Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 452: Pretending to Be Real
Apart from the Five Elders of Taoism, Wukong felt much more at ease. There were still many treasures left unclaimed on the Ten Continents and Three Islands. Wukong said to everyone, “If you don’t mind, let’s go rob them together.”
Zhu Rong exclaimed, “Great! Absolutely!”
Hou Tu replied, “You go ahead. I can’t do that.”
Guanyin had watched from the side for a long time. She hadn’t intervened at all. Seeing these ancient figures chatting and laughing, aside from the Five Elders of Taoism, although Wu Zhiqi had accomplished remarkable feats, the combat tactics of Hou Yi and Zhu Rong had also greatly impressed her. The ancient magic emphasized simplicity and solidity, lacking in fancy but extremely practical—truly embodying the idea of a heavy sword without a sharp edge.
Hearing that Wukong intended to raid the Ten Continents and Three Islands, Guanyin said, “I’m quite familiar with the Ten Continents and Three Islands. Let’s go together.”
Dayu said, “Hou Tu and I will return to Ling Mountain for now.”
Wukong asked, “Why return to Qitian Ridge instead of Ling Mountain?”
Hou Tu replied, “You’re undertaking such a major task—aren’t you worried about the Jade Emperor’s revenge? Qitian Ridge is guarded by qilins and other creatures, while Ling Mountain is empty. We’re going there just as a precaution.”
Wukong said, “You two are thoughtful. It’s good to be cautious.”
Dayu and Hou Tu took Wu Zhiqi to Ling Mountain, while Wukong, Guanyin, Zhu Rong, and Hou Yi headed straight for Fangzhang Immortal Island.
Fangzhang Immortal Island was the foremost among the Ten Continents and Three Islands. Aside from the mysterious Kunlun Immortal Island, no other island in the world could compare to it. The immortal herbs and magical plants on the island were needless to mention, but even more precious were the nine thousand-foot-tall jade pillars filled with natural energy.
Wukong had seen those jade pillars on Fangzhang Immortal Island back then. Since he was on a pilgrimage to obtain Buddhist scriptures, he had wanted to take them but lacked the means. Now that he had torn away the veil from the heavenly court, he might as well go all the way—whether Qitian Ridge would end up under attack from both sides was something to be dealt with later.
Sigh, if it weren’t for the sake of ordinary beings, he really shouldn’t have clashed with the heavenly court at this moment. But since things had come to this, further discussion was pointless. It was better to focus on building strength as soon as possible.
In Qitian Ridge, the five divine apes were the ones who most urgently needed to improve their strength. As representatives of the five elements, it was unknown how much change this would bring to them, but more natural energy could only be beneficial.
The natural energy within those jade pillars was purely innate—neither created by humans nor belonging to any living being. Wukong took them without any sense of guilt. There were nine such pillars on Fangzhang Immortal Island, and it was said that there were twenty or thirty on Kunlun Immortal Island. Hehe, he might have to visit there sooner or later.
When they arrived at Fangzhang Immortal Island, Donghua Emperor rushed out in panic. Seeing Guanyin there, he naturally harbored no goodwill and asked anxiously, “Guanyin, what do you intend to do?”
Guanyin said, “All the treasures on the island shall be taken.”
Donghua Dijun angrily retorted, “You claim to be a disciple of Buddhism, yet you still engage in such deeds?”
Guanyin replied, “I need not say much to you. Just remember these eight words: As time passes, good and evil will become evident.”
Donghua Dijun paid no attention to Guanyin’s words. Having lived in the Ten Continents and Three Islands for a long time, he regarded the southeastern seas as his own territory and felt pain at the sight of anything being damaged. But seeing that he was powerless to stop it, he floated upward and flew toward Kunlun Immortal Island to report the matter to the Queen Mother.
Hou Yi drew his bow behind his left hand, and a strange feathered arrow was shot forth. It was called strange because its shaft was covered in barbs. The arrow struck Donghua Dijun’s left leg, causing blood to gush out. Then, as if pulled by a rope, Donghua Dijun was dragged back.
