Fang Zhiyi was woken by the noise. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a stone. A short distance away, several agile figures were chasing one another and playing among the trees.
“Awake?”
Fang Zhiyi whipped around and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of the furry face before him.
Sun Wukong munched on a peach. “I’ll give you credit—you’ve got some nerve, causing a ruckus in the Underworld.”
“Hehe, I only did it to find you, Great Sage…”
Sun Wukong gave him a meaningful look. “Find me? What for? I’m warning you, I’m a Victorious Fighting Buddha now. I don’t care about whatever mess you mortals have going on.”
Fang Zhiyi suddenly asked, “Speaking of the mortal realm, why are the Three Realms separated now?”
Sun Wukong looked at him without saying a word.
Fang Zhiyi sat cross-legged, and Little Hei drifted over at a leisurely pace.
Sun Wukong suddenly let out a laugh. “Some gods from the West had a bit of a disagreement with us, so they got into a fight.”
“The West? Mount Lingshan?”
“No, no, farther west than that. You know, those winged birdmen, and some gods who don’t even wear pants.” Sun Wukong sounded rather puzzled as he continued, “I’ve never seen another bunch of gods fight while completely naked.”
Several Western deities immediately flashed through Fang Zhiyi’s mind.
“Anyway, things got pretty lively, but those fellows couldn’t take losing and ended up accidentally dragging the mortal world into it.” Sun Wukong leaned against the stone and pulled out a blade of grass growing from a crack, sticking it between his teeth. “After that, the various sides negotiated a truce. The old Jade Emperor and Buddha thought that when gods fight, it should remain the gods’ business, and dragging mortals into it was unacceptable. But those Western fellows kept shouting about faith and whatever else. In the end, they even alarmed the great deities above.”
He pointed overhead.
“After that, following our ‘gentle’ negotiations, they all agreed to sever the mortal realm’s ties with the other realms.”
“There is a rumor, though, that a bird capable of human speech appeared on Mount Lingshan. According to those bald monks, that troublesome bird said that if the Three Realms were ever connected again, it would mean the mortal world had fallen into chaos. Tsk, tsk. Don’t tell me that bird was you?”
Fang Zhiyi hurriedly shook his head. “No, no, I’m not that capable.”
He glanced at Little Hei and finally explained why he had come. He had originally thought Sun Wukong would agree.
Who could have guessed that Sun Wukong would shake his head repeatedly?
“No, I’m not going. After finally obtaining the scriptures, I have no intention of doing any more work.”
“Uh…”
Fang Zhiyi hadn’t expected such a decisive refusal. After thinking for a moment, he rose to leave.
But Sun Wukong suddenly said, “I won’t go, but I can recommend two people to go with you.”
Fang Zhiyi turned back.
“Great Sage, is it really possible to reincarnate endlessly and cultivate through each life?” Nezha asked doubtfully.
Yang Jian, however, thoughtfully examined Little Hei and Fang Zhiyi.
“Of course. When have I ever lied to you?”
Nezha thought about it for a moment. “When have you ever not lied to me?”
Yang Jian suddenly said, “Nezha, this actually suits you.”
Nezha looked at Yang Jian in confusion.
Yang Jian pointed at Fang Zhiyi. “He’s only a mortal, yet by traveling through several different worlds, he’s managed to cultivate to his current level. With your aptitude, you won’t do any worse than him.”
Fang Zhiyi awkwardly tugged at the corner of his mouth. Say what you want, but don’t drag me into it.
Still, he truly hadn’t expected Sun Wukong to summon Erlang Shen and Nezha.
The Heaven’s Three Great Rebels had gathered in one place. Tsk, tsk.
After being persuaded by Sun Wukong and Yang Jian, Nezha finally made up his mind.
“Hey, you there. I’ll go with you! But let’s get one thing straight—if it isn’t challenging, I’m not interested!”
“Third Prince, every mission will be challenging. Extremely challenging.”
“That’ll do.” Nezha nodded in satisfaction. He turned back and cupped his fists toward Yang Jian and Sun Wukong. “I’ll be back soon. As for things in Heaven…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll request leave for you,” Yang Jian said, thumping his chest.
As Fang Zhiyi left with Nezha, he glanced back once. He couldn’t shake the feeling that those two were hiding some sort of secret.
Once the passage closed, Sun Wukong let out a long breath.
“Well? Wasn’t my idea brilliant?”
“The Jade Emperor was already worrying over whom to send. Looking at it this way, Fang Zhiyi makes a pretty good cover,” Yang Jian said with a nod.
“That’s what I call fate!”
Sun Wukong looked at Nezha’s physical body, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. A brush suddenly appeared in his hand. He crouched down and began drawing on Nezha’s face.
Yang Jian watched him with contempt. “You were planning to have me go too, weren’t you? So you could draw this nonsense on my face as well?”
“Don’t slander me!”
“You’re doing it wrong. Give me the brush!”
In Heaven, Li Jing tremblingly lowered the pagoda in his hands under the watchful eyes of everyone around him. He immediately looked left and right, remaining on guard for quite some time. Then he raised both hands high.
“I’m free!!!”
The assembled gods burst into thunderous applause.
“That Demon King of Chaos is really gone?”
“My heavens, we can finally enjoy some peace and quiet for a while! Last time, that brat peed in my wine jug. I couldn’t beat him, and I couldn’t scold him either!”
“That’s nothing. He cut up my treasured immortal robe and turned it into a kite!”
Unlike the commotion outside, the Jade Emperor merely smiled and shook his head. He looked toward Lord Lao, who was sitting nearby with his eyes closed, seemingly dozing.
“It’s a good thing for Nezha to visit the greater worlds outside. It’ll help temper his disposition.” He paused. “How many times has this mortal been here?”
“Twice. No, three times.” Lord Lao opened his eyes. “Perhaps even he hasn’t noticed it.”
As he spoke, Lord Lao’s gaze fell upon the round black ball on the table.
The Jade Emperor drew a deep breath, cleared his throat, and picked up the ball. His movements were clearly somewhat stiff.
“Hello? Hello, can you hear me?”
A response soon came from the other end of the orb. “Hello, Jade Emperor.”
“The employee you requested has been sent over. His name is…”
The Jade Emperor looked toward Lord Lao, who hurriedly reminded him, “Fang Zhiyi.”
“Yes, yes. He was brought back by Fang Zhiyi.”
There was a brief silence on the other end.
“Why is he there?”
The Jade Emperor smiled. “I’m not sure myself. But your employee is quite impressive—he actually found his way from the mortal world to the Underworld and caused quite a commotion.”
“I’m terribly sorry. I’ll dock his pay when he gets back!”
The Jade Emperor froze. What was this “pay” she was talking about?
Lord Lao reminded him again, “She means his stipend.”
“Oh, oh.” The Jade Emperor understood. He spoke into the orb once more. “Hello? Hello?”
“Yes, please go ahead.” Yue Anyao’s voice was gentle.
“If Nezha achieves satisfactory results through his cultivation, we’ll consider sending more people over.”
“Understood. As for what I mentioned earlier…”
“Don’t worry. If people from your bureau come here to carry out missions, Heaven will naturally guarantee their safety.”
“Thank you, Jade Emperor. Thank you, Lord Lao.”
Yue Anyao ended the call and let out a long breath. She casually drew a checkmark beside one of the coordinates to indicate that it was safe.
The quick-transmigration bureau was already severely short-staffed, so she could only find ways to provide its employees with a basic guarantee of safety while they carried out their missions—especially in a world like Journey to the West, where even a system could be casually destroyed.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
