Chapter 337: Jin Chan Zi, will you lose this time too? (Seeking monthly votes!)

Thirty-Third Heaven, Da Chi Heaven, Tushita Palace.

Inside the solemn and dignified main hall, an old man wearing white Daoist robes sat high on a platform, eyes closed and legs crossed. From head to toe, apart from tranquility and serenity, there was not a shred of a powerhouse's aura, as if he were just an ordinary, aging Daoist priest.

But clearly, that was impossible.

After all, an ordinary old Daoist priest would not be qualified to appear in the Thirty-Third Heaven, standing above all immortals and gods, let alone sit in the main seat of Tushita Palace.

Taishang Laojun, the head of the Three Pure Ones in Daoist classics, an incarnation of the Great Pure Moral Heavenly Venerable.

However, because this was the Black Myth world, the exact relationship between the two was still up for debate.

But there was no doubt that Taishang Laojun was a ceiling-level existence in this world, both in strength and status. Even the nominal leader of the Heavenly Court—the Jade Emperor—had to treat him with great respect, not daring to show the slightest neglect.

And if one followed the setting of *Dou Zhan Shen*, the predecessor of Black Myth, Taishang Laojun was the mastermind behind all conspiracies and the actual controller of the Heavenly Court.

The so-called Jade Emperor was merely a puppet he pushed to the front. His stature was extremely high, and in the deductions of many Black Myth players, he was qualified to be the final boss of a DLC or subsequent work.

Of course, these were all matters for later; let us set them aside for now.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Taishang Laojun, sitting on the prayer mat, frowned slightly. He raised his left hand and began to calculate, then whispered a spell, seemingly wanting to summon something back. But after a long while, nothing happened.

"Truly a variable, to be able to cut off my connection with the Diamond Snare. Is it because of his own uniqueness, or did those bald donkeys from the Western Heaven make a move in the dark?"

Taishang Laojun muttered to himself, a glimmer of light that was hard to detect flashing in his bright eyes.

"So be it. I want to see just how far you can go this time, and whether you can end this endless cycle..."

Speaking to the end, Taishang Laojun's voice gradually faded, and he closed his eyes again. Tushita Palace fell into silence once more, as it had in the past, as if eternal and unchanging.

South Sea, Mount Luojia.

In the Purple Bamboo Forest, that existence revered by the world as the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva was currently sitting by a pond with disheveled hair and bare feet, occasionally scattering fish food that emitted faint spiritual essence from her hand to tease the few goldfish in the pond.

At this time, a young girl with exquisite and beautiful features and two dragon horns on her forehead trotted over. She stopped at a distance of about a yard from Guanyin and said in a worried tone:

"Bodhisattva, the golden hoop Hong Haier left on Mount Luojia... his aura has disappeared!"

"Is that so?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva's action of scattering fish food paused slightly, then she sighed: "Foolish child, after all, unlike that black bear who is muddled on the surface but shrewd in reality, he still couldn't escape this tribulation."

Dragon Girl, standing to the side, couldn't help but lower her eyes, hiding the sorrow within.

She and Hong Haier had served under Guanyin Bodhisattva for hundreds of years and could be considered to have a deep friendship. Now, learning the news of her old companion's death, she naturally couldn't help but feel a bit sad, even feeling a sense of "the rabbit dies, the fox grieves."

After all, she was of the Dragon Clan and had once experienced a situation similar to Hong Haier's.

The difference was that she and her clan elders chose to kneel, while Hong Haier chose revenge, and the result was the fate he met today.

"In this way, the Destined One has already collected five types of Relics."

Guanyin Bodhisattva's voice rang out again, her tone unreadable.

"As for what follows, he should be returning to Mount Huaguo, and the Heavenly Court and Lingshan are about to make their moves as well."

"... Bodhisattva, can the Sun Sun Dasheng really be resurrected?"

Dragon Girl pursed her lips and, after hesitating for a moment, couldn't help but ask.

