The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Everyone had guessed that it was within the 800 years even before the small demon had replied. After all, they could tell from its words that it had occurred after the Journey to the West. However, listening to its actual answer still stirred some doubt within them.

Zhang Yuanshan’s eyebrows were knitted together. He said, “Devil Lord led the evil spirits of Nine Serenities and creatures of the Demonic World in their attack on Celestial Court. They perished from the Heaven Path Seal of the Heaven Sovereign and their maimed bodies were then scattered throughout World of Samsara. The Demonic World was obliterated and the Nine Serenities vanished. The legends from both worlds are surprisingly the same.”

Owing to the issue concerning the Devil Tomb, he had changed the records in the main world to reflect their maimed bodies being scattered in the World of Samsara.

Meng Qi also thought of the residual shadow covered with the dust of time. It had crossed such long ages only to say “You’re late”…

To think Journey to the West had a Devil Lord too! There was also such a legend!

On top of that, the Saint of Nine Spirits had gone to guard the exit of Nine Serenities. There was no such record in the main world. There was only mention of Lord Taiyi, even excluding the Saint of Nine Spirits.

“But there’s still a very big difference. The deaths of the Devil Lord and Monster Saints were quite some time apart.” Jiang Zhiwei muttered. “After the Devil Lord attacked the Celestial Court and died, a thousand years passed before the Celestial Court suddenly fell and Ninth Heaven disappeared. After that, because of the Heaven Sovereign’s death, the best of the Immortals vanished along with Ninth Heaven. The remaining Gods and Immortals went their own ways and no longer had the power to repress the demonic cult. Hence the ancient times entered their final age — an age when ‘monsters trampled the earth’.”

“This age continued for tens of thousands of years. Buddhas were wiped out one by one and immortals gradually perished as well. Those remaining were only able to protect the pure land and Grotto. With the evil spirits left in that world after the Nine Serenities closed and the Gods up above, the Human tribe immensely suffered. It was only when the Human Sovereign took to the throne and drew his sword which was used to kill the Gods, evil spirits and monsters, that Human Sovereign could finally lead the Human tribe to struggle to survive.”

“At this time, the Monster Saint suddenly passed away. He turned his ‘precious body’ into a Black-golden Phoenix-feathered Spear. The age of monsters thus ended and the Human tribe was overjoyed. They ruled the world as it progressed into medieval times. Although there wan’t an exact date recorded, the passing of the Monster Saint and the death of the Devil Lord were at least 50,000 years apart.”

She was afraid that Meng Qi would not understand, so she proceeded to explain a bit further.

“Moreover, the world in which Journey to the West takes place is still in the age where monsters trampled the earth… ” Ruan Yushu hit the nail on the head. The Monster Saint had already passed away, but the demonic cult was still ruling the world.

Meng Qi turned to look at the small dog-headed demon once more. He asked in a faint voice, “Have you heard of the Human Sovereign?”

“A human’s sovereign? Which part of a human is that? I don’t think I’ve eaten it before… ” The small demon seemed to be at a loss.

“Have you ever met a powerful human?” Meng Qi pressed.

The small demon was terrified. It answered, “The Great King said there’s a place we must not go. It’s a place where the Taoist Immortals go to cleanse their souls.”

It seemed that everyone was confused. “Is there no Human Sovereign in this world?”

Meng Qi found it even more bizarre. Journey to the West occurred during the Tang Dynasty, when there had already been many emperors. That was clearly conflicting with their main world. It seemed that they would have to look for other leads to figure out why Journey to the West also had the Monster Saint and Devil Lord.

“May I know who your Great Sages are?” Jiang Zhiwei added, having also learned the Transformation Strategy. She was rather curious about the term ‘Great Sage’. Based on current records, the Monster God was a rank above the Monster King, and the one above the Monster God was the very first demon who created heaven and earth — the holy saint of the demonic cult, Heavenly Phoenix Queen. However, the information was from ancient books and records left by the Human tribe, and was thus unreliable.

The small demon replied out of fear and respect, saying, “Grandfather Heaven-pacifying Great Sage, Grandfather Sea-covering Great Sage and Grandfather Chaotic Heaven Great Sage… And Grandfather Great Sage Equal to Heaven who returned to being the demonic cult after becoming a Buddha. There’re also Golden-winged Giant Bird King and Peacock Daming King.”

“I’ve only heard of the last two… ” Jiang Zhiwei exchanged gazes with Zhang Yuanshan and the rest. They shook their heads to signify that they had never heard of the first few Great Sages mentioned, and were only aware of the last two Buddhism saints. If they looked at it based on the main world’s legends of Golden-winged Giant Bird King and Peacock Daming King, the strength of these Great Sages was no trivial matter. They were likely stronger than most Monster Gods, and at least at the level of an ordinary Bodhisattva.

Meng Qi knew of the few Great Sages, but the world of Journey to the West was becoming stranger by the second. He was unable to determine their strength.

