Chapter 531: Take This, Old Sun!

Put this monster in the garden first, so as not to disturb His Majesty.

The yellow-robed monster looked at Tang Luo and said, "Wait for this prince consort to rest a moment, then I'll come and flay you and pull out your tendons."

"Huh?"

Tang Luo immediately became displeased. I was steadying my hand and revisiting an old dream, and yet you still dared to rub your nose on my face?

Forget it, I won't revisit it.

Tang Luo's true tiger body shuddered, he raised his right hand—now a forepaw, sharp claws shot out, and he slashed forward.

Only a clear sound was heard, the iron railing as thick as a baby's arm split into several segments, fell to the ground, and a gap appeared in the middle.

Before the crowd could react, Tang Luo's tiger claws swung continuously, a cold light flashed.

The iron cage was torn open with a large hole, enough for Tang Luo to crawl out.

"Ah ah ah ah!"

The king of Baoxiang Kingdom reacted relatively quickly this time, shouting as he dodged behind the throne, the surrounding guards also surged forward, though their hands trembled a little, they had at least drawn their weapons and stood guard before the king.

Considered fulfilling their duty.

The yellow-robed monster retreated two steps, his face slightly solemn: "Monster!"

"Heh." Tang Luo gave a cold laugh and stood up.

The king and ministers of Baoxiang Kingdom had never seen a striped fierce tiger stand up before, now they saw it.

Each of them had their mouths slightly open, not daring to breathe.

The yellow-robed monster gripped the sword at his waist, about to strike, Tang Luo suddenly stretched out his claw, acting first to strike later, and grabbed the yellow-robed monster's clothing.

In midair he traced a perfect arc, slamming it hard onto the ground.

With his face pressed to the ground, the nearby ministers all felt a pang of pain in their faces, empathizing, as if this blow had struck them instead.

The stone slabs shattered, forming a shallow pit, the yellow-robed monster's hand gripping the sword involuntarily loosened.

He felt as if his entire body had been ruthlessly crushed by a great mountain, even his bones were loosened, and he could not muster any strength.

"Thud!"

Another perfect arc, the stone floor gained another shallow pit.

Everyone involuntarily shuddered—this monster tiger did not bite people, did not eat people, but instead treated them like sandbags to be thrown and beaten.

Truly unprecedented.

Could this be the difference between monsters and ordinary fierce beasts?

Can't afford to provoke, can't afford to provoke!

The yellow-robed monster gradually formed an afterimage in midair, only pausing slightly when in close contact with the ground.

"Thud thud thud!"

The sound echoed in the palace, like a pile driver, the palace seemed to tremble slightly.

The palace guards outside stood at the door, awed by the ferocious aura of the tiger monster with its back to them, they dared not approach.

Everyone watched helplessly as the prince consort "flew back and forth."

Some could not bear it, closed their eyes, thus they could not see.

After being beaten for a good while, Tang Luo finally stopped, he flung the yellow-robed monster to the ground, that face almost completely flattened, horrible to behold.

Just as everyone thought the prince consort was done for, the yellow-robed monster suddenly leapt up, creating distance from Tang Luo.

Although his face was bleeding, his aura was still formidable: "Monster!"

"Roar!"

Tang Luo's tiger roar answered him.

"Strike!"

The yellow-robed monster let out a low shout, pointed at Tang Luo, and again performed the transformation technique.

The striped fierce tiger's form changed, shrank, and became a tiny creature.

Looking at it, it seemed like some people keep as a pet in their arms, a civet cat (cat).

Now, the atmosphere in the palace immediately relaxed considerably, still the prince consort is formidable, turning this tiger monster into such a small thing.

Now it seems, it should be fine, right?

What can such a small thing do, at most bare its teeth and grin.

The king of Baoxiang Kingdom trudged forward with unsteady steps, took two steps, his voice slightly trembling: "Prince consort, prince consort, is it really alright this time?"

