All Heavens: Starting with Panlong's Transcendence, Devouring All Heavens

In the desolate desert, the five walked silently.

"Brother, you've got quite the background! To be able to serve as the little monk's deputy!" Sun Wukong chuckled as he approached Lynn.

Lynn glanced at him. Of the five people on the pilgrimage, although Sanzang was a mortal, he held the position of master and had the highest status among them, while his position was "assistant master".

Therefore, the two of them can be considered the leadership, while Sun Wukong, Zhu Wuneng, and Sha Wujing are the disciples who must accept their leadership.

The journey to the West was a massive project, and upon its completion, all five of them would reap substantial benefits. However, as leaders, he and Sanzang would undoubtedly receive the greatest rewards.

Sun Wukong, as a disciple of Amitabha Buddha, one of the four Buddhas, was clearly somewhat dissatisfied with this.

Thinking of this, Lynn smiled and said, "Don't worry! You're the eldest disciple, and we'll be the two of us dealing with all the demons along the way. The other three are just there as accessories. Our KPIs won't be low; we'll at least get the same treatment as the little monk!"

Sun Wukong looked at the pig demon and the fish demon. He recognized both of them; they were both trusted confidants of the Jade Emperor. However, the Heavenly Court maintained a balance between Buddhism and Taoism. While Buddhism sought to win over the Heavenly Court, it wouldn't offer them the greatest benefits.

"Hehe... I, Old Sun, have taken the blame for so many people, settled accounts, and served five hundred years in prison without uttering a single word!" Sun Wukong sneered. "If they don't secure me a good position in the Western Paradise, I'll definitely expose them all..."

Upon hearing this, Lynn remained silent.

However, what Sun Wukong said was indeed true. The vacancies in the Dragon Palace, the Underworld, the Peach Garden, the Alchemy Room, and the vacancies in the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals... all those deities had piled up years of unresolved issues on his head. And he was loyal enough that even after serving five hundred years in prison, he never uttered a single deity's name.

Now it's their turn to repay him.

In the original story, it was with the help of these gods, both overt and covert, that the four disciples were able to overcome the various difficulties set up by the Taoist sect and complete their journey to the West.

After the journey to the West was completed, the result did not disappoint Sun Wukong. Based on his contributions along the way, he became one of the Forty-Eight Buddhas of the Western Paradise, with a status even higher than Guanyin, and truly entered the highest decision-making level of Mount Ling!

……

The five-person group traveled westward, and whenever they encountered monsters blocking their way, Sun Wukong and Lynn would handle them.

Soon, they encountered their first major obstacle on their journey to the west: the robe that Buddha had bestowed upon Chen Xuanzang was stolen by a black bear demon.

Chen Xuanzang looked helplessly at Lin En and his three disciples.

It is worth mentioning that because of the addition of Lynn to the pilgrimage team, Guanyin did not give the golden headband to Chen Xuanzang, but instead embezzled it herself.

This also made Lynn lament the rampant corruption in the Western Paradise. In fact, Buddha gave Guanyin three hoops, namely the Golden Hoop, the Tight Hoop, and the Forbidden Hoop, along with three corresponding incantations. These things were prepared for Chen Xuanzang's three disciples.

In the original movie, Guanyin gave Chen Xuanzang the golden headband, instructing him to use it to subdue Sun Wukong, and then use Sun Wukong to control Zhu Wuneng and Sha Wujing, while she herself kept the remaining two headbands.

Now, it's even more outrageous. With Lynn's involvement, and Guanyin having already reached an agreement with Lynn, she can use Lynn's power to counterbalance the three disciples, so she has taken all three hoops for herself.

"Don't worry, Xuanzang!" Lynn reassured Chen Xuanzang, "I'll go with Wukong right now and retrieve the cassock!"

……

The black bear spirit who stole the cassock had also reached the Celestial Immortal realm, but his strength was far inferior to that of peak Celestial Immortals like Lynn and Sun Wukong.

But his background was clearly not simple either, as he immediately called out Sun Wukong's name as "弼马温" (Bima Wen).

After a fierce battle, Lynn and Sun Wukong joined forces to subdue the black bear demon!

Lynn was about to kill it with his sword, but Sun Wukong stopped him: "Brother, wait!"

"Huh?" Lynn looked at him, puzzled.

He shook his head and transmitted his voice directly: "This black bear demon can call out the name of a minor official I held in the Heavenly Court five hundred years ago. He shouldn't be some random wild demon. We can't kill him, lest we offend his master!"

Lynn: "..."

"What should we do? Just let him leave?" Lynn said speechlessly.

Sun Wukong chuckled, "Don't worry! His master should be here soon!"

Sure enough, the two didn't have to wait long before Miss Duan (Guanyin) arrived riding on auspicious clouds. She glanced at the black bear spirit who was being subdued by Lin En and Sun Wukong, and smiled, "My Luojia Mountain happens to be short of a guard, so I'll take this black bear spirit with me!"

