The Black Bear Spirit stole resources from the White Horse Camp Store, causing heavy losses for the Heavenly Court. Li Jing’s prestige was utterly shattered among the heavenly soldiers and generals, his authority swept away. He was so enraged that he would ask three tis a day why the Black Bear Spirit hadn’t been captured yet. Every ti his subordinates saw him, they would take a detour. Even if they had tasks, they would avoid him as much as possible. Even Li Jing’s deputy generals and household retainers felt their scalps tingle and their faces darken these days. Only after Li Jing publicly executed several heavenly generals in charge of defense did he manage to regain so asure of respect.
However, Lu Xiong and Wang Lingguan had already sent ssengers back to the Heavenly Court to report the matter. It was estimated that the Jade Emperor’s punishnt would arrive within days. Li Jing actually spent every day in fear and panic; after all, losing one-third of the resources for a million-strong army was an extrely serious offense. If investigated rigorously, he might be dismissed from office, or even lose his life. Anything was possible, so Li Jing was constantly anxious day and night. anwhile, he sent ssages back to the Heavenly Court, asking Yin Shi Niang and his old friends to make more social calls on his behalf. They were to give the Jade Emperor a preemptive explanation and clarify that the matter was not significantly related to Li Jing, or to shift the bla so that the Jade Emperor’s anger vented on him wouldn’t be as severe.
Li Jing was furious, repeatedly claiming that Sha Chen might have incited the Black Bear Spirit, but no one believed him. Even his confidants suspected he might be trying to shirk responsibility. Li Jing himself didn’t think it was likely, but he had an intuition that Sha Chen was behind it. How could it be such a coincidence? According to their information, the Black Bear Spirit used to be very timid and easily frightened. He would avoid anyone from Buddhism and kneel, licking the boots of anyone from the Heavenly Court, acting like an obedient cub. But now, he dared to provoke the authority of their Heavenly Court! When chased by Li Jing’s son and the other immortals, he even dared to strike back and plunder the resources of their divine generals. This was completely unreasonable, almost unimaginable. Li Jing felt that if soone hadn’t instigated him, the Black Bear Spirit definitely wouldn’t have done such things. For the Black Bear Spirit to appear at this ti and create chaos, it was very likely to create an opportunity for Sha Chen.
But what drove Li Jing mad was that the Black Bear Spirit had already successfully created chaos, and their million-strong army was in complete disarray. Yet, the Flowing Sand River remained calm; Sha Chen showed no intention of taking advantage of the chaos to escape. This made Li Jing doubt his own judgnt and made others find his claim of Sha Chen’s instigation entirely unbelievable. The phrase Li Jing muttered most to himself each night was, "Why didn’t Sha Chen take the chance to escape!?"
「Flowing Sand River.」
Sha Chen continued his secluded cultivation; he had no intention of fleeing. If he wanted to leave, he was absolutely confident he could escape the Heavenly Court’s inescapable net. But leaving here would an enduring the endless pursuit and harassnt of both the Heavenly Court and Buddhism. It was too dangerous outside; Sha Chen was not going to leave. He wouldn’t leave without sufficient strength.
Sha Chen also didn’t wait for the Black Bear Spirit to return. That creature had just been pursued and probably wasn’t completely safe yet, so he certainly wouldn’t dare to co back. Thus, Sha Chen decided to enter seclusion first, consu his remaining limited resources to enhance his strength, and wait for the Black Bear Spirit to find an opportunity to return with a large amount of resources. As for the turmoil outside, he temporarily paid it no mind.
Sha Chen still prioritized strengthening his physical body, because improving his cultivation level wasn’t sothing that could be done in a short ti—it required accumulation. Of course, while fortifying his body, Sha Chen did not neglect his cultivation; his cultivation aura was also increasing day by day. However, the improvent was proving difficult. He didn’t expect to quickly step into the High Order of Daluo Golden Immortal. After all, for others, advancing from the Middle Level of Daluo Golden Immortal to the High Order would take over a hundred thousand years, possibly even several hundred thousand; it was not sothing achievable in a short ti. He possessed the talent, the opportunity, and abundant resources. However, to assu he could surpass hundreds of thousands of years of others’ efforts in rely a dozen years or so was sowhat fantastical.
Therefore, Sha Chen planned to take it slow, prioritizing his physical body’s improvent while also advancing his cultivation. As for the situation in the Heavenly Court, Sha Chen was sowhat aware of it. Li Jing and the others didn’t realize that all their secret discussions were being overheard by Sha Chen, word for word. Hence, Sha Chen knew for himself whether the Heavenly Court was in chaos or not. The outside world was already a ss, and the army’s morale was shattered. The great immortals were mutually suspicious, accusing and blaming one another.
With one-third of their resources lost, the million-strong army wouldn’t collapse, but the dissolution of morale was inevitable. Furthermore, having lost those resources, all the divine generals, from top to bottom, would lose confidence in Li Jing, undermining his authority and making it harder for him to command effectively. Soon, Li Jing himself would likely be unable to ensure his own safety. Sha Chen wasn’t in a hurry, choosing to focus on cultivation for the ti being.
