The Battle in Journey to the West-Chapter 26 - 0 Power of the Monkey King Among the
Chapter 26: Chapter 026: Power of the Monkey King Among the Various Heavens
Chapter 26 -026: Power of the Monkey King Among the Various Heavens
Wukong, having obtained the flesh body of a Tongbei Monkey, used the Fetal Transformation and Easy Shape-Shifting technique along with a Primordial Spirit to cultivate a second body. This sort of body can’t be called an “External Incarnation” anymore. No matter how marvelous an incarnation is, it will always just be an incarnation. However, this body is like a third cadaver chopped out, like an avatar, capable of being controlled like one’s own arm, without the shortcomings of an incarnation—utterly mystical.
Wukong named this second body “Daoist Equal to Heaven,” which also matched his moniker “Great Sage Equalling Heaven.” He had his own plans, and in time, this flesh body would be of great use.
Now, within the West Cow He State, Buddhism was scheming to take control of the Southern Toad Continent. However, the Southern Toad Continent was under Daoist control, with Daoist temples everywhere, making it difficult for Buddhism to rise up unexpectedly. Wukong thus planned to use this Daoist Equal to Heaven to disrupt Tathagata’s scheme.
Wukong made use of the Fetal Transformation and Easy Shape-Shifting to revert this flesh body to its original form as an infant, and after seven days grew indistinguishable from a normal human. Even Tathagata wouldn’t have been able to discern that this flesh body was in fact cultivated from a Tongbei Monkey.
He incorporated the Third Primordial Spirit that Yuan Hong had given him into his original body, nourishing it atop the Three Flowers. The Primordial Spirit was still too fragile, but given time, it would eventually attain Great Achievement.
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The flesh body of this Daoist Equal to Heaven was also very fragile, so he absorbed it into his body as well, and after seven days, it would be capable of standing on its own.
Yang Jian and Wukong made another round through the dilapidated warship, but they found no more treasures. Mostly, there were just fragments of broken Magical Treasures left from the Middle Ancient Times war.
“Brother Yang, we’ve been delayed for a day. I don’t know if someone has found the Map of Mountains and Rivers yet. We should hurry!” Wukong said.
“Let’s go!” Yang Jian called out and followed Wukong towards the direction Wusheng had departed. It seemed like they were in the center of the universe, vast and boundless, with no discernible direction to head in.
Along the way, they didn’t encounter anyone else, just the vast and boundless cosmic space, without knowing how to return.
Suddenly, they felt spatial fluctuations as though the heavens and earth were spinning. The infinite cosmos disappeared, and in its place was a landscape of rivers and mountains.
“We’ve entered the space within the Map of Mountains and Rivers!” Yang Jian said in a concentrated voice.
Having used the Map of Mountains and Rivers before, he naturally knew the mystical aspects of this treasure. Concealed in the void, it formed its own pocket dimension. If one wasn’t careful and stepped into it, they could only be at the mercy of its master. Unbeknownst to them, they had already entered the space within the Map of Mountains and Rivers—it was an act of fate. In such a vast place, they had just happened to stumble into the space of the Map of Mountains and Rivers.
Here was a world within itself, the internal universe of the Map of Mountains and Rivers, almost indistinguishable from a normal world.
The rivers and mountains within the Map of Mountains and Rivers were shattered and in disarray, the ground scorched. This Innate Supreme Treasure had not escaped unscathed in the great wars of the Middle Ancient Times. It was damaged during Nu Wa’s battle with her enemy and then lost in this space. After countless years of drifting from the endless void, it finally returned here. Actually, Yuan Hong’s warship also drifted through space tears created by squabbling Saints, and with the Black Tower severed, he had no path to retreat. But after a long time adrift, it too finally came back.
Even though the Map of Mountains and Rivers was broken and battered, it was still an exceedingly rare treasure.
Wukong asked Yang Jian, “How can we take this Map of Mountains and Rivers?”
Yang Jian replied, “There is a formation core in the Map of Mountains and Rivers that suppresses the Eight Desolates. The formation core is a palace. If we find the core and control the palace, we can claim the Map of Mountains and Rivers.”
The Map of Mountains and Rivers was left by Nu Wa, and those fated to find it had entered. Soon, they might unavoidably face another battle.
