Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

If the five hundred Arhats continued to stay in Li Jiancheng's army, they couldn't possibly incite Li Jiancheng to attack Li Shimin, could they?

Therefore, the five hundred Arhats followed the Buddha's instructions, left Li Jiancheng's army, and abandoned their original plan.

The journey to the West by the pilgrimage team leaving the Wei River marked the beginning of their eastward journey.

At the command of the Buddha, the Dharma protectors, Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and all Buddhas within the Buddhist community were summoned to arrange matters.

Now, Liu Qing, representing the Jie Sect, embarks on an eastward journey, while Buddhism has changed roles, becoming the former Jie Sect, determined to respond to the will of Heaven and increase calamities on the eastward journey.

The pilgrimage team joined the Tang army under Li Shimin, taking advantage of Li Shimin's westward march from Chang'an and eastward march to contend for the Central Plains, and began their journey eastward.

Therefore, Buddhism was prepared to stand on the opposite side, joining the Sui Dynasty or other rebel armies to obstruct Li Shimin's eastward advance.

While hindering Li Shimin, it also prevents the pilgrims from traveling east, adds calamities to their journey, causes the journey to end prematurely, or triggers an even greater calamity, thus disrupting the natural order.

As arranged by the Buddha, the Buddhist Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas descended to the mortal realm with their mounts or spirit pets, joining the armies of the Sui Dynasty or other rebel kings, sharpening their swords and waiting for Li Shimin and the pilgrim team to arrive.

At the same time, the Jade Emperor, who resides high in the Ninth Heaven, also received a message from the Buddha Tathagata, and shook the Investiture of the Gods, summoning the gods who came from the Jie Sect who were listed on the Investiture of the Gods.

"A great calamity has arisen in the human realm, coinciding with the Eastern Journey. The calamity has spread to both the mortal and celestial realms. We, the gods of the Heavenly Court, as the rulers of the three realms, how can we sit idly by and watch the three realms descend into chaos?"

"I wish to order you all to descend to the mortal realm and join the Sui Dynasty and the rebel armies to stop the turmoil caused by the Tang army and the pilgrims' team, and restore peace to the Three Realms."

"Doumu Yuanjun, Xuantan Yuanshuai, Puhua Tianzun, you shall all descend to the mortal realm immediately and act upon my command!"

The Jie Sect's plan to travel eastward was not left unsaid to the Heavenly Gods in the Heavenly Court who were from the Jie Sect. Doumu Yuanjun, Jinling Shengmu, Xuantan Yuanshuai Zhao Gongming, and Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun Wen Zhong, the Heavenly Gods with the greatest power after the Investiture of the Gods, all had their eyes flash with a strange light and their faces turned ashen.

Although Yu Yu Daoren sent them a message, he only said that the Jie Sect was going to start its journey to the East. He did not expect that the Jade Emperor would force them to descend to the mortal world and block their journey to the East.

This act was so malicious that it caused a celestial being from the Jie Sect to stop the sect's eastward journey.

If the Jie Sect fails to travel east, it will not gain any fortune or merit, and will be unable to revive the Jie Sect. Those Jie Sect disciples who obstruct its path will become the culprits for the Jie Sect's inability to revive.

The initial excitement of knowing that the Jie Sect was about to embark on its journey to the East and revive itself was shattered by the words of the Jade Emperor, which felt like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head and chilling him to the bone.

To have a celestial being from the Jie Sect personally destroy the hope of the Jie Sect's revival is more painful than killing them.

Golden Spirit Mother, Zhao Gongming, Wen Zhong, and the others were all panting heavily, glaring angrily at the Jade Emperor.

If they could kill this Jade Emperor, they, the disciples of the Jie Sect, would have already swarmed him and blasted him into dust.

Unfortunately, with the Investiture of the Gods in existence and controlled by the Jade Emperor, they were unable to attack him.

They then considered suicide, hoping to shatter their own original soul imprints and perish completely in the Three Realms, so as not to cause trouble for their sect.

But because of the Investiture of the Gods, they couldn't even commit suicide.

