Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong had refused Zi Lan Fairy's request. These people of the Heavenly Court were neither his kin nor his kind, and would still be his enemies in the future. Why should he exhaust himself to rescue them and make trouble for himself?

"Zi Lan, your brother Wukong thinks that it's already quite generous of him not to act against them for your sake, but to actually reach out and save them? Impossible!"

Sun Wukong's words cast a shadow of sorrow in Zi Lan Fairy's eyes. However, she knew that Sun Wukong had told her long ago that there would be a fierce battle with the Heavenly Court. If she were in Sun Wukong's position, she probably wouldn't lend a hand either. Her request was indeed a bit too much.

But watching those she knew in the Heavenly Court being devoured one by one by Blood Dragon Ao Tian without being able to do anything about it was something Zi Lan Fairy found hard to bear. She once again buried her head into Sun Wukong's collar, closing off her six senses, no longer seeing or hearing, and thus, her heart felt less pained.

"Zi Lan, I'm sorry, but your brother Wukong simply cannot grant your request! A moment of mercy to an enemy is the greatest cruelty to oneself and friends and family. You will understand this sooner or later!"

After silently sighing to himself, Sun Wukong braced his spirits and continued to follow Blood Dragon Ao Tian deeper toward the Heavenly Court.

Atop the Lingxia Palace, the Jade Emperor was holding a routine court meeting when suddenly, a commotion from outside the hall reached his ears. His brow furrowed, and just as he was about to inquire, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing barged in, disheveled and in a sorry state, and kneeled with a thud in the great hall:

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

"Heavenly King Li, weren't you at the Polar Realm of Heaven, encircling and suppressing the Demon Monkey, Sun Wukong? How have you returned in such a state?"

The Jade Emperor was shocked and stood up abruptly from his dragon throne.

"Your Majesty, that Demon Monkey has broken out from the Netherworld! I led the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to fight fiercely against it, and just as we were about to capture him, a Myriad Fathom Blood Dragon appeared out of nowhere, with the Cultivation of a Quasi-Saint, and launched an attack on our Heavenly Army. Apart from me, who barely escaped with my life, everyone else..."

Li Jing said and suddenly burst into loud weeping, shaking the Jade Emperor and all the Immortals and Gods in the Lingxia Palace to their core. They all looked at one another in dismay, for Li Jing's news was simply too shocking!

"Heavenly King Li, do not be overly grieved for now, rise and speak!"

As Lord of the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor was relatively able to maintain his composure. Despite the alarm in his heart, his face did not show too much panic. After letting Li Jing stand up, he asked, "Out of the thirty thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, only King Li has escaped back? What about Nezha the Third Prince?"

"My son Nezha tried to protect me during our escape and was also struck down!"

Li Jing's face showed an expression filled with intense grief and indignation. As these words were spoken, all the Immortals and Gods present were horrified. Nezha the Third Prince was the War God of the Heavenly Court, undefeated in battle. How could he too have perished?

"Boom!"

Just as the Jade Emperor was about to ask more, a thunderous roar suddenly echoed from outside the palace, causing the entire Lingxia Palace to tremble.

"What's going on?"

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"Your Majesty, that Blood Dragon has been pursuing us all along, and our Heavenly Army has been nearly annihilated. When I fled here, that accursed beast was ramming the Barrier at the Southern Heavenly Gate. By now, it has likely smashed through and stormed in! Your Majesty, decisions must be made swiftly!"

As soon as Li Jing uttered these words, the pantheon of Immortals erupted into chaos, thinking it was only the Demon Dragon causing trouble. No one had expected it to make its way to the Heavenly Court, surely the earlier tremors were caused by the Blood Dragon striking the Southern Heavenly Gate?

"Thousand-Mile Eyes, Listening Ears, swiftly investigate!"

"By your command!"

Upon the Jade Emperor's order, Thousand-Mile Eyes and Listening Ears hurriedly surveyed the situation, and shortly after, they rushed back and reported:

"Your Majesty, the Blood Dragon has breached the Barrier at the Southern Heavenly Gate and has invaded. It is now wreaking havoc near the Heavenly River with great ferocity. The Heavenly River Navy has suffered heavy casualties and is struggling to hold on!"

"What?"

The Jade Emperor's hand trembled, and his face twitched violently, the barrier at the Southern Heavenly Gate had been breached so quickly! It seemed that what the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing had said was true, the Blood Dragon indeed possessed the cultivation of the Quasi-Saint Realm.

Such a formidable being could only be captured by the likes of the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, or perhaps by employing the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Formation!

"Summon someone to urgently visit the Doushui Palace and request the Elderly Lord's presence, Heavenly King Li, lead the immortals to the Heavenly River, and join forces to thwart that Demon Dragon. I will make a trip to the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault!"

"Your servant obeys!"

"Your servants obey!"

The messengers of the Heavenly Soldiers received the order and hastened towards Doushui Palace from the Lingxia Palace, while Heavenly King Li and the other deities of the Heavenly Court flew towards the direction of the disturbance coming from the Heavenly River.

At the same time, the Jade Emperor left the Lingxia Palace through a side exit and arrived at the entrance to the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault.

In Ancient Times, the Primeval Heavenly Court of the Ancient Demon Clan had laid out the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Formation using the River Diagram and the Luo Script to dominate the primeval era. Then, during the great battle between witches and demons, the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Formation fiercely clashed with the Duotian Divine Demons Great Formation.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Afterward, the River Diagram and the Luo Script were taken by the Demon Master Kunpeng, who fled to the Northern Continent of Cattle-grazing. After reconstructing on the old site of the Primeval Heavenly Court of the Ancient Demon Clan, the Human Heavenly Court redesigned the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Formation for precaution.

