An immeasurable surge of dharma power erupted from his body.
This was peerless power that surpassed the limits of a Peak Quasi-Saint.
As that power surged forth,
Rulai's palm moved. With a flip of his hand, he directly suppressed Sun Wukong's terrifying staff strike.
The force of that palm did not diminish, transforming into a great mountain that crashed down upon the Earth Immortal Realm.
"Havoc in Heaven. Your punishment is five hundred years here!"
The Four Saints of Biyou Palace all revealed mocking smiles. "Hongjun, you're actually playing at being some mysterious god!"
The Saints of Biyou Palace all looked upon this with disdain.
Could Rulai possibly turn the tables while under Fellow Daoist Wukong's control?
That was impossible.
Even Buddhism's two Saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, could not have done it so effortlessly.
Even if they had acted, they could not have remained so composed.
With the cultivation of the Fifth Heaven of the Heavenly Dao Realm, facing a Chaos Spirit Treasure brought to its utmost power, how could one both protect Rulai and suppress Sun Wukong so easily?
Besides, Hongjun had ordered that Saints were not to interfere in the Rise of the West.
Jieyin and Zhunti could only watch helplessly!
Only Hongjun stood above this restriction.
Only Hongjun could remain so calm and detached!
The cultivation of the Peak Dao Integration Realm far surpassed that of a Quasi-Saint!
No matter how savage Sun Wukong's staff was, it could not escape the palm of an Incarnation of Heavenly Dao.
With a thunderous boom.
A Five Finger Mountain descended directly beneath Two Worlds Mountain in the Earth Immortal Realm.
Sun Wukong cursed loudly, "Baldy, you dare cheat and call in reinforcements?!"
He violently activated the armor upon his body.
The mountain formed from Hongjun's great hand exploded with a bang!
Sun Wukong had actually broken free!
The Saints of Biyou Palace were all stunned!
That had been Dao Ancestor Hongjun's casual suppression, yet Fellow Daoist Wukong had actually broken the seal?!
Yuanshi drew a deep breath. "Fellow Daoists, take a careful look at Fellow Daoist Wukong!"
The Saints all looked over at once.
They saw Sun Wukong shrouded in a layer of mysterious yellow light.
The Golden Chain Mail, Phoenix-Winged Purple Gold Crown, and Lotus-Root Silk Cloud-Walking Boots had actually merged together.
They protected Sun Wukong completely.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun's strike had not harmed him in the slightest!
Monkey was furious beyond measure.
He suddenly slapped his own head.
Immeasurable Merit flashed behind his head.
Monkey roared, "So having greater cultivation means you can bully others?! Black hand behind that baldy, just you wait, Old Sun will remember this!"
Boom!
The Merit behind Monkey began to burn!
It was truly burning!
Hiss!
The great powers of Biyou Palace all looked toward Tongtian!
This scene was far too familiar!
Back during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, when Tongtian faced Great Immortal Yang Mei, he had frantically burned Merit for a full hundred million years within a Time Array!
Then he advanced to the Eleventh Heaven of the Dao Integration Realm and, with the Earth Splitting Chisel, directly slew Yang Mei!
And now this Monkey was also crazily burning Merit... Could he be trying to replicate Tongtian's realm?
Sun Wukong looked fanatical, yet he was extremely calm.
He pondered inwardly.
Old Sun can't defeat the great power behind that baldy!
Unless I reach the Golden Immortal realm, I'm absolutely no match for him!
Luckily, my master has a solution!
One that can let Old Sun enter the Golden Immortal realm through a shortcut!
As long as my cultivation reaches Golden Immortal, I can attain Concept Immortality!
Even if I can't roam the river of time, that's still not bad!
Among the realms Lin Dong had taught Monkey,
a Golden Immortal meant wielding the laws of the Great Dao, attaining Concept Immortality, being able to regenerate from a trace of one's True Spirit, entering spacetime and the ages, roaming the river of time, possessing immortal immortal blood, achieving a supreme dharma manifestation, an immeasurable dharma body, altering the spacetime rules of an entire world, and existing independently of the world.
That was a Golden Immortal.
Fortunately, the realm classifications of their lineage had not been revealed to the Saints.
Otherwise, the Saints would have gone mad!
You called this realm Golden Immortal?!
Even Saints of the Dao Integration Realm could not fully achieve it!
Under Heavenly Dao's protection, they could also attain Concept Immortality and remain undying and indestructible.
But as soon as an external force surpassed the rules of Heavenly Dao, that Immortality would be broken.
And within the Primordial Era world, there were many methods capable of breaking such Concept Immortality.
For example, the Saint-Slaying Pill.
Or the final Heavenly Punishment!
How could they possibly be as carefree as the Penglai Immortal Island lineage?
