Chapter Eighteen: Defeated but Not Destroyed

  Although it looks like Sun Wukong has already exhausted himself and fallen, the Tathagata is still not at ease, always feeling that in the next moment, this monkey will stand up again! So, the Tathagata used his magical powers to investigate once more. The result was the same as before: the person had not died, but the breath inside his body was extremely chaotic and he was already on his last gasp. This stalemate was also not a solution, so the Tathagata called up several Buddha soldiers to come forward and inspect him.

  Several Buddha soldiers carefully dragged Sun Wukong up, half-kneeling in front of the Tathagata. At this moment, the Tathagata finally felt at ease. It seemed that this monkey was really unable to get up again. As he slowly approached on his lotus throne, Sun Wukong, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes. What a pair of pupils they were! Blood-red pupils, revealing a fierce and murderous glow. Yet, mixed with regret and hatred. "Tathagata, Tathagata, as long as I, old Sun, don't die, I will definitely kill you, destroy your Spirit Mountain!" A heart-wrenching scream, even because of excessive force, blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.

  As soon as Sun Wukong opened his eyes, the Tathagata had already flown away. At this moment, seeing that Sun Wukong was just pretending to be strong, he immediately restored his usual demeanor as a high and mighty Buddha. Heaven knows what kind of state Sun Wukong was in after being scared by him. First, with one man's power, he slaughtered the entire 1.2 million Buddhist army. Then, he exploded again, charging into the crowd of Buddhas with one staff, cutting off everyone's arms or legs at a speed that no one could reach. Heaven knows where Sun Wukong got such great magical powers. Slaughtering the Buddhist army was understandable, but what the Buddhas couldn't accept was how Sun Wukong could possibly have such fast speed and attacking power? The Buddhas present were all top-notch masters from the Western Paradise's Spirit Mountain, almost representing the pinnacle of Buddhist power. But they were slaughtered by one person. And it was in a situation where no one had time to resist. Sun Wukong's speed had already reached an unthinkable level, his thoughts moving as soon as he thought them!

  What's even more terrifying is Sun Wukong's judgment. During his second outbreak, Sun Wukong's power surged greatly, but he didn't choose to kill anyone. Instead, he injured everyone. Don't think that Sun Wukong simply cut off both arms; at the same time, he also severed their souls. Unless they can find heavenly treasures and earthly riches to restore their souls in the future, they will be forever crippled. This is equivalent to reducing the Buddha's power by 30% in an instant. If Sun Wukong had chosen to kill one person, it would have taken less than a moment to kill at most one mid-level Buddha. This loss would be completely insignificant to the Buddha realm.

  After realizing this, all the Buddhas, including Tathagata, had a nervous expression. It seems that Sun Wukong was still underestimated. "Monkey, I have to admit that you are now qualified to be considered as the archenemy of Buddhism. Unfortunately, you will eventually escape the fate of defeat. Don't worry, I won't kill you, nor will I suppress you again. I'll let all the Buddhas absorb your spiritual energy and then throw you into the mortal world. Haha, from a high-ranking god to an ordinary person like an ant, this feeling must be extremely enjoyable. Haha."

  "Hey, old Buddha, I'm asking you, where's my master? Where's my master?"

  "Haha, want to see your master? Alright, Maitreya Buddha, throw out Tang Sanzang. I'll let Tang Sanzang witness with his own eyes how we drain the life out of his great disciple."

  Then, Maitreya Buddha waved his hand and a golden gong radiating golden light appeared in front of Sun Wukong. The golden gong opened, revealing Tang Sanzang lying inside with his body covered in blood and his face pale. He had obviously suffered severe injuries.

  "Master, Master? I am Wukong, I am Wukong!"

  As Sun Wukong shouted, Tang Sanzang slowly came to, but his injuries were too severe and he couldn't even get up.

  "Wukong, Wukong, where are you? Are you alright? What about your three junior brothers? Are they all okay?"

  "Master, Master. Don't you see me? I'm right in front of you! Zhu Bajie was captured by the Tathagata and his life or death is unknown. And Sha Wujing, Sha Wujing and Zhenyuan Dadi were both killed. The little white dragon is fine, but was caught by the Tathagata." After finishing speaking, Sun Wukong's eyes flowed with two lines of bloody tears.

  "As a master, it's nothing. Only my eyes were blinded by the Tathagata, no big deal. Is Wujing dead? Wukong, Wukong, run quickly, I'll cut off your rear, run quickly."

  Before Tang Sanzang could struggle, the Tathagata pinched his hand seal, and a lotus flower appeared above Tang Sanzang's head. Then the lotus flower sank into Tang Sanzang's brain.

  "You can't even protect yourself, yet you want to save Sun Wukong? Tang Sanzang, back then you were my senior disciple, but you dared to oppose my plan. Haha, how's this for a situation? Are you regretful now? All Buddhas, prepare the Soul-Draining Array and drain away Sun Wukong's innate spiritual energy."

  Thereafter, all the Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Buddhas dispersed in all directions, forming a hexagram and simultaneously performing a ritual gesture with their hands. The next moment, a silver-white beam of light extended from each person's body, ultimately converging into a miniature hexagram before the Tathagata. Then, the hexagram was placed on Sun Wukong's head. Immediately after, a blood-curdling scream escaped Sun Wukong's mouth. At the same time, his seven orifices bled, and streams of milky-white spiritual energy floated out from his head, being absorbed into the bodies of the assembled Buddhas.

