Chapter 742: Indestructible Golden Soul

"Fellow Daoist, have you heard? That great demon king has appeared at Huaguo Mountain in Dongsheng Shenzhou!"

"Oh, that's old news from last year."

"That demon king is a monkey spirit, rumored to be born from the essence of heaven and earth. No one knows how he got involved with the demon clans or where he learned such profound divine abilities that can shake the heavens and earth."

"He's quite the character—he beat those old demon kings until they didn't dare lift their heads; then he went to the Dragon Palace, where the Dragon King treated him with utmost courtesy, and he even took away that Ruyi Jingu Bang, the divine needle used by Dayu to control the floods!"

"No one knows the background of this Meihou Wang, but he's acting so lawlessly."

"The Dragon Clan is truly finished..."

"Exactly, the Dragon Clan is truly finished."

"I heard the demon clans are openly supporting this Meihou Wang, planning to challenge us humans for dominance over heaven and earth?"

"Rumor has it that as soon as Meihou Wang heard about that, he went and smashed the mountain gate of the old demon who made the announcement."

"Ha! That Meihou Wang has quite the fierce temperament, but he has indeed become the pillar of the demon clans now."

"The demon clans rising again? Hah, that's just wishful thinking."

"This Meihou Wang hasn't even fully established his power yet. If he keeps causing trouble, Heaven will definitely send troops to suppress him."

"Fellow Daoist, you make a good point. To be honest, the current Heaven isn't like it was in the late ancient times."

"In today's Heaven, just picking one or two of the Eight Departments' chief gods would be enough to easily handle Meihou Wang."

"Could a mere demon king really turn the heavens upside down?"

In a great world far from the Honghuang Wubu Zhou, in the immortal gathering grounds of Xianlin, a group of immortals huddled together, discussing the "Honghuang news" from half a year ago.

—Without Heaven's major influence pushing it, news spreads from near to far.

Li Changshou piloted a replica body modeled after Bodhi Laozu, flying past Xianlin on a cloud. He listened to their chatter with an expressionless face, then returned to the nearby Daoist temple.

Expressionless...

Indeed, he should be expressionless.

His Dao realm was sealed, so even a light breeze or a faint smile wouldn't make sense.

The seal on Xu Bodhi's Dao realm had no effect on Li Changshou; it only locked the Jie Kong Great Dao.

But still...

After hundreds of years of effort, it all amounted to nothing, and now his own Great Dao was miserably sealed.

If Xu Bodhi were still alive, he might have turned dark from this.

Gazing into the peach blossom forest, hidden within was a divine immortal residence.

It was a vast Daoist temple, where male and female disciples gathered in groups—some frolicking by the streams, others debating scriptures in the incense-filled halls, or chatting over drinks on the rooftops.

Had Bodhi Laozu's disciples increased?

Not at all.

This temple was originally a famous immortal abode in this world; Li Changshou was merely residing here, allowing his own disciples to cultivate.

As for himself, he frequently ventured out to search for spiritual roots and seek ways to break the heavenly shackles.

What comforted Li Changshou was that the Dao Ancestor's move of "culling the hunting dogs once the rabbits are caught" had given him the perfect excuse to explore places where the Great Dao might manifest.

He was just going with the flow.

It was just that every day, he had to wear a gloomy face, which was a bit depressing.

Returning to the temple, Li Changshou went straight to his pavilion, changed into a Daoist robe, and sat cross-legged on the couch to rest.

He pointed his finger to summon a cloud mirror, borrowing the power of the Heavenly Dao to observe the situation at Huaguo Mountain's Shuilian Cave.

—Since he was using the Heavenly Dao's power, this action was naturally known to the Dao Ancestor.

This detail was part of his calculation; Li Changshou was deliberately maintaining a faint presence to avoid the Dao Ancestor suddenly turning his gaze toward him.

If by chance the Dao Ancestor saw him tampering with the Honghuang Great Dao, a great battle would erupt prematurely.

In the past thirty years, Li Changshou's progress had been quite good—he'd completed about sixty percent, and with another twenty or thirty years, it would be enough.

The cloud mirror revealed:

In Shuilian Cave of Huaguo Mountain, a group of monkey spirits were leaping about, with many formidable demon experts inside.

Since most demons retained features from their original races when transforming, and demon culture valued retaining more original traits as honorable,

At first glance, Shuilian Cave was filled with tiger-headed, deer-headed, leopard-headed figures, along with rabbit-eared men, fox men, donkey-eared men—the atmosphere was quite lively.

What was once a blessed cave heaven was now thick with the scent of alcohol and demon aura.

Sun Wukong was drinking and chatting with several great demon kings around the high platform's treasure seat.

Surrounding the monkey were a ring-nosed old ox, a handsome young man transformed from a flood dragon, a black-feathered great peng demon, a red-braised lion head...

Upon closer inspection, that was actually the Lion King, drunk and flushed, the Shituo Great King.

These great demons were all pure-blooded demon clan members; except for the old ox, each demon king represented a major demon force.

That old ox... ox...

"Hmm?"

