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

Chapter 426 Heavenly Army Camp
Daluotian means "the highest heaven".

If placed in a purely Taoist cosmology, Daluo Heaven is the Three Pure Heavens, symbolizing the ultimate form of "Tao".

Because in the pure Taoist cosmology, the Three Pure Heavens are the highest heavens, above all other heavens.

The "The True Scripture of Yuanshi Tianzun on the Way of Heaven" once recorded: "At that time, Yuanshi Tianzun, in the Jade Capital Mountain on the Daluo Heaven, preached this True Scripture of the Way of Heaven for all the heavenly immortals."

But the world of Journey to the West is not a purely Taoist worldview.

The most direct example is that the basic map of the world in Journey to the West, the four continents, such as Dongsheng Shenzhou, Xiniuhezhou, Nanshanbuzhou, and Beijuluzhou, are not maps of the Taoist worldview, but of the Buddhist worldview.

In the Taoist worldview, there is no Dongsheng Shenzhou, Xiniuhezhou, Nanshanbuzhou, Beijuluzhou...

In the Taoist heaven, there is no Monkey King, no Four Heavenly Kings, and no General Curtain Roller...

The world of Journey to the West skillfully combines Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism to construct an unprecedented mythological world.

The world of Journey to the West is different from the pure Taoist mythology worldview and the Buddhist mythology worldview.

Therefore, in the world of Journey to the West, the Daluotian in heaven is not the Daluotian in the pure Taoist worldview.

In the world of Journey to the West, within the "Three Realms and Five Elements", Daluotian is given new meaning.

Outside the Three Realms, Daluo Heaven, which is the highest heaven, is still the Three Pure Heavens.

But within the Three Realms, the highest heaven is Daluo Heaven, which is the thirty-three heavens, where the Jade Emperor's Lingxiao Palace is located.

Before the Wansheng Palace Master secretly entered the "Daluo Heavenly Lingxiao Palace", he stole the Queen Mother's Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Lucidum...

This Daluo Heaven refers to the thirty-three heavens.

A thousand years later, this nine-leaf Ganoderma lucidum will be in this "Thirty-three Heavens".

Although each layer of the sky seems to be close to each other, they are actually billions of stars apart.

The distance between the layers of heaven is so far that it is unimaginable.

it's for:

"The Golden River leads to a thousand paths, and there are still more paths to reach the edge of the sky."

……

In addition to the thirty-three heavens, thirty-six heavens, Daluo heaven...

In the world of Journey to the West, there is a saying that there are nine heavens.

Sun Wukong once said with great pride: "I have no rivals among a hundred thousand soldiers, and I am majestic in the Nine Heavens!"

The names of many great gods often contain the word "Nine Heavens", such as "Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman", "Nine Heavens Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun", "Nine Heavens Dangmo Zushi"... These names are all famous.

However, some people wonder, aren’t these nine days, thirty-three days, and thirty-six days contradictory?
In fact, there is no contradiction between these nine days, thirty-three days, thirty-six days... they are just expressed differently.

The term “Nine Heavens” has multiple meanings.

Its meaning is that it refers to the supreme heaven.

The Five-Evolution Calendar states: "The number starts at one, stands at three, becomes five, flourishes at seven, and ends at nine. Therefore, the distance between heaven and earth is ninety thousand miles."

Nine is the largest singular number, the largest number, so it is also extended to mean "majority" and "limit". The Ninth Heaven is the highest heaven.

What Sun Wukong meant was: "I have fought my way to the highest heaven and shown off my power."

Therefore, the Investiture of the Gods also said: "The clouds of sorrow went straight up to the 'Ninth Heaven', and the defeated soldiers were everywhere."

Han Yu's poem "Left to Languan to Show My Nephew Sun Xiang" says: "A letter was sent to the 'Nine Heavens' in the morning, and I was demoted to Chaoyang in the evening, a distance of 8,000 kilometers."

Li Yu also wrote in "The Kite Mistake: Asking for Troops": "The feathered letter flew up to the 'Ninth Heaven', and I stood there looking at the flags from the edge of the sun."

……

Generally, people say "Nine Heavens".

There is no such thing as the "eighth heaven", "seventh heaven", "sixth heaven"...

Because nine is the largest singular number.

The Nine Heavens, the highest heaven, usually refers to the "highest layer of heaven."

This means two things:

There were nine heavens at the beginning of Tianyi, and each heaven gave birth to three more days, so the total number of the nine heavens is "thirty-six heavens", or "thirty-six heavens of the Three Purities and Three Realms".

