Chapter 743: Bodhi Void

Within the secret realm of the Liu Dao Lunhui Disk, Houtu the Great Virtue sat quietly by the riverbank. She no longer looked in the direction where the monkey had been, her expression calm as if nothing had happened.

She had indeed been a bit startled.

She knew that the Saint-Slayer, Li Changshou, had been expelled from the Honghuang World by Daozu.

She had also sensed the great battle between Daozu and Taqing Saint in Zixiao Palace.

Houtu was aware of everything that happened on the day Jiejiao was destroyed. Through the eyes of her Seven Emotions Incarnation, she had witnessed the largest gamble in the ancient history of Honghuang.

Likewise, she clearly knew the final outcome of that gamble.

Taqing Saint was sealed, Li Changshou was banished, Jiejiao was obliterated, and the Heavenly Court's Jade Emperor was bound by the Heavenly Dao...

But why did she see Li Changshou's mark on this monkey, who was chosen by Daozu to promote the rise of Buddhism?

Houtu had never told anyone about the Indestructible Golden Soul technique. If only Li Changshou knew about it, and the technique was already mature enough for this monkey to successfully cultivate it...

This situation was truly intriguing.

Houtu suddenly chuckled, her expression complex.

Had Daozu intercepted the technique she gave to Li Changshou? Or had Li Changshou calculated that the monkey would come to the underworld and used this method to send her a hint?

Or was she overthinking it, and this was simply a coincidence?

If it wasn't a coincidence, was Li Changshou seeking her help, and how could he have enabled the monkey to cultivate the Indestructible Golden Soul?

Houtu pondered quietly, unaware that she had fallen deep into thought.

So much so that when the monkey swaggered out of Fengdu Cheng and returned to the mortal world, Houtu Niangniang showed no reaction.

When she finally snapped back to attention, she found that the entire Liu Dao Lunhui Island had quieted down, with the Ten Yama Kings discussing plans to report to the heavens and file a complaint.

This...

Even Houtu, who had seen countless storms and schemes, felt somewhat baffled.

She couldn't confirm whether this was Li Changshou seeking help, nor could she be sure if the Indestructible Golden Soul technique was still exclusively known to her and Li Changshou.

Moreover, if she acted rashly now and exposed something, it might ruin any existing plans Li Changshou had.

Ah...

Houtu Niangniang sighed softly, continuing to sit by the small riverbank, combing her long hair.

She could only assume that this Sun Wukong was connected to Li Changshou, a piece arranged by him, and thus prepare in advance to take action, considering what she could do.

If the Liu Dao Lunhui Disk suddenly shook, the Heavenly Dao could be 'paralyzed' for an instant.

Was this what Li Changshou wanted?

Engaging in a battle of wits with Daozu was exhausting, and probing the minds of Daozu's opponents was equally grueling.

For now, she would just prepare and wait for what followed.

How did that saying go?

Right, to be on the safe side.

In a small chili world, Li Changshou sat before a water-attribute spiritual root shaped like an orchid grass, quietly calculating in his mind.

On his last stop, he had planted another fifteen Illusion Spirit Nails. The progress over these thirteen years had been quite impressive.

He still had to thank Sun Wukong for diverting Daozu's attention.

After so many years of traveling east and west, from the western three thousand worlds all the way to the east, and now circling toward the north.

He had located over nine thousand two hundred traces of the Great Dao.

He had utilized over three thousand six hundred of those traces.

And eighty percent of the foundational Great Dao that constitutes the Heavenly Dao had been embedded with Illusion Spirit Nails.

In truth, this level was already sufficient.

But Li Changshou had a particular sentiment ingrained in his bones—he embodied steadiness—and so he remained unsatisfied, wanting to stir up more before formally challenging Daozu.

Even if it only increased his chances of victory by one in twelve million, it was worth the effort.

The Steady Sect Leader, setting the example through his actions.

'I wonder if Houtu Niangniang received the signal I sent.'

As long as the monkey went to the underworld, Houtu Niangniang should have seen it. Moreover, with the monkey possessing the unique Indestructible Golden Soul that he taught, he didn't know if Houtu Niangniang would recognize it.

Li Changshou didn't want Houtu Niangniang to act, but for safety's sake, if she—a secondary Dao-fuser—could intervene at a critical moment to restrain the enemy, it would certainly boost his chances by a bit or two.

How did he hide this from Daozu?

Simple: the Indestructible Golden Soul technique was something 'False Puti' step by step deduced and comprehended.

Under the Heavenly Dao's scrutiny, Li Changshou simulated the entire comprehension process and wrote down the cultivation mantra for the Indestructible Golden Soul, which bore no resemblance to the incomplete technique Houtu Niangniang had given him years ago.

That way, he could send a message through Sun Wukong's primordial spirit right under the Heavenly Dao's nose.

Of course, the technique's greatest value was strengthening Sun Wukong's primordial spirit, addressing his biggest weakness in combat, and allowing Sun Wukong to easily and directly elevate his Dao realm.

