I start by accepting Sun Wukong as my disciple and reshape the Journey to the West

Chapter 147 Liu Quan
With eyes like stars and a face exuding nobility, he walked with small, square steps, truly displaying an awe-inspiring righteousness. One could only wonder how much loyalty and affection lay hidden in his heart. He was none other than Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

Behind him stood a young man with a vermilion dot between his brows, two small horns on his head, and eyes that held a hidden lightning-like glint, exuding an indescribable sharpness—it was none other than Nezha.

Nezha spotted Ye Xuantian before Li Jing did. Without hesitation, he strode towards Ye Xuantian, slowing his pace as he approached him, about to bow.

Ye Xuantian shook his head slightly, while Nezha, quick-witted as ever, immediately sat down next to Ye Xuantian: "Sage, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you!"

Ye Xuantian's words startled Li Jing, who had just approached, and even Nezha's big eyes blinked repeatedly.

"Waiting for us? Does the sage know what we're doing here?"

Ye Xuantian pointed at Li Cuilian opposite him: "Didn't you come for your sister?"

At this moment, Li Jing, who was still standing to the side, immediately looked at Li Cuilian, his eyes flashing with golden light, as if trying to see Li Cuilian's true form.

Nezha touched the red silk on his body: "Father, there's no need to look any further, it's her, take her away!"

"Hmm!" Li Jing didn't refute it, because he didn't see anything, and immediately looked at Ye Xuantian: "Sage, do you have any plans for her?"

"She is now my servant, and this karma will ultimately belong to me. Do you still want her?"

Li Jing looked troubled. They had gone to great lengths to obtain this small amount of karma, and naturally they didn't want to give it up. But they hadn't expected that they would now be under Ye Xuantian's tutelage, which made things rather difficult.

“Sage, she is still my sister, right?” Seeing Li Jing’s dilemma, Nezha immediately spoke up.

"Can't you be a little more polite?" Ye Xuantian said irritably.

"Hehe, I became acquainted with the Great Sage after a fight, and my Uncle Lu Ya has also taken good care of me. I remember it all. It's just that I've always been a bit rude. Please don't take offense, sir."

"You certainly know how to claim kinship."

"Thank you, Sage, I'm leaving now, sister!" Nezha said, his palm striking towards Li Cuilian. Liu Quan immediately appeared in front of Li Cuilian, determined to block Nezha.

But who was Nezha? With a slight flicker, he appeared behind Li Cuilian. Li Cuilian wanted to resist, but saw that Nezha's palm was filled with magical power, which froze her. Then he flashed to Li Jing's side, grabbed his hand and ran outside.

This set of movements can be described as flowing smoothly without any hindrance. Liu Quanzhi and the other two only reacted after they disappeared. Then, tears welled up in his eyes, and he knelt down directly in front of Ye Xuantian.

"Please, holy man, save my wife."

"She is destined to ascend to immortality, are you going to ruin her life?" Ye Xuantian poured himself a cup of tea and said casually.

"Will I see her again in the future?"

"The one who just took Li Cuilian away was Nezha, the Great God of the Three Altars and the Sea, and Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. She was destined to be Nezha's sister, and she has her own karma. The judge's words about her ascending to immortality are not empty talk. As long as you enter the Great Tribulation in peace and gain merit, you can be ranked among the immortals and see your wife."

Upon hearing this, Liu Quan immediately kowtowed deeply to Ye Xuantian, saying, "Liu Quan will certainly live up to the Emperor's trust."

"Alright! Then enter the cycle of reincarnation, and when you are reborn, call yourself Liu Boqin!"

Ye Xuantian nodded, then pointed at Liu Quan, creating a crack that swallowed Liu Quan whole.

Ye Xuantian poured the tea in front of him onto the ground.

"I beseech the Great Savior of Suffering to intervene and seize the power of Heaven to reshape this person's physical body. His name is Liu Boqin, who is well-versed in the profound meanings of Buddhist scriptures. Before he obtains the destiny of the chosen one, he will protect the pilgrim on his journey to the West." Ye Xuantian's voice became a thin line, and the water that fell to the ground quickly dissipated without leaving a trace of moisture.

In the void, Nezha rode the clouds forward, looking at Li Cuilian who was weeping. It turned out that Nezha had awakened Li Cuilian's past and present lives, making her aware of her mission.

“Now that you have awakened your memories, you should know your mission. This great calamity is your destiny, a wonderful thing. Why are you still crying?” Nezha said.

“My husband was so good to me. Even though I was the one who made a mistake, he was willing to die for me and go to the underworld to reunite with me. Now that my fate is sealed and I am destined to become an immortal, he…”

"You silly girl, what's so great about love and romance? How can you be so inflexible? And Nezha, how could you snatch someone in front of a sage? So reckless and ignorant of human relationships. What if you cause trouble again in the future?" Li Jing's square face was now incredibly gloomy.

