Chapter 242: The Living Witness

The lion demon’s chest and abdomen split open, and a figure covered in blood and bronze burst out. His clothes were wrapped around most of his body, relying entirely on the Golden Bell Cover and the Eight-Nine Mystical Arts to resist the corrosive effects.

Despite suffering such a fatal wound from within, the lion demon had not yet died. It screamed in pain, taking the opportunity to shake off the Demon-Revealing Mirror. It swung its long staff at Meng Qi while flying about on gusts of wind.

The lesser demons on the ground, seeing their Yellow Lion King beaten so severely, were all terrified beyond measure. Those still capable of movement retreated like a tide.

However, they did not abandon their loyalty and did not forget to drag away the corpse of the Black Wolf King. His demon core had been shattered by the “Sword of Selfless Being,” and his physical body had been struck by purple lightning, leaving it charred on the outside and tender within. Only the two golden war hammers remained, too heavy for the lesser demons to carry away, and were left behind.

Not dead yet?

The vitality of powerful demons was truly formidable!

Jiang Zhiwei was about to use “Strike the Sea,” but saw that the lion demon had learned its lesson, drifting unpredictably on the wind, making it difficult to target. Occasionally, it extended its long staff, poking at Meng Qi, who was rolling on the ground.

No time must be given for recovery!

Jiang Zhiwei’s gaze shifted toward Ge Huai’en—Fu Zhenzhen had just used the Demon-Revealing Mirror and was heavily drained.

Ge Huai’en, who had been idle until now, flipped his palm to reveal a black vertical eye embedded in green wood. He suddenly released a beam of dark light, enveloping the nearby airspace and submerging the lion demon within it.

Already gravely wounded, the lion demon screamed again, blood flowing from its eyes and nose, nearly falling from the wind.

Taking this opportunity, Zhang Yuanshan, his expression serious, swung his Teng Snake Sword.

The sword light struck upward from below, dim and shadowy. The environment around the lion demon wavered and blurred, as if it had been separated from the entire world and isolated.

After withdrawing the sword, the lion demon screamed once more, turned, and rushed out of the courtyard wall. However, only its lower half remained, while its upper half, including its head, stayed suspended in the air, its eyes vacant before it fell to the ground with a thud, shattering countless bricks and tiles.

Crimson blood flowed, staining the area red. At that moment, the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed from outside.

“Great King!” the lesser demons cried out, fleeing even faster.

“True Martial Heaven Severing…” Jiang Zhiwei, who had intended to deliver a finishing blow, reined in her fierce aura, recognizing the deadly move used by Zhang Yuanshan.

Meng Qi had heard of this name before. “Embodying the Dao” was a Dharmakaya-level killing technique from the “True Martial Seven Severing Sutra.” The pinnacle sword art derived from it was none other than “True Martial Heaven Severing,” which was truly extraordinary.

He had no time to dwell on it. Thinking that the Yellow-Furred Lion might be a descendant of Jiuling Yuansheng, and that old fellow was notorious for protecting his subordinates, Meng Qi’s mood became complex and difficult to express. He could only hope that such a lowly follower among his subordinates would not draw Jiuling Yuansheng’s attention.

However, he had been unable to stop it earlier. The Yellow-Furred Lion had been disemboweled by him and was determined to kill him. Compared to the possible retaliation from Jiuling Yuansheng, survival was more important.

Only now did he feel a burning pain throughout his body. Many of his wounds had been “digested,” exposing flesh. His clothes were torn and could barely cover his body, which made him feel ashamed and humiliated.

But given Meng Qi’s attachment to his belongings, he ignored the issue of clothing and quickly checked his weapons. Zi Shang was naturally unharmed. Qingyu, which he held in his hand, was wrapped in true energy, bearing only slight corrosion marks without serious damage. Zi Wu’s sword sheath was broken, but the blade itself was unharmed. The Da Huan Pill was carefully placed and narrowly avoided destruction.

Only the bag strapped to his back had vanished without a trace, along with the spare clothes, disguise tools, Seven-Star Begonia candles, and other belongings—just like the “Heavenly Net” concealed in his sleeve, they had all met the same fate.

They were worth at least two hundred merit points. If he had known, he would have changed them all… Meng Qi felt like crying but had no tears. Fortunately, the demon’s skin, the celestial meteor crystal, and the black fur from the True Martial Emperor’s chain quest were temporarily unused and left in his private room at the Reincarnation Plaza.

