Chapter 257: Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea
The death of the Laughing Buddha did not cause much commotion in the Three Realms, far less than the incident when Guanyin was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.
Those who don’t know the origin of the Laughing Buddha only think that he is extremely vicious and is a scum of Buddhism for doing such things.
In addition, the people sent by Tathagata to the Heavenly Palace did not directly plead for the Happy Buddha openly, but instead more implicitly saved the remaining soul of the Happy Buddha by saying, "The Happy Buddha has been possessed by a demon and committed such an evil act. Our Buddhist sect will never cover up for him. Your Majesty, please punish him severely according to the Heavenly Rules."
Lingshan's reputation was not only not damaged in the eyes of ordinary gods, but was praised for being fair and selfless.
Those who knew the origin of the Laughing Buddha, after learning what he had done, also felt that Tathagata had done the most kindly by preserving a wisp of his soul to allow it to be reincarnated.
They would not think that there was anything wrong with what Lingshan did. They would just curl their lips in disdain when the Laughing Buddha was mentioned, and curse, "That ungrateful and shameless villain deserved to end up like this."
In just half a month, no one in the Three Realms mentioned the matter of the Laughing Buddha anymore, and the focus of discussion shifted to the upcoming Jiazi Examination and the Peach Banquet.
The Jiazi examination is related to the future of all the gods and immortals in the three realms, so there is no need to say more.
The Peach Banquet was because after the Investiture of the Gods was destroyed, all the disciples of the Jiejiao sect were reincarnated one after another, and the gods in heaven could be said to have been reshuffled.
Everyone is curious about which gods and goddesses the Queen Mother will invite to attend the Peach Banquet this time and how the seating will be arranged.
However, those powerful beings who truly possess great magical powers and hold high positions are all paying attention to the affairs of Jiejiao and the Patriarch of the Styx.
Li Anran could see that the old man of the Minghe River was so tough in front of the Jiejiao, he must have had new support, and these powerful people could also see it .
The dispute between Jiejiao and the Patriarch of the Styx is, on the surface, a fight for the River Map and Luoshu, but in reality it also involves a hidden confrontation between the top powers in the three realms today, such as Heaven, Jiejiao and even Xuanmen Lingshan, and the old men from the previous era.
If it is not handled properly, it may develop into a war that affects the entire three realms.
There are even many powerful people who doubt whether their speculation at the Ullambana Festival was wrong. Could the upcoming catastrophe be a struggle between Buddhism and Taoism instead of a struggle between the old and new eras?
After hearing this, Yang Jian became more certain about the development of the situation: "This fight will definitely not happen. Even if they want to fight, others will not agree."
The actual development was just as Yang Jian expected.
After a month and a half of confrontation, Jiejiao and the Patriarch of the Styx reached a temporary reconciliation under pressure from all sides.
Jiejiao pinched his nose and admitted what the old man of the Styx said, that Kunpeng owed him a huge karma and he had to pay it back with the River Map and Luoshu.
However, it is also pointed out that Kunpeng killed the Golden Spirit Mother and others, and there is a great cause and effect relationship between him and Jiejiao. Kunpeng also has to repay the debt to Jiejiao, and cannot use all the money to repay the ancestor of the Styx.
The ancestor of the Styx agreed with this statement and returned Zhao Gongming and the River Map to Jiejiao, but kept the Luoshu.
Both parties have taken a step back, but neither side is satisfied with the result!
The Jiejiao felt that the Minghe Patriarch was taking advantage of the situation with empty words and his reputation was greatly damaged.
The Patriarch of the Styx felt that it was not worth it for him to offend the Jiejiao and only get a copy of the Luoshu in the end!
In addition, the River Map and the Luo Shu can only exert the power of top-grade innate spiritual treasures when they are together. After being separated, each of them can only be regarded as a good innate spiritual treasure.
Sooner or later, there will be a fight between Jiejiao and the Patriarch of the Styx!
The other side.
The Heavenly Court also issued a proclamation to the three realms, announcing the various crimes of the Demon Master's Mansion, and stating that the Heavenly Court besieged the Demon Master's Mansion because the Demon Master Kunpeng despised the Heavenly Court and repeatedly violated the Heavenly Laws and Regulations.
He also warned the monks and demons in the mortal world that the Heavenly Court would not care about their personal grudges, but if they acted recklessly and violated the Heavenly Rules, the Heavenly Court would certainly send troops to encircle and suppress them.
This is obviously also said to the Styx Patriarch and the ancient elders behind him -
Heaven will not interfere in your personal grudges.
But if anyone violates the laws and regulations of heaven, don’t blame heaven for being rude!
This is because the Heavenly Court has just wiped out the Demon Master's Mansion, so it has the confidence to say such tough words.
As for whether those ancient great powers believe it or not, it is unclear.
They knew that the Jade Emperor would not easily cause trouble for them, but these words were just a verbal promise and there were too many loopholes to exploit.
There are so many heavenly laws and regulations that if the Heavenly Court really wants to cause trouble for them, they can always find an excuse.
But they couldn't do anything. They couldn't force the Jade Emperor to swear to Heaven, right?