Sun Wukong looked fierce and fond of fighting, but he was no fool.
On the contrary, he was clever!
Extremely clever!
Sun Wukong had not sensed any threat from that great hand just now.
Yet he truly could not withstand it!
That meant the great power standing behind that bald Rulai did not intend to harm him.
Monkey immediately thought of his master, Lin Dong.
He recalled his master's words when they had parted: "If you cause trouble outside, just come back."
That serene ease, that calm indifference!
It was as if no matter how great a mess he caused, his master could handle it.
Sun Wukong immediately understood that the great power was not admiring him, but giving his master face.
He was not someone who failed to appreciate kindness.
After Monkey broke free from Five Finger Mountain,
he immediately burned Merit and advanced directly!
Endless Fire of Merit burned madly.
Monkey himself had golden fur, and it made him look even more like a tiny sun.
His aura surged higher and higher.
Even heaven and earth changed color from the shock!
After Monkey shattered the original Five Finger Mountain,
the great power beyond the Ninth Heaven flew into a rage.
With a casual gesture, he threw down another mountain.
This mountain was immense and boundless, like Buzhou Mountain!
Yet before that sea of Merit fire, the mountain simply could not descend.
Not only could it not descend,
under the illumination of the Fire of Merit, it actually melted away inch by inch!
The Saints of Biyou Palace watched this scene in astonishment.
Tongtian sighed emotionally. "Fellow Daoist Wukong has inadvertently refined a Supreme Merit Treasure!"
Not a Merit Lingbao, but a Supreme Merit Treasure.
This left Tongtian with exceedingly complicated feelings.
Yet all the Saints understood.
This had been a casual strike from an Incarnation of Heavenly Dao. Any other Peak Quasi-Saint would already have been reduced to pulp.
But Sun Wukong was different.
His entire body was covered in supreme defensive treasures, so an attack like this could only trap him.
That mountain had been casually formed by Hongjun from the essence of Chaos, and its material was of extremely high quality.
By coincidence, Sun Wukong was burning the Fire of Merit to advance.
A unique type of artifact-refining flame that had never appeared in the Primordial Era emerged—the Fire of Merit refining a flying mountain!!
Whether Sun Wukong had intended it or not,
the enormous mountain descending upon his head was directly melted and refined by his immeasurable Fire of Merit.
The material of the mountain was unique, and the refining flame was equally extraordinary.
The combination of the two directly created a one-of-a-kind Supreme Merit Treasure.
The Saints of Biyou Palace found this utterly unexpected!
No matter how they looked at it,
this treasure seemed capable of both attack and defense, far stronger than the Seal of Fantian Yuanshi had refined!
The speed at which Sun Wukong burned Merit suddenly accelerated.
Boom!
The expressions of the Saints of Biyou Palace changed drastically!
In their eyes, Sun Wukong had actually achieved Hunyuan!
How long had it been?!
No!
It was not as simple as achieving Hunyuan.
From Sun Wukong's body, they faintly sensed an aura of "Immortality"!
Hiss!
The Saints were frightened by their own thoughts!
Sun Wukong used a shortcut to enter the Golden Immortal realm.
With a casual wave, he stored the mountain away.
The boundless mountain range, enormous as Buzhou Mountain, had been refined by the Fire of Merit.
It directly turned into a delicate mountain-shaped Merit treasure.
Sun Wukong burst into loud laughter.
He called out toward the Ninth Heaven, "Old Sun got a treasure and I'm in a good mood, so I won't play with you anymore!"
Monkey mounted a cloud and vanished in a flash toward Biyou Palace!
Rulai stood dumbfounded within the Hall of Lingxiao.
His expression was incomparably complicated.
He felt both the lingering terror of narrowly escaping death and incredulous disbelief at the developments ahead, for which he was utterly unprepared!
He had never imagined
that he would encounter something like this!!
When that Monkey had swung his staff at him just now, Rulai had truly felt that he was doomed!
It was even more terrifying than facing Yunxiao's Hunyuan Golden Dou during the Investiture of the Gods.
Yunxiao's Hunyuan Golden Dou was complete purification.
Not only did it strip away one's dharma power, it also carried purification within it.
It completely countered him!
Rulai had not been afraid then, because he had hidden a considerable portion of his Blood God Sons within the Eight Treasures Merit Pool on Mount Sumeru.
Rulai could calmly face death.
He knew that he had a chance to be reborn!
But when Monkey's staff came down upon his head,
Rulai felt boundless terror.
He knew clearly that if that staff struck him solidly,
not only would his true body die, even the four hundred and eighty million Sarira he had cultivated would all be shattered.
That Monkey's staff could directly erase one from the source.
It gave no chance whatsoever.
