Chapter 794

The staff shadows piled up, completely sealing off all space to dodge.

Then, at the moment of descent, it contracted into a single staff, carrying the force of ten thousand jun, and came crashing down hard!

Kui Mu Lang was struck by the staff, his head bursting open; his headless corpse swayed twice, fell to the ground, and his soul shattered under that one blow.

The corpse couldn't even last a breath, exploding into a pile of powder with a boom—no sparks even formed.

Sun Wu sheathed his staff, spat out a mouthful of bloody气: "All dealt with."

After over a month of pursuit, the last of the Twenty-Eight Mansions died at his hands.

The Twenty-Eight Mansions dispatched by Heaven—none survived.

One could also say, each would need to be resurrected via the Investiture of the Gods.

After all, it wasn't Tang Luo who struck personally; with the current abilities of Sun Wu and the others, they still couldn't completely slay the immortals named on the Investiture of the Gods.

Looking across the Three Realms, only three and a half can ignore the Investiture of the Gods and truly kill.

First is the Buddha Amitabha of the Great Thunderclap Temple.

Second is the Supreme of Heaven.

Third is naturally the sudden emergence of the Buddha's foe, the Great Heavenly Demon Xuanzang—no one knows why this guy took a Buddhist dharma name.

But if the Heavenly Demon's actions could be guessed by common sense, then it wouldn't be a Heavenly Demon.

Lastly, half a one: the master of the monkey demon Sun Wukong, who appears and disappears like a dragon—Patriarch Bodhi.

When Tang Luo first appeared, many mistook him for Patriarch Bodhi.

And even now, many still believe Patriarch Bodhi is just an incarnation of the Great Heavenly Demon.

The monkey demon is a pawn in the Great Heavenly Demon and Buddha's magical duel.

Now, the Buddha Amitabha has entered nirvana; no one knows when he might return.

The Supreme vanished countless years ago; the Tushita Palace still stands, but only a few disciples remain.

The Great Heavenly Demon's demonic flames blaze skyward—Heaven truly feels immense pressure.

At this very moment, the Jade Emperor and all the senior ministers of Heaven gaze upon the Investiture of the Gods floating in midair.

Seeing Kui Mu Lang's divine title also dimmed, a group of immortals' faces grew especially grim.

"All dead." Li Jing said, his gold and silver sons beside him.

As for Nezha, he is not here.

"Resurrect Kui Mu Lang." The Jade Emperor lightly flicked his sleeve, spoke in a deep voice.

Majesty laced with oppressive gloom.

Soon, the deceased Kui Mu Lang was resurrected via the Investiture of the Gods—but not whole, merely a wolf pup, looking extremely weak.

As if a gust of wind would topple him.

"Did the Heavenly Demon act personally?" Kui Mu Lang having just appeared, the Jade Emperor immediately asked.

They urgently needed to know more.

Heaven possesses the Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind-Following Ear; theoretically, they should have full view of the pilgrimage team's situation, with no secrets at all.

But it is not so.

As the pilgrimage team members gradually gathered.

The Jade Emperor couldn't help but order the Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind-Following Ear to observe; the result: the Thousand-Mile Eye's gaze inevitably fell upon the Great Heavenly Demon.

The Demon glanced back, gave a light chuckle.

An invisible force crossed ten thousand li, making the Thousand-Mile Eye "see" as a blind man, the Wind-Following Ear "shake" as a deaf man.

Now Heaven can only grasp the pilgrimage team's general whereabouts and situation.

For detailed firsthand information, they still must rely on the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

This is also why the Jade Emperor urgently seeks to resurrect Kui Mu Lang.

As for the Twenty-Eight Mansions who died early, the information they can obtain is naturally inferior to that of the strong, and especially the last to die, Kui Mu Lang.

Resurrection consumes greatly; today, every bit of Heaven's strength must be conserved.

Cannot be squandered recklessly.

"No……" Facing the Jade Emperor's question, Kui Mu Lang shook his head: "The one who killed me was that monkey demon."

The Jade Emperor frowned slightly, said nothing more.

