Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"How is this scourge not afraid of Buddha's Light Fiery Flame anymore?"

Feeling Nezha's situation within the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing's face suddenly changed. Nezha's greatest fear used to be the Buddha's Light Fiery Flame inside the pagoda; in the past, as soon as the Buddha's Light Fiery Flame arose, Nezha's screams of agony would follow.

But this time, Nezha was moving through the fiery flames without a hint of fear, which was truly bizarre!

Watching Nezha about to pass through the Buddha's Light Fiery Flame to reach the core passageway, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing became anxious. Nezha knew very well the weak points of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, and if he got through the core passage to reach the pinnacle of the seven treasures and took those seven treasures, the pagoda would become a discarded tower!

"The seven treasures converge, Buddha's light illuminates the sky, all things shall perish!"

With a spray of essence blood, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing used his essence blood as a catalyst and forcibly activated the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda. The Buddha's Light Fiery Flame within suddenly intensified, turning into streaks of Buddha's Light staffs and Fiery Flame crazed dragons that surrounded Nezha.

"Not good!"

Nezha's pupils suddenly constricted, and the projection of a bright pearl lit up in his forehead, firmly withstanding all the surging Buddha's Light and fiery flames, preventing them from touching him.

Although he had now freed himself from the constraints of the Lotus Incarnation and found his Spirit Pearl origin, making him capable of resisting Buddha's Light Fiery Flame, he was not entirely immune and couldn't afford the slightest carelessness.

The projection of the Spirit Pearl gradually took solid form and released a barrier that blocked all the Buddha's Light Fiery Flames. Nezha swung his fire-tipped spear fiercely, blasting open a passage in front of him, and turned into a bolt of lightning as he charged through, entering the central core passageway.
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"Damn it! The scourge has broken through!"

Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing was utterly shocked. He tried to trigger the defensive system of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda to block Nezha, but it was already too late. Once Nezha entered the core passage, he shot towards the top of the tower like a bolt of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the topmost level, where the seven treasures were stored.

"Three heads and eight arms!"

"Grow!"

With a single thought, Nezha used his divine skill, "three heads and eight arms," and his eight arms suddenly stretched out, grabbing the seven treasures in his hands. The remaining arm brandished the fire-tipped spear, scattering the Buddha's Light Fiery Flames that had pursued him.

"Retrieve!"

With a light shout, dazzling light shone from all eight of Nezha's arms, fiercely pulling the seven treasures towards him.

"Scourge, you dare?"

Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing's eyes revealed a look of shock and rage. He pointed like two swords towards the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda floating in front of him, insanely channeling his Immortal Primordial Force into the body of the pagoda, trying to prevent Nezha from taking the seven treasures inside it. However, it was all in vain.

"Old thief! Do you want to save these seven Spiritual Treasures?"

Nezha sneered, as the origin of his Spirit Pearl poured into the seven treasures. The link between the treasures and the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda weakened rapidly under the erosion of the Spirit Pearl's origin, and the entire pagoda began to shake violently.

"Do you see that? Something seems to be wrong with that pagoda!"

Outside the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, the Demon Clan of the Flower-Fruit Mountain watched as it flew back to Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing's hands. Li Jing appeared to be suppressing something with all his might, then the entire pagoda suddenly shook violently, emitting unusual fluctuations, and its brilliance significantly diminished.

It was clear to everyone that there was a problem with the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

"It must be Nezha's doing; I told you that boy wouldn't suffer, right?"

Leng Xuan's eyes glinted with a sharp light as he put his arm around the fox demon Sun Xiaoqing's shoulders and comforted her, "I'm afraid that this time, that Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing is going to suffer a great loss!"

Leng Xuan was very clear about the enmity between Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing and Nezha. Having been acquainted with each other for so many years, Nezha would definitely be aware of Li Jing's and the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda's weaknesses. This time, it seemed that Li Jing was going to face difficulties he couldn't escape!

"When did Nezha become so strong? Just who is this demon monkey Sun Wukong, and why does everyone associated with him become powerful?"

A look of surprise flashed in the Erlang God Yang Jian's eyes. He could see the power of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda dwindling rapidly, and without even thinking, he knew it must be Nezha's handiwork!

The Nezha that Erlang God Yang Jian knew before would have never been capable of such a feat!

Above the firmament, on the clouds, four figures were watching the battle unfold—it was Ran Deng Buddha and three others. In fact, they had already arrived before the Great Zhou Tian Ten Directions Wheel Formation was broken, but they had been watching from the clouds without joining the fight.

"Who would have thought that among the Demon Race of Flower-Fruit Mountain there exists a grandmaster of the Path of Formations, capable of wielding such power with their combined strike battle formation. It has been many years since such a force was last seen in the Three Realms, hasn't it?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva expressed her admiration with a look of praise. She was very interested in the Flower-Fruit Mountain Demon Race's Great Zhou Tian Ten Directions Wheel Formation. Of course, what interested her even more was the person who taught the Demon Race how to set up this great formation.

"Hmph! A mere demon dares to claim the title of grandmaster?"

Ran Deng Buddha snorted disdainfully, "It's just good luck, having stumbled upon an ancient battle formation somewhere. Showing off like this here is laughable. What's there to praise?"

