Chapter 1368: Battle of the Journey to the West

“Acquire the Buddhist Scriptures? Turn into a Buddha? Attain Buddhism Enlightenment?” Monkey Sun let out a weird laugh.

Only, although he was laughing, his laughter was filled with rage and unresigned.

“Is attaining Buddhism Enlightenment something to be highly-regarded for?” He yelled loudly, “I’ve never cared about it before!”

“Liar! They planned on lying to me from the start! Spreading Western Buddhism to the North and teaching Buddhism to the world. Is that a glorious feat? In the end, such a feat required stepping through the corpses of my comrades. Who would desire such things?”

Yan Zhaoge sunk deep into thought.

Feng Yunsheng couldn’t help but ask, “Great Sage, since you’re here, then that Victorious Fighting Buddha outside… Could he be the Six-Eared Macaque?”

After knowing that their destination was the Five Elements Mountain, Feng Yunsheng had brushed up on her knowledge regarding the mid Journey to the West era.

Most of her knowledge was acquired from the legends and tales. After all, that era had already passed long ago.

However, Feng Yunsheng was also aware of the true and false Monkey King’s story.

According to the myths, on the way to obtain the Buddhist Scriptures, a Six-Eared Macaque of unknown origins had stolen the identity of the Great Sage Equalling Heavens – Sun Wukong and caused tremendous havoc throughout the world. No one was able to identify the real Wukong and the imposter.

It wasn’t until the Mystical Mountain’s Tathagata Buddha appeared that the Six-Eared Macaque was forced back to his original form and ended up being killed by Sun Wukong instead.

If the monkey here was the true Great Sage Equalling Heavens.

Then, who was that Victorious Buddha Monkey that attained Buddhism Enlightenment?

“Could it be, the real Monkey King was suppressed, while the Six-Eared Macaque took the opportunity to swap his identity?” asked Feng Yunsheng.

The monkey remained silent. However, his indignant emotions slowly calmed down.

“Victorious Fighting Buddha, Victorious Fighting Buddha, attaining the Buddhism Enlightenment. Since that crude had transcended to become a Buddha, that means they succeeded…” mumbled the monkey. “Western Buddhism being spread in the North, the Blessed Lands of Saha flourishing, Buddhism flourishing… They succeeded…”

After a while, he suddenly raised his head and looked towards Yan Zhaoge and Feng Yunsheng, “Brats, I’ve been suppressed here for a long time, and I’m oblivious of what had happened in the outside world. What happened during the journey to the west? Pray tell.”

After a moment of pause, the monkey added, “Tell me from the start… Based on what you’ve all heard, start from the time when I first met the Sanzang monk.”

Feng Yunsheng looked towards Yan Zhaoge with a perplexed expression. After seeing that Yan Zhaoge was still zoned out, she answered after thinking for a while, “My knowledge about it is limited. Hopefully, I won’t mislead you.”

She gathered her information based on the myths that seemed close to the truth and described them to the monkey.

The more the monkey listened to her description, the wider his eyes got. He was gritting his teeth, obviously trying his best to control his emotions.

Feng Yunsheng described how the pilgrimage was completed and how the monk attained enlightenment, causing him to regain the position of the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit. Then, she described how Traveling Monk Sun also managed to acquire the position of the Victorious Fighting Buddha, and how that monkey cried with both rage and sadness when the Mystical Mountain’s Tathagata Buddha transcended.

After a long while, the monkey’s expression slowly calmed down, and he let out a long sigh.

Feng Yunsheng stopped saying anything. Yan Zhaoge, who had previously remained silent, asked out of the blue, “Do you regret asking this, Great Sage?”

“Why would I regret it?” The monkey got a little angry and yelled, “If I coveted becoming a Buddha, why would I remain trapped within this mountain!”

Feng Yunsheng was shocked, “Ever since you were first suppressed, you’ve never left the Five Elements Mountain?”

Then, who was the Traveling Monk Sun that appeared before the Six-Eared Macaque and protected the monk Sanzang to complete the pilgrimage?

Who was the monkey that attained Buddhism Enlightenment and became the Victorious Fighting Buddha?

Or, could this monkey be the fake one? Could he merely be trying to deceive us?”

Feng Yunsheng suddenly felt a chill down her spine as well.

Yan Zhaoge was also staring at the monkey. He didn’t even conceal the suspicions within his gaze.