"Has he restored his former memories and power?" Li Jing asked.

As commander of the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, he had the right to speak when the Jade Emperor was absent and not questioning.

"No." Kui Mu Lang continued shaking his head: "But his power has recovered considerably—not just him; those demons, each of their strength is not to be trifled with; likely all were taught secret arts by the Great Heavenly Demon."

"Hmph!"

The Jade Emperor gave a cold snort.

"So your Twenty-Eight Mansions were slain by them?" Li Jing's tone was unkind: "The divine treasures bestowed upon you by Your Majesty—were they useless?"

Kui Mu Lang hurriedly said: "No, we used our treasures from the start—just that the Great Heavenly Demon also acted."

"He dares?" The Jade Emperor, originally seated, sprang to his feet.

Though, that furious appearance truly had a hint of sounding fierce but being weak inside.

Kui Mu Lang remained silent.

"If the Great Heavenly Demon acted, how could you have survived?" Li Jing asked.

"The Great Heavenly Demon didn't directly strike us; he used eerie demonic音, blood-red符籙, to empower and strengthen those few demons." Kui Mu Lang said.

His tone was rather strange.

How could the mighty Great Heavenly Demon still grant power to others?

This doesn't seem like a Heavenly Demon at all.

"Just because you moved a magic treasure?" Li Jing asked.

Kui Mu Lang nodded.

Next, Kui Mu Lang reported every detail, leaving nothing out.

It made the Jade Emperor's face dark as a pot bottom — these Twenty-Eight Mansions were actually so useless, fleeing without a fight.

Clearly at the start, if they had fought desperately they most likely could have killed one of the yaomo.

Then they could have seen the Great Heavenly Demon's reaction, and at the same time Heavenly Court's morale would have greatly increased.

Unexpectedly, a bunch of cowards actually scattered and fled, even calling it tactics.

Your tactics are to voluntarily disperse your strength, then be chased down until dead?

"What use are you!" The enraged Jade Emperor swept his wide sleeve; the little wolf cub's form, already not very solid, instantly grew even more indistinct.

Before Kui Mu Lang could speak a word begging for mercy, he dissipated directly.

He had only just been resurrected not long ago, and was "killed" again; the name on the Investiture of the Gods List dimmed once more.

"Deserting before the enemy — truly deserving of death." Li Jing said in a stern voice, which counted as explaining the Jade Emperor's action somewhat.

The remaining Heavenly Court high ministers all wore indifferent expressions, looking as if they did not take this matter to heart.

As for their true thoughts, those were hard to fathom.

The Jade Emperor did not explain anything, but turned his head to Taibai Jinxing: "You make a trip to Dou Rate Palace."

Taibai Jinxing hesitated a moment, bowed with hands clasped: "I obey Your Majesty's jade decree."

The Grand Supreme had already disappeared for countless years; the Three Realms all tacitly acknowledged the Grand Supreme was dead.

But Dou Rate Palace still stood; at least inside were still the Grand Supreme's disciples — the Grand Supreme's former mount the Green Ox and the alchemy dao-tong.

They were all the Grand Supreme's close attendants, plus a dozen or so dao-tong, counting as a special force within Heavenly Court.

These people stayed in Dou Rate Palace, rarely showing their faces on ordinary days; only back when Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in Heavenly Palace did they use the Grand Supreme's magic treasure to smash the yaohou once.

Now the situation was different; the Jade Emperor no longer planned to let them stay out of it.

Taibai Jinxing departed, the various gods and immortals dispersed, leaving only the Jade Emperor and Li Jing.

"Your Majesty, the Dou Rate Palace side..." Li Jing said softly.

Dou Rate Palace is different; their names are not on the Investiture of the Gods List, unlike the Twenty-Eight Mansions — if the sovereign wants a minister to die, the minister cannot but die.

The Jade Emperor waved his hand, showing he had a plan: "Back when the yaohou was captured after his blunder, those ungrateful things grew greedy and actually dared ask me for him."

Li Jing nodded.