If they had this ability, they would not be so sad about the loss of one's friends.
After joining forces to temporarily intimidate the major forces such as Tianting, Xuanmen and Lingshan, they put all their energy on Ancestor Hongyun.
Only by obtaining the Hongmeng Purple Qi and achieving enlightenment and becoming saints can they truly transcend the world and do whatever they want.
In this matter, Li Anran was just a mere spectator and did not participate in it.
After rescuing Zhao Gongming, Jiejiao did not come to ask him for the Six Soul Banner, but retreated directly to Lishan, sealed the mountain gate, and practiced in seclusion, looking like a man who was too ashamed to face people.
This story is seven parts true and three parts false.
It is true that Jiejiao felt greatly humiliated and tried its best to redeem itself, but its fierce performance was probably intentional in order to avoid various disturbances in the Three Realms in the future.
After this incident, peace returned to the three realms.
It wasn't until the new Jiazi examination began that things became lively again.
Because of the incident between Emperor Liujiang and Kunpeng, a large number of demons and monsters spawned in the Three Realms.
Many gods were injured or even died because of this, but at the same time, many gods also made great contributions in subduing demons and monsters in the process and were rewarded and promoted by the Heavenly Court.
All I can say is, some are happy while others are sad.
After the Jiazi year, the Peach Festival was held as scheduled.
This was the second Peach Banquet held after the monkeys caused havoc in Heaven.
Li Anran was unable to attend the last Peach Banquet because he was acting with Yang Jian.
This time, it's different.
As a great contributor to the destruction of the Demon Master's Mansion and one of the three recognized war gods in the Three Realms, the Queen Mother arranged Li Anran's seat before the Nine Star Gods to show the importance that the Heavenly Court attaches to him.
Needless to say, Yang Jian is only behind elders such as Sanqing and Taiyi Tianzun.
However, all these were expected by the immortals of the Three Realms. What really surprised them was the new Eight Immortals!
These eight immortals have been immortals for a short time, and their merits are not many, but their seats are very close to each other.
The immortals from the three realms were discussing this.
It was not until someone pointed out that Lü Dongbin was the reincarnation of Emperor Donghua and that the other seven immortals were also extraordinary that the immortals suddenly realized the truth and no longer had any objections.
It was Li Anran's first time attending the Peach Banquet, but he had no expectations at all.
In the lives of those sinful immortals, he had experienced countless Peach Banquets and even witnessed with his own eyes the famous scene where Zhu Bajie teased Chang'e.
After going through the routine step by step, Li Anran returned to the Heavenly Prison to meditate and comprehend the Six Soul Banner.
But at this moment, an explosive piece of news directly alarmed the entire three realms.
On the way back to Penglai after attending the Peach Banquet, the Eight Immortals of Shangdong Cave drank a lot of wine and on a whim gave up riding the clouds. Instead, they chose to cross the East China Sea by water, each showing off their magical powers.
There's nothing wrong with this.
But in the process, the Eight Immortals somehow came into conflict with the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea. The two sides fought each other, and even the Dragon Palaces in the West, South and North Seas were involved.
In the end, the dragons of the four seas were defeated. Not only were a large number of their dragon sons and grandsons, shrimp soldiers and crab generals killed, but the Dragon Palace of the East China Sea was also burned down by Lu Dongbin.
It is said that half of the water in the East China Sea boiled, and countless aquatic creatures from all over the world were killed or injured.
After sobering up, the Eight Immortals fled in panic.
When Li Anran heard the news, he was stunned.
He knew that according to Taishang Laojun's plan, the Eight Immortals would gather together to sacrifice the dragon tribes of the four seas in order to resolve the karma in Dongsheng Shenzhou, but he did not expect it to be so direct and brutal.
The Jade Emperor was naturally furious, and immediately sent Li Jing to lead Bull Demon King and Red Boy to capture the Eight Immortals.
Time flies and half a month has passed.
On this day, Li Anran was meditating on the law of cause and effect in the quiet room of the Heavenly Prison as usual, when he suddenly heard Nezha's voice outside: "Li Anran! Li Anran!"
Li Anran came out and nodded slightly: "Three flowers gather at the top of your head, and five qi converge at the origin. It seems that you have stabilized your realm."
"Of course!"
Nezha raised his little face, showing the three flowers on his head, and said with great joy: "If not for this, how could Master let me go down the mountain! How is it? Handsome or not?"
Li Anran: “…” I compliment you a few words and you become !
Li Anran rolled his eyes, and three rays of light suddenly appeared above his head, flowing and converging into a circle. Countless strange phenomena appeared, vast and boundless, directly suppressing Nezha's three-flower brilliance.
Li Anran: "Sorry, I have it too."
"You really broke through to the Golden Immortal?"
Nezha's face was filled with disbelief, and he wailed half-truthfully, "Heaven is unfair! Heaven is unfair! I have worked so hard for so many years, and suffered so much, and finally broke through to the Golden Immortal. You stayed in the Heavenly Prison every day, how come you caught up in such a short time? This is too unreasonable!"
Yang Jian has always been busy with official duties. Although he knew Li Anran the earliest, they did not spend .
