Journey to the West: I am the fiercest bird under Bodhi's seat

The flying demons in Flower Fruit Mountain, though possessing some cultivation, were only at the Taiyi Golden Immortal level, and they injured him with just a high-grade spiritual treasure.

He had already found out that the two demon kings from Flower Fruit Mountain were the ones who had caused havoc in the underworld.

The monkey was named Sun Wukong, and the other Taoist was the incarnation of the Golden Crow, named Ye Feng.

Having made up his mind, he immediately changed direction and headed straight for the Western Paradise.

Although Mount Ling is an important Buddhist site, it is a pure land in the Saha world and is presided over by Shakyamuni.

The true Western Paradise was created at the beginning of the primordial world when the Daoist Guided One made a great vow—to save all sentient beings—before the realm of ultimate bliss was born.

Halfway through his journey, he suddenly began to ponder: Ye Feng possessed considerable magical power, and his magical treasures were even more formidable. Even with the powerful helper he had found, victory was not guaranteed. It would be better to borrow a powerful magical artifact first, just to be absolutely certain of success.

Once the thought was settled, he immediately turned and flew towards the Pure Land of Brahma.

This place is called Brahma Mountain, which is near the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. There is a Buddhist temple built on the mountain, which is the palace of Maitreya Buddha.

He landed on the lotus platform in front of the hall, and a young novice monk with yellow eyebrows hurriedly came forward, clasped his hands in prayer, and bowed: "Greetings, Bodhisattva. May I ask what brings you here?"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said, "I am Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. I have important matters to discuss with Maitreya Buddha. Please inform him immediately."

The novice monk dared not delay and hurriedly went inside to report. A moment later, a smiling, plump monk slowly emerged, holding prayer beads in his hand, his expression kind and gentle, instantly bringing joy to anyone who saw him.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.

This Maitreya Buddha, also known as the Buddha of the East, is a direct disciple of Amitabha Buddha and the future Buddha designated by the Buddhist community.

When the celestial calamity arrives in the future and Shakyamuni enters Nirvana, he will succeed him as the head of the entire Buddhist community, holding an incomparably revered position.

Maitreya Buddha, without any airs, returned the greeting and asked with a smile, "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva usually spends his days in the underworld helping the souls of the dead. What brings you here today?"

Ksitigarbha sighed softly, "I have been troubled recently, and my mind is unsettled, making it difficult to concentrate on my spiritual practice. I have come here to earnestly request that the Buddha of the East lend me his golden cymbals temporarily. If the matter is resolved, I will be deeply grateful."

He then briefly recounted what had happened in the underworld.

Maitreya Buddha still smiled: "I see. They were far too presumptuous. The golden cymbals can be lent to you, but I hope the Bodhisattva will not be angry, lest you damage your pure mind."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva nodded and replied, "I will remember your teachings."

Maitreya Buddha said no more and immediately ordered the yellow-browed boy beside him to take out the golden cymbals and hand them to him.

Ksitigarbha expressed his gratitude repeatedly, then ascended the lotus platform and continued his journey to the Western Paradise.

The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss holds boundless mysteries, and it can purify the mind and cleanse impurities even more effectively than Mount Ling. Ksitigarbha has not set foot there for many years.

Since the Investiture of the Gods, not only have the Three Pure Ones of Taoism disappeared from public view, but even the Two Sages of the West have quietly retired.

Amitabha Buddha resides deep within the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, in seclusion and meditation, and has not appeared in person for a long time.

As for the Sage Zhunti, he has vanished without a trace. Since his deification, no one in Buddhism has ever seen his true form.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva first went to pay homage to Amitabha Buddha, but received no response. He was not surprised, as it was common knowledge that his teacher was in deep meditation.

Afterwards, he came to a secluded garden in the Pure Land, where he saw a Sal tree and a Bodhisattva sitting in meditation under it, his body radiating light that illuminated the ten directions.

This person is none other than Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, the right-hand attendant of Amitabha Buddha. He holds an extremely high position in Buddhism and is renowned for his wisdom and radiance, earning him the title of "First in Radiance."

As Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva approached, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva opened his eyes, slightly surprised: "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva? You've come here. Have you seen your teacher before?"

The so-called "teacher" refers to Amitabha Buddha, who is the source of all Buddhas, and all Buddhist disciples respect him as their teacher.

Ksitigarbha nodded and replied, "I have already gone to pay my respects. My teacher is currently meditating on the Great Dao and has not yet emerged from his meditation."

The Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta nodded and then asked the purpose of his visit.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva frankly told him. Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, upon hearing this, said, "This Flower Fruit Mountain Demon King is indeed arrogant; no wonder you are so troubled. Since you have come specifically to see me, what are your plans?"

Ksitigarbha said in a deep voice, "That ferocious bird is wild and untamed, and its sins are grave. It should be punished according to the laws of Heaven. However, the Buddha's teachings are compassionate. We might as well give it a break and capture it in the Pure Land, so that we can reform it with the Dharma. This would be an immeasurable act of merit."

A glint flashed in the eyes of the Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, and he nodded in agreement: "Indeed, as you say. The Buddha Vairocana was also born of a golden crow, which shows that the golden crow clan has a deep connection with our Buddhist sect and should be brought under my wing..."

But he had other plans in mind: if he could take this golden crow as his mount, how majestic would he be in the future?

Even if the Vairocana Buddha of Esoteric Buddhism were to personally arrive, he would still be inferior to me by three points.

The two were of one mind and immediately reached a consensus. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva took out a golden cymbal and handed it to him: "This is a treasure of the Buddha who came from the East. I borrowed it specially. You must make good use of it. That ferocious bird is quite capable, so do not underestimate it."

The Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta accepted it and said calmly, "Of course I understand. The Golden Crow clan is inherently gifted."

The two talked for a while longer before Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva got up to take his leave.

As he left, he felt much better, and his mind was already starting to plan how to train and tame Ye Feng once he had him captured.

He ascended the lotus platform and returned directly to the underworld. Meanwhile, both the Heavenly Court and the Buddhist sect were quietly devising countermeasures in response to Ye Feng's previous disturbance.

Meanwhile, in Flower Fruit Mountain, Ye Feng lived a carefree and leisurely life.

Sun Wukong was a restless and mischievous monkey, and after crossing out his name from the Book of Life and Death of his monkey followers, he became even more unrestrained.

Every day, he would ride his somersault cloud to visit immortals and friends, and upon returning, he would drink fine wine until he was so drunk that he would stagger around.

Even so, he was a stone monkey born from heaven and earth, and the magical power within him continued to grow.

During this time, his sworn brothers, including Peng Demon King and Macaque King, visited him several times to drink and make merry together.

Even the Flood Dragon Demon King came once, but the Bull Demon King and the Lion Camel King were nowhere to be seen. Since the day they became sworn brothers, they have never set foot on Flower Fruit Mountain again.

The Lion Camel King was ashamed to return because he felt humiliated after being beaten so badly by Sun Wukong that day.

As for what the Bull Demon King was planning, no one knew.

Ye Feng didn't care about this and focused only on cultivating himself and consolidating his cultivation level.

He cultivated the "Chaos Golden Crow Technique" and showed faint signs of breaking through to the fourth level, allowing him to glimpse some of the secrets of heaven. His physical body also became increasingly powerful.

In a few more years, he will be able to reach the Great Perfection of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.

At the same time, he never stopped trying to comprehend the "Great Array of Heavenly Gods and Demons".

This formation is mysterious and unpredictable, especially since he realized that the Ancestral Witch might be able to solidify into a physical form, he has been eager to try it out.

On that day, Emperor Jiang Zuwu devoured the Earthly Treasury Buddha Mountain, and his figure was already showing signs of solidification; and under Ye Feng's continued refinement, the remaining power of the Buddha Mountain was being rapidly absorbed - the part that was not completely refined before was now gradually being used by him.

As the refining process deepened, the illusory image of Dijiang actually condensed into two true forms on the Dutian Divine Fiend Banner.