Revival was simply impossible!
Just as Rulai fell into despair, Dao Ancestor acted!
That's right!
It was Dao Ancestor Hongjun manifesting within his Sea of Consciousness.
With a flip of his palm, he had reversed what should have been a certain death.
That staff which had nearly killed him was completely useless before Dao Ancestor Hongjun!
Moreover,
because Dao Ancestor Hongjun had manifested within Rulai's Sea of Consciousness,
Rulai had gained enormous benefits.
In an instant, he had clarified the direction of his cultivation.
And through Dao Ancestor Hongjun's perspective, he had even gained a thorough understanding of the Dao Integration Realm.
As long as Rulai did not perish and advanced step by step, his path of cultivation would no longer be lost.
Perhaps after countless eras, he would surely become a mighty expert at the Peak Dao Integration Realm!
After escaping death, he had actually gained such rewards.
Rulai was overcome by conflicting joy and sorrow.
Fortunately, his Dao Heart was firm, or he truly would have collapsed!
A sigh drifted over.
Space-time flickered.
Haotian tore through the void and emerged.
Rulai was immediately startled.
Haotian's face was as yellow as gold leaf; he had clearly suffered grave injuries.
A casual strike from Monkey's staff had possessed such terrifying power!
This left Rulai even more shocked.
And even more afraid in retrospect.
Monkey's casual strike had injured Haotian so badly.
If that staff had landed directly on his head... Rulai did not dare think further!
Boundless Merit gathered in the skies and poured into Haotian's body.
Haotian's complexion visibly improved.
His aura gradually stabilized as well.
After quite some time, the light of Merit vanished.
Rulai looked closely and found that Haotian had recovered completely.
He secretly envied him:
"Merit really is good stuff. Pity the West bears boundless debts!"
"However, once the Rise of the West is complete, we in the West can also gain boundless Merit just like them!"
Rulai's obsession with the Rise of the West deepened further in his heart.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun's voice carried over.
"You should take care of yourselves."
Haotian and Rulai hurriedly bowed. "This disciple sees Dao Ancestor off!"
After a long while, the two supreme mighty experts rose and exchanged a glance.
Both of them could not help but feel lingering fear!
Without Dao Ancestor Hongjun,
they truly would have been finished!
Haotian had no idea how long it would take him to recover; he might even have perished.
And Rulai would certainly have fallen into Nirvana!
Haotian glared fiercely at Rulai.
"Buddha Ancestor, I want an explanation!"
Haotian was practically furious.
The Western Saint had sent him a message asking him to scheme against a monkey, and he had agreed without even thinking.
This was one of the aftereffects of his previous schemes against the Saints.
A Saint had personally come to him. Though the Saint had not explicitly mentioned Haotian's past schemes against the Saints, Haotian still felt guilty!
Secondly, he had also wanted a share of the West's Merit.
But he had never imagined
that Monkey's cultivation would be so high!
So high that it completely exceeded his imagination!
Haotian was truly terrified!
He had never expected that he, the co-lord of the Three Realms and a peak Saint, would nearly be finished!
What angered Haotian even more was
that he could have escaped perfectly well.
It was Rulai's loose tongue that had dragged him in and angered Monkey!
Otherwise, he would never have had to take that strike head-on!
He had suffered an utterly undeserved calamity!
It was simply pitiful!
The more Haotian thought about it, the angrier he became!
With a dark expression, he said to Rulai:
"Is this the little favor Buddha Ancestor spoke of?"
"Is this the wild... monkey Buddha Ancestor spoke of?!"
Haotian clenched his fists and roared in a low voice, "I nearly perished!"
He grabbed Rulai tightly.
Clearly, if Rulai did not agree to compensate him, he would not let Rulai leave!,
Rulai wore a bitter expression.
He had not expected this to happen either!
Haotian had nearly perished.
Hadn't he, Rulai, nearly perished as well?
He was afraid too!
Just now, it had truly been a hair's breadth from disaster!
Who could have imagined that wild... Great Sage Monkey would be this powerful?
Who could have imagined that the two of them, two Quasi-Saints at the pinnacle of the Three Realms, could not subdue a single monkey?!
Forget about them being unable to subdue him—even Dao Ancestor Hongjun had not been able to do so, had he?
How had such a terrifying monster appeared in the Primordial Era?
This was too outrageous!
Rulai complained, "Great Heavenly Venerate, this situation was beyond our expectations as well. This old monk was nearly struck by that monkey's Mourning Staff!"
Haotian cut him off directly.
"The Rise of the West means that Great Sage is one destined to face the tribulation."
"You failed to investigate his strength beforehand. It is only right that Buddhism suffers losses!"
"But I was implicated by you!"
