When it came to the major events of the Ancient Mythology Era, Meng Qi was no longer the ignorant youth he once was. After all he had seen and heard, he had constantly corrected his past mistakes, and he felt more and more that he was closing in on the truth.
Now, after inferring from Yuanshi Tianzun's few scattered words that the several Other Shore beings who joined forces to attack the Heavenly Court had most likely been after something related to the Dao Fruit, many long-standing doubts seemed to find their answers all at once.
After the Heavenly Emperor opened the highest of the Nine Heavens, crossed the Sea of Suffering, and ascended to the Other Shore, he became a true power in his own right. He had always been ambitious, so it was only natural that he no longer wanted to be a puppet onstage for Yuanshi Tianzun and Moral Heavenly Venerable. It was also a brilliant strategy to win over the Buddha of Spirit Mountain, draw Buddhist forces into the conflict to maintain a balance, and preside from the center while playing both sides. But why had he eventually fallen out with Yuan Shi and Moral Heavenly Venerable, and thrown in his lot completely with Buddhism?
The key turning point was when Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Court. He was unstoppable, forcing the Heavenly Emperor to ask the Buddha of Spirit Mountain to subdue him. Yet this seemingly simple matter was full of too many baffling details:
Moral Heavenly Venerable, one of the Three Pure Ones and an ancient Other Shore being, had tried to refine Sun Wukong in a pill furnace, only to fail—and instead grant him even greater strength.
Yang Jian, the "Erlang Zhenjun," who had always