Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 278: To Fight or Not to Fight

Zhenwu and Ziwei remained resolute, leaving Laojun in a dilemma but forced to secretly admire their quick thinking. Initially, Laojun thought that eight or nine Golden Immortals should be enough to intimidate them, but Zhenwu immediately spotted a major flaw in that plan. The Heavenly Court was the domain of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of all heavens, yet it kept losing in the secret struggles with the Western Heaven. If those eight or nine Golden Immortals hadn’t been unable to escape, they would have destroyed the Western Heaven many times over.

Thus, Zhenwu declared that if Laojun revealed more insider information, it would bring great benefits in the future.
Laojun said, “Although the lives of all people in the world are important, what the eight or nine Golden Immortals do is to protect this world. With this, you should understand which is more important.”
Zhenwu remained unchanged upon hearing this. Ziwei had previously hinted to him about the Three Thousand Buddhas and the eight or nine Golden Immortals. The two of them naturally wanted to dig deeper, but due to insufficient clues, they couldn’t arrive at a conclusion. In any case, this matter was certainly no trivial affair.

Ziwei said, “I see. I thought this was planned by the Three Pure Ones, but it turns out it’s under the control of the Jade Emperor. Does that mean the Three Pure Ones also consider the Jade Emperor’s actions as a noble act of saving the world?”
Laojun replied, “That’s indeed the case.”
Ziwei continued, “Please forgive my bluntness. The eight or nine Golden Immortals number as many as seven thousand two hundred, with half being Taiyi and half being Hunyuan. I was shocked at first thinking they were under the Great Heavenly Venerable’s command. But upon reflection, aside from the Great Heavenly Venerable, who else in the world could possess such powers?”

“Now that Laojun says they’re under the Jade Emperor’s control, things become extremely strange. The Jade Emperor himself is only at the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal rank—how can he control them? What’s even more puzzling is that the Jade Emperor lacks Laojun’s alchemy skills, nor does he have the extraordinary techniques of the Great Heavenly Venerable or the Spirit Treasure Dao Venerable. How did these seven thousand-plus Golden Immortals achieve their powers? Did they just fall from the sky?”
Laojun said, “Ziwei’s doubts are not unfounded. As far as I know, the eight or nine Golden Immortals have cultivated through a miraculous technique, combined with the Queen Mother’s Peach Fruits—nothing exaggerated at all!”
Ziwei looked shocked and murmured, “There really is such an extraordinary technique!”
Zhenwu said, “That doesn’t make sense. I’ve heard of the eight or nine Golden Immortals for over a decade. If it were so easy to create Golden Immortals, why wouldn’t he create hundreds or thousands of them to conquer the world and do as he pleases?”
Laojun laughed and said, “You two treat me as an omniscient. If that were possible, the Jade Emperor wouldn’t be a fool either. There must be flaws in this technique, but I’m not aware of them.”

He looked at Zi Wei and Zhen Wu with a doubtful expression and said, “Don’t count on luck. The Jade Emperor hasn’t used this power yet because he hasn’t faced a serious threat, so he’s chosen to endure. But if it really comes to a life-or-death situation, will he still care about the consequences? By then, both sides will be destroyed—probably not what you two want.” Lao Jun’s words were calm, yet exactly what Zi Wei and Zhen Wu didn’t want to hear.

Zhen Wu knew Lao Jun’s words were highly likely to come true. After some thought, he gasped and asked, “What exactly does he plan to do?” Zi Wei said, “Enough, enough. We need to start from the beginning. Lao Jun, do you know the consequences of ‘merging the heavens’?”

Lao Jun slowly explained, “The Thirty-Six Heavens are arranged according to the sequence of the Heavenly Stems, starting from the first layer, the Tai Huang Huang Zeng Heaven, to the thirty-sixth layer, the Da Luo Heaven. Each layer spans ten thousand miles. ‘Merging the heavens’ actually means destroying them. If the number of layers remains unchanged, each ten-thousand-mile area will shrink to a thousand miles; if the area remains the same, I’m afraid… everything below the twenty-seventh layer will cease to exist.”

