Xu Ying was surprised and delighted to hear this voice. "Daoist Wukong?"
Looking toward the sound, he saw no sign of Daoist Wukong; presumably, the Daoist was not within this bodhimanda. His primary purpose in coming here was to find Daoist Wukong and ask him to see whether the strange flower of the Heavenly River was the Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan. His secondary purpose was the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.
Earlier, he had still been worried that Emperor Changsheng might arrive here.
The big black dog grew alert. "The monkey? He isn't dead yet? What is he doing in Second Master's immortal tomb? Damn monkey, when did he take to grave-robbing?"
Xu Ying blinked and probed, "Brother Tian, you know Daoist Wukong?"
The big black dog said nonchalantly, "Back then, when I clashed with him, I nearly bit one of his legs off, captured him, and sent him up to the Immortal Slaying Stage. That was all."
Xu Ying and Little Celestial Venerable were astounded, both feeling he was boasting.
The big black dog grew anxious. Tracking Daoist Wukong's voice, he shouted, "If you don't believe me, ask him yourself later! Didn't I bite him once and make him tumble?"
Xu Ying was still somewhat skeptical. Daoist Wukong could be considered the most formidable existence he had ever met, capable of sitting before the grand fissure of the Supreme Cave Abyss for hundreds of thousands of years without decaying. As formidable as the big black dog was, surely he couldn't have nearly bitten his leg off, could he?
As for escorting him to the Immortal Slaying Stage, where did that even come from?
The big black dog said in a worldly, self-important manner, "The monkey wreaked havoc across Emperor Haocang's Immortal Court. Emperor Haocang dispatched many experts, including the Great Deity of the Three Altars and Sea Gathering and the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, yet none could bring him down. Later, someone went to invite Second Master to step in. Second Master fought him for several hundred rounds without a victor. In the end, it was only when I stepped forward that we captured him."
He darted through the bodhimanda at extreme speed. Xu Ying and Little Celestial Venerable hurried to keep up, terrified of losing him.
"Still, that monkey truly has some skill. Back then, he was a Great Sage of the Demon Race. Aside from me, it had been a very long time since a decent powerhouse had emerged from our demon race. But I was indifferent to fame and fortune and didn't bother with such gimmicks."
The big black dog continued, "After that monkey rose to prominence, Emperor Haocang worried he would cause trouble and offered him an official post. As a result, once the rascal arrived at the Immortal Court, he stole and ate Taiqing Dao Ancestor's Nine Revolutions Great Elixir, refining an immortal and indestructible body. Then he was refined in the Eight Trigrams Pill Furnace. After breaking free, he ran amok in the Immortal Court. Even after I captured him and had him escorted to the Immortal Slaying Stage, he actually didn't die and managed to escape instead."
He sighed with emotion. "I originally thought he died in the Dao weeping. I never expected he actually survived."
Xu Ying thought for a moment and said, "Brother Tian, Daoist Wukong is not who he used to be. His cultivation is unfathomable. It's fine to boast like this in front of us, but when you're before him, you should be broad-minded so you don't end up on the losing end."
The big bell chimed in hurriedly, "This isn't cowardice, it's being magnanimous—broad-minded, not stooping to his level."
Xu Ying nodded repeatedly. "Indeed."
The big black dog sneered, "A defeated foe from the past deserves my magnanimity? When we meet, just watch me spray a mouthful of black dog blood on him to blast him dead and force him to show his true form!"
Xu Ying, the big bell, and Little Celestial Venerable were each deeply worried.
The tomb of the Seven Brothers of Plum Mountain was constructed like a labyrinth, with countless twists and turns. Even with the big black dog leading the way, they walked for a long time before finally arriving at True Lord Erlang's tomb.
Greeting their eyes was an expanse of mountains and rivers. A surging river flowed between two mountains, and at the river mouth stood an ancient temple of antique architecture bearing three words: Erlang Temple.
The area was suffused with a heavy, enduring Dao rhythm, ancient, profound, and truly extraordinary.