The downside was that conceptualizing the technique often led to hair loss.

In the worst-case scenario, he'd assume Houtu Niangniang didn't receive this 'signal.'

If she could act, that would be wonderful.

If not, it wouldn't affect the overall situation.

A gentle breeze blew by, making the spiritual root before him sway lightly, as if pleading. Around it, two layers of ripening arrays had been set up, and it would be a few more months before this spiritual grass could be harvested.

He had been pondering how to break the Heavenly Dao's shackles on the Dao realm.

Having reached the level of False Puti in cultivation, the Great Dao was everything to him, the foundation of his existence.

If he were sealed from the Great Dao and didn't try to break free, that would be the real problem.

And the more depressed, helpless, and unwilling to give up he appeared, the more at ease Daozu would feel about 'False Puti.'

To play a character convincingly, one must grasp their true state of mind, letting the performance come from within, respecting the deceased original figure, and fully embodying their nature.

—From "Honghuang Film and Television Musings."

But seriously.

The identity of False Puti had been a huge help.

From the past pursuit of False Puti that planted a demon in his Dao heart, to burying the Heavenly Demon Venerable's spiritual core beneath the Wheel of Reincarnation Tower, and then to his immediate counterattack when forced to leave Honghuang.

The entire scheme was now nearing its end.

From being in the open while Daozu was in the shadows, to switching so he was in the shadows and Daozu in the open, and then gradually seizing the initiative, delving deeper into comprehending this world, he had already laid the groundwork for victory.

In fact, from the moment Daozu eagerly made his move, having Taiyi kill Shiji and sparking the first large-scale conflict between Chan and Jie, Daozu had already stepped toward defeat.

He lost due to his lack of confidence in the Fengshen Tribulation script.

He lost because his combat strength couldn't surpass Taqing Saint.

Everything Li Changshou did afterward could be seen as seeking the minimum cost to eliminate Daozu.

Pangu God had left a contingency, but it was a bit convoluted, and few could figure it out.

Why was the Sky-Opening Axe divided into three parts?

Heavenly Dao Saints could already refine wind, fire, water, and earth, essentially destroying the heavens and earth before recreating them.

The Sky-Opening Trio could have another interpretation.

A Saint wielding the Taiji Diagram could disrupt yin and yang, causing purity and turbidity to reverse and return to chaos.

A Saint wielding the Pangu Banner could cleave the chaos, opening a new tier and creating another world.

The Chaos Bell could contain small chili worlds. By using its divine abilities to accelerate or decelerate time, countless beings could be crowded into that small chili world, and with a quick time acceleration, they could wait until the new world stabilized.

In this process, the Heavenly Dao and Daozu would both shatter.

But the problem was that there were far too many beings in Honghuang. The Chaos Bell couldn't accommodate them all, leading to unimaginable casualties, with perhaps only thirty percent of Honghuang's beings surviving.

Ah...

With a slight sigh in his heart, Li Changshou gazed at the spiritual grass before him, pondering several profound questions.

The endpoint of Honghuang, the world's ultimate path, the evolution of the Chaos Sea, the extinction of the tangible realms.

These were issues he would inevitably discuss when facing Daozu. Only by surpassing Daozu in these answers could he have the audacity to point at Daozu and scold:

'You hypocrite, Hong Buqun, you just want to dominate the tangible realms.'

Just thinking about it felt incredibly satisfying.

Since he was just waiting anyway, Li Changshou actively invoked the Heavenly Dao's power, opened the Cloud Mirror, and checked on Sun Wukong's current situation.

Ha, the monkey troop was in an uproar.

On Huaguo Mountain, a group of monkeys entangled with karmic obstacles were jumping around, reveling in the joy of endless lifespans, oblivious to the impending disaster.

Sun Wukong's trip to the underworld had destroyed the Huaguo Mountain section of the Book of Life and Death, making all the monkeys there 'immortal.'

This was actually due to Sun Wukong's misunderstanding.

Having their names struck from the Book of Life and Death didn't mean these monkeys wouldn't die; it just left them to linger on after old age, until their bodies gave out, turning them into lone wandering ghosts.

The Book of Life and Death and the Judges' Pens were complementary tools of the Liu Dao Lunhui Disk, primarily used to determine a soul's lifespan and fortune based on their merits and sins from previous lives.

If being nameless in the Book meant immortality, the world would have collapsed under the weight of beings back in the ancient mid-period, before the reincarnation system was established.

It was purely a case of overinterpretation.

Oh well, it was his fault as the teacher for not explaining clearly.

The fate of these monkeys was destined to be tragic.

Thinking of this, Li Changshou felt a twinge of reluctance, as the monkeys had acted with good intentions but caused harm, and the whole affair was orchestrated by Daozu behind the scenes.

The last one schemed against by Daozu like this was Li Changshou himself.

Watching more wouldn't help. He'd prepare a bit more, and in a few years, go to Zixiao Palace to lay his cards on the table.