Sun Wukong then released his grip, chuckling, "Bodhisattva, you are wise! This Black Bear Spirit is devoted to Buddhism and should indeed guard the mountain and protect the temple!"

Lynn shook his head inwardly. It seemed that this black bear spirit was a temporary, unemployed demon raised by Guanyin, who had now been given a permanent position through the pilgrimage.

After watching Guanyin and the Black Bear Spirit leave, Lin En and Sun Wukong took the cassock and returned it to Chen Xuanzang.

The five then continued their journey westward.

Along the way, Lynn learned what it meant that "the world of martial arts is not about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and social interactions"!

Along the way, whenever they encountered demons or monsters, Sun Wukong would step forward and introduce himself.

"I am Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven who wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago!"

If the monster replied, "Haha...who do we have here? It's just the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses!"

That's settled then. The monster has powerful backers; we can just call its master to come and take it away.

If the monster knew nothing, then there was nothing more to say; Lynn and Sun Wukong immediately attacked and hacked it to death with a flurry of sword strikes.

Lynn finally understood how worthwhile Sun Wukong's five hundred years in prison had been.

The mounts, disciples, and attendants of all the gods descend to the mortal realm as demons. As long as he makes a move, he can summon the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, the Ten Kings of Hell, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals, the marshals of the Heavenly Court, and the great gods of all departments. Out of respect for him, even if those gods are unwilling, they can only obediently take their mounts and disciples back to where they came from.

In Sun Wukong's words, "I, Old Sun, have evidence in my hands to settle accounts with them. If anyone displeases me, we'll go to the Jade Emperor and settle things..."

Lynn could only say, "I admire you, I admire you!"

Sending Sun Wukong to wreak havoc in the Heavenly Palace and settle these scores was a kind of open scheme by Buddhism. With Sun Wukong holding leverage over them, the gods would naturally shirk their duties and just go through the motions in obstructing the journey to the West.

The Three Pure Ones were helpless in this matter; after all, they couldn't very well intervene themselves!

Lynn certainly wouldn't lose out either. He couldn't kill the monsters with legitimate origins, but he would kill all the wild demons that harmed people and turn them into his source points.

He looked at the realm column on the panel: Celestial Immortal (986/1000).

Along the way, he killed so many monsters that he lost count, such as when he passed Lion Camel Ridge. The lion demon and the elephant demon were the mounts of the Bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Manjushri, respectively, and the Garuda was the younger brother of the Peacock King. Of course, these could not be killed.

But Lynn did not spare the demon soldiers and generals under their command, and killed them all.

"Only 15 more Origin Points are needed to upgrade!" Lynn nodded in satisfaction.

At this point, they were not too far from the Western Paradise Mountain. However, the closer they got to the mountain, the more monsters they encountered. Lin En was confident that he could raise his cultivation to the level of a True Immortal before receiving the Heavenly Merit.

In this way, when the merits of the pilgrimage are bestowed, he might even become a Golden Immortal in one fell swoop!

……

"Disciple, are we very close to the Western Paradise?" Chen Xuanzang asked expressionlessly. Ever since he witnessed Miss Duan die in front of him, he had been heartbroken. All that sustained him was the desire to obtain the scriptures.

"Master, don't worry, there are still some days..." Sun Wukong said, but then he saw that the light ahead was shining brightly, and they had arrived at a sacred mountain and a precious temple.

Upon seeing this, Chen Xuanzang smiled and said, "You little monkey, still trying to fool your master? Aren't we almost at the Western Paradise?"

Lynn and Sun Wukong exchanged a glance and immediately sensed something was wrong.

According to the map, it would be some time before they arrived at Mount Ling. How did Mount Ling suddenly appear out of nowhere?

However, neither of them showed any fear, as Lynn had already guessed the identity of the newcomer.

If he wasn't mistaken, the Little Western Paradise and Little Thunder Temple should be just ahead!

On the journey to the West, most of the tribulations were caused by the evil deeds of Taoist deities. However, with the intervention of the Great Sage Pingzhang, even if they couldn't defeat the deities, they could still seek help from the culprits to resolve the problem.

However, there were also some calamities, and even the identity of the Great Sage of the Flat-Tent was not enough.

Lion Camel Ridge is one of them.

The reason why the mounts of Bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Manjushri tricked Garuda into descending to the mortal realm to cause trouble was because the Buddha gave the Journey to the West project to Guanyin. Once the project was successful, Guanyin's status would surpass that of the two of them, which made them jealous.

Therefore, they ordered their mounts to descend to the mortal realm and make things difficult for the pilgrimage team.

The lion, the elephant, and the roc—these three demons were no less powerful than Lynn and Sun Wukong. They caused a great deal of trouble for the pilgrimage team. In the end, Guanyin had to step in, hosting a banquet to invite Samantabhadra and Manjushri to mediate. She gave them face and promised them future benefits, and only then did the two pretend not to know anything and lead their respective mounts home.

