Why are all of us who transmigrated at the same time demons?

As for concealing it? Lu Yinghua would absolutely not dare to conceal it.

Reporting immediately would at most earn him a scolding for incompetence. After all, he was Luo Hao's apprentice, and at worst, he'd be beaten to the point of near death. But if he concealed it, even if the murderer was caught and punished later, Luo Hao would still grind him to dust.

Leaving aside the fact that the small-time comprador was terrified, Loran enthusiastically headed east to the island nation. Loran used his escape technique and went straight to the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture.

The so-called Toshogu Shrine is a shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Iemitsu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. As the shogun and the de facto ruler of Japan, Tokugawa Iemitsu was deified by the Tokugawa shogunate after his death.

He was given the divine title "Tosho Daigongen" and ranked first in the rank of Senior Rank. The Edo Shogunate consolidated its legitimacy through the Tosho-gu Shrine rituals.

"Tosho Daigongen" was created to correspond with the Japanese Imperial Family's "Amaterasu Omikami" and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "Toyokuni Daimyojin". The Tendai sect used it to associate it with Yakushi Nyorai's "Eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli". It is a product of the "fusion of Shinto and Buddhism" in Japan.

Of course, in this world, Tenkai, the Tendai sect monk who oversaw the investiture of the gods for Tokugawa Iemitsu, is still alive, residing in the underworld as a living Buddha. Next to the Toshogu Shrine, he specially built a Saitengu Shrine and used the Toshogu Shrine's incantations to suppress a monkey—whom the little people call Monkey God-King, the shameful Stable Keeper.

The Sun Wukong of this world is surprisingly pathetic. In Journey to the West, at least the Buddha himself suppressed him, but in this world, he was suppressed by a monk from the Tiantai sect.

Moreover, he had no sense of shame whatsoever. The most outrageous thing was that he was driven around by his little servants to fight dragons and snakes. After the fight, he was locked back in the cage and he was not angry at all. He was happy after being coaxed by a few witches. He didn't even care if they said he was being treated like a monkey.

But once he escaped and gained power, he began to seek revenge everywhere. Leaving aside the monks who imprisoned him, innocent tourists were the ones who suffered. This was no Monkey King; he was clearly a local ruffian.

This is perhaps the Sun Wukong that I remember from my daily life.

The work "Godkiller" can be described as a culmination of cultural stereotypes from various countries. The mythology of "the Steel God and the Earth Mother Goddess" that forms the basis of the worldview has been very problematic and has long been abandoned by the academic community.

But there's no way around it; in this world, all the gods are forced into the male-female power struggle between the "Steel God and the Earth Mother Goddess," and even Sun Wukong is no exception.

Therefore, Loran understood from the beginning that the gods in this world did not present their mythological essence at all, but rather a simple collection of impressions and characteristics from the world, commonly known as "labeling".

The more labels someone has, the more aliases they have, the more complex their powers become, and the more blatant their lies become.

The personalities of god-slayers are almost all cut from the same mold, after all, it's a world where "not understanding human language" is considered "having personality".

However, in Loran's opinion, it was good that the monkey was suppressed, saving him the trouble of killing it himself.

In the end, I can't become the Great Sage's horse. Since I came from the Eight Trigrams Furnace, let the Eight Trigrams Furnace be my final resting place!

Chapter 113 God Killer: The Eight Diagrams Demon Fire Heart Refining Ape

Nikko Toshogu Shrine, as the main shrine of Toshogu Shrine, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few years ago, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists to visit.

This weekend was another sunny and pleasantly mild day, perfect for an outing. As a result, Toshogu Shrine became an important tourist destination for residents of Tokyo, formerly known as Edo.

Loran mingled among the tourists, moving here and there like an ordinary visitor. But when he entered various places that should have been off-limits to tourists, the guards who were supposed to be there seemed to be blind, and some even took the initiative to help Loran set things up.

After Loran left, they returned to their posts as if nothing had happened, waiting like puppets for the crucial moment to arrive.

Loran stood in the air, his divine eyes piercing through the barrier of the Western Heavenly Palace, and saw the true form of the Disobedient God, the Monkey God.

In the stables of the Western Heavenly Palace, in a palace space resembling the Forbidden City, a seventy-centimeter-long macaque with golden fur was idly picking at its lice, just like an ordinary monkey or wild animal in the mortal world. In reality, as a god who did not follow the rules, it did not have lice at all.

