Simultaneous travel: I am proving the great way in the heavens.

Chapter 578 A feat that alarmed even the Sages! Luofu, embodying all the variables of heaven and earth!

As a stone monkey born and raised in nature.

Sun Wukong was born without parents and mingled with the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain from the very beginning.

Only at this moment, facing this statue, did he feel an unprecedented sense of reverence.

No wonder, at this moment, even the unruly Sun Wukong began to stutter.

Venus smiled and said, "Great Sage, you may enter directly and present a memorial for sacrifice."

Gritting his teeth, Sun Wukong glared at Taibai Jinxing with displeasure and said, "Old man, don't try to fool me this time, or I'll make you pay."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Wukong took a deep breath and respectfully stepped into the palace.

This palace has no plaques hanging on it.

The space that should have been for the plaque was empty.

Even now, within the Heavenly Court, very few people know of the existence of this palace, or even which deity is enshrined within.

However, before the Lich Wars, this place was the Holy Mother Palace, specially built by the Heavenly Court of the Demon Race, and it was dedicated to the Holy Mother Nuwa.

The Holy Mother Palace of the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court is not actually just one. The so-called Holy Mother refers to Nuwa and the original Heavenly Queen Xihe.

At that time, only Nuwa and Xihe could be called the true Holy Mothers of Heaven and Earth. One was a Primordial Great Luo Saint, and the other was the wife of the Demon Emperor Jun, a primordial goddess who gave birth to the Ten Golden Crows.

It's not like after the Lich Wars, the number of Holy Mothers also increased dramatically. There are countless Holy Mothers in the Jie Sect alone.

However, with the fall of the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court and the shattering of the entire Heavenly Realm, Xihe's Holy Mother Palace had long since become ruins. Only Nuwa's Holy Mother Palace remained a place known to very few in the new Heavenly Court.

After entering the palace.

The closer Sun Wukong got to the statue, the more he felt a sense of closeness to his mother.

Arriving in front of the prayer mat, Sun Wukong knelt down with a thud, clasped his hands together, and kowtowed in respect.

Pray and offer sacrifices to this statue to seek help in the face of your current predicament.

The next second, a long, slender feather materialized out of thin air in front of Sun Wukong.

Mysterious light shimmered on the feathers.

The moment Sun Wukong instinctively took the feather, he instantly understood its purpose.

Overjoyed, Sun Wukong kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "This disciple thanks the Holy Mother."

Because he was concerned about Tang Sanzang's safety, and also because of the issue of the time ratio between Heaven and Earth.

After expressing his gratitude, Sun Wukong hurriedly got up and left the Holy Mother Palace.

As soon as he stepped out, he didn't even have time to greet Venus before heading straight for the depths of the Heavenly Court.

With the feather in his hand, Sun Wukong navigated the ruins with ease, as if there were no obstacles at all.

Upon entering the ruins, Sun Wukong raised his feather high from afar and said, "Disciple Sun Wukong requests an audience with the Heavenly Venerable, whose secret name is War Might Five Extremes Soldiers! I hope the Heavenly Venerable will grant me an audience."

As if sensing Chi You's location, the feather trembled instantly in Sun Wukong's hand, then drifted away, flying straight towards Chi You and landing in his hand.

Upon receiving the feather, Chi You frowned slightly, but then his expression instantly relaxed.

"You impudent monkey, even the Holy Mother made an exception for you! Fine!" Chi You said, handing the feather back to Sun Wukong, "Take this to Ruzhen Temple. Buddha Ruzhen will have his say. Go now, and don't disturb my peace again!"

Sun Wukong felt extremely confused.

First, he was inexplicably approached by Venus, and then, under Venus's guidance, he was accepted as a disciple of the secret master Zhanwei Wuji Bingzhu Tianzun.

After going around in circles and making another detour to the Holy Mother Palace, where he obtained this mysterious feather, he then sought out the Heavenly Venerable of the Secret Name War Might Five Extremes Soldier Master again, only to be told to go directly to the True Buddha.

Although he couldn't figure out exactly what was going on, Sun Wukong vaguely understood that he seemed to have been acting as a messenger.

Behind all this, it seems, lies a scheme among truly powerful figures.

If it were more than 500 years ago, when Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he might still be curious.

But after more than five hundred years of imprisonment, he witnessed the terrifying power of those truly great beings in the Three Realms.

Sun Wukong was very clear that there were some things he could be curious about, and others he should pretend he hadn't seen even if he did.

Obediently bowing in the direction of Chi You, Sun Wukong headed straight for the Western Heavenly Gate this time.

After all, it was with Chi You's permission. Chi You, whose secret title was the Five Extremes War God, was in charge of the Western Heavenly Gate. Moreover, the Western Heavenly Gate was the fastest route from the Heavenly Realm to Xiniu Hezhou in the human world.

