Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 242 - 236: Achieving in 200 Years What Others Achieve in Two Million Years [Fourth Update, Please Subscribe]_1
SLAP.
Li Jing smacked General Fish Spear across the face and then kicked him, sending him flying.
He bellowed, "What time do you think it is that you’re still playing these tricks on this Marshal? Start with His Majesty the Jade Emperor; He is the most important."
General Fish Spear hurriedly said, "His Majesty the Jade Emperor dispatched an envoy to Wuzhuang Temple to await the Saint’s command. However, two months ago, the envoy was ambushed, and the news only reached us yesterday."
Li Jing paled with shock, and the immortals were also dumbfounded.
WHAT?!
"Impossible." Li Jing immediately shook his head in disbelief. "Who would dare ambush an envoy of our Heavenly Court?"
General Fish Spear said, "Currently, Lord Wen Quxing is personally handling the investigation. We expect an update in a few days."
Li Jing nodded, but his brows remained tightly furrowed as a sense of foreboding spread in his heart. Suddenly, he asked, "Could it be Sha Chen’s doing?"
The immortals also frowned deeply, looking down at the Flowing Sand River, lost in thought.
Li Jing found this line of thought convincing and nodded, muttering to himself, "It must be his trickery. He’s now brazen enough to ambush an envoy of the Heavenly Court."
It would have been better if he hadn’t said that, as everyone’s thoughts might have drifted elsewhere. But once he said it, the immortals felt that what Sha Chen had initially said made a lot of sense.
Li Jing indeed held a high position and great power, commanding a strong army. Moreover, he had framed Sha Chen first. Now, without any evidence, he was already certain it was Sha Chen who had ambushed the Heavenly Court’s envoy. What else is there that he, Li Jing, wouldn’t say? This is a classic case of abusing public office for personal revenge. Not a single word from Li Jing can be trusted.
The immortals secretly thought that Li Jing was no longer trustworthy. At least regarding Sha Chen, they had lost their trust in Li Jing. Since Li Jing believed Sha Chen was behind it, they, on the contrary, couldn’t think so. It doesn’t matter who it was, it definitely wasn’t Sha Chen.
Li Jing had no idea that he had already lost all trust in the eyes of the others, all because Sha Chen’s words had nearly knocked him off his pedestal. Killing a man’s spirit was as simple as that.
Li Jing glanced at the crowd, noticing that hardly anyone sided with him, except for General Fish Spear who nodded slightly in agreement. But General Fish Spear counted for nothing; Li Jing wanted the approval of individuals like Luo Xuan, Lu Xiong, and Wang Lingguan.
Unfortunately, none of them approved. Li Jing immediately felt disheartened and defeated, realizing his actions in this matter had truly cost him the people’s support.
If I can’t recover from this or prove my words true, my political career will likely suffer a huge stain. Therefore, I must find a way to deal with Sha Chen and capture both the spider spirit and the Black Bear Spirit. Only by capturing them and making them talk can I prove I’m right. Regardless of how things started, Sha Chen colluding with demons, forming factions, and associating with monsters is a crime. Then, everything Sha Chen has said will become untrustworthy. My, Li Jing’s, innocence will naturally be restored instantly.
Li Jing asked, "What else? What’s the situation with the Black Bear Spirit?"
General Fish Spear reported, "My subordinates discovered that the Black Bear Spirit has returned to Black Wind Cave on Black Wind Mountain. It killed the demons occupying its cave dwelling and was even going to kill Elder Jin Chi at the Guanyin Zen Temple."
"Fortunately, Elder Jin Chi discovered this early and hid in the cellar, feigning death, thus narrowly escaping. However, his disciples and grand-disciples were all killed by the Black Bear Spirit, and the Guanyin Zen Temple was also burned to the ground."
Upon hearing this, Li Jing and the others were filled with shock and anger. "What? That audacious demon! How dare it be so rampant! Have people been sent to capture it yet?"
General Fish Spear said, "The Four Heavenly Kings, Lei Zhenzi, and others have already gone to capture it, but there has been no news yet."
Li Jing’s expression was unsettled. He turned to Wang Lingguan and the others and said, "Everyone, do you see? The Black Bear Spirit is indeed colluding with Sha Chen. It even set fires to burn the mountain to attract our attention, all to reduce the pressure on Sha Chen and increase his chances of escape."
Only a few people nodded in agreement. The vast majority just chuckled.
Wang Lingguan smiled and said, "King Li, there’s no sign whatsoever that the Black Bear Spirit’s actions were for Sha Chen."
Luo Xuan also nodded. "Indeed. It only killed the demons that occupied its cave dwelling; this is revenge. Then, it killed the disciples and grand-disciples of Elder Jin Chi, with whom it had a pact but who didn’t help it. This is perfectly reasonable and entirely in line with a demon’s nature."
Lu Xiong also chimed in, "King Li, are you perhaps tired and too eager for results? Why do you blame everything on Sha Chen?" With a chuckle, he turned and returned to the command tent.
Li Jing’s face darkened, and he wanted to rebuke him. But Lu Xiong’s status in the Heavenly Court was no lower than his own; Lu Xiong was only under his command for this expedition. Now that Lu Xiong had mocked him, there was truly nothing Li Jing could do.
Luo Xuan’s status was also comparable to Li Jing’s, and his power was even greater, as he was already a Daluo Golden Immortal. He also smiled and turned to leave. It seemed his stance was the same as Lu Xiong’s.
Wang Lingguan shrugged with a smile. "King Li, if you want to prove the Black Bear Spirit is colluding with Sha Chen, you’ll just have to capture the Black Bear Spirit."
