The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 210 - 205: Rivalry Over Face Leads to Enmity

Chapter 210: Chapter 205: Rivalry Over Face Leads to Enmity

Wusheng went to the World of Heavenly Demons in search of Daoist Equal to Heaven. The Great Freedom Demon, out of pride, refused to release the Daoist. In a fit of anger, he summoned the Immortal-slaying Sword.

The Immortal-slaying Sword, as the foremost killing weapon of the Heavenly Dao, once raised, radiated a murderous aura that shot up to the sky, changing the color of the Nine Heavens. Wusheng stood with the sword in hand, her face expressionless, the killing intent around her growing dense.

The Great Freedom Demon Lord snorted coldly, conjuring a demonic blade in his hand, and pointed at Wusheng from a distance. He said, "Today, I shall truly witness the power of Heaven-Penetrating Sect Hierarch’s Immortal-slaying Sword and see what might it really holds!"

Daoist Equal to Heaven was secretly shocked. This Great Freedom Demon was at least of Quasi-Saint cultivation, and Wusheng was merely a creator, but with the Immortal-slaying Sword in her hands, the outcome of this battle was truly uncertain! Even though he was already considered an Enlightened One, faced with the extreme killing intent of the Immortal-slaying Sword, he still felt a tremor of fear. This sword carried the killing intent of the Heavenly Dao, the most terrifying Magical Treasure since the creation of Heaven and Earth, its array formed by four swords unbreakable by anyone but the Four Saints!

Wusheng herself was a cultivator of the Sword Dao, and her sword was not of the mundane realm. Yet, it paled in comparison to the Immortal-slaying Sword, which in her grasp was like adding wings to a tiger!

"Kill!"

The Great Freedom Demon bellowed and charged forward, his blade aiming for Wusheng’s forehead in a chop! When this chop came down, space twisted, and a surge of demonic qi and sword qi converged into a Heavenly Blade that spanned thousands of miles long, crashing down from the void! That might resembled the wrath of the Demon Emperor Taiyi riding the Nine Dragons War Chariot, waging war across the Eight Desolates.

Wusheng spewed a stream of True Qi onto the Immortal-slaying Sword, held it across her body, and the Sword Gang emerged with a sizzle, clashing against that thousands-of-miles-long Heavenly Blade. Upon contact, a loud explosion ensued, the colors of heaven and earth faded. Ultimately, the Immortal-slaying Sword, being a Primordial Magical Treasure, exhibited terrifying power under Wusheng’s use, smashing the Great Freedom Demon’s Heavenly Blade instantly!

As an extremely domineering force, the Immortal-slaying Sword influenced Wusheng upon wielding it, her killing intent bristling. Without giving the Great Freedom Demon a chance to recover, she immediately charged forward to kill!

Feeling alarmed, the Great Freedom Demon thought, "This Immortal-slaying Sword is indeed formidable; a direct confrontation is definitely not the way!" He pinched a spell between his fingers and exclaimed, "Heaven Devil Illusion, endless grievances!"

With a wave of the Great Freedom Demon’s hand, a vast expanse of illusions pressed down. Wusheng’s Immortal-slaying Sword trembled continuously, emitting the sound of a dragon’s chant, and a clear, killing sword song that rose to the heavens. The overwhelming killing intent made those illusions utterly incapable of affecting Wusheng!

"The Immortal-slaying Sword, as the prime killing weapon of the Heavenly Dao, makes me invincible with it in hand. Even if your illusions were ten times more powerful, they couldn’t affect me! Unless you achieve the state of Primordial Limitless." Wusheng said coldly, thrusting her sword swiftly like lightning, piercing through the Great Freedom Demon’s shoulder, blood spraying wildly.

With this Sage’s Treasure in her hand, Wusheng feared not even the Great Freedom Demon who had reached Quasi-Saint cultivation! Unless it were a ruthless person like Kong Xuan, with Divine Skills specialized in capturing Magical Treasures, maybe then she would be wary, but evidently, this Great Freedom Demon lacked such supreme Divine Skills as the Five-Colored Divine Light. The Innate Five-Element Spiritual Root was only in the possession of Kong Xuan alone in the world.

