Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 84: The Ruthless Heaven-Defying Staff Kills Moksha

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: The Ruthless Heaven-Defying Staff Kills Moksha

Li Shimin performed a ritual for a talisman, inscribed it with a countermeasure, and sent the talisman in the direction of the Imperial Palace.

The talisman flew by itself and landed before the desk of Tang Emperor Li Zhi. Li Zhi picked it up to look, but someone caught his wrist. He looked up only to find a monk with glaring eyes. The Kasaya on his upper body only covered half of his torso, leaving most of his chest bare.

Li Zhi said angrily, "Impudent! Where did this wild monk come from, daring to act so arrogantly!"

But this was no ordinary monk—it was Moksha Jiedi, who had actually come to catch someone red-handed, leaving the Taoist Sect with nothing to say.

Moksha Jiedi said, "Your father Li Shimin has joined the Taoist Sect, yet he has violated the rules. This time, I have indeed caught you red-handed!"

Li Zhi sneered, "How bold of you, bald donkey, to even use the term ’caught red-handed’? I am the Sovereign of the human world, how dare such a bald donkey like you!" He called out, "Guards, seize this bald donkey and kill him."

Immediately, guards rushed in from outside. These guards also had True Immortal cultivation levels, but how could they possibly apprehend one of the Five Directions Jiedi, Moksha? A flash of golden light and Sanskrit characters fell from the sky, striking the guards on the head. They stumbled around, dizzy, and vomited blood profusely.

Li Zhi grew even angrier and shouted, "Where is General Li Daozong!"

Li Daozong, a renowned general of the Great Tang with the cultivation level of a Profound Immortal, was adept in military strategy but lacked in cultivation compared to military tactics. He leaped out to confront Moksha Jiedi but was subdued in just two moves, bound on the ground and unable to move.

Li Zhi, pointing at Moksha Jiedi with trembling fingers, furiously said, "Well, very well! You wretched bald donkey!"

After speaking, he took a strand of hair from under the desk and shouted three times, "Heaven-Defying, Heaven-Defying, Heaven-Defying!"

Only after shouting three times did the hair transform into a golden light and disappear.

"Oh! His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang is in trouble. Yuan, you go ahead first, I’ll return shortly." After saying this, he performed a somersault without waiting for Yuan Hong to respond, vanishing without a trace.

Moksha Jiedi sneered and was about to leave with the talisman when he was stopped by Li Zhi.

Li Zhi carried the aura of the Sovereign of the Human Path, and Moksha Jiedi did not dare harm him. Enveloped in this imperial aura, he could not use his escape technique! The heavy mood of state affairs within this imperial aura weighed him down. How could he escape under such suffocating ambiance?

Moksha Jiedi knew something was up when Li Zhi plucked a hair and shouted "Heaven-Defying" three times, fearing that a rescue might come soon.

Li Zhi lifted his treasured sword to strike at Moksha Jiedi, but Jiedi dodged with a few steps back and headed straight for the door.

Just as he stepped through the doorway, an iron staff of dark gold swung towards him unexpectedly. He was struck by the staff and sent flying hundreds of feet, landing right in the plaza in front of the Wu Gate.

"Who goes there!" Moksha Jiedi, having suffered a severe blow, could not contain his anger and shouted.

The newcomer, if not Wukong, then who could it be?

With a flash of golden light, the Monkey King appeared above Moksha Jiedi, stick in hand, ready to strike, and shouted, "Moksha Jiedi, do you not recognize your grandpa Sun!"

With one strike of his staff, Moksha Jiedi dared not resist head-on and hurriedly tumbled away, rolling on the ground for dozens of yards.

Wukong pursued with his staff, striking ferociously and leaving only large pits on the ground.

Moksha Jiedi flipped up with a somersault, wielding the Demon-Subduing Pestle to strike at Wukong’s face.

Wukong sneered, "Who would have thought you had actually attained the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm! Damn it, during the Journey to the West, I was deceived by you all along, happily being called Great Saint by you, as if you were just High Immortals! What a joke, back then I was indeed a frog in a well, a frog in a well!!"

Remembering the frustrations of his Journey to the West, Wukong roared with rage, his chest seething with Five Qi, his throat scorched by Samadhi, and the Seven-Colored Divine Light shot from his every orifice, the Buddha Beating Staff entwined with Samadhi True Fire. His ferocious appearance could genuinely terrify anyone to their core.

Moksha Jiedi also took a fright but knew it was a matter of life and death. The monkey was fierce, and he dared not take it lightly.

Wukong swept away Moksha Jiedi’s Demon-Subduing Pestle with his staff, kicked him in the belly, and sent him flying. Moksha Jiedi rolled several times on the ground, got up, and tried to escape using his escape technique.

Wukong stamped on the ground, and immediately, tender vines sprouted all around, preventing Moksha Jiedi from performing his Soaring Earth Golden Light!

Wukong shouted angrily, "Moksha brat, where do you think you’re going!"

He chased with his Buddha Beating Staff and struck down. Moksha Jiedi uttered a low shout, manifested Three Heads and Six Arms, and wielded his Magical Treasures in battle, but he found it quite a struggle; Wukong’s physical strength was too terrifying. Each blow to his arms caused intense pain, and his palms cracked from the sheer force.

After about a dozen blows, Moksha Jiedi’s six arms were dripping with blood, skin torn, not from being battered but from the overwhelming power that had vibrated through them.

Wukong said coldly, "Back in the day, you played me with claps of the hand; now you know how that feels, don’t you?"

Moksha Jiedi chanted a mantra, and his flesh regenerated, but his face remained deathly pale. Today, he feared he wouldn’t escape death.

