Chapter 181: Aftermath of the Women's Kingdom, preparing to ascend Lingshan

In the Women's Kingdom, the matter of the Queen's marriage kept the capital bustling for three full days, only returning to its usual calm thereafter. However, men and marriage were now the talk of every street and alley.

After Xuanzang and the Queen married, they held two court sessions. The first established the future national policy: the Zimu River had to be sealed off, and the Fetal-Shedding Spring had to be strictly controlled. Without these, bringing the Women's Kingdom back to the right path would be empty talk.

The second session established an institution named the "Heart-Questioning Pavilion." Its primary function was to screen suitable men. Once the Women's Kingdom publicly announced that men could reside there, the scene would surely be unprecedented, making the Pavilion's role crucial.

Anyone harboring ulterior motives toward the Women's Kingdom, or those with malicious intent toward its people, or individuals of poor character, would be detected by the Heart-Questioning Pavilion and barred from entry.

For this Pavilion, Xuanzang specifically had his true self research a "Heart-Questioning Array," which was set up at every city gate, while the Pavilion staff acted as supervisors. Any person with ill intent would be immediately purged.

At the same time, construction of the Human Ancestral Temple began in the Women's Kingdom. Once completed, and once the Pavilion staff were familiar with the array, the kingdom would release the news.

Half a month passed. Xuanzang first had the demons under his command change their appearances and appear in the capital. In these two weeks, the capital's citizens had grown accustomed to the presence of men.

Meanwhile, various policies were perfected. The Pavilion staff had mastered the array and were currently installing it at the gates, and the Ancestral Temple was finished. Now, they only awaited the arrival of the people from the Human Ancestral Land to invite the deities, after which the temple could begin operation.

During this half-month, Xuanzang had Yang Jian and the others go to neighboring states to bring back homeless men. After a round of "heart-questioning," they kept those who were sincere about living a life and lacked malice, sending the rest back.

The Queen of the Women's Kingdom was also actively issuing various policies and handling incidents within the state. After all, the beginning of any reform requires bloodshed, and the Women's Kingdom was no exception. Even with the intervention of Xuanzang and the other cultivators, bloodshed was unavoidable.

Another half-month later, with the Queen in the court and Xuanzang among the people, their joint efforts saw the reforms begin to bear fruit. In the capital alone, a thousand couples were married, with many more in other prefectures and counties. The Women's Kingdom was gradually returning to the right path. Xuanzang knew it was time to depart.

"Yu'er, wait for my return. At most half a year, at least a few months, and I will be back," Xuanzang said softly to Liang Yu.

Liang Yu was the Queen of the Women's Kingdom, also known as the Queen of Xiliang. Liang Yu was her true name.

"Alright, I will wait for your return. No matter how long, I will wait," Liang Yu nodded, her eyes filled with reluctance. But she knew her husband was doing something of great importance, involving all living beings in the Primordial World, and she had no reason to stop him.

"Is everything prepared?" Xuanzang asked Yang Jian and the others in a deep voice.

"Everything is prepared, Master Xuanzang. You may rest assured," Dapeng nodded.

"Has the Heavenly Court been contacted?" Xuanzang asked Xiaoyue.

"I have already contacted Demon Sage Baize. They can send troops to assist us at any time," Xiaoyue looked at Xuanzang and nodded.

"Yang Jian, what did the Sea of Blood say?" Xuanzang turned his gaze to Yang Jian.

"Although the Sea of Blood agreed, they said only one Heavenly King would lead five thousand Asuras to come," Yang Jian said to Xuanzang.

"We don't need that many. One thousand is enough. After all, they still have some troublesome matters with the Demon Sect, so we shouldn't exhaust them too much right now," Xuanzang thought for a moment and said.

"Understood!" Hearing Xuanzang say this, Yang Jian nodded.

"Mo'ang, have the Four Seas been notified?" Xuanzang asked again.

"The Four Seas have entered a state of combat readiness," Ao Mo'ang nodded.

"That's about it. I'm not worried about the Ren Sect at all. Once the Heavenly Dao Hongjun descends, there will be people to deal with him. We only need to take down Lingshan," Xuanzang said with a smile.

"Good!" The group's morale was high.

Subsequently, Xuanzang contacted Chan Master Wuchao; this was an agreement made between the former Xuanzang and him. After contacting Wuchao, Xuanzang reached out to the Wu Clan in the Central Imperial State.

Since they were about to attack Lingshan, letting the Wu Clan come to reap some merit before the attack was also a good choice.

