Upon witnessing such ferocious flas, the Buddhas imdiately fell into disarray. However, the Peacock King suddenly took flight, and with one flash of the five-colored radiance from behind, the aggressive Sun Golden Fire that had been lunging towards them was sohow scattered.
The Buddhas below montarily raised their arms and cheered loudly, while the Peacock King was imnsely pleased with himself. His Five-Colored Divine Light, though not as magical as that of Kong Xuan the Saint from the ancient tis, was hardly less. As long as he could extinguish this fire, he believed the hearts of the people would turn to him, and the Buddha’s throne would undoubtedly be his.
Just as the Peacock King was gleefully planning to continue with his efforts, the blanket of flas suddenly reversed their course as if they were being sucked back by soone. The Peacock King, who was just about to activate the Five-Colored Divine Light, was suddenly stunned, and then filled with rage.
How dare anyone steal my achievent? Who is this suicidal fool? The Peacock King had hoped to win over the crowd with this fire, but now soone had beaten him to it. Anger rose from the depths of his heart, and with a flash of wickedness, he spread his wings and chased after the receding flas.
The monks below, clueless about what was happening, assud that the Peacock King had employed so tactic to drive back the flas. Without a second thought, they chased after the Peacock King.
However, before the group of monks had gotten far, a scream pierced their ears. Those with sharp hearing realized almost instantly that it was the Peacock King who had scread.
As the screams faded, the monks realized sothing was amiss. They were just thinking of turning back when another voice ca through: "Don’t bother running, it’s too late now."
Before the words had settled, the Sun Golden Fire that had been rolling back now ca at them with even greater fury. And as the flas drew closer, nine golden birds burst forth from them. On closer inspection, one could see that these nine birds, majestic and splendid in golden feathers, each had three legs.
Indeed, they were the nine Three-legged Golden Crows that Hou Yi had once shot down with his Divine Bow. But how could the long-dead Golden Crows appear here, commanding the boundless Sun Golden Fire to pursue the adherents of Buddhism?
When a figure appeared in the sky, the answer was finally revealed.
"Ahahaha, who would have thought that I, your humble Zhu Bajie, would have such a glorious day? It’s so satisfying, so very satisfying."
Yes, the mastermind behind the Sun Golden Fire outbreak was none other than the forr Tianpeng Marshal, Zhu Bajie. After parting with Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang at the Coiled Silk Cave, Zhu Bajie headed alone to the Moon Palace in search of Chang’er. However, upon his arrival at the Moon Palace, he discovered it was deserted, with no sign of Chang’er anywhere.
After a thorough search that turned up nothing, Zhu Bajie surmised that Chang’er was probably no longer in the Moon Palace. Given Chang’er’s temperant, she would definitely not while away the rest of her days in the Moon Palace, especially after such a calamity. But where could Chang’er have gone?
With no other option, Zhu Bajie sneakily returned to Heaven. Although Buddhism had completely overtaken Heaven, Zhu Bajie had served as Tianpeng Marshal for tens of thousands of years, and slipping past the watchful eyes of Buddhism to enter Heaven was like child’s play to him.
Yet despite searching Heaven for over three months, Zhu Bajie still found no trace of Chang’er. Where on earth could she be?
With Heaven yielding no results, Zhu Bajie turned his search to the Mortal World. After scouring all the places he could think of and finding nothing, Zhu Bajie began to panic. Could sothing have happened to Chang’er?
The thought sent a chill down Zhu Bajie’s spine. Without further ado, he headed straight for the Netherworld to seek out King Yama and check the Book of Life and Death.
Now, one might wonder, with even Heaven occupied by Buddhism, how could King Yama still reign over the Netherworld?
This brings to light the Tathagata’s foresight indeed. The conquest and occupation of Heaven was because Heaven is the source of the Eastern Dragon Vein, attracting endless nature’s spiritual energy, making it one of the most potent places in the entire Pangu Realm.
As for the Netherworld, it not only lacks any spiritual energy but is also filled with ghostly Qi and overwhelming karmic force. Such a place holds no significance or interest for Buddhism.
