Mythology

Chapter 488 Everything at Wuzhi Mountain is Under Control
The situation at Liusha River is similar to that at Gao Laozhuang. The aura of the Daoist temple can be sensed, but the temple is not yet fully formed, resulting in a large accumulation of resentment.

And it had a familiar smell, kind of like... a peach tree?

Yang He stood on the shore, considering whether to take up a spot in a permanent role.

"Why not give it a try?"

"If all goes well, the next three stories can be completed easily, and it would be pointless to use all the permanent character slots on the Cave Heaven Immortal Court."

Yang He looked on with great interest as he carefully examined the figure among the piles of white bones.

The figure was seven or eight meters long and made a chilling chewing sound. Any creature that strayed into the Flowing Sand River would eventually become its meal.

The intense demonic aura was almost tangible, but the scent of the peach tree lingered.

"Who...is it?!"

The figure crawled forward, raising its head as if aware of Yang He's gaze.

Sha Wujing can no longer be called a 'human,' nor is he a demon. His upper body still retains some human characteristics, but from the waist down, his body branches out like a tree trunk.

It is very similar to the peach tree with the remains that Yang He once saw in Heaven.

Sha Wujing's lower body extended from more than a dozen thick roots, with nine human heads hanging from the ends of the roots. At the same time, his spine bulged on his back, and bone spurs pierced through his skin, forming a strange structure resembling the branches of a withered tree.

Yang He's gaze fell on the heads of the people, all of whom resembled Jin Chanzi, swaying slightly with their bodies.

"No, it's Tang Sanzang, and it's very likely the Tang Sanzang from the previous nine incarnations. After he died, his head fell into the Liusha River and was swallowed by Sha Wujing."

Yang He inquired with Tang Sanzang and learned that the first nine resurrections all took place within Chang'an City.

“Immortals and Buddhas are raising demons in the Liusha River.”

"Either the Sandalwood Merit Buddha or the Buddhist saints will benefit; in any case, after dividing up Tang Sanzang's wealth, his head will definitely not be thrown into the Flowing Sand River for no reason."

Yang He narrowed his eyes. Could it be that he was planning to build another peach tree?

The peach tree, being an innate spiritual root, was completely destroyed by Yang He alone. The innate energy within it has been absorbed by the Treasure Bone Mausoleum and transformed into an innate supreme treasure.

"Hate! I hate it so much!!"

Sha Wujing uttered a hoarse whisper, his voice sounding like a million grains of sand rubbing together.

Because of Yang He's unbridled spying, Sha Wujing became extremely irritable, causing his body and soul to continuously escalate into demonic possession, and his appearance to become increasingly inhuman.

"I hate it!!"

Sha Wujing retained a sliver of his former consciousness and stubbornly resisted being completely swayed.

In a hysterical scream, he grabbed a head hanging from his shoulder, ripped it off, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it voraciously.

Blood gushed from the corner of his mouth, but he seemed to feel no pain; instead, he showed a satisfied expression.

immediately……

Sha Wujing's demonic transformation actually subsided somewhat, and then his missing head began to slowly grow back.

Yang He murmured with interest, "Interesting. If Sha Wujing can become a great demon, he might actually possess some of the wonders of the peach tree."

The reason he previously thought Sha Wujing was suitable to be integrated with King Huangmei was mainly because Sha Wujing's state was equivalent to a demon formed from a peach tree.

"Many disasters have occurred before and after Lingxiao Palace. It is very likely that Sha Wujing fell to the mortal world during this period. The raising of demons in Liusha River must have been a joint plan by the immortals and Buddhas."

“Sha Wujing’s essence had already become part of the peach tree, but instead of growing into a bone and flesh peach tree, he transformed into a demon, which led to his unusual state.”

Yang He's portrayal of the Yellow-Eyebrowed King is very limited; when playing the role, he can only choose one of the six demons to transform into.

He had a feeling that the limitations of playing Sha Wujing would be reduced after he integrated himself into the role of the Yellow-Eyebrowed King.