"This place is the Guanjiang River Mouth Great Luo Heaven. The Erlang Temple at Guanjiang River Mouth is Second Master's bodhimanda, but this bodhimanda is merely where incense is offered," the big black dog said as he raced toward Erlang Temple. "Second Master achieved physical sanctification, attaining Daluo Golden Immortal. He himself was his bodhimanda, attaining the Dao within. He did not possess the kind of Great Luo Heaven commonly spoken of."
"Physical sanctification, attaining the Dao within?" Hearing this, Xu Ying could not help but be filled with yearning.
The Great Luo Heaven was his physical body! Physical body, primordial spirit, and Great Dao refined into one—what an immensely powerful body that must be!
"So when that monkey says the True Lord's Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art isn't the number one body refinement holy art in the world, could it be that his own technique is number one instead?" the big black dog sneered.
"Uncle Dog, broad-minded!" Little Celestial Venerable hurriedly reminded him.
"You're the dog! Call me Uncle Xiaotian!" the big black dog said with an unpleasant scowl.
They arrived at the Erlang Temple of Guanjiang River Mouth. The big black dog charged furiously into the temple. Worried for his safety, Xu Ying rushed in after him, only to hear the big black dog call out with hearty, resonant vigor:
"When did Great Sage Grandpa arrive? You didn't even notify me in advance so I could come out to welcome you!"
Xu Ying, Little Celestial Venerable, and Lord Bell all let out a sigh of relief, thinking to themselves, "Lord Dog truly is an old veteran of the world. Magnanimous indeed!"
Xu Ying walked inside. He saw Daoist Wukong dressed in yellow robes with wide sleeves, the clothing ill-fitting.
Sitting opposite him was a handsome, dignified youth with a delicate air, dressed in rather magnificent attire. Wearing a faint, enigmatic smile, his Dao aura was majestic, otherworldly, and transcendent.
Between his brows stood an upright eye, resembling a newly sprouted willow leaf.
He was True Lord Erlang.
The eye between his brows could gaze upon the trichiliocosm, and the sights of the myriad heavens and realms often reflected within it, extraordinarily wondrous.
Xu Ying examined him for a moment and inwardly sighed in regret. This youth was already deceased, devoid of any aura of life.
Daoist Wukong sat opposite True Lord Erlang. Between them was a tray holding wine and cups, with wine in the cups.
Daoist Wukong was already about seventy or eighty percent drunk. Paying no mind to the arrival of the big black dog, Xu Ying, and the others, he raised his cup in a toast and said, "Your Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art has never defeated my leakless golden body. It didn't win back then, and it wouldn't win now. Yet sadly, when I returned, you were already gone. From now on, it will never be known who was truly number one under heaven."
After finishing his drink, he burst into tears.
The big black dog consoled him, "Great Sage Grandpa, when Second Master passed away, he was thinking of you too, saying he felt great regret in his heart that he never truly settled who was superior between you two."
Hearing this, Daoist Wukong wept even more bitterly, as if the heavens and earth were turning dark.
The big black dog said, "Back then, the impact of the Dao weeping inflicted severe Dao injuries upon him. To investigate the truth behind the Dao weeping, Second Master sealed a portion of it within his own body, which prevented his wounds from healing for a very long time and depleted his vitality. Later on, when the New Dao overthrew Emperor Haocang, the battles fought to establish the Immortal Realm tore heaven and earth apart, plunging the world into utter chaos. They claimed the Ancestral Court was a demonic realm and the former path of cultivation was a demonic way. By then, the Ancestral Court had few capable fighters left. Even the Great Deity of the Three Altars and Sea Gathering died in battle. After Second Master arranged his funeral affairs, he had no choice but to step forward."
To protect the people living in the Ancestral Court, True Lord Erlang waged fierce battles against the powerhouses of the New Dao. Rushing everywhere to rescue the common folk, he ultimately aggravated his old injuries. His oil exhausted and his lamp burnt out, he failed to survive.