Li Changshou raised an eyebrow inwardly, capturing the old ox's habitual small movements through the cloud mirror, and felt a surge of surprise.

Laojun's Qingniu?

Li Changshou was quite puzzled about this.

These formidable demon kings were Sun Wukong's sworn brothers, the seven great sages that the demon clans were promoting as their key move.

That old ox would later become the Pingtian Great Saint, Niu Mowang.

But why did Li Changshou see traces of Qingniu in Niu Mowang?

An external incarnation of Brother Niu?

Uh, could it be that Qingniu created this identity in the lower realm to be with Tie Shan?

If that's the case, then Brother Niu later having an affair with the Jade-Faced Fox...

Slag cow!

Not daring to look further, Li Changshou dispersed the cloud mirror technique and deliberately showed a hint of helplessness, shaking his head slightly.

As a master, he didn't want to see Wukong "devolving" like this.

In reality, Li Changshou could feel that Wukong was truly happy right now.

From what he'd seen earlier, Sun Wukong was already wearing the Phoenix Wing Purple Gold Crown, Lotus Silk Cloud-Walking Boots, and Chain Golden Armor—clearly, he'd raided the Dragon Palace.

Thinking of this, Li Changshou felt... quite regretful.

He really wanted to see the ancient powerhouse, the East Sea Dragon King, being "bullied" in various ways by his disciple.

The old Dragon King's tolerance was actually quite impressive.

The Ruyi Jingu Bang had long been left in the sea eye, rendered useless, and its merits had been exhausted when sealing the East Sea eye.

This divine treasure differed from traditional Honghuang artifacts and perfectly matched Sun Wukong's combat style, destined to shine in his hands.

However...

In the current Heaven, many experts were on the Fengshen List in their physical forms, bolstered by the Heavenly Dao's power; Heaven's strength far surpassed that after the Fengshen Tribulation.

If Heaven didn't hold back, Wukong's campaign would likely struggle to reach the Tongming Hall.

Li Changshou could only hope that this monkey wouldn't provoke some harmless gods in Heaven, like the God of Wealth or the God of Plagues.

By the way, Lv Yue eventually couldn't escape being sealed on the Fengshen List, but he was sealed first and then captured by the Heavenly Dao.

That day, when Lv Yue emerged from the Tianya Pavilion's secret realm, his legs were weak but his gaze firm. Thanks to Zhao Gongming's plea, he managed to get on the list in his physical form.

Due to Lv Yue's need to refine poisonous pills, which could accidentally devastate half of the heavens, the Tongming Hall ordered him to refine pills outside and serve in Heaven for at least sixty years out of every hundred, while staying on his best behavior.

That was quite a favor to Lv Yue.

During the rebellion in Heaven, if an expert like Lv Yue got involved, Wukong would have a hard time handling it, since Wukong's cultivation foundation was still weak.

How many years did Sun Wukong have left before going to Heaven as an official?

Li Changshou carefully calculated, but couldn't pinpoint the Dao Ancestor's exact timeline.

Li Changshou could only secretly plan his next path, embedding as many Huanling Nails as efficiently and discreetly as possible.

Whether they could utterly defeat the Dao Ancestor and the Heavenly Dao's will depended on how well he could "hide" in the next twenty years.

Current odds of complete victory: ninety-two or ninety-three percent.

Only three major hidden dangers remained.

Thus, thirteen years later.

Outside the Yanluo Hall on the Underworld's Wheel of Reincarnation Immortal Island.

"Ma, how did this job end up on us two? Moo."

"Don't complain, don't grumble, just work hard, neigh."

The two marshals, Niutou and Mamian, each holding a set of "ghost messenger uniforms," headed toward their residence in Fengdu City.

Niutou's face was like a bitter gourd, while Mamian was feeding him motivational talk.

Once they returned to their simple, fence-like courtyard, they greeted a few grudge spirits to guard the gate and slipped into the main room.

With two soft pops, Niutou and Mamian pulled off their headgear, and the two Wu clan burly men exchanged glances, each letting out a weary sigh.

Their lives these past years hadn't been great.

It wasn't that the Underworld was in trouble or that the Wu clan in the Underworld had issues.

The exact reason was unclear to them;

But ever since a certain day, they had forgotten what delicious food tasted like and lost the joy of flavors bursting on their tongues.

They had searched for centuries and waited for centuries, only to conclude that the past delicacies existed only in dreams.

It was all an illusion.

After that, they became like dreamless fish, slumping daily at the eastern gate of Fengdu City, Yixiantian Xiong Pass, with no drive to discover Underworld specialties or explore ghostly music.

They were on the verge of depression.

"When does the lord want us to go?"

Niutou asked casually, unfolding the pure black robe in front of him and examining it.

"Three days from now, at midnight."

Mamian replied, unfolding his pure white robe and stroking his chin in thought.

Niutou couldn't help but complain: "What kind of soul has such a big reputation that it needs us two personally?"

"The lord said if the target resists, just knock him half-dead, but don't kill him—the key is to bring back the living soul."

"So mysterious."

Mamian said: "The Book of Life and Death had issues half a month ago; maybe it's related to this."

