Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 208 - 201: The 33 Divine Artifacts Appear

Chapter 208: Chapter 201: The 33 Divine Artifacts Appear

The three Great Emperors, with their intricate minds, feigned defeat at the hands of Yuan Hong and sat back to watch the tiger fight, observing Yuan Hong and the Great Emperor Qinghua clash fiercely.

Great Emperor Qinghua had truly undertaken a grueling retreat after his return. From the very first exchange, Yuan Hong felt a significant difference. His swordsmanship was much sharper than before, and it no longer contained the flamboyant moves of the past. Although the sword forms were ugly, each strike targeted Yuan Hong’s vital points, threatening to kill him instantly if he was not careful.

Yuan Hong sneered, "A defeated underling, no matter how hard you train, it’s futile!"

Unperturbed, Great Emperor Qinghua kept up his fierce attacks, but Yuan Hong, deploying his staff technique, forced him back in an instant. Great Emperor Qinghua couldn’t help feeling despondent. Had the sword technique he pondered over for so long been so easily defeated when facing him? This was a massive blow.

The three Great Emperors pretended to be defeated, causing immense psychological pressure on Great Emperor Qinghua. His confidence in his swordsmanship was now thoroughly shaken!

Yuan Hong summoned the Primordial Golden Dou and the Golden Jiao Scissors in an attack. In just a few moves, he had Great Emperor Qinghua spitting blood and sent flying.

"Scoundrel, if you dare, cast aside your magical treasures and fight me fairly!" Great Emperor Qinghua bellowed angrily.

"Very well! Today I shall break your Dao heart," Yuan Hong laughed loudly.

Great Emperor Qinghua was even more enraged. Yuan Hong’s words were so unrefined!

Yuan Hong then put away the Primordial Golden Dou and the Golden Jiao Scissors, while Great Emperor Qinghua spat out a mouthful of blood and charged into battle.

"Buzz!"

As he approached, a streak of golden light suddenly fell, catching him off guard. He knew he had fallen into Yuan Hong’s trap—Yuan Hong, claiming to forgo magical treasures, had secretly kept the Primordial Golden Dou in hand. The golden light descended and trapped Great Emperor Qinghua. Following that, the Golden Jiao Scissors were summoned, and a golden light rushed at his face.

"My fate is sealed!" Great Emperor Qinghua wailed in despair.

The three Great Emperors continued to feign panic and rushed forward, shouting, "Spare our comrade!"

Yuan Hong, however, bared his teeth in a bizarre smile, "A dead fellow daoist is not a poor daoist!"

The Golden Jiao Scissors snapped, decapitating Great Emperor Qinghua. His Primordial Spirit escaped in an instant and attempted to flee, but the Golden Jiao Scissors surged forward to annihilate it completely! Great Emperor Qinghua was taken aback. The Yin Yang Mirror flew out from his corpse’s sleeve, positioned itself in front of him, and exploded like Divine Thunder upon impact with the Golden Jiao Scissors, sending them flying.

Great Emperor Qinghua took this opportunity to escape into the Western Heavenly Gate, narrowly evading death.

All the Daluo Golden Immortals set to break the formation saw Great Emperor Qinghua’s defeat and ceased their efforts, retreating into the Western Heavenly Gate and hunkering down.

This turn of events left everyone dumbfounded—the four Great Emperors of the Heavenly Court had lost! Were the Primordial Golden Dou and the Golden Jiao Scissors really that powerful? Was Yuan Hong so preternaturally formidable?

Great Emperor Qinghua shouted furiously, "Yuan Hong, you dare to trap me with schemes and treachery!"

Yuan Hong rolled his eyes dismissively, "It’s your own foolishness. If I have powerful magical treasures, why wouldn’t I use them?"

Great Emperor Qinghua felt a sense of collapse. The other three Great Emperors had only been injured, but he had his body destroyed. Had he not fled in time, even his Primordial Spirit might have been extinguished.

"Hurry, report to the Jade Emperor that all four Great Emperors have fallen to the Monkey Demon. The situation is dire. If we delay any longer, the Jade Pool might be lost!"

