Little Journey to the West 026

After a brief moment of shock, the celestial beings in Heaven swiftly pulled out their magical treasures.

“Heavenly Demon! How dare you run wild!”

When facing an external enemy, dealing with them first was the common consensus.

That thing seemed to possess boundless power, and the hand it had stretched inside split into even more tentacles.

Watching the movements of the celestial gods, Guanyin finally took out the willow branch from her jade vase. With a single wave, the droplets she scattered transformed into barriers.

The arhats also began to form their array, golden light immediately radiating outward. Several tentacles slammed into the formation and were bounced back.

But it continued to split apart.

Guanyin suddenly let out a cold snort. With a single turn, her dharma body was fully revealed. Her face became ferocious, and multiple arms appeared behind her, each holding a magical treasure. Three faces emerged atop her original head, each bearing the same ferocious expression, and an overwhelming pressure radiated outward.

Fang Zhiyi was nearly blown away by the sheer force of that pressure, barely held in place by Little Hei clutching him tightly.

But he had no intention of fleeing. Instead, he stared intently at that pitch-black colossal creature.

As if sensing his gaze, that thing pushed even harder to force its way inside.

Lord Lao twisted his fingers, severing several tentacles in the blink of an eye, but new ones grew back almost immediately.

“This bodes ill. If we let it keep this up, the Three Realms might...”

His gaze drifted briefly toward Fang Zhiyi. With just that one glance, Fang Zhiyi understood—the gods and Buddhas joining forces against the Heavenly Demon was natural, but he himself was also an outsider. To put it bluntly, he was the very cause of this calamity.

“Do not panic.”

A calm voice drew Fang Zhiyi's attention. He turned to look at Lingjizi below, who suddenly smiled at him.

“You are quite remarkable.”

It was as if an invisible staircase lay before him. Lingjizi raised his leg and began to walk upward, each step carrying him several meters higher.

“Whether it is the Buddhist path or the Daoist path, both speak of cause and effect. In the cycle of reincarnation, I died because of you—that is the cause. But through you, I attained enlightenment—that is the effect.”

In the blink of an eye, he had reached Fang Zhiyi's side, golden light radiating all around him.

“I made you seek the scriptures—that was the cause. Now, it is time for me to repay the effect.”

His finger tapped lightly on Little Hei, and a flash of brilliant colors passed over its body. “Your path of reincarnation is even longer. Take care.”

“Huh?” Fang Zhiyi reached out, but Lingjizi's form stirred slightly, then rose straight up into the air and charged directly at that thing.

Fang Zhiyi was stunned. Was this Lingjizi really planning to destroy himself together with that thing? How could that possibly work?!

As Lingjizi collided with the Heavenly Demon's body, the sound of Buddhist chanting suddenly echoed across heaven and earth. On that day, people and demons alike in both the East and the West witnessed golden light spreading across the sky.

In Heaven, the Jade Emperor let out a long sigh and shook his head with a smile. “This little one is far more decisive than his master.”

High atop Lingshan Mountain, the Buddha, who had been sitting with his eyes gently closed, opened them. “Jingfan... this disciple of yours is ultimately of the same path as you. He has finally understood your intent.”

Fang Zhiyi stared nervously at that spot.

Lingjizi's sacrifice did not seal the crack that the monster had pried open. It only briefly delayed the creature's intrusion, followed by a deep, muffled roar.

That thing was enraged. It never expected that in this world, someone would dare challenge its majesty head-on!

The crack was torn even wider. Even the laws of heaven and earth struggled to hold back the fury of a god—an alien god.

The assembled gods and Buddhas watched as the crack was ripped open by brute force. A massive eyeball appeared there, and then that thing fully forced its way through.

Even from a great distance, Fang Zhiyi once again felt that terrifying pressure.

But he did not panic. Instead, he turned and exchanged a glance with Little Hei. This thing had finally taken the bait.

Little Hei immediately wrapped around Fang Zhiyi: “Now!”

That's right—from the very beginning, when he chose this world, Fang Zhiyi had planned it all out. He believed that even that thing would face obstacles here. If they could restrain it for even a moment—just a moment—that would be enough!

Although things had gone awry upon arrival, with Lingjizi dragging him along on the scripture-seeking journey, the final outcome had still worked out.

But just as Little Hei was about to leave, it suddenly discovered that the black mist around that creature was spreading rapidly, blanketing the entire sky in an instant. The scene looked like the end of the world.

“Damn! It locked down every exit channel!” Little Hei cursed.