"Guanyin, if they are not of our race, their hearts must be different. Have you forgotten how Manjushri died? These demons have acquired a combined strike battle formation of such tremendous power, and in just a few years, they have grown to this extent. If we do not check their advance now, it's uncertain whether the Three Realms will remain the domain of the Human Race in the future!"

A cold glint flashed in Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's eyes. Among the four great Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist Sect, he and Manjusri Bodhisattva, as well as Guanyin Bodhisattva, were originally disciples of the same master. However, Guanyin Bodhisattva's thoughts were always beyond his understanding. Instead, he had been closer to Manjusri Bodhisattva.

For this reason, when Manjusri Bodhisattva perished at the hands of Sun Wukong, Samantabhadra's heart filled with hatred, extending this ire toward the Demon Race of Flower-Fruit Mountain, wishing he could utterly exterminate them to avenge Manjusri Bodhisattva.

As for the Buddhist teachings of compassion, saving all sentient beings, and the return to the shore, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva completely dismissed them from his heart, nor did he see anything wrong with that. These were but deceptions for the Buddhist followers. To take them seriously would be foolish!

From the Ancient Primeval to the present, interests and power are the eternal laws. Everything else serves the interest. Power is the fundamental guarantee, and the rest are merely means. Now, the Human Race rules the Three Realms, and the Buddhist Sect seeks to take control of the Three Realms from the Taoist Heavenly Court. This pertains to the internal struggle of the Human Race.

But if the Demon Race of Flower-Fruit Mountain rises and usurps control over the Three Realms, it would represent a crisis for the entire race!

Guanyin Bodhisattva fell silent. She was well aware of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's words, but to Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Heavenly Dao had its own patterns. Just as in the past, after the great battle between the Witch-Demon Clans, the Witch and Demon Races went into decline and the Human Race rose up to replace them as destined by the Heavenly Dao.

Who could say that the rise of the Flower-Fruit Mountain Demon Race isn't the choice of the Heavenly Dao's trajectory?

In Guanyin Bodhisattva's heart, there wasn't much difference between the Human and Demon Races. The Great Dao is vast, and amidst the myriad races that rise and fall, they are all but sentient beings striving for success in this world. There was no saying who between Manjushri Bodhisattva and Sun Wukong was more just or evil—all because of different stances and interests, which led to opposition.

As for who would emerge victorious or who would fall, it all depended on the strength of both sides. There was nothing to be envious or resentful about.

Seeing that Guanyin Bodhisattva did not speak, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva took it as her agreement and did not say more, turning his gaze back to the battlefield.

At this moment, due to the appearance of Erlang God Yang Jian and the Heavenly Eye Divine Light, the Flower-Fruit Mountain Demon Race's Great Zhou Tian Ten Directions Wheel Formation was broken, and thousands of demons were sucked into the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and Ran Deng Buddha showed satisfied expressions, nodding their heads in approval.

"This Yang Jian truly deserves to be the foremost War God of the Heavenly Court, with exceptional strength! What a pity, such a talent cannot serve our Buddhist Sect. Otherwise, our Buddhist community could have added another Battle Buddha!"

Ran Deng Buddha sighed, his gaze towards Erlang God Yang Jian filled with deep admiration. Erlang God Yang Jian was the chief disciple of Real Man of Jade Cauldron, one of the Kunlun Twelve Golden Immortals. He was the heir to all of Real Man of Jade Cauldron's teachings.

It was regrettable that Real Man of Jade Cauldron was unwilling to join the Buddhist Sect, preferring to seclude himself in the Golden Sunshine Cave of Jade Spring Mountain for solitary cultivation.

Otherwise, with a few words of persuasion from Real Man of Jade Cauldron, given Yang Jian's strained nephew-uncle relationship with the Jade Emperor, it wouldn't be impossible to sway him towards the Buddhist Sect.

"The Six-Eared Macaque is also remarkably capable. Though not yet a Daluo Golden Immortal, he can contend with Yang Jian, showing terrifying potential! No wonder the Ancestral Buddha tried several times to recruit him into our Buddhist community. Perhaps in the upcoming boundless calamities, the Six-Eared Macaque will prove extremely useful to our Buddhist community,"

Guanyin Bodhisattva mused thoughtfully. A sharp light flashed in Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's eyes as he glanced at the Six-Eared Macaque but said nothing. He disliked the demon race, but the Six-Eared Macaque was someone the Tathagata Buddha specifically intended to bring into the Buddhist Sect.

Perhaps in the future, he could become a Battle Buddha and a fellow disciple, so it would be wise to refrain from speaking ill of him to avoid future discord.

If things continued this way, Ran Deng Buddha and the other three might just keep watching the battle, waiting for the Flower-Fruit Mountain Demon Race to be completely annihilated before attempting to subdue the Six-Eared Macaque and take him back to Western Heaven Spiritual Mountain.

However, the appearance of Nezha the Third Prince disrupted the plans of Ran Deng Buddha and the others, especially after sensing Nezha's current level of cultivation and the unique fluctuations of aura on him, which made Ran Deng Buddha and his companions somewhat unsettled.

"It's Nezha! Didn't father say that Nezha died at the hands of that demon monkey Sun Wukong? How is he unharmed?"

A look of shock passed through Mu Zha's eyes. He had learned of Nezha's fall through a message from Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing that spanned thousands of miles. But now, Nezha had appeared on the battlefield unscathed and had even rushed out from Flower-Fruit Mountain. What on earth was going on?