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

Chapter 174 The mastermind behind the scenes
The appearance of the painting master Wu Daozi put pressure on Venus, who was the monitor and recorder of this journey to the West. Therefore, Venus knew better than anyone how powerful Wu Daozi had become.

"Greetings, Senior Lu Ya!" Wu Daozi bowed respectfully, then looked at Venus and said, "Greetings, Star Lord."

Without going into further details of the pleasantries, Wu Daozi handed the scroll in his hand to Lu Ya Daoist: "The poet's heroic figure is all in here, including his methods in the Great Brahma Illusion."

Lu Ya didn't pay much attention at first, but when he saw Meng Jiao, Master Cen, Danqiu Sheng and others in the painting, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Brahma did not notice your presence!” Lu Ya said seriously.

"Yes, His true spirit, which He wanted to escape, is also among them. The information about the Poet Immortal will not be taken away."

"Can you suppress the remnant spirit of a demon king?" Lu Ya's question made Taibai Jinxing tighten his grip on his whisk.

“Of course I can’t, but the portraits of the Twenty-Four Ministers can!” Seeing that Lu Ya still didn’t understand, Wu Daozi immediately continued to explain: “The Sage helped the Twenty-Four Ministers suppress the remnant spirit of a mosquito. When I was painting the portraits of the Twenty-Four Ministers, I had a sudden realization and happened to use the power of the Twenty-Four Ministers to suppress it.”

Lu Ya couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose. He had been wondering why Ye Xuantian hadn't taken the initiative since he had appeared. He had been watching from the sidelines the whole time. Now Lu Ya finally understood that Ye Xuantian really hadn't taken the initiative to participate.

He appeared in response to the call of the Twenty-Four Ministers, suppressed the Mosquito Taoist, and prevented him from awakening. Wu Daozi happened to have drawn the methods of the Twenty-Four Ministers, and coincidentally, he was able to see the remnant spirit of Brahma trying to escape, and successfully replicated the methods of the Twenty-Four Ministers to suppress him.

Ye Xuantian did not participate in the ordeal of the three demon kings, but he successfully resolved the crisis.

"Understood. After handing the portraits of the Twenty-Four Ministers over to the Tang Emperor, have him establish the Lingyan Pavilion and place the portraits of the Twenty-Four Ministers inside. Use the national fortune of the Tang Dynasty to wear down this remnant spirit. When this remnant spirit is completely annihilated, it will mean that the Tang Dynasty has reaped the merit of this calamity."

Now that Ye Xuantian has paved the way, Lu Ya only needs to give a few instructions to finish up.

Venus closed his eyes, muttering to himself, "I dare not open my eyes. I hope it's just my imagination and I didn't hear anything."

"Follow the law!" Wu Daozi said respectfully.

Whoosh!
Then the sound of wind breaking was heard again, and the twenty-four ministers and Tang Sanzang appeared.

"Senior Lu Ya," the twenty-four ministers said in unison.

"You have done very well!" Lu Ya exclaimed. In the past, he wondered how the twenty-four ministers would manage to accumulate merit in this difficult situation, since they themselves did not have much power. Who would have thought that they would be able to accumulate merit by relying on the portraits of the twenty-four ministers that would be passed down to later generations?

"This ordeal is over, you can go back now."

"Ah?" Wei Zheng stepped forward: "But we only helped the holy monk suppress his inner demons."

"Don't ask anymore, you won't understand anyway, just go back."

Lu Ya waved his hand dismissively, not wanting to explain.

"Li Bai, are you with them too?"

"No, Master said that I came out this time to gain experience. After all, without entering the world, one cannot know the development of all things in the world, and one cannot temper one's character. Master said that I now have the means to protect myself, so I should enter the world to act as a chivalrous knight and experience the myriad phenomena in poetry."

"Okay! Then you can go." Lu Ya said indifferently.

The skills of the poet Li Bai and the painter Wu Daozi must be passed on. They did not engage with the world, and their skills could not be learned by others.

"Huh? Shouldn't you think I'm exceptionally talented and beg me to stay by your side as your last disciple?" Li Bai was somewhat surprised, after all, Lu Ya's attitude was too casual. "Since the beginning of the Primordial Era, I've seen countless extraordinary talents. Your little tricks are nothing more than the manifestation of words becoming law, only a bit more sophisticated. I don't want you."

Lu Ya's words frustrated Li Bai, because he had faced a Demon King-level expert right from the start and achieved good results, so why did Lu Ya think that?

"How do those three demon kings compare to you?" Li Bai couldn't help but ask.

"If their true forms were present, they would be roughly equal." Lu Ya's statement wasn't unfounded; he knew that if the three demon kings joined forces, he wouldn't gain any advantage.

"Then why are they so shocked by my methods, while you..."

"If you were by Xuan Tian's side and listened to him tell stories from time to time, you would realize that your skills are really far inferior."

Li Bai's eyes darted around, then he smiled and said, "How about you send me to that person's side?"

"Get out of the way!" Lu Ya never expected Li Bai to be so persistent. He was so annoyed that he waved his sleeve, and a crack appeared in the space beneath Li Bai.

Li Bai fell right in: "Senior Lu Ya, you..."

The sound stopped abruptly, and the spatial rift closed.

"You may all leave now. This ordeal has been completely resolved. It is now up to Tang Sanzang to continue his journey."

The twenty-four ministers and Li Chunfeng and the others dared not act rashly, after all, they did not have Li Bai's methods. If they were really swallowed up and teleported away by the spatial rift, they would probably be shattered to pieces. So they bowed and left.

Lu Ya looked at Venus: "The Star Lord doesn't seem very satisfied with today's events, nor is he very willing to report to Heaven."

Taibai Jinxing hurriedly said, "I dare not, I dare not. My divine sense is in the hands of the Sage Xuantian. My life is not in the hands of the Sage Xuantian. It's just that the monsters possessed by the three demon kings today were arranged by the Emperor. He originally thought that they would gain a bit of merit to enhance their bodies so that they could be transformed into human form and join the ranks of immortals, becoming their helpers. But today they have all perished here."

Taibai Jinxing's words startled Lu Ya: "The Emperor's methods? Which Emperor?"

"The True Martial Emperor!"

Huh? Lu Ya was truly dumbfounded this time.

"Only the True Martial Emperor has the ability to mobilize three monsters with considerable cultivation and the foundation to withstand three demon kings at the same time. After all, accumulating merit is no joke."

"Interesting. I thought they were just three ordinary monsters!" Lu Ya said with a smile. He really didn't expect that behind these three monsters was an emperor.

"It can be considered a meritorious deed, after all, the will of the three demon kings has been completely obliterated. You should tell the True Martial Emperor the truth, and I believe the Emperor will understand."

"Understood, your words make things much easier." Venus took Wu Daozi's painting and immediately flew towards the Heavenly Court.

"Now you may continue on your way!" Lu Ya said to Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang immediately knelt down: "No! Please don't let me go alone!"

(End of this chapter)