Upon receiving the order, the You Yi Celestial Official immediately deployed the Soaring Earth Golden Light and headed for the Jade Emperor’s Palace.

"Your Majesty, the news is dire! All four Great Emperors have suffered setbacks at the Western Heavenly Gate. Great Emperor Qinghua’s physical body has been destroyed, and the other three Great Emperors are gravely wounded," the You Yi Celestial Official reported.

The Jade Emperor’s face darkened, and the teacup in his hand shattered to dust. His expression turned ominously fearsome, and while his bejeweled crown obscured his eyes, one could imagine the deep hatred within. The Jade Emperor nodded and said slowly, "Take my imperial command and accompany me to retrieve the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact."

The Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact!

This was one of the most formidable ultimate weapons of the Heavenly Court, comparable to the Wheel-Turning Sage King Seal.

No one had seen the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact; most had only heard of it in passing, with many Celestial Officials considering it a farce, questioning its existence—if such a thing truly existed, why would the Heavenly Court be in such a weakened state? It now appeared that the Jade Emperor had deeply intricate plans, step by step engaging with the Buddhist Sect, thereby causing the Three Pure Ones to become disillusioned with him. He took advantage of the Three Pure Ones’ neglect of the Heavenly Court to reassert his dominance and seize supreme divine authority, ensuring the court was no longer a loose assembly as before.

With the Three Pure Ones bearing down on him, the Jade Emperor was constrained in his actions. But now, with their disdain for him, they could not be bothered to speak for the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor was naturally delighted. If this was indeed the case, it revealed how profound the Jade Emperor’s machinations were! The minds of mortal rulers are enigmatic and profound, so what more of him, the Supreme of the Three Realms, the Supreme Jade Emperor who rules over the heavens?

"Daluo Golden Immortal!"

The You Yi Celestial Official felt tense, sensing the aura of a Daluo Golden Immortal. So it seemed that after biding his time, the Jade Emperor had reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm.

Governing Spirit You Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "Understood!"

The Jade Emperor took the decree in hand, and then personally went to the first layer of heaven to retrieve the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact.

This Divine Artifact was concealed within the first heaven, seemingly as a foundation, propping up the Thirty-Three Heavens; it was likely even more formidable than the Buddhist Sect’s Wheel-Turning Sage King Seal, for it constantly absorbed the spiritual energy of the Thirty-Three Heavens day and night—its power was simply unfathomable! It was unknown how it would fare against the saints’ magical treasures.

"Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact, break the seal!"

The Jade Emperor called out softly, his fingers forming a spell as he cast the decree into an Immortal Pool.

The Immortal Pool swallowed the decree, then after a moment of stillness, bubbles began to emerge, and wisps of golden light penetrated the pool, exceedingly dazzling. An immense and majestic presence pressed down, giving one a chilling sensation.

A Thirty-Three Layered Pagoda slowly rose from the Immortal Pool, towering and immense, yet it gradually began to shrink.

Governing Spirit You Yi watched in a daze, astonished at the formidable power of this magical treasure!

A cold light flashed in the Jade Emperor’s eyes, and the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact shrunk to about a foot in size, flying towards the Jade Emperor. Suddenly, a beam of golden light shot out from it, striking Governing Spirit You Yi in the chest, sending him flying and spewing out a mouthful of blood.

"Old Jade Emperor, you sure have sharp eyes!" Governing Spirit You Yi said with a cold laugh, "You actually saw through old Sun’s Metamorphosis Technique."

Who was disguising himself as Governing Spirit You Yi? It was none other than Sun Wukong!

At the Western Heavenly Gate, four Great Emperors had besieged Yuan Hong. A Demon Tribe spy saw it, then wrote a talisman and sent it to the Northern Heavenly Gate, Eastern Heavenly Gate, and Southern Heavenly Gate. Sun Wukong, having received the talisman and understood the message, made a decisive move, abandoning the Northern Heavenly Gate with only ten Daluo Golden Immortals left to guard it. He entered directly into the Northern Heavenly Gate and rushed towards the Western Heavenly Gate. Originally disguised as Governing Spirit You Yi, intending to launch a surprise attack and kill two Great Emperors with a flick of his hand, he noticed something amiss and held back.

