Journey to the West: Demon Emperor: Beginning as a Little Toad

Chapter 415 Memoirs of a Heavenly Soldier

In the Southern Continent, there is the Liyang Guiyu, which is 600 miles away.

Somewhere in a deep cave.

Xiao Chen is reading the memory of this heavenly soldier:
"Name: Yang Guoshan."

"Identity: Silver-armored Heavenly Soldier."

"Department: Tianting Dou Department, the Seven Eastern Azure Dragons of the Twenty-Eight Mansions..."

"Place of birth: Southern Continent, Qi State."

"The human sect: Shushan."

"Experience: In the evening at the seaside of Nanshanbuzhou, the salty sea breeze mixed with the smoke from the fishing village. Five hundred years ago, my brother and I, two ignorant young men from the fishing village, were playing in a barren mountain outside Linzi, Qi State, gnawing on wheat cakes in our hands..."

"At that time, we didn't know that this seemingly ordinary night tour would actually shatter the fate of mortals and lead us to a fairyland of no return."

"That night, purple lightning suddenly split the sky above the sea, as if an angry dragon in the sky had awakened. The sword light of Shushan was like the Milky Way hanging upside down, illuminating the entire sea area as bright as day."

"Above the sky, twelve sword seals formed a formation to slay evil. The immortal swung his sword to slay the dragon. The hundred-foot dragon flew into the air and struggled, but was eventually slain by the demon-suppressing sword."

"The sound of the sword pierced through the clouds and fell straight into the deep sea. The earth-shaking sound made the wheat cakes in our hands roll off the cliff, and also awakened the dream of cultivating immortals in our hearts."

"My brother grabbed my arm and asked in a trembling voice: 'Brother, so the story about the immortal who killed the dragon in the fishing song... is true?'"

"'Could it be that immortality is real?' I murmured to myself, and the seed of seeking the immortal was planted in my heart."

"If there really are immortals in this world, not to mention mortals, even kings, who wouldn't want to become an immortal?"

"From that moment on, the world lost two young men from a fishing village, but gained a pair of Taoist friends who were wandering around, seeking immortals and asking for the way."

"My brother and I traveled around the world hand in hand, and after going through countless hardships, we finally kowtowed on the 9,000 steps in front of the Sword Tomb of Mount Shu, and together we gained the chance to become immortals and enter the immortal gate we had always dreamed of."

"Since then, we have come to the fore and gradually become the best among the Shushan Sword School."

"On the day of the sect competition, my Dragon Roar Sword lifted off the crown tassel of the young master of the Southern Zombie Sect, and my Autumn Water Sword was at the throat of the Saintess of the Tianyin Sect..."

"The way we smiled at each other, the tacit understanding and pride we showed, was recorded in the 'Nine Provinces Immortal Alliance Records' and became a well-known story."

"We are known as the 'Twin Peaks of Shu Mountain'..."

"After five hundred years of practice, we gradually feel that we have no enemies in the world. If we don't fight against the heavens, who can we fight?"

"There are thousands of magics and infinite ways, but I only ask one question: 'Can I achieve immortality?'"

"Since we can't find the fruit of immortality in the human world, let's go to the fairyland to have a look!"

"More than a hundred years ago, we crushed the waves of the East China Sea and, after going through countless hardships, finally reached the summit of the Southern Continent. At that moment, our hearts were filled with infinite yearning and longing for the fairyland."

"Ascending to the immortal realm, this is the moment we cultivators dream of..."

"In front of the reception platform of the fairy world, the reception fairy official appeared in front of us. He looked at us, and his eyes revealed a bit of scrutiny and indifference."

"Then he handed us a set of heavenly soldier armor. The heavy silver armor gleamed with a cold light in the sun."

"I lowered my head and took over the heavy silver armor of the Heavenly Soldier, and thus became a Heavenly Soldier with a halberd..."

"'Is the fairyland a place where people can live happily and carefree?' I once held such a vision in my heart and stepped into this legendary fairyland."

"When I first arrived, everything in the fairyland seemed so new and so desirable, as if this was where all the beauty and freedom in the world converged."

"However, when I was actually there, I discovered that the fairy world, like the lower world, was also divided into different levels..."