Wukong and Yang Jian saw several guardians from the group of Twenty Heavens of the Buddhist sect. These guardians under the Tathagata mostly possessed the strength of Taiyi Golden Immortals, and they had many Magical Treasures which made them quite formidable to deal with, especially Great Brahma and Emperor Shi, who were rumored to have already advanced to the level of Da Luo Golden Immortals.
Upon seeing Wukong and Yang Jian, Great Brahma brought his palms together and said to Yang Jian, “Namo Amitabha Buddha, I’ve seen the Erlang Divine Lord. May I ask if the Divine Lord has seen several other Celestials of our Buddhist sect?”
Yang Jian had a neutral relationship with the Buddhist sect, so he wasn’t outright hostile in his reply, “Protector Great Brahma has given too much honour. I haven’t seen any of your other companions. We have just arrived at this Map of Mountains and Rivers.”
Great Brahma, upon seeing Wukong, however, suddenly exclaimed, “And who might this Daoist friend be?”
With a bitingly insincere smile, Wukong said, “I am the humble Daoist Sun Wukong. May I inquire if Protector Great Brahma has some guidance for me?”
Again, Great Brahma said “Namo Amitabha,” then proceeded, “I see this Daoist friend’s appearance and name are well connected with our Buddhism, and your features are indeed pleasing to our Buddha’s heart. Would you consider joining our Buddhism to achieve boundless merit?”
Great Brahma vividly remembered that Tathagata had once said that if all four of the Great Divine Monkeys could be brought into Buddhism, it would be a great virtue!
Great Brahma recognized at a glance that Wukong was the Spiritual Stone Monkey; he was very knowledgeable and remembered what Tathagata had told him after just one mention.
But Wukong replied, “What’s so good about becoming a Buddha? You can’t drink wine or eat meat. Why trouble oneself unnecessarily?”
Great Brahma said, “You can follow the Buddha Ancestor and learn the Hinayana Buddhist teachings, which allow meat-eating.”
Wukong couldn’t be bothered with this tiresome talk from Great Brahma and replied, “I do not wish to learn the Buddhist Law, and furthermore, I am of the Daoist sect and do not wish to betray my teaching.”
Great Brahma said, “If you join our Buddhist sect, you can become a Buddha and an Ancestor, spread our teachings, and enjoy endless incense offerings.”
Wukong retorted, “Why are you, Great Brahma, so incessantly noisy? If I say I won’t go, then I won’t go!”
Naturally, Great Brahma didn’t want to let go of this excellent opportunity; if he could capture the Spiritual Treasure Stone Monkey for the sect, he would certainly gain the Buddha Ancestor’s favor. Even if he failed to obtain any treasures in the North Sea, this would still be a great accomplishment.
There were four high-ranking masters from the Buddhist sect present here: Great Brahma, Duowen Heaven, Great Freedom Heaven, and Sun Palace Sovereign. Among these four, Great Brahma possessed the highest mana, followed by Great Freedom Heaven, then Duowen Heaven, and lastly, Sun Palace Sovereign. Great Brahma’s mana had reached the level of Da Luo Golden Immortal; it was just unknown in which realm, while Great Freedom Heaven was also a master of the Da Luo Golden Immortal Level at the Karmic Realm of the First Heaven. The other two were masters at the Taiyi Golden Immortal first and second layer.
“What does Erlang Divine Lord have to say?” Great Freedom Heaven turned his head to ask.
This Great Freedom Heaven, although called “Great Freedom”, was far from the true “Other-transforming Self at Ease Heaven”, who was the Lord of the Heavenly Demons in At Ease Heaven. Great Freedom Heaven merely had a title, like a courtesy title; this was the true extent of his abilities. If it was the Freedom Heavenly Devil Lord who had come, then Wukong would have no choice but to surrender; even a hundred Wukongs would be no match.
Yang Jian replied, “Since Wukong does not wish to join your Buddhist sect, perhaps it would be best not to force the issue.”
Great Freedom Heaven, however, said, “Not at all, not at all! I believe Wukong is destined to join our Buddhist sect. Today let us, the poor monks, take upon ourselves to convert you.”
Wukong’s face grew cold, and he angrily retorted, “You bald donkeys, I do not wish to convert, and yet you insist on converting me. Let’s see what skills you have to convert your Grandfather Sun!”