The yellow-robed monster covered his mouth and nose, concealing his horrifying appearance: "No problem, the monster has been subdued by me, it can't stir up anything..."

He hadn't even gotten the words "wind and waves" out of his mouth.

Only see the cat that Tang Luo transformed into raise its tiny paw, an irresistible great force came upon.

The yellow-robed monster instantly lost balance, his body fell downward, his collar was grabbed by that tiny claw.

Because he was crouching, the cat-formed Tang Luo looked even shorter, basically just a bit higher than the yellow-robed monster's head.

The yellow-robed monster lay completely prone on the ground, unable to move.

"Not stirring up wind and waves, I'll stir you up." Tang Luo said with a smile, his claw swung again.

This time it was not tracing arcs in midair.

The yellow-robed monster took his own head as the center, like a windshield wiper, frantically swinging left and right, forming an afterimage.

The shallow pits kept expanding, merging into one, the surrounding rubble also increasing more and more.

After hurling the yellow-robed monster hundreds of times, Tang Luo satisfiedly withdrew his hand, didn't even glance, turned and walked back, entered the cage.

Never mind the cage being cut open with a big hole, even if it weren't, the gap between two iron bars would be enough for this little cat to come and go freely.

"Prince... prince consort?"

The king of Baoxiang Kingdom softly called to the yellow-robed monster lying on the ground, not daring to raise his voice, fearing to disturb that tiger monster.

"Prince Consort?"

After calling twice with no response, the King of Baoxiang Kingdom's legs trembled even more violently; had it not been for the guards supporting him, he would have already been unable to stand.

"No problem..."

At that moment, the Yellow-Robed Monster extended his hand, gestured twice, and with difficulty climbed to his feet, saying, "I'm fine."

"Prince Consort." The King of Baoxiang Kingdom watched the Yellow-Robed Monster sway as if about to fall, not looking fine at all.

He was deeply worried, not truly concerned for the Prince Consort's safety, but worried that if the Prince Consort collapsed, there would be no one to restrain the tiger demon.

Although just now it appeared the tiger demon was unilaterally beating the Prince Consort, the tiger demon had ultimately returned to its cage.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Earlier, I was dueling this demon, and its demonic power has already dissipated by seven or eight parts; it can no longer cause harm." The Yellow-Robed Monster spoke in a muffled voice, "Otherwise, it wouldn't have obediently returned to the cage. Let me rest a moment, then I'll subdue the demon again."

He spoke with full confidence, very self-assured.

Just that his mouth was missing several teeth, making his speech sound unclear due to air leakage.

Although being beaten was miserable, his strained yet composed appearance was quite handsome.

The King looked at the lazy cat lying in the cage: "Everything... everything will follow the Prince Consort's orders."

"Come here." The Yellow-Robed Monster commanded, "Take this demon to the imperial garden; I have set up a demon-subduing formation there, capable of suppressing it."

The guards trembled with fear and dared not step forward.

"I have also set up a formation on the cage..." the Yellow-Robed Monster said.

The guards immediately panicked even more, "You've also set up a formation on the cage? Prince Consort, have you been beaten until your brain is damaged?"

"This cage is already broken, isn't it?"

"I mean now." The Yellow-Robed Monster's tone turned slightly angry, instantly becoming solemn and dignified.

The guards were startled, gritted their teeth, and approached; upon touching the cage, they saw the broken iron bars instantly restore to their original state.

Moreover, a faint light emanated from the cage, clearly indicating it was no ordinary object.

The guards' hearts steadied considerably; they hurriedly lifted the cage and ran toward the imperial garden.

Such a thing—better discarded early.

Tang Luo sat inside the cage, just like riding in a sedan chair, his eyes flickering slightly.

The reason he cooperated so well was that he had discovered in this illusion, the Yellow-Robed Monster was not the key core; even if he were killed on the spot, the illusion would not easily dissolve.