Loran sighed with emotion. What kind of person was the Monkey King? Being called "Keeper of the Heavenly Horses" was a stain on his reputation, a mark of deception and humiliation inflicted by the Heavenly Court. Anyone who mentioned it on the journey to the West would turn on him. Now, imprisoned in a stable and called "Keeper of the Heavenly Horses" to his face, suffering such a humiliating disgrace, yet he could still talk to people cheerfully—it was simply unbelievable!

Little Ri Zi probably doesn't think that being "弼马温" (Bima Wen, a lowly official in charge of horses) is a praiseworthy achievement for Monkey King, does he?

Moreover, Monkey King, a monkey immortal who attained enlightenment in the Han Dynasty and obtained Buddhahood in the early Tang Dynasty, doesn't prefer Tang and Han Dynasty bricks and tiles, celestial palaces, or solemn Buddhist temples. Instead, he actually favors the style of the Forbidden City from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is hard to evaluate.

Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is a household name in China. There are many interpretations of Journey to the West, resulting in a variety of portrayals of him. Some are brave and unyielding, some are righteous and awe-inspiring, some are carefree and natural, and some have converted to Buddhism.

However, the one imprisoned in this Western Heaven Palace is a steel god version of Sun Wukong. According to the labeling method, this version of Sun Wukong possesses the "flexible standard" of a god: he is submissive when weak, unforgiving when in power, verbally aggressive when fighting, violent, tyrannical, and possesses inexplicable powers and abilities that he doesn't know which mythological version he came from.

This version of the monkey looks too much like a slacker, and Loran couldn't stand it, so he decided to use it as material for refining.

"How boring! I really want to call over a few priestesses to sing and dance!" The Disobedient God, the Monkey God, sighed, scratching his slightly ruffled monkey fur. (PS: I'm not trying to diss the Monkey King, but that's how it's written in the original Godslayer. I really don't want to call him Sun Wukong, so from now on I'll refer to him as the Disobedient God, the Monkey God.)

"Why does it feel a bit hot?" The Disobedient God, the Monkey God, was puzzled. The space he lived in was a secluded prison created by the Tiantai Sect in combination with the layout of the Dongzhao Palace to imprison him. It should be undisturbed by the outside world and remain unchanged throughout the four seasons.

The concept of heat should not apply to him.

The "No" disobedient god, the Monkey God, sat up and began to calculate.

Although his personality is hard to describe, he has all the abilities that the Monkey King in mythology should have. Divination and fortune-telling are no problem for the scholarly Monkey King who once studied under the Bodhi Patriarch who was proficient in all schools of thought.

"How strange!" The Rebellious God, Monkey God, sighed. "The layout of this Japanese shrine has changed, but why am I, Old Sun, still unable to escape?"

"This layout seems familiar? It's like I've seen it somewhere before."

"The old Japanese monk of the Tiantai sect used the Tantric method to demote me, the old Sun, to the 'God of Calamity and Exorcism,' treating me as the guardian of the Shen position of the Ghost Gate. He then used the 'Bima Wen' curse to bind and imprison my divine power. Therefore, to completely escape, I need to rely on the 'True Power of Calamity and Exorcism' of the Yuan Shrine Maiden, then use the treasure sword to weaken the spell, and finally use dragons and snakes to arouse my steel god nature in order to escape."

"This so-called 'Bi Ma Wen' curse is entirely supported by the power of the Tosho Daigongen curse gathered here from all over Japan. If the situation is changed and this power is redirected elsewhere, the curse should become ineffective. Even if I, Old Sun, cannot be completely freed, I should feel completely relaxed and my true nature restored. But why am I not reacting at all?"

"No... It's getting hotter and hotter, so hot... so hot... I'm dying of heat!" The Disobedient God, the Monkey God, was howling like an animal. But strangely, if it were any other time, the Japanese sorcerer in charge of guarding him would have arrived long ago. Why was he nowhere to be seen?

Unbeknownst to Him, all the sorcerers of the Western Heaven Palace had transformed into guests within Loran's Ten Thousand Soul Banner, assisting Loran in setting up the formation.

The original layout of the entire Toshogu Shrine had already been changed by Loran. The enormous magical power was operating according to Loran's will, and its flow looked like a furnace.

