Above the sea of clouds, a streak of light flashed by. As Meng Qi checked the accumulated treasures of the Spirit King, he pondered the two questions he had just asked.
The first question—when the Celestial Court fell—was the main purpose of this journey. By reversing time, he hoped to witness the process of the collapse of the Ten Thousand Heavens, trace the trajectory of the scattered Haihai Pearl, determine a general area, and lay the foundation for retrieving them when returning to the future. The second question—when the Demon Lord attacked the Celestial Court—was a sudden inspiration of his own.
He still vividly recalled that during his first journey into the West, he had once encountered a minor demon who mistakenly conflated the Demon Lord’s assault on the Celestial Court with the actual downfall of the Celestial Court, even going so far as to believe the former directly caused the latter. This directly contradicted Meng Qi’s own meticulous reconstruction of the ancient historical timeline.
Through indirect or direct verification by ancient figures such as the Buddha Demon and Sha Wujing, Meng Qi believed that first came the Fengshen War. Benefiting from it, the Celestial Court formed a solid alliance with Yuanshi Tianzun and Daode Tianzun behind the scenes, thoroughly suppressing forces like Buddhism and demons, reaching its peak. Yet nothing in the world remains unchanged forever; the peak often signifies the beginning of decline. As the Celestial Emperor’s cultivation advanced, perhaps he was no longer content being the figurehead for Yuanshi Tianzun and Daode Tianzun, unwilling to be merely a hollow figure dominating the world while the true masters remained hidden beyond the shore. Thus arose conflicts like the dispute over the Underworld, and cracks began forming within the alliance.
At this critical juncture, the Demon Lord suddenly attained the state of transcendence and launched an assault on the Celestial Court. In a final act of self-destruction, he gravely wounded the Celestial Emperor, thereby exposing the underlying tensions between the Emperor, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Daode Tianzun. Consequently, the balance of power shifted.
Buddhism began weaving its schemes, while Daoism responded in kind. The Celestial Emperor found himself teetering on the edge of a precipice, attempting to manipulate opposing forces to maintain equilibrium. Amidst these intricate power struggles, Sun Wukong emerged from the Primordial Divine Stone of the goddess Nuwa, setting in motion a chain of events—the resurgence of the Underworld conflict, the upheaval in Heaven, and the eventual coercion of the Celestial Emperor into submission.
Unexpectedly, the Celestial Emperor turned directly to the Buddha for intervention.
Afterward, having reaped immense benefits, the Buddha finally reached the realm of Yuanshi Tianzun and began attempting to pursue emptiness by reducing attachments, initiating the events of the Journey to the West. Not long after the journey concluded, for unknown reasons, the Celestial Court suddenly fell, seemingly due to several beings beyond the shore jointly breaking through the Nine Heavens. The Celestial Emperor sacrificed himself, transforming into the Blade of Time. During this process, no one knew whether his allies were suppressed or simply did not act.
After the collapse of the Heavenly Court, the Buddha entered nirvana, the Demon Sage assaulted Mount Lingshan, Ananda committed betrayal, and countless Buddhas perished simultaneously.
The Investiture of the Gods, the Demon Lord’s assault on Heaven, the Journey to the West, the collapse of the Celestial Court, and the Battle of Mount Lingshan—these were the major ancient events Meng Qi had analyzed. However, for the minor demons in this world, given that there was an intervening era when the Great Sage Equal to Heaven demonstrated his might and achieved Buddhahood during the Journey to the West, they could not possibly conflate events by attributing the fall of the Celestial Court to the Demon Lord’s attack.
Since memory and the timeline did not align, something must be amiss. Thus, Meng Qi asked specifically about the time when the Demon Lord attacked the Celestial Court, and the Spirit King’s answer gave him a sense of “just as I suspected.”
In this world, the Demon Lord’s attack on Heaven occurred less than six years before the fall of the Celestial Court!
With such a short interval, it was entirely reasonable for minor demons centuries later to regard them as the same event. Moreover, the Journey to the West occurred more than eight hundred years ago, long before the Demon Lord’s attack on Heaven, contradicting Meng Qi’s previously believed timeline.