  At this moment, Tang Sanzang, who should have been completely sealed, suddenly let out a loud roar: "Dare to hurt my disciple, you will die!" Afterwards, countless blood-colored flower petals appeared in the entire space. Soon, the flower petals spread out. Everything that could be seen was blood-colored flower petals. The Tathagata was shocked and found that the Soul- Absorbing Array set up by the Buddhas couldn't work. This made the Tathagata both surprised and angry. However, just as the Tathagata was about to use his great magical power to disperse the flower petals, he discovered that they were slowly disappearing.

  Very soon, the petals vanished into thin air as if they had never appeared. However, when Tathagata looked towards the center of the Soul- Absorbing Formation, a mouthful of blood suddenly spurted out. Tathagata didn't even bother to wipe away the fresh blood at the corner of his mouth and instead let out a loud roar: "Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong! Even if I have to search through all three realms, I will find you two and crush your bones into powder!"

  It turned out that Tang Sanzang took advantage of everyone's inattention and suddenly launched the Huahua, and took the opportunity to rescue Sun Wukong.

  Just as the Tathagata's anger was about to reach its peak, a golden light flashed across the sky. It turned out to be the Buddha's messenger, the Buddhist soldier. However, when the Buddhist soldier descended, everyone was extremely puzzled, only to find that this soldier was covered in wounds.

  "Urgent military report, Ling Shan was attacked by the Western Queen Mother-led Heavenly Court and Demon Tribe coalition forces of 23 million people, ambushing our Ling Shan. Because most of the Buddha's soldiers followed the Buddha to expedition, there are less than 500,000 Buddha's soldiers guarding Ling Shan. The Great Hero Treasure Hall has already been breached. I, your subordinate, barely escaped with my life to request that the Buddha return immediately. Otherwise, Ling Shan will not be preserved!"

  After finishing speaking, the messenger reported that Buddha's soldiers had already died.

  At this moment, Tathagata felt a fierce fire burning in his chest. "Puff puff puff." He spat out three mouthfuls of blood, and then the Supreme Holy One of Buddhism, Namo Shakyamuni Buddha, was actually enraged to the point of fainting.

  It turns out that Sun Wukong was not without defense against the Tathagata, and the Heavenly Court was also not without any preparation. When Sun Wukong led his army to attack the Heavenly Court, he had already appointed Red Butt Horse Monkey as the commander-in-chief, leading an army of one million demons to detour to Ling Mountain. If the Tathagata made any unusual moves during Sun Wukong's attack on the Heavenly Court, he would immediately order the army to block him and prevent the Buddha from taking advantage of the situation where both the demons and the Heavenly Court were defeated to seize the Heavenly Court. However, Sun Wukong did not expect that the Tathagata was not deploying troops in Ling Mountain, but instead had already hidden an army of five million near the Heavenly Court before the war between the demons and the Heavenly Court began. Therefore, Red Butt Horse Monkey did not inform Sun Wukong that the Buddha's great army had also gone to the Heavenly Court.

  The Heavenly Court had actually known for a long time that the Demon Clan was preparing to attack, but they were confident in their ability to repel them. However, they were also wary of the Western Pure Land, fearing that it would make a move at a critical moment. Therefore, they ordered the Queen Mother of the West to lead 1.3 million heavenly soldiers to secretly station themselves near the Pure Land. If the Buddha showed any signs of sending troops, they would immediately surround and notify the Heavenly Court. Unfortunately, like the Demon Clan, they were also deceived by the Buddha. This led to the final moment when the Queen Mother of the West and the Red-bottomed Horse Monkey only found out that the Buddha had already sent troops and destroyed both the Heavenly Court and the Demon Clan. The two then conspired together and joined forces to attack the Pure Land. You're not sneaking up on my Heavenly Court and the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, are you? Then I'll join forces with him to sneak up on your Pure Land.

  No big deal, we'll just die together then.

  Everyone watched as the Tathagata suddenly fainted, and at that moment, they were all stunned. At the same time, their hearts were also shocked and indignant. However, even if they were furious in their hearts, they had to clean up the mess in front of them first. Then, Guanyin Bodhisattva stepped forward, pulled out a willow branch from the jade pure bottle, and a drop of sweet dew dripped from the willow branch. In an instant, a warm light spread out, and the Tathagata also woke up. The first thing the Tathagata did after waking up was to immediately exert his great magical power to transform the captured heavenly soldiers and demon soldiers. Actually, although the Tathagata's strength is all-encompassing, it's not an easy task to transform over a million people at once. Moreover, they were over a million powerful heavenly soldiers and demon soldiers.

  The Buddhas looked at each other in dismay. Helpless, they stopped their healing and stood up to exert their spiritual powers to assist the Tathagata. In this way, with the cooperation of two million Buddha soldiers and the Buddhas, all but some heavenly generals and demonic leaders were transformed. The Buddha soldiers increased by two million, reaching three million. As for those heavenly generals who could not be transformed, the Tathagata abolished their spiritual powers and cast them into the hellish cycle of rebirth. As for the demonic leaders, including Niu Mo Wang, Peng Mo Wang, Xie Guai, Shi Tu Wang, and others, they all became mounts for the Buddhas present.

  The Buddha gathered the remaining soldiers and captives, and with a million of his Buddha army, cleaned up the battlefield and occupied the Heavenly Court. The remaining two million Buddha army followed the Buddha and immediately retreated. When the Buddha's two million strong army arrived at Ling Mountain, the Western Queen Mother-led coalition forces of the Heavenly Court had already occupied Ling Mountain. Although the losses were heavy, with more than 200 million coalition forces left with less than 60 million. However, compared to the devastated Ling Mountain, this loss was still worth it.