Anger, frustration, and dejection slowly spread among the gods of the Jie Sect. Their eyes were filled with despair, and waves of hatred surged in their hearts. They hated the Investiture of the Gods, hated the Jade Emperor, and hated themselves even more.

The current Doumu Yuanjun, formerly one of the four disciples of the Jie Sect, the Golden Spirit Mother, is now a powerful being who has attained enlightenment in the primordial world. She forcibly calmed her emotions and transmitted everything that had happened here to her teacher, Daoist Yu Yu, through the Heavenly Escape Divine Power.

Yu Yu Daoist was immediately enraged, and a sword intent soared into the sky, ready to kill his way up to the Ninth Heaven.

The Holy Mother of Wudang hurriedly stopped her, and after understanding the reason, she hurriedly advised, "Teacher, the Jade Emperor has sent our Jie Sect gods to the mortal realm to quell the great calamity and turmoil. This action is in accordance with the Heavenly Way and will surely be recognized by the Heavenly Way. If you go to stop it now, you will surely be punished by the Heavenly Way."

"Teacher, as a sage, you are not afraid of the backlash from Heaven, but our Jie Sect's planned journey to the East will be completely aborted. Perhaps, the Jade Emperor is waiting for you to ascend to Heaven."

"For the sake of the smooth progress of our journey to the East and the revival of our Jie Sect, I urge you, Master, to reconsider!"

Yu Yu Dao Ren took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm his rage: "Are we just going to let that scoundrel Hao Tian bully my Jie Sect like this?"

The two immortals, Jin Gu Xian and Pi Lu Xian, also frowned, their hearts filled with a nameless anger. If they were not concerned about the grand plan of the Jie Sect to travel east, they would probably have already joined their teacher to storm up to the Ninth Heaven and confront Hao Tian.

“Teacher, our junior brother is always very intelligent. Our Jie Sect’s Eastward Journey plan was entirely devised by him. He should have a plan to deal with the current situation. Why don’t we ask him?”

Yu Yu Dao Ren's eyes lit up: "Very good, teacher will ask your junior brother Liu Qing now."

The Golden Hoop Immortal interjected, "It could also be my senior brother."

Pilu Xian continued, "Right now, Kui Niu hasn't sent back any news, so it's still uncertain whether Junior Brother is Senior Brother. It's better to be prudent."

"Whether it's the junior brother or the senior brother, they are both people I, the Golden Hoop Immortal, admire the most. They are equally resourceful and intelligent."

Pilu Xian rolled his eyes inwardly. Compared to you, the number one fool of the Jie Sect, aren't they all quick-witted and resourceful? "Disciple, now that the Jade Emperor holds the Investiture of the Gods, he is forcing your senior brothers and sisters, who are gods in heaven, to descend to the mortal realm and obstruct our Jie Sect's eastward journey. Do you have a solution to this matter?"

Liu Qing was sitting upright on a cloud, watching the pilgrim team heading towards Chang'an below.

Suddenly, the sect leader's token carried a message from his teacher, Daoist Yu Yu. After reading the contents, a flash of joy quickly crossed his eyes.

We've been waiting for you to coerce the celestial being from the Jie Sect to descend to the mortal realm.

If you don't do this, Haotian, how will my Heavenly Flower bloom?
"Teacher, tell the senior brothers and sisters that they should follow Haotian's arrangements to descend to the mortal realm. This disciple already has a plan."

"really?"

"Teacher, please rest assured, how could your disciple dare to deceive you?"

"At that time, I will definitely give Haotian, the teacher, and all the senior brothers and sisters a big surprise!"

"If the Heavenly Court is like this, then Buddhism will surely not stand idly by either. My Jie Sect has just begun its journey to the East, and they have already joined forces to make things difficult for my Jie Sect. Do they really think that my sword cannot cut them down!"

"Teacher, please don't be angry. It's just that there will be more tribulations on the journey to the east. I can handle it. Even if I can't, don't you still have your support?"

"No matter how many hardships they inflict on the journey to the East, the more hardships they face, the more fortune and merit Heaven will bestow upon the successful journey to the East!"