Only Nezha was relatively free, and he was unwilling to stay in Li Jing's Yunlou Palace. He went to the Tianlao all day long, either drinking and having fun with Li Anran, or competing with Li Anran in martial arts, or drinking and having fun first and then competing in martial arts.
It can be said that Nezha witnessed Li Anran’s growth step by step from a small celestial being that even the Meishan brothers could not defeat, to where he is today.
But, precisely because he saw it with his own eyes, Nezha found it even more incredible.
Li Anran did not show any extraordinary talent or luck, but he was able to make breakthroughs quietly and steadily.
A breakthrough in cultivation is not that difficult, but when combined with stability and continuity, it becomes incredible.
Li Anran seems to have no bottleneck. He is improving steadily every day, and occasionally gives you a surprise with his rapid progress.
Well……
Why do I think it’s not surprising that Li Anran could catch up with me?
Nezha was in a very complicated mood.
In the past, he always felt that Li Anran’s cultivation was too poor, and was worried that Li Anran would encounter danger, so he found a lot of elixirs and peaches to improve Li Anran’s strength.
Now, Li Anran's strength has caught up with him, and it is obvious that he will surpass him in the future. Why does he feel uncomfortable?
Li Anran noticed Nezha's emotions and found it a little funny.
Nezha is a typical example of someone who is both afraid of his brothers’ hard lives and afraid of them driving a Land Rover.
However, this also shows that Nezha really treats you as a brother.
Li Anran smiled and said, "You came to see me today when school started. You didn't come just to show off this, did you?"
"I'm not that boring!"
Nezha came back to his senses and said unhappily, "Master asked me to come to you so that you can act out a play with Laojun."
Li Anran asked directly, "The Eight Immortals of the Upper Cave?"
Nezha nodded, not surprised. Nowadays, only the Eight Immortals of the Upper Cave could make Taishang Laojun take personal action.
Then, Nezha told Li Anran what Taishang Laojun wanted him to do.
This story begins with Yang Jian and Li Anran killing the fake Tongtian.
In order for Nezha to kill the fake Tongtian, the villain in Laozi's plan, Li Anran and Yang Jian had to re-select the pangolin as the whetstone for the Eight Immortals.
The pangolin was the same as in the original time and space. After being tortured by the Eight Immortals with all kinds of humiliating means and confirmed that he could not lick He Xiangu, he became angry and began to deliberately retaliate against the Eight Immortals in order to snatch He Xiangu away.
Although the pangolin is a sheep, its character, methods, qualifications and talents are all outstanding.
Not only did he learn the "Nine Changes of Xuantian" created by Jia Tongtian, and raised his cultivation to the level of Taiyi Jinxian, he even innovated the use of the demon seeds .
The pangolin sneaked into the eighteen levels of hell in the underworld, used resentful souls and evil spirits to refine demon seeds, and planted them into the bodies of the Eight Immortals, magnifying their respective seven emotions and six desires and character flaws.
It made Tieguai Li extremely sensitive and concerned about his appearance, and made Han Zhongli addicted to gambling...
He also framed his love rival, Lu Dongbin, causing him to fall out with the other Seven Immortals. He then acted as the savior, won the favor of He Xiangu, and manipulated the Eight Immortals at his will.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Taishang Laojun had to show up to save the situation. He personally refined the golden elixir and broke the demon seeds that had infected the Eight Immortals.
The Eight Immortals then came to their senses and realized that they had fallen into the Pangolin's trap. They joined forces to beat the Pangolin severely.
However, the pangolin did not give up on revenge, but hid in the dark and waited for an opportunity.
When the Eight Immortals returned from the Peach Banquet, each displaying their magical powers, and crossed the East China Sea, he cast a spell to cause turbulence in the water, causing chaos in the East China Sea.
When the Eight Immortals were fighting against the four seas' dragons, he once again disguised himself as Lu Dongbin, used the Samadhi Fire to burn the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea, boiled most of the East China Sea, and committed endless killings.
Finally, they launched a surprise attack and captured He Xiangu, leaving the other seven fairies no time to explain to the four sea dragons and the heavenly soldiers and generals who had misunderstood them.
After a series of operations, the blame was directly put on the Eight Immortals.
Although the other seven fairies successfully rescued He Xiangu, the matter of the East China Sea was a foregone conclusion and the evidence was conclusive.
They were left with nowhere else to go and could only burn incense in the Laojun Temple on earth and ask Laojun for help.
"...You mean that the Eight Immortals want the Heavenly Court to pretend that they have fallen into the Pangolin's trap, and pretend to capture them and behead them on the Immortal Execution Platform in order to deceive the Pangolin and let him get carried away."
"Then let He Xiangu use words to provoke Pangolin to admit that he was the one who did these things? Not the Eight Immortals?"
Li Anran looked at Nezha who was nodding seriously, and his mood could only be expressed by a series of ellipsis.
What the hell is this a bullshit plan!
Let’s not talk about anything else. Just say that the Jade Emperor is willing to cooperate with you in this drama of sting enforcement. Then does it matter what the truth is?
Isn't this just like taking off your pants to fart, a waste of time?
