Volume 3: A Long Journey Chapter 216: Capture the King First

Wukong said he would fight, and with just one move, he killed a celestial being with his staff, shocking all onlookers.
Li Jing didn’t know what to say, only pointing at Wukong and stammering, “You… you…”
Without even glancing at Li Jing, Wukong pointed his staff at the heavenly soldiers and said, “You traitors aiding the tiger—don’t blame me for not showing mercy.” He had already planned this: by slightly altering the shape of his Ruyi Tianji Staff, no one would recognize it as the one in Wukong’s hands.
The Bull Demon King shouted from below, “Well done!” Many monsters from Qitianling also cheered for Wukong. Wukong thought to himself that a fight was inevitable sooner or later, so it was better to take the initiative to show Qitianling’s firm determination to fight.
As he killed the ruler of Yanzhou, the heavenly soldiers were shocked, with varying reactions. The God of Gouchen, who was always aggressive, squinted his eyes, assessing the strength of this “Emperor Zhuanxu.” The Emperor of Eternal Life in the South Pole usually did little but watched like a spectator. The immortals from the Ten Continents and Islands had intended to show loyalty to the Heavenly Court by fighting, but seeing such carnage, they began to hesitate. The Supreme Lord of Xuantian remained with closed eyes, lost in thought.
The most embarrassed was naturally Li Jing. He had been appointed by the Jade Emperor as the Grand Marshal for Subduing Demons. Before the battle, he had received news that Qitianling’s elite forces had all gone to the Western Heaven, leaving it weak—a perfect opportunity to strike. Full of confidence, Li Jing led the Heavenly Court’s troops in attack, only to suffer a crushing defeat right away. Though he held the title of marshal, few were willing to follow his orders.
Even if Nezha didn’t want to, he still had to help Li Jing, so he stepped forward and said, “Let me fight him!” Li Jing asked, “Are you his match?” Nezha shook his head. He couldn’t gauge Zhuanxu’s strength, nor was he sure he could kill the ruler of Yanzhou in one strike. But there was no time for deep thought—if he didn’t step forward immediately, the morale of the heavenly soldiers would plummet.
Just then, the Supreme Lord of Saving Sufferers arrived at the front of the battle and said to Li Jing, “This man has killed our scattered immortals of the Heavenly Court. Such a crime against heaven—how can we let him escape? Let me deal with him!”
Li Jing was overjoyed. The Supreme Lord of Saving Sufferers was a true Hunyuan Golden Immortal. If he joined the fight, even if he lost, just holding his ground for a while could turn the tide.
Perhaps only this man from Qitianling could be counted on; others like the Bull Demon King could be matched by the gods in the Ziwei Palace.
The Supreme Lord of Saving Sufferers glared at Wukong and shouted, “You deserve punishment!”
Wukong laughed heartily. “I wonder who has accused me?” He pointed at the Supreme Lord of Saving Sufferers. “Is it you?” Then he pointed at Li Jing. “Is it him?” Finally, he pointed upward. “Is it that foolish and arrogant puppet Jade Emperor? Haha!”