There are three meanings:

In Taoist mythology: "Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things."

The three qi of the Three Purities form the sky, and above them are the three realms of the Three Purities, namely the Jade Purity Realm, the Upper Purity Realm, and the Great Purity Realm.

Afterwards, the Qi of the Three Pure Ones each produced three Qi, which combined into nine Qi and transformed into nine heavens.

These nine days each produce three Qi, each Qi is one day, totaling twenty-seven days.

Combining these twenty-seven days with the original nine days, we get thirty-six days in the sky.

……

In short, this day, is the Ninth Heaven, the Thirty-three Days, or the Thirty-sixth Heaven...all are correct.

……

Regarding the heaven, the map is very complicated and there are many theories.

There are many different opinions.

But in fact, if you look closely, the Nine Heavens, Thirty-three Heavens, Thirty-six Heavens... they all lead to the same goal, they are all descriptions of different levels of the heavens, just with different expressions and emphases.

It can be simply understood as:

In the world of Journey to the West, the Three Pure Ones live in the Three Pure Ones Heaven outside the Thirty-three Heavens. They have transcended the Three Realms and are not disturbed by this mundane world.

The Thirty-three Heavens are still within the Three Realms and are commanded by the Jade Emperor.

In the Three Realms, the highest heaven is Daluo Heaven, Nine Heavens... that is, the Thirty-three Heavens.

……

at the moment.

The Black Tiger Demon Lord has been escorted to the Demon-Slaying Platform.

Kangjin Star Lord, Tiankuixing Star, Dikuixing Star and other generals went to the Lingxiao Palace to meet the Jade Emperor.

As ordinary heavenly soldiers, they were naturally ordered to withdraw their troops and return to the camp.

"Yang Guoshan, Yang Long, what are you two still looking at?"

"It's time to return to the camp."

Yang Guoshan and Yang Long's team leader, the golden-armored heavenly soldier Duan Tianliang, saw that the two were still looking around, and couldn't help but frown and shouted loudly.

In the ancient army, there were squad leaders, platoon leaders, centurions, etc.

"Five people" form a "wu", and the leader of five people is called the wuzhang. "Ten people" form a "shi", and the leader of ten people is called the shizhang.

Fifty people form a team, and the leader is called the "team leader"...these are all formal positions.

However, the golden-armored heavenly soldiers were still heavenly soldiers after all, and they were not granted the official position of heavenly generals, but only an honorary title.

Therefore, they were called captains, which was not an official position but just meant acting as the captain of a team.

A golden-armored heavenly soldier usually commands ten to twenty silver-armored heavenly soldiers and iron-armored heavenly soldiers on behalf of the heavenly general to form a heavenly soldier team.

"Yes, Captain."

Xiao Chen responded.

"Yes, Captain."

Princess Halloween doesn't like this fat and greasy captain very much.

But now that she is in the Heavenly Palace, Princess Halloween is playing the role of Yang Long, a heavenly soldier, so naturally she has to do what Yang Long should do.

Subsequently.

The celestial generals of Tiangang and Disha, along with their celestial soldiers, went to the northern star region of the heaven.

The heavenly generals of the Seven Stars of the Eastern Azure Dragon, with their heavenly soldiers and generals, went to the eastern star region.

In the heavenly realm, the hierarchy is strict and the levels are clear.

As the saying goes: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger."

Understanding the enemy is the premise and foundation of combat. We cannot fight in a confused, reckless, or unaware of the enemy's situation.

This trip to steal treasure from Heaven is also a good opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Heaven.

In Yang Guoshan's memory, Xiao Chen learned many secrets about the levels of the heavens:

"In each of the thirty-three heavens, there live gods of different levels."

"Low-level gods live in the lower heavens, and high-level gods live in the higher heavens."

“These thirty-three days can be divided into the upper eleven days, the middle eleven days, and the lower eleven days.”

"As you go up each heavenly layer, the purer the energy of heaven and earth becomes, and your cultivation will be more effective with less effort." "There are cloud ladders connecting each heavenly layer."

"High-level gods can move freely in the lower heavens, but low-level gods cannot enter the higher heavens at will if they don't have a mission."

"The lower eleven heavens are mainly composed of strong men, fairy maidens, ordinary heavenly soldiers, and fairy officials..."

"And some horses and livestock..."

