Chapter 113: Yang Jian
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“Would you look at that. Li Jing is not entirely useless after all.”
Yuan Wuji was astonished by what he saw. Li Jing’s Exquisite Pagoda descended from the heavens with a presence large enough to rival Flower-Fruit Mountain itself, hurtling straight toward Sun Wukong.
The Exquisite Pagoda was already a low-grade innate spiritual treasure, not to mention Li Jing’s own natal artifact. Naturally, the force it unleashed was tremendous.
Li Jing’s pagoda forced Sun Wukong to abandon his assault on Muzha, allowing Muzha to break free at the same time.
Clang!
The Exquisite Pagoda collided violently with the Golden-Banded Staff, and the resulting shockwaves sent Flower-Fruit Mountain trembling again and again.
Having achieved his objective with a single strike, Li Jing hurriedly recalled the Exquisite Pagoda, while Muzha swiftly returned to his side.
“Quickly, restore the Heavenly Net!”
Once Muzha had returned, Li Jing urgently ordered the celestial soldiers to put the section of Heavenly Net they had withdrawn back into its original position.
“If you lack the strength, stop showing off. You may end up throwing away your own life,” Nezha’s mocking voice rang out once more.
“Hmph.”
This time, however, Muzha did not argue with Nezha. He simply sat down and began tending to his wounds.
In Heaven
“Bodhisattva, even your beloved disciple has fallen to the demon monkey. What are we to do?” the Jade Emperor asked Guanyin.
The implication was clear: Since this was a Buddhist affair, Buddhism ought to have its own solution.
“Your Majesty need not panic. I can recommend someone who will certainly subdue that demon monkey.”
“Who might that be?”
“Your Majesty’s nephew—the Illustrious Sage, Lord Erlang.”
Hearing Guanyin mention Erlang Shen, the Jade Emperor’s expression grew somewhat unpleasant. Everyone in Heaven knew of the relationship between him and Erlang Shen. He had never expected Guanyin to toss this troublesome burden back onto him.
Flower-Fruit Mountain
After Muzha withdrew, the Five Elements Star Lords intended to move against Sun Wukong. However, Yuan Wuji secretly passed them an instruction:
“Take the Lion-Camel King away first. Leave Sun Wukong to me.”
The Five Elements Star Lords knew their own strength and understood that they were no match for Sun Wukong. Since Yuan Wuji had spoken, they did not waste time being courteous. They immediately escorted the Lion-Camel King away from Flower-Fruit Mountain.
“Monkey King, it has been a long time.”
Yuan Wuji appeared before Sun Wukong, holding his Beheading Staff and pointing it at him.
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“So it is the Divine Ape King.”
Sun Wukong deliberately emphasized the three words “Divine Ape King,” but Yuan Wuji did not mind in the slightest.
“This old Sun is no longer the same as before. You had better be careful.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Golden-Banded Staff in Sun Wukong’s hands had already reached Yuan Wuji’s forehead.
Clang!
Yuan Wuji swung his Beheading Staff and effortlessly deflected the incoming Golden-Banded Staff.
“Again!”
Sun Wukong tightened his grip on the Golden-Banded Staff and launched another attack at Yuan Wuji.
幽通、驱神、御风…… the divine abilities of the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations were unleashed one after another through Sun Wukong’s hands.
Shifting the Stars and Changing the Dipper, Standing Upright Without a Shadow… the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations were likewise no less familiar to Yuan Wuji.
The Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations against the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations.
Yuan Wuji and Sun Wukong had already fought three hundred exchanges. Their battle astonished not only Li Jing and the others watching from above, but also Guanyin and the Jade Emperor in Heaven.
Guanyin’s expression became rather grim. Sun Wukong had consumed the Peaches of Immortality and the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, and had already reached the pinnacle of the Taiyi Loose Immortal realm. How could there still be a being in Heaven capable of matching him?
Moreover, Guanyin had summoned Yang Jian to Heaven not only because he had reached the Taiyi True Immortal realm and could suppress Sun Wukong through his higher cultivation, but also because of the relationship between Yang Jian and the Jade Emperor. It seemed she had intended to make use of that relationship for some further purpose.
