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

Laozi turned around with a smile, summoned the Taoist priest who guarded the furnace and the boy who added fire, and instructed them to take good care of the furnace fire before drifting away.

Then the monkey fell into the furnace, and all around him were red-hot bricks, with the Samadhi True Fire burning fiercely.

This fire is one of the seven true fires, and its reputation is no less than that of the Sun True Fire wielded by Ye Feng.

However, this fire is different from that fire—it does not burn the physical body, but specifically scorches the primordial spirit, depletes vital energy, and refines primordial essence. It is formless and intangible, and impossible to defend against.

As soon as the monkey entered, it felt dizzy and lightheaded, and its spirit seemed to leave its body.

He originally possessed an indestructible body, resembling an ancient great shaman, with his spirit and body as one, inseparable.

The sudden appearance of separation startled him greatly, and he hurriedly looked around at the layout of the furnace.

The furnace wall is engraved with the eight trigrams: Qian, Zhen, Kan, Gen, Kun, Xun, Li, and Dui.

Suddenly, I recalled the scene of listening to the teachings under the Bodhi tree.

A flash of inspiration—the Xun direction represents wind, and where there is wind, there is no fire!

Overjoyed, he leaped into the air and plunged directly beneath the "Sun Palace." Sure enough, there was no flame attacking this place.

The wind was thick with smoke, which stung his eyes and brought tears to his eyes.

While rubbing his eyes and shedding tears, his eyes became red and swollen, which ironically gave him the "fiery eyes" that later generations would call "penetrating vision".

time flies.

Forty-nine days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The boy on duty and the Taoist priest, seeing that the deadline was approaching, went out to find Laozi to report the news, but could not find him anywhere.

Upon their return, they found the Eight Trigrams Furnace shaking violently.

One of the alchemists exclaimed in surprise, "Forty-nine days have passed! If we don't open the furnace and retrieve the elixir in time, it might explode!"

Another person chimed in, "That's true. But the master isn't here, so we shouldn't act rashly... How about we turn the furnace back on and extinguish the fire first, then go look for him?"

The two agreed, made hand gestures and chanted incantations, and then lifted the lid of the furnace.

Inside the furnace, the monkey was covering its face with its hands, rubbing it incessantly, tears streaming down its face. Suddenly, it heard a noise, and its vision brightened instantly.

Overjoyed, he flipped over and leaped out of the furnace.

Its entire body was as black as charcoal, and it could be vaguely discerned as a monkey. As soon as it appeared, the children and the Taoist priest tending the fire screamed in fright.

The monkey had been holding in its anger for forty-nine days, its chest already brimming with rage. It jumped out and saw that Laozi was not there, and its courage was instantly emboldened.

He grinned, kicked over the Eight Trigrams Furnace, and reached behind his ear with his right hand, revealing the Golden Cudgel in his hand.

At that moment, Dan Tong shouted, "Oh no! The monkey has escaped!"

Enraged, the monkey swung his club and killed the boy on the spot.

Upon hearing the commotion, the Taoist priests of water and fire, along with the guardian deities, rushed over.

The monkey was fearless, wielding its golden cudgel, striking one enemy at a time, and charged straight out.

Those who were slightly luckier were beaten until their bones were broken, while those who were unlucky died on the spot.

……·………

Fortunately, these heavenly soldiers all possessed primordial spirits, so even though their physical bodies were destroyed, there was still a glimmer of hope.

What a magnificent Monkey King! He charged ahead recklessly, like a mad white-browed tiger or a suddenly rising one-horned dragon. In the Tushita Palace, no one could withstand even a few of his moves.

As he broke through the encirclement, there happened to be a cattle pen in the distance, where a giant, green-skinned bull was grazing. Suddenly, a completely black monkey burst out of the alchemy room, startling him so much that he dropped the hay in his mouth.

The ox looked up at the chains binding it, then glanced at the surrounding enclosure, its eyes flashing with a thoughtful glint.

The monkey, however, paid no attention to the ox. After rushing out of the Tushita Palace, it did not turn to escape through the South Heavenly Gate. Instead, it hardened its heart and headed straight for the Lingxiao Palace.

The Tushita Palace is located at the top of the thirty-third heaven. As he descended, he was like a thunderbolt falling from the clouds, and no one could stop him along the way.

The Heavenly Court never expected that such a malevolent star would emerge from the tranquil place of Laozi. Caught off guard, chaos ensued, with people and horses falling and everything in disarray.

