I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Chapter 262: Cloud Realm Lures the Snake Out of Its Hole

However, it is said that Erlang Shen had petitioned the Jade Emperor to grant the Nine-Sky Golden Dragon Yuanao to Roaring Sky Dog. Not only did the Jade Emperor not grant his request, he also ordered the Four Heavenly Masters to come down to the mortal world and reprimand Erlang Shen to his face.

However, Erlang Shen also had a very bad temper. After being reprimanded in person by the Four Heavenly Masters, he actually ordered his subordinates, the six brothers of Meishan, to drive the Four Heavenly Masters out of Erlang Zhenjun's mansion in Guanjiangkou.

The Four Heavenly Masters returned to Heaven and reported to the Jade Emperor that Erlang Shen was arrogant and rude, and refused to obey the imperial edict. He even drove out the messengers who went to convey the imperial edict.

This move was undoubtedly a provocation to the Jade Emperor's majesty. The Jade Emperor was furious and slammed the table in front of all the gods in the Tongming Palace and scolded: "How dare Erlang Shen neglect the Heavenly Edict and offend the superiors? It seems that I was too lenient with him in the past."

After that, the Jade Emperor issued an edict, calling out, "Where is the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?"

The Heavenly King with the Pagoda-Bearing Eyebrows twitched, his heart trembled, and he quickly walked out of the immortal group holding the jade scepter and bowed, "I am here."

The Jade Emperor said, "Tower Heavenly King, I order you to lead the four marshals Ma, Zhao, Wen, and Guan, as well as the three great gods of the sea, the five great marshals, the four heavenly kings, and 30,000 heavenly soldiers and generals of the Thunder Department to the lower world to go to Guanjiangkou to capture Erlang Shen and bring him to heaven to be punished."

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King suddenly swayed and fell backwards. Nezha hurried forward to support him, "Father."

The Tower-Bearing Heavenly King nodded to Nezha, then turned to the Jade Emperor and bowed, "Your Majesty, I am not feeling well recently and cannot lead the army to war."

"Oh?" The Jade Emperor twitched his brows and asked, "What's wrong?"

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King said with a blushing face: "I dare not deceive your majesty. A few days ago, I had an argument with my wife, and then we got physical. Uh... my waist was injured."

Tianyou Zhenjun asked with a smile: "Heavenly King, was your waist really injured by your wife?"

"It's true." Nezha said confidently, "I can testify to this."

Seeing Nezha testify so seriously, the gods present no longer had any doubts, but they were puzzled about the fact that the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King could not beat his wife.

Facing the teasing looks from his fellow immortals, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King was not embarrassed at all, but continued to speak to the Jade Emperor: "Your Majesty, please choose another wise man to lead the heavenly army. I am really not qualified for the job and have failed your Majesty's high expectations."

The Jade Emperor smiled and said, "Since the Heavenly King has family matters to deal with, he should first deal with them. As the saying goes, 'cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern the country and bring peace to the world.' If you can't manage your family, then naturally you can't even talk about governing the country and bringing peace to the world."

Upon hearing this, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King immediately bowed and expressed his gratitude.

The Jade Emperor granted him a life of rest and three days' leave, allowing him to go back to recuperate and take care of family affairs.

After the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King thanked him and left, the Jade Emperor asked Nezha again, "Great God of the Three Altars and Sea Assembly, you can always lead the troops, right?"

Nezha's face changed when he heard this, and he bowed quickly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I cannot lead the army."

"Are you injured too?" The Jade Emperor asked Nezha.

Nezha answered truthfully: "Your Majesty, I am not injured, but I am no match for Erlang Zhenjun. If I lead the heavenly soldiers and generals to the lower world and return in defeat, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the heavenly court?"

The Jade Emperor said, "I heard that after you were refined in the furnace of Taishang Laojun, your Taoism has greatly improved. Why? Are you still not a match for Erlang Zhenjun?"

Nezha bowed and said, "Your Majesty, although my Taoism has improved greatly, Erlang Zhenjun will not stand still. I am indeed no match for him. This is not my intention. If Your Majesty is determined to order me to fight, I will obey your order and go."