They followed up with a few more questions. Apart from news that was widespread in the demonic cult, the small demon did not know much, shaking its head to show its ignorance. It did not even know about what other big monsters and real Monster Kings there were.

Meng Qi recalled that the Lion Spirit had yelled “Third Brother”. Mentally on guard, he changed the topic and asked about the details. “What’s the Tawny Lion Great King’s rank among the Great Kings in your family?”

“The Second Great King,” answered the small demon with not an ounce of hesitation.

“Who is number one then? Where did he come from and what’s his background?” Meng Qi lightly sucked in a breath.

The small demon spoke with much honor, “The Grand Great King of my family is the big monster who lost to Grandfather Great Sage Equal to Heaven only after 800 rounds of battle 800 years ago!”

“What the hell! We met a real Monster King? ”  Meng Qi was shaken up. The group was also utterly stunned. They had just judged the strength of Great Sages to be at least at the level of a Bodhisattva…

“What’s it called?” Meng Qi had to forcibly control the turbulent feelings rampaging within. They had killed two of its younger brothers and a bunch of his lackeys. There was no turning back!

The small demon raised its head. “Our Grand Great King is called the King of Emerald Waves, who used to be known as Murky.”

“Pu… ” Meng Qi spat a faceful of saliva on the small demon. “You scared us to death! So it was actually that guy!”

He should have thought about the consequences of bragging before doing so! That fellow might not even beat an agile mortal, much less manage 800 rounds against a Great Sage!

Of course, that was 800 years ago. After 800 years, Murky should have gained some supernatural powers anyway!

“Liar, how could your family’s Grand Great King possibly live for 800 years?” Seeing Fu Zhenzhen and the others still deep in thought about the description of the 800 rounds of battle between the Monster King and Great Sage, Meng Qi quickly decided to do some nitpicking.

Normally, the demonic cult also had a lifespan. Great Sage Equal to Heaven, upon his return, had also been hooked into the Netherworld and could only live for 300 years. However, he managed to forcibly snatch the Life and Death Book afterward and thus escaped his lifespan. How could a loser like Murky live for 800 years?

“Hmph, back then when the Celestial Court dispersed and the Thirty-third Heaven disappeared, countless miraculous drugs fell from the skies. Our Grand Great King was blessed with amazing luck and managed to secure a pill. It transformed into a big head carp capable of living up to 1,500 years.” Seeing its Grand Great King being questioned, the small demon’s voice grew louder.

“It could even change one’s species… ” Meng Qi could only gasp in amazement at the elixirs the old fellows of the Celestial Court had created. “Among your Grand Great King, Second Great King and Third Great King, who’s the best?”

“Of course it’s our Grand Great King!” The small demon wore an expression of pure admiration. It continued, “Our Second and Third Great King have to team up to be able to draw in a battle against it! As expected of the powerful demon who managed to battle 800 rounds against Grandfather Great Sage Equal to Heaven back then!”

“Our Grand Great King is the strongest in the area!”

Upon hearing the small demon’s description, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Even if the Second Great King had been powerful, it had died from food poisoning and the Demon-revealing Mirror’s restraint before it could reveal its true strength. It was after all at a level of Half-step Exterior Scenery. However, the King of Emerald Waves, Murky could only be on the beginner’s level of the Exterior at most, with the strength to devour the essence of heaven and earth.

However, upon hearing that someone like Murky was at such a level, Meng Qi could only sigh. Time brought great changes to the world. This was nothing like the original Journey to the West he knew.

“How about your Grand Great King?” Meng Qi was very concerned about whether there would be any acts of revenge.

“Our Grand Great King returned to Emerald Waves Lake to visit its relatives and hadn’t come back. But that flash of light just now was very obvious, so it should have seen it.” The small demon truthfully answered.

Meng Qi exhaled. “How do you guys know that the Chance is searching for the temple?”

“According to the Second Great King, a few hundred years ago, a Bald Ass found the Holy Mountain that had disappearedafter experiencing much hardship. After it returned to this world, it vanished. Everyone thought that the Chance should be on him.”

“Could it be the temple that the monk built? Was the horizontal board of Big Leiyin Temple brought out by him?”

“We can’t stay here for long. We can’t bring along the horizontal board of Big Leiyin Temple either, lest we end up attracting the Monster King.” Luo Shengyi warned in a grave tone.

Although the entire place could be said to be dangerous, it did not seem to be as dangerous as the temple and horizontal board that could attract big monsters. Therefore, Meng Qi and the others did not oppose. They thought of leaving the temple to find a place to hide nearby.

“Let’s bring along the blood of the demonic cult to conceal our breath,” warned Jiang Zhiwei.

The rest of them separately interrogated the remaining two small demons, in case they had been deceived. Ge Huai’en threw his copper coins out once more to check which direction they should escape in.

“That way.” He did not augur the fate of the path, and had directly asked for directions.

Meng Qi froze for a moment. Ge Huai’en’s right hand was pointing towards the west.