Chapter 924: Ninety-Nine Eighty-One

"Big Brother Yang, will they return safely?" Nezha looked in the direction the two had vanished and sent a voice transmission to Yang Jian. "It's just that Baldy is injured so badly..."

"Indeed, not light." Yang Jian's expression was calm.

"Then why didn't you let us help?" Nezha asked in puzzlement.

"Tang Xuanzang is a reckless fool." Yang Jian pointed at his own head. "No brains."

Taking advantage of Tang Luo's absence, 【I】 hurried to roast him a wave to amuse myself, making that bastard write nonsense.

Whether my little sister is cute or not is none of your damn business!

If the Mountains and Seas Realm had a court, Yang Jian would definitely have sued Tang Luo to court on grounds of "damage to reputation."

"Cough." Nezha coughed lightly.

"But he's not just a gorilla who only knows how to swing a stick, after all. He knows a kind of stratagem, probably from practice making perfect. This kind of stratagem has been brought to the realm of perfection by him, and it often manages to work." Yang Jian said, "The willing hook themselves."

"Fishing?" Nezha muttered.

However, what's being fished for this time isn't any fish. If the Jade Emperor is a shark, then Maitreya is a sea overlord even more dangerous and terrifying than the Jade Emperor — a plesiosaur.

You must know, the Jade Emperor had not yet reached the Da Luo realm.

Maitreya was already a Buddha, and a True Buddha on the same level as Tathagata, although firmly suppressed by Tathagata, but that is Tathagata Buddha the Ancestor.

Not counting the few reclusive experts who never show themselves, Maitreya can be said to be the number one person under Tai Shang and Tathagata.

What is Maitreya's strength like now?

Nezha didn't know. The only thing certain is that he is absolutely stronger than the Jade Emperor.

Being able to defeat the Jade Emperor, the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords contributed indispensably, and with them assisting, sharing much of the pressure, Tang Luo only needed to focus on dealing with the Jade Emperor.

But going to Great Thunderclap Temple, there are only Sun Wukong and Tang Luo, two people.

And without the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords, it inevitably makes one worried.

Is the trump card Tang Luo spoke of really big enough? Nezha truly couldn't be sure.

"Rest assured. If he really can't beat him, he'll summon us." Yang Jian said.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Nezha looked depressed.

He strongly suspected that he would suddenly be summoned over, face Maitreya's big mug, and hear Tang Luo's voice from behind: "Good brother, you hold the line for me first."

You might as well have just called me to go up together from the start!

"Haha." Yang Jian laughed loudly, as if he had also thought of a similar scene.

South Pole Immortal Weng beside them didn't know what Yang Jian was laughing at. The secrecy of the two's voice transmission naturally couldn't be intercepted by him.

One could only see that the two's moods seemed pretty good.

This counts as good news, meaning Heavenly Court won't have too great a turmoil.

It's just that the Jade Emperor's throne hangs high; the open and secret struggles to come are unavoidable.

If Yang Jian were willing, to tell the truth, among old acquaintances of the Mountains and Seas Realm and veteran ministers of Heavenly Court, aside from a small minority, they truly wouldn't mind and would unite to send him onto the Emperor's throne.

Yet the man only wants to be a Prison Warden.

In the Chaos Void, the Imperial Highway, a carriage.

Sun Wukong paced back and forth inside the spacious carriage, occasionally scratching the hair on his head. He wasn't in fully human form right now, but maintained the appearance of a humanoid monkey.

He looked very restless.

In comparison, Tang Luo beside him had a calm face, treating his own hollow eye sockets and his glazed-bone hands as nothing.

No, it should be said he would still look at his hands from time to time, with an expression full of appreciating a work of art.

"Master, this carriage is so slow! When will we arrive?" Sun Wukong paced back and forth, asking as he walked.

"Don't be anxious." Tang Luo said, "Pigsy and the others are fine, no need to worry."

Whatever happened, the current Sun Wukong naturally already knew clearly.