Better to wait for Ao Yulie to appear; otherwise, if the table were overturned in the end and his disciple accidentally injured, it would not be good.

After yawning, Tang Luo adjusted into a comfortable position, lay down, and rested.

As for the Yellow-Robed Monster, after a moment he restored his appearance; although his face was still somewhat swollen, at least it was no longer as terrifying as before.

Seeing the Yellow-Robed Monster truly subdued the "tiger demon," the King of Baoxiang Kingdom felt immense joy in his heart.

Not long after, he set up a grand feast, with rare delicacies, mountain and sea treasures, and fine wines arrayed.

Before them, dance girls swayed their bodies—truly a scene of great merriment.

A crowd drank until they were seven or eight parts intoxicated; having received the king's permission, they gradually dispersed. After a while, the king himself drank until drunk and was helped aside to rest by others.

In the vast palace, only a group of palace maids remained attending the Yellow-Robed Monster as he continued to eat and drink heartily.

Likewise, new dishes and wines were continuously served; the Yellow-Robed Monster resembled a bottomless pit, consuming everything.

As night deepened, wine vapors filled the hall; the palace maids seemed to have drunk heavily, some sitting, some leaning, faces flushed, sinking into deep sleep.

Only the Yellow-Robed Monster continued holding his cup, drinking freely, one cup after another.

After finishing, he directly picked up the wine jar beside him, tilted his head back, and poured—but found no wine left, only a few drops poured out.

Looking left and right, seeing no full wine jar, the Yellow-Robed Monster slapped the table and shouted loudly: "Wine! Wine! I drank wine so I can go subdue demons!"

"Here."

A response came from outside the door; a beautiful palace maiden entered gracefully, holding a wine jar with both hands, its size appearing quite substantial.

Thus, she appeared to walk with great difficulty, swaying side to side.

"Good."

The Yellow-Robed Monster laughed loudly, reached out, took the wine jar, tore open its seal, tilted his head back, and poured.

An intensely rich wine aroma spread forth; clear wine poured down like a waterfall, fully caught by the Yellow-Robed Monster's wide-open mouth, not a single drop wasted.

At that moment, the wine-serving palace maiden's eyes flashed with a cold gleam; a chilling light flashed, straight toward the Yellow-Robed Monster's head.

The wine jar shattered instantly.

Yet the blade was bitten by the Yellow-Robed Monster in his mouth; he bit down once, directly crushing it.

"Where did this little crawling creature come from?" the Yellow-Robed Monster sneered, raised his hand, and flung it away.

The seemingly ordinary sleeve instantly elongated, whistling toward the palace maiden.

Flowing Cloud Flying Sleeves—harming and entangling, not to be taken lightly.

The palace maiden's expression changed; her body transformed into a handsome man, horns growing on his head, he opened his mouth and exhaled a bolt of thunder.

Unfortunately, the thunder struck the flying sleeves but could not harm them in the slightest, not even leaving a trace of scorching.

Although the Yellow-Robed Monster's strength is not as exaggeratedly powerful as described in Journey to the West—where Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, the Six Ding Six Jia, the Five Directions Revealing Truth, the Four Valor Officers, and the Eighteen Guardian Vajras barely fought to a draw—

it is absolutely not to be underestimated.

At least dealing with the White Dragon Prince is effortless.

The Flowing Cloud Flying Sleeves narrowly brushed past; Ao Yulie revealed his true form and flew outward, swift as lightning.

The Yellow-Robed Monster coldly laughed and stood up; had it not been for this little crawling creature dodging in its true form, that blow alone would have been enough to seriously injure it.

He raised his right hand; faint blade light flickered in the Yellow-Robed Monster's hand, yet it condensed without being released.

He shook his head, dispelled it, then actively pursued outward.

Above, he was given a chance to redeem himself through merit—ordered to intercept and kill the pilgrims; if successful, he could be reinstated to his original post.

