Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 72, Encountering Demons in the Black Pine Forest (Sixteen)
Meanwhile, the Jade Emperor decreed that all the stars be sealed off.

Li Tianwang led the gods down to the mortal realm to subdue Kui Mulang, but they suffered a defeat on the battlefield. The Nine Luminaries were captured, and the remaining gods were not of one mind. Li Tianwang lost face and did not know how to break the formation, so he was anxious.

The gods had no choice but to temporarily cease hostilities and discuss countermeasures.

After two days of discussion, nothing was accomplished.

Li Tianwang then dispatched the Fire God and his troops to challenge the enemy.

The Fire God led his troops down to challenge the enemy, using fire-based magical artifacts to unleash fire soldiers, fire horses, fire dragons, fire rats, and thousands of fire crows to engage in battle.

The result was the same as yesterday; the starlight flashed and it was captured.

Before long, the Fire God and his troops all lost consciousness and were captured.

Seeing that the Fire Department had been captured, Li Tianwang was filled with worry and had no solution.

Nezha said, “Father, do not worry. Although the stars are now sealed off, the power of the stars is still descending to the mortal realm. There must be a reason for this. I will go to the Gouchen Palace to ask the Great Emperor Gouchen and find out the origin of this formation.”

Seeing this, Wukong said, "Third Prince, wait a moment. I haven't been to Gouchen Palace yet, take me with you."

Nezha asked, "Didn't you see the Great Emperor Gouchen when you were in the Heavenly Realm?"

Wukong said, "I have seen them, but I have never visited Gouchen Palace. Now that the journey to the west is becoming more and more difficult, I thought I should go and get to know them."

Nezha said, "Alright, let's go together."

The two ascended to heaven and arrived at the Gouchen Palace in the Southern Pole.

It is truly a celestial palace.

Its peaks reach the heavens, its veins pierce the Milky Way. Stars stand in rows, meteorites scattered about.

Divine light shines brightly beneath the abyss, and spiritual energy lingers between the Milky Way.

The Starlight Palace is bathed in ever-flowing rosy clouds, while the Fighting Pavilion is shrouded in purple mist.

Purple light shimmers, like agate tiles stacked upon each other; blue light gleams, like glazed tiles piled up.

A line to the east, a line to the west, divine palaces and precious pavilions; a stretch to the south, a stretch to the north, magnificent towers and jeweled pavilions.

Wukong and Nezha asked a divine official to convey their message, and the Great Emperor Gouchen received them upon hearing it.

The two paid their respects to the Heavenly Emperor of Gouchen Palace. Nezha recounted the events that had transpired and asked:
"Your Majesty, for some reason, even though His Majesty the Jade Emperor has issued an edict to seal off the stars, the formation can still draw the power of the stars down to the mortal realm, and its power remains undiminished."

Emperor Gouchen said:
“Nezha, you are unaware of this. In the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth, the stars in the sky evolved. The stars have spirits and gave birth to innate deities, whose authority is even above that of the Heavenly Court. That formation contains its remaining laws, which is why it can bypass the Heavenly Court and draw the power of the stars down to the mortal world.”

Nezha suddenly realized.

That formation was actually a relic from ancient times, and it actually fell into the hands of that Kui Mulang. No one knows how he obtained it, but he has such good fortune.

Nezha hurriedly replied, "Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Your Majesty."

Wukong said, "Your Majesty, do you have a way to break this formation and rescue my master and fellow disciples?"

Emperor Gouchen said, "There is a way."

Wukong hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please speak."

Emperor Gouchen said, "The Queen Mother has a flag called the Plain Cloud Realm Flag. Whenever there is a grand gathering at Yaochi, she raises this flag, and the sky becomes clear and the earth bright. All the immortals know this and come to attend the grand gathering at Yaochi. Therefore, it is also called the Gathering Immortals Flag."

If this flag were borrowed, it could blot out the sky and sun, and be impenetrable by any magic. If this flag were rolled down, all living beings from all realms would be drawn into it, and the formation would naturally break.

Wukong said, "This... I'm afraid it will be difficult to borrow it."

Emperor Gouchen said, "That depends on your fate."

Wukong repeatedly thanked the Great Emperor Gouchen for his guidance, and then left Gouchen Palace with Nezha.