"The fairy world has a strict hierarchy. Heavenly soldiers, heavenly generals, fairy officials... every level has insurmountable boundaries."

"Here, identity and status determine everything. The lower class can only look up to the higher class and can never walk side by side with them."

"Even, the strong devour the weak, and the lower classes devour each other..."

"The competition and struggle in the immortal world are more intense and cruel than those in the lower world."

"The tasks of the Heavenly Soldiers are trivial and onerous. The hierarchy of Heaven is strict and cannot be crossed. There are many rules in Heaven... Every day I feel like I am walking on the edge of a knife. If I am not careful, I may be doomed..."

"There are 360 ​​days in a year, and the wind, frost and sword are pressing hard... As a soldier in heaven, I struggle with these endless rules and tasks every day."

"As time went by, I began to realize that the so-called ascension was not the end of the path to immortality as I had imagined."

"Ascension is nothing more than throwing a sword that has been tempered for thousands of years back into a larger and more ruthless furnace."

"'Immortality?' I smiled bitterly and shook my head, my heart filled with helplessness and bitterness."

"Aren't the three realms and six paths destroyed by these four words?"

"The four words 'immortality' are like a curse, covering the three realms and six paths, driving countless beings crazy and obsessed with it."

"In order to achieve immortality, people in the lower world are willing to sacrifice everything, even their family, friendship, and love..."

"In our eyes, family, friendship, love... these were nothing more than stumbling blocks on the road to immortality and could be abandoned without hesitation."

"We thought that if we could gain immortality, we would have everything!"

"But is immortality really that easy to obtain?"

"How could a divine being who has mastered the secret of immortality easily share this supreme secret with others?"

"Everyone is immortal? That's just a joke."

"These innate gods hold tightly onto this resource of immortality and will never let go easily."

"Or, in other words, immortality is just a tool for these immortal officials to rule the three realms."

"They use immortality as bait, like a fisherman casting a net, to fish for the creatures in the three realms."

"Those creatures who pursue immortality gradually lose themselves in their fanaticism and confusion, and eventually become puppets of the immortal officials, allowing them to manipulate them and lose their souls and freedom..."

"In this three worlds, only those who are both powerful and obedient, those obedient and loyal dogs, may have the opportunity to touch the fruit of immortality."

"At the banquet in the Immortal Realm, the mount of the Star Lord still has a seat."

"Those monsters that devoured humans in the lower world and were once regarded as peerless demons by us actually have a place here."

"When gods do things, they often let their 'eyes and ears' do the work for them."

"They are high above, looking down on all living beings, their hands are not stained with blood, and they enjoy the name of justice."

"I gradually realized, there is no such thing as a demon."

"Some demons in the lower world are actually just minions of the gods. They are related to them and serve as their eyes and ears."

"Whether they are demons or humans, many of them are just the ingredients for these immortal officials' medicines, or the materials for refining the 'elixir of life'."

"Those immortal officials were singing and laughing, toasting to celebrate, enjoying endless splendor and wealth."

"They have long regarded the word 'immortality' as something that is in their pockets and firmly in their hands."

"And we, the lower-level heavenly soldiers, can only stand aside and watch quietly."

"The fairyland, this seemingly glamorous place, is actually a world of cannibalism."

"Here, the hierarchy is strict, the strong prey on the weak, and there won't be any extra kindness or sympathy just because one or two people fall."

"Every heavenly soldier is like an insignificant nail in this huge organization, struggling to survive in the cumbersome rules and heavy tasks day after day. If they are not careful, they may be ruthlessly eliminated by this ruthless fairy world mechanism and turned into dust."

"'Eat a peach and you will be immortal...' Someone whispered in my ear."

"I turned around and saw an immortal official proudly showing off the peaches in his hand."

"The peaches glowed with an alluring luster, as if they contained endless vitality."

"The peaches in their hands are a symbol of immortality... They are what I have always dreamed of."

"But I know that the peaches are mostly given to those who have enough to live forever..."

"A little heavenly soldier like me will never be able to taste the peaches. I can only watch from afar."

"The resources in the fairy world are the same as those in the human world. They will always flow to places where there is no shortage of resources."