Seeing Nezha's sincerity, the Jade Emperor smiled and said, "Well, I won't make it difficult for you, but you can recommend someone to me."

When Nezha heard this, he looked around immediately.

All the gods that were seen by his eyes retreated without exception and shook their heads frantically to Nezha.

Nezha remained calm, and after scanning the hall, he said, "Your Majesty, this man is none other than Lingtai Zhenjun."

Nezha continued, "Lingtai Zhenjun is well versed in Taoism and has great magical powers. Even the Bodhisattvas of Buddhism are no match for him. He is more than capable of bringing Erlang Shen to heaven to face his crimes. That is why I recommend Lingtai Zhenjun to lead the troops to fight."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor nodded slightly and his gaze immediately fell on Zhuang Yan who was among the immortals.

The Jade Emperor immediately called out, "Lord of the Spiritual Platform."

Zhuang Yan hurriedly walked out of the immortal group, holding the jade scepter in his hand and bowed, saying, "I am here."

The Jade Emperor said, "I hereby order you to lead 30,000 heavenly soldiers and generals from the Thunder Department to the lower world to the Guanjiangkou to capture Erlang Shen and bring him back to heaven to be punished."

Zhuang Yan did not say much, and immediately bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Zhuang Yan accepted the imperial edict, then bowed to the Jade Emperor and turned around, leaving the Tongming Palace and heading straight for the Ministry of Thunder.

The Marshal of the Thunder Department is only required to attend the grand court assembly in the Lingxiao Palace. He does not need to participate in the meetings in the Tongming Palace at other times.

The gods and generals of the Thunder Department are mostly on duty at their headquarters, monitoring the three realms, and ready to go into battle at any time.

So after receiving the imperial edict, Zhuang Yan went straight to the Thunder Department to select his generals. Soon he led the five marshals Deng, Xin, Liu, Bi, and Pang and generals Lei Wei, Fenglei, and Yunlei of eight directions, as well as 30,000 heavenly soldiers and generals to the mortal world. They drove thunder and clouds, covering the sky and the earth, and went straight down to the thirty-six heavens towards Guanjiangkou.

At the same time, Guanjiangkou also received the news and reported it urgently to Erlang Shen.

Erlang Shen was shocked when he heard the news, and immediately ordered the six brothers of Meishan to mobilize troops and lead 1,200 grass-headed gods to set up a battle array outside the Taoist temple in Guanjiangkou, waiting for the 30,000 heavenly soldiers and generals led by Zhuang Yan to arrive.

Erlang Shen was sitting under the temple corridor, looking at the vast thunderclouds that appeared on the horizon. They were so dark and huge that they covered the sky and pressed down on him.

The sky suddenly became dark, Roaring Sky Dog bared its teeth and barked wildly towards the sky, the six Meishan brothers and the 1,200 grass-headed gods were on full alert with solemn expressions.

Erlang Shen, on the other hand, had a calm expression on his face, and stared quietly at the thunderclouds that were getting closer and closer.

Soon the thunderclouds flew over Guanjiangkou. After a moment, the thunderclouds in the front dispersed to both sides, revealing the figures of Zhuang Yan and the heavenly soldiers and generals.

Thunderclouds rolled, winds swept across the sky, a divine flag flew, and General Lei Wei, wearing a golden armor and thunder robe, stepped forward and shouted to the people below, "Please meet the Holy Lord Erlang."

Erlang Shen stood up and walked out of the temple corridor, and said to General Lei Wei: "General Lei Wei, why do you want to see me?"

When General Lei Wei saw Erlang Shen, he immediately bowed and said, "This humble god greets the True Lord Erlang Xiansheng. It is not that this humble god wants to see the True Lord, but that the True Lord Lingtai is leading the heavenly soldiers and generals to see the True Lord Erlang."

After saying that, General Lei Wei stepped aside, revealing Zhuang Yan's figure.

When Erlang Shen saw Zhuang Yan, he immediately bowed and asked, "Where does Lingtai Zhenjun come from?"

Zhuang Yan returned the greeting with a bow and said with a smile, "I am here on the orders of the Jade Emperor to invite Master Erlang to heaven to see you."

