Stone Monkey Born, Startling Hongjun

The power of Tongtian's axe was something they had seen with perfect clarity.

It was powerful beyond the imagination of any Sage.

Such a mighty figure was undoubtedly peerless!

What if they inquired about his background and caused the great one to misunderstand?

Tongtian paused, letting the three Sages digest this, before he continued, "He told me... that Great Immortal Yang Mei is actually a puppet of Hongjun, and that Yang Mei had already been refined by Hongjun back during the Dao-Demon struggle."

"But the strange thing is, Hongjun didn't possess him directly, but instead let Yang Mei live in the Chaos Void according to his own will!"

What!!?

Yuanshi, Taishang, and Nuwa stared at Tongtian in shock.

Tongtian nodded solemnly: "I would never joke about such a matter."

He explained, "So, do you know why I burned a hundred million years of Merit? It was because I knew from the very beginning that Yang Mei intended to kill us."

"Being able to withstand him wasn't enough!"

"We had to be able to defeat him!"

Yuanshi said with a dark face, "In other words, the one who truly wants us to fall is not some Yang Mei, but... Hongjun!!"

Hiss!

The Jade Void Palace on Kunlun fell into an instant silence.

An extreme chill enveloped the three Sages.

Yuanshi's face turned from black to green, and from green to black!

He had originally thought the situation of the Sages was dangerous enough, but he never imagined, that the situation of the Sages of the Mystic Gate was even more perilous than he had envisioned!

It was dangerous to the extreme!

Tongtian spoke at the right moment:

"Fortunately, we won the Investiture of the Gods Calamity! The West did not obtain enough benefits."

"Hongjun should quiet down for a while!"

"However..."

Yuanshi very consciously helped him finish, "We absolutely cannot let our guard down. After all, Hongjun is the Incarnation of Heavenly Dao; it is far too easy for him to find an excuse based on righteousness to arrange our fates."

"We four Sages must strengthen our ties."

He paused, and specifically urged Tongtian, "If possible, please go and visit that great god, Junior Brother,"

"If the great god could offer a few words of guidance, we would have a much easier time!"

Tongtian nodded heavily.

Even if Yuanshi hadn't said it, Tongtian would still have gone to visit Penglai Immortal Island.

In this great calamity, he owed everything to the treasure bestowed by Senior Lin Dong.

If not for Senior Lin Dong, Tongtian dared not imagine what his fate would have been!

Perhaps, just like Great Immortal Yang Mei, he would have fallen!

Just as Yuanshi was about to speak, his heart suddenly trembled, and the four Sages turned their heads simultaneously to look toward the East Sea, where they witnessed a strange sight!

In Zixiao Palace of the Thirty-Three Heavens, Hongjun's face was dark, devoid of any detachment or transcendence.

He wished he could slap Tongtian to death with a single palm!

He had been laying out his schemes since the time of the Dao-Demon struggle, For billions of years, he had been waiting for this very moment.

His puppet had finally come in handy!

Never in his wildest dreams did he expect it to be slashed to pieces by Tongtian with a single axe strike!

Not only that, but Tongtian's cultivation had risen to an inconceivable level—the Eleventh Heaven of Dao Integration Realm!

Compared to himself, the gap was now a mere one and a half heavens!

It was simply absurd!

Tongtian was no longer the small fry he could manipulate at will.

To manipulate him now would require paying a tremendous price!

And that was a price Hongjun could not afford!

Furthermore, the more he thought about the axe in Tongtian's hand, the more he felt it was the Pangu Axe.

This left Hongjun feeling quite bewildered.

The succession of events had left him slightly flustered, as they had completely disrupted his plans.

The Investiture of the Gods Calamity had ended.

Regardless of whether Hongjun was willing or not, He had to rethink and re-evaluate the gains and losses!

The fluctuations in the root timeline of the Primordial Era, The supreme treasures that had suddenly appeared, Each and every one of these were problems Hongjun could not avoid.

After a long while, Hongjun smiled.

"Although the result is not entirely satisfactory, but..."

"The Western Teachings have at least gained six thousand disciples, along with the assistance of Minghe and Lu Ya!"

"The foundation for the Rise of the West has already been laid!"

"The sages... cannot escape the palm of my hand!"

Just as Hongjun was secretly feeling smug, he suddenly felt a jolt to his spirit.

He looked down in shock.

At the summit of Flower Fruit Mountain in the East Sea of the Earth Immortal Realm, a celestial womb suddenly exploded.

From within that womb, a Monkey somersaulted out.