“Offense taken!” Great Freedom Heaven uttered a light shout and fiercely unleashed the Buddhist Lion’s Roar.
Great Brahma and the others converged on Wukong and roared furiously. Yang Jian’s expression changed as he scolded, “The Buddhist sect is so arrogant, what do you take our Daoist sect for? If you want to convert him, you’ll have to get past me first!”
Having said this, he rushed forward, swinging his tri-point double-edged saber towards the back of Great Brahma. Great Brahma’s mana was no less than that of Yang Jian. Two arms sprouted from his back, one holding a lotus and the other holding a horsetail whisk, fixing the lotus in the void to block the tri-point double-edged saber, while the whisk swept towards Yang Jian’s face with dazzling golden light, coming at him head on.
But the Howling Celestial Dog had already lashed out. While Yang Jian dodged the golden light, it had pounced and bitten Great Brahma’s leg, tearing off a bloody chunk of flesh even from Great Brahma’s vajra invulnerable body, causing him to glare angrily and shout, “You bold dog, take this!”
An extra arm appeared at his back, wielding the Six Routes of Pure Bamboo, striking the Howling Celestial Dog on the forehead and sending it flying sideways, howling in confusion. However, the Howling Celestial Dog carried the bloodline of an Ancient Demon God. Taming this fierce beast had already exhausted much of Yang Jian’s efforts; how could it be so easily subdued by Great Brahma? Seeing his beloved dog injured by Great Brahma infuriated Yang Jian further. Realizing that things couldn’t end amicably, he drew his Golden Bow and Silver Bullets, firing three shots straight at Great Brahma’s forehead.
Great Brahma again raised the lotus, flashing with golden light, fending off all the Silver Bullets.
Great Brahma felt infuriated by the aching pain from the chunk of flesh torn by the Howling Celestial Dog, and was thoroughly incensed at the thought that Erlang Shen actually dared to intervene!
Wukong, surrounded by three of the Various Heavens from the Buddhist sect—Great Freedom Heaven, Duowen Heaven, and Sun Palace Sovereign—endured their combined Buddhist Lion’s Roars, joined by the Great Thunderclap Spell to destabilize his spirit, while they chanted mystic sutras, attempting to forcibly convert him.
Yet Wukong stood unmoving in the center, clutching the Jingu Bang in his hand, and after the incantations were chanted twice, he simply cleaned his ears and laughed strangely, saying, “Your scriptures cannot convert me. If it were the ‘Sutra for Crossing Sentient Beings’ from VLOOKUP(A1289,[1]Sheet1!$A:$B,2,0), then perhaps I could listen, but what kind of ghost scripture are you chanting?”
The Buddhist scriptures were in Sanskrit, which Wukong could not understand. Yet, while listening to the scriptures, he felt somewhat trance-like. However, inside him were three great Primordial Spirits, capable of alerting one another. If one Primordial Spirit was bewildered, another would promptly rouse it, thus preventing him from falling for such spells. It was known that even Tathagata’s attempt to plant a Buddha Seed in Wukong’s heart with the Great Thunderclap Spell had not succeeded. How could these three Much Lesser Divine Powers possibly convert Wukong?
On Yang Jian’s side, a fierce battle raged with Great Brahma. Both being at the level of Da Luo Golden Immortals, their clash was tremendous, with each punch and kick shaking the earth, reminiscent of meteors colliding.
Yang Jian with his Eighty-Nine Mystical Techniques and Seventy-Two Transformations, Great Brahma with his array of Magical Treasures—neither could easily determine a victor for the moment.
Wukong inwardly marveled, thinking, “Indeed, the Buddhist sect is unfathomably deep. Even some Dharma-protecting Heavenly Kings possess such mana, able to match Yang Jian blow for blow! How much more mana must the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas have? In dealing with the people of the Buddhist sect in the future, one must be extremely cautious, for not everyone is as lacking as King Bodhisattva.”
Indeed, King Bodhisattva was rather “lacking”, specializing in capturing high-level beings from the Aquatic Tribes, plotting who knows what.
As the three One had finished chanting, Wukong seized the opportunity and swung his Jingu Bang, preparing to strike.
How the fortunes of this conflict would unfold, tune in to the next installment.