Erlang Shen smiled calmly and said, "This god 'obeys orders but not proclamations'. This is what the Jade Emperor promised in person. Even if there is an imperial decree from the Jade Emperor today, this god can disobey it." Zhuang Yan said, "Erlang Zhenjun can disobey the imperial decree, but since this god has obeyed the Jade Emperor's imperial decree, how can I report it if I don't take Erlang Zhenjun back today? So please forgive me if I have offended you."

Erlang Shen said with a smile, "I know that Master Lingtai has great magical powers, but I have also practiced Taoism for many years. How about this? Your heavenly soldiers and generals should not fight against my divine soldiers and generals. Let's decide the winner first. How about that?"

"Okay, that's exactly what I want." Zhuang Yan nodded.

Afterwards, Zhuang Yan ordered all the heavenly soldiers and generals not to move without his orders.

Erlang Shen also ordered the six brothers of Meishan and the twelve hundred grass-headed gods not to act without his orders.

Afterwards, Erlang Shen and Zhuang Yan stepped on the clouds and flew up to the sky at the same time. Erlang Shen held a three-pointed, double-edged spear and slashed in the air. In an instant, a white Xuanguan fairy gate appeared in the sky.

Erlang Shen pointed at the Xuanguang Immortal Gate and said to Zhuang Yan, "Master Lingtai, do you dare to go in and fight?"

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "Why not?"

Erlang Shen nodded and said with a smile: "Lord Lingtai is indeed straightforward. Let's go!" After that, he jumped and flew into the Xuanguan Immortal Gate.

As soon as Zhuang Yan came in, he found that this was a world in the clouds, vast and boundless.

The mysterious fairy light behind them suddenly turned off, and Zhuang Yan and Erlang Shen were immediately in the vast world of white clouds.

Zhuang Yan glanced at the empty space around him, then smiled and asked Erlang Shen, "Where is this place?"

Erlang Shen said, "That's right, it's the 'Cloud Realm', it's a small world, three thousand years ago I refined it into the 'Cloud Realm', except for me, no one can enter but cannot leave."

"I see." Zhuang Yan said with a smile, "But I don't believe that you can only go in but not out."

Erlang Shen held his three-pointed, two-edged spear horizontally and said with a smile: "If Master Lingtai doesn't believe it, you can try it now."

Seeing this, Zhuang Yan immediately put his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "Okay, then I will come and experience the magical powers of Master Erlang."

As soon as he finished speaking, divine light shone all over Erlang Shen's body. Then he rose into the air, and his three-pointed, double-edged spear shone brightly with golden light. It split the air and cut through the clouds, and slashed straight towards Zhuang Yan's head.

This slash was so powerful that it mobilized the clouds in all directions. The slash came down, leaving Zhuang Yan with no way to avoid or dodge.

At the same time, a crack suddenly appeared in the sky of the Yunjian Realm, and then a beam of magic light fell straight in.

As this demonic light appeared, a sword energy with the power to cut off everything fell vertically towards Zhuang Yan's crown.

Zhuang Yan and Erlang Shen sensed the sword energy at the same time. The three-pointed, double-edged spear that was originally slashing down towards Zhuang Yan suddenly changed direction very smoothly and chopped back upwards.

Suddenly, the clouds split and the sky shook. After a loud bang, the "cutting sword energy" was directly shattered by the three-pointed, two-edged spear.

When Zhuang Yan saw this scene, a smile immediately appeared on his face. After Erlang Shen shattered the sword energy, he stood in the air holding a three-pointed, two-edged spear, and turned around and nodded to Zhuang Yan.

In a moment, a divine light fell in front of Erlang Shen, and then a Taoist with a fairy-like appearance, long beard hanging down to his chest, a whisk holding his finger, and wide robes with big sleeves appeared in front of Erlang Shen.

"I'm Qingxiao, nice to meet you, Master Erlang." The Taoist bowed to Master Erlang.

Erlang Shen's expression changed, and he asked in surprise, "Nine Heavens Blue Sky Demon King?"

Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun has many disciples, among which the 'Five Great Heavenly Demon Kings' are one of his disciples.