Moksha Jiedi sacrificed a sarira and hurled it at Wukong, who raised his staff to strike it. Upon contact, there was a loud explosion as if thunder had struck on plain ground, which left Wukong with a blackened vision and a dizzy head—he had been ambushed!

Seeing that he had blasted Wukong, Moksha Jiedi started to cast his escape spell, but Wukong was not about to let him get away that easily. The Heaven-Defying Taoist split from Wukong, took up the World-Cleansing Dust Whisk, and with a sweep into the sky, the whisk’s filaments caught hold of Moksha Jiedi’s ankle! With a flick of his wrist, the Heaven-Defying Taoist activated the Primordial Great Strength Technique and instantly pulled Moksha Jiedi down, crashing him to the ground.

The fall was not light, smashing Moksha Jiedi’s head and causing him to see stars.

The Heaven-Defying Taoist snorted coldly, "What a crafty Moksha, daring to ambush my fellow Taoist! Take this!"

After speaking, he snatched the Buddha Beating Staff from Wukong’s hand and struck down at Moksha Jiedi’s head.

Moksha Jiedi was terrified, not only from the heavy blow but also because he couldn’t manage to get up. He tried to use his magical treasure to defend himself, but how terrifying was it when the Heaven-Defying Taoist wielded the Primordial Great Strength Technique with the force of hundreds of millions of pounds? The very void crackled and shattered into powder!

"Boom!"

It was truly a sight to witness—magical treasures used for defense were smashed to dust!

Moksha Jiedi’s six magical treasures, struck by that staff, all turned into dust, and then the staff came crashing down on Moksha Jiedi’s crown, as if smashing up a seasoning shop with sauces spilling all over.

Moksha Jiedi’s head, along with the Niwan Palace within, was smashed to pieces by a single strike, and even his primordial spirit failed to escape before being utterly obliterated.

"Thrilling!" the Heaven-Defying Taoist exclaimed after obliterating Moksha, continuously shouting for the sheer thrill, feeling utterly refreshed.

A poem bears witness to this moment, which says: "Emperor Taizong inscribes talismans; Jiedi carries the evidence of sin. Li Zhi summons the Heaven-Defying, one staff strike kills Moksha."

Wukong also recovered, took back the Buddha Beating Staff, and used Samadhi True Fire to burn Moksha’s corpse to ashes. With a wave of his hand, he scattered the ashes towards the distance.

That single strike from the Heaven-Defying Taoist was so powerful it shook Heaven and Earth, moved ghosts and gods to tears, and made the whole Imperial Palace tremble thrice, frightening Li Zhi to the point where he nearly fell flat on the ground. He quickly summoned the guards, and together they headed towards the Wumen Square.

"Is my fellow Taoist well?" asked the Heaven-Defying Taoist.

"All good, all good!" Wukong waved his hands repeatedly, cursing, "That Moksha is crafty! His sarira contained Profound Fiend Yin Thunder. It had my poor head spinning and my eyes seeing stars. If not for my fellow Taoist, we might have let the fiend escape!"

The Heaven-Defying Taoist chuckled, "My fellow Taoist is too modest. Here comes the Emperor of Great Tang."

Seeing Li Zhi arrive, Wukong turned into a beam of golden light and soared into the clouds, leaving the Heaven-Defying Taoist to deal with the situation.

Li Zhi approached the Heaven-Defying Taoist, who stood with an imposing posture, and greeted him with clasped hands, "I have seen the Taoist Master!"

The Heaven-Defying Taoist helped Li Zhi to his feet, smiling, "Your Majesty need not be so formal."

Li Zhi stamped his feet, "Those bald donkeys from the Buddhist Sect are truly detestable, daring to force their way into my Imperial Secretariat!"

The Heaven-Defying Taoist handed Li Shimin’s talisman to Li Zhi, asking, "Is this the object in question?"

Li Zhi, upon receiving it, immediately exclaimed with joy, "Exactly, exactly! Many thanks to the Taoist Master, many thanks!"

The Heaven-Defying Taoist feigned a smile without true mirth, "Your Majesty mentioned before about building a temple for me. May I know where this temple is located?"

Li Zhi, suddenly remembering, responded, "Ah, yes! Please follow me, Taoist Master. I shall lead you there now."

After a few steps, Li Zhi halted again, adding, "Taoist Master, there are still guards and General Li Daozong in my Imperial Secretariat who have been afflicted by that monk’s spells, which we cannot undo at the moment. We must trouble you, Taoist Master."

"There’s no difficulty in this matter!" said the Heaven-Defying Taoist.

With that, he lifted his dust whisk and started drawing talismans in the air. In an instant, seven-colored divine light surged, and onlookers held their breath in silence, fearing any disturbance. Shortly after, he completed a spirit talisman and imprinted it into a eunuch’s palm.

"Go, and tap their foreheads three times with your palm; they will be freed," instructed the Heaven-Defying Taoist.

The eunuch looked to Li Zhi, who commanded, "Well, get on with it then!"

With orders from the Emperor, the eunuch hastened to the Imperial Secretariat, to undo the spell on the several guards and General Li Daozong.

Thereupon, Li Zhi led the Heaven-Defying Taoist to the temple.

After a short journey, they arrived within the temple.

The temple, specially constructed at Li Zhi’s behest, stood tall and majestic, luxurious indeed. It enshrined a statue in the likeness of the Heaven-Defying Taoist, with palace maids, eunuchs, and even royal family members coming and going ceaselessly. There were always people praying and offering incense at every moment.

Li Zhi smiled, "Since the construction of this temple, I have decreed that all court officials must offer incense here during their shifts."

The Heaven-Defying Taoist nodded repeatedly. Though he claimed in Water Curtain Cave to only worship his parents and ancestors, he was not one to turn down free offerings. Once the revolution over the realm was achieved, it would not be too late to destroy these temples and shrines.