"That's it! The furnace! I remember now, no wonder it looked so familiar, isn't this Laozi's Eight Trigrams Furnace?" The Disobedient God, the Monkey God, suddenly realized, "Let me calculate, the flow of this incantation power, my position seems to be... the Qian position!"

In the Bagua Furnace, the Qian position is the main position at the top of the furnace, where the fire is the most intense, and it is the place where the heavenly fire quenches the gold.

The God of Steel in this world fears extreme high temperatures the most, because steel melts at extremely high temperatures and becomes difficult to shape.

As luck would have it, the Monkey God is one of the Steel Gods.

"Damn it... Who is trying to harm me, Old Sun? They actually used the Heavenly Fire of the Qian Position to burn me!"

The Monkey God was extremely anxious. His current situation was far more dangerous than when he was in Laozi's Eight Trigrams Furnace. In Laozi's furnace, he could move freely, so he ran to the Xun position, where there was wind but no fire. Thus, he withstood the burning of the Six Ding Divine Fire and even developed a pair of fiery eyes through the interaction of wind and fire.

But now He is trapped in the stable of the Qian position and cannot move. He can only passively endure the most ferocious Qian position heavenly fire. As the God of Steel, He may be refined again.

The God of War's rationality calmed the Monkey God down from his anger, allowing him to calmly analyze the situation.

"Fortunately, since a large amount of magical power was used in this Bagua formation, I can try to gradually break free from the '弼马温' (Bima Wen) curse. Unfortunately, without the priestess's treasured sword or the dragon and snake, I cannot completely escape."

Sensing the monkey's movements, Loran smiled coldly, "I was prepared for this all along."

Loran began chanting incantations, and demonic sounds began to circulate in the Eight Trigrams Furnace. At the same time, he cut off the nourishment of the true water in the Kan position of the Eight Trigrams and drew the fire evil in the Li position to pour it towards the Monkey God.

Sun Wukong is also known as the Mind Monkey. "Mind Monkey" is a famous metaphor for "mind and spirit" (often mentioned alongside "willful horse"), symbolizing the restlessness and untamable nature of human thoughts, like a leaping and climbing monkey. It corresponds to "heart fire" in the Five Elements; if excessive, it dissipates vital energy, disturbs one's true nature, and is a major obstacle to cultivation.

For ordinary practitioners to subdue their restless minds, they need to direct the fire of the heart downwards and merge it with the water of the kidneys (essence) to achieve "harmony between water and fire," transforming their "conscious mind" (acquired distractions) into "original spirit" (innate true intention), thus reaching the state of "the mind dies and the spirit lives."

However, Loran did the opposite, cutting off the true water in the Kan position to prevent the Monkey God from achieving harmony between water and fire, drawing fire from the Li position to strengthen the heart fire, and then burning it in the Qian position to weaken its divinity. All his actions were aimed at strengthening the heart fire, causing the Monkey God to go berserk and become a demon.

The incantation he recited was obtained from the Demon Lord Shen Ke, and it was the Nightmare and Two Hearts Incantation of the Heart Demon Path. Its function was to disturb people with demonic thoughts, causing them to become mentally unstable and disordered.

However, in this world, Sun Wukong has become a steel god who fears fire, belonging to the metal element. The idea of ​​inner fire is out of the question. This magical phenomenon may be due to some people simply understanding the diamond body as "steel".

However, the principles of Daoist alchemy and the Eight Trigrams still apply in this world, so this method can still drive the Monkey God to demonic possession. But Loran's goal is far more than just driving the Monkey God to demonic possession.

The fundamental law of this world is "idol worship," and all techniques are based on this theory. "Idol worship" means getting close to an idol, becoming intimate with the idol, and resonating with the idol in order to obtain divine power.

A typical example is the various incantations in Western magic, where magical power is gained by reciting the stories and epics of gods and kings.

Therefore, what Loran needs to do here is the same: lure the Monkey God into demonic possession and make him have two minds. Does that sound familiar?

Indeed, the Six-Eared Macaque is said to have two minds, as seen in the legend of the Great Sage. The Spiritual Stone Monkey is the innate primordial spirit, pure and unclouded, like true gold in fire, representing Wukong's true nature, attained through righteous cultivation at the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars. The Six-Eared Macaque, on the other hand, is the acquired consciousness, blazing with yin fire, false and confused, born of two minds, a demon with delusions of stealing magical artifacts.