Donghua Dijun glanced at Hou Yi and exclaimed in shock, “The Xuanyuan Bow!”
Hou Yi said, “You know too that the Xuanyuan Bow is extremely powerful. Don’t try to escape.”
Enduring the pain, Donghua Dijun said, “What you’ve done will never be tolerated by heaven and earth!”
Wukong laughed heartily and said, “Who knows what heaven and earth really can’t tolerate?”
He gave Zhu Rong a wink, and the two of them, one on each side, descended to Fangzhang Immortal Island and began to plunder it thoroughly. Wukong’s target was naturally those nine thousand-zhang-tall jade pillars.
He landed on the ground, drove away the surrounding immortals, and examined those jade pillars closely. The island was rich in spiritual energy, and perhaps for this reason, the nine pillars were as tall as nine hundred zhang. Wukong used his Size Transformation spell to shrink each pillar before putting them into his cauldron. He could sense the strong creative energy within the pillars. At that moment, he wondered why such pillars could grow here and where all this creative energy came from.
Driven by curiosity, Wukong delved deeper. Since the pillars arose from the ground, the creative energy must come from beneath it. He employed the secrets of the Mysterious Sky Technique to look downward and saw nine veins of creative energy winding their way into the earth, stretching eastward toward Kunlun Immortal Island.
These nine veins of creative energy were already thin, and such weak energy could never form pillars of that size. Those nine pillars were the result of past accumulation. In recent years, with less creative energy flowing into the heavenly realm, no more energy was spent to form such pillars.
It was said that Kunlun Immortal Island was connected to the mortal world—one above ground and one in the sky—linked by mysterious gates, forming a single entity indistinguishable from each other.
Since the creative energy came from Kunlun Immortal Island, it must have originated from the Thirty-Six Heavens. As the Primordial Lord had said, this was the remaining creative energy from the refinement of the heavens.
Refining the heavens in the celestial realm requires consuming creation energy, but since creation energy is scattered throughout heaven and earth, it still returns—condensing it into thousand-foot jade is indeed a method. Wukong could easily see that the thousand-foot jade contained immense amounts of creation energy; if given to the Divine Ape of Creation, its cultivation level would increase immeasurably.
There were still twenty or thirty such pieces on Kunlun Immortal Island, but now was not the right time. The Jade Emperor and Empress were in a fury, and if Wukong went there to cause trouble, even the entire celestial realm’s forces would likely be needed to capture him.
While Wukong took the thousand-foot jade, Zhu Rong focused on cultivating elixirs and magical herbs. Wherever he went, flames spread everywhere. The immortals on the island couldn’t bear the heat and flew up into the air. Seeing Donghua the Emperor being restrained, they were all at a loss.
In just a short while, the beautiful immortal realm of Fangzhang Island turned into a sea of fire. Zhu Rong’s fire couldn’t be extinguished by ordinary seawater. Besides, with these “kill stars” here, who would dare to put out the fire?
Seeing that aside from Kunlun Immortal Island, there was nothing else of value among the Ten Continents and Three Islands, the four of them abandoned Donghua the Emperor and returned to Qitian Ridge.
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In the Jade Pool, the Empress and Jade Emperor continued to ponder deeply. The Jade Emperor frowned tightly: “The Tian Gang Di Sha Creation Array was devised by us ourselves—how could Buddha know it would be harmful to him?” He shook his head and murmured, “If it’s not Buddha, it must be Qitian Ridge. But Qitian Ridge just came out of the Buddhist hell—how dare it provoke the celestial realm? Isn’t it afraid of facing enemies on both sides?”
The Empress snorted, “Detestable! Qitian Ridge is the weakest in strength yet the most arrogant!”
The Jade Emperor said, “Gou Chen and Dong Ji, as among the Six Imperial Lords, were killed by Guanyin and Maitreya. If we don’t avenge this, how can our celestial realm maintain its dignity?”
The Empress replied, “Though Gou Chen and Dong Ji have high status, it’s the Five Elders of Taoism who truly matter. Guanyin and Maitreya are but minor issues. What puzzles me is that both of them separated from Buddha—how come they seem to have united now?”