While Sun Wukong was running around looking for reinforcements.

At Ruzhen Temple, Luofu also welcomed a great master whom he had never met before but had long admired.

The newcomer sailed in a bottomless boat, like an ordinary boatman, traversing the vast sky, all the way from the foot of Mount Ling in the west to Ruzhen Temple, without any intention of passing through the temple's gate.

This is such an uninvited act.

This immediately alerted the entire Ruzhen Temple.

However, after the other party gave their name, the Seven Emotions Bodhisattva did not dare to act on his own and immediately reported the news to Luofu.

Upon learning the name of the visitor, Luo Fu led all the disciples of Ruzhen Temple to respectfully greet him.

Upon seeing the visitors from afar, Luo Fu quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Disciple Ruzhen greets Senior Uncle."

Luo Fu's lineage is theoretically the same as Sun Wukong's, both being disciples of Subhuti, who in turn was an incarnation of Zhunti.

This means that the only person Luofu could address as his senior master was Jieyin Daoren, who was known as one of the two Western Saints alongside Zhunti Daoren.

Of course, the guest in front of Luo Fu at this moment, who is piloting the bottomless boat, is definitely not the real person of the Guide Daoist. With the end of the era of the sages ruling the world, the six sages established their own Daoist temples in the outer chaos, and their real persons do not enter the world.

At most, what appears in the Three Realms will only be an incarnation.

The incarnation before them was none other than the Buddha of Guidance who would ferry and escort the journeying group across the river when Tang Sanzang and his companions traveled to the Western Paradise.

Don't assume that just because the Buddha of Amitabha is merely ferrying the westward-bound group across the river, the other party is an insignificant pawn in the Buddhist community.

On the contrary, the Buddha of Amitabha is the Buddha of Immeasurable Light, the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, and the most famous Amitabha Buddha.

Given such a status, even if Luo Fu were to address him as his senior master, it would be a fitting title.

The Buddha of Guidance nodded slightly and said, "You are now the patriarch of the Middle Vehicle of Buddhism, the ancestor of all Pratyekabuddhas. You have opened a new lineage in my Buddhist school. You may call me your fellow practitioner."

"This disciple dares not." Luo Fu dared not be the slightest bit negligent in dealing with the Buddha of Guidance.

The so-called fellow practitioners of the Buddha of Amitabha are his incarnations within the Buddhist community.

Although Amitabha Buddha is the origin of all Buddhas, the current leader of Buddhism is the World Honored One, Tathagata.

The reason he relinquished his position as the leader of Buddhism was entirely due to the two Western saints, for which he had no choice.

Who allowed the Sage Taiqing, along with the Daoist Duobao, to convert barbarians to Buddhism and create Theravada Buddhism?

In Buddhism, the identity of an incarnation has no real power. No matter how great the influence, in theory, Amitabha Buddha, the World Honored One Tathagata Buddha, the Middle Vehicle True Buddha, the Buddha of the East, and so on are all equal.

This is also the reason for the title "fellow Daoist".

Luo Fu addressed him as "Master Uncle," seemingly referring to the Buddha of Guidance, but in reality, he was referring to the true form of the Buddha of Guidance, the Sage of Guidance, one of the two Western Saints who was not within the Three Realms.

The Buddha who guides us is also aware of the reason.

Upon hearing this, he smiled and simply skipped over the distinction in address.

"This humble monk has come today for Xuanzang."

Raising an eyebrow, Luo Fu said, "I already know the purpose of your visit, Venerable Monk. However, I never intended to make things difficult for the journey to the West. It was that Xuanzang's disciple, Sun Wukong, who damaged my magic weapon. You must give me an explanation for this matter."

Even if the Buddha of Guidance intervenes, Luofu will not easily let go of the fact that Yuncheng's wings and Qinna's claws were destroyed.

The Buddha of Guidance nodded and said, "That is how it should be; that is why I have come."

Just when Luo Fu thought that the Buddha of Guidance was going to personally help him restore his Cloud-Soaring Wings and Grabbing Claws, the Buddha of Guidance said, "The karmic connection between this humble monk and Xuanzang and his disciple has not yet come. I trouble the Buddha Ruzhen to arrange a meditation room for this humble monk to wait for that monkey to come. At that time, this humble monk will give the Buddha Ruzhen an explanation."

Luo Fu was unaware that the tribulation he had given him on this journey to the West was the only truly earth-shattering event since the Investiture of the Gods.

After the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, sages no longer set foot in the primord

But this time, Luofu has even alarmed the sage Nuwa.

Even the most enlightened sages would send incarnations to Ruzhen Temple to resolve the issue.

This shows that the difficulties this time are far more serious than the minor setbacks of the past.

Even the previous disaster at Jindu Cave couldn't compare to the severe impact of Luofu.

Of course, this is also closely related to the unique nature of Luofu.

