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

Chapter 587 The End of Journey to the West? The Beginning Comparable to an Immeasurable Calamity!
To any normal human being, the Lion Camel Ridge's practice of turning a great human nation into a living hell is utterly heinous and extremely wicked.

However, this is not the case for Buddhism.

Leaving aside Buddhism, which inherently advocates equality for all beings, the vast majority of Buddhist practitioners, except for a very small number, are not of human origin.

Even someone like Tang Sanzang deeply understood the meaning of equality for all beings.

Perhaps the monsters of Lion Camel Ridge are indeed guilty, but in the Buddhist concept, those humans who are eaten are not necessarily entirely innocent. Humans can eat animal flesh, so under the principle of equality for all beings, monsters that have become spirits can naturally also eat human flesh.

This concept, which at first glance seems to be a naked jungle law, is actually regarded as a guiding principle by both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.

Even the very concept of Buddhism aims to break down this kind of hatred between food chains.

When he heard that he could continue his journey westward, Tang Sanzang hesitated for only a moment before saying, "Then I would like to trouble you to ask the three kings to release the sixth prince and his party from the Lion Camel Kingdom so that we may also continue our journey westward."

Although Tang Sanzang was not angry because the monsters of Lion Camel Ridge were eating people so horribly.

However, he didn't completely forget about the Sixth Prince of Lion Camel Kingdom and others who had traveled with him for some time and were also captured.

Upon hearing this, the Arhat with the bushy head said, "Elder Tang, there is no need to worry. We have our own reasons and will certainly not harm the lives of the Lion Camel Kingdom's prince and others."

Tang Sanzang readily believed the words of the Arhat with the bushy head, and nodded upon hearing them, saying, "In that case, this humble monk can rest assured."

They were worried that Lion Camel Ridge would become the core of power struggles within the Buddhist community, and they couldn't wait to get as far away from Lion Camel Ridge as possible.

Urged on by Sun Wukong, the westward journey team quickly bid farewell to the Arhat with the bushy head and others, and hurriedly embarked on their westward journey once again.

After seeing off Tang Sanzang and his disciples...

The yellow-tusked white elephant and the golden-haired roar looked eagerly at the Arhat with the bushy head, and exclaimed excitedly, "Fellow Daoist, you have actually broken free from the barriers and achieved enlightenment?"

The Arhat with the bushy head laughed and nodded, saying, "Indeed, I am no longer subject to others, I have been freed from toil, and I have attained the Middle Vehicle Dharma lineage and the Arhat fruit."

"Hahaha..." The yellow-toothed white elephant and the golden-haired roar burst into laughter.

Since the Arhat with the curled head has such an opportunity, it also means that the two of them no longer need to be driven by the Bodhisattva.

In fact, in the eyes of the Golden Roar and the Yellow-Toothed White Elephant, being a mount for those truly powerful beings might not be a bad thing.

Just like the Green Ox, the mount of the Sage of Taiqing, and the Kui Ox, the mount of the Master of Tongtian.

Even back in the Jie Sect, when they were serving the Seven Immortals, they still had to address the Tongtian Sect Leader's mount, Kui Niu, as "Senior Brother" or "Fellow Daoist."

However, in the eyes of the Yellow-Toothed White Elephant, the Green-Haired Lion Spirit, and the Golden-Haired Roar, being a mount for Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva, and Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was pure torture and toil.

It's even pure suffering, without any benefit whatsoever.

Now that there's finally a chance to break free from being controlled by others, how could anyone not be happy?

After a hearty laugh, the Yellow-Toothed White Elephant said, "The Lion Camel Kingdom's prince and his party hate us to the bone, but this Lion Camel Kingdom prince is also of the true lineage. We don't know what to do with him."

A brilliant idea flashed through Golden Roar's mind, and he said, "That's simple. We just need to deliberately let that Lion Camel Kingdom prince go, and ignore everything else. With this prince's cultivation and magical treasures, he can definitely drive away the monsters of Lion Camel Kingdom again. As for you and me..."

After a slight pause, the golden-haired man roared, "We have entered the lineage of the True Dharma and have attained enlightenment. Even if we were to face the prince of the Lion Camel Kingdom, he might not recognize us. Moreover, the prince of the Lion Camel Kingdom has a limited lifespan. When he dies peacefully, he will go through the cycle of reincarnation in the Yellow Springs, and his karma will be wiped away."

Both the Arhat with the bushy head and the white elephant with yellow tusks nodded in agreement with the Golden Roar's blatant attempt to shirk responsibility.

In their view, the mere Xiniu Hezhou was nothing more than a small kingdom, and they could simply eat it without consequence.

During the Lich Wars, the human race was almost wiped out by the Lich and Demon races.