Wukong said to Nezha, "Such a treasure, I'm afraid the Queen Mother won't lend it to us so easily. I, your old grandson, once stole peaches from the Peach Banquet and disrupted the Peach Banquet, so it's difficult for me to face the Queen Mother now. Why don't you, Prince, go and borrow it?"

Nezha rolled his eyes and said, "Those Five Directions Flags are innate treasures. You can't borrow them, so how can I? Why don't you let me borrow my master's jade ruyi? Maybe there would be a chance to borrow it. There's no need to break any formations. I can just take it and throw it down and kill Kui Mulang."

Wukong said, "Good! Good! This method is excellent!"

Nezha angrily slapped Wukong. "You monkey!"

Wukong just smiled.

Nezha said, "Alright, I've got a plan. Let's go find the True Martial Emperor."

Wukong asked, "Are you looking for the Emperor?"

Nezha said, "The Emperor has a black eagle flag. Although it is not as powerful as the Queen Mother's plain cloud flag, it can still cover the sun, moon and stars. I will borrow that flag to cover the sun, moon and stars. You just need to break the formation."

Wukong was overjoyed and said, "That's great! We really owe you a lot for your help this time!"

Nezha gave a soft hum and descended to the mortal realm, heading towards Wudang Mountain.

Wukong quickly followed.

The two arrived at Wudang Mountain, met the Emperor, and recounted the events that had transpired.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor used magic to summon the black eagle flag from the Northern Heavenly Gate Divine Palace.

It turns out that the black-carved flag was placed in the Heavenly Palace of the True Martial Emperor.

It was only thanks to the Emperor's magic that they were summoned; otherwise, the two of them would have had to make another trip.

The two borrowed the black-carved flag and returned to Baoxiang Kingdom.

Upon seeing the two return, Li Tianwang hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Do you have a plan to break the formation?"

Nezha said, "We already have a way to break the formation. Please, Father, lead the troops to help us."

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly King mobilized his troops, holding a pagoda in one hand and a sword in the other, and went down with Wukong to challenge him to a duel.

Kui Mulang led the constellations out and laughed:

"Keeper of the Heavenly Horses, you're out of help? Why did you even summon Li Tianwang down here?"

Wukong laughed and said, "My son, this time it's different!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Nezha unfurled the black flag in the air, obscuring the sun, moon, and stars. It was as if the universe had been dyed black ink and painted indigo.

The field was suddenly plunged into complete darkness, without a single ray of light, so faces could not be seen, and only voices could be heard.

Kui Mulang hurriedly unfolded the array diagram. The stars were affected and their starlight fell down, but it was all blocked in mid-air by the black flag and could not enter the array.

Wukong laughed, "My son, your formation won't dare to be so powerful now! Take this!"

Wukong unleashed his supernatural powers of having three heads and six arms, transforming his golden cudgel into three, six hands, and three staffs, all striking at once.

Seeing this, Li Tianwang, fearing he might get hit, carefully stepped aside.

In the darkness, Wukong's fiery eyes shone brightly, and he unleashed a flurry of blows with his staff, throwing the twenty-eight constellations, including Kui Mulang, into chaos. Some fled, while others were injured.

Upon seeing this, Ao Tu flew out of the main hall and into the air.

Ao Tu's golden eyes shone brightly, shooting out two beams of golden light. He saw Nezha holding the black eagle flag, standing in the air, obscuring the sun and moon.

When Nezha saw Ao Tu, he recognized him and angrily exclaimed, "It's you!"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Little Nezha, I spared your life last time out of kindness. Now that we meet again, why don't you come over and thank me for saving your life!"

Nezha, remembering the humiliation Ao Tu had inflicted on him by grabbing his hair, was enraged. He held the black eagle flag in one hand and struck at Ao Tu with the other.

Ao Tu extended his dragon claw and fought Nezha for several rounds, holding his own against him.

Nezha, holding the black flag in one hand, was unwilling to fight for long and planned to finish the battle quickly. So he revealed his Dharma form, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed being, and took out six magic weapons, which he then multiplied into hundreds of millions of pieces, throwing them at Ao Tu's head.

A golden lotus of the third rank appeared beneath Ao Tu. Standing on the lotus platform, no matter how many divine soldiers attacked, raining down meteors, his golden lotus protected him, making him impervious to all magic.

Nezha fought for a long time to no avail. Ao Tu raised his hand and summoned the Dragon Binding Rope to bind Nezha.

(End of this chapter)