"After he passed away, I stayed behind to guard his immortal tomb," the big black dog said. "I haven't gone outside for hundreds of thousands of years. I don't know what the world out there has become. How are the people Second Master protected?"
Little Celestial Venerable straightened his posture and said, "Uncle Xiaotian, they survived. Although it was very difficult, they still survived. If you go outside now and take a look, the shattered heaven and earth have been restored, and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth has been mended. Though the Ancestral Court today cannot compare to the past, it is full of even more vibrant life than before!"
The big black dog was overjoyed. "Really?"
He immediately grew somber. "It's a pity Second Master can no longer see it."
He fell into a daze. True Lord Erlang was an immortal, but also a deity. A deity possessed incense; when sentient beings venerated and believed in him, he gained divine power. Along with divine power came the responsibility to protect sentient beings.
True Lord Erlang had always practiced the creed of being a deity, protecting the people of the Ancestral Court.
He did not care whether the one sitting on the supreme throne of the Immortal Court was Emperor Haocang or the current Immortal Emperor Supreme. Nor did he care whether the Great Dao prevailing between heaven and earth was the Old Dao or the New Dao.
He only knew that having received the incense of sentient beings, he must protect sentient beings.
Whether as a god or as a mortal, it was always so.
Thus, he had become the final protector of the Ancestral Court, sinking into the Eight Trigrams Pill Furnace alongside his enemies, using his last bit of strength to seal and suppress those formidable foes.
Even if his body died and his Dao perished, he would still use the might of the Great Luo immortal artifact to refine his enemies to ashes!
Daoist Wukong seemed thoroughly drunk. With a heavy thud, he collapsed backward, raising his flagon to pour wine straight into his mouth. After a moment, he murmured, "You foolish thing... but a true hero! How I wish you could get back up and fight another round."
Before he could finish the wine, he became completely inebriated, lying on the ground in a deep slumber.
The big black dog frowned and called out, "Great Sage Grandpa? Great Sage Grandpa?"
Daoist Wukong's snoring grew louder, and he muttered in his dream, "At this Guanjiang River Mouth, True Lord Erlang Manifesting Saint is nowhere to be seen..."
Lord Bell praised, "Master Dog is truly broad-minded. Had we known you were so magnanimous, we wouldn't have bothered advising you."
The big black dog grew angry and retorted, "Call me Xiaotian! Or Master Tian! This monkey—Great Sage Grandpa is terrifyingly formidable. Back then, when he and the True Lord went all out, they fought until heaven and earth turned dark. Only when the True Lord suddenly cast me forth to bite him once did we capture him. Now that the True Lord is gone, of course I'm no match for him."
Lord Bell asked, "If you don't try, how do you know you're no match for him?"
The big black dog sneered, "I caught the scent of an apex powerhouse on him."
Lord Bell was astonished. "Such a divine ability actually exists? Give me a sniff!"
"I don't even need to sniff to know that the three of you have gone sour with cowardice."
Suddenly, the big black dog's expression shifted slightly. "Not good! That damned Imperial Monarch has tracked us here! Let's get out of here quick—they came so fast! We can't get away!"
No sooner had his voice fallen than a vast, boundless aura blotted out the sky and covered the earth, enveloping the four quarters. Emperor Changsheng's bodhimanda unfurled, spreading out to blanket the entirety of Guanjiang River Mouth!
"Xu Ying, you slew an avatar of mine and seized my treasure, yet I will not make things difficult for you," Emperor Changsheng's voice echoed leisurely. "Return my treasure, and I will grant you a path of survival."
Xu Ying's expression changed slightly. He summoned the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler and whispered, "Master Dog, Lord Bell, Erdog, although I obtained this Supreme treasure, I have refined it for only a short time and cannot fully unleash its might. In a moment, we will activate this treasure together to contend with that white-haired lad!"
The big black dog asked, "What is the background of this white-haired lad?"
"A Daluo Golden Immortal of today's Immortal Court!"
