Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything

Jiang Liu received a message from Yuan Ling, and he naturally took it very seriously.

The message was a lengthy discourse from Yuan Ling, easily over a thousand characters. It detailed how the Tathagata and Maitreya Buddha had joined forces to create a calamity for the Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team.

Yuan Ling meticulously reported every detail of this calamity to Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu read every word of this thousand-character message very carefully.

After reading the information, Jiang Liu had a fairly clear understanding of the plan that Tathagata and Maitreya Buddha had concocted.

"I never expected that Tathagata would actually join forces with Maitreya Buddha!" After finishing the message, Jiang Liu silently recalled the specific details of this plan and murmured to himself.

He never expected that Tathagata would actively seek out Maitreya Buddha and be willing to assist him.

However, upon reflection, it was indeed reasonable. After all, the Tathagata is the leader of the Buddhist Sect. Despite internal competition with Maitreya Buddha, when it comes to major issues, he naturally considers the stance of the entire Buddhist Sect.

Now, the strength demonstrated by Jiang Liu's team had become so formidable that it was difficult for the pilgrimage to continue. So, has the Tathagata become restless?

"Hmm, this plan is indeed very meticulous!" After recalling the general situation of this plan, Jiang Liu nodded to himself secretly.

If Yuan Ling hadn't informed him of this plan in advance, he wouldn't have noticed being set up.

However, since he already knew the entire plan beforehand, Jiang Liu certainly needed to think of a good way to counter it.

With a relatively clear strategy forming in his mind, Jiang Liu sent a message back to Yuan Ling, praising him for letting him know about the task in advance, which had been a great help.

Then, Jiang Liu opened his friends list and sent a message to Red Boy's side.

"How is the Fire Essence Pill that Kunpeng gave you last time?"

Previously, when Kunpeng went to congratulate the Ming Sect, he had gifted a Fire Essence Pill, claiming it was a treasure given to him by the Demon Emperor of ancient times. He had no use for it himself and presented it as a gift.

This fire attribute treasure greatly benefited fire element cultivators, so it was naturally handed over to Red Boy.

"Good stuff!"

With Jiang Liu's inquiry, Red Boy quickly replied with a message: "Since absorbing the True Sun Fire at Flame Mountain last time, my flames have grown even stronger. This Fire Essence Pill perfectly harmonizes the powers of my Samadhi True Fire and True Sun Fire."

"With the power of the pill, my cultivation level has reached the Taiyi Late Stage. I believe entering the Great Luo Realm won't be a problem in the near future!"

"Hmm, that's good!" Seeing Red Boy's response, Jiang Liu nodded in satisfaction.

Although the cultivation level is not particularly high, in the original tale, he could already wield the Samadhi True Fire at the Heavenly Immortal Realm, causing great discomfort to Sun Wukong.

Now, with his cultivation level reaching the Taiyi Late Stage and the fusion of True Sun Fire, Red Boy's strength is undoubtedly formidable.

Clearly, his attack power far exceeds what his cultivation level would suggest.

"If I could obtain a trace of the ancient Ancestral Witch Zhurong's bloodline for you, would it be beneficial?" After a brief silence, Jiang Liu sent a message to Red Boy.

"Zhurong!?"

Clearly shocked by this message, Red Boy remained silent for a moment before replying: "I need to discuss this matter with my father; Holy Monk, please wait a moment!"

Seeing this message, Jiang Liu said nothing more and waited quietly.

About half an hour later, Red Boy sent a message over: "Holy Monk, thank you for your kind intention. My father and I have discussed it. While I am naturally a Fire Spirit Body, being able to use the Fire Essence Pill to harmonize the True Sun Fire and Samadhi True Fire has already reached my limit. Integrating Zhurong's bloodline would be more harmful than beneficial to me."

"Moreover, as a member of the Demon Clan, integrating the bloodline of the Witch Clan is not suitable..."

"Understood, focus on your cultivation and strive to enter the Great Luo Realm soon!" Receiving Red Boy's response, Jiang Liu said no more and sent him a message.

Upon reflection, Jiang Liu could understand Red Boy's rationale.

The Demons and Witches were always at odds. Adding the Witch bloodline to a Demon Clan body indeed might not be beneficial. If it truly had benefits, Demon King Ox and Red Boy would not have refused it, would they?

"Alright then..." Jiang Liu thought for a moment, then shook his head.

It seems that this trace of Zhurong's bloodline could perhaps benefit the Little White Dragon.

