Volume 4: The End of Heavenly Secrets – Chapter 465: Seizing the Heavenly Court

Wukong knew that Buddha had already subdued the Queen Mother, and the Yellow-Horned Immortal and the Bodhisattva of Nili would not fight any longer. Time was precious now; if the Yellow-Horned Immortal returned, it would be difficult to steal the peaches.
Wukong entered the Jade Pool with ease. Along the way, he encountered several fairies, all of whom were stunned by his immobilization spell. There was no need to hide his face anymore—since the Heavenly Court was about to collapse, the world would be divided, with no longer any interference from the Heavenly Court.
The Heavenly Court had three treasures: the Peach Tree, the Furnace of Creation, and a vast peach orchard. For Wukong, the most attractive one was undoubtedly the Peach Tree.
Upon reaching the outside of the orchard, Wukong first used his secret technique to scan the area. Only a few Taiyi Golden Immortals were patrolling inside. After identifying the formation, he took out his Heavenly Secrets Staff and disrupted it, breaking the formation. Then he leaped inside, while Xuan Nu remained outside guarding. Wukong dealt with those Taiyi Golden Immortals and entered the orchard, standing beneath the Peach Tree, filled with emotion.
What a familiar scene! Pangu had sacrificed the essence of his own creation to form this peach tree, meant solely for the divine ape. The scene of the seven divine apes picking peaches would likely never happen again.
There were only two peaches on the tree. Wukong climbed up, carefully picked them, and placed them in a jade box at his waist. Then he jumped down and stood in front of Xuan Nu, saying, “There are only two left.”
Xuan Nu replied, “The Peach Tree has been in the hands of the Heavenly Court for forty thousand years. There should be twenty-eight peaches in total. After giving some away over the years, the Queen Mother must still have many left.”
“The Queen Mother… has been controlled by Buddha. It’s hard to steal the peaches now.”
Xuan Nu sneered, “Do you still want to wait another ten thousand years?”
Wukong shook his head. Xuan Nu asked, “With that in mind, do you have no other plans?”
“What plans?” Wukong suddenly realized something and exclaimed, “Right! Why not move this tree to Qi Tian Ling?”
Xuan Nu gave him a disdainful look and snapped, “How petty! Why not take over the entire Heavenly Court instead?”
Ah! Wukong could never have imagined that Xuan Nu would have such a bold idea. After a quick thought, he became interested. What Xuan Nu said sounded feasible after all.
The Jade Emperor was dead, the Heavenly Court was weak, and most of the sages had been captured by Buddha. The entire thirty-six heavens were now almost ownerless.
Qi Tian Ling was inhabited by demons. Moving the tree to the Mahavira Hall would indeed be a great mockery to the gods. As Wukong pondered, Xuan Nu said, “If you have such an idea, act now. Do you think Buddha will let this precious land go?”

Wukong felt a chill in his heart. As Xuan Nu had said, the Jade Emperor’s absence did not diminish the Queen Mother’s immense influence. It seemed it was time to bring in the Three Pure Ones. As senior figures in Taoism, they were the perfect candidates to take control of the Heavenly Court. With the assistance of Zhen Wu and Zi Wei as well, their prestige was no less than that of the Jade Emperor. Wukong set off right away. Though he was curious about what Yang Jian was doing in the Heavenly Court, seizing control of it was urgent at the moment, so he had no time to worry about it. He could go back to Guanjiangkou later to ask him.

Inside the Jade Pure Palace, everything was eerily quiet. Zhen Wu and Zi Wei sat on the ground, having just fought a fierce battle with Ni Li and were now recovering from the injuries caused by Lao Jun’s medicinal pills. The Three Pure Ones and the Holy Mother of Lishan both sat in deep thought, considering the changes in the Heavenly Court. Yuan Shi Tian Zun appeared to be in meditation, but in reality, his Xuan Kong Fa secret technique was constantly in operation as he watched the battle on Kunlun Island. When he saw the Jade Emperor dead, he was surprised and said, “The Heavenly Court will be in chaos.” Then he stood up.

