Chapter 678: Seeing Five-Finger Mountain!

On the empty, vast plaza stood an enlarged version of a Bagua Furnace.

It was an ornament carved from jade; even now it remained warm and smooth, and drawing near felt like bathing in a hot spring.

Tang Luo approached the jade Bagua Furnace statue and saw a bright yellow cord beneath it, one end clearly showing signs of having snapped.

"This is..." Tang Luo reached out and grabbed; the cord flew up and landed in his hand.

A moment later, a string of information surfaced:

Immortal Garment Cord (Can Be Sacrificed)

A snapped cord, once the waist sash on an immortal garment, now broken, no longer possessing its former divine luster.

"So this is the real Huangjin Rope." Tang Luo put the equipment away.

Speaking of it, after encountering Golden Horn and Silver Horn, he later met their mother, the fox demon known as the "Dragon-Subduing Great Immortal."

Tang Luo was once bound by the Huangjin Rope, broke free on the spot, and the Huangjin Rope snapped and was destroyed.

During the Journey to the West back then, a Huangjin Rope also appeared, and it's unclear whether it was truly Taishang Laojun's belt.

It should be one of his many belts.

Immortals can go hundreds or thousands of years without changing clothes, but for Taishang Laojun to idly refine a few extra belts for himself is still just a matter of a flick of the hand.

To Taishang Laojun, it's an ordinary belt.

But to everyone else, it's the legendary magic treasure Huangjin Rope.

"Wonder if it can be refined into Xuan Bian." Tang Luo thought as he walked, suddenly taking no small interest in the Tushita Palace.

The Three Purities are all typical multi-treasure Daoists.

Back when their disciples fought among themselves, magic treasures came out one after another as if they cost nothing.

This abandoned-yet-not-wasted Tushita Palace — could it have only this one Huangjin Rope left?

Who knows, there might be other lost magic treasures as well.

I'm picking up trash in the Tushita Palace.

Tang Luo's steps grew light and quick.

He simply turned back to the small medicine garden and pulled up those few half-dead, unidentified medicinal herbs.

It's not like he's short on such things.

He wandered around inside the Tushita Palace, but sadly made no further discoveries; the happy trash-picking journey came to an abrupt end right there.

Tang Luo arrived inside the main gate of the Tushita Palace; the huge palace gates were tightly shut.

Outside there should be a plaque inscribed with the three characters "Tushita Palace."

From inside it couldn't be seen; Tang Luo reached out, grasped the pull ring, and slowly pulled the vermilion double doors open inward.

Outside lay a swirl of clouds and mist, yet the true sky could be seen.

The Tushita Palace seemed to float amid the ethereal clouds of some world, high in the heavens.

Tang Luo did not leave immediately; he looked down from above.

"Hm?"

Suddenly his expression changed slightly; in the clouds and mist beneath his feet, the land faintly appeared, and at the farthest reach of his vision lay a continuous mountain range of towering peaks.

And that range's majestic peaks numbered exactly five, thrusting straight into the clouds.

From Tang Luo's height, they looked just like five upright palms.

"Five-Finger Mountain?"

For a moment, the only thing Tang Luo could think of was the Five-Finger Mountain that pinned Sun Wukong.

That mountain is no easy climb.

Good thing at that time he himself was also strong and healthy, a body full of martial arts, proficient in Arhat Fist, Dragon-Capturing Hand, Great Strength Vajra Palm, and other kung fu.

Otherwise, forget fetching the scriptures — he wouldn't even have made it out of that not-historical Great Tang, okay?

He'd have been beaten to death by bandits and outlaws right at the border.

Guanyin only gave a Merit Jade Lotus, a kasaya that was merely sturdy, durable, and didn't need washing but had no other functions, and a single truly ordinary Zen staff that was just a bit heavy.

No Six Ding Six Jia guarding him, no Garan Dharma Protectors — none at all.