So who was right and who was wrong?
Meng Qi would have originally firmly adhered to his previous deduction, as it had been confirmed by the Buddha Demon and Sha Wujing, both direct participants. Moreover, the world of *Journey to the West* was a historical fragment extracted and expanded by Daode Tianzun, filled with ambiguous events and historical remnants. Some chronological confusion was to be expected. Additionally, there were suspicions that Daode Tianzun had specifically extracted and reconstructed this history to conceal a certain secret.
However, some details made him less certain:
As for his speculations, the Buddha Demon openly admitted only to colluding with the Demon Lord, betraying the Celestial Emperor, and inciting chaos at Ling Shan, thereby harming both Buddhism and the demon clans. Regarding other matters, he remained evasive, merely mentioning that after being weakened by the Demon Lord, the Celestial Emperor encountered some difficulty in subduing the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
This seemingly pointed directly to the havoc in Heaven, but upon deeper examination, there were many interpretations. Who could confirm that after the Journey to the West, Sun Wukong did not confront the Celestial Emperor a second time?
For example, during the fall of the Celestial Court!
Moreover, during the havoc in Heaven, it was uncertain whether the Celestial Emperor even participated.
At that time, the Monkey’s strength was definitely not as formidable as after the Journey to the West, still far from reaching the state of Creation Perfection. Even though the Celestial Emperor had been weakened by the Demon Lord, he was still in the stronghold of the Immortal Realm, with countless advantages. Since only those beyond the shore could rival others of their kind, even if his strength was not at its best, there was no reason to fear. The Buddha Demon only said he had some difficulty subduing the Great Sage. Therefore, what the Celestial Emperor truly feared was the hidden force manipulating the Monkey, prompting him to immediately seek the Buddha’s help. In such circumstances, whether he would personally confront the Great Sage Equal to Heaven remained debatable.
But what about during the fall of the Celestial Court? By then, the Great Sage had split into the Victorious Fighting Buddha, reaching the state of Creation Perfection, possibly even possessing traits beyond the shore. With other beings beyond the shore entangling the Celestial Emperor, exchanging a few blows and nearly being subdued by him would be normal.
Therefore, the Buddha Demon’s words could not serve as definite evidence that the Journey to the West occurred after the Demon Lord’s attack on Heaven. In contrast, Sha Wujing clearly and accurately explained this chronological order. As a legendary figure, his memory would not be blurred or confused by the extraction of history, making him seem trustworthy.
However, upon further thought, whether it was the Journey to the West, the Demon Lord’s attack on Heaven, or when Daode Tianzun extracted this history, Sha Wujing likely had not yet attained the legendary realm. Since legends do not involve the river of time, without possessing traits beyond the shore, when he broke through successfully, would he be able to restore his confused and blurred memories?
More importantly, Sha Wujing was the attendant of the Eternal Mother Wu Sheng, making him not entirely trustworthy. Even if he himself did not wish to deceive Meng Qi, the Eternal Mother might secretly tamper with his memories.
With the two most critical pieces of evidence showing flaws, some details became even more suggestive. For example, the minor demon had mentioned that after the Demon Lord attacked Heaven, Jiuling Yuansheng was assigned to guard the gates of the Nine Netherworld, where he still remained. If the Demon Lord’s attack occurred before the Journey to the West, when Tang Monk and Sun Wukong encountered Jiuling Yuansheng during their journey, he should have been guarding the gates of the Nine Netherworld, making it unlikely for him to leave easily.
Another example: before the Demon Lord’s attack on Heaven, the Great Emperor Zhenwu mysteriously disappeared, heading toward the Origin of Life and Death. When Sun Wukong requested reinforcements, who was the Marshal of the Nine Heavens who Subdues Demons that he sought?
Although these were all contents from the Journey to the West that he had read, they might have been exaggerated—for instance, Jiuling Yuansheng might not have been an obstacle during the journey, and the Marshal of the Nine Heavens who Subdues Demons might never have been summoned. Yet there were other similar details, all of which could be verified by great experts in the future, making him increasingly uncertain.