Zi Wei said, “That’s roughly what Lao Jun means. There are countless gods and immortals, as well as monsters and birds in the Thirty-Six Heavens. From the twenty-eighth layer down, every layer is densely populated. If the heavens disappear, where will these people go?”

Zhen Wu snorted and said, “Eight or nine out of ten will fall into the mortal world. If these people lose control… the consequences are obvious.”

Lao Jun said, “‘Merging the heavens’ is absolutely unacceptable!”

Zi Wei was slightly surprised, then suddenly realized—it was this the real purpose of Lao Jun’s arrival. Indeed, experience makes one wise. With just a few casual words, Lao Jun had drained their fighting spirit and led them to ponder whether “merging the heavens” was right or not.

Zi Wei said, “Please speak plainly, Lao Jun.”

Lao Jun replied, “As you both know, the Thirty-Six Heavens are built in mid-air without any pillars or beams, consuming countless natural resources. The reason for ‘merging the heavens’ is to save these resources for the eight or nine Golden Immortals.”

Zi Wei thought for a moment and said, “Those resources… were sufficient at first.”

Lao Jun nodded. “Exactly! If those resources hadn’t been inexhaustible, how could the Thirty-Six Heavens have been built? But since the rise of Buddhism on Mount Ling in the Western Heavens, it has been encroaching eastward for tens of thousands of years. I wonder if anyone has calculated the cost—today’s Western Ox and Joy Continent is even larger than a hundred times what it was back then!”

Zhen Wu snapped, “It’s all because the Jade Emperor is weak and allows himself to be bullied for no reason.”

Lao Jun said, “It’s not entirely his fault. Our Tai Yi Xuan Men believes in standing firm and being strong through self-restraint. Thus, to fight is to fight; not to fight is also to fight.”

Zhen Wu laughed and said, “If you don’t fight while others do, isn’t that why we’re in this situation now?”

Laojun said, “The situation is as it is. If we insist on every tiny detail, the outcome may not be as good as today. Whether this is good or bad is truly hard to determine.”
Ziwei asked tentatively, “Does Laojun mean it’s time to fight now?”
Laojun replied, “Exactly! The way of heaven is to achieve victory without struggle—not because there’s no struggle, but because the time has not yet come!”
Zhenwu asked, “How do we know now is the right time?”
Laojun said, “Taking action that goes against the will of heaven is no different from burning one’s bridges. It may save effort, but it also cuts off one’s own escape route. This is a desperate move that should only be used when there’s no other choice!”
Ziwei said, “So, we have to fight to seize what’s needed?”
Laojun said, “Back then, I asked a friend to pass on the Buddha’s teachings to Buddha himself, believing he could understand their true essence and establish a path of supreme goodness. Unexpectedly, Buddha distorted the original intent of Buddhism and lived with a mindset of plunder, not seeking to save others but only himself. That’s how he exploited the common people to build the magnificent Ling Mountain we see today.”
“You must understand that all things in the universe should ‘follow their natural nature’ so as not to stifle vitality. If one acts against this principle and ‘acts recklessly,’ all things cannot ‘thrive.’ That’s a great mistake!”
Ziwei said, “I understand Laojun’s meaning. I’ll take some time to think about this.”
Zhenwu sighed, “I was once full of ambition, but Laojun has awakened me suddenly. It seems all my long-term plans were in vain.”
Laojun said, “Xuantian God, don’t say that. If you two don’t want to see Taoism collapse, please join me in persuading the Jade Emperor. If he insists on his own way, perhaps I’ll have to scare him too. By then, hehe, you two will have your trump cards to use—why waste them?”
Ziwei was speechless for a moment. Laojun, through his words, had somehow involved himself and Zhenwu in this plan.
Laojun said seriously, “Emperor Ziwei, Xuantian God, this matter is extremely urgent. We must show our determination to compete with the Western Heaven without hesitation. The Jade Emperor and Empress Mother aren’t completely foolish. If they see our unity and weigh the pros and cons, they’ll most likely give up their idea of going against heaven.”
Zhenwu sighed, “All this hard work, just to make clothes for others in the end!”
Laojun said, “Xuantian God, I’m not the Jade Emperor’s lobbyist. Everything must be done for the greater good!”
Ziwei said, “We need to think more carefully before making a decision.”
Seeing that he had convinced the two, Laojun felt his trip hadn’t been in vain, so he got up to leave.
※　※　※
At the sacred Jade Pool, in front of the Empress Mother, Donghua Emperor and Dongfang Shuo arrived in haste.
Seeing Donghua Emperor rarely coming here, the Empress Mother quickly arranged a seat for him.
Donghua Emperor thanked her but didn’t sit down. Instead, he said, “I’ve come here today to ask the Empress Mother to do justice.”