Qi Zhengyan took out spare clothes and tossed them to Meng Qi, preventing him from being exposed and naked.

Fu Zhenzhen then took out healing medicine, ran to Meng Qi, and applied it to his wounds where flesh had been dissolved. She also gave him a pill for healing.

A cool sensation spread from the wounds, relieving Meng Qi significantly. He immediately cautioned, “I noticed that this Yellow Lion Demon’s ability to suck people in through its mouth is extraordinary. Furthermore, it didn’t reveal its true form even under the Demon-Revealing Mirror. It’s probably no ordinary demon—its background must be significant. We must be wary of its grandfather and other elders, who might be Dharma Body demons.”

He had little understanding of the power system in Journey to the West. Seeing that they were all demons, he naturally applied the demon cultivation hierarchy from his own world, using their outward manifestations of power as a reference.

In his world, demons first attained enlightenment by “awakening their spiritual wisdom” and refining their horizontal bones, reaching a power level comparable to Qi cultivators. Later, they refined their innate acupoints, achieving “shapeshifting,” which was akin to opening acupoints and granted them innate racial abilities. At the human semi-external manifestation stage, they condensed their demonic cores, significantly enhancing their power and abilities, enabling them to ride the wind. Subsequently, they absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, cultivated their demonic cores, unlocked the mysteries within their bloodlines, refined their source blood, and reached the power level of external manifestations, earning the title of Demon Venerable.

Ultimately, depending on the refined source blood, they accessed different Dao paths, attaining various demonic forms—some capable of manipulating heaven and earth, known as great demons or demon kings. For instance, there was once an ordinary peacock that refined the innate Five Elements source blood, achieving the “Five-Colored Peacock True Body,” endowed with immense power and formidable abilities. Alongside other great demons, it sought to lead the demon race in a rebellion but was thwarted by Lu Daxian, the “Single-Minded Sword,” and Daoist Chonghe of the Pure Yang Sect at Cloud Peak Mountain.

When several other Tianbang experts arrived by cloud, the Peafowl Demon King realized the difficulty and retreated, disappearing ever since, seemingly resigned to fate and enjoying peace in some secluded paradise.

As for the demon gods and demon sages during the demon chaos era and ancient times, and their corresponding power levels, Meng Qi’s knowledge was limited. He could only classify them into different levels of Dharma Bodies based on the standards of Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas all being Dharma Bodies.

Jiang Zhiwei and others recalled the previous scene and found Meng Qi’s words convincing. However, since they had already killed the demon, they could only take it one step at a time. If they encountered a great demon, they would have no choice but to fight desperately and do their best, as they might not even be able to handle a demon at the first level of external manifestation.

Fu Zhenzhen cleaned and applied medicine to Meng Qi’s wounds, while Zhang Yuanshan and others searched for loot.

The weapons of the minor demons were quite ordinary, hastily forged and of little worth. What stood out were the Wolf Demon’s pair of golden war hammers, the Lion Demon’s black long staff, and the Lion Demon’s partially damaged demon core.

“Not treasure weapons, but the material is better than ordinary weapons…” Zhang Yuanshan exerted great effort to barely lift one of the golden hammers. Meng Qi judged that he currently could not control it either, at most slightly more effortlessly than Zhang Yuanshan, but even carrying it on his back would severely affect his movement.

The Lion Demon’s staff was equally heavy, as if demons had a preference for heavy weapons.

Jiang Zhiwei, not known for her strength, barely managed to lift the staff with her full spiritual energy, frowning slightly, “Carrying them is troublesome.”

“We can put them in here.” Ruan Yushu suddenly spoke up, extending her right hand. Her slender middle finger wore a ring embedded with a translucent jade stone.

Looking closely, the jade contained countless transformations, causing dizziness and making it hard to distinguish.

“The household of a thousand miles and the miniature of a bag?” Jiang Zhiwei was momentarily stunned, then chuckled softly.

The Sword-Washing Pavilion leaned more toward Daoism, so their term for such an object was not “Nan Xu Mi Yu Ji Zi” (the concept of containing the vast within the minute).

Ruan Yushu nodded slightly, her expression calm: “My family dotes on me.”

This was a treasure-level artifact, even major sects and noble families had few of them, able to produce only one after a long time. Therefore, within sects, unless a master especially favored a disciple, it was impossible to grant such items to those who had opened acupoints. However, in great noble families, due to blood relations, the affection for their children surpassed that between master and disciple, and there were precedents for giving high-level auxiliary objects.