In his view, how could a saint be so dignified and disrespectful as Nezha, making him lose face in front of the saint?

"Am I ignorant of human relationships? The Sage is clearly willing to share with me, otherwise why would he not stop me? If I hadn't forcibly taken him away, how could the Sage have controlled Liu Quan? Even if my sister has some karma, how could she have half of Liu Quan's merit? She carries relics, has a fearless heart, has walked through the gate of life and death, is not tainted by karma, and is valued by the Sage. With just a little manipulation from the Sage, the first merit of protection under the great eon should rightfully be his."

Nezha has never liked communicating with old stubborn people, but if he can't resolve Li Cuilian's inner conflict, this cup of soup might not taste good, so he immediately launched into a long speech.

Li Jing blushed deeply at Liu Quan's words. He touched his lips several times but remained silent. He wasn't stupid, but he lacked the skills of Nezha in certain areas and couldn't see Liu Quan's prowess.

As for the merits accumulated during the Great Tribulation, Nezha had already had a strand of it separated from him by Lu Ya at Flower Fruit Mountain, which is why Nezha was able to sense the existence of Li Cuilian in the mortal world.

Seeing that Nezha's words were all reasonable and well-founded, Li Jing naturally couldn't refute them. Then, seeing Li Cuilian step forward and pull Nezha's arm to ask if Liu Quan really had such an opportunity, Li Jing turned his head away.

“Of course I know, but I must be given a chance to say goodbye to the Sage,” Li Jing murmured.

Furthermore, not far from the gate of Sagara Gate, there was a thousand-year-old locust tree. The Nine-Headed Lion was fast asleep on the locust tree when he suddenly sensed something. Ripples appeared in front of him, and the Great Sage of Salvation from Suffering appeared first.

"Master, what brings you here? Has the Sage assigned you another task?"

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun glared at Jiuling Yuansheng with annoyance: "You think you're so smart? I have a feeling in my heart, so listen to it quickly."

Nine-Headed Lion Spirit muttered to himself, 'Don't you yourself possess methods that allow you to access the Three Realms?'

While silently grumbling to himself, the Nine-Headed Lion King's nine heads appeared simultaneously, his eyes tightly closed, and his ears all twitching.

As the Nine-Headed Lion Saint moved, the words Ye Xuantian had spoken earlier appeared before the Supreme Lord of Salvation from Suffering.

The moment he saw himself appear, Nine-Headed Lion retracted his other heads, leaving only one. He opened his blood-red maw, and the figure of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun disappeared directly into it.

Amidst the hazy void and the veil of heavenly secrets, the Great Savior of Suffering descended upon the River of Reincarnation, sweeping his whisk across the water.

Instantly, the aura belonging to Liu Quan above the River of Reincarnation was locked onto by the Taiyi Savior of Suffering, who immediately transformed his whisk into chains to bind Liu Quan.

"Open the gate of humanity!" shouted the Great Sage of Salvation from Suffering.

Before him, the Nine-Headed Lion appeared with a head, and then opened its mouth.

"Liu Quan, are you aware of the Sage's arrangement? If you transform into Liu Boqin this time and fail to gain merit, you will die in the great calamity."

“I understand,” Liu Quan replied immediately. “Where is the relic?”

"I have already swallowed it."

"That's good!" After saying that, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun threw Liu Quan into the mouth of Jiuling Yuansheng without hesitation.

The head of the Nine-Headed Lion Saint immediately disappeared.

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun seemed to sense something and turned around to look. He saw that a golden body had appeared on the River of Reincarnation at some point. The golden body was dazzling and could still be clearly seen even though the secrets of heaven were obscured here.

"What guidance does Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva have?"

"I thought he was just a reckless man who had entered the cycle of reincarnation, but it turns out he had such a backup plan. Does the sage really not care about the thoughts of Buddha Tathagata when he does this?"

“It’s not too late to talk about it after Buddha returns from the River Styx. But now, judging from his plans, Jin Chanzi is no longer Jin Chanzi, and his journey to the West is not for spreading the faith to the East. In that case, although this great calamity still follows the original path of Heaven, the fruits of his labor are far from the West. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, if you continue to use sectarian thoughts to make up for the shortcomings of the journey to the West, you are far from the position of a saint.”

After Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun finished speaking, his figure disappeared.

Only Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva remained motionless atop the River of Reincarnation for a long time before finally speaking again: "Great Emperor, what do you think?"

"I'll just sit and watch!" A voice echoed from the River of Reincarnation, and that was all.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva couldn't help but laugh out loud upon hearing this: "The Great Emperor is so magnanimous, allowing Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun and that person to disregard reincarnation. This humble monk truly admires him."

