As such, risks were still involved. No one was certain whether the risk was huge or not.
“The Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor might not know about the truth beneath the Five Elements Mountain. However, the Tathagata Buddha had personally suppressed someone here, which meant that things were not simple at all. After the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor got wind of it, he wanted to know who it was, which is why I’m here now.”
Yan Zhaoge lightly rubbed his temples and smiled bitterly.
“And yet, here you are,” said Feng Yunsheng softly. “In fact, you’ve even undergone a huge risk and agreed to help the Great Sage escape.”
Yan Zhaoge remained silent for a while and smiled, “My previous words to the Great Sage weren’t pleasantries, nor was it made to appeal to him. They were my true thoughts.”
Feng Yunsheng nodded, “I can tell.”
“Frankly speaking, my morals have its limits,” said Yan Zhaoge softly. “Most of the time, I’m quite a realistic person.”
“Naturally, it’ll be for the best if I could do something that benefits both parties. However, other than a few specific people, if I were forced to pick one, I would rather benefit myself.”
“To seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, to care about gains and losses. I often do these as well.”
Yan Zhaoge first laughed at himself and retracted his smile. He pointed towards his heart, “However, sometimes, there’s a little boy inside my heart that likes to dream. When facing certain matters, he would recklessly jump out.”
That was precisely the case at this very moment.
Great Sage Equalling Heavens – Sun Wukong!
In the distant memory of his previous life, the monkey was Yan Zhaoge’s childhood idol!
It didn’t change even after reading through many texts and understood much other information, which pointed out how imperfect a monkey his childhood idol was.
In those stories, the monkey didn’t even cause a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace, nor did he ever incite havoc within the mortal world.
In fact, before entering the Soaring Clouds Palace, he was chased away by a Heavenly General.
Later on, during his Journey to the West, he had suffered a lot and was always seeking reinforcements.
Yan Zhaoge knew that the original story could very possibly be describing monk Sanzang’s internal demons [1]. It was a story used to insult the problematic era they were living in…
His impression towards Sun Wukong had mostly originated from the reflection and replenishment of his emotions. These weren’t his initial impressions towards Sun Wukong anymore. Instead, he had continuously erased Sun Wukong’s flaws and always compensated them with Sun Wukong’s merits. He selectively chose to ignore matters that would taint Sun Wukong’s impression within his mind and even added various other scenes that didn’t exist…
However, for Yan Zhaoge, these were nothing!
While he could be sensible towards other matters, he wouldn’t allow this at all!
Even if someone called him a brain-dead fan, he wouldn’t bat an eye at all.
Yan Zhaoge had even detested the monkey that came out from the Five Elements Mountain.
In his heart, the fearless monkey that could battle against the entire heavens and never yield, the monkey that could conquer the world with his rod, the unparalleled hero that could trample across the Southern Heavenly Gate and flip over the Soaring Sky Palace was the true Great Sage Equalling Heavens – Sun Wukong!
This was his previous life.
In this life, after reading through the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace’s texts, Yan Zhaoge knew that the Great Sage Equalling Heavens – Sun Wukong had indeed caused a ruckus within the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace. In fact, Sun Wukong was an unparalleled Great Demon that was undefeatable among the Heavenly Immortals and even rampaged throughout the heavens without any worries.
As such, Yan Zhaoge was even more disappointed when he ultimately transformed into the Travelling Monk Sun and became a Buddha after the pilgrimage.
After knowing the truth beneath the Five Elements Mountain, the amount of comfort and joy Yan Zhaoge was much more than what was written on his face.
As such, just like what Feng Yunsheng said, he arrived at the Five Elements Mountain in the end.
Not only did he arrive here, he even wanted to assist the monkey!
For other matters, he might still have moments where he was merely recklessly doing things as he desired.
However, his recklessness stood extraordinarily firmly towards this matter!