"I know." Sun Wukong took out the Golden-Hooped Rod and gripped it in hand. "Just want to make a move sooner."

"Very soon."

Tang Luo smiled. The golden flames in his hollow eye sockets suddenly dimmed, a faint gloomy light, captivating the soul.

Sumeru Heaven Pillar (Mount Sumeru), the topmost layer, Spirit Mountain, Great Thunderclap Temple.

In the meditation chamber, Venus Star stood, still in his hunky-man image.

"Heh." Maitreya looked at him. "Judging by your look, the Jade Emperor lost?"

"Yes, Tang Xuanzang has the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords." Venus Star said. "Sun Wukong and Yang Jian, borrowing the Eight Trigrams Furnace, fully recovered and advanced a step further, already entered Da Luo."

"What about Tang Xuanzang?"

"The Four Immortal-Slaying Swords are already destroyed. He is injured very badly, but..." Venus Star paused. "Very dangerous."

"Understood." Maitreya waved his hand.

Venus Star gave a slight bow, withdrew from the meditation chamber, did not linger on Mount Sumeru, and chose to leave.

The things he should do, he had already done. The rest had nothing to do with him. How things would develop was also not something he could influence.

Before leaving, Venus Star vaguely saw a road extend out from the Chaos Void, on it a dark-gold carriage speeding.

A golden-red rod stretched out, lifting the pearl curtain.

"Maitreya! Come out and receive death!"

A terrifying roar turned into sonic ripples in the Chaos Void, spreading toward the incomparably massive Mount Sumeru.

Venus Star did not stay, letting the chaotic currents of the Chaos Void sweep him toward the unknown world, far away.

The Imperial Highway stopped extending outside Mount Sumeru. The carriage halted. Tang Luo lifted the pearl curtain and walked out.

Before him was a Mount Sumeru with no visible bounds — whether left or right, or upper or lower bounds, none could be seen.

White jade color replaced everything, giving the feeling that the Chaos Void reached its end here.

And interestingly, if not for a definite position given, if Tang Luo "walked a bit" that way, the Mount Sumeru before his eyes would vanish without a trace.

Unlike the Heavenly Court's magnificent palaces, the ethereal immortal realm, or the resplendent Milky Way, Mount Sumeru gave one a feeling of weightiness, extreme weightiness.

It stood towering in the chaotic void, even replacing the chaotic void's very location.

Sun Wukong stood before Mount Sumeru, Golden-Hooped Rod in hand, his other hand stroking his chin; after a moment he said, "Master, it's so big, feels like I could smash it for a long time."

"Is that so?" Tang Luo replied noncommittally, "Then smash away."

Sun Wukong gripped the Golden-Hooped Rod with both hands, raised it high, and was about to bring it down.

The Mount Sumeru before them suddenly erupted with a beam of golden light; within the golden light, a gateway opened, seemingly inviting Tang Luo and his party to enter.

Inviting the guest into the urn — a trap lies within.

It was practically writing these eight large characters right before Tang Luo and Sun Wukong's eyes.

Sun Wukong paid it no heed; with a swing of his staff he smashed down, and the golden light from the gateway blazed brilliantly.

The power of this staff strike was swallowed and absorbed by the gateway.

At a casual glance there seemed to be no effect, but looking closely one discovered that on this boundless white-jade Mount Sumeru before them, cracks began to appear, spreading outward in all directions.

Those cracks were not large, but their number was extremely great, swiftly covering every inch of Mount Sumeru within sight.

After finishing that staff strike, Sun Wukong hoisted the Golden-Hooped Rod onto his shoulder, let out a cold laugh, and walked of his own accord toward the wide-open gateway.

Tang Luo and Sun Wukong walked side by side.

The meaning was very clear: it was because we are willing to enter the urn that we are coming in, not because we can only walk through this gate.

Given time, Sun Wukong could smash the entire Mount Sumeru into a pile of ruins!

Of course, this also had certain conditions — for instance, no excessive external interference.

Under the current circumstances, it would definitely not allow Sun Wukong to do so.