"World of Heavenly Demons, boundless demon qi!" The Great Freedom Demon utilized the entire World of Heavenly Demons’ qi, which, dark as ink, billowed towards her, as if intent on submerging the whole world.

Daoist Equal to Heaven watched with his heart leaping in terror, the might of their combat was no less than that between Kunpeng and Acala.

This was, after all, Great Freedom Demon’s home ground, his turf; with this move, he summoned the entire World of Heavenly Demons’ demonic qi. The endless demonic qi surged like raging waves, manifesting countless avatars of the Great Freedom Demon. Upon close count, there were nearly ten thousand clones.

"Go!" With one command from the Great Freedom Demon, all ten thousand avatars charged toward Wusheng, without any particular tactic—mere self-destruction.

Wusheng sent out a burst of Sword Qi, slicing down hundreds of clones. Though bisected, the halves continued flying towards her.

Immediately understanding the Great Freedom Demon’s intention to use these clones to self-destruct and blast her alive, Wusheng hastily burned a Talisman Paper, reciting an Oral Spell. The clones were already swarming in; with so many self-destructing avatars, not even the Immortal-slaying Sword could protect her.

These demonic qi were extremely pure, devoid of other impurities. The explosive power was much greater than ordinary Divine Thunder. Ten thousand avatars surrounded Wusheng and simultaneously detonated. The force of the blast caused the World of Heavenly Demons itself to tremble, wave after wave of demonic qi pressed downward, exploding upon reaching their designated position.

"This..." Daoist Equal to Heaven watched with clarity, his body chilled. With such a fearsome move, Wusheng was likely in great danger.

"Hmph!" Suddenly, a cold snort arose from behind the Great Freedom Demon. Before he could turn around, he was bisected by a sword and his body dissipated into billowing demonic qi, moving aside to reconstitute.

"How is this possible?" The Great Freedom Demon stared in disbelief.

"This Magical Treasure is called the Demon-avoiding Divine Shuttle, capable of moving through space," Wusheng revealed a small shuttle in her hand. "I had anticipated you using this move!"

The Great Freedom Demon was taken aback and said, "Well-played and well-prepared indeed! Since you possess such a Magical Treasure, killing you is impossible, and here in the World of Heavenly Demons, even if you have the Immortal-slaying Sword, you can’t kill me! I’ll do Heaven-Penetrating Sect Hierarch a favor and let you go."

Having seen the Magical Treasure in Wusheng’s hand, the Great Freedom Demon knew he couldn’t prevail over her today. His mana was indeed mightier, but Wusheng, with the Immortal-slaying Sword, was even more ferocious. And while he used the World of Heavenly Demons’ qi for self-destruction, she had used the Demon-avoiding Divine Shuttle to evade through space. How could the fight continue? If they kept fighting, it might last months or even years without a victor.

"However, you must release my people first," The Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord said with a cold laugh.

Daoist Equal to Heaven couldn’t help but feel the pain. It wasn’t easy to convert those million Heavenly Demons, especially since one of them was a Heavenly Demon King. If he really had to let them go, he indeed found it hard to part with them.

Wusheng retorted, "Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord, don’t be too unreasonable. Just now you were pressing us hard, and now you want my junior brother to release the Heavenly Demons who voluntarily converted!"

The expression of Great Freedom Heavenly Demon darkened as he said, "If you don’t release the people, don’t expect to leave!"

Wusheng laughed coldly and said, "If that’s the case, then we have no choice but to invite the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation to test the mana of the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord! Let’s see whether the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord or the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation is more formidable!"

Wusheng’s battle with the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon had also stoked his fire; now he didn’t want to back down at all and faced him head-on.

"Buddhism fords those who are destined. These Heavenly Demons wished to convert, which means they were destined for me. Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord, you shouldn’t insist any further! Besides, there are countless extraterritorial Heavenly Demons. Why should you care about these mere million?" Daoist Equal to Heaven said.

"You are a disciple of the Supreme Pure Luminous Lineage, how come you are also a member of the Buddhist sect?" asked the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon.

"I also practice the ’Sutra of the Other Shore,’ and have some connections with Amitabha Buddha. It was with this scripture that I converted the million Heavenly Demons," Daoist Equal to Heaven explained.

