Who Else Could Have Done It If Not Universal Manifestation? Go to the East Sea to Find Qingyuan-Qingyuan Is Not on Golden Ao Island

Ultimate Bliss World.

Jieyin and Zhunti sat upon lotus platforms, the golden light screen before them not yet fully dispersed.

Tathagata's figure radiated barely suppressed fury, like incense burned too far—its ashes still warm, its smoke choking.

"Two Tang Sanzangs, one real and one fake?"

Daoist Zhunti spoke first. His long brows twisted together, the vertical crease between them as deep as if carved by a blade.

He rolled those four words over and over in his mouth, finding them more unpleasant each time.

Who was Jinchi?

A mortal abbot of Guanyin Zen Temple, an old monk who had cultivated for over two hundred years without even touching the threshold.

In the Heavenly Dao's plan for the Journey to the West Calamity, his role had been that of an insignificant passerby on Tang Sanzang's pilgrimage, never to have anything more to do with it afterward.

Yet now, not only had this passerby failed to remain quietly in place, he had actually replaced the pilgrim?

This was no longer a Variable. Someone had placed an extra piece upon a chessboard that had already been laid out.

There were only a handful of people in the Three Realms capable of placing such a piece!

Daoist Jieyin slowly opened his half-closed eyes. His gaze was as tranquil as an ancient well, betraying neither joy nor anger, but those who knew him understood that the quieter he was, the faster his thoughts turned.

Someone had tampered with Jinchi's memories.

That blurred face, those missing details, those deliberately erased features—all showed that the culprit had cast a concealment technique from the very beginning of their scheme.

A concealment technique itself was nothing remarkable, but one capable of deceiving even his Dharma Eye was certainly no ordinary method.

"This was not arranged by us."

Daoist Zhunti