Lao Jun and Ling Bao also stood up and asked, “What now?” Yuan Shi replied, “The Jade Emperor is dead, and the Queen Mother is under Buddha’s control. If we don’t act now, Taoism’s foundation will be completely destroyed!” Hearing this, Zhen Wu and Zi Wei also stood up. Zhen Wu said without looking back, “I’ll go to Qitianling for help!” and flew out of the palace.

After taking control of the Queen Mother, Buddha’s first order was for her to tell Huang Jiao Da Xian and the remaining eighteen sages to stop fighting. Under someone else’s control, the Queen Mother naturally obeyed. Buddha laughed triumphantly and said, “These eight or nine Golden Immortals will become eight or nine sages given time. You’re closely connected to the Creation Furnace; eventually, you too will become a sage.”

“Is it because of the Creation Furnace that I’ve always remained at the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal?” the Queen Mother asked anxiously.

Buddha, in high spirits, replied, “Of course. I placed restrictions on that Creation Furnace. If not, you really would have raised seven thousand two hundred sages. Hehe, who knew those two reckless kids would do such things!” The Queen Mother’s gaze dimmed. From beginning to end, neither she nor the Jade Emperor had escaped Buddha’s plans. With inferior skills, there was nothing they could do.

Seeing that Huang Jiao Da Xian and Ni Li Bodhisattva had also stopped fighting, Buddha asked, “This Huang Jiao Da Xian is quite peculiar. Give me his soul blood.” The Queen Mother hesitated for a moment before saying, “Let me keep this one Huang Jiao Da Xian as a talisman to save my life.” She used her magic to extract eighteen strands of soul blood from the Ni Wan Palace and said, “This is the soul blood of the eighteen sages.” Buddha was surprised. He hadn’t expected the Queen Mother to dare refuse, but he still took the eighteen strands of soul blood and said with a smile, “You girl are quite clever. Don’t worry, I have no intention of killing you. In fact, I need you to do something important for me!”

The Queen Mother said gloomily, “What use am I still?”
The Tathagata replied, “With the Jade Emperor absent, the Heavenly Court cannot remain leaderless for a single day. From today onward, you shall be the ruler of the Heavenly Court. How does that sound?”
The Queen Mother’s eyes lit up. She had thought that with the downfall of the Heavenly Court, she too would end up like those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, living as a mere shell of a person. But with the Tathagata’s words, she felt a renewed hope. If she became the ruler of the Heavenly Court, it wouldn’t be much different from before. So she asked tentatively, “Can I really do it?”
The Tathagata said sternly, “How could I deceive you?”
After hearing this, the Queen Mother turned away, her face twisted in extreme pain. Perhaps the Tathagata had spoken casually, but his words struck the deepest wound in her heart. The Queen Mother had always prided herself on her cunning, yet in front of the Tathagata, she was like a child, with no tactics working.
When she turned back, her face was once again adorned with a radiant smile. She said cheerfully, “The people in the Heavenly Court do respect me to some extent. I’ll do my best.”
The Tathagata said, “There’s nothing left in the Heavenly Court now. There’s no need to consider the thoughts of ordinary immortals or generals. What we need to guard against are the Three Pure Ones!”
The Queen Mother replied, “Yes, yes. We must act quickly before the Three Pure Ones get ahead of us.”
The Tathagata called over Bodhisattva Ni Li and said, “You lead Bodhisattva Wu Bian to Zeng City to find the Thousand-Foot Jade.”
He then said to the Queen Mother, “You lead Yellow-Horned Immortal and the Eighteen Sages to take control of the Heavenly Court. I will naturally protect you!”
So everyone ascended from Kunlun Island to the Jade Pool. As soon as they set foot there, Yellow-Horned Immortal’s expression changed. “Peaches!”
With just those two words, the Queen Mother knew something must have gone wrong with the Peach Tree. She hurriedly went to the back garden and saw that the formations there had been destroyed, several Taiyi Golden Immortals lay dead on the ground, and the only two remaining peaches were gone.
Furious, the Queen Mother stamped her foot and said, “What a perfect time to look for them.”
The Tathagata said slowly, “They will return.”
The Queen Mother asked, “How do you know?”
The Tathagata replied, “If they hadn’t returned, why wouldn’t they have taken the Peach Tree with them?”
Just then, a loud roar of dragons was heard in the distance. When they arrived at the South Heavenly Gate, they saw nine giant dragons emerging from the misty clouds, rushing forward. On their backs were ropes pulling a magnificent, grand carriage.
Many Taoist boys stood on the carriage, each holding drums and musical instruments, playing celestial music as they approached. Behind the carriage, a Taoist priest walked with his sleeves fluttering in the wind—naturally, it was the Venerable Lingbao, the Supreme Lord Laozi, sitting on a green ox behind him, followed by the Holy Mother of Lishan, the Purple Micro Emperor, and hundreds of Taoist cultivators.