However, one thing required attention: he couldn’t let the Jade Emperor’s envoys receive news from the Saint at Wuzhuang Temple again. Even if they did, he couldn’t let them spread it. Otherwise, Li Jing would use the opportunity to shift the bla and regain his authority. Previously, he had instructed his avatar, Li Bai, to find soone to eliminate the Jade Emperor’s envoys, which was why the matter had been delayed until now. During that period, he had also successively eliminated the Jade Emperor’s envoys twice, each ti managing to delay the news from spreading for several months. Consequently, the Heavenly Court was thunderously enraged. Deities from The Mysterious Altar Departnt surged out in force, searching for the person who had attacked the Heavenly Court’s emissaries. Even Zhao Gongming had personally taken to the field. This also provided the spider demonesses and the Black Bear Spirit, demons allied with Sha Chen, a respite to catch their breath. Otherwise, if Zhao Gongming himself had led people to find them, the spider demonesses would likely have been annihilated.
However, the avatar Li Bai was greatly troubled by this, trying every ans to hide and not daring to show himself. Even when the Jade Emperor dispatched new emissaries, he dared not attack them. Of course, whether they were real emissaries or decoys remained unknown. In any case, the situation was now perilous. The emissaries might have already gone to Wuzhuang Temple, and whether they could et the Saint was uncertain. After all, when a Saint lectured on the Dao, it was always an unending discourse. Such opportunities were exceedingly rare, counted in hundreds of years even during the Primordial Era. Now it was sowhat better; shorter discussions might conclude in a few years, while longer ones could take a century. It all depended on Sha Chen’s luck—whether he could delay long enough for the Jade Emperor to lose patience with Li Jing and recall him. That would be the best outco. If not, Sha Chen could only feign ignorance and pay no heed.
Yet, that would be very troubleso, because Li Jing would relentlessly attack the Flowing Sand River, day and night, leaving Sha Chen constantly harried. Cultivating normally would be extrely difficult. Although the defenses of the Black Tortoise Armor and the Apricot Yellow Flag of Wuji were powerful, the fierce onslaughts from outside could still cause them to tremble. The interior of the cave dwelling would also be affected by the tremors, and the residual effects alone were enough to disturb anyone, preventing peaceful cultivation. Previously, the tremors had even destroyed over a dozen of Sha Chen’s palaces and ruined hundreds of ordinary elixirs, causing Sha Chen considerable heartache.
No matter the outco, what I need to do most is to et myriad changes with constancy, strengthening my own power to cope with any difficulty. Only formidable strength provided the fundantal confidence to deal with all problems. Without sufficient strength, even small setbacks could cause significant problems, so improving his own strength was essential. Based on this conviction, Sha Chen ceaselessly worked on enhancing his cultivation and augnting his power.
「Another year passed by.」
Three years had passed since Li Jing besieged the Flowing Sand River. This was also the ti Sha Chen had agreed to release Sun Wukong. But this ti, Sha Chen had to go back on his word, as there was no imdiate need to release Sun Wukong, at least not for the ti being, because Li Jing’s army had not received orders to launch a full-scale attack. So, if it could be delayed, he would delay it.
However, despite all the ti that had elapsed, Li Jing had neither been dismissed nor had he withdrawn his troops. It was as if he had a personal vendetta against Sha Chen, remaining stationed near the Flowing Sand River, refusing to leave. Several tis, Sha Chen noticed Seventh Mother, the spider demoness, stealthily lurking in the far distance, trying to approach, but she never got the chance. This greatly annoyed Sha Chen. Seventh Mother was bound to be carrying a massive amount of resources, yet there was no way for them to be delivered to him. His own resources were almost depleted, with only enough for a few more months. Without replenishnt, he would be reduced to grubbing for roots. Even if he wanted to focus solely on refining his body, it would beco an arduous task without adequate resources. The Unaware Poplar Tree already resisted him; any further fleecing and it would truly flee. Besides, without other resources to concoct Immortal Pills, the effort would be futile.
Therefore, Sha Chen was becoming desperate. He had to find a way to resolve his cultivation resource dilemma. Although his cultivation level might still be lacking, his physical body seed on the verge of a breakthrough. If he faced a setback due to a lack of resources, making the breakthrough difficult, Sha Chen felt he could vomit three liters of blood from frustration. Of course, if he didn’t need resources and relied solely on his innate talent and perseverance, enduring prolonged cultivation, his physical body might break through after 30,000 years. But thirty thousand years was too long; if he could break through in three months, he naturally hoped to do so.
I must find a way to get Seventh Mother to bring in the resources. Otherwise, my current supply will only last until I’ve eaten through everything. The few remaining months’ worth of resources could only improve his cultivation; resources for his physical body were completely exhausted. After all, such items were incredibly scarce to begin with. After Sha Chen’s prolonged ascetic cultivation, it would have been a miracle if any remained.
So, while striving to enhance his cultivation level, Sha Chen relentlessly sought ways to obtain resources. During this process, a major event occurred—an event significant enough to make the entire Three Realms tremble: Jin Chanzi’s reincarnation had abandoned Buddhism for Daoism!
This had actually happened several years ago, but Jin Chanzi’s guide in the mortal realm had not dared to report it, delaying for years until it could no longer be suppressed. Because one day, the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, in the presence of the high monk teaching him Buddhist Law, had begun discussing the Tao Te Ching!
HISS!
The news spread like wildfire. It was said that the high monk vomited three liters of blood and fainted from anger on the spot. Then, the matter was reported up the chain of command, all the way to Lingjiu Mountain.
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