Unfortunately, Sun Wukong had already been thoroughly tricked by the Buddhist sect, so how could he possibly extricate himself so easily?
Not long after, Sun Wukong, just like in the original story, returned to the group of four on their journey to the West.
They have experienced all sorts of hardships along the way, and before they knew it, more than a decade had passed.
Just yesterday they had overcome eighty tribulations, and the final tribulation would not occur until they obtained the true scriptures.
In other words, the Great Thunder Temple of Lingshan was not far in front of them!
According to Wang Xuan's estimate, they should be able to reach the Great Thunder Temple and see the Buddha within the next two days at the latest.
Wang Xuan had been impersonating Tang Sanzang because he had killed the real Tang Sanzang and was using Tang Sanzang's essence to hide himself.
However, when he faces the Buddha directly, he will likely no longer be able to hide it. This is because Tang Sanzang is the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, a disciple of the Buddha, and the Buddha's understanding of Tang Sanzang far surpasses that of Wang Xuan!
In other words, the time for a showdown is fast approaching.
"Wukong, what do you plan to do after you get the scriptures?" Wang Xuan asked, looking at the lively monkey in front of him.
With the Great Thunderclap Temple of Mount Ling fast approaching, Sun Wukong was clearly in a good mood, eager to remove the headband from his head.
Upon hearing Wang Xuan's question, Sun Wukong replied without hesitation, "After obtaining the scriptures, I will naturally return to my Flower Fruit Mountain to train my monkey followers."
Pigsy, who was behind them, heard their conversation and said with great joy, "After we get the scriptures, I'll go back to my Gao Village and live with my Cuilan!"
Wang Xuan rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "Go back to Gao Village? You'll probably never be able to go back in your lifetime!"
Once the scriptures were obtained, although Zhu Bajie was only appointed as the Cleansing Altar Messenger, a low-ranking position, he had ultimately entered the Buddhist system and had to abide by the Buddhist rules and regulations.
Do you still want to go back to Gao Laozhuang to be with your wife Gao Cuilan? The strict rules and regulations of Buddhism will show you why flowers are so red!
Wang Xuan sighed. Although he was just a fake Tang Sanzang, he had developed some affection for his disciples Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie after spending more than ten years with them and couldn't bear to see them get caught up in the vortex of Buddhism.
"Fine, we're going to fall out sooner or later anyway, so a couple of days earlier won't make a difference." Wang Xuan took a deep breath, no longer hesitated, and lightly stepped on the saddle, his whole body soaring into the air.
"What?!" Sun Wukong and his disciples were all shocked. Wasn't their master just a mortal? When did he become able to fly?!
"You... you actually have cultivation!" Sun Wukong swallowed hard, feeling that he had been tricked all these years of protecting "Tang Sanzang".
"Wukong, you've mastered the Xuan Tian Divine Technique that I taught you, haven't you?" Wang Xuan smiled, revealing his true voice and appearance.
Sun Wukong was dumbfounded. He never expected that his master was someone he had taken in before he was even born!
Wang Xuan didn't say anything more, nor did he give Sun Wukong a chance to ask questions. Instead, he waved his hand and put Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and the White Dragon into his sleeve.
When he looked up again, a fat-headed, big-eared Buddha had appeared in front of him. It was none other than Namo Shakyamuni Buddha, now the Tathagata Buddha!
Wang Xuan is currently not far from the foot of Mount Ling. The Buddha Tathagata is constantly watching their movements. As soon as Wang Xuan reveals his true power, the Buddha Tathagata immediately notices the abnormality and arrives here in an instant.
"You are... an extraterrestrial demon!" The Buddha stared coldly at Wang Xuan: "You actually impersonated a pilgrim from the Tang Dynasty of the East! Where did you put the real pilgrim?!"
"You mean your disciple, Jin Chanzi?" Wang Xuan said calmly, "I've already killed him!"
After saying that, Wang Xuan pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed directly at Tathagata!
Before the other saints from the Journey to the West world arrive, Wang Xuan will test the power of the Buddha Tathagata first!
boom!
The two used their full strength when they attacked, directly shattering a corner of the space and even causing cracks to appear in the world's membrane, with chaotic energy seeping in from the outside.
In this encounter, Wang Xuan gained a slight advantage.
They were both at the late stage of the eighth rank, but Wang Xuan's Myriad Paths Eternal Technique was created by him by integrating the laws and techniques of all the heavens and myriad worlds and using the enlightenment function of the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth. It was so powerful that it defied the heavens and could be called invincible among those of the same rank!
"Such a commotion, and the Supreme Dao Ancestor and Nuwa have not yet arrived. There must be something strange about this!" The Buddha's heart sank, sensing that something was amiss.