It should be understood that since the beginning of time, there has never been a being like Luofu, who is almost the embodiment of all the variables of heaven and earth, and can even adjust the general trend of the heavenly way.

The general trend of Heaven is irreversible, while minor trends can be altered. However, after the appearance of Luofu, although the general trend of Heaven is still irreversible, it is destined to follow the cycle of formation, existence, decay, and emptiness, eventually leading to the end of the Dharma era and the reopening of Heaven and Earth.

However, in this process, the general trend of Heaven was greatly changed due to the appearance of Luofu.

Luofu was like a powerful stimulant to the Heavenly Dao, artificially prolonging the duration of this immeasurable eon.

The mysteries of this are not worth discussing for ordinary cultivators, but for sages, it holds an indescribable attraction. The benefits are so great that they could even trigger a direct confrontation between sages, with consequences no less severe than the final battle of the Investiture of the Gods.

In this situation, the guide cannot afford to be careless.

In other words, Luo Fu, the person involved, is still unaware of the true significance of his existence to the world today.

After arranging a meditation room for the Amitabha Buddha, only a few hours had passed.

Just outside the gate of Ruzhen Temple, the voice of Sun Wukong requesting an audience could be heard.

"Brother Monkey, Brother Monkey, please put me, Old Pig, down quickly!"

As Sun Wukong returned, he respectfully sought an audience with the abbot of Ruzhen Temple, the Buddha of the Pratyekabuddha lineage.

Pigsy, who was tethered outside the mountain gate by the emotional threads of the Seven Emotions Bodhisattva, could no longer resist.

Even Sha Wujing couldn't help but ask Sun Wukong for help at this moment: "Eldest brother, why don't you put down your second brother and junior brother first?"

Sun Wukong bared his teeth and said to Zhu Bajie, "Shut up."

Turning to look at Sha Wujing, Sun Wukong's expression softened a bit, and he explained, "That fool Bajie doesn't know that we've caused such a disaster. Please, Brother Sha, don't be anxious. Let me, your old grandson, go see the true Buddha and beg for his forgiveness."

"You wretched monkey, what nonsense are you spouting? Back when you wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, you weren't like this. You... you'd better put Old Pig and Brother Sha down right now. If you have anything to say, we can face the true Buddha together." Pigsy twisted his body.

Sun Wukong, however, was too lazy to pay any more attention to Zhu Bajie.

On the other hand, Sha Wujing seemed to have vaguely understood something.

Unlike Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing truly had no powerful backer.

Before being banished to the mortal realm, Sha Wujing was merely a Curtain-Raising General in Heaven. While the name sounded prestigious, he was essentially just a burly general serving an emperor in the mortal world.

The Han generals standing beside the emperor also had a certain degree of responsibility to protect him.

Even Sha Wujing's position as the Curtain-Lifting General in Heaven was no match for the ceremonial guard.

This can actually be seen from the weapons used.

The weapons of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie are quite different. Sun Wukong's weapon was made by Laozi and used by Yu the Great to measure water levels during his flood control efforts. Zhu Bajie's weapon, the Nine-Toothed Rake, was a ceremonial item, but its power was not to be underestimated.

The only exception was Sha Wujing, whose weapon was crafted by Lu Ban from a branch of the laurel tree that Wu Gang had cut down.

Its origin is indeed remarkable, being a laurel with an innate spiritual root, but how can this thing compare to something produced by Laozi?
Even though this so-called demon-subduing staff was bestowed by the Jade Emperor, its concept is roughly equivalent to the standard weapon of the Jade Emperor's personal bodyguards.

Without any background, connections, or abilities, Sha Wujing's current success is due to his own cunning and resourcefulness.

Indeed, among the pilgrims on the journey to the West, Sha Wujing was the most adept at cultivating relationships and manipulating people. Otherwise, he would have left an impression of being honest and reliable, even though he had devoured countless monsters among the pilgrims in the Flowing Sand River.
Although Pigsy wasn't stupid, he still harbored resentment. Sun Wukong had angered the Buddha, so he couldn't ignore Sun Wukong's reminder at this moment.

Sha Wujing understood from Sun Wukong's words that this tribulation was different from the ones before.

"Second Brother, let's calm down. Eldest Brother has worked hard to find a way to save us. We shouldn't cause him any trouble at this time."

"What do you mean by 'causing trouble'?" Pigsy grumbled. "We brothers have been hanging here for so long because of this damned monkey. Can't I...can't I even complain a little?"

Ignoring his two junior brothers' words, Sun Wukong noticed that the gate of Ruzhen Temple remained closed for a long time.

After hesitating for a moment, he still took out the mysterious feather.

Holding a feather, Sun Wukong bowed towards the gate of Ruzhen Temple and said, "Disciple Sun Wukong requests an audience with Buddha Ruzhen. I hope Buddha will grant me an audience."

(End of this chapter)