"Give it a try. Even if he doesn't become a pilgrim, Sha Wujing will still grow into a powerful demon with extraordinary abilities, hehehe."

"It will only offend the immortals and Buddhas who raise demons."

"It doesn't matter." Yang He is now completely oblivious to everything else, relying entirely on his status as a disciple of a sage to survive; otherwise, he would have long since become the number one demon in the Three Realms.

He then took out a stone and threw it into the Liusha River, decisively extinguishing the life force of the Corpse Celestial Venerable.

[Your character, "Tai Xu Xun Jie Shi Hai Tian Zun," has died, ending your role in this story.]

The stone slowly sank to the bottom of the river.

At first, it didn't attract Sha Wujing's attention, but a faint demonic aura emanated from the stone, and then, the Yellow-Eyebrowed King, played by Yang He, gradually took shape.

"I hate it!!!"

Sha Wujing roared to the sky and swallowed the Yellow-Eyebrowed King without hesitation.

Yang He did not stop him at all, because he had chosen to transform from a ghost into a demon. The Yellow-Eyebrowed King transformed into a skeleton and began to replace the spine in Sha Wujing's body.

Before long, the Yellow-Eyebrowed King had completely possessed Sha Wujing.

Yang He did not immediately seize the body, after all, the story had not yet begun, and then he cut off the life force again.

[Your character, the chime-ringing boy, has died; the story has ended.]

Sha Wujing did not notice anything unusual, but Yang He had already subtly influenced his thoughts.

Half a day later.

Yang He reverted to his original form as Corpse Celestial Venerable and brazenly arrived at the bottom of the Flowing Sand River. Not far from Sha Wujing, he chose a spot with abundant Yin energy and sat cross-legged.

Sha Wujing, influenced by the Yellow-Eyebrowed King, has become blind.

"The Flowing Sand River exudes a faint aura of the spiritual roots of heaven and earth, which is perfect for concealing the three calamities and six disasters. However, I estimate that Elder Tang is about to leave the Tang Dynasty. I cannot continue to waste time. It is imperative to go into seclusion."

Yang He calmed his mind and sensed the impending calamity lurking within the Great Luo Golden Immortal.

Each Great Immortal faces different tribulations and hardships.

Yang He's three calamities and six tribulations seem to be things he once feared. The three calamities are "old age and death", "drowning" and "summoning ghosts", while the six tribulations are "severing the corpse", "reversing the result", "formlessness", "human calamity", "stealing the Dharma" and "reincarnation".

He currently only knows about the three calamities, and only has a conceptual understanding of the six difficulties.

"It's nothing but three calamities and six tribulations. I, Daoist, am prepared to complete all eighty-one tribulations. Hehe, wouldn't it be great to get a few hundred permanent character slots?"

"First, you must overcome the three calamities. After you have passed through the three calamities, you can wait for a period of time before facing the six tribulations."

“Here I come.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang He's left little finger suddenly dried up and turned black, and the nail fell off at a speed visible to the naked eye. This was only the beginning of the three calamities.

Death from old age refers not only to aging, but also to the five signs of decay in humans.

Yang He had once worried about the limitations of his lifespan, and now, in the form of the Five Signs of Decay, his once black hair had lost its luster in an instant, and a stinging pain came from the roots of his hair.

He reached out and brushed his hair, revealing a handful of gray hair with withered follicles at the ends.

Following closely behind was a foul stench emanating from Yang He's body. The smell of rotting flesh mixed with excrement wafted from his skin, which oozed thick, sticky blood, instantly soaking through his Taoist robe.

The Taoist robe that the celestial palace had transformed into was dull and lackluster, with moldy cuffs and moss covering the collar.

As Yang He breathed, countless tiny figures emerged from his mouth, all formed from Yin energy. His cultivation level not only failed to advance but actually regressed, accompanied by an uncontrollable restlessness, making him wish his soul could leave his body.

"This is really difficult. Luckily, we chose to do it in the world of classical allusions."