The Jade Emperor chuckled coldly, his gaze fixed on Sun Wukong, "Sun Wukong, it’s not that I, the Jade Emperor, have good eyesight, but the Artifact Spirit within the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact that sensed you. Beneath the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact, nothing can hide! Now that you’ve come, you may as well stay. Don’t leave!"

No sooner had the Jade Emperor spoken than he fervently cast the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact, which grew against the wind into a height of three hundred thirty-three feet, and bore down on Sun Wukong from above!

Sun Wukong was inwardly shocked at the formidable power of the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact; the overwhelming pressure was incomparable as if the firmament itself was descending, bearing down on one’s shoulders, threatening to crush a person alive!

The Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact was created at the founding of the Heavenly Court, crafted by the joint effort of the Three Pure Ones and hidden within the Immortal Pool of the first heaven to absorb the essence of heaven and earth of the Thirty-Three Heavens for tens of thousands of years. Now that it had been taken out, its might was naturally extraordinary.

Sun Wukong did not dare to be negligent. He somersaulted in an attempt to flee, but the falling golden light turned the surroundings into a quagmire, making it difficult for him to move a single step!

"This isn’t good, the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact is so formidable, I’m afraid even the Primordial Golden Dou won’t be able to withstand it for long!" Sun Wukong thought with a shock.

Suddenly, a golden light flashed, and a voice shouted, "Don’t panic, Wukong, Great Peng is here!"

A streak of cold light shot towards the Divine Artifact, the impact making it tremble. The Jade Emperor was inwardly startled—who had a magical treasure capable of shaking the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact? Looking intently, he saw that it was a longsword, the very one that Kunpeng gave to the Golden-Winged Great Peng King, which now finally came to use.

Thanks to the blow from the Golden-Winged Great Peng King, Sun Wukong felt the boundless pressure on him disappear instantly, and he burst into laughter, "Brother Great Peng, the early bird does not outshine the perfectly timed. How aptly timed you are! Ha ha, ha ha ha!"

The Golden-Winged Great Peng King, having struck the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact with the Metamorphic Roc Sword, couldn’t help but be inwardly stunned. The sword strike met with a tremendous pressure as if contending against a piece of the heavens themselves. The vast, imposing, majestic, and limitless atmosphere was utterly disheartening. If not for the Jade Emperor’s lack of experience, which led to his being caught off guard, it would not have been easy to force the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact to retreat!

The Golden-Winged Great Peng King withdrew the Metamorphic Roc Sword and shouted, "Hurry, Wukong, this pagoda is cursed!"

Sun Wukong had already leaped onto his Somersault Cloud and flew away, and the Golden-Winged Great Peng King did not tarry either. His arms transformed into wings, and with a powerful flap, he employed the "Soaring Earth Golden Light" Escape Technique, following Sun Wukong, disappearing in an instant.

The Jade Emperor huffed lightly, "You two demons are lucky to have escaped under my Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact!"

After speaking, he dared not linger any longer. Holding the pagoda, he used an Escape Technique and headed for the Western Heavenly Gate.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng King exclaimed, "What kind of magical treasure was that, to be so formidable!"

Sun Wukong said with a sneer, "The four Great Emperors of the Heavenly Court were defeated by Brother Yuan, with Qinghua the Great Emperor’s physical body destroyed. Seeing this, the Jade Emperor had no choice but to bring out his reserves! My purpose in coming here was to probe what final moves the Jade Emperor had up his sleeve. I already felt uneasy when he retrieved the Thirty-Three Heavens Divine Artifact, and before I could make a move, the treasure struck me and sent me flying!"

The Golden-Winged Great Peng King was startled, "We must hurry to the Western Heavenly Gate and join Brother Yuan, in case he suffers at the hands of the Jade Emperor."

Sun Wukong nodded.

What the outcome will be, listen to the next episode to find out. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)