Unless they are extremely special beings among the human race, the number of deaths is just a number.

Even now, in the four continents, there are no monsters that have captured mortals for food.

Unfortunately, the three demon kings of Lion Camel Ridge were unaware that their decision to leave all the demons of Lion Camel Ridge to the Lion Camel Kingdom prince and others to deal with in order to break free from their constraints would soon become the beginning of Luofu becoming the protagonist of a calamity.

Lion Camel Ridge is undoubtedly the most prosperous place for the demon race at present.

Since the fall of the Heavenly Court of the Demon Race, no other demon force in the Four Continents has ever been so lawless. Even those like the Bull Demon King, who called themselves the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, never treated humans as mere prey like the Lion Camel Ridge.

Without Luofu's appearance, the terrifying monster kingdom of Lion Camel Ridge would have been completely wiped out by the westward-bound caravan.

However, the green-haired lion spirit became a serpent-headed Arhat of the Middle Vehicle lineage.

This led to a misunderstanding by Sun Wukong.

Even if Sun Wukong is at his worst, he is still a Taiyi Golden Immortal with an indestructible body. He has also consumed countless golden pills from Laozi, making him practically a being without mana or stamina limits.

No matter how many monsters there are in Lion Camel Ridge, unless they are beings that Sun Wukong cannot defeat, their sheer number will only cause him to spend a little more time.

But for the prince of Lion Camel Kingdom, it was a different story. Even though he received the Eagle Claw Hammer, a treasure that was somewhere between a magic weapon and a weapon, from Luofu, he still couldn't kill all 48,000 lesser demons in Lion Camel Ridge like Sun Wukong.

The monsters of Lion Camel Ridge, though called "minor demons," depend on who they are.

Sun Wukong, along with the Green-haired Lion Demon, the Yellow-toothed White Elephant, the Golden-haired Roar, and others, could indeed treat these monsters as minor demons, easily killing them with a flick of their wrists.

But ordinary cultivators don't have that kind of strength.

Forty-eight thousand lesser demons, especially since they were organized into groups, and some of their leaders were in no way inferior to the demons the westward journey group had encountered before.

Many of the leaders were even more terrifying than the White Bone Demon and the Red Phosphorus Python that Sun Wukong had encountered before.

How could the prince of Lion Camel Kingdom possibly deal with such a monster?
At this moment, I am single-mindedly trying to break free from the Bodhisattva's constraints, to escape the long years of being a mount, and to seek enlightenment in Buddhism.

Yellow-tusked White Elephant quietly returned the Eagle Claw Hammer to the Lion Camel Kingdom's prince, while he himself, along with Golden-haired Roar and the Arhat with the Curly Head, headed straight for Ruzhen Temple.

Inside Lion Camel Ridge.

The sixth prince of Lion Camel Kingdom, who was trapped in the underground prison, originally thought that he was doomed this time.

After all, the Lion Camel Kingdom was completely devoured by these mountain-dwelling monsters.

Not to mention him, the sixth prince.

Even though he learned a lot at Ruzhen Temple, and even received the Eagle Claw Hammer from Luofu, he was still learning a great deal.

However, the sixth prince was still a mortal, at best a cultivator who had mastered some supernatural arts. He was stronger than ordinary people, but he was definitely not at the level of an immortal. He could deal with ordinary little monsters without any problem.

But when it comes to dealing with truly powerful beings, he is outmatched. Now that he has been captured by these monsters, he believes he is doomed.

The only one that the sixth prince had some reservations about.

They were nothing more than Tang Sanzang and his disciples. Who would have thought that they would all fall into the hands of the Lion Camel Ridge Demon King when they had traveled together before?

Just as the sixth prince was reminiscing about the past, feeling resentful and unwilling,

He suddenly felt that the magical power that had been suppressed within him had been restored.

Not only that, he even sensed that the Eagle Claw Hammer bestowed upon him by Luofu could be summoned into his hand from a distance.

There was no time to think about what unexpected event had occurred.

The moment he felt his magic power return, the Sixth Prince couldn't wait to summon the Eagle Claw Hammer and immediately released his loyal guards from their restraints.

The master and his servants, having suffered such a great loss in silence, never thought of directly retaliating, because the monsters of Lion Camel Ridge had left them with too deep a psychological shadow.

Just as the master and his servants were about to rush out of the cell, a deep, muffled voice came from behind them.

"Gentlemen, please let me go too."

The sixth prince and his companions were startled by the sudden sound.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a dark figure with an exceptionally imposing silhouette standing next to them.

The group exchanged bewildered glances.

