Chapter 482

"Holy Monk, His Majesty and the others truly do not wish to fight among themselves; they have already lured the Great King Jin to a certain place."

The appointed time arrived, but the one who appeared was a minor deity; he said to Tang Luo, his voice even trembling slightly, "If the Holy Monk does not mind, please proceed; this is all His Majesty can manage."

Having finished speaking, he basically closed his eyes and awaited death.

"Lead the way." Fortunately, Tang Luo did not get angry; he spoke indifferently, letting the heart the minor deity had in his throat drop back down, nearly making him fall from the sky.

The minor deity flew in a wobbly, swaying manner, rising and falling, yet his speed was not slow.

He could not slow down even if he wanted to; a True Dragon was following behind him, giving him the feeling that if he did not fly a little faster he would be swallowed in a single gulp.

As for the wobbly flight, on one hand it was from fear, on the other it was because he was multitasking, currently informing the Five Directional Heavenly Emperors: The demon monk has truly come!

"He has indeed come."

"Tang Xuanzang is arrogant and heedless of others; even knowing this is a trap, he would step into it without the slightest hesitation."

"If he succeeds, it is called a powerhouse's confidence; if he fails, it is called foolishness."

Receiving the confirmed news, the Yellow Emperor revealed a faint smile.

His plan was very simple: lure Tang Luo and Jin Dasheng, two people, into a trap — invite the guest into the urn.

Tang Luo's choice indeed did not fall outside his expectations.

Even if he saw through the fact that this might be a trap, he still came striding in with great strides, extremely self-confident (kuang) arrogant (wang).

Although the plan proceeded as they had envisioned.

The Five Directional Heavenly Emperors all felt uneasy in their hearts; they had truly been looked down upon completely, viewed through the crack of a door.

"I want to eat his flesh and drink his blood raw!"

This was the shared reaction of the Black Emperor and the Red Emperor.

The Green Emperor, on the other hand, said thoughtfully: "The 'shed body' left by Golden Cicada in his previous life was long ago cultivated and assimilated by him; otherwise this person's cultivation would not have advanced a thousand li in a day, progressing by leaps and bounds. The flesh of the Tang Monk has not been the flesh of the Tang Monk for who knows how many years; what is there to eat?"

"He ate my Teng She, so I cannot eat him?" the Red Emperor shouted angrily.

"Is what we care about the question of whether it is useful or not?" the Black Emperor also said.

After thoroughly embarking on the Divine Path, no heavenly materials or earthly treasures are of much use to them anymore; the only thing they need to care about is the power of incense and faith.

Injuries do not require taking pills to heal; increasing strength does not require bitter closed-door cultivation.

As long as the power of incense and faith is sufficient, that is enough.

"Oh, that is true. Make preparations then." the Green Emperor said.

On the other side.

"Master, we are late." Zhu Bajie, sitting behind Tang Luo, transmitted his voice to him.

"What? Have we not arrived yet?" Tang Luo was a little puzzled.

"I mean the Great Nephew." Zhu Bajie said, "I originally thought he was a chuunibyou hot-blooded youth; I never expected him to be a three-hundred-plus-year-old crafty old fox."

One night, and he was late by over three hundred years.

"... Yes, yes." Ao Yulie said, "And his face is incredibly thick; this kind of matter that is clearly letting us go trigger the thunder first, he does it with righteous confidence."

"He is the stuff of great achievers." Zhu Bajie did not know whether he was praising or mocking.

That day, they explained the situation to Liu Chenxiang and asked if he would go.

Liu Chenxiang thought for a moment, did not say he would go, nor did he say he would not go; he only requested that Tang Luo and the others absolutely bring the jade slip.

The subtext was that their Fushen Association would follow behind and observe secretly; if there was profit to be made they would join in, and if you lot were about to die they would run.

Just short of saying it outright.

While being a thick-skinned crafty old fox, it also showed his vision was vicious and sharp.

He saw that Tang Luo and the others fundamentally would not care about this matter.

Just like you taking your family's five-year-old little nephew to an amusement park, seeing the pirate ship, the little nephew decisively chickens out: "Old Uncle, you go first; if you're fine after riding, I'll go."

Would you care?

In any case, Tang Luo and the others did not care.

They also did not bother with whether Liu Chenxiang and the others had already followed behind in some way.

Just guarantee the mission is completed — even, this time Tang Luo and the others did not have a must-succeed attitude toward completing the mission.

Perhaps the situation changes, and they stand by and watch or even act contrary to expectations, helping Liu Chenxiang split the mountain to save his mother is also possible.

Eight chances of mission failure — that is how confident they are, able to squander them at will.

"Right ahead is it, the Demon-Human Boundary, Beacon Fire Valley." The minor deity, exhausted half to death, pointed at a continuous stretch of peaks and valleys ahead and said.

The so-called Demon-Human Boundary, Beacon Fire Valley.

Refers to the "Alliance Under the City Walls" made back then by the Five Directional Heavenly Emperors and the old partner Jin Dasheng.

Guaranteeing a degree of peace between the human and demon races.

No large-scale fight to the death would be sparked.

Speaking of it, it is a bit strange.

The Six Brothers of Mount Mei — it is normal for there to be gaps in strength between them, and normal for there to be gaps after embarking on the Divine Path.

But this kind of gap would not be large.

At the very least, it absolutely would not be large enough for this ox demon Jin Dasheng to oppose the Five Directional Heavenly Emperors with "the power of one person."

The greater possibility is that the Five Directional Heavenly Emperals deliberately left this "old partner" to command the demon race, making it convenient to consolidate their rule and continuously harvest the power of incense and faith.