“Good, this is indeed excellent.” Zhang Yuanshan smiled. Although he was also a highly anticipated direct descendant of a prominent family, how could he compare to Ruan Yushu, the most favored legitimate daughter of the Ruan family head, with many Ruan elders reportedly fond of the guqin-loving Ruan Yushu.

Soon, the golden war hammers and black long staff were all placed into the ring, waiting to be exchanged for merit points upon their return. The damaged demon core was also included—there were only seven days, and Fu Zhenzhen wouldn’t have time to use the demon core for potion-making.

Just then, Luo Shengyi, who was inspecting the demon corpses for any survivors, spoke solemnly: “Everyone should have already heard that these demons were targeting this temple. In the coming days, there will surely be other powerful demons arriving. We should leave as soon as possible.”

Merely halfway through the first day, the prepared artifacts had already been used twice—there were only six uses in total!

“The most peculiar thing about this temple is probably the ‘Great Thunder Sound Temple’ plaque. Could that be their target?” Zhang Yuanshan speculated, “Of course, it’s also possible that the real mystery was overlooked by us.”

Meng Qi quickly said: “We should find a survivor to interrogate. What if their target is on us and we are completely unaware? This might be a way for the Six Dao Reincarnation Lord to trap us in a desperate situation.”

“That makes sense…” Zhang Yuanshan, Luo Shengyi, and others began searching the demon corpses for survivors.

Not long after, they found three severely wounded lesser demons that had failed to escape.

“What were you doing here?” Meng Qi, who had recovered slightly, asked with eyes like two deep pools.

The severely wounded lesser demon could not resist, dazedly saying: “Just now, earlier, a huge beam of light shot into the sky, visible from far away! The two Great Kings said the opportunity had arrived and ordered us to search for this temple.”

“What opportunity? Why did you know it was a temple?” Meng Qi became even more puzzled. Was that beam of light caused by the Six Dao Reincarnation Lord or emitted by the Great Thunder Sound Temple plaque?

The lesser demon suddenly became excited: “The opportunity to find the whereabouts of the Great Sage Grandfathers!”

“Great Sage, whereabouts?” Meng Qi felt even more strange. He hoped it wasn’t the Great Sages he knew…

This lesser demon was a dog-like creature with a wolf’s head, chattering: “In ancient times, when the Western Tathagata suddenly passed away, the Demon Sage Queen led the Great Sages to attack Vulture Peak. Because the Great Sage Equal to Heaven returned to the demon race, they successfully entered Vulture Peak. But later, only the Demon Sage Queen emerged, saying the opportunity had arrived, and the Great Sage Grandfathers could leave. Not long after, the Demon Sage Queen passed away, using her true fire to refine her remains into a Phoenix Wing Black Gold Spear.”

Listening to the first part, Meng Qi was stunned, this development was too strange!

The latter part made Jiang Zhiwei and others look astonished. This legend seemed somewhat familiar!

“Was the Demon Sage the first Fenghuang since the creation of the world?” Zhang Yuanshan’s face was serious.

“Of course!” the lesser demon firmly replied.

Everyone’s expressions were both surprised and doubtful. Meng Qi’s mouth twitched slightly: “Have you heard of A-nan?”

“Ananda? The Demon Sage’s decree states that anyone practicing Ananda’s Breaking the Precepts Saber Technique must be killed by demons!” The lesser demon’s dog head was filled with a noble willingness to sacrifice.

What in the world is going on? Why does this legend match the one from my own world, yet there’s no mention of Journey to the West in my world? Meng Qi was completely confused, cursing Ananda.

“What… didn’t the Heavenly Court handle this matter?” He asked with a grimace.

The lesser demon’s expression was blank as he said: “I heard that the Demon Lords of the Netherworld and the Demon Realm attacked the Heavenly Court. Anyway, the Yellow Lion King’s ancestor was later assigned to guard the Netherworld’s gate. Now the Heavenly Court is gone, and he’s still watching there.”

This was what the Yellow Lion King had told him, so it was relatively clear and detailed.

Demon Lord… Meng Qi and others were all silent.

After a while, Meng Qi solemnly asked: “How long ago was all this?”

“More than four hundred years, well, five hundred or maybe six hundred…” The lesser demon’s answers were all hearsay, so how could he know the exact time.