The Queen Mother smiled and said, “How so? Is there really someone who dares to make you suffer?”
The Eastern Emperor replied, “Exactly! That man is arrogant and disrespectful to our Taoist sect. It’s not a big deal for me to avenge this, but I’m afraid if justice isn’t served, it will make everyone look down on our sect.”
The Queen Mother took the Eastern Emperor’s words seriously and asked gravely, “Who could be so bold? What has he done?”
Then the Eastern Emperor recounted how Tang Seng had demoted Zhu Bajie to a pig and ordered Sun Wukong to chase after Bajie to the Immortal Island of Fangzhang. By exaggerating the situation, he painted Sun Wukong as a despicable scoundrel.
The Queen Mother shuddered at heart. Could it be that Tian Peng had revealed his identity, allowing Guanyin or Buddha to see through the deception? If not, why would they pursue him so relentlessly?
The Queen Mother said, “Why would he want to kill Zhu Bajie? There’s no reason at all for this.”
The Eastern Emperor replied, “That monkey claims Zhu Bajie violated the precepts of lust and brought shame to Buddhism, and he swears to kill him to satisfy his anger. In my opinion, he’s just making things up!”
The Queen Mother said, “Since he was already driven out, what does his actions have to do with Buddhism? This reasoning is far too far-fetched.”
The Eastern Emperor said, “That’s exactly what the monkey said. He threatened to destroy our Immortal Island of Fangzhang. I had no choice but to draw out the Sword of Exterminating Immortals to scare him away!”
The Queen Mother was shocked and said, “That monkey is so powerful that he forced you to use the Sword of Exterminating Immortals!”
The Eastern Emperor replied, “Indeed. None of my Taiyi Golden Immortals can match him!”
The Queen Mother pondered for a moment and said, “What a remarkable Sun Wukong!” She then turned to the Eastern Emperor and said, “The matter of Zhu Bajie violating the precepts is probably just an excuse from the monkey. He must have other motives for coming to the Immortal Island of Fangzhang!”
The Eastern Emperor said, “Hmph, it’s possible that Zhu Bajie knows something embarrassing about them and wants to kill him to silence him!”
The Queen Mother had an idea. The Eastern Emperor’s words reminded her, so she said, “Only the parties involved can clarify the truth. Go and bring Zhu Bajie here; I’ll ask him carefully!”
Just as the Eastern Emperor and Dongfang Shuo left, the Lingguan rushed in and said, “Your Majesty, the Jade Emperor will arrive shortly. He wants to taste the fine wine made from the cinnabar fruits from last time.”
The Queen Mother smiled and said, “What a glutton.” Then she instructed the fairy in red behind her to prepare the wine.
Indeed, in just a short while, the Jade Emperor’s carriage arrived. As soon as he sat down, before he could even pick up his wine cup, the Eastern Emperor had already brought Zhu Bajie in.
Zhu Bajie entered and saw that the Jade Pool of the Queen Mother was still dazzlingly beautiful and magnificent. He couldn’t help but recall his own glorious days in the past. He fell to the ground and cried out, “Your servant pays his respects to the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother!”