[1] Some people speculated that all four of Tang Sanzang’s companions (Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and his horse) were all his internal demons, the impurities within his heart. Only by conquering and overcoming these humanly emotions would he be able to become a Buddha.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 1373 - Panda Slave
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 1374 - Face-to-Face for the First Time
“Every start has an end. Such is a natural course,” said Feng Yunsheng when Yan Zhaoge mentioned the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor.
The two sides harbored a limited amount of trust with each other. The Exalted Lunar Luminary – Ling Qing was aware of this as well. As a result, she didn’t request methods to contact Yan Zhaoge and the others and instead gave Yan Zhaoge and Feng Yunsheng a way to contact her.
While conversing with Feng Yunsheng, Yan Zhaoge contacted Ling Qing within the void’s boundless outskirts.
After affirming the location and time to meet each other, the two continued on their journey.
After arriving at the meeting spot, Yan Zhaoge and Feng Yunsheng continued concealing themselves out of wariness and quietly awaited the arrival of the other party.
Yan Zhaoge was already proficient in hiding his aura, to begin with. After Feng Yunsheng gained the Exalted Rahu Luminary – Jian Shunhua’s attainments in the profundities of martial arts, she became proficient in such an act as well.
In the past, among the New Kunlun Nine Luminaries, the Exalted Rahu Luminary – Jian Shunhua was always proficient in assassinating. Naturally, she was skillful in terms of concealing herself as well. Although her assassination techniques were too violent, everything would quiet down as she hid once more, making it a great way to distract her enemies.
The two waited patiently. After a long while, a stream of light flickered from afar.
Only, this radiance wasn’t as mellow and tranquil as Ling Qing’s moonlight. Instead, it resembled a sunrise.
Upon seeing this, Yan Zhaoge and Feng Yunsheng both looked towards each other, “… Gao Han?”
The one that came wasn’t the Exalted Lunar Luminary – Ling Qing. Instead, it was the Exalted Solar Luminary – Gao Han!
The person that Yan Zhaoge had always put up his guard against.
The sunlight stopped advancing upon getting near them. As the gold brilliance vanished, a white-shirt man showed himself. He was Gao Han.
With a leisure expression, he placed his hands behind his back and looked at his surroundings. Even when he was only looking towards an empty cosmic void, he wasn’t in a rush. He started waiting patiently.
As Feng Yunsheng turned her head, she saw Yan Zhaoge touching his chin.
It wasn’t a coincidence for Ling Qing to contact them earlier.
Gao Han had a little self-awareness regarding this as well. He knew that he had left a terrible impression on Yan Zhaoge, Chen Xuanzong, Yue Zhenbei, and the others.
Him coming here would naturally cause Yan Zhaoge to be heavily on guard against him. In fact, Yan Zhaoge might even refuse to come in contact with him.
As such, he had stayed out of most matters and instead asked Ling Qing to contact them.
However, he decided to take action personally now.
An amused expression appeared on Yan Zhaoge’s face. After a while, he said, “Let’s be a little more benevolent. Since he’s here, we might as well meet up with him.�
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Then, the two appeared within the void in front of Gao Han.
Gao Han noticed them immediately. Upon seeing Yan Zhaoge and Feng Yunsheng, a smile slowly arose from his face, “Seeing you myself is much better than hearing others talking about you. As expected, you’re both outstanding individuals.”
“Thanks for your praise, Exalted Solar Luminary.” Yan Zhaoge’s expression remained unfazed, “Speaking of it, I would have to thank you for the Extreme Yang Seal, which you had refined in the past. It truly helped me overcome many hardships.”
This was the first time the two were meeting each other.
However, their understanding towards each other far surpassed people who interacted with each other daily.
Gao Han smiled, “Your sarcasm hurts me. My act of making someone else a scapegoat and escaping from that lower realm had truly made me a laughing stock.”