The God of Saving Suffering said, “Heaven has its own laws! To dare defy orders and resist the heavenly troops is a capital crime!”
Wukong shouted, “Heavenly laws belong to heaven, not to humans. I don’t care who you consider heaven to be. All I know is that in my Qi Tian Ling, that worthless Jade Emperor is even worse than a dog!”
“Dareful!” The God of Saving Suffering swept his dust whisk and prepared to attack.
At that moment, a deep and authoritative voice came from within the cave in Qi Tian Ling: “Are you the Eastern Extreme Qinghua Great Emperor?” The voice wasn’t loud, yet it reached everyone’s ears clearly, as if spoken right beside them.
The God of Saving Suffering felt a chill in his heart. He retracted his dust whisk and said sternly, “Yes, it’s me. So what?”
“Good, good, good!” With these three words, a man in red stepped forward from the cave and stood beside Wukong—none other than the Qilin!
Seeing the Qilin appear, Wukong knew he didn’t need to fight himself, so he retreated to his own formation.
The Qilin glanced at the God of Saving Suffering from above and asked, “Were you the one who harbored malicious intentions toward the Nine Spirits Sacred One?”
The God of Saving Suffering frowned slightly. Who was this man? He felt like a junior in front of him. Yet he still replied bravely, “Demons in the world are ultimately a scourge. If I wanted to capture him, what’s wrong with that?”
Anger burned in the Qilin’s eyes. He had always felt guilty toward the Nine Spirits Sacred One—how could he allow others to insult him?
He placed his left hand behind his back and stretched out his right hand, saying, “Come, let me see what skills you have.” His tone was calm, yet it carried the weight of an imperial decree. Coupled with his arrogant and disdainful attitude, it was clear in his eyes that the God of Saving Suffering was nothing but prey.
The God of Saving Suffering grew furious. After years of cultivation, no one had ever treated him so disrespectfully. Though angry, he remained extremely cautious. He placed the Eight Trigrams Mirror around himself before using his dust whisk to lash out at the Qilin.
As the dust strands approached, the Qilin’s right hand turned red like coals, turning all the strands within three zhang into smoke, leaving not a trace of ash. Before the God of Saving Suffering could change his tactics, the Qilin stepped forward. He had been over ten zhang away from the God of Saving Suffering, but with a single step, he was right in front of him, within reach.
The God of Saving Suffering felt dizzy, still caught in the aftermath of the burning dust strands. The Qilin’s red palm pressed against his chest. That punch was incredibly fierce, and the mighty Eastern Extreme Qinghua Great Emperor was sent flying. Scattered in the air were the fragments of the Eight Trigrams Mirror.
A moment later, in the distance where the God of Saving Suffering had been flung, a cloud of blood sprayed up, followed by a stumbling figure fleeing in panic on a cloud.

The Qilin naturally disdained chasing after him. His strike revealed true fury, enough to make the Heavenly Lord of Relief fear to show himself for a hundred years. After repelling the Heavenly Lord of Relief, the Qilin scanned the ranks of the heavenly soldiers. His gaze was neither angry nor hostile, yet not a single one dared to meet his eyes.

Silence, utter silence. There were no less than two hundred thousand immortals and demons in heaven and on earth, yet not a sound was heard. Even Wukong was stunned speechless. He had only heard Dayu say that the Qilin’s martial prowess was unmatched, but he never expected it to be so domineering.

Looking at those heavenly soldiers, each of them was as if struck by lightning. From the God of Gou Chen down, everyone’s hearts were filled with turmoil. What kind of figure was the Heavenly Lord of Relief? One of the Six Sovereigns, on par with the Supreme God of Heaven, yet he was beaten into fleeing in disarray after just two moves, his famous Eight Trigrams Mirror shattered by a single strike from this man. Who exactly was this person?

Among the heavenly soldiers, only one remained calm as ever—the ever-closed-eyed Emperor Zhenwu. Even when the Heavenly Lord of Relief was sent flying, he did not open his eyes. But when the Qilin turned his gaze toward him, his dragon-like eyes suddenly opened.

The Qilin looked at Emperor Zhenwu, showing a hint of surprise, which then turned into relief. Yet he raised his eyebrows slightly, with a hint of provocation. Emperor Zhenwu smiled at the Qilin and then shook his head gently.

The Qilin nodded, gave Emperor Zhenwu a deep look, then turned back to the formation and said to Wukong, “I’m going to sleep. Call me if anything happens!”

Wukong glanced at the Qilin and then at Emperor Zhenwu. The two exchanged glances, seemingly old acquaintances.

Seeing the Qilin take control of the situation with just one move, Wukong thought, “If you can even drive away the Heavenly Lord of Relief, who would dare to act?”

Indeed, as soon as the Qilin turned back, Emperor Zhenwu led the Turtle and Snake generals along with the thirty-six generals of the North Heavenly Gate back to the South Heavenly Gate, not even giving Li Jing a word.

