Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 919: The Heavenly Palace Rituals

It is said that the Monkey King is very proud and cares about his reputation, but he does not care about his official title or salary.

After entering the Qitian Palace, he was free and easy every day with the help of the two immortal officials. In his spare time, he visited the palace to visit friends and made friends. When he was tired, he ate three meals a day and slept on a couch at night.

On weekdays, when you see Laozi in the heaven, you call him "Old"; when you meet Chu Tai, you call him "Your Majesty".

The remaining Nine Star Gods, Five Divine Generals, Twenty-Eight Mansions, Four Heavenly Kings, and Twelve Stars treat each other as brothers and call each other by their names.

In Chu Tai's eyes, this action was the monkey freeing his mind and tempering his character.

But in the eyes of some immortals, it is not a good thing.

One day during a court meeting, Xu Zhenjun stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven has been wandering around doing nothing all day, making friends with all the gods, regardless of their status, and drinking with them from time to time. If this continues for a long time, I'm afraid there will be trouble. It would be better to grant him one thing to keep him busy."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor of Heaven looked at the immortals and gods below and saw that many of them were not happy with this, so he summoned Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong arrived happily and just bowed when he saw the Emperor of Heaven, which made many immortals and gods frown again.

The monkey didn't care and said cheerfully, "Your Majesty, you summoned me here, but what reward do you have for me?"

The Emperor of Heaven saw this and didn't mind Sun Wukong's behavior either. He smiled and said, "Since you came to heaven, you have gradually restrained your temper and become more pure and sincere. But it's not good to be idle all the time, so I plan to deal with you. I want you to take care of the Peach Garden, okay?"

This statement really gave Sun Wukong enough face. Hearing this, Sun Wukong scratched his ears and cheeks and thanked the emperor repeatedly. The emperor then said, "The Peach Garden is not like other places. It is a sacred place in heaven. I allow you to protect this place, but you must be careful."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will do what I want."

After saying this, he thanked him twice more, then left the Lingxiao Palace and headed straight for the Pantao Garden.

The garden was protected by a local god, guarded by strong men, and watched over by spiritual officials. When they saw Sun Wukong coming, although they were afraid of his magical powers, they still showed up to stop him.

"Great Sage, this is a sacred place in Heaven, you cannot approach it lightly."

Sun Wukong saw this scene, but he was not angry. He still said cheerfully: "He is a loyal person. However, I came here this time because the Emperor of Heaven asked me to take charge of the Peach Garden. Now I need to investigate."

As he spoke, wisps of divine light appeared on his body. It was the Emperor of Heaven who spoke. After he agreed, the divine light that naturally appeared on his body corresponded to the divine duty of guarding the Peach Garden.

When the land god saw the divine light, he saluted immediately and called on the strong men nearby to welcome Sun Wukong. The spiritual officials and heavenly generals guarding the place also appeared one by one, saluted and led Sun Wukong in.

As soon as Sun Wukong entered the Peach Garden, he was immediately attracted by the peaches and couldn't help swallowing.

On the other hand, although Chu Tai had known about it for a long time, he couldn't help but complain after hearing what the Emperor of Heaven did: "Let the monkey visit Taoyuan, what do you think?"

As the lord of Heaven, the Emperor of Heaven's mind was connected to the void of Heaven. As soon as Chu Tai opened his mouth, he sensed it and spoke across the air.

"You and I have seen his cultivation. If he hadn't stolen the peaches and seized the fortune, it would have taken him a long time to make further progress. It just so happens that he is communicating with the gods, and his mind is imbued with the aura of the gods of the three mountains and five peaks, the four seas and the stars. It is like traveling between heaven and earth, and understanding the universe. With these peaches, he should be able to enter the pure yang realm, shed the slight filth that he was previously contaminated with, and further activate the Dao fruit in the golden hoop."

Hearing this, Chu Tai laughed and said, "Come on, you are such a bad guy. You knew that Sun Wukong would not be able to control himself after entering the Peach Garden, but you still specifically told him to be more careful. Isn't this just tempting him to make a mistake?"

"If he has enough concentration and can maintain his true nature, it will also be a great achievement."

Chu Tai shook his head and said, "In all the past cycles, has there ever been a single success? You and I both know that at this moment, the peaches are a miraculous medicine for him to replenish his own foundation and perfect his pure yang. Can he suppress his nature and his desire for the perfection of his Tao nature?"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor of Heaven said no more.

Chu Tai suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, I have been traveling in the universe these days, going to the underworld, sensing the filthy air that all living beings are contaminated with, and experiencing the changes in the heavens. Suddenly, I have an idea. I wonder if Your Majesty can help me solve it?"

The Emperor of Heaven was also somewhat curious about Chu Tai's discovery, and said softly, "Ask me."