His eyes flashed with golden light, resembling two pillars of radiance.

The Monkey looked up at the sky, his golden light piercing the heavens and shaking the Hall of Lingxiao three times!

The Monkey looked down at the earth, his golden light illuminating the Nine Underworlds and Ten Lands as if it were broad daylight.

The Monkey looked at himself, Feeling slightly dissatisfied, he shouted, "Bring me my gear!"

In an instant, magical treasures appeared from the Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain.

They were none other than the Phoenix-Winged Purple Gold Crown, the Golden Chain Mail, and the Lotus-Root Silk Cloud-Walking Boots!

The Monkey spun around, looking quite satisfied.

"My master told me to go have some fun!"

He mounted his Somersault Cloud and, with a single leap, vanished without a trace.

The Monkey's cultivation was actually that of a Quasi-Saint!!

Hongjun lost his composure: "Why has this Monkey come out at this time?"

"No!"

"He actually has a master, and possesses the cultivation of a Quasi-Saint?!"

Hongjun could no longer hold back.

"All sages, come to Zixiao Palace for a meeting!!"

Hongjun's state of mind was on the verge of shattering!

That Monkey... how could he be born at this time?

And this Monkey's cultivation was completely beyond his expectations.

The Monkey had actually entered the Dao!

No!

It was not just as simple as entering the Dao!

His cultivation level was actually that of a Quasi-Saint!!

When the innate great deities of the Primordial Era first took form and emerged into the world, none of them had reached such a realm.

Pangu's Three Pure Ones, the Twelve Ancestral Witches, Minghe, Zhen Yuanzi, Taiyi, Di Jun, Kunpeng...

When they first took form, they were merely at the Golden Immortal stage!

But what about that Monkey?

He was at the Quasi-Saint realm the moment he was born!

Hongjun saw it clearly with his Dharma Eye.

The Monkey's foundation of Dao was incredibly perfect; his potential was by no means limited to a mere Quasi-Saint!

The commotion caused by the Monkey's birth was too great.

The moment he appeared, his act of paying respects to Heaven and Earth shook the Three Realms!

Other great powers in the Primordial Era, upon seeing this, would at most assume another great power had been born.

But only Hongjun knew clearly.

This Monkey was a chess piece he had designed back when Nuwa was mending the heavens.

The purpose was to provide evidence for the Rise of the West!

This Monkey was gestated from a Five-Colored Stone left behind when Nuwa mended the heavens, containing a significant amount of Merit from that act.

That Flower Fruit Mountain in the Aolai Kingdom was no simple place either.

It was the ancestral vein of the Three Overseas Mountains and the origin of the Ten Islands!

It was shrouded in the aura of dragon veins and the essence of the sun and moon.

These were all benefits and perks Hongjun had arranged for the Monkey!

Yet even so, Hongjun had never intended for the Monkey to possess such cultivation the moment he was born!

The cultivation limit he had designed for this Monkey was to reach the level of a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal within a short period of time.

Nothing more!

In his plans, this Monkey was the one destined to face the tribulations of the Journey to the West.

He had been written into the Heavenly Dao long ago!

He had become a major trend of the Heavenly Dao!

Now, in the blink of an eye, this major trend of the Heavenly Dao had completely changed. How could Hongjun not be shocked and furious?!

Furthermore, the Monkey's birth served as a reminder to Hongjun.

The Rise of the West that he had arranged needed to be put on the agenda as soon as possible!

In his shock and fury, Hongjun brazenly summoned all the Sages to Zixiao Palace to discuss matters.

The Sages arrived in response to the summons, all of them filled with astonishment.

The Four Saints of the Mystic Gate looked at one another, maintaining a sense of vigilance in their hearts.

They had insight into Hongjun's schemes, and they truly could not harbor any goodwill toward this Eastern Dao Ancestor.

But there was no other way.

Beyond the title of Eastern Dao Ancestor, Hongjun was also the Incarnation of Heavenly Dao and the teacher of all Sages.

The Sages of the Mystic Gate had no choice but to obey his commands!

Taishang, Yuanshi, Tongtian, and Nuwa all remained silent.

The Two Sages of the West were in an even worse state than the Four Saints of the Mystic Gate.

The recently concluded Investiture of the Gods Calamity had truly terrified Jieyin and Zhunti!

Although they still retained six thousand disciples, In terms of numbers, they were the largest faction in the Primordial Era.

But what was the actual situation?

It was not like that at all!

The eight true disciples of Biyou Palace were each a Peak Quasi-Saint, And Tongtian was a Great Sage at the Tenth Heaven of Dao Integration Realm (actually the eleventh).