After Xuanzang and his group departed from the Women's Kingdom, other forces that received their messages also began preparations. This was an assault on Lingshan, a Saint's sect! In the past, this would have been unthinkable, but now, led by the Ren Sect and organized by the person destined to face the calamity, the flames in their hearts were ignited.

If they succeeded, they would make a fortune; if they failed, it wouldn't matter much—after all, when the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up.

Not long after leaving the Women's Kingdom, Xuanzang saw a person wearing chainmail armor, looking exactly like Sun Wukong, appear before them.

Seeing this person who looked exactly like him, Sun Wukong felt an inexplicable sense of closeness for some reason.

"Who are you? Why do you transform into the likeness of Old Sun?" Although the person looked familiar, Sun Wukong still asked this.

"My name is Liu'er. I am here by the order of the Demon Emperor to assist Master Xuanzang," the Six-Eared Macaque said to Xuanzang.

"Good!" Xuanzang nodded.

"Why does he look exactly like Old Sun? And Old Sun feels a sense of closeness to him," Sun Wukong asked Dapeng curiously.

"Do you know about the Four Primordial Monkeys?" Yang Jian asked Sun Wukong.

"No!" Sun Wukong shook his head. No one had ever told him, so of course he didn't know!

"Alright, let us tell you about it," Yang Jian smiled.

Then, he and Dapeng took turns telling Sun Wukong about the Four Primordial Monkeys. These were things Pan Huang had told them long ago.

Because the guardian beasts of Shouyang Mountain were the Gibbon and the Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey from the Four Primordial Monkeys, they hadn't understood at first why two monkeys were used as guardians. But after learning their origins, they realized how formidable the Four Primordial Monkeys were.

Knowing the origins of the Four Primordial Monkeys, Sun Wukong soon hit it off with the Six-Eared Macaque, and they both thought about visiting the other two brothers on Shouyang Mountain once the Lingshan affair was over.

Soon, they arrived at the Flaming Mountain. The mountain did not stop Xuanzang and the others; it was merely Samadhi True Fire, which couldn't stop them. Ao Mo'ang alone had several ways to extinguish the fires of the Flaming Mountain.

Just as they extinguished the fires, the Bull Demon King arrived with his men.

"Greetings, Master Xuanzang!" Seeing Xuanzang, the Bull Demon King smiled and bowed.

"Greetings, Great Sage!" Xuanzang said with a smile.

"Master Xuanzang, after Old Bull returned from the Women's Kingdom the other day, I acquired two concubines," the Bull Demon King said to Xuanzang with a smile.

"Great Sage, there's no need to tell me about such private matters, is there?" Xuanzang felt a bit awkward.

"Master Xuanzang, Old Bull hasn't finished yet!" Knowing Xuanzang had misunderstood him, the Bull Demon King quickly said.

"That day, when Old Bull returned to Jilei Mountain from the Women's Kingdom, I encountered two fox demons. Later, I took them as concubines. Through getting to know them, I discovered their identities were somewhat unusual," the Bull Demon King explained to Xuanzang.

"Oh? Tell me about it!" Hearing the Bull Demon King say this, Xuanzang suddenly became interested.

"These two fox demons are actually from the Qingqiu Fox Clan. But that's not the most critical part; the most critical part is that these two Qingqiu foxes have a connection to Taishang Laojun," the Bull Demon King whispered to Xuanzang.

Hearing the Bull Demon King's words, Xuanzang immediately thought of Su Daji and Su Wan'er. Back at Pingding Mountain, he had discovered anomalies and reported the situation to Yu the Great. After Yu the Great and Nüjiao returned to Qingqiu, he heard they had purged the clan, and bloodshed had occurred.

In the end, Su Daji had escaped Qingqiu, and there had been no news of her since. He hadn't expected to hear of them in this place.

"What does the Great Sage mean by this?" Xuanzang looked at the Bull Demon King and asked.

"I asked the fox mother and daughter, and they said they could help us deal with Taishang Laojun, but they have one condition: to be allowed to return to Qingqiu."

The Bull Demon King only knew of the connection between Su Daji, Su Wan'er, and Taishang Laojun, but he was unaware of their relationship with Qingqiu, so he had agreed without hesitation.

"No problem, I agree," Xuanzang said with a smile.

Seeing this, the Bull Demon King nodded. However, he seemed to have forgotten one thing: Xuanzang's agreement meant nothing. If Su Daji and the others wanted to return to Qingqiu, they needed the consent of Yu the Great and Nüjiao.

"Master Xuanzang, Old Bull will wait for your news," the Bull Demon King said, bowing to Xuanzang after settling the matter.