"The strong become stronger, the weak become weaker, and the immortals will never lack the resources for immortality."

"These innate gods are born with endless life and power. They have already monopolized all the resources for immortality in the Three Realms."

"And we, the acquired practitioners, can only watch helplessly, with our hearts filled with helplessness and sorrow." "Hahaha, immortality is already predetermined. If you are born with it, you have it. If you are born without it, you don't have it."

"How cruel and helpless this is!"

"Our fate is determined at the moment we are born and cannot be changed."

"Immortality is nothing more than a scam, a bait, a collar to keep a dog obedient..."

"I often wonder, what is the purpose of this fairyland?"

"Is it for the enjoyment of those innate gods?"

"..."

"I couldn't find the answers, and I just felt lost and confused."

"Behind this seemingly glamorous fairyland, there is too much cruelty and helplessness hidden that makes people unable to look directly at it."

"Lord Kangjinxingjun..."

"Only Lord Kangjin Xingjun... can make me feel some warmth."

"But the Heavenly Palace will always be the high and mighty Heavenly Palace. When one Heavenly Warrior dies, there will be many more to fill the vacancy."

"The majesty and glory of heaven will never change in the slightest because of a tiny heavenly soldier. Heaven is cold and vast, and operates ruthlessly."

"We are just a part of this huge organization. We can be replaced and abandoned at any time."

"Whenever the Nine Heavens gale blows the flags of the South Heaven Gate with a rustling sound, I always have the illusion that it is the Shushan sword formation that is whistling."

"Perhaps I shouldn't have been so resolute at the beginning. I should have listened to Master's advice and cut off all worldly ties. At least I should have left a wisp of human smoke and the smell of wheat cakes, so that this cold silver armor of the heavenly soldier could be touched by the smell of human fireworks..."

"But once you enter the heaven, it's as deep as the sea. From then on, you are just a passerby in the human world..."

"I have become a small cannon fodder on the battlefield of the Heavenly Court. I may die at any time in the battle against monsters in the lower world. No one cares about my departure, and no one regrets it..."

"I can't go back anymore... I can only go on day after day... until the day I'm abandoned..."

“I don’t know when that day will come…”

"Maybe today..."

"The origin of this Black Tiger Demon Lord is mysterious. I wonder if he is the eyes and ears of the authoritative 'Emperor Haotian of Plague' in the Heavenly Court's Plague Department, or the minion of the famous 'Dragon and Tiger Mysterious Altar True Lord' in the Finance Department..."

"His demon generals actually possess the strange methods of the Plague Department..."

"I heard that there have been undercurrents between the Plague Department and the Thunder Department in recent days, and the conflict has intensified. Undercurrents are surging..."

“However, as long as the Plague Emperor Haotian flatly denies it, we can say that it was the lower world demon tiger who realized the way of plague himself.”

“Who can know the truth?”

"The power struggles in heaven are always so complicated and profound that it is difficult for people to get a glimpse of the full picture..."

"Anyway, in the disputes in heaven, it is always us, the insignificant heavenly soldiers, who are sacrificed."

"Our lives and deaths are nothing more than small chips in a game for those great men in Heaven. No one cares, no one has pity..."

"We fought desperately and shed our blood on the battlefield of subduing demons, but in the end, it was only so that the immortal officials of the heavenly court could talk and laugh about the distribution of benefits at the closed-door banquet of the heavenly court..."

"That's fine. If there is an afterlife, I am willing to give up this immortal path and become an ordinary soldier in the mortal world, guarding those few acres of thin land, living with my family, taking care of my elderly parents, and enjoying the happiness of family life..."

"In my next life, I will never allow myself to become an immortal again..."

"Lord Kangjinxingjun..."

"As for Lord Kangjin Xingjun, that is just my obsession after all..."

……

Xiao Chen slowly closed his eyes, letting the memory of Yang Guoshan slowly settle in his mind.

He, the King of the Golden Horn, is only over two hundred years old now.

The memory of this heavenly soldier over hundreds of years is too complicated, and under the attack of the "Six Paths of Reincarnation Restriction", many details of the memory have become blurred or incomplete, like an ancient painting eroded by wind and rain.