Yang He glanced at Sha Wujing, who was not greatly affected. However, if it were the main world, he would be the ancestor of humanity, and the five signs of decay of heaven and man would likely be passed on to mortals. After the three calamities ended, there would probably be nothing left to grow.

"No, we have to keep the three demons waiting outside the Flowing Sand River, so they won't be forced to participate in the story." "Cough cough cough."

After Yang He telepathically contacted the three demons, his consciousness was then plunged into the torment of the Three Calamities.

.........

Time flies like an arrow, and the story of the pilgrims on their journey to the West has long been known throughout the Tang Dynasty.

Wherever the pilgrims went, large numbers of people knelt and worshipped them, some even following them on the journey of three kneelings and nine prostrations for a hundred miles, until they approached the border of the Tang Dynasty and then the crowds thinned out.

"All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew and lightning, they should be viewed in this way."

Tang Sanzang did not truly admire Buddhism, but his mind was, after all, born of a monk and destined to die as one, so he diligently performed his daily chanting of scriptures twice a day, morning and evening, without fail.

He closed his eyes to calm himself for a long time before opening them.

The lotus pedestal, made of Xiuyan jade, was slightly shaky. The names of the 4,300 local gentry who donated the lotus leaves could be seen on them. The patterns were gilded and shimmered in the sunlight.

Tang Sanzang rubbed his temples, feeling as if something important had been forgotten.

He looked up and around, and saw the winding mountain road, with monks lined up like ants crawling forward, all dressed in brown robes, their steps neat and uniform.

"Master, please have some water." The novice monk handed over a water bag.

When Tang Sanzang took the water bag, he realized that he was riding on the back of a four-meter-tall white elephant.

The white elephant was pure white except for a red dot on its forehead. The ground trembled slightly when it walked, making it almost identical to the mount of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva in the temple.

"When did I change into a white elephant?" Tang Sanzang muttered to himself.

"Master, you've always been riding a white elephant."

The twelve Dharma protectors spoke in unison as they led the white elephant along the way, while forty-two novices continuously scattered flower petals or fed birds and animals along the route.

Tang Sanzang's heart tightened, and the throbbing pain in his temples intensified.

"wrong!"

"Why...why would I be leading tens of thousands of monks?!"

Among the procession were ascetic monks carrying staffs, wandering monks striking wooden fish drums, and monks carrying scriptures. In the blink of an eye, a few more figures would appear.

Strange beasts strolled around, white deer with bells hanging from their antlers, winged tigers crawled forward, and dragons weaved through the clouds, ensuring that no rain fell on Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang carefully recalled why he had traveled westward.
"Master, we're at Five Finger Mountain just ahead."

Tang Sanzang came to his senses and turned around to look, only to see the white-browed old monk appear on his side at some point.

The old monk's robe was inlaid with various gemstones, and his appearance was dignified and solemn. For some reason, Tang Sanzang felt that this person looked somewhat like... Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

"you are?"

“My Dharma name is Yuanjue, and I have always served my master.”

The old monk's smile remained unchanged. "Master, are you perhaps a little tired from reciting the scriptures too much?"

Tang Sanzang wanted to refute, but he saw hundreds of monks around him turn their heads at the same time, and then chanted scriptures in unison, their voices growing louder and louder as their lips moved.

Tang Sanzang felt a wave of dizziness, and all his memories of the past vanished.

"Yes, I must be tired." Tang Sanzang hesitated for a moment and muttered to himself, "We are going to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures. We are on the emperor's orders to go west, so naturally the scale is huge."

"Master, you are wise."

The old monk smiled with his palms together, his every move clearly an incarnation of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. “His Majesty specially dispatched seven thousand monks to accompany him, along with exotic beasts from various countries to protect him, plus those who volunteered to follow him along the way.”

"A full 27,000 people, Master, there's no mistake."

"Twenty-seven thousand people."

