Journey to the West: Starting from Changing Sun Wukong’s fate
Chapter 122 - 122 122 The 3rd Monkey Appears

122: Chapter 122: The 3rd Monkey Appears 122: Chapter 122: The 3rd Monkey Appears Although the Calamity of Measurement is of utmost importance to the Western Direction, its relation to the Celestial Court is not significant.

Now that Sun Wukong has caused such a commotion, not only turning the Peach Garden into such a state but also causing havoc in Yaochi, it’s like slapping the face of the Celestial Court in front of all the Buddhas across the Three Realms.

At this moment, Li Jing naturally didn’t dare to step forward; jumping out might very well turn him into a target for the Jade Emperor to vent his anger.

Many of the deities of the Celestial Court present were also tense, not knowing what the Jade Emperor would do next.

After all, the Celestial Court hadn’t seen an incident this major in many years.

Many of the deities of the Celestial Court present looked towards the Jade Emperor, waiting for his command.

However, at that moment, sounds resonating with the Voice of the Great Dao came from outside the hall.

Churning Golden Lotuses surged upwards, purple qi approached from the east, mist filled the air to pave the way, and cranes cried out long and clear.

At the same time, outside the Ninth Celestial Palace, an Immortal Official ran in hastily, knelt in the hall, and then spoke, “Your Majesty, the Daoist Ancestor Taiqing has arrived!”

“The Daoist Ancestor Taiqing?”

The deities of the Celestial Court present all showed a shocked expression upon hearing this.

The Grand Elder of the Supreme Way had an extraordinary status in the Celestial Court, and he spent most of his time inside his Helmet Armor Palace.

He was one of the most revered individuals in the court and rarely showed his face.

Even the Jade Emperor had to send a boy to communicate beforehand and could only meet the Grand Elder after receiving permission.

How could he suddenly arrive at the Ninth Celestial Palace today?

Even the Jade Emperor, upon hearing the words of the Immortal Official, didn’t dare to dally and quickly descended from his Golden Palace, leading the civil and military officials out of the Ninth Celestial Palace to greet the visitor.

As soon he stepped outside the Ninth Celestial Palace, he indeed saw an old Daoist with white hair approaching on a cloud of auspiciousness.

The auspicious cloud circled around, and the sound of the Dao descended.

The deities of the Celestial Court behind the Jade Emperor saw this scene and hurried to kneel down; after all, not a few among the hundreds of officials in the Celestial Court were from the Daoist Sect.

When they saw this sight, they naturally showed great respect, even more so than towards the Jade Emperor.

“We pay our respects to the Daoist Ancestor Taiqing!”

Although the Grand Elder was merely an incarnation of the Daoist Ancestor Taiqing, in their eyes, there was naturally no distinction.

The Grand Elder then waved his hand to signify that they need not be overly formal.

After descending from the cloud, an aura of purple qi filled the space beneath his feet.

He gave a slight nod of his head towards the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor, where would dare to accept such a gesture, quickly clasped his fists in a bow, naturally lowering his stance more than the Grand Elder had done.

Although he was once a boy beside Dao Ancestor Hongjun and ruler of the Three Realms, the person before him was the incarnation of a Saint, and even he did not dare to presume.

After both had exchanged courtesies, the Jade Emperor then inclined his body and asked, “For what purpose does the Daoist Ancestor Taiqing come?”

With a calm expression, the Grand Elder spoke, “It’s nothing of great significance.

The few Nine-turn Golden Pills and other elixirs that this humble Daoist was refining in the palace were meant to be delivered to Your Majesty by the Gold and Silver Boys, but to my surprise, they were stolen by a thief.

Some items from the Helmet Armor Palace are also missing, so I have come to inform Your Majesty!”

The Jade Emperor’s eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this.

The one who had just entered the Helmet Armor Palace was likely the always cautious Macaque.

However, the Jade Emperor himself did not quite understand; wasn’t the Macaque always careful and cautious?

Why all of a sudden did he become so…

It would have been one thing to merely damage the Peach Garden, but now he had disrupted the Peach Banquet and even dared to steal from the Helmet Armor Palace.