Upon seeing this scene, the Queen Mother couldn’t help but feel yearning. The Nine-Dragon Chariot was something that the Primordial Lord must use when traveling during the establishment of the Heavenly Court—how many years had it been since she last saw such a sight? The Three Pure Ones were the pillars of Taoism and had made countless contributions to building the Heavenly Court. Without them in charge, how could she and the Jade Emperor sit so comfortably? Those who were once teachers and friends had now become enemies. Thinking of this, the Queen Mother glanced secretly at Buddha again. Buddha looked at the Nine-Dragon Chariot and said, “What is this Tao? Utter hypocrisy.” In the blink of an eye, the chariot came to a stop. A Taoist boy lifted the curtain, and the Primordial Lord stepped out, stepped onto the ground, and first bowed to everyone. Buddha stepped forward and said, “Great Lord, it’s been a long time.” The Primordial Lord gave Buddha a cold glance, scanning his face indifferently, and said, “No need for formalities.” Buddha’s smile grew wider. “The Peach Festival hasn’t arrived yet—how come all three of the Three Pure Ones are here?” The Primordial Lord replied, “The Heavenly Court is the land of Taoism. They come whenever they wish.” “Hmm, Taoism!” Buddha looked at the Queen Mother and asked, “What is Tao?” The Queen Mother stammered a few words but couldn’t say anything meaningful. Buddha then looked at the Primordial Lord and said, “You tell me, what is Tao?” Without hesitation, the Primordial Lord replied, “Tao is to never lose one’s true heart!” Buddha was stunned. He pondered these words for a moment, then pretended to suddenly understand, clapped his hands a few times, and nodded in approval. “Good! Never losing one’s true heart—that is Tao! Exactly!” The Primordial Lord added, “Tao is what keeps people from losing their true heart!” “Huh? That’s not right!” Buddha said. “Your Taoists always play tricks and end up contradicting themselves!” The Primordial Lord repeated, “Never losing one’s true heart, keeping people from losing it—that is Tao!” After he said this, Buddha didn’t say much, but the Queen Mother stared intently at Buddha’s back, her hatred growing deeper. True heart? What was a true heart? Since they were children, she and the Jade Emperor had been captured by Buddha and brought to this realm. From then on, a false dream existed in their consciousness, guiding them step by step. And the saddest part was that it was all fake. Though they held immense power, they had never been themselves even for a single day—how could they know what a true heart was? Hearing the definition of Tao given by the Primordial Lord, the Queen Mother’s heart overflowed with tears. Even if she could be herself for just one day, no, even just for a moment, to do whatever she truly wanted to do—how precious and rare that would be!

She had spent tens of thousands of years with the Jade Emperor, working together toward a common goal. Though their bond was peculiar, they trusted each other completely without any doubts, being even closer than siblings. Thinking that the Jade Emperor hadn’t even left a body behind, the Queen Mother felt deep sorrow and thought to herself, “I’ll finish what you intended to do.”