Chapter 20: Great Sage's Visit

The wind rose.

The wind rolled up the smoke and dust from the ruins of Ling Shan, spiraling upward toward heaven.

Da Lei Yin Si had lost its former solemnity.

Golden tiles lay shattered across the ground, and the red pillars were broken into several sections.

The arhats and bodhisattvas who usually acted high and mighty were now all dust‑caked, hiding in corners and shivering.

No one dared to stop them.

Nor did anyone dare to speak.

One old, one young, they swaggered out.

Sun Wukong shouldered the Golden Cudgel, with a sprig of immortal herb he'd plucked from the garden clenched between his teeth.

His steps were light.

Like a child heading home from school.

They arrived before the massive mountain gate of Ling Shan.

Sun Wukong stopped.

This was a white jade stele a hundred zhang tall.

Carved upon it were three large characters: Ling Shan Border.

The script was round and smooth, exuding a pretentious air of compassion.

"These characters are truly ugly."

Sun Wukong spat out the grass root in his mouth.

"It's an eyesore to look at."

He lifted the Golden Cudgel.

No flourish at all.

It was like smashing a block of tofu.

Boom——!!!

A tremendous roar.

The stele that had stood for countless ages exploded outright.

Stone fragments flew everywhere.

It smashed the nearby temple guardians, sending them scrambling for cover with their heads in their arms.

The dust settled.

Only half of the original stele remained.

The cut surface was smooth as a mirror.

"Now that's more like it."

Sun Wukong walked up to the remaining half of the stele.

He extended his right index finger.

A drop of golden blood condensed at his fingertip.

That was the blood of the Chaotic Demon God.

He drew serpents‑like strokes on the stele.

Hiss—hiss—hiss.

Stone powder trickled down.

After a few breaths,

eight bloody large characters appeared on the stone wall.

【Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Was Here】

The script was wild cursive.

Unruly and defiant.

Each stroke resembled a drawn sword, radiating a fighting spirit so fierce it could not be met with the eye.

Beneath a Saint.

Just a glance at these eight characters.

At mild exposure, the eyes sting and tear.

At severe exposure, the divine soul is harmed and one goes blind on the spot.

"Fine characters."

Bodhi Patriarch stood to the side, commenting.

"Much stronger than the original."

Sun Wukong withdrew his finger.

Gazing at his own masterpiece.

He nodded in satisfaction.

"Let's go!"

The two rode off on a cloud.

Leaving this mortal purgatory behind.

Behind them,

Ling Shan still blazed with fire reaching the heavens.

The unextinguished Threefold True Fire continued to lick the ruins tirelessly.

Mourning geese fill the wild.

This is the darkest day since Buddhism was established.

……

This scene.

Through the divine sense of countless mighty beings, it spread throughout the Three Realms.

Bei Ju Lu Zhou.

Demonic clouds rolled.

Countless great demons, oppressed for many years, now howled madly.

They were celebrating.

They celebrated the overturning of the great mountain that had weighed upon them.

Mountain of Accumulated Thunder.

Cloud-Rubbing Cave.

A burly man with horns on his head, clad in black battle armor, stared fixedly at the water-mirror technique before him.

His eye sockets were bloodshot.

That was the Bull Demon King.

Great Sage Pacifying Heaven.

"Seventh brother..."

The Bull Demon King's voice choked, his huge palm like a palm-leaf fan covering his face.

Tears streamed down between his fingers.

"It really is you..."

"I, the old bull, knew... I, the old bull, knew that the soft-boned one seeking scriptures was a fraud!"

"You've come back..."

"Hahaha! You've finally come back!"

The Bull Demon King sprang to his feet.

He kicked over the table before him with one foot.

"You lot!"

"Get my armor on!"

"Bring out all the weapons stored at the bottom of the chest!"

"Even if we rebel against Heaven, we must go to cheer for Seventh Brother!"

……

Heavenly Court.

Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Jeweled Hall of Lofty Clouds.

Here it was quieter than usual.

So quiet it felt oppressive.

The Jade Emperor sat upright on the nine-dragon golden throne.

In his hand he held his favorite glass cup.

But.

That hand was trembling.

The frequency was rapid.

Causing the nectar and jade liquid in the glass cup to spill all over him.

Pop!

The cup fell.

It crashed onto the golden tiles and shattered into eight pieces.

The clear sound echoed in the deathly silent hall.

No one dared to pick it up.

No one even dared to breathe.

All the celestial officials lowered their heads, gazing at their own toes as if they were the most beautiful thing in the world.

"He... they left?"

The Jade Emperor's voice sounded somewhat faint.

As if someone had choked his throat.

Tai Bai Gold Star shrank his neck, holding a duster in his hands, both legs trembling.

"Re... return, Your Majesty."

"They... they left."

"Then good, then good..."

The Jade Emperor let out a long breath.

He was just about to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

Tai Bai Gold Star added another sentence.

"However..."

"How?" the Jade Emperor's heart gave a sudden tug.

"That monkey left the direction of Ling Shan..."

Tai Bai Jin Xing swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his voice choked with sobs.

"It... it's coming towards our Nan Tian Men."

Boom!

The Jade Emperor only felt a thunderbolt explode in his mind.

His eyes stared straight.

He sat down heavily on the chair.

Has he come?

Has that evil star really come?

The sort of person even saints dare not provoke, the sort of person even the Tathagata was beaten into a dog.

Has he come to the Heavenly Court?

"Close... close the gate!"

The Jade Emperor suddenly jumped up and shouted in a flustered manner.

"Quickly close the Nan Tian Men!"

"Open all the great formations!"

"Don't let him in!"

On the way to the Western Heaven.

Above the cloud layer.

Sun Wukong was chatting and laughing with the Bodhi Patriarch.

Suddenly.

A five-colored beam of light blocked the way.

That light was too intense.

More gorgeous than the horizon's rainbow.

It contained the fluctuations of the Five Elements' law, overwhelmingly powerful, directly forcing Sun Wukong's cloud to stop.

"Who?"

Sun Wukong narrowed his eyes.

The Golden Cudgel instantly appeared in his hand.

The light dispersed.

Revealing a graceful figure.

She was a woman.

Extremely beautiful.

Wearing a long dress woven from peacock feathers, the hem very long, swaying gently in the wind.

Her skin was very pale.

That kind of cold white, never seeing sunlight, under the shine of the five-colored divine light, looked like translucent porcelain.

Her brows and eyes were slender and long.

The corners of her eyes slightly lifted, carrying an innate arrogance.

Just like a phoenix overlooking all beings.

No.

She was a peacock.

The first peacock in heaven and earth.

Kong Xuan.

That is, the Peacock Great Bright King Bodhisattva of the Buddhist gate.

"Get out of the way."

Sun Wukong did not act politely just because the other was a beautiful woman.

Those who block the road at such times.

Either villain or thief.

Kong Xuan did not move.

She merely silently looked at Sun Wukong, then also glanced at the Bodhi Patriarch beside him.

In those clear, cold eyes, a hint of complex emotion flickered.

"Great Sage."

Her voice was very pleasant.

Like pearls and jade falling onto a tray.

But it exuded a chill that kept people at a distance.

"Going to the Heavenly Court, the road is perilous."

"It would be better..."

Kong Xuan's right hand lightly lifted.

Five-colored divine light flowed at her fingertips.

That is the great divine ability said to be able to brush away everything.

"Stay and listen to me play a tune?"