Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 365: Three Five One - Scattered in Summer, Frozen in Winter

Chapter 365: Three Five One - Scattered in Summer, Frozen in Winter

Just as the sword light was about to reach the Three Realms, in another part of the Chaos beyond the heavens, a star light fell, transforming into the sun, moon and stars, illuminating the starry sky, blocking the sword light.

The Sun, Moon, and Stars, the Three Treasures of Heaven!

The Three Treasures Jade Ruyi, the Tao-confirming treasure of the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign, it was a clear sign that the Heavenly Sovereign had made his move.

Clang!

The Qingping Sword was fully unsheathed, held in the hands of the Upper Qing Saint, pointing directly at the Jade Void Palace, saying, "Primordial Heavenly Sovereign, what are you trying to do?"

Being directly addressed by the Upper Qing Saint, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign was evidently displeased, but he still managed to say patiently: "Third Brother, while Nanji is indeed at fault, his crime is not deserving of death!"

The Upper Qing Saint scoffed, "So are the disciples under my Taoist school deserving of a capital crime?"

Well, once the Upper Qing Saint retorted, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign was at a loss for words for quite some time. As things stand now, how could he refute this? This subject was declared closed right from the start, leaving no room to continue the conversation.

It was clear that he did not want to engage in a conversation with him.

As the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign hesitated, an aged voice echoed from the Chaos beyond the heavens, "Nanji was also temporarily blinded by evil thoughts, which led him to contravene his superiors. Although somewhat excusable, he has indeed committed a mistake."

"How about this, let’s confine him for a thousand years at the seabed of the Eastern Sea. Let him watch the sun rise every morning and the Heavenly River turn at dusk. Let him experience the dispersal of summer and the coagulation of winter, repeating cycle after cycle, as penance."

"Younger brother, what do you think of this?"

The one who spoke was naturally the Saint of Taiqing. After the Investiture of the Gods, the three brothers committed a grave error and were banned by the Hongjun Daizu to the Chaos beyond the heavens, forbidden from setting foot in the Three Realms even half a step.

Confined at the seabed for a thousand years, experiencing the dispersal of summer and coagulation of winter year after year, and living each day in unrest. His soul will shatter and then reform, a torment that is hard to bear and indescribable with words.

This is the Saint of Taiqing’s punishment for Old Man Nanji. His soul shatters and then reforms continuously in a repetitive cycle. It is truly pitiful but the Upper Qing Saint is still not satisfied. However, he knows that with the presence of the Taiqing and Yu Qing Saints, he cannot kill Old Man Nanji this time.

Therefore, after some thought, the Upper Qing Saint said: "I have a jar of red sand here. Let’s temporarily place it at the seabed of the Eastern Sea, and retrieve it when Nanji frees himself. It’s not too late."

Having said that, the Upper Qing Saint left without waiting for their response.

"Brother, you see him..." the Primordial Heavenly Sovereignappeared slightly angry and wanted to catch up with the Upper Qing Saint to reason with him, but he was stopped by the Saint of Taiqing.

Shaking his head, the Saint of Taiqing said helplessly: "Second Brother, can’t you see it? The third brother still holds a grudge over the past. Why else would he put a jar of red sand at the seabed of the Eastern Sea?"

"In recent years, you should keep your disciples in check. If the third brother finds more faults, I will not intervene."

Having said that, the Saint of Taiqing also left.

Red sand, although it looks like ordinary red sand, it’s actually a sharp weapon. Whenever a gust of wind or bolts of lightning trigger it, the flying sand inflicts harm. If any mortal or immortal touches it, they will instantly turn into dust.

This is to make Old Man Nanji’s soul shatter and then reform, not just that, but his body too, continuously shattering and reforming.

During the Investiture of the Gods period, Old Man Nanji broke through the red sand formation and killed Zhang Tianjun of the Jiejiao Sect on the spot. The Upper Qing Saint still held a grudge over this matter that’s why he placed a jar of red sand at the seabed.

Remembering this incident, the Saint of Taiqing hadn’t said more. It’s probably the bottom line of the Upper Qing Saint. If they don’t agree, then Old Man Nanji is assuredly dead.

...

...

"Master is really ruthless, directly confining Old Man Nanji for a thousand years."

At that time, Jiang Chen, who had not yet left the Eastern Sea, naturally heard the voice of the Upper Qing Saint. There was no one happier than him about this.

Old Man Nanji was sealed for a thousand years, which means that he needn’t worry about him causing trouble behind his back for the next thousand years. This was indeed a matter to be happy about. Moreover, this action could also intimidate the remaining disciples of the Chan Teaching.

At this point, Upper Qing Saint probably wished more than anyone else that the remaining disciples of Chan Teaching would make a move on Jiang Chen. This way, he could have a legitimate reason to take action against the disciples of Chan Teaching, to avenge the destruction of his sect in the past.

However, precisely because the intention of Upper Qing Saint was too obvious, the disciples of the Chan Teaching would not fall for it and give him any pretext.

For the time being, Jiang Chen was absolutely safe.

Boom!

Sword Qi roared like thunder, readily tearing through the void, escaping towards the direction of the Dongsheng Divine Continent.

In just a few days’ time, the Little Cang Mountain Range was already in sight. Compared to the time of departure, Jiang Chen’s speed was not only three times faster, but nearly ten times faster.

Swish!

Transforming into a streak of light, Jiang Chen once again set foot on the land of Dongsheng Divine Continent. In the blink of an eye, he had been away from the Little Cang Mountain Range for about three to four years. It wasn’t a short period of time considering Jiang Chen’s age.