How could Li Jing afford to be angry with Emperor Zhenwu? Only now did he realize what it meant to be in a difficult situation with no way out. A grand battle to eliminate the monsters of Qi Tian Ling had been thrown into chaos by a mysterious figure. It didn’t matter if the ruler of Yan Zhou died, but the Heavenly Lord of Relief was the symbol of the heavenly soldiers’ spirit! If even he was defeated, how could the battle continue?

At that moment, he heard the voice he least wanted to hear, “Brothers, kill them!” It was Zhuanxu speaking.

The monsters of Qi Tian Ling were filled with excitement and could no longer contain their fighting spirit. Tens of thousands of demon soldiers took to the air and charged into the ranks of the heavenly soldiers.

The Bull Demon King was extremely impatient and immediately transformed into his true white bull form, trampling everywhere with his four hooves, unstoppable. Seeing how reckless the Bull Demon King was, Wukong urgently ordered the Wind King Yu to take Bai Ze and Xiezhi to hold back the God of Gou Chen. Now that the Heavenly Lord of Saving Sufferers had left, the God of Gou Chen became the greatest threat. As expected, as soon as the battle began, the Emperor of Eternal Life in the South Pole took advantage of the chaos to escape. The Left and Right Assistants along with the Twenty-Eight Constellations merely fought half-heartedly, retreating while ensuring their own safety. Li Jing had already lost control of the situation; with hundreds of thousands of soldiers fighting fiercely, no one could hear his commands, so he could only draw his sword and charge into the chaos. Wukong kept an eye on Li Jing, knowing well the principle that to capture the thief, one must first capture its leader. Although Li Jing wasn’t highly skilled, he held the position of Grand Marshal for Subduing Demons. If he could be controlled, the heavenly troops would lose their fighting spirit and scatter in disarray. Wukong flew toward Li Jing with his Ruyi Staff, but was intercepted by the Four Heavenly Kings along the way. As the commander-in-chief, Li Jing was highly vigilant, with the Four Heavenly Kings, the Nine Bright Stars, and Prince Nezha always by his side. After fighting against the Four Heavenly Kings for a while and pushing them back one by one, the Nine Bright Stars surrounded him. Tai Bai Jin Xing, being the most clever, guessed Wukong’s intention when he saw him charging straight at Li Jing. Fearing that these people wouldn’t be able to stop Wukong, he rushed back and shouted, “The Heavenly Kings, run quickly!” At that moment, a nine-headed lion-like creature rushed in, grabbed the Sun, Moon, Wood Deity, and Fire Deity in its mouth, and threw them several miles away. Wukong’s pressure decreased sharply, and he continued to chase after Li Jing. Li Jing had also realized Wukong’s intentions. He knew he was no match for this ancient ancestor of Zhuanxu, but having experienced many battles, he calmly summoned his precious pagoda—the Golden Exquisite Pagoda—which flew toward Wukong. Just then, a white light flashed in the sky, and the pagoda was instantly enclosed by a white circle. Wang Yu, holding the Divine Slaying Circle, laughed and said, “What a fine treasure!” Losing the Exquisite Pagoda given to him by Buddha, Li Jing was terrified and lost all will to resist. He tried to escape by leaping upward desperately, hoping to return to heaven. But Wukong wouldn’t let him go and pursued closely behind. Nezha quickly brought out the Heavenly Silk, but having suffered from it before, Wukong quickly used a golden light to dodge and reappeared in front of Li Jing. Wukong blocked his path with his Ruyi Staff. Seeing Li Jing in a state of panic and confusion, Wukong grew ruthless and smashed down on him. Li Jing hastily raised his sword to defend, but he had no idea the weight of the Ruyi Staff. That finely crafted magical weapon was as fragile as paper under the Ruyi Tianji Staff, which crushed everything in its path, sending the sword crashing down on Li Jing’s head.

Li Tianwang, the mighty general who had ruled the heavenly court for tens of thousands of years and was renowned for subduing demons, was able to raise three powerful sons—Jincha, Mucha, and Nezha. He received the Buddha’s precious golden pagoda adorned with eight treasures, and the Jade Emperor often entrusted him with important tasks… Yet now, no one could save his life. His magnificent body turned into a pile of flesh in an instant, and not even his soul could escape.