Chapter 23 - 19 Causes
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Because the Buddhist Holy Land, the Western Paradise Sacred Mountain, had become a pile of ruins. Pavilions, towers, pagodas, and temples were all destroyed. What drove Tathagata absolutely mad was the resentment and vital energy that permeated the whole Western Paradise. The majestic Spiritual Mount was now virtually indistinguishable from the Ghost Domain.
This was the stronghold of Buddhism, the sacred site of all Buddhist disciples, and it was in ruins. Restoring its former state would take at least a thousand years. Moreover, this was a humiliation that made it hard for Buddhism to hold its head high. He had led troops to sneak-attack someone else’s stronghold, only to have his own stronghold destroyed in a surprise attack.
In this battle, Tathagata didn’t know if he had lost or won, if he had gained or suffered a loss. Although he had taken over Heaven and thus East Shengzhou and the Southern Continent became Buddhism’s territories, along with the originally possessed Western Ox-He Continent, Buddhism now controlled three of the Four Great Continents.
This was very advantageous for the spread of Buddhist teachings and the recruitment of believers. However, the Sacred Mountain was destroyed, which meant Buddhism had to completely migrate to Heaven. Additionally, the most important objective, Sun Wukong, was rescued by Tang Sanzang at the last moment.
Tathagata had meticulously planned for two thousand years to seize the Spiritual Charm of Sun Wukong’s Five-Colored Divine Stone. But now, he had barely managed to absorb less than one-tenth of it, which was practically useless to Tathagata at this point, like a drop in the bucket.
With a somber face, Tathagata looked at Spiritual Mount, then clenched his teeth and suddenly waved his hand, saying, "All Buddhist Soldiers, heed my command, eliminate the Demon Soldiers at all costs. No prisoners, kill them all!"
Two million Buddhist Soldiers, eyes red with fury, charged toward Spiritual Mount. Their vast numbers and momentum were overwhelming. These Buddhist Soldiers were crazed; they would charge into any blade and fire unhesitatingly. Such was the terrifying power of Buddhist faith.
Two million against six hundred thousand, with the two million being elite troops and the six hundred thousand exhausted warriors. The outcome was clear. Even though the Demon-Heaven Allied Forces knew they were doomed, not a single one retreated. Each fought with the determination to die.
In the end, the Buddhist Soldiers triumphed as expected. The Demon Clan Allied Forces, including the Great Demon Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey, were entirely annihilated. Not a single survivor, no surrenders, no deserters. The Queen Mother of the West from Heaven was captured by Guanyin and imprisoned.
With that, the great battle between the Demon Clan and Heaven officially ended.
Heaven, the Demon Clan, nearly entirely wiped out. The Demon Clan’s holy site Flower Fruit Mountain destroyed, and Heaven entirely occupied by Buddhism. Though Buddhism also suffered heavy losses with the destruction of Spiritual Mount, in the end, they were the final victors of this war. The sole supreme power in the entire Three Realms.
In Coiled Silk Cave on Coiled Silk Ridge
At this moment, Sun Wukong was still unconscious, indicating the significant damage caused by Nezha’s Five-Colored Divine Stone forcibly entering Sun Wukong’s body. Moreover, when Tathagata and others later extracted one-tenth of the Spiritual Charm, it inflicted foundational damage on Sun Wukong. Such damage could not be easily healed in a short time.
The situation of Tang Sanzang was also grim. He had already been injured during the fight with Tongtian, and the situation worsened when Tathagata sneak-attacked Flower Fruit Mountain, forcing Tang Sanzang to exert the Transcendence Bloom, compounding his injuries. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been captured by Tathagata.
But in the end, seeing Sun Wukong in critical condition drove Tang Sanzang to desperation. He struggled to invoke the Transcendence Bloom, but due to severe injuries and depleted mana, he was unable to trigger it.
At last, Tang Sanzang merged the Transcendence Bloom into his body. Only then could he successfully invoke it, using a sky full of blooming flowers to buy time to escape.
Although the two ultimately got away, Tang Sanzang was on the brink of death!
After an indeterminate amount of time, Sun Wukong finally stirred to consciousness. The moment he opened his eyes, all the memories from before he fainted crazily flooded in, causing his head to explode with pain. Among those rapidly surfacing memories, there was one that took Sun Wukong by surprise. Enduring the headache, he closed his eyes once more. That memory transformed into a voice.
"Sun Wukong, I’m Nezha. If you’re hearing this, it means you’ve survived. Don’t be anxious, listen to me. Although I know you have many questions, there’s not a lot of time, so I’ll only tell you the most important things. First off, my true form is also a Five-Colored Divine Stone, only mine isn’t as large as yours.
The Five-Colored Divine Stones were originally created by the Great Goddess Nuwa to mend the sky, divided into five attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. However, during the creation of the stones, Nuwa inadvertently foresaw a calamity that would befall the Demon Clan in future generations.
To leave a glimmer of hope for the Demon Clan during this catastrophe, Nuwa purposefully left behind five Five-Colored Divine Stones, each with one of the attributes. She even infused a wisp of her own Nuwa power into these stones. Especially the earth attribute Divine Stone, to which Nuwa added a trace of Pangu the Great God’s Chaotic Power."