Yan Zhaoge didn’t bother asking why Gao Han came, instead of the previous Ling Qing. He said, “My wife and I entered the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus’s Obscured Way World. Coincidentally, the Western Pure Lands’ orthodox Buddhism experts invaded, causing the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus to undergo havoc. The timing was unexpectedly lax, which allowed us to linger around for a little while longer before we left.”
“We knew about these matters as well.” Gao Han nodded, “The one in the lead of that invasion was the Namo Victorious Fighting Buddha. Without the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus’s Maitreya Buddha’s appearance, he was unblockable. After that, the Demon Race’s Great Sage who Pacifies Heavens – the Bull Demon King assisted in fending off the Namo Victorious Fighting Buddha.”
“As the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus continued to mobilize more manpower, and more Demon Race demons arrived, the Namo Victorious Fighting Buddha and the Western Blessed Lands’ Bhantes retreated there were no hopes of gaining anything anymore.
He smiled, “This was beyond our expectations. However, it still benefited us in the end.”
Previously, to mask Yan Zhaoge’s action of infiltrating the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus’s Obscured Way World, the Exalted Lunar Luminary – Ling Qing and he had made a huge commotion within the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus as well, intending to advert the heretic Buddhists’ attention.
The Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor had even leaked a few traces of himself in hopes of holding back his enemies.
Under normal circumstances, without the Western Pure Lands’ sudden interference, the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor and the others would require some effort to escape successfully.
With the Western Pure Lands’ large-scale invasion, the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus’s attention was shifted away, thus allowing Gao Han and the others to escape without any problems.
“Just like how the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor predicted, there’s someone that’s being suppressed beneath the Five Elements Mountain.” Yan Zhaoge answered peacefully, “All our efforts hadn’t gone to waste. I successfully discovered who was being suppressed beneath the Five Elements Mountain.”
“It was the Great Sage Equalling Heavens – the Monkey King – Sun Wukong.”
Gao Han’s gaze flickered upon hearing his answer, “Great Sage Equalling Heavens? There are two of them? You should know that the Great Sage Equalling Heavens transformed into the Namo Victorious Fighting Buddha after attaining Buddhism Enlightenment, right?”
He raised his eyebrows slightly, “Or, could one of them be the Six-Eared Macaque? The one that always imitates others’ appearances in the legends? ”
“The one that became a Buddha was the Travelling Monk Sun. The Six-Eared Macaque was an internal demon manifested within his own heart,” said Yan Zhaoge slowly. “As for the Great Sage Equalling Heavens, he has been suppressed beneath the Five Elements Mountain since the start and had never managed to escape at all.”
“The Great Sage Equalling Heaven is Sun Wukong, and Traveling Monk Sun is Sun Wukong. However, Traveling Monk Sun is not the Great Sage Equalling Heaven.”
Although Yan Zhaoge’s wordings were complex, Gao Han immediately understood what he meant.
“When Buddhist monk Sanzang helped him out of the suppression, Sun Wukong was split into two?” Gao Han was a little surprised. An amused expression was written on his face, “No wonder, no wonder…”
He lowered his head and chuckled, “The Great Sage Equalling Heavens was formed by one of Mother Goddess Nuwa’s five-colored stones used to mend the skies – the Earthly Essence Stone. This stone was capable of countering the Humanly Essence Stone’s queer transformations. In the past, when the Middle era Demon Races laid down the huge formation to block Buddhism from descending upon the East, they had utilized the effects of the Humanly Essence Stone. And yet, they were counter-attacked by the Great Sage Equalling Heavens, who had already converted to Buddhism during that time.”
“While the Demon Race were enraged, they could only watch as the formation was being destroyed. In the end, the small cracks appearing on the formation turned into unrepairable patches, causing them to lose completely.”
Gao Han continuously shook his head, “During that period, the fact that the quick-tempered Great Sage Equalling Heavens had thoroughly joined the central Blessed Lands of Saha incited many controversies, as such acts were deemed unbelievable. I never expected the outcome to turn out like this.”