Fang Zhiyi was startled. Had he still underestimated this thing's power?

But at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

“A mere Heavenly Demon thinking it can destroy the world? That is a little too arrogant toward us.”

The Jade Emperor appeared.

“Amitabha... The calamity of the Heavenly Demon—how could we stand by and do nothing.”

The Buddha appeared as well.

Almost simultaneously, the higher-tier gods and Buddhas all manifested, and a barrage of different attacks slammed hard into that entity's form. Even that thing, which had rampaged across countless worlds, was shaken.

But Fang Zhiyi felt despair rising in his heart. If he couldn't leave, everything would be for nothing.

“Young friend, about the matter of my disciple earlier—I forgot to thank you.” Patriarch Bodhi's form slowly materialized.

He gave Fang Zhiyi a meaningful look. “You do share some fate with my undisciplined disciple. Well then, let this old man send you on your way, as a gesture of thanks.”

“Huh?” Before Fang Zhiyi could even utter a word of courtesy, he felt a gust of air suddenly wrap around him.

Patriarch Bodhi tossed out an orb from his hand, and Fang Zhiyi's eyes went wide. That... that was a system? It looked completely lifeless. But then Patriarch Bodhi tapped his fingers rapidly, and white light emanated from the system. The orb actually cracked open a rift, revealing a strange glow from within.

“The karma you carry—quite enormous, indeed.”

Fang Zhiyi hadn't even had a chance to thank him when Patriarch Bodhi waved his hand, and a stream of air swept him into that passage.

“Young people are always so impatient. Didn't even say a proper word of thanks to this old man...” Patriarch Bodhi looked up at the enraged Heavenly Demon, and a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in his eyes. “Well then, it's been many years since I've let loose with everything I've got.”

The Heavenly Demon sensed Little Hei's disappearance and suddenly unleashed an explosive burst of energy. Black mist and golden light intertwined, ultimately erupting catastrophically. The terrifying shockwave swept through everything nearby. Countless lesser demons were hurled hundreds of li away and knocked unconscious, while many gods hurriedly summoned their treasures for protection.

“Just what did that kid do to offend something like this...” Sun Wukong was among the few who withstood the shock purely through physical toughness. And it was also his first time witnessing his master truly fight. Even against that terrifying thing, the master moved with effortless command.

The Heavenly Demon seemed unwilling to prolong the battle, wanting only to flee quickly. But this invasion had roused nearly every god and immortal. There was no way it would be allowed to leave so easily.

Sun Wukong figured this great battle was the only time in history that Daoism and Buddhism had joined forces. On top of that, some winged people had even flown in from the West. Though the language was a barrier, those winged people were clearly also coming for the Heavenly Demon. As reinforcements kept growing, the Heavenly Demon suddenly burst apart, and a rain of black covered the entire earth. Yet those black raindrops turned to ash before they could even hit the ground, and the sky cleared up almost in an instant.

"We won?" Sun Wukong's eyes went wide. Beside him, Yang Jian shook his head: "It got away."

"Your eyes sure work well."

With the Heavenly Demon fleeing, Guanyin also returned to her previous form, letting out a faint sigh.

"I had wanted to forcibly drag you back, but I never expected it to come to this..."

"Kindness begets kindness. Lingjizi's ordeal was already fated." A voice rang out as Buddha appeared with a calm expression. "Let us go."

Guanyin gave a slight bow and turned to leave with the arhats, but before departing, she looked back at Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong let out a cold snort: "Old Buddha, the score between you and me—"

"Monkey Head, you call yourself the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. You're not going to renege on your bet now that you lost, are you?" Buddha said with a smile.

Sun Wukong froze. All the way here, he had thought of countless ways to flip the table, even rehearsing how he would curse, but the last thing he expected was Buddha suddenly throwing this at him.

"You—I—this..."

"Monkey Head, your master is also here. Settle it in front of him, so no one can say I bullied you." Buddha's tone carried a hint of teasing.

Sun Wukong looked at Patriarch Bodhi, who turned his face away.

"If you'd lost a fight, it wouldn't be a problem for your master to get even for you... but losing a bet is just too embarrassing..."

Patriarch Bodhi's voice reached Sun Wukong's ears with perfect precision.

Buddha hadn't heard it, but he could roughly guess what was said. He gave a hearty laugh: "Enough. The Five Elements Mountain has already been broken, so come and go as you please. Monkey Head, just don't think about causing trouble at Lingshan again."

With that, Buddha smiled at Patriarch Bodhi, and his figure slowly faded away.