Yet he also had his own considerations in mind.

The identities of these few who went to fetch the scriptures were truly special.

The former Marshal Tianpeng and Curtain-Raising General were both denizens of the Heavenly Court.

The Great Demon Sun Wukong, the Monk Xuanzang rumored to be a reincarnated disciple of the Buddha, and the West Sea Rebel Dragon Ao Yulie who had just fled.

The Curtain-Raising General and West Sea Rebel Dragon were nothing; the Yellow-Robed Monster didn't take them seriously at all — they didn't count as major figures.

But the former Marshal Tianpeng, Sun Wukong, and Monk Xuanzang — these three were no small figures.

In the battle several days ago, Tianpeng, now in a pig demon's body, had insufficient strength, far lacking the majesty of when he once commanded the Heavenly River Navy.

Yet the Yellow-Robed Monster knew full well that matters were far from that simple.

If he truly struck a killing blow, never mind whether it would draw a genuinely vicious counterattack from the other side — even if he really killed the West Sea Rebel Dragon and the former Curtain-Raising General, so what?

In the end it might not be the "restoration of official posts" as spoken of...

So exerting effort was fine; striking killing blows was unnecessary.

A thought to this point, the Yellow-Robed Monster caught up to Ao Yulie, raised his hand and it was the Flowing Cloud Flying Sleeve; the flying sleeve struck at Ao Yulie's hind legs.

Injure the man first; watch and wait for the rest.

Only his heart kept feeling uneasy, sensing something he hadn't noticed — right, the other party seemed to have thrashed him before?

The sleeve attacked; Ao Yulie had no way to dodge, only able to take it head-on.

Just as it was about to hit, that flying sleeve suddenly shook, instantly retracting, and simultaneously a miserable scream rang out from the Yellow-Robed Monster.

Landing even earlier than Ao Yulie, he crashed heavily to the ground, utterly unable to climb up.

"Master!" Ao Yulie took human form, exclaiming in surprise and joy, "Weren't you... turned into a civet cat slave?"

The joy of this new lease on life held not a shred of pretense.

Fairly speaking, Tang Luo at this time was not yet as powerful as later.

Powerful enough to let Ao Yulie shout "666" without a care in the world afterward.

The current Ao Yulie was actually Ao Yulie's true self, only temporarily unaware that he had already fallen into an illusion.

Feeling he was on the Journey to the West... just puzzled that his strength seemed inexplicably weaker.

Could it be that transforming into a horse too often in daily life had caused his cultivation to grow somewhat neglected?

Tang Luo, restored to human form, stood beside the Yellow-Robed Monster and glanced at Ao Yulie again: "The illusion may be real, but the people are a bit fake — can only deceive oneself."

The "people" in the illusion don't react nimbly enough.

For instance, Tang Luo beat this Yellow-Robed Monster up, yet he still thought "this person is nothing to fear," eating and drinking away with hardly any guard.

Under normal circumstances, unless the Yellow-Robed Monster's brain was broken, he wouldn't keep gorging himself.

The illusion having this flaw might relate to the Yellow-Clothed King's situation; he himself isn't some wise existence, and what he plays in the "Heavenly Court" is also a set of self-deception.

Dragged into the illusion.

Even if Tang Luo hadn't stayed fully lucid from the start, instinctively resisting, his power erupting, the commotion growing larger — in the end he would still spot clues because of the sheer incongruity.

Provided he woke up before being killed.

Tang Luo believed the Yellow-Robed Monster before him wasn't the crux; there must be a hidden hand, yet he didn't know how it would "make its move" to "keep" them permanently in the illusion.

It probably wouldn't simply rely on reliving past events trying to make Tang Luo sink into depravity.

Against a man like Tang Luo whose heart is like forged iron, even in an illusion, the means to break him would ultimately find it hard to escape the two words "killing and slaughter."

"Stinking monk! You really are courting death!"