He looked towards Yan Zhaoge and smiled, “To be honest, I thought that the true or fake Monkey King was being suppressed there. No matter if he was true or fake, one of them should be suppressed there.”
“With this return, I had also received an answer to my unresolved question,” said Yan Zhaoge with a smile.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 1375 - Three Brilliances Sacred Water
“I would like to hear more details about it.” Gao Han smiled and made a “go ahead” gesture to Yan Zhaoge.
Yan Zhaoge said, “The one that suppressed the Great Sage Equalling Heavens beneath the Five Elements Mountain, the Mystical Mountain’s Tathagata Buddha which had already transcended, and the Western Second Patriarch that had welcomed Daoism together with Amitabha Buddha in the past – Daoist Zhunti.”
“The Ancient era’s Western Second Patriarch – Daoist Zhunti, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven’s master, and the current Gautama Buddha…”
Facing Gao Han’s gaze that was getting brighter and brighter, Yan Zhaoge calmly looked towards him, “… These three people are of the same existence.”
“Daoists Zhunti…” Gao Han raised his head slightly and was slightly in a daze, “This had truly answered my other question.”
There was a myriad of mysteries in this world. Among them, the most famous ones were typically mysteries related to the existences beyond the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm.
For example, why did the Lord of Dao and Virtue Grand Master that should’ve transcended by the end of the Ancient era appear during the Middle era in the form of the Supreme Elder Lord?
The difference in time was far too huge. What happened to the Daoism Three Clear Grand Masters, the Western Second Patriarch, the origins of Devils – the Primordial Heavenly Devil that was equal to the Ancient Three Sovereigns? Were they still alive?
And… Where did the Mystical Mountain’s Tathagata Buddha come from?
At first glance, this question made no sense.
However, this was indeed a question that had confused many others, especially after the Ancient era, when the central Blessed Lands of Saha appeared during the Middle era.
The reason was simple. Before the central Blessed Lands of Saha’s Western Mystical Mountain’s Great Thunderclap Monastery’s master – the Gautama Buddha appeared, all the experts beyond the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm had existed before the Early Heavens. Before the heavens were open and the earth was split, they had already been born within the primordial chaotic gulf.
Whether it was the Daoism Three Clear Grand Master, the Ancient Three Sovereigns, the Western Buddhi
sm Second Patriarch, or even the Six Ancestral Devils, none of them was an exception.
There were many kinds of lifeforms that existed before the Early Heavens as well. However, not all of them could achieve the realm beyond the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm.
However, the ones beyond the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm had all existed during the Early Heavens.
They governed over the world’s laws and had even established and created the world, which allowed them to develop and educate all other Later Heavens lifeforms.
Those beneath the Immortal Realm were all mortals.
There were four Immortal Realms – the Leakless True Immortal Realm, the Tranquil Profound Immortal Realm, the Grand Virtual Immortal Realm, and the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm.
Beyond the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm, which was also beyond the Immortal Realm, was filled with profundities and was pretty much indescribable. Only the word “Dao” could represent it.
It could be referred to as the Dao Realm [1].
The existences beyond the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm were usually referred to as the Dao Ancestor.
Dao Ancestors were all born before the Early Heavens. The only exception was the central Blessed Lands of Saha’s master – the Mystical Mountain’s Tathagata Buddha.
However, just like the Middle era’s Supreme Elder Lord, the controversy about whether the Mystical Mountain’s Tathagata Buddha was a Later Heavens Dao Realm bigwig Grand Master had always been ongoing.
Generally speaking, there were three most widely spread theories.
The first theory was that a Later Heaven lifeform possessed the potential to become Buddha. Under the Past Buddha’s guidance, he entered Buddhism and started concentrating on his cultivation. Through his perception, he managed to achieve the Dao Realm and ultimately turned into the first Dao Ancestor after the Early Heavens.
This was the theory that the central Blessed Lands of Saha had spread throughout the world.
The second type was merely a guess. A Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm expert had successfully become a Dao Ancestor.
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