This was a Saint he was dealing with, and if enraged…

Even with Buddha Mother Zhunti backing Sun Wukong, she might not be able to protect him.

Nonetheless, the Jade Emperor was after all the Jade Emperor, and he quickly sensed that there was something amiss.

What kind of individual was the Grand Elder, that he would allow a Macaque to sneak into the Helmet Armor Palace, take things, and then come specially to inform him?

With the strength of the Grand Elder, he could have easily captured the Macaque if he wished.

Probably even Buddha Mother Zhunti would dare not utter a word in protest.

After all, in the Three Realms today, aside from Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who has merged with the Heavenly Dao and only appears during the Calamity of Measurement, the First Sage of the Three Realms is the Daoist Ancestor Taiqing.

Even Buddha Mother Zhunti and Amitabha Buddha would probably give way upon seeing him.

With these thoughts in mind, the Jade Emperor looked towards the Grand Elder and pondered.

After speaking, the Grand Elder said, “I have delivered the message, and my palace is in the midst of alchemy, so I will not stay for long!”

The Jade Emperor, along with the many Orthodox Deities behind him, hurriedly performed a ceremony to see him off, “We respectfully see off the Daoist Ancestor Taiqing!”

After a slight nod, the Grand Elder shook his Fly Whisk and, wrapped in Auspicious Clouds, quickly departed.

The many deities of the Celestial Court followed the Jade Emperor back into the Ninth Celestial Palace.

At this point, there was a terrible silence within the entire Ninth Celestial Palace.

The Grand Elder’s visit this time seemed to carry a significant meaning.

Even those disciples of the Cutting Teachings Sect who were originally indifferent couldn’t help but frown.

Their Grandmaster had always been quiet and uninvolved with the mundane world.

On normal days, he was mostly in the Helmet Armor Palace, contemplating the Dao and refining Immortal Pills.

There weren’t many things that could get him to personally make a trip down, in fact, they were extremely rare.

And considering Sun Wukong’s capabilities, the fact that he could sneak into the Helmet Armor Palace and steal things,

to say there wasn’t the tacit consent of the Grand Elder, Sun Wukong would not have been able to enter no matter how capable he was.

The most important thing now was, after Sun Wukong stole the treasures, not only did the Grand Elder not capture him himself, but he even came in person to notify the Jade Emperor?

This surely carried a profound significance.

Now sitting back on the Golden Throne, the Jade Emperor finally said, “Where is that demon monkey now?”

The Celestial General in charge of guarding Yaochi spoke up, “We were ordered to search Yaochi and found no trace of that demon there!”

Following this, the Immortal Official in charge of Sun Wukong’s residence stepped forward and reported, “Your Majesty, since taking over the Peach Garden, that demon has seldom returned to his residence, and after this incident, he has not returned at all!”

Hearing the reports from the two Immortal Officials, the Jade Emperor was not surprised but nodded and asked, “Where are Clairvoyance and Clairaudient?”

Upon hearing this, the complexions of Clairvoyance and Clairaudient changed, and they stepped forward, cupped their fists in salute, and said, “Your Majesty, after learning of it, my brother and I have been doing our utmost to locate that Macaque.

However, that Macaque is too cunning.

We’ve only seen it near the Helmet Armor Palace before it vanished again.

But surely, it must be in that direction!”

“Enough, bring forth the Haotian Mirror!”

The Jade Emperor frowned upon hearing this, not having anticipated their failure to locate him.

A slight twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth, and then he spoke to an Immortal Official at his side.

As the Jade Emperor commanded.

Two towering Golden Armored Warriors emerged from the Ninth celestial Palace, each holding aloft an ancient-looking bronze mirror that was half a zhang in diameter.

While the mirror seemed extremely ancient in design, there were still faint streams of Daoist Rhyme circulating upon its simple surface.

This was the Haotian Mirror, a treasure bestowed upon Haotian by Daoist Ancestor Hongjun, able to suppress the Fate of the celestial Court and survey the Three Realms.