"Many miscellaneous tasks such as horse breeding, military training, and the initial training of ascenders are also mostly arranged to be carried out in the lower heaven."

And Yang Guoshan lived in the ninth heaven among the lower eleven heavens.

As a silver-armored heavenly soldier, Yang Guoshan is naturally not at the lowest level in the heavenly realm.

No matter what, heavenly soldiers are still “soldiers”.

The Heavenly Soldiers are the regular army of Heaven, the type of troops that fight serious wars and external conquests.

Silver-armored heavenly soldiers, and below them are lower-level iron-armored heavenly soldiers.

Further down, there are also the Yellow Turban Warriors who do odd jobs and exert their strength, as well as the Fairy Boys who sweep the floor, the Water Carriers, and the Fairy Slaves...

Further down, there are cows and horses...

The military camps of the Twenty-Eight Mansions were set up on the eighth heaven.

In this expedition against the Black Tiger Demon Lord, the Seven Stars of the Eastern Azure Dragon sent a total of 5,000 troops, of which more than 500 were killed, leaving more than 4,000 men.

The Heavenly Soldier Team that Yang Guoshan and Yang Long were in originally had twelve members, but three of them were killed in this battle, leaving only nine.

"Zhao Tiezhu, Ji Xianjun, Wang Dalin... are gone, gone."

Duan Tianliang called out the names of the members of their heavenly soldiers team and gathered them one by one back to the heavenly military camp.

……

heaven.

The eighth layer.

On the banks of the Tianhe River, a magnificent scene of solemnity and majesty came into Xiao Chen's sight.

More than 60,000 heavenly troops are stationed here, directly under the jurisdiction of the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

The camp of heavenly soldiers of the Twenty-Eight Constellations.

In the camp, the tents were arranged neatly, like small fortresses. In front of each tent was a flag representing each of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, fluttering in the breeze of the Milky Way.

The troops of the Seven Stars of the Eastern Azure Dragon are like a dragon soaring into the sky, dominating the eastern part of the camp, majestic and powerful.

In the center of the parade ground, a flagpole a hundred feet high stood majestically, and on the flagpole fluttered a black flag embroidered with four large characters "Eastern Azure Dragon".

The flag fluttered in the wind, as if the sound of wind and thunder was echoing in it.

At this time, there were 10,000 heavenly soldiers training on the parade ground, and the momentum was terrifying.

The rolling helmets were like countless silver chimes sparkling in the sun, striking the sky and shining with dazzling light; the layers of shining armor were piled up like cliffs, standing tall and unshakable, as majestic and spectacular as an iceberg pressing down on the ground.

The big sword flies like lightning, the white spear cuts through the fog and pierces the clouds, the Fangtian halberd and the tiger-eye whip are arranged in the hemp forest, and the bronze sword and the Siming shovel are arranged in a dense tree formation.

Curved bows, crossbows, eagle-feather arrows, short sticks and snake spears, all kinds of weapons complement each other, showing the majesty and might of the heavenly soldiers.

……

The generals were on the side, comparing their martial arts and magical powers. They punched like the wind or cast spells, and sometimes there were thunder and fire, which was a feast for the eyes.

The heavenly soldiers watching the battle below the stage held their breath, afraid of missing any exciting moment.

There was also order inside the tent.

When the heavenly soldiers were resting, they would sit cross-legged to practice, study military books and strategies, or exchange experiences in subduing demons. It was a busy and orderly scene.

……

Xiao Chen walked into the camp of the Eastern Azure Dragon Seven Stars and witnessed the grandeur of the military formation with his own eyes. He couldn't help but admire in his heart:
"These heavenly soldiers and generals are really majestic."

Indeed, the Twenty-Eight Mansions and the heavenly soldiers and generals under their command are already considered an elite force in heaven.

Recalling the battle of Huaguo Mountain in the original plot, Tota-Bearing Heavenly King Li sent the Nine Star Gods to fight against the Huaguo Mountain Legion.

However, the Nine Stars Lord was defeated and fled away.

Later, Tota-Bearing Heavenly King Li sent the Four Heavenly Kings and the Twenty-Eight Constellations to engage in a fierce battle with the Flower-Fruit Mountain Legion again.

In this battle, the Heavenly Army actually won, but failed to capture Sun Wukong.

The One-Horned Ghost King and the Seventy-Two Cave Demon Kings in the Flower-Fruit Mountain Legion were all captured by the Twenty-Eight Constellations and other heavenly soldiers and generals.