But in reality, it was only a span of three to four years. The Little Cang Mountain Range hadn’t changed much since he left.

Except for the Demon Suppression Celestial Army.

When Jiang Chen saw the Demon Suppression Celestial Army again, their number had increased from eight thousand to thirty thousand.

They were all well-equipped, wearing bright silver Heavenly River Armor and holding silver spears. Under the sunlight, they reflected a brilliant silver radiance, dazzlingly so.

Too conspicuous!

This was Jiang Chen’s first reaction upon seeing the Demon Suppression Celestial Army. Wherever they went, they attracted much attention.

But there was no other way.

The weapons and equipment of the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers were forged from Star River Divine Iron. The Star River Divine Iron, transformed from starlight, was originally silver. Thus, the weapons crafted from it were naturally of the same color.

"This won’t do. It’s too showy and doesn’t fit my low-profile character. I’ll need to find an opportunity to change the equipment of the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers. The grade can remain the same, but the color must be changed, preferably to a more plain color."

After observing for a while, Jiang Chen still found it hard to adapt to the shiny Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers. Silver did not suit his aesthetics; he favored black, majestic yet solemn, conveying a touch of ruthlessness that inspired fear in the viewers.

The Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers were meant to be feared, which made them ideal for the color black.

Unfortunately, Jiang Chen flipped through his private treasury only to find it full of glittering Sun God Gold. After searching for a long time, he finally found a small piece of black Innate Divine Iron in the corner.

"I will find time to visit the Jiang Family treasury. I am unable to use so much Sun God Gold, anyway. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to exchange some for other treasures."

He withdrew his gaze, thinking silently.

For now, with an inadequate supply of materials, silver would have to do. It would not be too late to make changes when the time was right.

...

"Hmph, Ha!"

"Hmph, Ha, Hmph, Ha..."

At dawn, thirty thousand Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers were exercising on the vast drill ground, their synchronized movements creating a massive wave of sound that reverberated for thousands of miles.

Jiang Chen was training these soldiers not to celebrate national holidays, but to intimidate the surrounding demons.

Over the past few years, the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers have been following Jiang Chen’s instructions to remain idle except for daily cultivation, focusing instead on frenzied infrastructure construction within their existing territories.

This vast drill ground was one of the achievements of the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers in these years, accommodating hundreds of thousands of people.

Now that Jiang Chen was back, the plan to conquer the Little Cang Mountain Range could naturally resume, and the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers needed to be mobilized again.

When it comes to war, morale is of utmost importance.

Jiang Chen wanted to train his soldiers again not only to boost their morale but also to undermine the spirits of nearby forces.

He wanted to use this as a training opportunity.

With Jiang Chen’s current strength, under the full activation of the Taichu Divine Sword, even the ancient Daluo Golden Immortals could be slain, so the conquest of the Little Cang Mountain Range was only a matter of time.

But Jiang Chen did not want to do so. Instead, he wanted to utilize the demons in this area to temper his Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers. After all, if the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers could rise in strength, they would become a formidable force.

To rule the world, apart from personal strength, one also needs to have his minions. Otherwise, even if one becomes the master of the universe, he could end up like Haotian, being manipulated by others.

After a while, the God Marshal Yun Ting stepped forward to report, "My Lord, the thirty thousand heavenly soldiers are ready and can set off at any time."

Nodding, Jiang Chen ordered, "The whole army, advance!"

Instantly, flags were flying, and thirty thousand heavenly soldiers marched forth, kicking up a dust cloud on the ground.

Such a spectacle naturally alerted the surrounding forces.

With thirty thousand heavenly soldiers here, the local forces of the Little Cang Mountain Range simply couldn’t ignore this. However, before they could test the intentions of the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers, Jiang Chen demonstrated his formidable power and slayed several Daluo Golden Immortals.

Well then, no one dared to probe any further. Everybody pretended to be dead; as long as the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers did not move, they acted as if they did not exist.

But now, with the forceful maneuvers of the Demon Suppression Heavenly Soldiers, they finally couldn’t pretend any longer and started peeking out to ascertain the soldiers’ intentions.

Jiang Chen was well aware of the suspicious individuals’ appearances in the vicinity, but he ignored them, allowing them to follow along. A bunch of nobodies could be vitally negligible, even if they discovered his intentions, what could they do? Rebel?

This place was infamous for being impoverished and perilous. If there were any powerful individuals, they wouldn’t appear here.

The most one could expect were a few ancient grand Daluo, whom Jiang Chen naturally wouldn’t regard seriously.

...

After marching for a while, Jiang Chen observed the commotion using his Divine Eye and suddenly noticed that the scene up ahead was shrouded in dark, evil clouds.

Upon closer inspection, he saw a city situated amid three surrounding mountains. The large, contiguous mountains spanned thousands of miles, and a road led to the outside of the mountains. After traveling through the road for over three thousand miles, there was a crowded city. Even outside the city, there were people within ten thousand miles.

However, the part near the mountains was desolate with harsh terrains and swamps. The mountains were filled with towering ancient trees, their leaves a jet black color, looking rather sinister. Monster winds blew wildly, causing the entire range of mountains to resound with a rustling noise that resembled the wailing of ghosts, truly frightening.

The city was Jiang Chen’s destination for this journey.

Where the monsters were entrenched, a city suddenly appeared, which seemed suspicious. Indeed, there was a problem — that city was not a city of mortals but a stronghold of the demons.

Its inhabitants were entrenched elder monsters, renowned old demons, and their offspring and disciples.

PS: Wishing everyone a happy holiday.

Sigh, ask for monthly tickets. I haven’t stopped updating. Proud face.