However, without the River Diagram and the Luo Script, the Formation's power was far less than that of the Primeval Heavenly Court's. As a substitute for the crucial component, the River Diagram, the Jade Emperor used scrolls from the Investiture of the Gods and the God Beating Whip, which were stored inside the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault.

After the great Divine Enthronement war of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Jiang Ziya made gods using the Investiture of the Gods at the Conferment of Gods Platform. Subsequently, when the Human Heavenly Court was established, Jiang Ziya returned the Investiture of the Gods and the God Beating Whip to the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, who then bestowed them to the Jade Emperor.

It seems that aside from serving to confer gods and encapsulate a trace of the origins of the conferred deities' divinities, the main purpose of the Investiture of the Gods became to act as the Formation Eye for the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Formation.

Over the years, it had only been used during the last immortal-demon war and had since been sealed in the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault, accessible only by the Jade Emperor who was authorized to retrieve it.

Casting a Dharma Decree towards the great doors of the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault, the doors suddenly shimmered with a brilliant light and slowly swung open with a rumbling noise as the Jade Emperor stepped into the vault.

As soon as he entered, several beams of colored light swept over and scanned the Jade Emperor back and forth several times before moving away.

This was the defensive array of the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault; apart from the Jade Emperor, only those authorized by him were allowed entry and could pass the array's scan without being treated as invading enemies and subjected to the fierce attacks of the array.

The defensive array itself wasn't particularly powerful, but it had a unique feature: it could absorb the power of the treasures stored within to enhance its attack power and defensive strength. The more and higher the level the treasures stored, the stronger the attacks the array could muster.

Apart from Heavenly Dao Saints, even a Quasi-Saint would have difficulty withstanding the array's strikes if they were to intrude.

The Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault was divided into two levels, the first level consisted of ordinary Immortal Artifacts and ancient tomes, all neatly arranged in rows upon shelves. The second level contained treasures that had at least reached the level of an Acquired Spiritual Treasure, each radiating light and floating mid-air, moving about incessantly without any discernible pattern.

However, in terms of familiarity with the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault, perhaps no one could surpass the Jade Emperor, who expertly made his way to the second level. With a reach of his hand and a surge of attractive force, he drew a cluster glowing with golden light from mid-air down into his palm.

As the radiance subsided, an ancient-looking scroll and a seemingly unremarkable short whip, covered with colorful Dao Patterns upon closer inspection, was revealed—these were none other than the Investiture of the Gods and the God Beating Whip.

He nodded, put away the Investiture of the Gods scroll and the God Beating Whip, and the Jade Emperor turned to walk out of the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault.

Above the Heavenly River.

"Roar~!"

"Hold it, hold him off!"

"Form the formation! Trap him!"

The massive roar of a dragon echoed in all directions, mixed with the furious shouts of the Heavenly River Navy and the roars of the generals. A deluge of spells was unleashed upon the vast dragon body of Blood Dragon Ao Tian, but they only managed to momentarily delay his movements, unable to inflict any effective damage on him.

After entering the Heavenly Court, Blood Dragon Ao Tian had been relentlessly pursuing and devouring the scattered crowds until he reached the Heavenly River, where he happened upon Marshal Tianpeng leading a staged play with the Heavenly River Navy. Enraged by this scene, he commanded the navy to attack Blood Dragon Ao Tian.

Marshal Tianpeng was none other than the future Zhu Bajie, but at this time, he had not yet been demoted to the mortal world for his harassment of Chang'e, nor had he mistakenly stolen a pig fetus. His cultivation and mana were both at the pinnacle of the Taiyi Golden Immortal, almost on par with Nezha the Third Prince.

He was even a bit stronger than Nezha in terms of leadership abilities, and the one hundred thousand soldiers of the Heavenly River Navy he commanded could be said to be the strongest force in the Heavenly Court, especially within the Heavenly River.

The Blood Dragon Ao Tian was of Quasi-Saint Cultivation, mighty in strength, and the ordinary Heavenly Soldiers were no match for him. In their first engagement, the Heavenly River Navy suffered greatly, as Blood Dragon Ao Tian killed many with just a few charges and tail whips.

In just a short period of time, several thousand Heavenly Soldiers fell, most of whom were devoured by Blood Dragon Ao Tian. Marshal Tianpeng was shocked and quickly changed his strategy, having his navy temporarily retreat and form a battle line to surround Blood Dragon Ao Tian.

Then, by coordinating their attacks in an organized sequence according to the battle formation, they finally managed to hold off Blood Dragon Ao Tian.

The cultivation level of the Heavenly River Navy was generally at or above the Heavenly Immortal Realm, which made them considerably more elite compared to the inconsistent ranks of other Heavenly Court armies. Their coordination with one another was also extremely tacit. A series of attacks, not very powerful in themselves, became formidable after continuous stacking.

Even the seemingly invincible body of Blood Dragon Ao Tian began to wobble under the barrage, and while it did not injure him, it effectively constrained his movements, temporarily trapping him above the Heavenly River.

"Heh! Who would have thought Bajie actually had some skill before descending to the mortal world? That fool, the way he acted during the Scripture Seeking journey was all feigned, wasn't it?"

Sun Wukong, invisibly lurking by the Heavenly River, secretly watched the great battle with some surprise at Marshal Tianpeng's performance. During his past upheaval in the Heavenly Palace, he had never combated the Heavenly River Navy and thus was unaware of Marshal Tianpeng's actual strength.

Now it seemed that Tianpeng was far superior to Zhu Bajie during the Scripture Seeking journey; if it wasn't due to a drastic reduction in strength because of reincarnation, then Zhu Bajie must have deliberately played the fool!