Chapter 158

Logically speaking, the four of them had already completely broken free from Lingshan's control.

They had even flattened Lingshan, dismantling it into pieces so small they couldn't be smaller.

The two Western Sages had both entered the fray, nearly sparking a war between Buddhism and Daoism.

So no matter how you looked at it, this Journey to the West Calamity could not continue.

Of course, that was only from Lingshan's perspective.

The Journey to the West Calamity was called a "Measure Tribulation" for a reason; it was on the same level as the Investiture of the Gods.

Back then, the Jie Sect and Chan Sect suffered heavy losses, and almost all the Saints entered the fray, but so what?

Until the moment the Investiture of the Gods opened and the official conferment began, who could stop the great calamity?

The two Western Sages knew very well that even if they had fallen out with the Destined One and the others, and even if Lingshan had been flattened, the Journey to the West Calamity was still ongoing.

Only by completing this Journey to the West could Buddhism flourish.

Even if Tang An influenced the changes in the Journey to the West Calamity, after the journey, the Heavenly Dao would still bestow great merit upon Western Buddhism.

Even if the preaching wasn't going smoothly now, after the Journey to the West Calamity, weren't there still thousands or ten thousand years to come?

"Rulai, you can speak now." Tang An waved her hand in front of Rulai.

A slight rumbling sound was heard as Rulai's Primordial Spirit returned to his body.

However, having had his Primordial Spirit out of his body for so long and being suppressed into serious injury several times, Rulai's face was so pale that anyone who didn't know better would think he'd been soaking in water for days and had just been fished out.

Rulai's chest heaved as he took deep breaths. He ate several Immortal Pills and immediately sat in meditation to heal.

"Tsk, fine. In return for your cooperation just now, you can recover first."

Tang An then looked at the Jade Emperor, waving her hand to signal him to come over and chat.

Who would believe that the dignified Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Court truly had no airs at all, coming over just because she asked.

"Can I discuss something with you?" Tang An didn't even move from her spot.

The Jade Emperor looked at Rulai, "Should we avoid him?"

"It's fine, there are no outsiders here."

Tang An whispered a few words to the Jade Emperor right in front of Rulai.

No one knew what was said.

Oh no, except for Rulai, who vomited another mouthful of blood after hearing those words.

"I've settled your Heavenly Court's accounts; you can handle this little matter for me, right?"

The Jade Emperor nodded with a smile, "Rest assured, I will handle this for you."

"But... will Rulai Fozu really not interfere in this matter again?" The Jade Emperor was uneasy and asked again.

Tang An looked at Rulai, seemingly looking forward to his answer. "Rulai Fozu, are you still going to interfere?"

Rulai closed his eyes, his face twitching slightly.

All his current actions were being watched by that person in the dark at every moment.

"The causality between this person and my Lingshan is settled; I will naturally not interfere again."

"That's good." Tang An looked at the Jade Emperor again, "Jade Emperor, he said he's busy renovating his house and has no time to interfere."

"Good." The Jade Emperor smiled and stroked his beard, "Then I will definitely handle this for you." After speaking, the Jade Emperor teleported back to where the Heavenly Court's immortals stood.

The matter wasn't over yet, and the Jade Emperor had no intention of withdrawing his troops.

"Loyal." Tang An punched his shoulder, acting like the Jade Emperor's best buddy.

As she spoke, she looked at Rulai again, "How is it? Are your injuries healed? Can we continue chatting?"

Rulai opened his eyes, not wanting to continue dragging things out with Tang An, wanting only to resolve this quickly and return to Lingshan to go into seclusion.

"Just state your purpose."

"My purpose? My purpose is very simple." Tang An had already thought it through. Since she had already taken more than half of Lingshan's treasury, she naturally wouldn't want those magic treasures and spirit items anymore.

"I want merit, I want half of the merit that the Heavenly Dao will bestow upon your Lingshan after the Journey to the West Calamity ends."

"What!!!" Rulai's eyes widened in anger. She wasn't just asking for the moon; this was a lion swallowing the sky, opening a mouth wide enough to swallow the heavens!

"Shh~" Tang An signaled him to lower his voice; it was a bit noisy for her ears.

"Don't think I don't know that the wealth you lost this time, the mountain you lost, and the little bit of face you lost are just a drop in the bucket compared to the merit of the Journey to the West Calamity."

Tang An carried the Qingping Sword on her shoulder, "Before, I didn't have the capital to negotiate with you, so I could only let you bully and scheme against me."

"You even wanted to give away the work my four disciples and I painstakingly completed halfway to someone else for nothing. Then let others replace us and claim the credit that should have been ours."

"Rulai, your heart is truly black."

"But since you're black enough, I can only be blacker than you."

"No choice, who told me I now have the capital to challenge you?"

"Of course, you can refuse me and not share the merit; that's fine. At worst, I just won't go."

"Anyway, you've seen my situation now, and you've experienced it firsthand."

"You, your Lingshan, don't harbor any more delusions of controlling me. And don't even think about using some broken Golden Hoop to control my three disciples."

"I'll put it this way: if you're willing to give, we'll keep talking. If you're not, don't waste words, let's go our separate ways, go find your mother."

Rulai's face changed again and again, "I still need to..."

"Fine, you Lingshan take your time discussing, I'm not in a hurry, anyway, I'm not the one who needs merit to pay off debts."

"As for me, I'll just take it as a long vacation."

"But you'd better discuss it quickly, in case I decide to resign during my long vacation, then you'll have to bleed heavily again."

Rulai knew that no matter what, he was the weaker party today, and whatever he said was meaningless.

"Amituofo." Before the words faded, he disappeared in front of Tang An.

"Hiss, he runs fast." Tang An said this, glanced at the Lingshan Buddhas withdrawing in large numbers in the sky, and scratched the flower ornament between her brows.

After they all withdrew, the Jade Emperor spoke.

"Since today's matter is settled, I will take my people back."

"You three, just come back to the Heavenly Court with me." The Jade Emperor was naturally referring to the Green Lion Spirit who had transformed into Puxian, as well as Jin Zha and Muzha.

"Yes." After the three bowed, the Green Lion Spirit followed the Jade Emperor, while Jin Zha and Muzha stayed behind and did not leave yet.

Nezha dismissed the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, letting them return with the Jade Emperor.

Yang Jian also had the Seven Sages of Meishan take the 1,200 Grass-Head Gods back to Meishan.

Sun Wukong couldn't bear to part with the Bodhi Patriarch and didn't want to separate. "Master, can I also follow you back to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain?"

Tang An smiled with relief; she was truly happy for Sun Wukong. "Of course."

The Bodhi Patriarch had a loving smile on his face, "Since we are returning, naturally it cannot be just the two of us."

He grabbed the void with one hand, and the Six-Eared Macaque, who didn't know where Rulai had hidden him, was actually dragged out of thin air by the Bodhi Patriarch.

"Since you bore the causality of swapping lives with Wukong, you must come back with me and bear the fruit of that life-swap."

"Let's go."

Seeing the Bodhi Patriarch leave, everyone bowed their heads to see him off.

Before leaving, the Bodhi Patriarch looked at Tang An again and nodded at her.

Tang An chuckled and waved goodbye to the Bodhi Patriarch.

"Oh my, I suddenly realized I've been promoted in seniority; from now on, I can be mentioned alongside the Bodhi Patriarch as one of Wukong's masters?"