This is what later generations called "Havoc in Heaven".

Meanwhile, on the other side, there is another cause and effect.

Forty-nine days have passed since the monkey was captured and taken to the heavens.

A day in heaven is equivalent to a year on earth, and forty-nine years have passed in the mortal realm.

With Ye Feng in charge, the demons of Huaguo Mountain were not worried and lived peacefully.

Although the heavenly soldiers are still stationed at the border, the True Martial Emperor has not yet returned, so Li Jing has temporarily taken over as commander.

Over the past forty years, the two sides have clashed several times, but neither side has gone all out, resulting in a mixed record of wins and losses.

As time went on, it became a stalemate that was tacitly agreed upon by both sides.

However, Ye Feng was always silently calculating the timing of the day. Although he could not know the exact passage of time, he had a general idea.

Fortunately, Di Ting was by their side in Flower Fruit Mountain. This beast's ears could communicate with the three realms, and it knew everything about the Heavenly Palace.

Therefore, Ye Feng was fully aware of the monkey's movements.

The moment the monkey leaped out of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the Kui Niu Drum on Flower Fruit Mountain suddenly resounded!

The drums thundered, like the roar of an ancient thunder god, shaking the heavens and the earth.

Inside the Heavenly Army's camp, Li Jing was drinking and making merry. More than forty years had long since made him relax his guard.

Suddenly, he heard a drumbeat as loud as a hammer, which pierced his heart. He was so frightened that he dropped the wine cup in his hand and hurriedly got up and ran out of the tent.

"What happened?"

At this time, the camp was filled with the Four Heavenly Kings, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, and the gods of the Dipper.

The Heavenly King Zengguang approached, his face deathly pale: "Something terrible has happened! That golden crow from Flower Fruit Mountain has gone mad for some reason and is leading its entire army to attack!"

Huaguo Mountain has been initially restored by Ye Feng over the past forty years.

At least the broken mountain has been reassembled into one.

As the Kui Niu drum sounded, demon soldiers emerged from all over the mountains and plains.

The Black Bear Demon charged ahead, roaring to the sky as his body swelled to hundreds of feet, resembling a moving, dark mountain, and hurtled straight towards the Heavenly Court's camp.

Four monkey generals followed closely behind, while the seventy-two cave demon kings marched in formation.

Ye Feng stood atop the Water Curtain Cave, overlooking the battlefield.

Heavenly soldiers and demons clashed in a chaotic battle, their shouts shaking the heavens.

In the camp, a young general, draped in red silk and riding on wheels of fire, leaped out and blocked the Black Bear Demon's path.

Blood rain suddenly fell from the sky, mixed with severed limbs—the remains of monsters and the fragments of heavenly soldiers—falling with the rain.

Ye Feng stood with his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent, neither sad nor happy.

The war drums sounded again in the Heavenly Court's camp. After the initial chaos, the formation gradually stabilized.

Ye Feng made a grasping motion with one hand, and the Demon Emperor Sword appeared in his palm.

Two golden phantoms unfolded behind him, shaped like wings, radiating dazzling light.

The next instant, his figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already standing in the center of the Heavenly Court's camp, and the Demon Emperor's Sword slashed down from the sky!

In an instant, a golden light tore through the sky, as if severing the heavens and time itself.

Wherever the sword light touched, everything that came into contact with it turned to dust and evaporated completely.

The Heavenly Court's main camp was split in two, and eighteen Heavenly Nets collapsed simultaneously.

There was no blood rain – because all the heavenly soldiers were incinerated by the intense heat the moment they came into contact with the sword light.

Li Jing witnessed this scene amidst the chaos, and was terrified.

Clutching the pagoda tightly, he roared, "Twenty-Eight Constellations! Four Heavenly Kings! Gods of the Dipper! Who can capture this fiend!"

The surrounding area was silent, and no one answered.

The power of that single sword strike shook the heavens, leaving all the gods speechless.

Li Jing felt his heart sink and began to consider retreating.

At that very moment, a slender, silk-like golden light shot up from the depths of the camp, tearing the sky apart and annihilating everything in its path.

Ye Feng raised an eyebrow slightly, and the Demon Emperor Sword blocked in front of him, severing the golden light in response.

A figure burst forth from the sky, surrounded by raging flames; his voice preceded his arrival.

"Doubu Huaguang is here! Stop your insolence!"

Before he finished speaking, he raised one hand and the flames beside him suddenly solidified, transforming into nine towering pillars of fire that hurtled toward Ye Feng with the force of burning the heavens.

