Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

"Buddha, you are unaware of something!"

Seeing Maitreya Buddha looking at himself with a strange expression, Jiang Liu could roughly guess what he was thinking and explained.

"Nezha's Fire Tip Spear had been stolen once before and was later recovered. Others only believed he successfully retrieved it, but after an investigation today, I learned that the Fire Tip Spear in Nezha's hand was a gift from Xuanzang! What's more, Xuanzang also has another identical Fire Tip Spear in his possession!"

"Oh?" Hearing this, Maitreya Buddha's expression subtly changed.

Xuanzang could produce two identical Fire Tip Spears!? Then, the mysterious person impersonating a disciple of Sect Master Tongtian, the one wielding the Absolute Immortal Sword, it must be identical to the one in the hands of Sect Master Tongtian as well!?

Is there no connection there? Impossible, right!?

Sage Sect Master personally sought out Sect Master Tongtian and saw that the four Immortal Swords were indeed with him.

"Buddha? Buddha?"

After revealing the matter of the two Fire Tip Spears in Xuanzang's possession, Jiang Liu noticed that Maitreya Buddha seemed distracted and couldn't help but call out to him twice.

"Ah, Your Majesty, where did we leave off?" Hearing Jiang Liu's call, Maitreya Buddha seemed to snap back to reality and asked the Great Jade Emperor.

"We spoke about how Xuanzang has two identical Fire Tip Spears. Buddha, don't you have any thoughts on this?"

Clearly having noticed Maitreya Buddha deep in thought just moments before, Jiang Liu didn't rush to speak further, instead, he questioned Maitreya Buddha.

"No particular thoughts, just a bit surprised, that's all!"

Shaking his head, although they had agreed to cooperate on dealing with the fake disciple of Sect Master Tongtian, Maitreya Buddha did not wish to let the Great Jade Emperor know that this disciple was a fraud.

Nor did he wish for the Great Jade Emperor to dwell further on this issue, Maitreya Buddha quickly changed the topic, "Your Majesty, you came to see me in person just because Xuanzang has two Fire Tip Spears?"

"Of course not!"

Hearing Maitreya Buddha's words, Jiang Liu slightly shook his head and said, "In fact, neither the Fire Tip Spear in Xuanzang's hand nor the one in Nezha's possession is the original one. Buddha, do you know where the original Fire Tip Spear is?"

"Where?" Maitreya Buddha, playing the role of the straight man, promptly asked.

"That Fire Tip Spear was actually in the hands of Guanyin. Initially, Guanyin wanted to set up Xuanzang and make Nezha and Xuanzang fight against each other, to create a calamity, which was why she stole Nezha's Fire Tip Spear," the Jade Emperor surmised the events that had occurred.

Maitreya Buddha's demeanor remained calm, quietly listening to the Great Jade Emperor's words.

Until now, Maitreya Buddha had not grasped the real reason behind the Great Jade Emperor's lengthy speech and his personal visit.

Fortunately, the Great Jade Emperor soon got to the heart of the matter.

"Recently, Nezha and the Erlang God went to the Demon Realm because Xuanzang has an exotic treasure called the Treasure-Seeking Mirror in his possession."

"Just by shouting out the name of the treasure you wish to find, the Treasure-Seeking Mirror can reveal the location of that treasure! That is how Erlang God and his company knew the Fire Tip Spear was with Guanyin!"

"Treasure-Seeking Mirror!" Hearing this, Maitreya Buddha's expression changed, and he abruptly stood up from the Lotus Platform.

"Buddha, you've thought of it too, haven't you?"

Seeing Maitreya Buddha's intense reaction, the Great Jade Emperor spoke, "If we could borrow the Treasure-Seeking Mirror from Xuanzang, we could surely find the whereabouts of the Treasure Lotus Lantern and trace the steps of that fake disciple of Sect Master Tongtian!"

"Indeed, that's true!" Maitreya Buddha agreed with a firm nod, making his endorsement clear.

However, while agreeing, Maitreya Buddha's mind raced with thoughts.

Had Xuanzang and the Erlang God's party sought out Guanyin before?

Did Xuanzang also go?

Is that why Guanyin appeared so disoriented?

"Could it be? Was I right in my previous thinking? Is the team of Journey to the West for Scriptures the puppeteer behind the scenes? Otherwise, wouldn't this be too much of a coincidence!?"

At this thought, Maitreya Buddha became even more determined to verify his suspicions with the team of the Journey to the West for Scriptures.

"Alright, Great Emperor, we'll come up with a way to acquire the Treasure-Seeking Mirror from Xuanzang!" With his own plans in mind, Maitreya Buddha nodded and spoke to the Great Jade Emperor.

"Come up with a way?" Maitreya Buddha's suggestion surprised the Great Jade Emperor, who looked at him curiously, "Buddha, with your stature, if it's just a matter of borrowing, Xuanzang wouldn't be stingy, would he?"

Indeed, with Maitreya Buddha's status, Xuanzang would surely offer up the Treasure-Seeking Mirror with both hands if only asked, wouldn't he?