"What could be wrong with the Book of Life and Death?"

"There's a Golden Immortal who was supposed to transcend life and death; he hid his pre-cultivation lifespan on the book, but that Golden Immortal's original lifespan is still there, seemingly only over three hundred years."

"The judge tried to modify it, but the Judge's Pen projection broke."

"We're going to capture him."

"Hiss—three hundred years? A Golden Immortal?"

Niutou's eyes widened: "That strong? A son of the Heavenly Dao?"

"Who knows," Mamian agilely slipped into his robe, flicking his long neck lightly, "just do the job."

"You're right; the Ten Yan Kings don't go out, the Five Ghost Emperors fear yang energy, so the Underworld's fighters are just us few. This task is definitely ours."

Niutou paced back and forth, a hint of unease in his eyes, muttering: "Something's off; there must be something wrong here."

Mamian said: "Just do the job."

Niutou glared at Mamian and put on the black robe himself.

The two Wu clan experts fussed around, donning black and white tall hats, picking up ghost tools, and hanging two crimson long tongues as decorations.

Niutou and Mamian transformed—into Heibai Wuchang!

"Still three days away; should we go now?"

"There's nothing to do here," Mamian said seriously, "though I don't know why, I always feel like playing it safe. Let's go early."

Niutou snorted, swinging the wooden whip in his hand, looking somewhat imposing.

"Let's go; we can't embarrass the Underworld."

With that, Niutou and Mamian, disguised as Heibai Wuchang, swaggered out of Fengdu City, found the Chenghuang Well near Huaguo Mountain, and dove in, successfully descending to the area near Dongsheng Shenzhou's Huaguo Mountain.

The Underworld's Chenghuang system was actually reformed by Li Changshou, though the credit now goes to Heaven.

Niutou and Mamian were the Underworld's soul-hooking marshals, only the two of them; Heibai Wuchang, like the judges, was a "title" for Underworld ghosts.

Niutou and Mamian were the direct superiors of Heibai Wuchang.

For this soul-capturing operation, the Ten Yan Kings wanted it handled steadily without overemphasizing it, leading to this absurd situation of having Niutou and Mamian pose as Heibai Wuchang.

It was just two outfits; Niutou and Mamian didn't mind.

Three days wasn't long; they wandered around Huaguo Mountain, collected a few hundred lingering grudge and resentful souls, and before they knew it, the appointed time arrived.

That night, Niutou and Mamian's wooden whips turned into ghost banners, their black and white robes emitting a faint glow, the decorative tongues looking even more eerily red.

Stirring up a gust of yin wind, they locked onto the target soul and focused—seeing that the target was a handsome great monkey.

Naturally, it was Sun Wukong.

Wukong was drunk and asleep, right after a great feast, with thunderous snores echoing throughout Shuilian Cave.

This group of demon experts was having fun in the mountains; since Meihou Wang wasn't interested in women, their entertainment was just drinking and boasting.

The two brothers, Niutou and Mamian, exchanged glances and quietly approached the great monkey from behind, shaking their ghost banners in unison.

Right then!

Heavenly Dao power descended, forcibly yanking a shadow from the back of Sun Wukong's head.

Niutou and Mamian acted swiftly, looping chains around it and stirring up yin wind, blowing toward the nearby Chenghuang Temple and swiftly escaping into the Underworld.

The whole process was incredibly fast, giving the drunken Meihou Wang no chance to react.

However, Niutou and Mamian never expected that they had...

Hooked back an ancestor!

Half an hour later, in the Yanluo Hall.

Sun Wukong's primordial spirit had materialized, his entire body radiating golden light, lounging boldly on the Yan King's throne.

That wasn't all; he crossed his legs on the desk, holding a shadowy Ruyi Jingu Bang, lightly tapping it twice on the table.

"Bring me the Book of Life and Death for the Huaguo Mountain monkey clan!"

The surrounding ghosts, big and small, trembled; the head judge, wearing a Yan King mask and pretending to be the Yan King, stammered hesitantly, bashfully resisting, before finally ordering the nearby ghost: "Go, go, bring them all."

Mamian glared and was about to rush in to discipline the monkey, but Niutou pulled him back and dragged him aside.

Mamian scolded: "Why stop me? This monkey is out of line!"

Niutou said: "What's the rush? Didn't you want to play it safe?"

"The lords have already arranged everything; this monkey clearly has a big background—they must have a plan."

Mamian huffed, watching the arrogant monkey, feeling a surge of irritation.

But as Niutou said, the Ten Yan Kings were gathered in the nearby hall, peeking over here and occasionally chuckling in conversation.

Mostly just teasing.

Yet, no one knew...

In the Six Paths of Reincarnation Disk, the white-clad woman who had been sitting by the river combing her hair suddenly turned her head to gaze at the monkey's location.

"Hmm?"

An indestructible golden soul?

Isn't that the divine ability I once conceptualized?

But in the end, I couldn't fully develop it, so I just mentioned the idea of the indestructible golden soul in a certain Wu clan battle technique manual, and had someone deliver the manual to...

Changshou!?