The five great demon kings are: the Nine-Sky Divine Demon King, the Nine-Sky Jade Demon King, the Nine-Sky Mysterious Demon King, the Nine-Sky True Demon King and the Nine-Sky Blue Demon King.

At the same time, they are also junior brothers of 'Jade Pure True King, the Great Emperor of Longevity in the South Pole', and the position of the Heavenly Demon King was conferred by the Great Emperor of Longevity in the South Pole.

Demon: means tempering. If the cultivators in the Three Realms want to become immortals, they must endure the test and tempering of the demons, and the five great demon kings are responsible for this.

Not only Erlang Shen was surprised, even Zhuang Yan was very stunned. It was obvious that the Nine-Sky Blue Demon King was the mastermind behind Yuan Ao, Hunhuang Jun and others.

The Demon King Qing Xiao smiled slightly and said, "Master Erlang, I am here to help you."

"Help me?" Erlang Shen's eyes fixed, and he asked, "What can the Demon King help me with?"

Demon King Qing Xiao pointed at Zhuang Yan and said, "I will help you kill Master Lingtai."

After saying that, I saw Qingxiao Demon King waved his whisk, and in an instant, countless bird calls were heard from all directions, and then a large number of "Jie Ying" appeared in this cloud world.

Zhuang Yan glanced at the robbers, then smiled at the Demon King Qing Xiao and said, "So you are the 'Demon Lord' that Yuan Ao, Hun Huang Jun and the others mentioned."

Demon King Qing Xiao looked at Zhuang Yan and smiled, "That's right, but it's too late for Master Lingtai to know about this now. With Master Erlang and I joining forces, you can never leave this world of clouds."

"Wait." Erlang Shen said.

The Demon King Qing Xiao turned his head to look at Erlang Shen, only to see Erlang Shen leaping and landing beside Zhuang Yan, and then said with a smile: "Let me correct you first, Lingtai Zhenjun and I are in the same group."

The Demon King Qing Xiao frowned, and then said in surprise: "Master Erlang, the Jade Emperor treated you so harshly, and you still wanted to be loyal to him? I thought you were not a foolish and cowardly person, but I didn't expect..."

“Hahaha.” Zhuang Yan laughed loudly and said, “Qingxiao Demon King, do you really think that Master Erlang sent the six brothers from Meishan to capture Yuan Ao just to make an elixir for Xiaotian Dog?”

"Isn't it?" Qingxiao Demon King asked doubtfully.

Erlang Shen smiled and said, "Of course not. With Taishang Laojun here, why would we need to go through so much trouble to make an elixir? This is just a plan between Lingtai Zhenjun and me. It's just a backup plan. If Yuan Ao, Hunhuang Jun and others can't find the person behind the scenes in the Thunder Department, we will use this backup plan to lure you out of the cave."

Zhuang Yan asked, "Do you think that the Jade Emperor's rebuke of Erlang Shen and his sending me down to earth to capture Erlang Shen and bring him to heaven to face the wrath is really a new or old grudge between uncle and nephew?"

"You're wrong. All of this is just to lure the snake out of its hole. I thought we would have to have a serious fight before we could lure you out, but I didn't expect that you couldn't hold back right at the beginning." Erlang Shen said with a smile.

After listening to Zhuang Yan and Erlang Shen revealing the secrets one by one, the smile on Qingxiao Demon King's face disappeared visibly, and was replaced by silence.

After an unknown amount of time, the Demon King Qing Xiao suddenly laughed loudly, clapping his hands as he laughed, saying, "Well, well, Master Lingtai is indeed a newcomer in the Heavenly Court who is valued by the Jade Emperor. He is indeed very capable and has planned a back-up plan long ago. I am convinced by this trap, but..."

When Demon King Qing Xiao said this, a blue-red divine light suddenly shone from his body, instantly covering the entire Cloud Realm, and in a flash, he refined the "Realm in the Clouds" of the Cloud Realm.

Erlang Shen's expression changed slightly, and then the Qingxiao Demon King laughed loudly, shaking the raging demonic flames, staring at Zhuang Yan and Erlang Shen, and said slowly: "You two think too highly of yourselves."

(End of this chapter)