Loran is recreating this myth and using it as a "catalyst" to summon the disobedient god.

"Let me see if I can summon another disobedient god, the Six-Eared Macaque?" Loran revealed his gleaming white teeth, his laughter arrogant. He used demonic techniques to extract the emotions of "surprise, fear, and anger" from Xiao Rizi, using them as fuel to pollute the divinity of the Monkey God.

Soon, as the Ape God's eyes turned bloodshot, resembling those of a wild beast, an unusually powerful magical force gathered in the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Loran could sense the fluctuations in the Netherworld, as a force was crossing over from the depths of the Netherworld.

Soon, this immense magical power began to shape the entity that had crossed over from another realm. A macaque resembling a monkey deity, but with six ears and an evil glint in its eyes, appeared in the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

The rebellious god, the Six-Eared Macaque, descends to earth!

Chapter 114 Godslayer: The Divine Monkey Transformed into the Form of Khorne

"Damn it, where is this?" The Six-Eared Macaque, who had descended from the Netherworld to the mortal realm, was terrified. As a member of mythology, he should have been obediently bound to the immortal realm of mythology, repeating the myth of Journey to the West day and night. Then, he suddenly felt the call of the mortal world.

Heaven have mercy! Even He, the Six-Eared Macaque, has been summoned to the mortal world. You must know, the Monkey God, whose divinity is close to His, is far more famous.

In the realm of mythology, the power of a god is determined by his position within the myth.

However, once a god becomes a non-obedient being, the power of a deity is no longer determined by its status in mythology, but by its own strength.

Self-identity is something every deity pursues, because few deities are willing to be bound by mythology.

"It's such a rare opportunity for me, Grandpa, to have some fun in the real world!" With this excited thought, the Six-Eared Macaque excitedly used a ritual in the real world to free a part of himself from the shackles of mythology and manifest himself on the earth.

Upon being born, he saw the ape god-king, whom he regarded as his mortal enemy.

The Six-Eared Macaque chuckled as it looked at its nemesis, whose eyes were bloodshot and who was acting like a demon. No wonder it was summoned; this just corresponds to mythology!

Seeing his arch-enemy unhappy makes the Six-Eared Macaque happy.

Before the Six-Eared Macaque could even rejoice for a moment, scorching heavenly fire, as hot as the sun, suddenly poured down upon him, immersing the entire golden monkey in a sea of ​​flames.

"So hot! So hot! So hot!"

The Six-Eared Macaque stopped laughing and cried out in pain as it was scorched by the Heavenly Fire of the Qian Position.

Loran watched the Six-Eared Macaque leaping about in the sea of ​​fire and a satisfied smile appeared on his face. Just now, with the help of the fluctuations caused by the Six-Eared Macaque's descent, he had already located the mythological realm to which Journey to the West belonged, and locating the mythological realm of Journey to the West meant locating the divine realm of Eastern mythology.

Due to cultural exchanges between different regions, mythologies from various countries have merged and are interconnected in various ways.

For example, the Buddhist Indra is the same as the Indian Indra. By identifying Indra, one can identify the Indian pantheon. Similarly, Indra plays an important role in Zoroastrian mythology, so the Zoroastrian pantheon cannot be excluded either.

These deities have too many aliases, so a change in one of them can have far-reaching consequences.

The Netherworld is a very special place. You can think of it simply as a subspace. It is closer to the concept of a subspace than the interior of Under One Person.

The Netherworld is a realm of the spirit, where absolute concepts of time and space do not exist. Distance here is merely a concept; travel is achieved not by physical legs but by "thought." Therefore, if you do not know the exact location of a place in the Netherworld, and without guidance, it is difficult to reach it even after countless years.

To reach the realm of the gods, one must first cross the Netherworld and traverse the realm between the living and the immortal.

But things are different now. With the guidance of the Six-Eared Macaque, Loran quickly located these divine realms, making it easier for him to capture them all at once.

"Hehehe! You immortal gods are fit to become nourishment for my demonic arts!"

Amidst the sea of ​​fire, the Six-Eared Macaque, unbearably scorched, pulled an iron rod from its ear—its own counterpart to the Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Cudgel). It swung the rod, unleashing a terrifying gale that created a vacuum, attempting to isolate the celestial fire in the Qian position.

