Maitreya returned to Spirit Mountain with a grim expression. He was dejected, wondering if someone had plotted against him.
As for the matter of the Yellow-browed Lad descending to the mortal realm as a demon, he had foreseen it long ago and had been quite lenient. After all, this was one of the nine tribulations of their Western Heavens. Maitreya, as the Future Buddha, naturally had one tribulation to gather merit and destiny.
Therefore, he had left behind a magical artifact, tacitly permitting Yellow-brow to descend as a demon.
However, his foresight had not predicted this outcome. Instead, Sun Wukong had come to him for help. Now, Sun Wukong and the others had actually killed Yellow-brow.
Was Yellow-brow the first demon with powerful backing to be killed by Sun Wukong on his journey?
It was already outrageous for Sun Wukong to possess a primordial spiritual treasure. Now, Zhu Bajie also had one, and it was an upper-grade primordial spiritual treasure. This was simply preposterous!
Therefore, Maitreya felt targeted, but he had no evidence.
"Maitreya, has something gone wrong?" Guanyin's voice echoed.
Maitreya glanced at Guanyin, chanted a Buddhist salutation, and said, "Buddha Ancestor, Yellow-brow has been killed. Sun Wukong possesses a primordial spiritual treasure, and Zhu Bajie also has one!"
Guanyin nodded, remaining silent.
The tribulations of the Chan and Jie sects were over. Now it was their turn in the West. Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie both possessed primordial spiritual treasures. What did this mean? Did someone intend to kill some of their Western disciples?
At this moment, Tang Sanzang and his disciples had endured seventy-three tribulations and were near the Tianzhu Kingdom.
The remaining nine tribulations were arranged by Spirit Mountain. Now, the first tribulation, Yellow-brow, had been directly killed. This could be considered an inauspicious start.
If this news spread, they would likely be ridiculed by the Heavenly Court and the Chan and Jie sects.
Indeed, on the journey to the West, demons without backing were killed, while those with backing were taken away. However, now, in the West, right under their noses, a demon with a powerful backer had been killed. Wasn't this a joke?
"Hmph, Zhu Bajie is a registered disciple of Xuan Du. Xuan Du must have given Zhu Bajie the spiritual treasure. This is going too far!" Maitreya snorted.
Guanyin glanced at Maitreya. Wasn't this stating the obvious? Did he need to say it?
"It seems the subsequent tribulations will need to be adjusted," Guanyin sighed. There was no other way. If it were as in the past, Sun Wukong might very well kill all the demons they had arranged, which would be detrimental to Western unity.
"Buddha Ancestor, Dapeng has already gone," Randeng suddenly said.
Indeed, Dapeng was subdued by Randeng when he was in charge of Buddhism in the past. He was said to be Kong Xuan's younger brother, but the two brothers had never met and had no affection for each other.
The Buddha Ancestor pondered for a moment and said, "Dapeng's cultivation is profound, and he also possesses a primordial spiritual treasure. He should be fine. To be safe, you should go there yourself."
Randeng nodded and departed on a lotus seat.
At this moment, Dapeng was soaring through the sky. He paid no mind to Randeng's words. What did he mean by just capturing Tang Sanzang? Hmph, since he had captured him, he naturally intended to eat him. Why else would he capture him?
Therefore, Dapeng arrived above the pilgrimage team. He glanced down. He now knew that Zhu Bajie possessed a treasure that could capture people. So, Dapeng cast a spell and directly used the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle to capture Zhu Bajie.
Zhu Bajie, who was walking along, was suddenly ambushed and taken into the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle.
Sun Wukong saw a Golden-winged Great Peng, immediately brandished his Ruyi Jingu Bang, and attacked.
After a few exchanges in the air, Dapeng laughed heartily, "Monkey, is this all the cultivation you have?"
Through the initial clash, Dapeng had gauged Sun Wukong's strength, likely early Da Luo Golden Immortal. As for Dapeng Golden-winged Great Peng, he was a late Da Luo Golden Immortal. Now that Zhu Bajie was no longer a threat, and Sun Wukong's cultivation was inferior to his, he was naturally delighted.
Seeing that he could not defeat the Golden-winged Great Peng, Sun Wukong pulled out the Banana Fan from his懷.
Dapeng sneered. He had heard of this spiritual treasure, but he didn't care. With a flap of his wings, he could travel a hundred and eight thousand li. A mere small gust of wind could not harm him.
As expected, when Sun Wukong fanned the Banana Fan, Dapeng also spread his wings. Therefore, the Banana Fan did not affect the Golden-winged Great Peng.
Sun Wukong was helpless. His treasure had failed him again.
He brandished his Ruyi Jingu Bang and attacked again.
Dapeng immediately took out the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle and aimed it at Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong was also captured.
Dapeng laughed and directly whisked away Tang Sanzang and the others, heading to his cave abode.
This was the Lion Camel Kingdom. The original king had already been eaten by the Golden-winged Great Peng. As for the subjects, they had not escaped Dapeng's maw either. The Lion Camel Kingdom had now become a demon kingdom, inhabited by many demons.
The Golden-winged Great Peng was their Demon King.
Inside the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle, Zhu Bajie dared not speak. If he remained silent, it was extremely cold within the bottle. Once he spoke, flames would burn him, turning him into pulp within moments.
Sun Wukong was unaware of this. Seeing Zhu Bajie, he immediately said, "Idiot, we need to find a way out!"
As soon as he spoke, infinite flames surged towards him. Sun Wukong had at least heard the sounds of the Eight Trigrams Furnace. These flames were good, but they could not harm Sun Wukong.
However, Zhu Bajie was different. Therefore, he remained silent and kept his distance from Sun Wukong, transmitting his voice: "Brother Monkey, one cannot speak here. This is the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle, a spiritual treasure of the Yin-Yang Old Ancestor in the past. It was damaged in the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation. Somehow, this bird obtained it. However, the bottom of this treasure bottle is damaged. Brother Monkey, you are powerful; you can try."
Sun Wukong suddenly understood and immediately took out his Ruyi Jingu Bang, starting to drill.
Gradually, the bottom of the bottle loosened, and finally, a small hole appeared. Sun Wukong then pulled Zhu Bajie out of the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle.
They were now in the Lion Camel Kingdom.
Sun Wukong said, "Bajie, come with me. Use your treasure to capture that Dapeng bird!"
Zhu Bajie nodded. He was also filled with anger. This Dapeng bird had acted dishonorably by ambushing him. Moreover, the most powerful person here was Monkey. How dare it not ambush Monkey but ambush Old Pig?
At this moment, Zhu Bajie had some thoughts. It was likely that the news of his possessing a spiritual treasure had spread. As for who had spread it, hmph, one could easily guess it was those people from the West.
Randeng, observing in secret, sighed. With Zhu Bajie's spiritual treasure, he could easily capture Dapeng without him being prepared. It seemed it was time for him to appear.
At this moment, Dapeng was instructing his minor demons to prepare a pot. He intended to eat Tang Sanzang.
Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie had already crept closer. Zhu Bajie took out his Five-Colored Box, chanted the incantation, and a burst of five-colored light appeared. Dapeng was startled and tried to flee by flapping his wings. Unfortunately, he had already been locked on and was directly captured by the Five-Colored Box.
Zhu Bajie closed the box and then laughed, "Brother Monkey, we've captured this demon!"
Sun Wukong nodded and smiled, "Good job, Bajie, well done!" He then glanced at the surrounding demons and sneered, "Let's send these wicked demons to salvation."