Upon entering the gateway, no special power came to separate Sun Wukong and Tang Luo.

The blinding golden light slowly faded, and Tang Luo and Sun Wukong appeared in a circular, spacious room.

At the room's center stood a giant golden Buddha.

Surrounding it were a vast number of Buddha statues; the sound of chanting sutras and invoking Buddha rang out incessantly the moment Tang Luo and his companion stepped in, piercing into their minds.

There was also a golden stele.

"Could this be the Demon-Subduing Pagoda?" Sun Wukong said.

"It is the Demon-Subduing Pagoda," Tang Luo said, "or at least it has the feel of the Demon-Subduing Pagoda."

Not only was Buddhist chanting pouring into their ears, but the two also felt a binding force coming from all directions, like chains trying to coil around their hands and feet.

Golden Buddhist light formed a black mist in their senses, trying to blind their eyes and deafen their ears.

The wide-open gateway directly sent Tang Luo and his companion into the Demon-Subduing Pagoda.

"Truly interesting, your old grandson has never been to the Demon-Subduing Pagoda before." Sun Wukong laughed, tossing the Golden-Hooped Rod onto the ground.

The Golden-Hooped Rod stood upright on the ground.

"Grow." Sun Wukong took a step back, "At a single command."

The Golden-Hooped Rod suddenly enlarged, instantly reaching the height of the giant Buddha, and still continuing to lengthen — its thickness remained at a certain degree, unchanged.

The Golden-Hooped Rod kept rising, rising.

After one minute, Sun Wukong grew impatient; why hasn't it pierced through this Demon-Subduing Pagoda yet?

"It seems to be connected to the chaotic void," Tang Luo said, "This way it can't be pierced through."

"Then smash it!"

Sun Wukong pressed his hand on the Golden-Hooped Rod and pushed forward.

The gigantic Golden-Hooped Rod toppled with a resounding boom; the giant Buddha before them turned into an illusory shadow the moment the rod fell, and was pierced through by the Golden-Hooped Rod.

Sun Wukong gave the Golden-Hooped Rod a light pat, and the colossal rod swept across all directions with astonishing power. Yet wherever it reached, those statues, the stele, even the walls all turned into illusory shadows.

These two moves failed to achieve the expected effect.

Tang Luo walked up to the golden stele and looked it over.

There were some characters on it —

Demon-Subduing Pagoda, ninety-nine times eighty-one layers total, imprisoning those of monstrous sins, the arch-traitors and arch-villains; this is the first layer.

Below was the number of villains imprisoned on each layer of the Demon-Subduing Pagoda.

The further down, the fewer the number; moreover, these ninety-nine times eighty-one layers are not nine times nine, eighty-one layers total.

But nine thousand nine hundred eighty-one layers!

Tang Luo quickly scanned through, his gaze stopping at the final layer, the nine thousand nine hundred eighty-first layer, the deepest part of the Demon-Subduing Pagoda.

There it was no longer a number, but a simple design; this design was unmistakably Guanyin's Jade Purifying Bottle.

After this design were two blurred names: Sun Wukong, Tang Xuanzang!

"Pigsy and the others are in the deepest part, let's go." Tang Luo said.

Behind the stele was a downward stairwell passage, hidden among the Buddha statues, visible only upon drawing near.

Sun Wukong returned the Golden-Hooped Rod to its normal size, took the lead, and followed the spiraling stairs downward to the second layer of the Demon-Subduing Pagoda.

Without another word, straight down came a staff strike!

Here it was no longer illusory shadows.

Terrifying power rampaged downward; the ground shattered layer after layer without cease, whether it was the Demon-Subduing Pagoda's own defenses or those precept monks who had long since prepared and formed arrays to block the way.

None were a match for even a single exchange of this staff strike.

"Boom!"

Sun Wukong shattered eighty-one layers in one staff strike, and together with Tang Luo set foot on the eighty-second layer.

Upon setting foot on this layer, the surrounding environment changed abruptly.

The original room style vanished; snow filled the sky, bone-piercing cold ice.