Moreover, its rank was even higher than the Sea-Calming Needle, the Ruyi Jingu Bang, which Sun Wukong held.

Although the two Golden Armored Warriors carried it together, each step they took seemed as arduous as if they were moving a primeval divine mountain, making progress difficult.

“Clang!” a sound resonated.

A deep reverberation spread out.

The Haotian Mirror stood erect on the ground, causing even the Ninth celestial Palace to tremble slightly under its power.

Without seeing the Jade Emperor make any move,

He simply pointed a finger and a streak of light instantly merged into the bronze surface of the mirror.

The previously cloudy surface of the mirror suddenly rippled like waves, scattering ripples in all directions.

A shroud of Xianyun appeared within the reflection.

Within this Xianyun-enveloped scene, a monkey with a furry face and mouth befitting Thunder Duke, clad in armor, was depicted.

Before this armored monkey, stood a celestial gate towering into the sky,

With the words “North Heaven Gate” clearly inscribed on it.

“At the North Heaven Gate, this Macaque is actually at the North Heaven Gate!”

“Please command us, Your Majesty, and we shall set forth immediately with our troops to capture it!”

“…”

Seeing that Sun Wukong had appeared in the Haotian Mirror, the Deities of the celestial Court present couldn’t contain their delight.

After all, this matter had become too significant and even trampled the dignity of the celestial Court underfoot.

Some of the impartial Deities of the celestial Court, for the sake of their Court’s honor, also wished to capture this monkey, to regain face for the celestial Court.

Those leaning towards Buddhism, however, did not speak up.

Considering the Jade Emperor’s current attitude was still unclear to them, speaking rashly would only make them targets for the Jade Emperor’s wrath.

In the midst of this, the Haotian Mirror’s reflection changed once again.

This time it was the front of another celestial gate, but it was not the North Heaven Gate any longer, it was the West Heaven Gate.

Amidst the encompassing celestial clouds, there was also a furry-faced monkey resembling Thunder Duke staring at the West Heaven Gate.

The once excited Deities of the celestial Court were now taken aback.

What was happening?

How could there be a Sun Wukong at both the North Heaven Gate and West Heaven Gate simultaneously?

The key issue was that the aura and depth of mana were identical; could it be that even the Haotian Mirror was unable to distinguish?

For a moment, the Deities of the celestial Court present were stunned.

Even the Jade Emperor frowned slightly.

Immediately, he calculated with his fingers, seeking to discern which among them was the real one, but his calculations revealed that both were the real one?

He had calculated the Heavenly Dao, and if the Heavenly Dao could not discern it, could it be that Sun Wukong’s transformation cultivation technique was so potent it could deceive the Heavenly Dao itself?

“Enough, regardless of how this Macaque managed this, since both are regarded as the original, then let’s capture them both!”

After pondering for a while, the Jade Emperor made his decision.

He simply couldn’t believe that Sun Wukong could have even more original forms!

“Where is the Nine Heavens God of Thunder?”

After contemplating for a moment, the Jade Emperor looked down from the Ninth celestial Palace to a deity who stepped out from the ranks.

It was the Nine Heavens God of Thunder, Wen Zhong.

“Your servant is here!”

After stepping forward, Wen Zhong bowed respectfully.

“Wen Zhong, I command you to lead the deity of the Thunder Department to the North Heaven Gate and, together with its guardian generals, capture that demon monkey!”

The Jade Emperor gave his order outright.

“Your servant obeys the decree!”

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhong swiftly led the deities of the Thunder Department out of the Ninth celestial Palace, mounted the Ink Qilin, and headed towards the North Heaven Gate.

After Wen Zhong’s departure, the Jade Emperor spoke again, “Luo Xuan, lead the Gods of the Fire Division to the West Heaven Gate, capture the demon monkey without delay!”

However, just after Wen Zhong had left, the Haotian Mirror transformed once again.

It depicted a certain area of the celestial Court, presumably near the Eastern celestial Gate.

Then, another monkey with a semblance to Thunder Duke appeared in the Haotian Mirror, hiding in a corner, seemingly seeking the right opportunity to escape.

“The…

the third monkey?”