Just as Xu Ying said this, a yawn suddenly sounded behind him. The big black dog's eyes widened in disbelief. Looking behind Xu Ying, he cried out in shock, "Second Master, you're still alive?"
Xu Ying turned around. He saw True Lord Erlang raise both hands high in a long stretch, as though waking back to life from death.
Within True Lord Erlang's body, surges of mighty Dao power surged and revived, like tens of thousands of dragon-elephants roaring in his belly.
He slowly rose to his feet. As he stood, heaven and earth swayed from side to side, and space trembled violently. Even Emperor Changsheng's Great Luo bodhimanda grew unstable, shaken by the disturbance stirred up by his standing!
Tears streamed down the big black dog's face. Filled with ecstatic joy, he bounded around True Lord Erlang, shouting, "Second Master, I thought you were really dead! You're alive—this is wonderful, truly wonderful!"
Xu Ying glanced at True Lord Erlang, then at Daoist Wukong lying in drunken slumber on the ground, lost in thought.
True Lord Erlang bent down, gently patted the big black dog's head, smoothed his fur, and abruptly straightened up!
In an instant, his mysterious art executed five revolutions, his golden body indestructible, and a resonant Dao chant echoed between heaven and earth: "Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, where art thou?"
The Boundless Sea of Fire shook violently. A supreme immortal artifact tore through the void, piercing through layers of bodhimandas. With a resonant hum, it landed in his palm, wreathed in raging Tushita immortal fire!
This divine weapon of a Daluo Golden Immortal featured a long spear-like shaft topped with three tips, double-edged and razor-sharp, a close-combat weapon.
Holding the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, True Lord Erlang was himself a Great Luo bodhimanda. With a sharp shout, he slashed downward, cleaving open Emperor Changsheng's bodhimanda!
Emperor Changsheng gave a muffled grunt as the blade's radiant edge hissed and sizzled, cleaving open his bodhimanda and nearly reaching his person.
"What manner of sacred being are you?" Though alarmed in his heart, Emperor Changsheng did not retreat, but stepped forward instead, roaring loudly.
"With an axe I split Mount Tao to rescue my mother, and with pellets I struck down the pair of phoenixes at Zongluo! I am True Lord Erlang of Guanjiang River Mouth—your Second Master!"
True Lord Erlang leapt into the air, swinging the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade. With a single bound, he traversed the bodhimanda and arrived directly before him, the blade thrusting right at Emperor Changsheng's face!
Emperor Changsheng did not flinch in the face of peril. Behind him, the ancient plum Dao tree stood vigorous and straight, its Dao flowers in bloom, its Dao fruit green yet radiating Dao light.
Yet in the next instant, the Dao tree shook with a thunderous boom; a petal actually drifted loose from the Dao flower, and the radiance of the Dao fruit was diminished as well.
Emperor Changsheng dared not show negligence. His long sleeves fluttered as he engaged True Lord Erlang.
He possessed another magic treasure: a plum blossom branch refined from the boughs of his Dao tree. This treasure was exceptionally elegant, with a Dao flower hanging from its tip, yet its power was extraordinarily immense.
However, the moment the plum blossom branch collided with the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, it was severed in a single strike!
Slash, slash, slash!
Torn sleeves fluttered like broken butterflies. Emperor Changsheng was struck by several slashes and spat out large mouthfuls of blood. When he summoned the Dao tree behind him, it too was hacked until its branches withered and its Dao flowers withered away!
"Retreat!"
With a hoarse shout, he took the lead, riding a billow of immortal light and fleeing in haste. Behind him, Imperial Monarch Zhongyi and Chen Chaosheng hurriedly followed, fleeing in disarray.
True Lord Erlang laughed heartily. Leaping into the air, he transformed into a streak of golden light and descended into Erlang Temple. Planting the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade beside him, he sat in the lotus posture, once again devoid of any life aura.
Daoist Wukong was drunk. He had a dream—a dream in which he transformed into True Lord Erlang, allowing this old friend to grasp the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade once more and unleash the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art to his heart's content.
Chapter 532