This Little Western Paradise is even more outrageous, because the one causing trouble here is Maitreya Buddha's disciple, "Yellow Eyebrows"!

Lingshan has the Three Buddhas of the Horizontal Era and the Three Buddhas of the Vertical Era!

The Three Buddhas of the Horizontal Era are Bhaisajyaguru Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha (Tathagata), and Amitabha Buddha! They respectively govern the three sacred sites of Buddhism: the Eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli, the Central Saha World, and the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The most important of these is the central Saha world, which is governed by the Tathagata. At the same time, he is also the de facto leader and supreme authority of Buddhism.

However, in order to restrain him, the bigwigs in Buddhism came up with the concept of the Three Buddhas of the Three Worlds.

That is: Dipankara Buddha in the past, Tathagata Buddha in the present, and Maitreya Buddha in the future!

In other words, Maitreya Buddha is the destined future leader of Buddhism!

Aside from the fact that Amitabha Buddha was essentially a figurehead, his ranking among the Buddhas of the Western Paradise is second only to the three Buddhas.

He hasn't even taken office yet, but he's already starting to stir things up.

"What does he want?" Lynn wondered to himself, but did not stop Chen Xuanzang from entering Xiaoleiyin Temple.

The future leader of Buddhism is causing trouble here; there's no way to hide. We can only go and see what he's up to. The conflict and power struggle between him and the Buddha are something they need to discuss and resolve themselves.

Anyway, none of this has anything to do with him. Once he becomes a true immortal and gains the merit and faith from the pilgrimage, it should be enough to summon the world's winch to descend.

At that time, the entire Journey to the West world will become one of the myriad realms in his universe.

……

The group of five entered Xiaoleiyin Temple and immediately saw the temple full of Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Heavenly Kings, and the 'Tathagata' sitting cross-legged at the highest point.

Chen Xuanzang ignored Sun Wukong's advice outside the temple, but once inside, he didn't rush to worship Buddha. Instead, he carefully examined the temple. Although he was a mortal, he wasn't stupid, and he noticed that something was amiss in the temple.

At this moment, the Buddha above spoke: "Tripitaka, you have come from the East to pay homage to the Buddha, how can you be so disrespectful?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuanzang, Zhu Wuneng, and Sha Wujing dared not be negligent and kowtowed to each of the Bodhisattvas and Arhats. Lin En stood outside the temple, watching coldly. Sun Wukong looked left and right, then chuckled, took out his golden cudgel, and suddenly soared into the sky, charging towards the "Buddha" statue at the very top.

But a golden cymbal flew out from the hands of the man who had come, covering Sun Wukong and trapping him instantly.

Then, Ruo Lai stopped pretending and revealed his true form as the Yellow-Eyebrowed Boy. Naturally, all the little demons in the temple also revealed their true forms, which startled Chen Xuanzang and his disciples.

"Hahaha..." The Yellow-Eyebrowed Monster laughed loudly, "Minions, drag those three to the back hall and keep them under guard. After three days and nights, when this wicked monkey turns into pus, steam them all. Then I'll go to the Western Paradise to retrieve the scriptures, attain enlightenment, and at that time, we'll all become immortals or Buddhas!"

As he said this, Huang Mei's gaze was intentionally or unintentionally fixed on Lynn, who was standing outside the door, his eyes filled with a profound meaning.

Lynn shook his head, having no intention of rushing in to save people. Instead, he left Xiaoleiyin Temple and flew away in a random direction.

He hadn't flown far when he saw a big-bellied monk sitting on the mountain, waving at him with a smile.

Lynn landed and smiled, "Greetings, Future Buddha!"

Maitreya Buddha nodded slightly: "Sit!"

Lynn sat down as instructed. Maitreya Buddha possessed the cultivation of a true immortal. Once he took over as the leader of Buddhism, he could immediately use this position to become a Golden Immortal. He could be considered one of the most important figures in the world.

Maitreya Buddha glanced at the Xuanyuan Sword on Lynn's back and smiled, "Before I became a Buddha, I also went to preach to the human race and discussed the Dao with Shennong. Speaking of which, it has been a long time since I last saw him since he settled in Huoyun Cave!"

Lynn wanted to say that he wasn't familiar with the Three Emperors, but he figured they wouldn't believe him anyway, so he simply kept quiet.

"On this journey to retrieve the true scriptures!" Maitreya Buddha continued with a smile, "As agreed, Xuanzang, Wukong, and you three are all destined to become Buddhas. A position of honor will be offered to you on Mount Ling. Do you have any thoughts on this?"

Following his lead, Lynn asked, "Future Buddha, is there anyone who can teach me?"

Hearing Lynn not answer his question but instead ask him one, Maitreya Buddha's smile deepened: "All I can teach you is the word 'future'!"