Only the four strong men and the group of monkeys hid deep in the Water Curtain Cave and managed to escape with their lives.

Later, the Twenty-Eight Constellations Legion fought against the Yellow-browed Demon, subdued the Three-headed Rhinoceros Demon... They fought many tough battles, went down to the human world many times to carry out missions, and repeatedly achieved remarkable feats.

……

Matters concerning the casualties of the heavenly soldiers will naturally be properly handled by the logistics department, and the soldiers on the front line do not need to be distracted by them.

……

The first thing the surviving heavenly soldiers did after returning to the barracks was to report and check their military achievements.

In the army, military achievements come first.

No one will be careless about military achievements.

There is a special "Gongcao Division" in the heavenly army.

The "Gongcao Si" was specifically responsible for recording the merits and demerits of the heavenly soldiers, and rewarding or punishing them based on their military merits.

The verification and archiving of military merits is the responsibility of a special person called "Gongcaoguan" to ensure that every military merit is recorded fairly and accurately.

While making achievements is important, being rewarded is equally indispensable.

If you have made great military achievements but they are not accurately recorded, wouldn't it be a waste of time?
Therefore, the Heavenly Court has always attached great importance to the matter of recording merits.

In war, Gongcao officials are essential.

In fact, the position of Gongcaoguan runs through the entire plot of Journey to the West, but few people know about it.

During the great battle at the Flower-Fruit Mountain, the twenty-eight constellations, the nine stars, the twelve zodiac signs, the five direction Jie Di, the four valued officials, the eastern and western stars... all were gone.

However, the Four Guardians did not go on the battlefield to fight Sun Wukong. That was because the Guardians were not the ones who charged into battle, but were specifically responsible for recording the merits of the generals and were in charge of the merit book.

On the journey to the West, there was a group of such officials accompanying the team. They followed the team for 18,000 miles and recorded the entire journey.

They are the "Four Valued Officials" who are responsible for investigating and recording the achievements on the journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures.

Being the first to reach the summit, beheading the general, breaking through the enemy lines and capturing the flag are known as the four great military merits.

In this battle, Xiao Chen only captured a few little devil soldiers, so naturally he didn't achieve any major military merit.

……

At this moment.

The atmosphere in the central army camp was solemn and dignified.

Duan Tianliang, Xiao Chen, Princess Wansheng, Zhao Tiezhu, Ji Xianjun, Wang Dalin and other heavenly soldiers and generals stepped forward one by one and carefully checked their military merit records with the military merit officers.

……

When it was Xiao Chen's turn, the Gongcao official opened the merit book and read aloud:
"Yang Guoshan..."

"For participating in the campaign to defeat the Black Tiger Demon Lord, you will be rewarded with 800 'Tianlu Points'."

Then he continued:
"Catch three little devil soldiers and you will be rewarded with 300 Tianlu points."

After reading it, the Gongcao official looked up at Xiao Chen and asked:
“Is there any mistake in the record?”

Xiao Chen nodded and replied:
"Confirmed."

Tianlu points, in the Heavenly Court, are the key indicators to measure the achievements and contributions of the heavenly soldiers and generals. They are also an important basis for the heavenly soldiers to be promoted and obtain resources in the Heavenly Court.

Going down to the mortal world to subdue demons and monsters is undoubtedly one of the fastest ways to accumulate Tianlu points.

For the heavenly soldiers, when they go down to the mortal world to subdue demons and monsters, the Heavenly Court will reward them with corresponding points based on the strength and degree of harm caused by the demons.

For example, if there are small demons with certain magical powers that endanger one side, we will participate in small-scale demon-wiping operations.

Every time the heavenly soldiers participate in a battle and successfully wipe out an enemy, they can obtain 100 to 300 Tianlu points.

If a demon king endangers one side and occupies a mountain, he will participate in large-scale demon rebellion suppression operations, like the Black Tiger Demon King.

If the heavenly soldiers can participate in such a large-scale operation and win, they can obtain five hundred to one thousand Tianlu points.

What's more, if the heavenly soldiers can participate in the clearing out of the world's great demons, such as encircling and suppressing Sun Wukong in the Battle of Huaguo Mountain, and succeed, they will get one thousand to three thousand Tianlu points.

If a heavenly soldier could participate in several battles at the Flower-Fruit Mountain, he could still survive.

Then the Tianlu points of this heavenly soldier will be enough for promotion.

(End of this chapter)