As a member of the Dragon Clan, after receiving the remnants of Candle Dragon's inner core, Little White Dragon's bloodline is nearly that of the Ancient Dragon Clan. Logically, integrating a trace of the ancient Ancestral Witch Zhurong's bloodline should pose no problem.

This should also greatly benefit him.

The first choice was Red Boy, but since he can't use it, the next choice is naturally Little White Dragon.

Although Little White Dragon is a member of the Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team, Red Boy is, after all, the Vice Sect Hierarch of the Ming Sect. If his strength is insufficient, how could he possibly intimidate others?

The strength of the Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team is undoubtedly important, but the Ming Sect is equally significant.

...

Continuing westward, traveling about thirty to fifty miles a day, most of the time was spent navigating dungeons. Such days went by rather uneventfully.

Along the way, nothing significant happened, and in the blink of an eye, half a month passed just like that.

"Master, something doesn't feel quite right these past few days!"

On this day, after finishing the dungeon cultivation, Zhu Bajie carried his Nine-Toothed Rake, walking beside Jiang Liu, wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, and said to Jiang Liu beside him.

"Indeed, in these few days, it feels like the weather is getting hotter and hotter, very unusual!" Upon hearing this, Jiang Liu nodded, said with a look of surprise.

Yes, since coming out of the Illusionary Demon Cave, after eliminating the demons and ghosts that escaped from the Eastern Temple and spending a Mid-Autumn Festival, Sun Wukong had brought Zhu Bajie back as well.

Now, it has been about a month or two since then.

According to reason, one or two months after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather should be entering winter and should be getting colder, right? But, in the past few days, the temperature seems to be rising, which is very unusual.

"Could it be that we've come to a place similar to Foutu Mountain?" the White Dragon Horse spoke, asking with some surprise.

I remember when Master Wuchao was in Foutu Mountain, the closer we got, the higher the temperature.

"Or, have we come to a place similar to the Flame Mountain?" Next, Sun Wukong also spoke, saying mysteriously.

When we reached the Flame Mountain region, it was the same; the eight hundred miles of Flame Mountain were frightfully hot.

"No, no, no!"

At this moment, Sha Wujing also chipped in with a presence, shaking his head and saying, "I think it's perhaps because there's someone similar to the Drought Demon from before! That's why it's barren for a thousand miles?"

Indeed, on this journey to the west, encountering similar situations was not uncommon, so Sun Wukong and the others each voiced their guesses.

"We will know exactly what's going on as we continue forward!" Regarding his disciples' speculations, Jiang Liu didn't express his opinion.

He just said this sentence and then continued their westward journey for scriptures.

Actually, Jiang Liu knew the actual situation, but.

Of course, this wasn't something to be spoken about. The fewer people who know, the better!

"Master, there's a city ahead!" The group of master and disciples continued for about ten miles, seeing the sky gradually darken, when suddenly, Sun Wukong leading the way shouted.

"Since there's a city, then let's enter the city tonight and replenish some supplies!" Seeing it wasn't very far, Jiang Liu said.

Saying this, the Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team quickened their pace slightly and soon arrived at the city gates.

The earthy yellow city gate looked somewhat desolate, a hot wind blew by, swirling a few withered leaves, adding a bit of bleakness.

At the city gate, two guards wearing thin summer uniforms were sweating profusely as they stood on duty.

As Jiang Liu and the others arrived, after Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing slightly changed their appearances, the guards at the gate didn't make much inquiry and let them pass directly.

But, just as they entered the city without having found a place to stay, suddenly, cries and wails sounded, drawing Jiang Liu and the others' attention.

Looking in the direction of the sound, it turned out to be a middle-aged man sitting by a river inside the city, crying heart-wrenchingly.

The cries sounded truly heartbreaking to hear and tear-inducing to see.

Seeing this middle-aged man crying, Jiang Liu's eyes lit up slightly.

Someone crying? So, this person must be in trouble, right?

What does having trouble mean? It means having a task, doesn't it?

What is the fastest way to level up? It's doing tasks!

"Ahem!"

Clearing his throat, while tidying up his appearance a bit, Jiang Liu walked over to this man.

"Benefactor, this humble monk heard you crying here. Could it be that you've encountered some difficulty? Would you mind sharing? This humble monk..."

"You can't help me, go away!" But this middle-aged man, still crying, directly interrupted Jiang Liu before he could finish speaking.

"Why don't you say it? What if I can help?" Jiang Liu slightly twitched the corner of his mouth, started guiding again.