The sound of the Donghuang bell echoed, and Chu Tai used it to ask the Emperor of Heaven: "There are two paths, the Heavenly Demon and the Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon is naturally the root of turbidity and filth, chaotic and distorted, but why do I feel that the Heavenly Demon does not seem to have a specific power bias? Is there something wrong with my perception?"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor was silent for a moment before he slowly spoke. His voice was also concealed by his own Dao Fruit and reached Chu Tai's ears.

'Your feeling is correct. In the current period, the power of the heavens and the demons is tending towards its original state.'

The Donghuang bell sounded: "The initial state?"

"That's right. The power of the sky you see now is actually the result of many years of fighting between me, the Great Heavenly Emperor, the sky, and the sky demon."

The phantom of the Donghuang Bell slowly turned, and an invisible force descended from the darkness, making the phantom of the treasure bell move closer to reality little by little. Chu Tai looked at the phantom of the treasure bell in his palm, thinking about what the Emperor of Heaven meant by his words.

What he said was a bit confusing, but Chu Tai still roughly understood what he meant.

The power of that day itself should not have any tendency, or the sky may be a manifestation of the state of the immortal manifesting the Tao and transforming into the great sky.

When the immortals show their power and the heavens are thriving, perhaps the power of heaven will tend to be positive. But when the entire world is affected by the devil and sinks into chaos and filth, then heaven will also move towards chaos and filth.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that the sky itself is the calamity of the immortal who has transformed into the Great Heavenly Emperor. Apart from the influence of the demons, it is also because it contains some destructive characteristics.

Chu Tai gently shook the Donghuang Bell, watched the phantom dissipate, and conveyed his thoughts to the Emperor of Heaven.

"Well, we have also thought about your guess, but this matter cannot be concluded."

Hearing this, Chu Tai nodded and was about to disperse the Donghuang Bell, but he suddenly thought of a possibility.

His five fingers slightly contracted, and the lost power of the Donghuang Bell gathered again. As he flicked his fingers and hit the Donghuang Bell, the invisible bell sound echoed throughout the entire Journey to the West period. Most people and ordinary immortals could not hear it. The few who heard it all looked towards the Heavenly Palace. The Emperor of Heaven raised his hand to cover everyone's perception and suppressed Chu Tai's questioning.

"You later let Sun Wukong cause havoc in the Heavenly Palace in order to clean up the filthy and foul air accumulated in the heaven and earth?"

Before the Emperor of Heaven answered this question, Chu Tai had already seen the answer. Under the influence of the Donghuang Bell, the foul and turbid air accumulated under the Heavenly Court had been exposed to Chu Tai.

Just like the Dead Sea he saw in the Golden Kingdom when he came to this world, there was also a large area of ​​filthy and foul air beneath the entire heaven.

However, these turbid airs were basically suppressed by the Emperor of Heaven, and the light of the gods and immortals continued to flow inside the Heavenly Palace, cleansing the turbid air back and forth, allowing it to grow while also partially dissipating it.

At the same time, Chu Tai also discovered the origins of the humane attitudes of the gods and immortals in this world. They themselves symbolize a certain illusion of the common people about the gods and immortals. This illusion not only maintains their humanity and strengthens their resistance to filth, but also enhances their resistance to filth and foul air.

Theoretically, as long as they keep resonating with the illusion, it is a situation where the power of immortals and gods and the power of human wishes highly overlap. It is a situation where immortals and gods and sentient beings are the host and guest of each other, influencing and anchoring each other. It is also a concrete manifestation of immortals and gods and sentient beings working together to resist the power of heaven and demons.

But it is undeniable that the current gods and immortals in heaven and earth, as well as all living beings, cannot match the power of heaven and the devil, which leads to the continuous increase of turbid air.

The Emperor of Heaven also saw that Chu Tai knew most of the inside story and did not continue to hide it.

"As you expected, the scene of Sun Wukong making a scene in Heaven was a cleansing operation we specially prepared. Heaven is using this to clean out a lot of accumulated foul air. Of course, if I have a problem one day, Sun Wukong making a scene in Heaven is also a ritual to wake me up."

"Fellow Daoist, now you know the inside story. When the monkey makes trouble, you must cooperate with me to clear the foul air."

Upon hearing this, Chu Tai did not continue to seek the power of the Donghuang Bell, but instead bowed to the void and said, "Of course."

Upon seeing this, the Emperor of Heaven did not continue speaking.

On the other side, Chu Tai himself, who was staying with the immortal Xiandaohua Datian Emperor, became curious.