Before reaching Five-Finger Mountain, Tang Luo truly walked out alone: one man, one horse, one iron staff, one pair of fists.

Back then his persecution complex was severe; every day he felt "Laozi has someone above him."

He couldn't even sleep well; his Mad Demon Staff Technique grew ever more formidable, who knows how many bandits' dog heads he smashed.

Upon arriving at the legendary Five-Finger Mountain, before even seeing that fated monkey, Tang Luo's spirit shook.

At last, a kindred sufferer meets a kindred sufferer.

What Five-Finger Mountain is like, Tang Luo naturally remembers deep in his mind.

Right now, the continuous mountain range seen, the upright peaks — aren't they exactly Five-Finger Mountain?

The world where the Bagua Furnace resides actually has a Five-Finger Mountain?

Who's under the mountain?

Has that unlucky monkey Sun Wukong been pinned again?

Could the Buddha, Taishang Laojun, and the rest all be in this world?

This world has a bit of something to it!

Just as Tang Luo was about to jump down, ready to "the world is so big, I really want to go see it."

A flash of light.

Accompanied by the "Mission Complete" message, Tang Luo and the others returned, appearing in the real world.

"I haven't even taken my pants off yet!" Tang Luo said, "How could the mission finish this fast, did Yang Jian get an itchy hand?"

Clearly the deduction showed there should still be ten days to half a month before mission completion.

"Master, you've been gone for nearly ten days already," Zhu Bajie said, indicating it wasn't Yang Jian's fault.

"Hmm?" Tang Luo's eyes narrowed. "I was wandering around the Tushita Palace for at most a quarter of an hour. Does time flow differently inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace compared to the outside world?"

"It might be that our breaking through the formation triggered some changes in the grand formation, causing a change in the flow of time," Zhu Bajie nodded.

The Eight Trigrams Furnace is used to refine immortal pills and spirit medicines.

Often taking hundreds, even thousands of years to produce a single batch.

Inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace, acceleration when necessary is perfectly normal.

Could it be the grand formation's intelligent judgment — danger inside the furnace, requiring Yang Jian to recover as soon as possible?

But if that were the case, the consumption would be great too; it probably couldn't be maintained for long.

In the Mountains and Seas World, there actually isn't a situation of "one day in heaven, one year in the mortal world."

But there are special places that, because of certain strange treasures or other reasons, have "one day inside, one year outside," or vice versa.

With the Taishang Laojun's ability, achieving a change in time inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace wouldn't count as difficult.

"The dog's back too, huh." Tang Luo glanced at Xiaotian Quan.

The God-Demon Game gave no preferential treatment to "Native Yang Jian"; Xiaotian Quan was brought out by Tang Luo through the Merit Jade Lotus and was defaulted as belonging to a part of him.

Following him, freely entering and exiting the God-Demon Game.

It's not like you can stay in another world just because you want to.

"Mm, I explained it to Yang Jian, he knows," Zhu Bajie said.

While Tang Luo was "picking up trash" in the Tushita Palace, Zhu Bajie and the others chatted about the past inside, concealing anything related to the God-Demon Game.

Many things could be spoken of.

Like where Nezha was, what he was doing, whether his lower body had grown back or not, and so on.

The situation of Xiaotian Quan having to continue following Tang Luo and the others for the time being, Zhu Bajie had mentioned that too.

Yang Jian continued to show emotional stability.

Otherwise what else could he do?

Was he supposed to hug Xiaotian Quan and not let go?

Rather, the umbrella transformed from the Precious Lotus Lamp · Yang Chan was left inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Equipment and props are like this — if you're not holding them or haven't stored them away when returning, they'll stay in the other world.

Lost is lost.

The treatment of dead things and living things is different after all.

No need to worry about what "mission world natives" might do after getting equipment and props either.

They won't have any information pop up in their minds.

"Master, what's outside the Eight Trigrams Furnace?" Ao Yu asked excitedly.

