Chapter 670: Celestial River? Milky Way?

“Heavenly Marshal Tianpeng!”

Meng Qi’s eyelid twitched slightly, and an image of a fat, pig-faced man naturally surfaced in his mind. Could it be his second senior apprentice brother, Zhu Bajie?

Was he not actually at Ling Mountain, but had returned to the Heavenly Court instead? Or had the Jade Emperor already bestowed the title of Marshal Tianpeng upon someone else?

From the perspective of his own world’s development, the collapse of the Heavenly Court occurred before the demons wreaked havoc on the land and before the Demon Sage transformed into a spear. Based on the legends of *Journey to the West*, it can be preliminarily hypothesized that the great sages joined the Demon Sage in attacking Mount Ling after the fall of the Heavenly Court, while the collapse itself took place after Sun Wukong became the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

In other words, if this Tianpeng here was indeed Old Pig, then he had never truly become the Clean Altar Messenger but had directly returned to the Heavenly Court to resume command of the Heavenly River soldiers after completing his mission.

These thoughts raced through Meng Qi’s mind. Given Old Pig’s temperament and inclinations, whether the Pure Altar Messenger or the Heavenly Marshal held a higher rank, the rigid monastic discipline would undoubtedly have been unbearable for him. It made sense that after the Journey to the West, he would have left the Spiritual Mountain—provided, of course, that the Buddhist sect did not attempt to restrain him, which would necessitate him clinging tightly to the Jade Emperor’s favor.

Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and others vaguely knew from Six Paths’ background introduction that Tianpeng Marshal was one of the members of the ancient Journey to the West team, but their impressions were very vague and not as profound as Meng Qi’s. They quickly looked around, checking for any overlooked discoveries.

“Will the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals inside the barracks ‘awaken and return’?” Jiang Zhiwei gazed at the statue-like Heavenly Soldiers, her expression cautiously wary.

After witnessing the previous Heavenly Soldier guarding the bridge awakening, even the most decisive person would be on guard.

Zhao Heng looked back at the way they came, hesitated slightly, and said, “There’s a Demon King chasing from behind, and Heavenly Soldiers blocking the way ahead. Why don’t we hide first and let them fight each other, reaping the benefits as the fisherman?”

He was somewhat hesitant to take the gamble on whether the Heavenly Soldiers inside the barracks ahead would awaken as they passed. If they did wake up, there would be hundreds or even thousands of them, not to mention Grandmasters among their ranks. