Chapter 791

Sun Wu swayed his head, staggering to his feet.

Over there, the White Bone Demon struggled to climb out of the sedan chair, but Tang Luo casually shoved her back in.

"Practice more, you're too weak now—on the Journey to the West, you'd only make it ten meters before getting killed," Tang Luo said to Sun Wu.

Sun Wu's strength surged, but he remained Sun Wu, not Sun Wukong.

"What do you mean, weak as the White Dragon?" Ao Yu complained from the side.

She's not weak, okay?

"Oh, sorry, I was talking about someone else," Tang Luo said.

Combat power measurement unit: the White Dragon Ao Yu Lie.

Not this White Dragon Ao Yu.

"Another one?" Ao Yu frowned slightly, but didn't press further—she wasn't the curious type.

"With you here, it's indeed unsuitable," Tang Luo glanced over, landing on Tang Seng, "Zhishen, from now on you're the combat power unit."

"Huh?" Tang Seng blinked, confused.

A monk devoted to Buddha, how did he suddenly become a combat power unit?

Tang Luo smiled at Tang Seng, walked to Sun Wu's side, stepped into the void, and put an arm around Sun Wu's shoulders: "Look, your former strength was 1.5 Zhishens. After starting the Seventy-Two Transformations, you're already at 100 Zhishens. But to spar with me, you'd need at least 100 billion Zhishens. You're still too weak."

Sun Wu felt unwilling, but had to admit the other was right.

"But it's fine—this isn't your full strength. By now, you must realize you're not an ordinary person, right?" Tang Luo said.

"Am I a deity reincarnated?" Sun Wu wasn't that dense.

"You could see it that way," Tang Luo said. "The specifics aren't for me to say—it's better you figure it out yourself. In short, going to the Western Heaven is what you should do, an unavoidable fate, unless you're willing to keep sinking like this."

"No," Sun Wu firmly shook his head.

Strength is the foundation of everything.

"Then good—the road to the Western Heaven is full of hardships and dangers; as you journey west, you'll grow stronger."

"Go on, set forth. Become miraculous—I mean, countless joys and sorrows await you."

A bunch of empty, useless talk—Tang Luo saw Sun Wu and the others officially embark on the Journey to the West.

Though Tang Seng muttered inwardly, he still kept pace with Tang Luo.

The current structure of the Journey to the West party is as follows:

Sun Wu, reincarnation of Sun Wukong, combat power 100 Zhishens.

White Bone Demon, combat power 0.00001 Zhishens.

Gao Cui Lan, combat power 0.00002 Zhishens.

Ao Yu, combat power 10,000 Zhishens.

Tang Seng, combat power unit.

Sha Wujing, puff puff.

Zhu Bajie, still at Gao Lao Zhuang, combat power unknown.

And the "coach," the Great Heavenly Demon Tang Xuanzang.

Sun Wu continued to carry the sedan chair as always, Gao Cui Lan was led by Ao Yu, and the group's westward speed remained swift.

Faster than whipping a fast horse.

Tang Luo appeared and disappeared intermittently, occasionally showing up to grant a few people a BUFF and guide their cultivation of the Seventy-Two Transformations.

After some time, the group arrived at Gao Lao Zhuang.

There, Zhu Bajie was still snoring loudly, his bloodstains completely dried and absorbed into the soil of Gao Lao Zhuang.

A foul wind blew, no sunlight in sight—one glance and you knew it was an ominous place.

The once-famous Gao Lao Zhuang was now ruined—no living people, not even living things remained; they were dwindling day by day.

It had become a wasteland of death.

In this land of death, the only living thing was Zhu Bajie—the source of the wailing foul wind and the sun-obscuring dark clouds.

Sleeping, snoring is normal; not wanting to be exposed to the sun is also normal.

After regaining a bit of strength, Zhu Bajie's first act was to seal off Gao Lao Zhuang.

Ordinary people cannot enter; even a distant glance fills one with dread, making them want to flee.

Under these circumstances, anyone who can enter Gao Lao Zhuang is certainly not an ordinary person.

"You—Cui Lan!" The awakened Zhu Bajie saw Tang Luo and the others, then noticed the white-haired Gao Cui Lan, and his expression shifted instantly.

"She became like this to take revenge," Tang Luo said. "Do you have anything to say?"

"Revenge—against whom?" Zhu Bajie asked.

"Naturally..." Tang Luo pointed to the sky.

Still considering Tang Zhishen's opinion, he didn't spell it out.

By the way, as the combat power measurement unit, Tang Seng's strength has risen rapidly during this time.

Causing Ao Yu's combat power to begin declining.

"Even Gao Cui Lan knows she wants revenge—won't you keep just drifting through life?" Tang Luo asked.

Zhu Bajie twitched his mouth, said nothing.

He had agreed to go again to the Western Heaven for the scriptures.

But he truly had no intention of giving his all—he hadn't expected Gao Cui Lan to have different ideas.

"I..."

"Cut the nonsense—here's a copy of the Seventy-Two Transformations. Practice it or don't; it doesn't matter. Being the team's only useless member is fine too. Anyway, someone has to be the useless one—why not you?" Tang Luo tossed over the Seventy-Two Transformations.

The Seventy-Two Transformations have already become standard gear for the pilgrimage team.

If you can't do the Seventy-Two Transformations, how can you have the nerve to go fetch the scriptures?

"Fine, I'll practice." The current Zhu Bajie wasn't a person with his own opinions.

Persuading him was actually a bit simpler than the others.

Sun Wukong was more troublesome; even if reincarnated and remembering nothing, he was born rebellious, unwilling this way, unhappy that way.

Even if Tang Luo said taking the stairs was better, he'd still disagree, planning to jump off the building to show his rebellious side.

He nearly had his legs broken by Tang Luo.

Fortunately, everyone was consistent in wanting to get stronger.

After this period of not-at-all-arduous gathering, the scripture-fetching team members not only formally assembled, but even gained two extra burdens.

However, they could also serve as tools to stimulate Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie's potential.

Sun Wu and Zhu Bajie were both happy to each carry their own wife in a small sedan chair.

This made Tang Sanzang, the only normal monk in the team, remark "morals degenerate with each passing day, hearts are no longer what they used to be."

He had to uproot ten weeping willows every day to express his displeasure.

Don't flaunt your affection in front of a monk!

————

The Heavenly Court.

"It's begun."

"According to plan, make your move."

"Intercept and kill?"

"Yes, this time it's a real intercept-and-kill, don't let a single one escape."

"What about the Great Thunderclap Temple side?"

"They'll also obstruct, but they won't necessarily truly intercept and kill like us; it seems they have other plans."

"Who are we sending?"

"With the Great Heavenly Demon present, most of us can only watch from the sidelines, so naturally we send 'old acquaintances.' It was this plan before, and the Heavenly Demon can't pick any fault with it."

As the scripture-fetching team moved, those gods and immortals also began to truly contend with the Great Heavenly Demon.

The Journey to the West of the past, Sun Wukong and the others only walked part of it.

There were still quite a few arranged paths left unwalked.

Retracing it now, for the gods and Buddhas, was tantamount to "resuming the plan," and proceeding wasn't difficult.

Of course, now it naturally couldn't be "tender and affectionate" like last time.

Last time was at the Great Thunderclap Temple's request; everyone joined forces to subdue that demon monkey of outstanding strength, hard to kill.

Let him become a dog of the gods and Buddhas, willing to be driven by them.

Sun Wukong's origins were extraordinary; he was truly a heaven-and-earth oddity (not derogatory), and just killing him like that, the gods and Buddhas also felt it a pity.

Being able to make use of him for themselves was the true definition of making the best use of everything.

The Westward Journey thus unfolded.

As for Golden Cicada, before reincarnation he was also a restless master; the Buddha, mindful of old ties, also intended to temper him through the Westward Journey, grind away those thoughts that shouldn't exist, and return him to the Great Thunderclap Temple.

Zhu Bajie and the other two were typical examples of making the best use of everything.

On the surface, the Heavenly Court contributed both effort and manpower for the Westward Journey, but in the end the Great Thunderclap Temple got all the benefits.

Not only did it give the Great Thunderclap Temple new combat strength, but it also let them spread the true scriptures and the Great Dao in the mortal world, expanding Buddhist influence.

In reality, that really was exactly how it was.

In this world, the Buddhist Great Thunderclap Temple flourishes, while the Heavenly Court is weak.

The relationship between the two faintly has a hint of superior and inferior.

Most importantly, the Grand Supreme vanished, and the Buddha became number one under heaven, with no one able to check and balance him.

If the Great Thunderclap Temple wished, it could even annihilate the Heavenly Court — or at least severely cripple it.

Inferior in skill, one can only bow one's head.

But now, the situation is somewhat different.

After the Buddha's battle with the Great Heavenly Demon, he passed into nirvana; the Great Thunderclap Temple's momentum and strength greatly declined, and from some actions it seems they still want to recruit the demon monkey to replenish their ranks.

The Heavenly Court's thinking is different; this time, they must kill the demon monkey, and cannot let the Great Thunderclap Temple flourish again.

The two sides have different thoughts, but one basis for cooperation remains unchanged: the existence of the Great Heavenly Demon.

No matter what, they must contain the Great Heavenly Demon.

Find an opportunity to eliminate this scourge!

It's just that the opportunity is hard to find; accumulating strength also takes time, and the Westward Journey road is a buffer for the Great Thunderclap Temple and the Heavenly Court.

They cannot give the Great Heavenly Demon an excuse to make a move prematurely.

This is the consensus of all the gods and Buddhas in the sky; of course, there are also quite a few people with different ideas.

If the Great Heavenly Demon really wants to act, why would he need an excuse?

Why not just have everyone work together, spare no cost, set up some heaven-destroying earth-annihilating destruction array, kill the Great Heavenly Demon, and return a bright and clear world to heaven and earth.

That is the true path.

It's just that such people are a minority, like the radicals Yang Jian and Nezha.

No one supports them.

Black Wind Stronghold.

It's not a place specially for Black Wind Junior Sister, nor is it the hot weapons used as stepping stones by young talents in various novels and films.

This Black Wind Stronghold is a demon lair.

The people inside the old lair had been replaced by the Great Immortal Black Wind.

In reality, he was a black bear spirit, one everyone was quite familiar with — the very black bear spirit who stole the kasaya and was finally subdued by Guanyin.

He counted as an "old acquaintance demon" with Sun Wukong and the others.

Naturally, in the current scripture-fetching team, only one "person" could recognize the Black Wind Demon — Ao Yu.

The current Black Wind Demon was naturally a far cry from his past self; not only had his strength greatly increased, but acting on the Bodhisattva's orders and with an imperial sword in hand, he could be said to be in high spirits.

In the scripture-fetching team, apart from Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong whom the Bodhisattva explicitly named as not to be killed.

The rest could all be killed.

The Black Wind Demon rubbed his fists and wiped his palms, looking at the scripture-fetching team, killing intent filling the sky.

"This counts as the first barely decent opponent on your road. Against this kind of demon, everyone needn't speak of any morality — gang up shoulder to shoulder and beat him to death!"

Tang Luo's voice came from the sky.

His person unseen, only his voice heard.

The scripture-fetching team members didn't say another word and immediately attacked.

The results of bitterly cultivating the Seventy-Two Transformations were manifested; incomparably surging magic power erupted, beating the Black Wind Demon until he suffered unspeakably, retreating step by step.

"What are these guys doing!" The Black Wind Demon suddenly felt he had poked a monkey's nest.

How come every single one has a bit of that demon monkey's feel from back then?

In less than a few breaths, the Black Wind Demon could no longer hold on, about to die and have his Dao extinguished.

He immediately brought out the magic treasure bestowed by the Bodhisattva, preparing a desperate counter-kill.

Since the Bodhisattva sent him, she naturally also gave him a trump card.

The magic treasure had just been brought out when a barely perceptible palm shadow emerged in the sky, flashing past.

That Buddhist magic treasure couldn't even release its power before it instantly split into four or five pieces, utterly destroyed.

The Black Wind Demon stared wide-eyed, unable to even speak his dying words, and was killed on the spot by the scripture-fetching team swarming him.