When Tang Luo returned, he clearly carried a sense of regret and displeasure.

Could there be a female Bodhisattva?

"The Tushita Palace, complete, undamaged, but no people." Tang Luo briefly described the situation at the Tushita Palace.

"Could the Taishang Laojun be in that world?" Zhu Bajie and Ao Yu thought simultaneously.

Xiaotian Quan also pricked up his ears.

Even Sha Wujing manifested, covered in wounds.

"Not only that, I also saw Five Elements Mountain." Tang Luo's words instantly made everyone understand why he had that reaction upon returning.

Five Elements Mountain!

Directly connected to Eldest Senior Brother and the Buddha, definitely had to go take a look.

Unexpectedly...

God-Demon Game, you son of a bitch, you're a bit of a trap!

"But it doesn't matter." Before Ao Yu could prepare to curse the God-Demon Game for three hundred rounds, Tang Luo took out the "Gold-Binding Rope." "I picked up this piece of trash in the Tushita Palace; next mission we sacrifice it and we can go back there."

"Hmm... won't we end up back inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace again?" Zhu Bajie said.

"Doesn't matter; anyway, places we've been to can all be gone to."

Inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace forms a world of its own, this kind of world-within-a-world situation.

Don't know if it'll be defined as one, or as two.

But whichever it is, for Tang Luo and the others, it doesn't affect anything.

Returning directly to the outside world is naturally best.

If it's returning to the Eight Trigrams Furnace, worst case we just open the furnace once more.

Missions and such can just be delayed.

Having picked up the Gold-Binding Rope that can be sacrificed, Tang Luo and the others don't need to search for other God-Demon Walkers, or recover items that can be used for sacrifice to change the mission location.

This kind of item is still quite precious.

Ordinary God-Demon Walkers wouldn't have them.

Tang Luo and the others have experienced twenty missions, relying on powerful strength, and only gained a mere few.

The Earth Spirit Pearl, the Golden Headband, these.

If they couldn't collect one, they'd have to go to the next mission world and painstakingly gather them, which is also a troublesome matter.

Now with the Gold-Binding Rope in hand, it's equivalent to the road already being paved, just waiting for the door to open.

Next, just wait for the next mission to arrive.

With Tang Luo and the others' mission frequency far exceeding ordinary God-Demon Walkers, even though it's already twenty missions.

The next mission arriving, estimated at just over half a year's time.

In this bit of time, Tang Luo and the others can certainly afford to wait.

Before that, it is customary to take stock and sort through this mission's gains.

Tang Luo's greatest gain is naturally the Six Ding Divine Fire refining his body; at present it can no longer be called Vajra Lapis Lazuli Buddha Bones, but Vajra Lapis Lazuli Body.

Near perfection, just a hair short, so right now it takes the form of a seven- or eight-year-old child.

It needs some more time to grow.

For this, the merit power stored in the Merit Jade Lotus has been completely exhausted; without the Merit Jade Lotus to consecrate and heal, Tang Luo's self-destructive frenzied refining method won't work.

Injuries same as before, no increase no decrease, still a 7.1-tenths uninjured output ceiling.

Stronger than the previous 7.1-tenths.

The mission completion reward is a piece of equipment, put directly on Tang Luo's right hand upon return.

A dull-gold armored gauntlet, fully enclosing, reaching back to the wrist, up to the mid-forearm.

The gauntlet is not smooth; protrusions at the joints, looking rather ferocious.

Equipment named "Inverse Dragon Roar", comes with the "Rising Dragon Fist" skill.

Counts as a fairly powerful piece of equipment; Tang Luo took it off and gave it to Zhu Bajie.

Zhu Bajie studied it a while and said it can be refined into the Mystic Transformation, just right to add a "gauntlet" form to the Mystic Transformation.

Convenient for Tang Luo to, with sandpot-sized fists, deliver a Buddhist disciple's "shout and blow" to the obstinately unenlightened.