“Your Highness.” A guard who had become a disciple of Ruzhen Temple along with the others whispered in the Sixth Prince’s ear, “This fellow is not of our kind; he is also a demon. Although we do not know why he is imprisoned here, Your Highness must be careful. This demon is ungrateful.”

"Who is the monster? I am Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South Sea, the guardian deity of the Purple Bamboo Forest." The dark, imposing figure struggled to say to the Sixth Prince and the others, "I was trying to capture the Bodhisattva's mount when I was captured by this monster. You must help me escape quickly, and I will repay you."

The one imprisoned in the same cell as the Sixth Prince and the others was none other than the Black Bear Spirit.

The Black Bear Spirit originally came to Lion Camel Ridge with Sun Wukong to capture the Golden-haired Lion and bring it back, so as not to leave a bad impression of being incompetent in front of the Bodhisattva.

But unexpectedly, the demon king of Lion Camel Ridge was so powerful.

In just a few rounds, Sun Wukong made a quick escape, and the Black Bear Spirit, caught off guard, became a prisoner of the Lion Camel Ridge demons.

Previously, after seeing off the westward-bound group, Huangya Baixiang and the others were only concerned about the group of the sixth prince of the Lion Camel Kingdom under Luofu Sect, completely ignoring the Black Bear Spirit.

Of course, this is not necessarily an oversight. To be more precise, for people like the Yellow-Toothed White Elephant and the Golden-Haired Roar, the Black Bear Spirit was simply a lackey of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Not killing him outright is already considered an act of leniency.

What's even more tragic for the Black Bear Spirit is that even Sun Wukong has forgotten about him.

How could the people of Lion Camel Kingdom not know Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South Sea?

After all, the Guanyin riding a dragon had made quite a bit of a splash at Ruzhen Temple before.

Even the prince of Lion Camel Kingdom and others had heard Guanyin riding a dragon preach.

After the Black Bear Spirit introduced himself, the Sixth Prince and his entourage exchanged glances. The Sixth Prince asked, "You claim to be the guardian deity of the Purple Bamboo Grove under the guidance of Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South Sea. Do you have any proof?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The black bear spirit nodded repeatedly, then brought his big, dark head to the bars of the cell and said, "Look, I still have the headband that Guanyin Bodhisattva personally bestowed upon me."

The golden headband was originally bestowed upon Guanyin Bodhisattva by the Buddha when she went to the Tang Dynasty in the Southern Continent of Jambudvipa to enlighten the pilgrims on their journey to the West. There were three such headbands.

Of these three golden hoops, only the one on Sun Wukong's head was actually used on the pilgrimage team.

The remaining two were given to the Black Bear Spirit and Red Boy, respectively.

It was originally meant to be a tool for manipulation and control, but now, in the Black Bear Spirit's mouth, this headband that once caused him unbearable pain has become the best prop to prove his identity.

However, it is quite clear that the sixth prince of Lion Camel Kingdom was not entirely ignorant about the golden headband.

Don't forget that after leaving Ruzhen Temple, the Sixth Prince and his party traveled with the westward-bound group, and were even captured together at Lion Camel Ridge.

The Sixth Prince and the others could still recognize the golden headband, since Sun Wukong also had one on his head.

Relieved, the sixth prince nodded to the attendant beside him.

The servant then arrived at the cell and broke down the cell door.

After the chains binding the Black Bear Spirit's magic were removed.

Having finally regained his magical power, the black bear spirit trembled and said, "Thank you all. However, we'll talk about revenge later."

As soon as he finished speaking, the black bear demon charged ahead towards the prison gate without turning his head, saying, "You all follow behind me. These monsters are quite powerful. Let's leave here first and discuss this further!"

The Sixth Prince and the others nodded quickly and followed the Black Bear Spirit.

But after they rushed out of the prison, they were surprised to find that there were hardly any monsters blocking their way.

You should know that a prison should be a heavily guarded place.

But strangely enough, when they left, the area around the cell was completely deserted.

This was naturally because, after releasing the westward-bound group, the three Arhats with the bushy heads simply removed the guards from the prison as well.

For the likes of Qiu Shou Luohan, Lion Camel Ridge was nothing more than a trifle.

Forty-eight thousand monsters might indeed be an astonishing number of forces.

But the Arhat with the curled head and others were disciples of the Jie Sect back then.

Putting everything else aside, before the Investiture of the Gods, the Jie Sect was undoubtedly the strongest in the Three Realms.

The phrase "ten thousand immortals come to pay homage" is not just an empty adjective, but a true description of the Jie Sect.

Before the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, none of the six saints, including Nuwa, had established a religion.

The combined teachings of the Supreme Sage, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, and the Western Sages of the West are no match for the Intercepting Sect.

(End of this chapter)