Li Jing declared, "This Marshal will definitely capture the Black Bear Spirit! Then, I will be able to prove that what this Marshal said was not wrong."
Wang Lingguan smiled without speaking, his eyes glinting, then turned and left.
After returning, Li Jing immediately mustered his troops and also summoned his sons, Jinzha and Muzha.
Muzha’s injuries hadn’t healed. Realistically, without ten or eight years, or some other fortuitous chance, his injuries would likely be difficult to fully recover from.
Jinzha was also injured. More importantly, his Dragon Piling was gone—mysteriously vanished, which infuriated him. Consequently, he had been very dispirited recently.
Upon hearing what Li Jing said, Jinzha suddenly felt a jolt, his eyes filled with anger. "Father Marshal, your son can confirm that the Black Bear Spirit is indeed colluding with Sha Chen! It entered the Flowing Sand River Cave but then appeared outside. This suggests Sha Chen must have released it."
"Now, by setting fire to the mountain and burning down the Guanyin Zen Temple to attract our attention, it’s definitely to create an opportunity for Sha Chen to escape," Jinzha analyzed.
Muzha nodded repeatedly at Jinzha’s analysis. Li Jing could only sigh helplessly; he thought the same way—father and sons were of one mind.
However, outsiders all felt Li Jing was abusing his official position for a personal vendetta, and he couldn’t refute it. Therefore, he could only order his sons Jinzha and Muzha to capture the Black Bear Spirit at all costs and bring it back for questioning.
"If the Black Bear Spirit is captured, our Li Family’s name will be cleared," Li Jing emphasized to them.
Li Jing patted their shoulders. "Alright, you may go. You must bring it back to this Marshal."
The two took their leave. Li Jing pinched the bridge of his nose, a growing sense that something was amiss, an ominous premonition intensifying within him. Yet, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong, and this was what truly frustrated him.
He muttered to himself, "Is Sha Chen brewing some new trouble, or is some major event about to happen?"
"Are all these recent events truly connected to Sha Chen? Why would the spider demoness attack our Heavenly Court? Why did the Black Bear Spirit appear at this particular time? And our Heavenly Court’s envoy was inexplicably killed—is this really unrelated to Sha Chen?" Li Jing pondered, feeling completely overwhelmed.
After burning down the Guanyin Zen Temple, the Black Bear Spirit was relentlessly pursued by both the Heavenly Court and Buddhism, fleeing high into the heavens and deep into the earth, across seas and into rivers.
Its cultivation was only at the peak of the Greater Primordial Golden Immortal realm, not even matching Jinzha’s. However, it possessed the Qingyun Zong Divine Power, allowing it to travel 108,000 miles in a single step. Even at the introductory level, it could travel eighty thousand miles in one step.
Jinzha, despite being a Daluo Golden Immortal, was inferior to the Black Bear Spirit in terms of divine speed techniques and could never catch up. He could only watch the Black Bear Spirit’s dark rump disappear into the distance from afar, eating its dust.
Jinzha pursued relentlessly but consistently failed to catch up, almost making him doubt his existence.
As for Muzha and the others from the Heavenly Court and Buddhism, it went without saying. None of them had expected a mere Black Bear Spirit to run faster than a rabbit.
Lei Zhenzi, even with his Wings of Wind and Thunder, couldn’t catch up. Others had even less of a chance.
Sha Chen continued his cultivation in the Flowing Sand River. He was well aware that the matter with the Black Bear Spirit wouldn’t be resolved anytime soon. He had also instructed the Black Bear Spirit to prioritize safety.
Of course, it’s not the Black Bear Spirit’s safety that comes first, but my own. If I can’t be absolutely sure I won’t be exposed, I must bide my time. But I must act within a year. My resources will only last another year or year and a half. If I don’t acquire more, I’ll just be sitting around twiddling my thumbs.
Sha Chen had already accumulated a large quantity of various elixirs, all intended for sale. Unfortunately, he had no one to take them out and exchange them for resources.
He had previously given some to Lady Di Yong, but not much, because Sha Chen suspected she might embezzle them. That woman is capable of anything.
As for Tianpeng, Sha Chen hadn’t given him a single Immortal Pill to take out; it would have been like casting pearls before swine—gone for good.
The Black Bear Spirit had taken some, but only for self-defense in emergencies. Eventually, the Black Bear Spirit must return, and with a large amount of resources. If it can’t return, then let it die outside; so many resources would be useless then anyway.
For this reason, Sha Chen had accumulated a truly substantial number of various Immortal Pills.
"My current resources are only enough for another year or year and a half. Within that time, I’m afraid it will be difficult to advance my cultivation further," Sha Chen pondered.
"However, while my cultivation level might not reach the higher stages of Daluo Golden Immortal, my physical body has a chance to achieve Great Accomplishment in the Da Luo Dharmakaya, advancing alongside my Primordial Spirit."
Sha Chen’s Primordial Spirit had already reached Great Accomplishment at the Daluo level. However, his physical body and cultivation level had been slow to progress further, which made him extremely anxious.
If others knew of this, they would probably be driven mad with envy. His cultivation speed was already incredibly fast. For others to reach the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, it would take at least a million years. In just one or two hundred years, Sha Chen had achieved what took others a million years, yet he was still not satisfied.
Furthermore, advancing from the Early Stage of Daluo Golden Immortal to the middle stage was an achievement most people couldn’t reach in their entire lifetime. Those with talent and opportunities would still need at least ten thousand years, yet he had done it in just ten or twenty years. And now he still thought it was too slow.
Truly, comparisons are infuriating. It was fortunate Tianpeng wasn’t present; otherwise, he really would have died of anger.