The Netherworld was also guarded by Ksitigarbha, so occupying the Netherworld didn’t seem to hold much significance. Moreover, if the fighting resulted in the escape of the wronged souls from the Netherworld, and Heaven’s Dao beca enraged, that would not be sothing to take lightly.
Thus, Zhu Bajie was able to firmly persuade King Yama. However, when Zhu Bajie checked the Book of Life and Death, he could not find Chang’e’s na.
The Book of Life and Death in the Netherworld, one of the three natural scriptures ford at the beginning of Heaven’s Dao: the Heavenly scripture Investiture of the Gods, the Earth’s scripture being the great Earth’s placental mbrane, and the Mortal’s scripture being the Book of Life and Death.
The Book of Life and Death is divided into the Book of Life, which records all living beings in the world regardless of gender or age, and the Book of Death, which records all deceased souls. Once soone dies, their na vanishes from the Book of Life and appears in the Book of Death. This is the cycle of Heaven’s Dao.
What astounded Zhu Bajie, however, was the absence of Chang’e’s na in both the Book of Life and the Book of Death.
There are three kinds of people whose nas do not appear in the Book of Life and Death. The first are those who have beco Saints, having attained the great Dao of Heaven and Earth, they beco existences that live alongside Heaven and Earth, and thus their nas are not within the Book of Life and Death.
The second are those forcefully erased, just like Sun Wukong once did with a single stroke for the entire Monkey Tribe, from then on, the tribe’s mbers were not included in the Book of Life and Death.
The third are the people of Heaven’s Dao. Those born from the gestation of nature’s spiritual energy to maintain the balance of Heaven’s Dao and eliminate its hidden dangers. These are also not included in the Book of Life and Death.
But what about Chang’e? What could be the reason for her absence?
After much thought, with no reasonable explanation, Zhu Bajie had no choice but to return to Heaven.
The more Zhu Bajie thought about it, the more stifled he felt, and the more uncontrollable his internal rage beca. However, Zhu Bajie also knew that with his own strength, it was impossible for him to overpower all of these Buddhas. But Zhu Bajie was no fool. If he couldn’t win in an open fight, couldn’t he just resort to secret tactics?
So, after the start of Buddhism’s selection conference, Zhu Bajie sneaked into what used to be Lingxiao Palace, now the Great Hero Palace.
Normally, Buddhist rules dictate that there must be at least three Buddhas guarding the Great Hero Palace no matter what happens. But today was the selection conference, and all the Buddhas wanted to join in the fun and in the absence of Tathagata, these Buddhas didn’t care as much.
That was why the Great Hero Palace was astonishingly devoid of anyone.
Thereupon, Zhu Bajie started to exert his divine powers. Carrying his Nine-Toothed Rake, he wreaked havoc in the Great Hero Palace, turning it upside down. To the uninford, it certainly looked like so desolate mountain temple.
In the end, Zhu Bajie set his sights on what was once the Dragon Throne. With a smirk, he leapt and landed squarely upon the Dragon Throne.
Actually, when Tathagata occupied the Heavenly Palace, he wanted to remove the Dragon Throne and replace it with his own Lotus Throne Treasure. However, after being persuaded by the other Buddhas beneath him, Tathagata did not make the switch and directly seated himself upon the Dragon Throne.
Sitting on the Dragon Throne, Zhu Bajie gazed down at the scene below and couldn’t help recalling how his romance with Chang’e had been discovered years ago. The Jade Emperor, in spite of Zhu Bajie’s contributions and the persuasions of the gods, resolutely cast him into the reincarnation path of animals. From then on, he was burdened with this half-pig, half-human form.
As he reminisced, a surge of malicious fury rushed out of Zhu Bajie, and with a twist of his body, he brought down his Nine-Toothed Rake and completely smashed the Dragon Throne to pieces.
Then, Zhu Bajie saw nine shiny, golden pearls hidden within a secret compartnt underneath the throne.
And then, Zhu Bajie ate those nine pearls as if they were Golden Cores.
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