What if the Journey to the West occurred before the Demon Lord’s attack on Heaven?
Meng Qi fell into deep thought, contemplating another possibility:
After the honeymoon period of the alliance, as the Celestial Emperor’s cultivation progressed, he developed ambitions to become the true supreme ruler of the era. Buddhism, likewise, had no desire to see Daoism continue its dominance over the Ten Thousand Heavens. As a result, minor conflicts began to escalate, such as the dispute over the Underworld. It was against this backdrop that Sun Wukong emerged from the Primordial Divine Stone, becoming a pawn in repeated games and power struggles.
During the havoc in Heaven, he might have received help from Daode Tianzun, with Daoist deities deliberately holding back, making the Celestial Emperor seem to have no choice but to act personally. Once he did, Sun Wukong’s “mysterious master” might have seized the opportunity to confront the Celestial Emperor, achieving some hidden goal. Realizing the danger, the Celestial Emperor decisively sought aid from the Buddha in the West, possibly fully defecting to Buddhism or merely revealing his connection to seek a new balance.
After the Journey to the West, after years of brewing, the Demon Lord’s attack on Heaven occurred. This time, the Celestial Emperor displayed a fearsome strength, battling a being beyond the shore alone, without the help of Yuanshi Tianzun, Daode Tianzun, or the Buddha.
Only those beyond the shore could rival others of their kind; it was difficult for them to kill each other, often only capable of sealing or suppressing. Even if the Celestial Emperor paid a great price, even with the advantage of the Immortal Realm as his stronghold, and even if the Demon Lord had only just reached the shore, without assistance from other ancient beings, defeating another being beyond the shore in single combat was enough to demonstrate the Celestial Emperor’s might, rivaling even the ancient Heavenly Emperor of the Tai Gu era, truly dominating the world.
Why did the Demon Lord attack the Celestial Court? Perhaps someone wanted to test something—for example, why the Celestial Emperor had the confidence to contend with the two Tianzuns, revealing his strength and the means by which he killed beings beyond the shore?
Once these secrets were uncovered, or once confirming that they directly related to the Dao’s fruit, soon afterward, several beings beyond the shore jointly breached the Nine Heavens, causing the Celestial Emperor to sacrifice himself for the Dao, possibly even including the Buddha himself.
Although lacking key details to connect these events, reasoning this way seemed to reveal another side of the story, offering alternative explanations. Meng Qi took a light breath, increasingly feeling that ancient events were as intricate and unpredictable as a stormy sea, enough to make one’s scalp tingle just thinking about them. After two extractions of history, the truth had become even more chaotic and contradictory, making it difficult to determine what was real and what was false.
For himself, if he wished to reverse time and advance further in the future, he would inevitably have to confront these matters.
Unconsciously, he had already reached the East Sea, completely forgetting to tally the treasures within the Spirit King’s Crystal Palace.
The light streak descended. Meng Qi located the patrolling aquatic creatures of the sea, inquired about the location of the Crystal Palace, and directly headed toward it.
Outside the Crystal Palace, two giant sea crabs knelt, guarding the entrance. Meng Qi smiled slightly, walked forward, and clasped his hands in greeting:
“Poor Daoist Su Meng seeks an audience with the Dragon King.”
“This is a gift.”
With a flick of his hand, two massive golden hammers flew out, landing in front of the Crystal Palace.
Bang!
The ground shook and the waters trembled. The Crystal Palace violently vibrated, and the surrounding magical barriers flickered on and off repeatedly.
“Enemy attack!” a scream rang out, while from within the Dragon Palace came a hoarse, astonished voice: “The Purple Light Golden Gate Hammers? The Spirit King’s divine weapon?”
And the Spirit King’s divine weapon was so broken, now in the hands of a mysterious Daoist!
As thoughts raced, the East Sea Dragon King abruptly stood up and rushed toward the Crystal Palace, hurrying to meet the visitor with his shoes on the wrong feet!
Since the Spirit King had already fallen, this figure must be treated with utmost courtesy!
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