He hurriedly activated the power of the Heavenly Dao, only to discover that the Heavenly Dao of their world had become entangled with another external force. The Heavenly Dao of the Journey to the West world had even fallen slightly behind, making it impossible for him to borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao!
The reason why Nuwa and Taishang Daozu did not sense it was because they were entangled. It was only by the joint efforts of the four Heavenly Dao Saints of Xuantian World that they were able to barely stop the two of them!
Wang Xuan had been preparing for this day for many years. Once he launched his attack, it instantly triggered the descent of the Heavenly Dao of the Xuan Tian World, and the four Heavenly Dao Saints also followed and stormed into this world!
"Buddha, let's have a good match. Since breaking through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, I have never fought against a master of the same realm. You are the first!" Wang Xuan roared to the sky and threw a punch at Buddha.
With his punch, space distorted, time froze, and all the laws of nature condensed into a single point. The power of his punch even made the Buddha secretly tremble!
The Buddha dared not be negligent and met Wang Xuan's attack with a palm strike. A world appeared in his palm, which was the Buddha Kingdom in the palm!
Chapter 273 Golden Lotus of Merit
Bang!"
Wang Xuan's punch was incredibly powerful, shattering the Buddha Kingdom in his palm. His fist then moved forward, about to strike the Buddha.
But the Buddha was not alarmed at all. A lotus platform appeared beneath his feet, with nine grades of lotus blossoms. It was the famous Nine Grades Golden Lotus of Merit in Buddhism!
If placed in the primordial world, the Golden Lotus of Merit would undoubtedly be a top-grade innate spiritual treasure. However, given the limited resources of the Journey to the West world, it simply couldn't produce a treasure of that caliber. The Golden Lotus of Merit beneath the Buddha's seat was merely a low-grade innate spiritual treasure.
Even a low-grade innate spiritual treasure is still an innate spiritual treasure, and its power is much stronger than most acquired spiritual treasures. Only the power of an acquired supreme treasure can be compared to that of an innate spiritual treasure!
When Wang Xuan threw his punch, the Golden Lotus of Merit bloomed with a faint light screen, blocking his attack. He felt as if his punch had missed its mark, as if he had misdirected his power.
Almost simultaneously, the light of the Golden Lotus of Merit swept towards Wang Xuan's arm, causing it to sting painfully.
Wang Xuan withdrew his fist and sensed it slightly. He felt a strange force invading his arm, trying to reduce every inch of his muscle to the smallest particles!
"The Buddha is indeed not to be trifled with. With this Golden Lotus of Merit, you are already invincible!" Wang Xuan exclaimed, his primordial spirit mobilizing the power of the laws to cleanse himself several times, quickly eliminating the strange force that had invaded his arm.
The Buddha didn't waste words with Wang Xuan. Since the two sides had already started fighting, it was naturally a fight to the death.
With the Buddha protected by the golden lotus of merit, he had no more worries and headed straight for Wang Xuan's vital points!
Wang Xuan also calmly faced his opponent, using all sorts of techniques—fists, feet, sword, palms—and fought the Buddha for over a thousand moves.
Even with their current level of power, and despite their deliberate restraint, the aftershocks of their attack still swept across tens of thousands of miles, turning everything within that area into flat land!
"We can't fight freely here, let's go to the Chaos to duel!" Wang Xuan reached out and tore open the world's membrane, leaping into the Chaos first.
Without much hesitation, the Buddha also jumped into the chaos.
He was originally a sage of the Heavenly Dao in the Journey to the West world. He could mobilize the power of the Heavenly Dao to fight against enemies within the world, and he would never leave the world.
However, now that the Heavenly Dao of another world has invaded, even though Buddha is the Heavenly Dao Saint of the Journey to the West world, he cannot mobilize the slightest bit of the Heavenly Dao's power.
In that case, whether the enemy is fought within the world or in the chaos, it makes no difference to the Buddha.
On the contrary, fighting in the chaos can avoid harming innocent people and prevent irreversible damage to the Journey to the West world.
"Demon, where do you think you're going!" The Buddha roared, uttering the six-syllable mantra of Buddhism, which shattered a patch of chaos.
With the Golden Lotus of Merit protecting him, the Buddha was confident of victory, which was why he dared to enter the Chaos to hunt down Wang Xuan.
Once they entered the depths of chaos and were out of the sight of the other Great Luo Saints, Wang Xuan couldn't help but smile as he turned around and engaged in a fierce battle with the Buddha.
boom!
After exchanging several more blows, Wang Xuan directly summoned the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth. The nine-layered bronze ancient tower flew out from his sea of consciousness, crushing space and time, suppressing all paths, and directly freezing the figure of the Buddha.
Although the Golden Lotus of Merit is powerful, it is only a low-grade innate spiritual treasure. How could it withstand the suppression of the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth?