What did they have to compare with Biyou Palace?

More importantly, Duobao had almost completely ruined the Dao Heart of the first generation of Western Teachings disciples!

If it hadn't been for Hongjun manifesting his holiness so quickly, they would have been finished.

Even Lu Ya, the Tenth Prince of the former Demon Court, had suffered severe trauma to his Dao Heart.

This made things even more difficult to handle!

The two Sages of the West were truly afraid that Dao Ancestor Hongjun would settle scores with them later!

Great Immortal Yang Mei had certainly cursed Hongjun quite a bit back then!

He had even styled himself as the Western Dao Ancestor.

Who could say that Hongjun wouldn't hate the house for the sake of the crow and come looking for trouble with them?

The two Sages of the West were truly feeling anxious and uneasy!

Hongjun swept his gaze over the Sages.

He stated directly: "A thousand years from now, the West shall rise. Let the Sages discuss it!"

Hm?!

The Four Saints of the Mystic Gate suddenly looked up!

Hm?!

The Two Sages of the West were pleasantly surprised!

Taishang, Yuanshi, Tongtian, and Nuwa looked at one another, and in their hearts, they all recalled the conversation they had analyzed earlier.

Hongjun intends to use the hand of Great Immortal Yang Mei to let the West achieve a complete victory!

The reason for this was simple.

Back when the Dao-Demon conflict occurred, Hongjun had incurred immeasurable Karma with the West.

To repay this Karma to the heavens and earth, he had no choice but to push for the rise of the West.

This point had not been analyzed by Yuanshi.

Rather, it was Tongtian who had directly relayed the words of Lin Dong!

When Lin Dong had analyzed the situation for him in the past, he had told Tongtian that in order to repay the Karma of the heavens and earth, Hongjun would absolutely have to make the West rise.

He did not love the Western Teachings, nor did he love the West.

It was purely because if the West could not rise, he would be unable to repay the Karma of the heavens and earth!

It was as simple as that!

The Four Saints of the Mystic Gate had thought Hongjun would be a bit more tactful.

But they never expected that Hongjun would be so blunt, actually pushing for the rise of the West right from the start!

At this point, the Four Saints of the Mystic Gate reached a unified understanding regarding their judgment of Hongjun!

The Two Sages of the West, however, were filled with both surprise and joy.

Originally, the two Sages had thought Hongjun was going to settle scores and find trouble for them.

But they never expected that it was not the case at all!

This truly exceeded their expectations!

It was even a massive, pleasant surprise!

The West was actually going to rise!

And it was a rise led by Dao Ancestor Hongjun himself!

This was completely beyond their expectations.

Jieyin and Zhunti hurriedly stepped out and knelt, chanting: "This disciple thanks the Dao Ancestor for his compassion!"

Jieyin's eyes were even turning red!

Zhunti was wailing and crying loudly.

Ever since they attained the Dao, the two Sages had been thinking about the rise of the West.

Millions of years had passed, and the West was finally going to rise!

Hongjun calmly instructed: "If the Sages have no objections, the West..."

Nuwa spoke up:

"Dao Ancestor, I have an objection!"

The voices of the two Sages of the West came to an abrupt halt, cut off mid-sentence!

Even Hongjun was choked up!

He truly had not expected that someone would actually raise an objection!

What he expected even less was that the one raising the objection was Nuwa, not the Three Pure Ones.

Hongjun composed himself and nodded: "Speak!"

Nuwa said calmly:

"Dao Ancestor, why should the West be allowed to rise?"

Hmm?!

What kind of question is this?

All the Sages were somewhat puzzled.

Was the Rise of the West not a mandate of the Heavenly Dao?

Why would one even need to ask for the reason?

But immediately, the eyes of the Three Pure Ones began to gleam.

In the Primordial Era, right and wrong do not matter; only Karma matters.

Everything has a cause and effect.

So, why must the West rise?

What is the Karma behind it?!

Hongjun was choked for words!

He could hardly say, "The West must rise because I need to repay the Karma I owe from the past," could he?

What would that make him?

The Three Pure Ones sneered incessantly!

Let us see how you answer this.

Jieyin and Zhunti were extremely worried; they knew that if the answer was handled poorly, it would mean big trouble!

But this could not stump Hongjun.

"The Heavenly Dao values the balance of Yin-Yang; the East and the West should be relatively balanced."

"The East has a Dao Ancestor, so the West naturally should have one too."

"The East has six Sages, so the West naturally should have them as well."

