Chapter 103: Ling Shan Takes Action

  Dai Lei Da Niu and Wu Lei walked away, and the secret room fell silent.

  Lei Hao closed his eyes and carefully examined the injuries on his body, only to see that his body was empty and hollow, filled with a taste like a severe drought. The primordial spirit in his dantian was also weak and listless, looking like a junkie who had just smoked a big pipe of opium. Even the two Dao fruits under his primordial spirit's buttocks looked dull and lifeless, no longer shining brightly like they used to.

  After a long while, he finally opened his eyes and let out a gentle sigh.

  "This injury is quite serious." Lei Hao muttered to himself. After figuring out the extent of his physical injuries, Lei Hao, who had been feeling a bit swollen in his heart, suddenly woke up again.

  This battle with Erlang Shen, although he won, was also extremely risky for Leihao. The speed at which 'Bao Lei Ben Yuan' drained his physical energy would have exhausted him in just four breaths, even if he had given it his all. If Erlang Shen had any other trump cards that could withstand the frenzied and violent slashes of his sword, then after those four breaths, Leihao would have been killed by 'Bao Lei Ben Yuan' before Erlang Shen even made a move.

  "I recall that Sun Wukong once mentioned that after the Golden Immortal stage, there are still three more realms: the Taiyi True Immortal, the Taiyi Heavenly Immortal, and the Mahayana Golden Immortal. If I, who am already struggling to defeat Erlang Shen, a high-ranking expert in the late Golden Immortal stage, were to face an opponent on the level of the Three Great Bodhisattvas, I would probably die a terrible death. How arrogant I was! I thought that just by destroying a small sect, I could claim to be invincible under the heavens!" Lei Hao's heart suddenly felt a chill as he calculated this in his mind, and he became even more worried about Sun Wukong's future.

  Now that he has defeated Erlang Shen, who can rank in the top ten among the Golden Immortals of the Three Realms, the next one to jump out will be an even more terrifying enemy.

  After a long time, Leihao gritted his teeth and closed his eyes to start circulating his spiritual power to recover from the injuries on his body. What he could do now was to heal as soon as possible and get out of here, so that he could help Wukong share some of the burden.

  Soon, a halo of magical power rose in the sealed room, and Lei Hao's figure was shrouded in the halo. The purple and red lights illuminated the room, flashing with mysterious and unpredictable brilliance.

  The heavenly court had been attacking the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits for several months, but in heaven, only a few hours had passed.

  A few hours ago, Guanyin Bodhisattva hastily left the Heavenly Court and returned to Ling Mountain. He once again stepped into the Heavenly Court, but this time he was not alone. He was accompanied by Puxian and Wenshu, two other bodhisattvas, and behind him followed a group of arhats with bodies that shone like ancient bronze.

  At this time, in the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, the Jade Emperor was listening seriously to the report of Wuqu Xingjun on the battle report of the Heavenly Army attacking Huaguo Mountain.

  "That wicked King Wan Jun is truly lawless and unscrupulous, having killed the great god Nezha of the Three Altars Sea Assembly after which he even defeated Erlang Shen Yang Jian, blocking tens of millions of heavenly soldiers and generals from the Heavenly Court for several months on the top of Mount Huaguo, yet unable to make any progress. Therefore, I, your humble subject, dare to request that Your Majesty reinforce our troops and add more generals."

  The Jade Emperor looked down at the wine jug on the imperial desk, watching the swirling liquor inside, and heard that even Yang Jian was defeated by Lei Hao. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, then his eyes suddenly moved, and with a loud slap on the imperial desk, he thundered: "You can't even conquer a small Flower Fruit Mountain, suffering consecutive losses of soldiers and generals, not only have you achieved nothing, but you also dare to come back and ask for more troops? What use are these useless things to me?"

  The Jade Emperor's voice had just fallen, and the eunuchs in front of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall loudly sang: "Nanhai Putuo Luojia Mountain, save suffering and difficulties, great compassion and great pity, Namo Guanyin Bodhisattva; Wutai Mountain, Namo Great Wisdom Manjusri Bodhisattva; Namo Emei Mountain, Silver World Great Vow Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, accompanied by all the arhats."

  The Jade Emperor's face sank as he said, "Decree."

  Then a group of Bodhisattvas and Arhats stepped into the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, treading on auspicious light. Judging from the expressions of the three Bodhisattvas leading the way, Guanyin, Puxian, and Manjusri, they had obviously heard the Jade Emperor's angry rebuke just now.

  After making a bow, Guanyin stepped forward and said: "Is the Jade Emperor troubled by the Monkey King Sun Wukong of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits and the Ten Thousand Pound Demon King?"

  The Jade Emperor asked with a puzzled expression: "How did the Bodhisattva know what I was thinking in my heart?"

  Guanyin Bodhisattva heard this and cursed in her heart, but her face remained calm as she said: "This humble monk just came from the military camp on Mount Huaguo, where the Four Heavenly Kings told me that the attack on Mount Huaguo was being hindered."

  The Jade Emperor listened and secretly scolded the Four Heavenly Kings, but on his face he pretended to be enlightened and said: "So that's how it is, the Bodhisattva has a plan." After finishing speaking, the Jade Emperor looked at Wuqu Xingjun kneeling in the great hall, and unexpectedly didn't want to bother with the monks from Ling Shan anymore.