Xiao Chen sorted out these chaotic memories and first sorted out some basic information.

This man's name was Yang Guoshan. He was considered a proud man in the lower world. After years of hard training and countless hardships, he finally ascended to the immortal world.

However, after billions of years of chaos, the Three Realms are so vast.

In this vast Three Realms, in the end, Yang Guoshan might just become one of the 100,000 heavenly soldiers in the epic battle to "encircle and suppress Sun Wukong."

He ended up being a minor character in someone else's brilliant story.

In the mythological world, hard work seems worthless in the face of talent.

Those who can ascend to the fairyland and become heavenly soldiers are all ancestors in the lower world and are respected by thousands of people.

But in these three realms, they don't even deserve a complete name, they are just a cannon fodder in the vast universe.

However, isn't this the norm?

Sun Wukong is the immortal stone that created the world. According to the 365 degrees of the celestial sphere and the 24 solar terms of the political calendar, there are nine orifices and eight holes on the top, and orchids on the left and right...

Since its creation, the fairy stone has been influenced by the beauty of nature and the earth, the essence of the sun and the moon, and after being affected for a long time, it has become spiritual and has nurtured the "fairy cell" inside.

Going back further to before the creation of the world, the Spiritual Stone Monkey was a golden statue born from part of the origin of the "Chaos Demon Ape" and the "Earth Image of the Primordial World".

Sun Wukong followed the footsteps of the "Spiritual Stone Monkey" and became a disciple of "Master Subhuti", from which he was taught the "Supreme Immortal Law". He ate countless "big peaches" from "Queen Mother" and countless "Nine-turn Golden Pills" from "Taishang Laojun"...

Such a background, such a heritage, such resources.

How can ordinary people compare?
Compare it to what?

Those who were sent by Heaven to Flower-Fruit Mountain to encircle and suppress Sun Wukong were all elite heavenly soldiers and generals of Heaven.

It can be said that every elite heavenly soldier is a favored one in the lower world and the ancestor of a sect.

But for ordinary heavenly soldiers, being able to fight with Sun Wukong may be the pinnacle of their life-long practice.

As for the four words "immortality".

To put it bluntly, whether it is the immortal method of immortality, the peaches of heaven, or the ginseng fruit tree... these resources that can bring immortality are firmly in the hands of the innate gods.

Even Master Subhuti may be an innate deity.

The King of Golden Horn had a "cheat". He followed Sun Wukong to become a disciple of Master Subhuti, from whom he learned the magic, and then got some of Sun Wukong's peaches... Only then did he achieve immortality.

In these three realms, most of those who can cultivate to a level above the Golden Immortal are either innate gods, or the bloodline of innate gods, or the disciples of innate gods, or the descendants of the immortal officials of the heavenly court...

Ordinary people and ordinary monsters can live for a few thousand years, and over ten thousand years is the limit. How can there be immortality?
This mythological world is ultimately in the hands of the innate gods.

The innate gods make the rules, control the resources, and decide everything.

In the mythological world, if you are born early, have a good reincarnation, and have a good family background, you will be awesome.

Born late and with an ordinary background, he has to rely on others and struggle to survive.

The mythical world, a place that seems to be full of opportunities and miracles, is actually extremely cruel.

The efforts of acquired creatures are sometimes worthless compared to the talents and resources of innate gods.

……

Xiao Chen put on the standard silver armor that marked his identity as "Yang Guoshan" and activated the disguise function of the mirage scale mask.

Xiao Chen's face suddenly underwent a subtle and astonishing change, as if it was redrawn by an invisible brush, and instantly turned into the face of "Yang Guoshan".

This mirage scale mask is truly the ultimate in the art of disguise. It is different from ordinary disguises, but is equivalent to a "skin mask" that can be changed at will and fits like a second layer of skin.

At this moment, Xiao Chen's face changed completely. Whether it was the facial contours, the subtle differences in skin color, or the expressions that were inadvertently revealed, they were all exactly the same as "Yang Guoshan" himself.

It was as if Yang Guoshan's face was born with Xiao Chen.

He, the King of Golden Horn, is now the heavenly soldier of the Heavenly Court’s Fighting Department, Yang Guoshan.

(End of this chapter)