Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 224 - 217: Clouds Enshroud the Sun over the Western Land

Chapter 224: Chapter 217: Clouds Enshroud the Sun over the Western Land

Time flew by, and the years passed swiftly like an arrow.

Time flowed like water, unstoppable; the more you wished it would slow down, the faster it seemed to slip away.

In the blink of an eye, a year had vanished without a trace, and the Demon Tribe was gathered at Water Curtain Cave, their morale soaring high.

Over the past year, Wukong had been refining Chaos Sword Qi, distributing it to various Daluo Golden Immortals and Primordial Golden Immortal level experts. Taiyi Golden Immortals and those below didn’t need it, for the power of Chaos Sword Qi was so great that it was difficult to control. It was possible that in trying to injure the enemy, one might instead harm oneself.

The army of the Demon Tribe had already set out, riding the clouds and traveling through the fog towards the Western Heavenly Buddha Land. Along the way, their demonic aura pierced the heavens and their killing intent boiled over.

The Demon Tribe’s movement was of course known to everyone within the Three Realms. For a time, various reports were transmitted without ceasing.

Tathagata’s expression was solemn as he sat upon the Mahavira Hall, saying, "The Demon Tribe’s army has already deployed, and the battle between Buddhists and demons is inevitable, it must happen. All of you, lead the Buddhist soldiers out, set up battle formations in front of Spiritual Mount, as long as the Buddhas have a breath left in them, we cannot let the demons take even one step onto Spiritual Mount!"

"We obey the Dharma decree!" The Buddhas complied, leading the Buddhist soldiers down Spiritual Mount, arranging the troops and setting up formations.

Twenty-eight million Buddhist soldiers were arrayed in a grand formation, the Buddha’s Light flickering indistinguishably from daylight, bathing the entire Western Land in a sea of Buddha’s Light.

In the Western deserts, the suppressed Xiao Qing lifted her head and saw the sky filled with the flickering Buddha’s Light, the war energy soaring into the heavens, covering the sun with clouds of battle.

Xiao Qing thought to herself, "Is the battle between Buddhists and demons finally about to begin? Unknowingly, so much time has passed."

Meanwhile, atop Mount Sumeru, Zhun Ti and Amitabha Buddha sat quietly, observing everything below the mountain.

Zhun Ti said, "This situation is quite significant. The battle between Buddhists and demons affects various forces. The outcome is uncertain; our Western Religion might well be destroyed in one fell swoop."

Amitabha Buddha replied, "Although Tathagata has great talent and strategy, he is too eager for quick success, which now has led to a situation that is difficult to reverse. This battle must happen. The Demon Tribe’s momentum is fierce, and I fear our Buddhist Sect may not be able to withstand them."

Zhun Ti couldn’t help but sigh deeply, saying, "In the end, we are no match for the Three Pure Ones!"

Whether the Buddhist Sect wins or loses this battle, even victory would be pyrrhic.

"It’s lamentable that among all the Buddhas, none could comprehend the true essence of the Buddhist Family. This was my miscalculation," Amitabha Buddha sighed deeply.

"Subhuti indeed chose a good name for the Intelligent Stone Monkey, Sun Wukong. His original intention was to have Sun Wukong understand the emptiness of the Buddhist teachings, thus taming his mind-monkey and instantly becoming a Buddha. Who would have thought Sun Wukong would actually seek to unravel the teachings of emptiness! Truly a case of losing more than the intended gain, like losing the lady and the soldiers as well. He’s not much better than Zhou Yu from the Three Kingdoms era," Zhun Ti said mockingly, "We should never have let the Esoteric Buddhism intervene in the first place. The current situation could well be considered Subhuti’s own doing."

Amitabha Buddha said, "We too were too eager to compete for this providence. As the old saying goes, ’Men fight for a breath of air, Buddhas struggle for a stick of incense.’ How can we not compete? The Taoist Faction claims to be ’inactive and not competing’, but in reality, they compete by appearing inactive, which is indeed much cleverer than us. Truly worthy followers, who have received the true teachings of the Hong Jun Taoist Patriarch."

Zhun Ti and Amitabha Buddha too had been enlightened by the Hong Jun Taoist Patriarch, but ultimately, they had not received as much as the Three Pure Ones. Naturally, they couldn’t imagine that the Taoist Patriarch was behind all of this, they say the Great Dao is impartial, but people have their biases, and even the Great Dao Sages are no exception!

"Originally too eager for quick success, we converted many disciples of Chan Taoist and Jie Taoist, thus incurring the wrath of the Three Pure Ones and landing ourselves in the current predicament. It’s only to be expected," Amitabha Buddha pinpointed the reason for the failure of the Buddhist Sect, their struggle was too fierce.

It was much like the Jie Taoists during The Investiture of the Gods Period, too dominant, fighting too fiercely, forcing others to trail behind and pick up the leftovers; who would be content with such a role? In the Saints’ game of chess, one wrong move could mean losing the entire game, with no possibility of turning the situation around.

