself to befriend me, how could I, Old Sun, have been able to call him brother~"

"In short,"

Sun Wukong poured another mouthful of wine into his mouth, exhaled a breath of alcohol, and continued, "What I mean is, if you, Brother Yuan, want to secure an official position in the Heavenly Court, just speak up, and I, Old Sun, can help~"

He draped his arm over Yuan Hong's shoulder and whispered:

"There's no need to rely entirely on my elder brother."

He pointed to the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals under his command outside the tent and gestured wildly:

"Although my official position cannot compare to that Water Origin Holy Lord nonsense of his, he has too many people around him, and I fear he cannot look after you."

Hearing this, Yuan Hong could not help but chuckle.

So this Beautiful Monkey King saw that he did not yet have an official position and thought he was not doing well in the Heavenly Court, which was why he wanted to give him a hand.

However, facing this misunderstanding, he did not offer any explanation, only looking at the gesturing Sun Wukong, sighing inwardly with a complex look in his eyes.

It had to be said,

The Beautiful Monkey King was truly hot-blooded, upright, and loyal; he was the most suitable person to be a friend and brother~ Unfortunately,

He himself was not a sincere brother or friend, nor was his Great King, and even those sworn brothers of the Beautiful Monkey King were the same.

Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, he still saw the heavy schemes behind this Beautiful Monkey King, woven like a dense net, tightly entwined.

Clearly, whatever the schemes were, they were not something a small fry like him could get involved in.

Therefore,

For the Beautiful Monkey King who was caught in the schemes without knowing it, he could only sigh with regret~ (End of chapter)