Haotian stared fiercely at Rulai.
"If you do not compensate me, then this Karma is not over!"
Rulai was stunned.
Seeing Haotian's face filled with shock, fear, and burning rage, he sighed inwardly. So be it. The Rise of the West will ultimately still need the Heavenly Court's help!
After a long silence, Rulai finally said,
"Give the Heavenly Court one slot in the Journey to the West party?"
Haotian sneered and refused. "No!"
"I nearly lost my life!"
"For such immense Karma, you intend to repay me with merely one slot?"
"Even if we take this dispute before Dao Ancestor Hongjun, I am not afraid!"
Rulai could only smile bitterly!
Haotian was right.
If such Karma could be repaid with merely one slot,
then the co-lord of the Three Realms would be worth far too little!
Rulai said helplessly, "What does Great Heavenly Venerate have in mind?"
Haotian answered bluntly, "I want three slots!"
"What?!" Rulai was shocked. His expression immediately changed. "Impossible!"
Haotian released Rulai's hand, and his expression suddenly changed.
"Since that is the case, Buddha Ancestor, please return. Later, I will go request an audience with Dao Ancestor Hongjun!"
Rulai panicked. If Haotian truly requested an audience with Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who knew what complications might arise?
He gritted his teeth fiercely.
"A promise once made cannot be broken!"
Haotian burst into laughter. "Deal!"
"A bunch of drama queens!"
On Penglai Immortal Island, Lin Dong grabbed a handful of Wind Tail, his expression strange.
No matter what, he had never expected
Haotian, Rulai, and even Hongjun to play along with his disciple's act!
He knew Sun Wukong's cultivation best. He was only a half-step Golden Immortal.
And yet,
two Primordial Golden Immortals like Haotian and Rulai could not defeat Monkey?
It had even alarmed Hongjun!
Who were they trying to fool?
Fortunately, Monkey was not stupid and promptly raised his cultivation.
At least he had entered the Golden Immortal Realm through a bit of trickery!
As long as Monkey entered the Golden Immortal Realm,
Lin Dong would stop worrying about him.
Monkey could do whatever he wanted!
Concept Immortality was no joke.
Even if he angered the mighty experts of the Primordial Era, Lin Dong had plenty of ways to revive Monkey.
Lin Dong was somewhat dissatisfied with the tribulations Monkey faced.
Sun Wukong's cultivation was advancing a little too slowly!
Most crucially, Monkey had not experienced the pressure he should have faced.
As an outsider, Lin Dong saw it clearly.
The entire Mystic Gate was playing along with Monkey's act.
Having just gone through the Investiture of the Gods, the number of gods in the Heavenly Court should have been complete.
Yet when Sun Wukong caused Havoc in Heaven, aside from the insignificant Heavenly Soldiers and Generals at the Southern Heavenly Gate,
not a single mighty immortal had gone to stop him.
Anyone with eyes could see there was a problem.
Yet Monkey remained unaware, leaving Lin Dong both amused and exasperated.
That was not the key point.
The key point was that Haotian had actually been beaten until he coughed up blood by Monkey.
And Rulai had actually nearly perished beneath Monkey's staff.
They had truly spared no expense!
Lin Dong could only sigh. Those two mighty experts had truly gone all out to make Monkey famous!
But that still was not enough.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun had actually taken action!
It was one thing for him to act, but he had even failed to keep Lin Dong's precious disciple behind!
Lin Dong could even imagine that throughout the Three Realms and Six Paths, the legend of the Demon Clan's newly risen Great Sage Monkey would spread.
Wasn't this manufacturing a god a little too intense?
"The waters of the Primordial Era truly run deep!"
"Still, in the end, it will not do Monkey much harm!"
Reputation in the Primordial Era was equivalent to Luck.
The greater one's reputation, the more flourishing one's Luck.
Lin Dong was reassured.
At the very least, before the Rise of the West was completed, Monkey would no longer face any fatal danger.
Even after the Investiture of the Gods,
once Monkey had completely become a legend, there would be even less need to worry about his safety.
It was just that...
Whether the Rise of the West could succeed smoothly was still an open question!
Lin Dong was unlike the great powers of the Primordial Era. While he devoted considerable attention to observing Monkey,
he was also constantly watching the movements within the Boundless Sea of Blood.
Lord of Seven Kills Minghe had actually revived silently within the Boundless Sea of Blood,
completely catching Lin Dong off guard.
"Is the Heavenly Dao dissatisfied with Hongjun? Did it deliberately summon Hongjun's old enemy to set things right?"
"But judging from Luohu's movements, he doesn't seem to be planning to make a move anytime soon."
"Then what exactly is he trying to do?"
Lin Dong quietly tapped the table over and over.
Before you continue