"Now that the Demon Sage Kunpeng has ascended, if Sun Wukong becomes a Saint as well, there will be ten Heavenly Dao Saints in this world. The Heavenly Dao Saints are limited to nine at most. Once Sun Wukong becomes a Saint, surely the heavens will impose karmic retribution. With such a heavy karma, even Saints cannot escape. That’s why I chose to seal off the mountain. It’s regrettable that Lu Ya still cannot see clearly, blinded by hatred, and has obscured his Dharma Eye. This great calamity, I’m afraid, will fall upon him," Zhun Ti spoke slowly.

Hence he had sealed the mountain, because Kunpeng had become a Saint!

Wukong’s ascension to sainthood was inevitable; they had already seen the forces behind Wukong, the Three Pure Ones, Xuan Ming, and even the faint presence of the Hong Jun Taoist Patriarch. Wukong already had significant karma entangled with the Buddhist Sect. If they were not careful, even Zhun Ti and Amitabha Buddha might get entangled in it, and by then, it would be a battle to the death.

The current situation was no longer fully under the control of the Saints, and this Sun Wukong had indeed become a Rebel Sage! Both Zhun Ti and Amitabha Buddha were hesitant, unwilling to intervene in the battle between the Buddha and Demon Tribes. Some days ago, Tathagata sought an audience but failed to approach the mountain. They didn’t even lend out their Magical Treasures, which shows just how desperate the two Saints of the Buddhist Sect were.

If they really offered some advantage, it would probably play right into the schemes of the Three Pure Ones. As for the mosquito protector, that was none of their concern; he had descended the mountain on his own accord. Both had their own selfish desires to some extent, so when the mosquito protector went to help and called upon the Nether River, they simply turned a deaf ear, pretending to know nothing at all.

At this time, the Nether River was restless as well, with a look of murderous intent in his eyes, he thought, "Sun Wukong, this time I will make sure you won’t return! You and Ksitigarbha King ruined my plans, do you think you can settle this matter so easily?"

The Asura Demon King stood beside Mara, saying, "Ancestral Demon, the Demon Tribe’s vast army has reached the Western Land. I fear it won’t be long before they arrive at the foot of Spiritual Mount. Should we also be on our way?"

With a sweep of his great sleeve, Nether River said, "Let’s move out!"

"Boom!"

The decree was passed down, and the various Asuras began to move, causing a booming explosion. The Asura Blood Sea burst forth, and a Blood River surged into the sky, spanning the void. Wherever it passed, life was obliterated, the ground scorched, blood filled the sky, and obscured the entire expanse of space. Eight million Asura soldiers entered the Blood River, followed by various Demon Gods leading the way with formidable momentum.

Within the Reincarnation Netherworld, Di Jiang shouted, "Let’s go!"

Upon saying that, he summoned the ghost chariot and stepped behind it, saying, "Advance towards the Western Land!"

The other ten Ancestral Witches also set out, each leading their higher-Cultivation Level Yin Gods towards the Western Land. Along the way, naturally, Demonic Qi and Yin Qi soared skyward, as if it were the end of days.

The Supreme Holy Mother emerged from Biyou Palace, bowed distantly to the interior, carried a Divine Sword on her back, and approached atop the clouds.

"Duobao, today you will ascend that Deification Platform! Traitors, not one of you will have a good end," the Supreme Holy Mother said through gritted teeth.

In the Northern Region’s Demon Abyss, Luo Hou calculated and laughed wryly, issuing a decree to summon the Taoist Duobao, saying, "Taoist Duobao, you and Tathagata have deep karmic ties. Today, as the Demon Tribe launches a major attack on the Buddhist Sect, it’s a good opportunity. Go to the Western Land to assist the Demon Tribe, which will serve two purposes: first, to build good karma with Sun Wukong, resolving the karma from your previous struggle over the River Map and Luo Book, and second, to settle your great karma with Tathagata."

Taoist Duobao bowed and said, "Duobao will follow the Ancestral Demon’s decree!"

Luo Hou laughed again, saying, "Just don’t provoke the Supreme Holy Mother; I’d rather not invite trouble."

Taoist Duobao said with a smile, "The one Supreme Holy Mother resents is Tathagata, not me. Tong Tian, my teacher, will not hold it against me."

Luo Hou said, "Good, as long as you know, then go ahead."

Just as Taoist Duobao was about to leave, Luo Hou added, "Call Six-Eared Macaque and Bear Demon to go with you. They have some karma with Sun Wukong that should also be resolved. When it’s time to let go, you must let go!"

Luo Hou obviously saw that Kunpeng was about to become a divine being and that a great karmic event was approaching. Naturally, he wanted to do everything possible to cut short any karmic entanglements with Wukong to avoid the calamity falling upon himself, which would be troublesome.

Taoist Duobao was slightly startled, then nodded and said, "Duobao understands, Ancestral Demon, rest assured."

The atmosphere was extremely tense as the great battle loomed. The Three Realms seemed frozen by waves of battle intent, and time appeared to stagnate. The immortals in Heavenly Court also watched from afar towards the Western Land, observing from the sidelines to see who would emerge victorious in this great battle.

"Hurry, dig up the tree and take it away... I don’t want to be involved in this great Buddha and demon war," Master Zhenyuan instructed his disciples in a frantic tone to move the Ginseng Fruit tree.

But just then, a Five-Colored Divine Light fell...

To find out what happens next, please tune in to the next episode. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote with a recommendation ticket or monthly ticket at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)