Where the flames passed, space distorted; it was Hua Guang's natal fire, cultivated over many years.

Although it is not among the Seven True Fires, it is still quite remarkable.

Ye Feng's eyes flashed. With his current cultivation level, he could discern the strength of others with just one move.

For more than forty years, they have been locked in a standoff, but have never truly clashed with each other, so he has never really fought Hua Guang.

But when the other person introduced themselves, their name sounded strangely familiar, as if I had heard it somewhere before.

He didn't delve into the details, and smiled calmly: "When it comes to fire control, you're still far from adequate."

After speaking, he did not use any other methods. He simply flipped his palm, and nine golden flames rose into the air, transforming into nine towering fire pillars that crashed down from the void.

boom--!

A deafening roar shook the entire world, and the vast sky instantly turned into a sea of ​​fire.

The two golden flames collided violently, their intense heat seemingly capable of burning through the void.

The stalemate lasted no more than three finger snaps before the true fire of the sun suddenly erupted, engulfing the pillar of fire controlled by Hua Guang like a torrent. Its remaining power continued to strike him directly.

Any being that dares to directly confront the Golden Crow's fiery divine power would be acting unwisely.

Because the Golden Crow is the supreme being among fire, a divine beast of unparalleled power.

The first golden crow in ancient times was born from the core of the sun.

Hua Guang was slightly taken aback, not expecting his divine flames to be instantly extinguished. He hurriedly raised the long sword in his hand.

He was a disciple of Master Xuandu and practiced orthodox Taoist methods.

The swordsmanship he practiced was also a transmission of the most righteous principles of humanity.

With a light flick of the sword tip, nine sword energies shot into the sky, as thin as gossamer threads, almost invisible, and would be difficult to detect without careful observation.

This is the ultimate realm of "training the sword into silk," and it already has the prototype of "one sword breaking through all laws."

Nine sword energies roared out, each meeting a pillar of fire. In the instant of their clash, the nine golden flame pillars shattered inch by inch, turning into a shower of golden flames that fell like rain.

Ye Feng lowered his eyes slightly and said softly, "A fine sword."

Then he let out a soft sigh, "What a pity."

Hua Guang didn't understand what he meant, but his heart suddenly tightened. The next moment, Ye Feng was standing in front of him like a ghost.

The Demon Emperor's sword aimed straight for his brow.

"How could it be so fast!"

Hua Guang was shocked. At such close range, all his maneuvering and dodging were useless.

But he was, after all, the Heavenly Emperor, and even in a moment of crisis, he could still form hand seals and cast spells.

A candle flame appeared on his forehead, then suddenly leaped out and blocked the sword's edge.

Snapped!

With a soft crack, the candle shattered, but it also temporarily halted the sword's momentum.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hua Guang transformed into a beam of light and retreated rapidly, instantly disappearing hundreds of feet away.

He snorted coldly, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of his mouth...

The candle flame he had just witnessed was actually his original divine flame, which was shattered by a sword strike, thus damaging his primordial spirit.

Ye Feng slowly turned around, his gaze fixed on the direction where Li Jing was.

Hua Guang's anger surged: "What are you looking at?"

Before the words were finished, the light above my head suddenly dimmed, and before I could react, a crisp sound rang in my ears—

clang!

The golden cymbals closed tightly, sealing him completely inside.

The golden cymbal did not shrink; instead, it carried him towards Flower Fruit Mountain.

Ye Feng never looked back once from beginning to end.

Li Jing had been closely watching the battle, and was terrified to see Hua Guang suppressed within three moves.

He shouted sternly, "Twenty-eight constellations, eastern and western stars, swiftly slay the Golden Crow!"

After roaring, he transformed into a streak of light and fled swiftly towards the Heavenly Court.

The Twenty-Eight Mansions received the order and, together with the stars of the East and West, charged forth.

However, after the previous battle with the Monkey King, the Twenty-Eight Mansions were already incomplete.

Ye Feng had no intention of getting entangled. With a wave of his sleeve, the world suddenly changed, with wind and fire raging and thick smoke obscuring the sun.

The entire sky above Huaguo Mountain, stretching for tens of thousands of miles, was shrouded in dark clouds.

Amidst the wind and fire, a huge tuft of cloth flew in swiftly, engulfing all the stars like a swirling mat.

Ye Feng chanted a spell, and the Yellow Turban Warriors appeared as summoned, steadily catching the ball of wind and fire.