"Just like the Taiji Diagram, where the two Yin-Yang fish intersect—you have me, and I have you—that is the balance of Yin-Yang."

"This is the Heavenly Dao!"

Tongtian suddenly laughed.

"If we follow the Dao Ancestor's theory, then the West is currently in its most ideal state!"

Hongjun was stunned!

Jieyin and Zhunti were furious: "Tongtian, do not spout nonsense!"

Tongtian said leisurely, "Did the Dao Ancestor not just say that only when Yin and Yang combine can the East and West achieve balance?"

"In the current Western World, apart from Mount Sumeru, everywhere else is an Earthly Demon Kingdom."

"What is the opposite of an Immortal? A Demon!"

"Then Mount Sumeru is simply the eye of the Yin-Yang fish within the Demon Kingdom!"

Taishang, Yuanshi, and Nuwa almost burst out laughing.

Tongtian really had a way with words.

Not to mention that by following Hongjun's logic, he actually managed to make it self-consistent.

Hongjun glared at him: "Step back!"

Tongtian shrugged and stopped speaking.

However, none of the Sages were aware that, after these two great beings in the Dao Integration Realm, Hongjun and Tongtian, finished discussing this matter, a vortex suddenly emerged within the Boundless Sea of Blood, the place of ultimate Yin and filth.

The essence of the ultimate Yin and filth was drawn into this vortex, rushing toward a certain location.

Faintly, one could see an embryo gestating.

If any cultivator were to glance at it, their soul would be tainted.

The Devilish Qi was chilling, yet extremely restrained.

The embryo pulsed faintly, as if a great power were about to be born!

Inside Zixiao Palace, Hongjun stated directly, "A thousand years from now, the West shall rise and the Journey to the West will begin. You all should properly discuss the path of the Journey to the West."

The Four Saints of the Mystic Gate exchanged glances, suddenly struck by a sense of déjà vu:

During the recently concluded Investiture of the Gods Calamity, that Great Immortal Yang Mei also acted like a rogue at every turn!

It was truly exactly the same!

Tongtian asked with a smile: "Dao Ancestor, may we Sages intervene?"

The Two Sages of the West turned pale.

On the path of the Journey to the West, if the Sages of the Mystic Gate were to intervene, what could they in the West possibly use to resist?

The Two Sages of the West looked at Hongjun with pleading eyes.

Hongjun replied directly: "No!"

"None of the Sages may intervene!"

Only then did the Two Sages of the West heave a sigh of relief.

It was truly for the best that the Sages of the Mystic Gate could not intervene.

One had to know that all the Sages of the Mystic Gate possessed higher cultivation levels than them.

Especially Tongtian; that fellow was a supreme power capable of directly causing the fall of Great Immortal Yang Mei!

If he were truly to take action, who besides the Dao Ancestor could withstand him?

Fortunately, the Dao Ancestor had rejected Tongtian's unreasonable request.

The Four Sages of the Mystic Gate exchanged glances, sneering in their hearts.

Was Hongjun planning to guarantee the Rise of the West?

But the Sages had not agreed to this!

Let us wait and see!

Hongjun swept his gaze over the Sages: "You may go down and prepare."

He began to dismiss them without the slightest hesitation!

The Sages took their leave and departed.

Hongjun sat upright in Zixiao Palace, a look of slight confusion appearing on his face, "Strange, it seems something extremely important happened just now!"

"What exactly could it be?"

"Why do I have a faint feeling of unease?"

This was a premonition, a warning from his primordial spirit.

Hongjun dared not be negligent, he hurriedly connected with the Heavenly Dao Origin, yet he failed to discover even a trace of abnormality.

Hongjun was puzzled; what on earth was going on?

The Two Sages of the West returned to Mount Sumeru in joy, and directly summoned Minghe!

Minghe had originally been completely countered by Yunxiao using the Innate Spiritual Treasure Hunyuan Golden Dou within the Immortal Slaying Sword Array, and his true body, along with all the Blood God clones he carried, had been purified.

However, before participating in the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, Minghe had been instructed by the two Sages to place a portion of his Blood God Sons into the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, the holy ground of the Western Teachings on Mount Sumeru, to be nurtured.

The intention at the time was merely to imbue the Blood God Sons with the characteristics of immortal arts.

Who could have foreseen that it would become Minghe's lifeline!

Minghe was directly reborn at the level of a Quasi-Saint.

His cultivation naturally could not compare to his true body.

The two Sages of the West did not distance themselves from Minghe in the slightest because of his decline in cultivation,