"What in the world does 'the faith' even mean?"
Demon King Peng's tone was careless, since he genuinely had no idea. But in the next instant, he felt a crushing wave of demonic power bear down on him, terrifying and thick with the presence of a true dragon.
Wait — wasn't this flood dragon just an oversized snake? Calling himself a dragon didn't make him one, horns or no horns!
But this time was different. Those golden eyes alone made Demon King Peng's heart pound with dread, and every instinct told him to run. So he tried.
A hand landed on his shoulder and held him in place.
"You're welcome to leave. But you'll have to leave something behind first."
"I never did anything to you — why are you doing this to me?!"
"Insulting the gods is insulting me and mine. Demon King Peng, think carefully about what you just said."
"I... can't I just apologize?"
Demon King Peng twisted his body again and again, but he couldn't break free. If anything, the weight on his shoulder only grew heavier, as though it wasn't even his own body anymore. With no other option, he gave in.
But the Dragon King said, unmoved, "You should be apologizing to God. Not to me."
"I apologize, I apologize! Just — let go of me first..."
The pressure on his shoulder vanished at once. Demon King Peng stared at the Dragon King in disbelief, rubbing his shoulder as he said, "My apologies, great one. It was my fault as the Demon King—"
"Enough. Don't apologize here. Come inside with me."
"Inside?"
"That's right."
The Dragon King pushed him forward, into the tunnels beneath the Peng clan's domain. A few minutes later, they emerged into the belly of Wuyue Mountain, looking out over a bustling mountain city.
Demon King Peng was dumbfounded. There was an entire city hidden inside this mountain, and he'd never noticed? For a moment, cold sweat broke out across his back. To rise to the rank of Demon King, one needed sharp wits — and if he still couldn't tell by now that he'd been played, he wouldn't deserve the title.
He was soon brought before Supreme Treasure.
"Master Priest, this Demon King Peng just insulted the faith. What would you like done with him?"
"Is that so, little bird? What do you plan to do about it?"
Supreme Treasure crossed his legs and wore a strange little smile. Surrounded by several overwhelming auras, Demon King Peng managed an expression uglier than crying and said, "Great one, what exactly do you want from me?"
"Simple. Kneel before the gods and swear your allegiance. I'll grant you the same power I gave the Dragon King."
"Thank you, Master Priest."
Demon King Peng was far from happy about it in his heart, but what could he do — the blade was in another man's hand, and he was nothing but the fish on the chopping block.
An hour later, another demon king beyond even the Golden Immortal realm was born in the belly of the mountain. This world had never quite matched the orthodox Journey to the West to begin with, and on top of that Demon King Peng's bloodline had always run impure, leaving him weaker than his classical counterpart. But that was no longer true. His blood had been purified. A true Peng Demon King had been born.
Feathers that had once looked dull and lifeless now shone like burnished gold, every last one along his body glinting with a golden sheen. His strength had grown more than tenfold.
"Can you feel the power of God?"
"Yes. This lowly one has seen the true god with his own eyes..."
Demon King Peng knelt on one knee, his mind utterly empty of doubt. He wasn't like the Dragon King — once someone could bestow power like this on him, betrayal was the furthest thing from his mind. Besides, there were plenty of immortals in the area. A breakthrough of this scale should have drawn immediate attention.
And yet there was no reaction at all. Which meant this mountain city was hidden by some mysterious method so thorough that not even the gods, immortals, and Buddhas outside could sense it.
Supreme Treasure smiled and said, "Now that we've seen the true god, we're all one family. God once told me to guide all living beings — this Tathagata is a twisted hypocrite who's been harming the common people all along. Tomorrow, you'll take the lead in stirring the waters. Try to kill a few well-known immortals while you're at it. By the time the Tathagata himself shows up, that'll be the day my god descends!"
"What? The great god himself is coming?"
Demon King Peng was stunned — he hadn't expected the God of Eternity to descend in person. The Blind One beside him glared and snapped, "You think our god is some kind of nothing? His Excellency is simply too busy managing the whole world to be bothered. Even without him here, the goddesses he's sent down can wipe out those useless old gods just fine."
"Ah, forgive my ignorance. I'll make the arrangements. By the way, Master Priest — can this meditation technique be passed on to other monsters?"
"Not yet. It needs to stay under wraps for now. But your own trusted men can be brought in on it."
"Yes, thank you, Master Priest."
The next day, the fighting between monsters and immortals raged on as before. Erlang Shen led a company of heavenly soldiers into the fray, and his combat strength needed no introduction — a true general of the Heavenly Court. Monster after monster broke and fled before him.
Just as the monsters began to think defeat was inevitable, a beam of golden light tore through the sky.
Boom.
The explosion was deafening. When people's vision cleared, they were stunned to see that Erlang Shen — Yang Jian — now bore hundreds of wounds across his body. His left leg and left arm were simply gone.
What in the world had just happened to him?
A moment later, golden light gathered in the air, and an arrogant figure took shape before everyone's eyes. They all recognized him at once. But his presence had grown far more terrifying than before — the golden feathers on his body gleamed like drawn blades.
"What — it's Demon King Peng..."
"He nearly killed Yang Jian in a single blow! I wouldn't have believed it even in a dream!"
"My god, was he holding back his true strength this whole time?"
Yang Jian had crossed swords with him before, and at best the two of them had always been evenly matched. No one had ever seen anything like this one-sided a beating. But it was different now — Demon King Peng seemed like an entirely different creature. Those sharp, merciless eyes made it impossible for anyone to meet his gaze.
"Not bad, Yang Jian — you actually managed to block one of my strikes. But you won't be so lucky next time. Like I said the other day, Wuyue Mountain belongs to us monsters. If the Heavenly Court insists on meddling here, isn't that a bit much? Or is this whole westward journey just some scheme cooked up between your Heavenly Court and Lingshan?"
Demon King Peng's words were dripping with arrogance — but they were also uncomfortably persuasive. It was true, after all: the monsters had only come here to eat Tang Seng's flesh, and it was the heavens that had barged in to join the fight. Unless there was something rotten in this from the very start.
The thought took hold, and the monsters' eyes toward the Heavenly Court grew colder still, while more and more of their hearts began to tilt toward Demon King Peng.
Yang Jian clutched his bleeding wounds and turned to flee. But another flash of golden light caught him before he could escape.
"No—"
A single scream tore from Erlang Shen's throat as the heavenly general was beheaded in front of everyone.
"How dare you!"
Just as Demon King Peng finished off Yang Jian, a soft, cold voice rang out from the west. In the space of a single blink, Guanyin arrived before them all, her face frozen like frost, murder plain in her eyes.
———
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