The Jade Emperor said, “Buddha always acts without a clear plan. If he really is behind this, we’ll need to think carefully.”
The Empress said, “Think carefully… This array lacks five sages. If we wait for those five to achieve sainthood, who knows when that will be?”
The Jade Emperor replied, “What we lack most now is creation energy. The matter of destroying nations is imperative. It seems sending the Five Elders of Taoism was indeed a misstep.”
“The destruction of nations must not be halted. Even if we summon eight or nine Golden Immortals, we still need to gather creation energy. Otherwise, once the Three Pure Ones appear, it will be impossible to carry this out,” said the Empress.
“The Three Pure Ones? Are their injuries real or not?”
“What do you mean? If they weren’t injured, why go to such lengths? What’s the need?” asked the Empress.
“The death of Gou Chen and Dong Ji—could it be… a trick to lure the enemy?” thought the Jade Emperor.
The Queen Mother smiled bitterly. “It’s too late to talk about it now.”
The Jade Emperor said, “It’s not too late. If it truly is Buddha’s trick to lure the enemy, then it proves he knows everything about our Heavenly Court. Aside from Gou Chen and the Great Emperor of Dong Ji Qinghua, there’s really no one else we can rely on. That’s why he first sent Maitreya and Guanyin to eliminate those two, taking advantage of our desire for revenge to draw out the Five Elders.”
The Queen Mother’s expression turned grim. “Are you saying Buddha has planted spies in our Heavenly Court? But how many people in the back gardens of the Jade Pool are aware of this?”
The Jade Emperor replied, “Though this matter is kept secret, I’m afraid some of the elders can’t be deceived.”
The Queen Mother shook her head repeatedly. “That’s impossible. The Three Pure Ones entered Buddhism and hell and returned severely injured—clearly, they are now at odds with Buddha.” After pondering for a while, she shook her head and sighed. The situation was baffling; even with her extraordinary wisdom, she couldn’t figure out the truth. Just then, someone came in with news—it was Thousand-Mile Eyes.
Thousand-Mile Eyes reported, “Your Majesty, the demons from Qi Tian Ling are wreaking havoc on Fang Zhuang Immortal Island. All the jade there has been taken by those demon monkeys!”
“What? Qi Tian Ling?” The Jade Emperor stood up abruptly.
The Queen Mother pressed her hand downward to calm him and asked, “How many of them are there?”
Thousand-Mile Eyes replied, “There’s Guanyin Bodhisattva, Hou Yi, and those demon monkeys from Huaguo Mountain—I recognize them. There’s also a woman in red whom I don’t know. She’s setting fires everywhere; Fang Zhuang Immortal Island is now reduced to ashes!”
“Fire God Zhu Rong!” The Queen Mother guessed immediately. She turned to Thousand-Mile Eyes and told him to go back. Calmer now, she asked the Jade Emperor, “Could you see clearly?”
The Jade Emperor asked, “See clearly what?”
The Queen Mother replied, “It’s still a trick to lure the enemy. Clearly, they want to draw out our Heavenly Court’s experts before striking! It seems Zhen Wu wasn’t lying—someone really does intend to take the Peach Tree of Immortality.”
The Jade Emperor said, “That’s a ruthless strategy!”
The Queen Mother replied, “At this point, grudges are trivial. As long as my foundation remains, I don’t need to worry about those worldly things. Don’t they dare attack Kunlun Immortal Island?”
The Jade Emperor understood the Queen Mother’s mindset. At this moment, he didn’t know the connection between Qi Tian Ling, the Three Pure Ones, Buddha, Guanyin, Maitreya, and others. But the deaths of the Five Elders of Taoism made him abandon his earlier resolve to seek revenge and calm down instead.
What he needed to do was to replace Buddha—a monumental task. To refine and transcend heaven, it wasn’t just Buddha who had such ambitions; surely the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother also desired it. Therefore, the priority now was to remain low-key and create five more sages.