He asked the Heavenly Emperor of Xianxian Daohua Datian beside him: "The rituals for cleaning up the inner world should not only be the one that caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace, but also similar to the two time periods I experienced before, the so-called Conferred God Tribulation, and the Demon Buddha Tribulation, should they also be of this kind?"

"That's right. These are some of the targeted methods we found in the countless cycles in the past, but not all of them can persist. For example, the second world you experienced is a typical example. When Tathagata Buddha and the Emperor of Heaven were affected, this kind of disaster method would only become a means for them to eliminate dissidents."

"Then why don't you stop the calamity mechanisms in the world?"

Chu Tai raised a question, and the Emperor of Heaven shook his head and said, "It's not that simple. Do you think that Heaven and Heavenly Demon are just small characters? The concept of Heaven covers the concept of all the universes in the universe. Even I can only limit it to the Three Pure Ones. In essence, it blurs the concept of Heaven between the Three Pure Ones and the entire Immortal Manifestation Heaven. But in this way, it is inevitable that some of his power will flow out."

"At the same time, the demon is also good at blurring the concept. Every time I use my abilities in front of him, it is very dangerous. Most of the time, I operate the many rules of heaven and earth, the principles of Taoism and the law in a relatively rigid mode."

"But even so, the demon can still find some loopholes from time to time. If I make a move on this mechanism, he will definitely blur the concept of the three time periods and blur the independent characteristics of the Three Pure Heavens, causing most of the power imprisoned in the Upper Pure Heaven to spread to the Jade Pure Heaven and the Great Pure Heaven."

Upon hearing this, Chu Tai whispered, "Is it true that the place where the power of heaven and demons is at its peak is Sanqingtian?"

"Although you can't say that what you said is wrong, it may not be what you think."

The Emperor's words made Chu Tai look over with some curiosity.

"If the power of the heavens and the demons is ten each, then about 70 to 80 percent of their power and origins are restricted by me to the Three Pure Ones."

"The distribution of the origins imprisoned in the Three Pure Heavens is roughly 3:4:3 for the Heavens, and 2:6:2 for the Heavenly Demons. The vast majority of the Heavenly Demons' power is imprisoned in the Upper Pure Heaven."

"Is the power of the demon so strong?"

Chu Tai was a little surprised. At this time, he didn't feel that the demon was much stronger than the sky.

The Emperor of Heaven shook his head and said, "You can't calculate it that way. Although the power of Heaven is strong, it has not grown much over the years. Its essence has always been Heaven. Many of its changes are actually caused by the Heavenly Demon. They are also the result of the joint efforts of me and fellow Taoists."

"But the Sky Demon is different. This guy's power is very corrosive. Once you are assimilated by him and your own concepts are blurred, you will gradually get closer to him. Even if you finally escape from his temptation, you will be seriously polluted."

"This kind of pollution is the most troublesome. It's good that you have innate spiritual light. You can rely on it to escape."

“But if there is no innate spiritual light, then the corresponding memories, even the people who remember them, and the people and things they remember, may become a means of erosion by the demons, occupying the corresponding power and concepts.”

After hearing this, Chu Tai had a clearer understanding of the power of the Heavenly Demon, and the Emperor of Heaven added another sentence.

"I don't have a good way to deal with this kind of pollution. I can only send it to the corresponding world after cleaning 70% to 80% and let it slowly transform there. Just like the Golden Kingdom in the world where you incarnated, it is a typical example of this kind of treatment method."

"Why do all living beings suffer?"

Hearing this, Chu Tai couldn't help but sigh.

The Emperor's eyes were somewhat dim, and a hint of doubt emerged in his eyes as he looked at the memories and spiritual charm that were flowing around him.

The next moment, a wisp of black gas rose up and gathered towards the Emperor of Heaven, trying to pollute his heart of Tao.

But just when the black energy was about to touch the Emperor, he suddenly stretched out a hand, grabbed it, and said with a smile: "I say, Heavenly Demon, why are you always so easily fooled? Every time I show a sad, helpless, and painful expression, you can't help but use some of your strength to interfere with me, trying to destroy my Taoism and Taoism from the inside. Don't you think about how long I have been practicing and how many separations and deaths I have seen?"

"This little bit of emotion doesn't make my heart unbalanced. On the contrary, your appearance makes me quite happy."

After saying that, the Emperor of Heaven slightly retracted his five fingers, defeating the wisp of black air, and a bit of spiritual light followed the mysterious connection and hit a certain piece of void.

Then, whether it was Chu Tai's original body in the deepest part of the reincarnation of the Three Pure Ones outside the heaven and earth, or his incarnation in the time period of Journey to the West, they all felt that the many demonic forces flowing between heaven and earth weakened for a moment. Although they recovered quickly, Chu Tai could feel that the essence of the demon had weakened a little bit.

(End of this chapter)