NCCnovel Chapter 254 Who will be testing whom then?!
Chapter 254 Who will be testing whom then?!
"I will come back to see you before the journey to the West begins."
Besides, you will meet again when Wukong comes out of the underworld.
Although he said that, Wudang's eyes still welled up with tears as he said, "Take care, Master!"
"You guys, just focus on your work!"
Tongtian looked at each of his disciples.
"In Heaven, keep a low profile for now and don't cause too much trouble!"
On the journey to the West, proceed according to your abilities; don't directly confront those two Westerners head-on.
If you encounter anything you can't handle, just like before, send a message to your master, and your master will come immediately!
"Your disciple will remember this!"
Tongtian nodded, glanced at them one last time, and turned to Sun Wukong, saying, "Let's go."
Then the master and disciple took off on a cloud.
The crowd stood still, watching them depart into the distance.
Until the cloud shadows disappeared into the horizon.
After a long while, Wen Zhongcai said, both excited and incredulous:
"Master...is he really back?! It feels so unreal!"
Jin Ling wiped away her tears, and hope rekindled in her eyes:
"Our Jie Sect is also returning."
Wu Dang looked back at the road he had come from, a smile playing on his lips:
"Did everyone hear what Master said earlier?!"
You all know what to do now, right?!
Upon hearing this, Lingya Xian rubbed his hands together and said:
"Once our junior brother comes out, let's work together to make a hole in the sky!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The group looked at each other and smiled. In a thousand years, they had never been as happy as they were today!
A thousand years of gloom, dissipated in a single day.
Hope was rekindled.
Above the sea of clouds, Sun Wukong glanced back in the direction of Flower Fruit Mountain and whispered:
"Master, have my fellow disciples... been waiting for you?"
Tongtian didn't turn around, but simply gave a soft "hmm".
"How long have you been waiting?"
"A thousand years."
Sun Wukong fell silent, pondering in his heart:
A thousand years?! Isn't that the time my master spent accompanying and protecting me during my birth?!
My master is so good to me!
When I get to the underworld, I will definitely work hard to cultivate. Once my cultivation level is high enough, I will definitely destroy that damned Investiture of the Gods and help my master and fellow disciples reunite completely!
"Master, I will definitely work hard in my cultivation!"
Wukong made up his mind and suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Tongtian looked down at him with a smile, patted his head, and the meaning behind his words was self-evident.
The two continued their journey towards the underworld!
......
Inside the Purple Cloud Palace.
Hongjun Daozu sat cross-legged on a futon, with the enormous Heavenly Dao chessboard, which he had repaired many times, floating in front of him.
The lines on the chessboard had been largely stabilized.
He spent a thousand years finally dealing with the effects of Tongtian's separation from the Heavenly Dao and rebalancing the rules of the Heavenly Dao.
Now, it's time to pay attention to the Great Tribulation of Journey to the West!
Hopefully, Zhunti and the other two have made the arrangements, and hopefully the underworld will not interfere too much!
This is the inevitable trend ordained by Heaven, and it is the key to the spread of Buddhism and the flourishing of the Buddhist community.
This is also an important step in further consolidating the Heavenly Dao's control over the primordial world.
Although the underworld is a variable, he believes that everything will develop in a positive direction.
After all, although the process of the previous two great tribulations was not as he wished, the results were generally good!
Hongjun raised his hand and tapped the Heavenly Chessboard with his fingertip.
Lines related to Journey to the West immediately appeared on the chessboard.
A golden line winds its way through the four continents, with each node marked along its length:
Five Elements Mountain, Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, Gao Village, Flowing Sand River, Wuzhuang Temple, White Bone Ridge, Fire Cloud Cave, Daughter Kingdom, Flaming Mountain, Little Thunder Temple...
Each node corresponds to a challenge.
However, since the human race's current activity area has not strayed far from the Buzhou Mountain area,
Therefore, very few of those originally slated to participate in the calamity were humans who had been misled by Buddhism.
Most of them are actually Buddhist monks in disguise!
Although if there are too few humans in the calamity, they won't be able to seize much fortune.