What the Jade Emperor spoke of was when Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in Heavenly Palace, was captured, and Dou Rate Palace asked the Jade Emperor for him, saying they could refine the yaohou into a peerless elixir.

At that time, the Jade Emperor overruled all objections and agreed.

As a result a mishap occurred — the Eight Trigrams Furnace was destroyed, the yaohou escaped, continued wreaking havoc, and only then was Tathagata Buddha invited to suppress him.

Afterwards the Jade Emperor did not punish them at all, merely said a couple of perfunctory words.

"Now, it's also their turn to pay some price." The Jade Emperor's eyes flashed a trace of cold light. "I originally planned to have them act during the Journey to the West."

Li Jing spoke no further.

This time Dou Rate Palace, even with the Grand Supreme's lingering prestige, would not dare refuse.

Over many years, the Grand Supreme's name sheltered them, and that protection has just about run dry.

They aren't Manifested Sage True Lord, whose own strength is powerful enough to qualify him to stiffen his neck and hard-top the Jade Emperor. Even so, when it's time to act Manifested Sage True Lord wouldn't be vague, and he's also the Jade Emperor's maternal nephew, which is why he's so special.

Taibai Jinxing conveyed the decree to Dou Rate Palace; sure enough everything went smoothly.

Not long after leaving, the Green Ox and two dao-tong brought the magic treasures left by the Grand Supreme and descended to the mortal world, going to seek trouble for the scripture-fetching team.

After the three descended to the mortal world it was the same behavior — directly occupying mountains as yaoguai.

One cannot help but suspect: are Heavenly Court's "gods and yaoguai" just too pent up in Heavenly Court, so once they descend they stir up trouble?

Before long, Heavenly Court gods and immortals tasted something off.

Those newly accepted "mounts" and "disciples" — never mind the cannon fodder sent down — why do the Twenty-Eight Mansions, once they descend, occupy mountains as yaoguai and style themselves kings and hegemons?

One, to sever ties with Heavenly Court, showing they are now yaoguai, doing the surface work properly.

Two, it's actually venting — between life and death there is great terror, and they still won't let a person vent a bit before a death battle?

But Dou Rate Palace's Green Ox and two dao-tong are different.

These fellows actually have intentions of defecting.

The positions where the several "people" descended are indeed on the必经之路 of the scripture-fetching team's advance direction.

That point is fine, but they actually sincerely set up operations, planning to build a force belonging to them.

At this very moment, the Green Ox essence and two dao-tong were also sneering coldly in their hearts.

Want to send them to die? Fine, then they'll just defect outright — before they never had this chance to openly leave Heavenly Court carrying numerous magic treasures.

Names not on the Investiture of the Gods List means they can be this willful.

Atop the mountain peak, clouds and mist swirled.

Silver Horn and Golden Horn as well as Green Mountain Old Ancestor (Green Ox essence) drank facing each other, looking not the least bit yaoguai-like, more like gods and immortals.

"Since we've rebelled out of Heavenly Court, why don't we actively take refuge with the Great Heavenly Demon, but instead have to hold the reins here?" The former dao-tong, now Silver Horn Great King, spoke.

"It's not holding the reins; we need to display our own strength. The Great Heavenly Demon is what manner of figure — if we actively deliver ourselves to his door, he probably wouldn't even glance at us." The self-styled Green Mountain Old Ancestor, the Green Ox essence, said. "Moreover, we're only borrowing his name for a bit of shelter, not truly surrendering."

Their plan was like this: make a move to contest with the scripture-fetching team, display their powerful strength.

At the same time show goodwill to the Great Heavenly Demon, express they have no intention of being enemies with him, and can even secretly "watch and help each other."

Of course, this "watch and help each other" is a gilded way of putting it.

To put it bluntly, it's to become the Great Heavenly Demon's secret force.

At first hearing it sounds rather stupid, but it's actually these "people's" consistent hedging, "wise self-preservation" style.

The Grand Supreme's lingering prestige and the magic treasures he left behind give them the qualifications for this.

Or perhaps, self-assuredly, it exists.