Chapter 221: Ling Shan Withers, the Heavenly Court Withers!

Under the wash of the New Heavenly Dao Law, the heavens of the Three Realms truly changed.

Western Heaven Ling Shan.

The holy site that once shone with Buddha Light and endless Brahma chants now looks as if it were doused with makeup remover, exposing its decayed true form.

The ten‑thousand‑foot Golden Pinnacle of Da Lei Yin Si, its pure‑gold tiles, are now flaking off piece by piece, exposing the gray‑decayed rock beneath.

The golden light is gone.

The Buddha sound dissipates.

In the Eight‑Treasure Merit Pool, the blooming golden lotuses wither one after another, turning into patches of foul‑smelling black mud that make one retch.

"My Buddha Light! Why has my Buddha Light vanished!"

An Arhat screamed in terror; the sacred aura around him that signified his fruit position flickered like a loose bulb, then with a puff it went out completely.

He reached out to touch his bald head, and under his hand were a few newly sprouted, graying hairs!

"Am I… am I old now?"

He stared at his hand in disbelief; age spots appeared on his skin, and the flesh that was once as hard as a vajra now felt a hint of chill in the wind.

Not only him.

All Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Vajras faced the same fate.

Their magical power, their proud Golden Body, their immortal lifespan, are all rapidly slipping away.

The New Heavenly Dao Law, like a ruthless pump, mercilessly siphons away everything it had stolen and exchanged from the Old Heavenly Dao.

They are no longer exalted deities.

They have become mortals who age, fall ill, and die!

"No! This cannot be!"

The Dragon‑Subduing Arhat tried to wield divine power, but after chanting for ages, not a single spark flickered in his palm.

The "Dragon‑Subduing Eighteen Palms" that made his name now cannot even subdue a single loach.

The Fear Heart Demon spread across Ling Shan like a plague.

The Buddhist teachings they once boasted of have become the biggest joke under the New Heavenly Dao.

Because Sun Wukong's New Heavenly Dao does not recognize a power system that relies on believers' offerings and exploitation of Faith to survive.

In Nan Shan Bu Zhou, the once‑thriving temples now also undergo strange changes.

The temple's beams and pillars begin to rot, and the wall plaster flakes off in large chunks.

The believers kneeling on prayer cushions, devoutly praying, suddenly feel their minds clear.

A woman who had prayed for a child, worshipping Guanyin for over a decade, suddenly stands up.

She looks at the clay statue and, for the first time, a thought surfaces in her mind.

"Does praying to gods really work?"

"Why don't I find a better doctor and take care of my own body?"

Once that thought appears, it cannot be suppressed.

She turns and walks out of the temple, deciding to hold her destiny in her own hands.

More and more people awaken from that blind Faith.

They discover that instead of kneeling to pray, it's better to stand and rely on themselves.

Yao's Illusory Dream Path turns into spring rain, silently nourishing all.

It forces no one; it merely shows in their dreams countless possibilities beyond "faith in Buddha".

You can become a farmer and grow the sweetest melons and fruits.

You can become a craftsman and forge the most exquisite tools.

You can become a wanderer, measuring mountains and rivers with your feet.

Each choice is more real and valuable than pinning hope on void deities.

The Faith Power, cleverly transformed by the New Heavenly Dao, is directed toward each Living Being's own free will.

The scene in the Heavenly Court is not much better than Ling Shan.

The once ethereal jade towers now have pitifully thin celestial aura.

The water level of the Heavenly River has dropped by more than half, exposing the dried riverbed below.

In the Peach Garden, those immortal peaches that ripen once every three thousand years and bloom once every six thousand years,

haven't even matured, fall one by one, smash onto the ground, and rot with foul smell.

"Your Majesty! It's terrible, Your Majesty!"

Tai Bai Jin Xing, rolling and crawling, rushed into Ling Xiao Treasure Hall, his voice trembling with sobs.

"The Heavenly Fire in the Imperial Kitchen has gone out!"

"The Immortal Pills in the Alchemy Furnace have all turned into useless rocky lumps!"

The Jade Emperor slumped on the Dragon Throne, his face ashen.