  The Bodhisattva Guanyin was furious, but she had to put on a sincere face and said loudly: "After I return to the Spiritual Mountain, I will report to the Buddha about the chaos caused by the demon king in the heavenly court. The Buddha said that our Buddhist teachings are meant to alleviate human suffering and eliminate demons, so it is only right for us to help the heavenly court capture the demon king. That's why I was sent here with a few fellow monks to assist. However, when we were on our way, the Buddha instructed me to tell Sun Wukong that he has a connection with Buddhism and should come to the Spiritual Mountain to reflect on his actions after the main culprit, the demon king, is captured."

  Half a day ago, Guanyin Bodhisattva hurried back to Lingshan Mountain and reported the sudden change in the Heavenly Palace to the Tathagata Buddha. However, the Tathagata Buddha hastily saw it as just another ploy by the Jade Emperor to secretly hinder Lingshan Mountain and gain more benefits. He immediately ordered the three great Bodhisattvas to lead a team of Arhats to come, but their purpose was not to subdue Lei Hao, a small golden immortal monster who couldn't even enter the Buddha's eyes. Their goal was still Sun Wukong; as long as they could tightly control him, no matter how many schemes others came up with, they would all dissipate like smoke and clouds.

  The Jade Emperor's eyes flashed with a hint of anger as soon as he heard this. He naturally understood the meaning behind Guanyin Bodhisattva's words - that capturing the Ten Thousand Years Old Demon King was just an excuse, and they actually wanted to get rid of the Heavenly Court and directly control Sun Wukong. However, since Guanyin had already brought up the two great Vice-Teaching Ancestors, the Tathagata Buddha and the Burning Lamp Buddha, he couldn't shirk off the responsibility. With an expressionless face, he said: "I thank the Tathagata Buddha and the Burning Lamp Buddha for their kind intentions. The heavy task of capturing the Ten Thousand Years Old Demon King, I will entrust to all of you Bodhisattvas."

  Yu Huang stood up and said loudly, "The court is dismissed." After that, he flung his sleeve and walked out of the Lingxiao Hall with a gloomy face.

  At this time, in the Water Curtain Cave of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, Sun Wukong was frowning at Lei Dabao and shouted: "Dabao, where did you put my Monkey King's descendants? How could you...

  "What a big waterfall cave, and yet there isn't even a shadow of a monkey?"

  Lei Da Niu thought for a moment and then said, "Don't worry, Monkey Brother. Your monkey sons and grandsons have all gone to the Water Cavern Cave. I won't wrong them in the slightest."

  Sun Wukong heard this and asked in puzzlement: "The Mountain of Flowers and Fruits is fine, why did you bring them to the Water Cavern?"

  Lei Da Niu pointed to the sky and said with a helpless expression: "Where did you see that Huaguo Mountain is now? If Huaguo Mountain can be breached, with your skills, even more heavenly soldiers and generals cannot stop you. But what about those little monkey demons?"

  Sun Wukong's face suddenly changed, and after a long while, he slowly opened his mouth and said: "Where are the brothers of Lei Wei? Are they also back in Shuixian Cave? I was wondering why I hadn't seen Little Fox for several days. It turns out that they all went back to Shuixian Cave."

  Lei Daniu nodded silently.

  After a few breaths, Sun Wukong asked again: "But what did you entrust before closing the door to heal your injuries?"

  Lei Hao nodded again.

  Sun Wukong let out a long sigh, feeling somewhat downhearted as he carried his golden staff out of the Water Curtain Cave and flew straight towards the dark clouds, shouting loudly: "Four Great Turtles, come out and fight with me!"

  Now the four heavenly kings who preside over the Heavenly Court heard Sun Wukong's battle cry, "You look at me, I look at you." After Sun Wukong had been shouting for a while, Mo Li Hong, the fourth heavenly king, weakly said, "Why don't we go out and fight this monkey for a few rounds? It's not good to let him keep shouting like this."

  The Great King of the Heavenly Kingdom, Molihai, glared at Moliqing with a stern expression and scolded: "You're not young anymore, how can you still be so impulsive? Do you think this is like fighting ordinary monsters as usual? You've already fought two rounds! With that iron rod of his, if he were to hit you twice, you'd either die or become crippled! If the ruthless and merciless Wanjin Demon King were to appear, my four brothers and I would likely lose our lives in this desolate and remote place!"

  Mo Li Hong heard this and helplessly said: "Am I afraid of affecting the morale?"

  Mo Lihai pointed to the heavenly soldiers and generals behind him: "Is there anything else that can be affected? Now even the Third Prince has fallen in this Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, we must be more cautious. After cultivating for thousands of years, we have achieved today's achievements, and we cannot afford to be careless! Remember, this Heavenly Court is His Majesty's, my four brothers and I just need to do our own part well, don't think about making any contributions."

  The other three brothers of the Four Heavenly Kings also thought it made sense, so they dispelled their intention to fight for the first time and let Sun Wukong continue to challenge them.

  Sun Wukong shouted outside the dark cloud for half a day, feeling somewhat parched and tongue-tied, but none of the Four Heavenly Kings came out to fight. He had a mind to swing his staff and strike, but remembering Lei Hao's warning, he could only turn back with an unpleasant face, carrying his golden-hooped rod back to the Water Curtain Cave.

  (To be continued in the next update, which will be posted later tonight.)