As Li Changshou raised his finger to dismiss the scene, his eyelids suddenly twitched.

The image in the Cloud Mirror shifted, locking onto the East Heaven Gate.

There, a white-robed elder with a benevolent face, holding a dust whisk and stroking his beard, had left the East Heaven Gate and was heading toward Huaguo Mountain.

Taibai Jinxing—the counterfeit one.

Li Changshou's true self couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his mouth, but his 'False Puti' false body dared not react that way, instead furrowing his brow slightly and performing a quick divination.

The Heavenly Dao had no defenses against False Puti, so he easily divined what had happened.

From his divination, he learned that the four Dragon Kings of the Four Seas Dragon Palace, along with several Yama Kings from the Ten Yama Kings, had jointly gone to the Lingxiao Hall to file a complaint.

The Dragon Palace accused the Beautiful Monkey King of Huaguo Mountain of theft and robbery, causing trouble in their palace and stealing the Dinghai God Needle, which was a grave offense.

The underworld's complaint was even more severe. The Yama Kings charged Sun Wukong with destroying the human records in the Book of Life and Death, causing chaos in the underworld, another major crime.

The Jade Emperor immediately expressed appropriate anger and ordered the monkey's arrest, but the 'Heavenly Court Pigeon Taibai Gu' at his side stepped forward.

This counterfeit's defense of the monkey was quite peculiar. He neither mentioned the monkey's prior wrongs nor the impact of destroying the subsidiary Book, but instead praised how the Beautiful Monkey King had defeated the Dragon Kings and subdued the Yama Kings, clearly possessing real skills.

The Jade Emperor frowned, and the immortals and gods in Lingxiao Hall fell silent.

Though Taibai Jinxing's words made sense, they had all heard the opposite view somewhere:

The Heavenly Court seeks immortals and gods, prioritizing character over ability.

This was a statement written by 'His Majesty the Jade Emperor' in the heavenly regulations.

But in the end, the Jade Emperor said little, accepting 'Taibai Jinxing's' suggestion and decreeing that Taibai Jinxing go to recruit the Beautiful Monkey King to serve in the Heavenly Court.

Thus, this was the scene Li Changshou was now seeing through the Cloud Mirror.

After thinking it over, Li Changshou continued watching until the counterfeit arrived at Huaguo Mountain, displayed some immortal powers, put on an air of mystery, and cleverly persuaded Sun Wukong.

Upon hearing that the Heavenly Court wanted to appoint him as an official, Sun Wukong was overjoyed.

He summoned his monkey troops and the various demon kings of Huaguo Mountain, declaring that he was going to the Heavenly Court to have some fun and scout the place. If it was a good spot, he'd move the entire Huaguo Mountain up there.

Li Changshou: ...

This was probably what overconfidence looked like.

Even he, a former high minister of the Heavenly Court, wouldn't dare say such things!

Closing the Cloud Mirror, Li Changshou didn't watch the rest; it was just the 'Stable the Horses Warm versus the Unscrupulous Heavenly Generals' routine.

Based on his understanding of Sun Wukong, the monkey would undoubtedly make many friends in the Heavenly Court, and the scene would be quite lively.

Pity his Cloud Mirror couldn't spy on the Heavenly Court; forcing it would easily attract Daozu's notice.

Once he harvested this spiritual grass, he'd continue planting the nails.

Li Changshou sat quietly, staring at the spiritual grass before him, trying to empty his mind.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed.

The orchid grass before him now shimmered with a faint spiritual glow, with strands of fragrant essence flowing gently—it was ready for harvest.

Li Changshou released his own pressure, making all the creatures drawn to the spiritual grass scatter.

He didn't have much use for this spiritual grass himself; it was just for show, a smokescreen. Even if he harvested it, False Puti lacked the means to refine pills from it.

At his current Dao realm and cultivation level, in this remote place, if someone could still snatch this postheaven spiritual root from him, then Li Changshou might as well write 'Puti False' backward.

Time to harvest it; he didn't care about the last bit of potency anymore.

No, 'False Puti' should be extremely focused on this herb, as it carried his hope of breaking the Dao realm shackles.

Better endure a little discomfort for the greater plan; endure it, just endure it.

And so, another seven or eight hours passed, until the second day at dawn.

A sudden insight struck Li Changshou's spirit. He took out a jade box and slowly approached the spiritual grass, a faint smile on his face as he savored that subtle sense of fulfillment.

Just then...

A wisp of Dao rhythm suddenly appeared nearby, followed by a cow's bellow entering his ears, freezing Li Changshou's movements instantly.

He turned his head with some effort and saw mist rising in the nearby forest, from which a green ox emerged, carrying an elderly man with half-closed eyes on its back.

Laojun?

The green ox?

Li Changshou's Dao heart trembled, nearly biting his tongue.

He had just thought he might have exposed himself, but Laojun simply said:

"This poor Daoist wishes to exchange pills for your precious herb. May I?"