"I was able to bring your true form back to the underworld, so I thought you had long understood my magnanimity."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva remained silent for a long time after being rebuked.

"But you are the Emperor, and the Underworld is still yours. Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

"Bodhisattva, first admit that you released the avatars of the Styx Ancestor and the Mosquito Taoist, and acknowledge this dereliction of duty. Then admit that for your own selfish desires, you delayed Jin Chanzi's journey to the West and stood by and did nothing when the Buddha was converting the Asura lineage, and acknowledge this betrayal of Buddhism. Then admit that you abused your power to send the Ghost King into the mortal world several times, interfering with the destiny of the chosen one, and acknowledge this dereliction of duty. How about that?"

"The Great Emperor has been in seclusion for years, and I'm afraid his mind isn't working properly. I don't know what you're talking about." After Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva finished speaking, his figure gradually dissipated.

The River of Reincarnation was once again shrouded in mist.

"Alas, cultivation, cultivation, what exactly is being cultivated? If even immortals have selfish desires, is this path fair? Is Ye Xuantian one of them? Since you are a being of this world, why is your name not recorded in the Book of Life and Death? Why is there no record of your past and present lives in the River of Reincarnation?"

"If you are also practicing in this world like us, why do we not see the purpose of your practice? What is your ultimate goal?"

Whispers came from the bottom of the river, their confusion seemingly genuine, their questions drifting away into the unknown.

Then, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun flew out of the mouth of Jiuling Yuansheng, who immediately leaped away.

"What are you doing?" Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun was also a little confused by Jiuling Yuansheng's reaction.

"Master, the aura emanating from you is terrifying!"

Hmm? Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun frowned slightly as he sensed his own power.

"No? Aside from a slight smell of your saliva, there's no other scent. Oh, you mean the scent of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?"

Nine-Spirit Primordial Saint's body trembled uncontrollably, and then he slowly knelt down: "Nine-Spirit greets the Great Emperor!"

Great Emperor!

The moment those two words appeared, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun's eyes lit up. Tianzun knew that even if the Jade Emperor himself were to appear, the Nine-Headed Lion would not react in this way.

To put it bluntly, the emperor is far away and the heavens are high, so the suppression of the Nine-Headed Lion Saint by those great emperors could not possibly reach this level.

So it turns out that the Nine-Headed Lion Saint actually sensed the aura of the Fengdu Emperor on his own body.

"It's such a distant memory, Jiu Ling'er, do you really believe it?" Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun asked.

Only then did Nine-Headed Lion King come to his senses: "Master, you've become so powerful now? You even arm-wrestled with the Emperor of Fengdu?"

"You're getting more and more mischievous. I only saw the true form of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the River of Reincarnation. As for the Great Emperor, he probably didn't want to chat with me, so he didn't show himself. But after all, it's the River of Reincarnation. If that person wanted to hide, I really wouldn't be able to detect him."

"Then?" Nine Spirits Primordial Saint wanted to ask why it was tainted with the aura of the Great Emperor, and why he could sense it.

"He probably wants to use you to inform others. It's insignificant; he just wants to announce his return. However, the timing is intriguing. This great calamity has become too unpredictable. I wonder if the Great Emperor of Fengdu's desire to appear in the world is part of Fellow Daoist Xuantian's plan."

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun muttered to himself for a long time, then suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance.

Then, Yuchi Gong led a group of men, beating drums and gongs, towards Sagara's house.

"Huh? Master, what's this?"

"The Tang Emperor borrowed a treasury of gold and silver and returned. Naturally, he came to express his gratitude, but it is unknown whether Xiang Liang will accept it."

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun realized that he had been talking unusually much today, which was unbecoming of a saint. After a moment's thought, he smiled wryly.

The pressure from the Emperor of Fengdu is still too great. In recent years, people only know the Ten Kings of Hell and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the cycle of reincarnation, plus himself. The name of the Emperor of Fengdu has become weaker and weaker.

Even the Celestial Venerable himself had almost forgotten this title, but now this person has returned so quietly, and the Celestial Venerable himself cannot even sense that person's aura.

This is enough to show that although the cultivation level of the Fengdu Emperor did not reach that of a saint, it was probably not something that could be described as merely a perfect quasi-saint; he was more like a half-step saint.

Only those who are just a step away from becoming saints at any moment possess such means of concealing their aura.

The return of the Emperor of Fengdu will also affect the power he holds.

However, having held the power of reincarnation for many years, it would be quite difficult to ask the Heavenly Venerable to relinquish it.

"My Dao heart is no longer pure!" Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun thought to himself.

"Master, Master, look! Sagara has actually accepted the Tang Emperor's gift of gratitude!"

"what?"

(End of this chapter)