The Yellow-Robed Monster leapt up from the ground, glaring at Tang Luo and shouting fiercely — he still held rage, after all.

"Master!" Ao Yulie's tone was extremely worried, "Where are Second Senior Brother and the others?"

With Tang Luo's current strength, he might not be this monster's match; what's worse, Second and Third Senior Brothers had been "scattered" by the other side — one captured, one who knew where he'd run off to.

Otherwise, with the three of them combined, they would surely not fear this villain.

As for the team's pillar, the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle, steady as Mount Tai — Eldest Senior Brother...

At this time he was on leave!

Yes, some time ago, a White Bone Demon had been lurking nearby, deeply concealed, full of sinister schemes, like a venomous snake beside the pillow.

Making it impossible to rest easy.

Master thought of a method, successfully lured the White Bone Demon to achieve transformation, and incidentally gave Eldest Senior Brother a vacation, letting him return to Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Saying he should cultivate on his own; someone with a bit of strength can't grow under shelter, words to that effect.

Result: Eldest Senior Brother was also the wild sort; once gone, it was over half a month.

And now it was good — they truly encountered danger, life and death hanging by a thread.

Ao Yulie didn't believe this group of scripture-fetchers was truly destined to encounter no danger whatsoever.

Dragons would die.

"Don't know where he ran off to wild." Tang Luo completely ignored the Yellow-Robed Monster, saying to Ao Yulie.

Seeing Tang Luo's utterly dismissive look, the Yellow-Robed Monster burned with rage, no longer holding back; he reached out and grasped the void, a semi-transparent saber appeared, and he swung.

Countless saber shadows appeared in an instant, descending on Tang Luo's four limbs.

Cripple his four limbs first; then slowly torture him — the Mountains and Seas World is vast, the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain's Great Thunderclap Temple don't truly rule the whole universe.

"Master!" Ao Yulie only had time to scream.

The Yellow-Robed Monster's Soul-Chasing Life-Taking Saber was already upon him, unavoidable.

Ao Yulie saw it clearly — this was the monster's fierce killing move; even the former Marshal Tianpeng taking it on would be somewhat strained.

The much weaker Third Senior Brother wouldn't even count as a one-move opponent.

Facing this move, Master would die if not severely injured.

Ao Yulie had followed Tang Luo since after Sun Wukong, the two having forged deep bonds through battle; now seeing Tang Luo about to meet disaster.

His heart burned like fire, as if something was shattering.

Suddenly, his shocked and horrified expression froze, then shifted in an instant — a few degrees faster than the yellow-robed freak's move.

The changed expression carried a "today's wind is quite clamorous" feeling.

Full of style.

As if the one who had just been in heart-wrenching pain wasn't him.

Amid Ao Yulie's transformation, Tang Luo raised his hand and directly threw a punch.

The fist shadow flickered, and in a split second it landed on the yellow-robed freak's head; the sky-full of blade shadows vanished, the yellow-robed freak fell, his head along with his body disappearing without a trace under this one punch.

One could see the power of that ordinary-looking punch.

Seeing Tang Luo convert the yellow-robed freak with one punch, Ao Yulie revealed an "as expected" expression and said, "Master, this illusion realm won't do."

"The yellow-robed freak isn't the key point; where do you think the key to breaking the realm lies?" Tang Luo didn't play along to satisfy Ao Yulie's vanity, asking directly.

Ao Yulie thought seriously: "Given Master's nature, even this illusion realm can hardly shake you in the slightest. Now that even I have 'awakened', soft tactics won't work; I fear hard ones will come, perhaps directly using thunderous means to wipe us out in this illusion realm — dead would be truly dead."

"Also possible." Tang Luo nodded; everyone's thoughts were about the same.

Just then.

"Eat my old grandson's staff!"

A stern shout rang out from the horizon.

Blindingly bright, golden-yellow dazzling golden light, the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle descended fiercely with the might to topple the heavens!