He can feel his internal celestial power leaking like a deflating balloon, dwindling bit by bit.

The immortality they most relied on is being stripped away!

"How could this happen… how could this happen…"

He mutters to himself, his eyes filled with fear.

Sun Wukong did not personally strike them.

He simply sits quietly at the highest point of the new world, overlooking it all.

He does not need to act.

The new rule he set is the sharpest knife.

This blade will mercilessly remove all the rotten flesh of the old era.

Karmic retribution, under the new Heavenly Dao, has been infinitely accelerated.

Before, it was settled only once every hundred or thousand years.

Now, it takes effect instantly!

A heavenly general who once abused his power in the mortal realm and took lives lightly, while on patrol, suddenly felt his body lighten, then a wave of dizziness.

"Ah——"

He screamed in agony as he fell from the clouds, his immortal armor turning to mortal iron, his magic power vanishing without a trace.

He crashed heavily into the…… cesspit of a mortal city.

After he finally managed to crawl out, he had become a legless, foul-smelling beggar.

The surrounding mortals stared at him, pointing and whispering, their eyes filled with contempt and disgust.

He wanted to cry, but found he could not shed a tear.

He finally tasted the pain and despair that those mortals he once regarded as ants had endured.

The opposite is true.

Bei Ju Lu Zhou, a benevolent scorpion spirit who had silently cultivated for three thousand years, never harming anyone and often helping the villagers below, was meditating in his cave abode.

Suddenly, a black-golden light of law descended from the heavens and poured directly into her celestial spirit cover.

The bottleneck that had troubled her for eight hundred years was instantly shattered!

Her cultivation, in just a few breaths, rose from an ordinary little demon to a realm comparable to that of a Supreme Ultimate Golden Immortal!

"This…… this is……"

The scorpion spirit felt the surging power within her body, trembling with excitement.

She knelt deeply toward the sky.

She did not know what had happened, but she knew that this heaven was truly different.

Good deeds bring good rewards; evil deeds bring evil rewards.

It is no longer an empty saying.

Sun Wukong watched all this, his eyes holding neither joy nor pity, only a deep calm.

He thought of his master Bodhi.

He recalled his master's gaze before dissipation, filled with anticipation.

"Master, this…… must be the liberation you wished for, right?"

He spoke softly.

Liberate all beings, letting them choose their own paths and bear their own karma.

This, is true compassion.

Yao Jing stood silently beside him, taking his hand.

She could feel that, at this moment, Sun Wukong's heart finally became complete and weighty.

He is no longer the reckless monkey who knew only battle.

He has become a true founder and guardian deity of the new world.

However.

Just as all things in the Three Realms, under this new order, began to seek their place.

In the depths of the distant Reincarnation Path, in that patch of Chaos Realm where even Sun Wukong's new Heavenly Dao could not fully penetrate.

The figure emerging from the golden light finally revealed itself fully.

His visage was exactly that of the Tathagata!

Yet his aura was utterly different from before.

Without the compassion and serenity of the Buddhist Sect, what remained was an extreme deathly silence and evil that made souls tremble.

His monk's robe had turned into a deep dark gold, embroidered not with Buddhist scriptures but with patterns of tormented souls struggling.

Behind him, the endless karmic fire did not burn him; instead, it resembled his cloak, subdued and subservient to him.

Countless souls he had once suppressed now knelt at his feet, not out of fear, but in a kind of…… fervent worship!

He actually refined the endless karmic fire of the underworld and the resentment of myriad wronged souls, forging them into his own power!

He became the new sovereign of this Reincarnation Deadland!

This former Buddhist Patriarch slowly raised his head.

His gaze pierced the endless void, not looking at Sun Wukong nor at Heavenly Court Ling Shan.

Instead, he looked toward the dark fissure slowly healing on the heavenly canopy of the Three Realms.

He sensed the faint trace lingering in the crack, an aura more terrifying than Hongjun.

At the corner of his mouth, a chilling arc curled up.

He opened his mouth and, with an ancient, hoarse voice, softly uttered a few words.

"A failed watchdog has died."

"The new…… is finally coming."

"This time, it's my turn to become the one who holds the chess piece."