"Perhaps. But whether the one finally resurrected is the Sun Sun Dasheng Equaling Heaven Sun Wukong or the Victorious Fighting Buddha Sun Wukong, it depends on that monkey's own choice."

Guanyin said indifferently, suddenly recalling the scene when she handed the Tight-Fillet Spell to Tang Xuanzang years ago, and sighed slightly in her heart.

"Jin Chan Zi, will you lose this time too?"

Western Lingshan, Land of Ultimate Bliss!

Amidst the sky full of rosy clouds, a magnificent palace tower floated in mid-air. On both sides of the grand gate, countless Buddhist soldiers and novices stood guard, filled with an indescribable majesty and sanctity.

Without a doubt, this was the famous Great Leiyin Temple, and also the dojo of the Lord of the Western Heaven—the Tathagata Buddha.

However, if a person with great divine powers were to come here, they would perceive a sense of disharmony from this outwardly bright and solemn ancestral land of Buddhism, permeating the air, omnipresent.

It was as if behind the light, more terrifying darkness often hid, making one shudder to think about it.

The camera passed through the gate.

In Leiyin Temple, countless lotus pedestals were arranged on both sides. Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats sat in them with serene expressions, listening to the Buddha expound the Dharma.

They had to listen; with the precedent of Jin Chan Zi, everyone knew that the abbot of Lingshan was petty.

Except for those few Bodhisattvas and Buddhas with special status, others would be punished with ten lifetimes of reincarnation even for taking a nap, and it was euphemistically called "cultivation." But after ten lifetimes of reincarnation, who that person actually was, no one could say for sure.

Just like that, this expounding of the Dharma had lasted for three months. The group of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas endured their sleepiness, pretending to have gained insights.

Some had smiles on their faces, some held flowers without speaking, some had bitter expressions, and some had their eyes wide with anger—all kinds of manifestations, too many to list one by one.

Seeing this situation, the Buddha showed a satisfied smile. Just as he was about to continue for another year or half a year, he suddenly frowned, secretly pinched a hand seal, and stopped expounding the Dharma.

Seeing the Buddha suddenly stop, the Buddhist disciples secretly breathed a sigh of relief while also glancing at him.

"May I ask the Buddha, why stop expounding the Dharma?"

The Buddha's disciple, Venerable Ananda, asked aloud.

"The Destined One has already collected the five Relics of that monkey. If there are no accidents, the end of this cycle is finally about to draw to a close."

Hearing this, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were surprised. They naturally knew the meaning of the so-called Destined One; it was just a plan arranged to resurrect Sun Wukong.

The Western Heaven needed Sun Wukong to return to the embrace of Buddhism and become the Victorious Fighting Buddha again to stabilize the reputation of Lingshan and Buddhism, while the Eastern Heaven wanted to eliminate Sun Wukong, a fierce general, and weaken the influence of Buddhism, so they had always hindered the Destined One's progress in collecting Relics.

For this matter, the Eastern and Western Heavens had argued countless times, and countless so-called Destined Ones had died halfway, most of them not even making it out of Black Wind Mountain.

Over time, Buddhism and the Heavenly Court didn't even care much about this matter, just arranging a few key figures to supervise and report if there were special circumstances.

Who would have thought that they had only been expounding the Dharma for a little over three months, and the Destined One had almost cleared the game directly? It was truly an unexpected joy.

Thinking of this, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas began to calculate one after another, wanting to know what the Destined One had experienced in these few months, but they found that the heavenly secrets were completely obscured, and they could not peek into the past or future. Only then did they realize the seriousness of the matter.

"May I ask the Buddha, the heavenly secrets are obscured, who is responsible for this?"

Tathagata shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the Buddhas. Finding that Guanyin had not participated in this Buddhist Dharma team-building, he looked at a handsome man with a hooked nose and said indifferently.

"Yun Cheng Wan Li Peng."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 338 =====