Inside the Biyou Palace on Jin'ao Island, the Taoist priest Yu Yu looked at the message sent back by Liu Qing, his eyes filled with uncertainty, appearing quite hesitant.

The Holy Mother of Wudang cast an inquiring glance at her, and the Taoist priest Yu Yu relayed Liu Qing's reply to her.

The Holy Mother of Wudang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Teacher, since none of us have a good solution, why don't we listen to our junior brother?"

Upon hearing this, the Taoist priest sighed and said, "Then we have no choice but to do so."

Immediately afterwards, the remaining Taoists sent messages to Doumu Yuanjun and Jinling Shengmu.

Golden Spirit Mother frowned in thought. Just as her teacher had said in the message, since there was no good solution, why not listen to her junior brother and take a gamble?

They're already trapped by the Investiture of the Gods. Even if they lose the gamble, can the worst-case scenario be worse than being trapped by the Investiture of the Gods and facing a life-or-death dilemma?

A moment later, the Holy Mother of Golden Spirit gritted her teeth and made a decision in her heart: "We are willing to obey the Heavenly Emperor's order and go down to the mortal world to quell the turmoil."

The gods who came from the Jie Sect changed color upon hearing this and all looked at the Golden Spirit Mother. However, the Golden Spirit Mother could not explain in detail and could only give them a reassuring look.

As one of the four great disciples of the Jie Sect, the Golden Spirit Mother had long been renowned for her prestige. When she made her decision, the other gods who came from the Jie Sect had no choice but to obey.

The celestial being, who came from the Jie Sect, agreed to descend to the mortal realm without much trouble, ostensibly to quell the turmoil in the Three Realms, but in reality to obstruct the Jie Sect's eastward journey.

The Jade Emperor certainly didn't think they were unaware of this.

The Jade Emperor's eyes showed some hesitation, and he had a premonition that the situation was slipping out of his control, but he couldn't guess why. In the end, he could only wave his hand and send the gods from the Jie Sect down to the mortal realm according to the original plan.

In an instant, countless divine lights streaked across the sky like shooting stars and fell to earth.

Liu Qing looked up and a smile appeared on her lips.

The pilgrims arrived at Li Shimin's army and each took on a military position.

After inquiring about Liu Qing's transformation, Li Shimin appointed Tang Sanzang as a military advisor, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing as vanguard generals, and the Jade Dragon Prince as the White Dragon Horse, serving as Tang Sanzang's mount.

Li Yuan appointed Li Shimin as the vanguard and led 20,000 Tang troops out of Chang'an, approaching Tongguan.

Li Jiancheng was appointed as the rear guard, responsible for transporting provisions and weapons, as well as maintaining stability after the subsequent occupation of cities. After the five hundred Buddhist Arhats left, Yuan Shoucheng, the military advisor in Li Jiancheng's army, also disappeared without a trace.

In reality, Yuan Shoucheng was a fragment of Venus's soul. Now that the situation has changed, the Jie Sect is traveling eastward, and Buddhism and the Heavenly Court are blocking their way. Staying with Li Jiancheng's army would be useless, so he took back this fragment of his soul and focused on devising strategies for the Jade Emperor.

Nowadays, Li Jiancheng's army has few gods and demons, and almost all of them are mortals, making it much weaker than Li Shimin's army.

Li Yuan then moved his troops to Chang'an, making it the main base of the Tang army.

After a long period of calm, the main force of the Tang army marched eastward, its advance directly threatening Tongguan. In an instant, the situation changed dramatically, the flames of war reignited, and the killing resumed.

Meanwhile, Li Shimin led 20,000 elite Tang troops out of Chang'an, heading east towards Tongguan.

Tang Sanzang, a second-generation disciple of the Jie Sect serving in Li Shimin's army, held a worn-out brush and wrote: "On the first day of the seventh month of the fifteenth year of the Daye era, Tang Sanzang of the Tang army, following Li Shimin's army eastward, moved by the rampant killing and suffering of the people, wished to travel east to Jin'ao Island to seek the true scriptures of the Jie Sect, to move the hearts of the people, and to quell the bloodshed. Today, I proclaim this to Heaven, hoping Heaven will grant my request." (End of Chapter)