"Good!" Xuanzang nodded.

After parting with the Bull Demon King, Xuanzang and his group headed straight for Lingshan. This left the demons along the way who had intended to intercept them very confused. What was going on with this scripture-seeker? Why weren't they following the script?

Passing through Zhuzi State, the Golden-Haired Roar perceived the aura of Xuanzang and the others, but they did not stop in Zhuzi State, heading straight west instead, which made him realize something was wrong.

The Golden-Haired Roar quickly returned to Lingshan to report this to Guanyin. Upon learning this, Guanyin immediately found Tathagata.

"Buddha, the scripture-seeker is acting strangely," Guanyin said to Tathagata.

"What is strange about the scripture-seeker?" Before Tathagata could speak, the Buddha of Fear-of-Leaving-Grandson spoke first.

"The scripture-seeker is not following the route we planned. My mount, the Golden-Haired Roar, saw him in Zhuzi State, but he did not stop there, heading straight for our Lingshan instead," Guanyin said.

"Venerable Guanyin, you probably don't know what happened during your recovery," the Buddha of Fear-of-Leaving-Grandson looked at Guanyin with a smile.

Guanyin looked at him, not knowing what he was trying to express.

"I have already cleared Xuanzang's memories. The current Xuanzang is wholeheartedly devoted to our Lingshan. How could he possibly do what you say?" the Buddha of Fear-of-Leaving-Grandson said with a smile.

"Venerable Guanyin, the Buddha of Fear-of-Leaving-Grandson did indeed do that, and Xuanzang is very obedient now. We don't need to worry about this at all," Tathagata looked at Guanyin with a smile.

Seeing Tathagata like this, Guanyin was furious and could only snort coldly before leaving the Great Thunder Sound Temple.

After leaving, Guanyin went personally to intercept Xuanzang, wanting to stop him. The Golden-Haired Roar was his mount; there was no reason for him to lie, as this was a matter that could earn merit.

Soon, Guanyin intercepted Xuanzang and his group. Seeing Guanyin blocking the path, Xuanzang was not surprised at all; they were acting so openly that it was impossible not to be discovered.

However, what surprised Xuanzang was that only Guanyin had come to intercept them. This was a bit unexpected.

"Go back!" Guanyin said coldly upon seeing Xuanzang.

Xuanzang ignored him and vanished from the spot in a flash. When he reappeared, he was already behind Guanyin.

"Do you think I am still the Xuanzang of the past?" Xuanzang whispered in Guanyin's ear.

Before Guanyin could react, his consciousness vanished.

"Continue forward. Try to reach the Cloud-Crossing Ferry by sunset," Xuanzang said coldly, looking at the fallen Guanyin.

"Understood!" Yang Jian and the others nodded.

By sunset, the Cloud-Crossing Ferry appeared before them, but Xuanzang stopped, and the others looked at him with confusion.

"Wait a little longer. There are others who haven't arrived yet," Xuanzang said with a smile.

"Others?" Dapeng and the others were puzzled. Weren't they already complete? The rest should only appear when they were attacking Lingshan!

But since Master Xuanzang said so, they couldn't say anything and could only wait on the spot.

When night fell, a smile suddenly appeared on Xuanzang's face.

The next day!

"Let's go. We are ascending Lingshan," Xuanzang said to the group.

But just as they were approaching the Cloud-Crossing Ferry, a very crude fortress appeared before them. It was crude because it was built temporarily with stones, standing alone in the middle of the road.

"I didn't expect that as we approached Lingshan, someone would dare to block our path," Xuanzang said with a smile looking at the fortress.

Hearing Xuanzang's words, the others rolled their eyes. Master Xuanzang, would you listen to what you're saying? They weren't blind—such strong blood-energy, such a rugged style, and the complete absence of primordial spirit energy... wasn't this the Wu Clan?

"Master, leave this to me!" The Black Bear Spirit, unaware of the situation, bowed to Xuanzang and charged forward before Xuanzang could say anything.

Yang Jian and Dapeng looked at the Black Bear Spirit's back and mourned for him for three seconds.

Was the Wu Clan so easy to deal with? They were Da Luo Golden Immortals and wouldn't dare say they could steadily win against the Wu Clan here. It seemed this must be Master Xuanzang's method; he wanted to let the Wu Clan reap some merit at this final moment.

"Since it's like this, let's cooperate with Master Xuanzang and put on a show. Consider it a warm-up exercise before attacking Lingshan," Dapeng transmitted to Yang Jian and the others.

"Good!" They nodded, preparing to perform once the Black Bear Spirit was defeated.

(End of chapter)