However, Wang Xuan was using all his power to activate the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth, and the divine power he consumed was too much for him to handle. In just a moment, most of his divine power was used up.
He dared not be negligent and urged the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth to crash down, sending the Buddha Tathagata flying and seriously injured.
"Buzz!"
Before Wang Xuan could deliver the fatal blow, the divine power within him was no longer sufficient to activate the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth to directly suppress the enemy. The nine-layered bronze ancient tower rapidly shrank, about to retract back into Wang Xuan's sea of consciousness between his eyebrows.
Wang Xuan was getting anxious. His divine power was completely exhausted, leaving him with only a powerful physical body. Even if the Buddha was seriously injured, as long as the other party possessed him with the Golden Lotus of Merit, Wang Xuan would most likely be unable to do anything to him!
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that when the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth had attacked, the Golden Lotus of Merit had already been knocked away, and now it was actually closer to him.
So Wang Xuan rushed over without hesitation, grabbed the Golden Lotus of Merit, and before the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth could completely retract into his sea of consciousness, he stuffed the Golden Lotus of Merit into the bottom layer of the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Just moments ago, the Buddha was in complete control, but the next moment he was severely injured, and even the Golden Lotus of Merit was stolen by the enemy, which shocked and enraged him.
"You scoundrel, quickly return my Golden Lotus of Merit!"
Wang Xuan sneered a few times, then charged forward, swinging his fists. Although his divine power was almost completely depleted, his physical body was incredibly strong. With just this pure physical strength, he could fight against experts of the same realm, not to mention that the Buddha was seriously injured!
Their battle shook the very fabric of chaos, stirring up turbulent currents. However, chaos was immense, the very source of all things, and even though Wang Xuan and his companions had reached the eighth-order Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, they could not possibly destroy it.
After an unknown amount of time, the battle finally came to an end. Wang Xuan's hand moved like a heavenly blade, cutting the Buddha into dozens of pieces, which he then sealed away, intending to hand them over to the Buddha of the Xuan Tian World after this battle.
The battle in the Journey to the West world was not yet over. The four saints in the Xuan Tian world were fighting fiercely with Nuwa and Taishang Daozu in the Journey to the West world. Therefore, Wang Xuan did not rest for long and rushed over to help.
When he returned to the world of Journey to the West and saw the two sides in a standoff, he was taken aback.
Because their enemies were not just Nuwa and Taishang Daozu, but a total of four people!
The three of them are connected by their auras: Taiqing Daode Tianzun, Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, and Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun!
Only now did Wang Xuan realize that the Three Pure Ones in this world were actually one entity, all being the same person.
Lao Tzu transformed into the Three Pure Ones from one breath, and these Three Pure Ones were all transformed from Taishang Laojun!
This differs from the traditional framework of the prehistoric world. In the prehistoric world, the Three Pure Ones are three independent beings, each with extraordinary cultivation and having attained the status of a Heavenly Saint.
However, in the world of Journey to the West, the Three Pure Ones are merely three incarnations of one person, which is undoubtedly beyond Wang Xuan's imagination.
Chapter 274 Eighth Stage Perfection
In the world of Journey to the West, Lao Tzu can transform into the Three Pure Ones with a single breath, and can rival three masters of the same realm on his own. With the assistance of the Goddess Nuwa, even four top-tier Grand Luo Golden Immortals at the late eighth stage could be fought to a draw!
The four saints from the Xuan Tian World were only at the mid-stage of the eighth rank, which was weaker than the Heavenly Dao Saints in the Journey to the West World.
If the Xuan Tian World hadn't devoured countless worlds, and its transformed Heavenly Dao power hadn't been several times stronger than the Heavenly Dao in the Journey to the West world, allowing it to suppress the Heavenly Dao of Journey to the West while also mobilizing some power to help the Four Sages of Xuan Tian, they would probably have been defeated long ago.
Even so, the four saints of the Xuan Tian World were retreating step by step and gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. If there was no external intervention, they would be defeated in no more than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
"Don't panic, everyone! I'm here to lend you a hand!" Wang Xuan shouted and rushed over to help.
During this time, his divine power had recovered slightly, and combined with his incomparably powerful physical body, he was confident that he could defeat an ordinary late-stage eighth-tier expert.
Of course, if the opponent is like the Buddha in the Journey to the West, possessing a primordial spiritual treasure like the Golden Lotus of Merit, and Wang Xuan is currently unable to activate the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth to suppress the enemy, then he will most likely be unable to defeat them.
With Wang Xuan's arrival, the battle situation changed instantly.
Wang Xuan was radiating a crystal-clear divine light, every inch of his muscle was glowing, as if his physical body was an unparalleled divine artifact.