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After mending the heavens, Nuwa sensed that due to her boundless merit, she was about to transcend and embody the Dao. So she scattered the five Spirit Stones throughout the Three Realms, hoping that one day the Divine Stones could transform into human form, cultivate the grand Dao, and help the Demon Clan during the great calamity, so their race would not be wiped out.
And I, Nezha, am the smallest piece of the golden-attributed Divine Stone, while you, Sun Wukong, are the largest piece of the earth-attributed Divine Stone. However, due to some accidents, I was mistakenly born into the womb of my mother, Lady Yin, thus becoming the earliest awakened of the five Divine Stones and, surprisingly, I was not of the Demon Clan but of the Human Clan.
Thus, later I, in human form, slit my throat and, using lotus roots to reconstruct my body, I eventually became a member of the Demon Clan.
Although I knew early on that you were that Divine Stone, I wasn’t sure if you would help the Demon Clan. It was not until today that I learned that you are indeed correct.
Normally, we would have to wait for all five Divine Stones to awaken before we could inherit these memories, but for some reason, the great calamity has arrived and only you and I, two pieces of the Divine Stone, have emerged, and you have not inherited the memories. This indicates that due to the constraints of time, something unexpected has happened.
Therefore, I transformed back into my true form as a Divine Stone and merged into your body, aiding you to escape at the last moment. I know the task at hand is already teetering on the brink of extinction. So, your next mission is to scour the Three Realms to find the other three Divine Stones and fuse them into the Five-Colored Divine Stone.
Only then will you have enough power to turn the tides, defeat Tathagata Buddha, and restore the prestige of our Demon Clan!
The locations of the other three Divine Stones have already been imprinted on your memory. Alright, there’s no time left. This last strand of my power is about to dissipate. Remember, Sun Wukong, you cannot fail, and you will not fail. You must find the other three Divine Stones, then defeat Buddhism and restore the supreme dignity of our Demon Clan during the Ancient Times..."
Finally, that voice faded away, and Sun Wukong fell into deep contemplation. The Five-Colored Divine Stone, the earth-attributed Divine Stone, Nezha, Pangu the Great God, Chaotic Power, the great calamity of the Demon Clan, the other three Divine Stones... Sandy is dead, Bajie’s life and death are unknown, and no one knows what happened to White Dragon. And his master... Oh, right, his master!
Finally, with the assault and the flood of memories, Sun Wukong’s dazed mind finally recalled—his master! It was his master who rescued him at the last moment.
Thus, Sun Wukong clenched his teeth, enduring the severe pain all over his body, and got up to check. "Phew, luckily the master is still here." Walking staggeringly as if each step required a rest, he made his way to Tang Sanzang’s side. He reached out to check Tang Sanzang’s breathing, which was faint, but he was still alive.
Sun Wukong plopped down onto the ground, relieved that his master wasn’t dead, just unconscious. But then, Sun Wukong began to worry about what to do next; he was comfortable with battle, but saving lives... Sun Wukong really didn’t know what to do. After some thought, it seemed the only way was to use his own blood.
Slowly, he reached into his ear and pulled out a small, glittering golden needle, but then Sun Wukong furrowed his brow and dug a bit deeper with his pinky finger. This time, a needle the size of an embroidery needle appeared in Sun Wukong’s hand. "Eh?
How did Bajie’s Nine-Toothed Rake end up in my ear?" Then, shaking his head, he disregarded these thoughts, transformed the Jingu Bang into a short dagger and forcefully slit his left wrist.
A drop of blood, as golden as molten metal, slowly seeped from the wound and then dripped onto Tang Sanzang’s forehead. "Hmm? How come my blood has turned this golden color? And it’s so thick? After one drop, the second drop can’t even fall out? And this—this wound has healed in a blink of an eye?" Sun Wukong didn’t have time to ponder these strange occurrences.
As he watched the golden drop of blood merge into Tang Sanzang’s forehead, he couldn’t help feeling incredibly anxious. He didn’t know if his blood would be effective, but he was aware that it contained Innate Spiritual Charm, and it seemed very effective when he was just Fan Xin; he hoped it would work for saving lives, too.
The moment Sun Wukong thought of Fan Xin, his heart tightened suddenly, then slowly relaxed, as he murmured to himself: "Even if the Heavenly Court has been occupied by Buddha, the Peaches of Immortality, after all, are ancient spiritual roots; Buddha would not destroy them. Right, he definitely wouldn’t destroy the Peach Garden.
And apart from Bajie, Sandy, and a few others, nobody should know about Fan Xin. Nothing will happen; it must be fine.
As Sun Wukong was pondering, Tang Sanzang, who had been unconscious for a long time, suddenly opened his eyes. And from his eyes shot out a burst of bright and sharp golden light, which, though it vanished in a flash, was so sharp that Sun Wukong himself felt wary.
The first words out of Tang Sanzang’s mouth when he woke up were, "Wukong, stay away from me, the Transcendence Bloom is about to evolve."
This is when:
After great tribulations, the worldly affairs are known to Nuwa, who expended much cleverness.
Henceforth, the master and disciple cultivate the righteous path, awaiting enlightenment on the Spiritual Mountain of red.
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