But something is better than nothing; every bit of weakness we can inflict on humanity is a bonus!
Each of these difficulties is a test for the pilgrims.
This is also an opportunity for Buddhism to spread to other countries.
Even if we can't seize the human race's fortune, it's still good to spread Buddhism to other prehistoric beings and expand the influence of Buddhism!
Hongjun nodded in satisfaction.
The plan is perfect; as long as it proceeds according to plan, Buddhism will flourish.
Even the way of Heaven can interfere in matters of humanity...!
Then he lightly traced a line with his fingertip and looked toward the starting point of the Journey to the West—Flower and Fruit Mountain.
He wanted to see how the stone monkey, who was key in the Great Calamity, was doing now.
According to the original timeline, the stone monkey should have already been born and was reigning as king of Flower Fruit Mountain by now.
Then he set sail to seek immortals and learn the Dao, finally becoming a disciple of Bodhi at the Xieyue Sanxing Cave on Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, where he mastered the Great Celestial Immortal Technique and the Seventy-Two Transformations.
Then they wreaked havoc in the Dragon Palace and stirred up trouble on the earth!
Uh! Let's just wreak havoc in the Heavenly Palace!
Finally, they were imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain, awaiting the arrival of the pilgrims...
"Um?"
Hongjun's brows suddenly furrowed, and a bad premonition arose in his heart!
Upon closer inspection, their expressions froze instantly!
The celestial signs indicate that the stone monkey has indeed been born.
But... the lines after that are all messed up!
King of Flower and Fruit Mountain? No way!
Sailing out to find immortals? No way!
Becoming Bodhi's disciple? No!
That originally clear golden line disappeared after the birth of the stone monkey.
Suddenly, countless branches appeared, each one blurry and pointing to an unknown outcome.
He even felt a pang of heart palpitations in those branches.
It's as if something among those different branches will affect me!
"What's going on?" Hongjun whispered.
He manipulated the power of Heaven to deduce the causes and consequences.
Then he saw:
At the summit of Huaguo Mountain, Tongtian stood holding a sword, and with one stroke, he repelled Guanyin!
Jieyin and Zhunti appeared from the void to save the day, and then the three of them engaged in a chaotic battle.
The stone monkey absorbed divine power and was born ahead of schedule.
Tongtian took the stone monkey away...
"Reaching the heavens?!"
Hongjun's expression froze instantly, and he thought to himself in disbelief:
"He actually took that stone monkey as his disciple?! How could he possibly go back to Flower Fruit Mountain?!"
To keep it a secret, I specifically instructed those two, Zhunti and Zhunti, not to go to Flower Fruit Mountain beforehand, lest they be targeted by the Underworld!
"Could it be a coincidence?!"
Upon closer inspection, filled with doubt, what shocked Hongjun even more was that...
The stone monkey was born with the cultivation level of an early Golden Immortal!
There are two sources of sacred power within him, and he is intelligent and born with knowledge.
"This...how is this possible?!"
Hongjun suddenly stood up, his body radiating Daoist energy, causing the entire Zixiao Palace to tremble.
He spent a thousand years stabilizing the Heavenly Dao, and had just finished cleaning up the mess left by the Investiture of the Gods calamity.
But when they turned around, the Journey to the West Calamity had run into problems again!
More importantly,
During the time he was working diligently to stabilize the order of Heaven, such a major change occurred, yet Heaven didn't warn him immediately?!
What does this mean?!
Did you deliberately hide it from me?! Don't you consider me one of your own anymore?!
Is it possible to play this game now or not?
The stone monkey became Tongtian's disciple! He even absorbed a trace of holy power!
Moreover, this one was born at the early stage of the Golden Immortal realm!
At this rate of growth, what level will he reach when Journey to the West begins?
Taiyi? Daluo? Even... Quasi-Saint?!
If such a monster were to walk the originally planned journey to the West, what would be the point of all the arrangements made by Buddhism?
What difficulty could those calamities possibly pose?
In the end, who will be testing whom?!
"Reaching for the heavens!"
Hongjun squeezed out these two words through gritted teeth. He could not defy the will of Heaven, so he could only vent his resentment on the object he could control!