Why would there be a need to concoct a plan?

"If that fake disciple of Sect Master Tongtian has nothing to do with Xuanzang and their team is not the mastermind behind all this, I could simply ask and Xuanzang would naturally lend it to me, but, alas..."

The Great Jade Emperor's words made Maitreya Buddha shake his head inwardly, while also silently criticizing in his heart.

"Amitabha, the team of the Journey to the West for Scriptures is after all the focus of the Immeasurable Kalpa with many eyes upon them. If I were to go and borrow the Treasure-Seeking Mirror, there's no telling how many schemers would take note!"

"Therefore, it's best to devise a strategy to avoid drawing attention!"

Maitreya Buddha spoke, concocting a barely passable excuse.

"Hmm, what Buddha says does hold some merit indeed," the Great Jade Emperor pondered and then nodded in agreement.

...

Unbeknownst to Jiang Liu, the two high-level authorities, Maitreya Buddha and the Great Jade Emperor, had once again engaged in their shady dealings, plotting behind his back.

Continuing their journey to the West, Jiang Liu spent most of his time crossing through various dungeon worlds.

After such a long period, Good Corpse's level had also risen to 62.

It was evident that, despite only a few days having passed since the Book of Inquiry's event, Sun Wukong's personality remained as lively and unrestrained as ever.

However, these recent days, Sun Wukong seemed to have taken cultivation more seriously, occasionally sitting cross-legged and meditating during his free time.

"Hmm, not bad at all. Recently, the monsters in the dungeons seem to have increased in level, or is it just my imagination?"

Having bulldozed through another dungeon world, Jiang Liu and his party emerged, tallying up the gained Experience Points and Silver Tael to find their earnings significantly higher than usual.

Character Panel.

With an idea in mind, Jiang Liu silently invoked the command and accessed Sun Wukong's character panel; naturally, Sun Wukong's character details appeared before Jiang Liu.

ID: Sun Wukong (Golden).

Gender: Male.

Level: 84.

Profession: Demon

Equipment: Ruyi Golden Cudgel (Epic Level): Requires level 75, Attack Power +10500000, Soul Binding: Sun Wukong; Special Effect 1: Armor Penetration Strike, making the next attack ignore 50% of the opponent's defense, Cooldown Time 3600 seconds; Special Effect 2 (Twin Essence Oil): Can choose to convert all attack power into defensive power, or all defensive power into attack power, Cooldown Time 3600 seconds!

Attack Ring (Perfect Level): Requires level 80, Attack Power +1200000, Durability 560/600.

Ghost Shadow Boots (Epic Level): Requires level 80: Defense +4200000, with Special Effect: Blink, blink to any location within a kilometer radius, Cooldown Time 3600 seconds, Durability 1620/1620.

Ice Iron Divine Armor (Epic Level): Requires level 81, Defense +12000000, Special Effect: Reduces opponent's attack speed by 5%, Durability 768/12000.

"Eh?" Jiang Liu raised an eyebrow in surprise as he looked at Sun Wukong's level information.

The name, the golden panel, and the equipment were all correct.

But the level column had actually reached level 84!?

Jiang Liu knew that the higher the level, the harder it became to level up, a fact evident from his own experience.

Ever since Sun Wukong broke through to the rank of Daluo Golden Immortal, his level had remained stuck at 81, just barely entering the realm of a Daluo Golden Immortal.

And now? Unbeknownst to him, Sun Wukong's level had reached 84?

Three levels up in an instant!? How did he manage that, and when?

No wonder he felt that the rewards from clearing the dungeons had seen a slight increase.

Could it be that because Sun Wukong's Cultivation Level had gone up, the difficulty of the dungeons had increased as well?

"Master, why are you looking at me like that?" Sun Wukong felt strange under Jiang Liu's intense gaze, touched himself, and gave his own body a quick once-over.

There was nothing different about him, was there?

"Wukong, your cultivation has improved quite a bit!" Jiang Liu observed Sun Wukong and commented.

"Master, you have good eyesight to see that my cultivation has indeed improved a lot!" Sun Wukong was momentarily taken aback by Jiang Liu's words.

Usually, those with higher cultivation could more accurately assess those with lower cultivation; the reverse was usually much harder.

However, having witnessed his master's astonishing abilities time and again along their journey, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

With this thought, Sun Wukong ceased to be surprised.

"At what point did your cultivation begin to rise?" Immediately following, Jiang Liu curiously inquired Sun Wukong.

"It started to increase when we were in the world of the Book of Inquiry!" Sun Wukong naturally didn't hold back and replied.

"It happened in the world of the Book of Inquiry?" Jiang Liu found this surprising.

The Book of Inquiry was only known to help people become more self-aware and nothing was mentioned about improving cultivation.

"Perhaps Zixia's death was a stimulus that enhanced my cultivation, or maybe coming to terms with my own heart did, or it could be a combination of both. In any case, an increase in cultivation is always a good thing…"

Sun Wukong explained.