The scale of the pilgrims on their journey to the West was larger than that of many towns in the entire Tang Dynasty, and more than 90% of them were ordinary Arhats.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva swept across the crowd; there were thirteen Bodhisattvas in total.

Only he and Manjushri Bodhisattva were able to unleash the power of a Great Golden Immortal, mainly because Shakyamuni bestowed supernatural powers upon them. Normally, a Bodhisattva is comparable to a Golden Immortal, and there were no Buddhas among them.

In the Pure Land, rumors are circulating that Yang He is likely to return to his position among the Seven Sages.

Therefore, even the Buddha dared not descend to the mortal realm. Even the ten reincarnations of Tang Sanzang, who were involved in the Great Tribulation, all chose to observe and wait, for fear of provoking the ancient Buddha Namo Immaculate.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva gazed at Tang Sanzang, thinking to himself, "Amitabha, the ten incarnations of Jin Chanzi are easy to control, but how to nurture the elixir along the way is another problem."

He didn't think Yang He was a problem, and he had in fact given up coveting Tang Sanzang's flesh.

It's not like we could offend Yang He to death just by escorting Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West, right?

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva knew Yang He, his junior disciple, fairly well. It was indeed something the latter was capable of doing, as he was unrestrained in his nature.

He didn't think Yang He would care whether Tang Seng lived or died.

The essence of this journey to the West is that the seven Buddhist sages believe that the time is ripe for Tang Sanzang's tenth incarnation. What follows is a process of nurturing the elixir, and ultimately only the seven Buddhist sages are qualified to share Tang Sanzang.

Yang He was already a beneficiary of the existing system, so why should he stop the westward journey?

"Puxian, if I remember correctly, Wuzhi Mountain is where Sun Wukong was imprisoned, right?"

Manjushri Bodhisattva interrupted Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's thoughts, and the two looked out at the boundless mountains and forests, which were shrouded in a layer of dazzling and strange Buddhist light.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said in a deep voice, "Don't forget, Jin Chanzi is the true scripture. He can do whatever he wants. However, I don't think Jin Chanzi is the type to take a detour."

Manjushri Bodhisattva had already warned Tang Sanzang that there might be danger ahead, but Tang Sanzang's reaction was lukewarm.

The two men looked somewhat solemn, both knowing who was imprisoned by the Five Finger Mountain.

Sun Wukong.

Yang He's eldest apprentice!

His supernatural abilities were comparable to those of a Primordial Golden Immortal, and he was even sealed away by Shakyamuni himself.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva was relieved that the demon monkey had been imprisoned for over five hundred years. If nothing unexpected happened, it wouldn't be difficult for Tang Sanzang to pass through the Five Finger Mountain smoothly under the protection of thirty thousand Arhats.

As expected, Tang Sanzang did not choose to stay, and the group continued deeper into the mountains.

Just as I stepped into the area of ​​Wuzhi Mountain, another burst of Buddha's light appeared.

It wasn't that there was a problem with Wuzhi Mountain; the team was being very careful as instructed by the two, and they were able to leave before dark. The main reason was that Buddha had descended to earth again.

Whoosh! !

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and the other person exchanged a glance and noticed that there were two thousand more people on the pilgrimage. The leading monk was in his forties or fifties, and they recognized him at a glance as Akshobhya Buddha.

"I have met the Buddha."

The two were very curious as to why Akshobhya Buddha was in such a hurry to descend to the mortal realm.

Akshobhya Buddha trailed the white elephant by half a meter. "This humble monk has come for Five Finger Mountain. Not only is Sun Wukong here, but many demons and monsters have also wandered in. This humble monk needs to refine treasures, so I might as well take this opportunity to collect one or two."

“But…” Bodhisattva Samantabhadra was full of concerns. Akshobhya Buddha clearly wanted to use Tang Sanzang’s flesh to lure out the demons and evil spirits in the Five Fingers Mountain for subjugation.

The two thousand Arhats brought by Akshobhya Buddha immediately got busy, hanging the blood-stained prayer flags around their necks.

"Just some demons and monsters."

(End of this chapter)