Ye Feng thus completely mastered Di Jiang's flying technique, which was far superior to the Somersault Cloud technique.

The more he studied this method of flight, the more profound he found it to be.

It not only contains the ultimate flying ability, but also involves higher-level laws.

The word "speed" carries profound meaning, subtly aligning with the principles of time and space.

Within this technique, the power of spatial rules faintly flows.

With each step Ye Feng took to understand, he felt a greater sense of awe.

What kind of heaven-reaching and earth-shattering realm did those great beings of ancient times reach?

Now, through his tireless practice, he has barely managed to achieve the speed of "spreading his wings for 108,000 miles".

But he knew perfectly well that the difficulty would increase exponentially as he progressed in his cultivation.

Every step forward thereafter was no ordinary leap, for it was no longer limited to speed itself, but touched upon the essence of space.

If one day one can reach the state of "spreading wings for 129,600 miles", one may be able to glimpse the full picture of the rules of space.

Besides practicing the Dijiang Technique, he also took advantage of this free time to inquire about the affairs of the Heavenly Court from various sources.

Aside from the four emperors he saw that day, he also roughly understood the internal official structure of the Heavenly Court.

They even secretly investigated the personalities and preferences of many celestial officials.

After all, judging by the timeline, Yama and the Dragon King should have already gone to heaven to complain.

Unfortunately, a day in heaven is equivalent to a month on earth.

He had been waiting on Flower Fruit Mountain for over a month, but Venus still hadn't come to offer him amnesty.

Of course, he couldn't be sure whether the Heavenly Court would continue to act as before after his intervention in the change of events.

But he didn't care.

Even if they don't come to offer amnesty, but instead send troops to attack, he has no fear.

Based on his understanding of the Heavenly Court's practices, the first demon-slaying army they sent would certainly not be too powerful.

Just as he was pondering, a little monkey suddenly came running along the mountain path, rushed into Yiyuan Palace, and knelt down, saying, "Grandpa! An old man with white hair has come down from the mountain. He claims to be an envoy from heaven and says that he wants to invite you and the king to go to the Heavenly Court. He is waiting in the Water Curtain Cave for you to come and receive the decree."

Ye Feng's heart stirred slightly: Sure enough, his wish came true.

There's no need to guess; this old man is undoubtedly Venus.

At that very moment, the system's voice rang in his mind:

"Choose a mission to be recruited by the Heavenly Court".

Option 1: Refuse Taibai Jinxing and allow only Sun Wukong to go to heaven. Reward: One Resurrection Pill.

"Option 2: Expel Venus from Heaven and formally declare war on the Heavenly Court. Reward: One 9,000-year-old peach."

"Option 3: Accept the offer of amnesty and ascend to heaven with Sun Wukong. Reward: One drop of Ancestral Witch's essence blood."

Ye Feng pondered over the three rewards.

The first item, the "Resurrection Pill," what use is it to him? If it were the "Nine-Turn Golden Pill," he might be tempted.

Secondly, while the nine-thousand-year-old peaches are indeed precious, once Sun Wukong begins guarding the peach orchard, he will naturally be able to eat until he bursts.

The third item... He fell into deep thought.

He possessed the body of the Golden Crow, and a drop of Ancestral Witch's essence blood itself offered him no benefit.

However, he possesses the "Great Array of Heavenly Gods and Demons".

The image of Dijiang, which had already solidified into two parts on the flag, involuntarily surfaced in his mind—if it were blessed with the essence blood of the Ancestral Witch, it might truly be able to completely materialize!

Even if it fails, the essence blood of the Ancestral Witch is a rare treasure in the Three Realms, and it has an irresistible attraction for the Witch Clan.

Although the Wu tribe is now in decline, several great shamans from ancient times are still alive today.

With this essence and blood, we have the confidence to lure them out.

After much deliberation, finding no flaws, he had a sudden thought: "Choose three."

"Option confirmed. Rewards will be issued upon completion of the task."

The system's response and Ye Feng's decision occurred almost simultaneously. He looked at the little monkey kneeling on the ground, slowly rose, and smiled slightly: "Lead the way."