Hearing the name of Amitabha Buddha, the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon hesitated. In years gone by, it was Amitabha Buddha who came to exterminate the World of Heavenly Demons. Although the Heavenly Demon World could regenerate endlessly, this name still struck a sense of fear in him! Moreover, it was really not easy to provoke the Leader of Heaven-Penetrating. The million Heavenly Demons did not matter much; it was just a matter of saving face for him.

"When people ask later on, I shall say that these million Heavenly Demons were a gift from the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord!" Daoist Equal to Heaven said with a bow.

Upon hearing this, the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon thought it was acceptable. It looked like Daoist Equal to Heaven was reluctant to spit out the million Heavenly Demons and the Heavenly Demon King that he had swallowed. Wusheng, obviously, was also unwilling. If Daoist Equal to Heaven really had to return the converted Heavenly Demons, wouldn’t that show that the Shangqing lineage was afraid of the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon? Life could be lost, but face, especially the face of the sect, should never be thrown away.

The Great Freedom Heavenly Demon sneered and said, "Fine, I’ll let you off this time! But I will remember this account."

Having the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord remember you was not a good thing; even Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was extremely wary of the Heaven Devil Illusion he displayed. Duobao Tathagata was forced to reincarnate and cultivate again due to pressures, which angered Amitabha Buddha who then destroyed the Outer Domain Demon World several times. However, as long as people in the world harbor evil thoughts, these Heavenly Demons will be reborn, which even the Saints can do nothing about. Furthermore, the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon moves without a trace and can even instantly hide in a mortal’s heart, fleeing extremely fast. Unless several more Saints intervene, it might be possible to catch him.

Daoist Equal to Heaven, though he had reached Supreme Right Enlightenment, couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of being watched by the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord in the future; he might be forced into Nirvana by a sudden manifestation of a Heart Demon illusion during meditation.

"Let’s go!" Wusheng grabbed Daoist Equal to Heaven and, with the Demon-avoiding Divine Shuttle, escaped the World of Heavenly Demons in an instant.

The Heavenly Demon King of Great Freedom couldn’t help but sneer repeatedly, "Even if you’ve achieved Supreme Right Enlightenment, my Heaven Devil Illusion isn’t something an ordinary person can withstand. Even Duobao was pushed by me to reincarnate and undergo tribulations, with Karmic Fire burning his body for five hundred years! I want to see how you’re going to dodge my Heaven Devil Illusion!"

Having caught the attention of the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord meant walking on the edge of a cliff from then on, never knowing when he might whimsically cast an illusion that could force Daoist Equal to Heaven to reincarnate and undergo tribulations.

Wusheng, holding onto Daoist Equal to Heaven, used the Demon-avoiding Divine Shuttle to leave the World of Heavenly Demons and then said solemnly, "From now on, be careful on your own. Being remembered by the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Lord is not a good thing!"

Daoist Equal to Heaven nodded gravely and replied, "I will remember! But now I have attained Supreme Right Enlightenment; it won’t be easy for him to affect me."

Wusheng simply nodded slightly, sent Daoist Equal to Heaven back to his physical body, and then returned to Upper Pure Heaven himself.

If you want to know what happens next, please stay tuned for the next installment.

PS: A friend left me a message saying some people claim that I plagiarized the three Chapters about the illusory realm. I’ve checked, and while the stories do bear a slight resemblance, the writing style is worlds apart, with many stark differences in process and content. This plot was conceived by me. My intelligence in writing romance is limited, and such love stories are clichéd—it’s everywhere. I seem to recall writing similar plots in ’The Saint who Defied Heaven’ earlier, so can I claim they plagiarized mine? With such clichéd stories, the only way to shine is through writing, and I believe I did well with my prose-like style in those three Chapters. I’m confident that my work surpasses that of the "original" I’m accused of "plagiarizing" by several streets.

Those who have read some Buddhist scriptures and have a good understanding of Buddhism should recognize that the third Chapter contains romantic elements from Buddhist teachings, drawn upon, not "plagiarized" from this so-called "original" work. If you say I plagiarized, then fine, I admit to copying ’Journey to the West,’ ’Investiture of the Gods,’ and ’Romance of The Three Kingdoms.’ Come and slap my face! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Starting Point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)"