Three days' time, luring Jin Dasheng to this place to stir up trouble, is also sufficient to show that the Five Directional Heavenly Emperors actually hold an absolute advantage.

Whatever tragic epic stories about paying a huge price to fight the demon race back then — just listen to them; they cannot even deceive the Great Nephew Chenxiang.

From within Beacon Fire Valley came bursts of sound.

Tiger roars and dragon chants — clearly they have already started fighting.

"Holy Monk, I... I won't go in." That minor deity brought the road to here, then refused to enter.

Tang Luo glanced at him, waved his hand, and signaled that he could leave.

The little god, as if pardoned, vanished in a puff of smoke.

Ao Yulie had no intention of looking around; he charged straight into the Valley of Beacon Fires.

Upon entering, he saw a massive divine dog locked in combat with a huge old yellow ox.

The white-haired divine dog was at a disadvantage, but with many divine soldiers and generals aiding it, it barely held its own against the old yellow ox.

The old yellow ox looked no different from an ordinary yellow ox, except its horns were extraordinarily sharp, piercing the clouds, one of them already broken.

Not a new wound, but an old injury from adulthood.

Seeing the mighty white divine dog, the Tianhou on Tang Luo's shoulder sprang to its feet and let out a threatening low growl.

The divine dog fighting the old yellow ox seemed to sense something and turned its gaze this way.

Just that moment of carelessness—the ox's head, with agility utterly mismatched to its massive body, flicked lightly, leaving a deep wound on the divine dog.

However, this incarnation clearly formed from incense, the wound bled no blood; after some specks of light drifted away and dissipated, it quickly healed.

As if it had never been injured.

"Huh, what about this form?" Tang Luo suddenly wondered.

The Tianhou's strength, limited by its body, had become very difficult to increase further.

Back then, Tang Luo had also thought of giving it a new body.

The incense incarnation before him was a good choice.

Because the other party had taken on the Tianhou's identity and walked the divine path, the Tianhou had a natural advantage and could "take it back."

Seizing this incense incarnation, using it to condense a new body, then severing the tie with incense power.

For the Tianhou, this was not impossible.

Compared to searching for a suitable body, condensing this incense incarnation into a new body was far more fitting for her.

"Woof." The Tianhou barked once, leapt up, and its form shifted in midair.

A black figure appeared on the battlefield, its fur blazing like flames, with crimson eyes—a "giant wolf"—answering Tang Luo with action.

In size and appearance, it closely resembled the white divine dog.

But one had white fur and golden eyes, dignified and righteous; the other had black fur and red eyes, exuding a ferocious aura.

At first glance, the white divine dog looked like the genuine article, while the other, blazing with ferocious flames, was actually a counterfeit.

Suddenly, another "dark version" of the Tianhou appeared.

Jin Dasheng, who had been fighting absent-mindedly, was startled—what was this?

Before he could figure it out, the Tianhou lunged forward and clashed with the white divine dog.

Jaws opened, sharp canine teeth interlocking, it bit down.

The white divine dog reacted swiftly, dodging to the side and preparing to turn and bite back.

Completely primal, the way monsters fight after revealing their true forms.

It seemed this "god" that had taken over the magpie's nest was not truly intelligent—perhaps like the Tengshe, it was merely a mindless demon.

But just as the white divine dog dodged, black claws howled in and slammed hard into its head.

The white divine dog's massive frame lurched, nearly knocked flat by a single swipe.

Large amounts of fur fell away, turning into specks of light.

The ferocious wound on its head was rapidly healing.

Using claws?

Everyone knows canine creatures generally fight by biting—like wolves, you rarely see them use claws; they go straight for the bite.

Meanwhile, feline creatures' claws are a major offensive weapon—usually they pounce with both claws, then deliver a vicious bite.

You're a dog, and now you're using claws?

This is betrayal!

The white divine dog isn't especially bright—how could it not understand why claws are being used?

Now it's lost the initiative, slapped into disarray, and the situation instantly turned one-sided.

To be fair, the white divine dog is absolutely stronger than the Tianhou—and by a considerable margin.

This incense incarnation has fully descended consciousness; in truth, it could be called an incense body, or even the true form.

It surpasses even that Tengshe.

After all, it had just expended much energy fighting Jin Dasheng, and now—at this very moment—it felt the omnipresent dread of life and death, able to exert only fifty percent of its power at best.

Naturally, it was beaten down by the Tianhou and couldn't lift its head.

The great dread of life and death—Zhu Bajie, with ill intent, stared at the white divine dog, secretly aiding the Tianhou.

As for those divine soldiers and generals, sensing Tang Luo's party had arrived, they hesitated not, abandoned the incense incarnations and the traces of divine awareness attached to them, and vanished one by one.

"A bit familiar—who are you!"

Jin Dasheng maintained the form of the old yellow ox, looked at Tang Luo and company, and spoke.

His voice was deep and muffled, like distant thunder.

"This monk doesn't mind if it's a trap, but you actually used such low-quality bait." Tang Luo, seated on the dragon's head, rose to his feet and flew into midair: "Looks like you truly don't want to live—fine then. I've already given Yang Jian enough face; since you don't want to live, I'll grant you death."

"Hahahaha!"

Arrogant, unrestrained laughter came from all directions.

The thick clouds in the sky kept pressing down, turning this valley into a dead end.

The Five Directional Heavenly Emperors appeared in battle armor, followed by vast hosts of divine soldiers and generals.

"Tang Xuanzang, this place shall be your burial ground!"