Yet, as Guanyin watched Yuan Wuji and Sun Wukong battling below, she could not help wondering whether Sun Wukong would still be able to defeat Yuan Wuji by the time Yang Jian reached Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Sun Wukong was astonished by Yuan Wuji’s combat strength. His own power had been rising by leaps and bounds lately, so why had the fight still ended in a draw?
It seemed Yuan Wuji had not revealed his full strength the last time they met.
Yuan Wuji, for his part, was equally impressed by Sun Wukong’s battle prowess. He had assumed that swallowing so many Peaches of Immortality and golden elixirs would leave Sun Wukong’s cultivation unstable. Now, however, it appeared that Sun Wukong had long since stabilized his realm.
Furthermore, during the battle, Yuan Wuji noticed that Sun Wukong seemed not to have cultivated the Earthly Fiend Golden Elixir belonging to the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations.
“Is this all the strength you have?” Yuan Wuji asked Sun Wukong with deliberate mockery.
“Aren’t you the same?” Sun Wukong retorted.
Yuan Wuji and Sun Wukong had separated by then, preparing to clash once more. Judging from their bearing, neither had any intention of ending the battle before determining a victor.
“Hm?”
His first instinct through spiritual perception allowed Yuan Wuji to immediately detect a humanoid being outside the battlefield.
“Wait.”
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“What is it?”
Yuan Wuji pointed his Beheading Staff toward the humanoid figure, and Sun Wukong also looked in the direction he indicated.
“Erlang Shen.”
The figure’s three eyes were simply too conspicuous. Combined with the records of the Journey to the West from his previous life, Yuan Wuji immediately recognized the humanoid being as Erlang Shen.
“It is your Erlang granduncle. Two miserable monkey demons, and you still refuse to surrender?”
Although Erlang Shen’s mission was to capture Sun Wukong, the greater part of the murderous intent surrounding him was directed at Yuan Wuji.
“Lord Erlang, your mission is to capture Sun Wukong, not the Divine Ape General!” Li Jing shouted from high above.
“I know. But for what he did in the past, he must give me an explanation today.”
Yang Jian held his Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Spear and stared fixedly at Yuan Wuji, paying far less attention to Sun Wukong.
“Little Erlang, you mean those things?” Yuan Wuji said, counting off on his fingers as though they were nothing more than trivial matters.
“You…”
Yuan Wuji successfully enraged Erlang Shen. Staring at the fingers Yuan Wuji was slowly bending, Erlang Shen slashed out a streak of blade-light.
Yet the one who intercepted Yang Jian’s attack was Sun Wukong, not Yuan Wuji.
“Erlang Shen, aren’t you being a little too dismissive of this old Sun here, on Flower-Fruit Mountain?”
“What? You are only a monkey. You should focus on dealing with the Jade Emperor’s celestial soldiers and generals. You think you can interfere in my affairs? Have you even weighed your own strength?”
Unexpectedly, Sun Wukong was not angry in the slightest. Instead, he spoke with remarkable composure.
“I have heard that the Jade Emperor had a younger sister who descended to the mortal world out of love for a mortal man. There, she bore two sons and a daughter. When the Jade Emperor learned of it, he flew into a terrible rage and burned his sister alive. I wonder…”
Sun Wukong intended to continue, but Yang Jian, wielding his Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Spear, had already charged before him.
Behind him, Yuan Wuji could not help admiring Sun Wukong’s tongue. The monkey had torn open the deepest wound in Yang Jian’s heart without the slightest hesitation. At that moment, Yang Jian was utterly furious.
“Monkey, today I will skin you alive!”
Yang Jian was a Taiyi True Immortal, while Sun Wukong was merely a Taiyi Loose Immortal. In terms of cultivation, Yang Jian held the advantage.
Yang Jian’s foundation was also considerably stronger than Sun Wukong’s. However, Sun Wukong possessed a far superior innate physique. Although Yang Jian would later receive numerous techniques and treasures to temper and strengthen his body, a disparity was still a disparity. No matter how much one sought to make up for it after birth, the gap would remain.
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