At the same time, He mounted His somersault cloud and headed towards the Xun position, where there was no open fire, making it a place to avoid calamity.

But Loran would not do as He wished. He stretched out his finger and flicked out a black flame, which fell into the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

The so-called "Samadhi Fire" is a flame ignited using "the spirit of the upper elixir, the qi of the middle elixir, and the essence of the lower elixir" as fuel, specifically designed to burn the souls of all things in the world. Samadhi Fire itself is neither good nor evil; it depends entirely on the user's actions.

However, Loran used demonic techniques to reverse the "Samadhi," and the "Samadhi True Fire" had now transformed into "Samadhi Demonic Fire," stagnating the essence, energy, and spirit, generating malevolent energy, and giving rise to malevolent fire. Being ignited by the demonic fire derived from this malevolent energy would cause the essence, energy, and spirit of the whole body to decay, the primordial spirit to waver, and the three corpses to thrash about.

The Samadhi Demon Fire merged into the sea of ​​fire in the Eight Trigrams Furnace, easily passing through the isolation zone created by the Six-Eared Macaque, and clung to His body.

"What kind of fire is this? It's so eerie, so terrifying!"

The Six-Eared Macaque was terrified and quickly recited the incantation.

"The black iron cleaves the sky, splitting the heavens, daring to defy the East Sea and calm its waves."

"Listening to the sound, they secretly steal the Bodhi Dharma; their phantoms forcibly seize the Brahma robe."

"Inner demons forge weapons with every thought; the mad ape copies documents in place of the monk."

As the Six-Eared Macaque chanted, pure golden Buddhist light shone forth, illuminating the sky and separating the demonic fire.

In Journey to the West, the Six-Eared Macaque steals the luggage of Tang Sanzang and his disciples, proclaiming himself the pilgrim. According to this myth, the Six-Eared Macaque possesses a power that allows him to temporarily impersonate the Buddha and gain his protection.

But what is false is ultimately false, and this borrowed Buddha's majestic light will eventually dissipate, at which point He will still have to face this terrifying flame.

The six-eared macaque was driven to a dead end, revealing its ferocious nature.

"The law of heaven and earth is vast, vast, vast!"

The six-eared macaque's small figure suddenly grew larger and larger, almost transforming into a giant ape that could rub against mountains. Ignoring the demonic fire on its body, the six-eared macaque swung its iron staff and smashed it towards the Toshogu Shrine.

Although He did not know where the enemy was for the time being, He knew very well that this was the core of this Bagua formation, and the Toshogu Shrines throughout Japan were continuously gathering their magical power here, so it was definitely the right place to strike.

"What a mischievous monkey!"

Loran burst into laughter, "Perfect timing to use you, you monkey head, to practice my great magic."

The Six-Eared Macaque, as a newly born, disobedient god, could still cause trouble, but the Ape God, who was repeatedly schemed against and killed by Loran, did not receive such treatment.

This monkey had long been refined into malevolent energy by endless flames, and since monkeys are deities, this malevolent energy could also be called divine malevolent energy. Loran made hand seals, and the Monkey God's soul, which originally wanted to return to mythology, was forcibly intercepted by him, and along with the countless divine malevolent energy in the sky, it was imprisoned and gathered into Loran's body.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Power of Formless Formation was activated, and eight hazy divine images guarded the supreme divine image in the center. The divine concept belonging to the monkey head was now being refined into the eight divine images, with the crimson divine image benefiting the most and beginning to solidify.

"That's it! The Monkey God is a war god, and also possesses a restless heart, making him the perfect match for you." Loran clapped his hands and laughed. "This time, I'll use you!"

This crimson divine image stands out, its core being an extremely profound talisman. At a glance, one can almost see a scene of fierce battles and rivers of blood.

The talisman flew into Loran's sea of ​​consciousness, and the crimson divine image began to merge with Loran's body.

Clad in brass armor, breathing fire of rage, and wearing an octagonal helmet adorned with wings, beneath which lay a terrifying face, both beast and human, filled with sharp teeth and fangs. The colossus, wielding a blood-red greatsword, stood upon the earth, its form even taller and more imposing than the giant ape transformed from the Six-Eared Macaque. At a glance, it was clear that it was the god of war, the master of slaughter, the lord of blood and skulls, and the embodiment of undying rage.