The monkey stared at him with a speechless look. Then, he said, “While I don’t covet it, someone else does. I am him, and he is I. However, I definitely wouldn’t do the things that he did!”

“Even if I was to be suppressed for a hundred thousand years, a million years, or even a hundred million years, I’ll still stand by my words!”

Seeing the monkey gritting his teeth, Yan Zhaoge said, “You’ve split into two in the past!”

Feng Yunsheng remembered what the Brocade Emperor had gone through in the past and immediately realized what had happened. She looked at the Great Sage Equalling Heavens in shock.

“Traveling Monk Sun wore the Golden Circlet and accompanied Sanzang on his pilgrimage,” said Yan Zhaoge word by word. “And yet, the Great Sage Equalling Heavens is still here?”

Traveling Monk Sun was Sun Wukong, while the Great Sage Equalling Heavens was also Sun Wukong.

However, Traveling Monk Sun wasn’t the Great Sage Equalling Heavens.

“Hehe, of course, I remained here!” The monkey’s pair of eyes were like mirrors. Sparks were jumping around within the mirror, signifying his stubbornness and unyieldingness.

Yan Zhaoge asked, “About that, Six-Eared Macaque…”

“I’m oblivious about other stuff that happened, and I’d like to ask you two about it.” The Great Sage Equalling Heavens laughed at himself, “However, I’ve always known of the existence of this Six-Eared Macaque. I even know when he’s alive and when he would be dead.”

“Traveling Monk Sun’s heart demon…” Yan Zhaoge and Feng Yunsheng both understood what he meant.

After Sun Wukong was split into two, the Great Sage Equalling Heavens that stubbornly opposed Buddhism continued being suppressed by the mountain, while the Traveling Monk Sun was willing to leave here and convert to Buddhism.

However, Sun Wukong was ultimately Sun Wukong. Even if the one left was Traveling Monk Sun, a second intent still appeared within his heart.

Unfortunately, such matters were all concealed from the world.

Everything returned to normal, and history continued moving forward.

“There’s a high chance that the Nine Underworlds were also involved in this. They might have attempted to prevent the central Blessed Lands of Saha from flourishing, and the Tathagata Buddha from transcending.” Yan Zhaoge let out a sigh and looked towards the Great Sage Equalling Heavens. He suddenly asked, “The journey to the west was the journey of Buddhism’s flourishment and the Demon Race’s declination.”

Seeing the monkey’s stare, Yan Zhaoge shrugged, “Well, other than my human race, other ancient races had gone through the retribution of declining.”

He corrected his expression, “Most Great Sages and Small Saints either perished or were forced into a mere mount that had to obey their master’s command. Some of your old friends were included among them as well.”

“That Traveling Monk Sun converted to Buddhism and devoted his heart towards Buddhism. He doesn’t care about past affairs any longer. Instead, you’re the only that cares now. Since that’s the case, how about you walk down this path as well? Maybe you can be benevolent and spare more lives.”

The Great Sage Equalling Heavens snorted, “It won’t be that simple. One of us must die.”

He looked up towards the sky and was in a daze, “After the ancient era, when the Daoism’s Three Clear transcended, the Western Buddhists flourished while various other ancient races were still present. As such, the two factions fought to be this world’s monarch.”

“The Grand Plainness’s Plain of Nuwa existing beyond the Thirty-three Heavens had issued a decree. Thirty-six Great Sages, and seventy-two Small Saints of the Demon Race, which totals up to a hundred and eight, distributed the Nuwa Sovereign’s spiritual stone, which she used to patch the heavens. Then, they laid down a huge formation, which obstructed Buddhism’s path.”

“The hundred and eight spiritual stone fragments fused with the Great Sages and Small Saints. If one wanted to destroy the formation, he would have to kill.”

“However, even if one managed to kill the Great Sages or Small Saints that possessed the spiritual stone fragment, the fragments would automatically fly back to the Plains of Nuwa. With that, the Demon Race still had a chance of making a comeback.”

“When the Nuwa Sovereign patched the heavens, she left behind a total of three spiritual stones, namely Heaven, Earth, and Human. The spiritual stone used to lay down this formation is called the Humanly Essence Stone.”

“If one wanted to break through the wonders of the Humanly Essence Stone, they would require the Earthly Essence Stone.”

The monkey pointed at the stone imbued by the mountain rock indifferently, “That’s the Earthly Essence Stone, which is the place of my origins!”

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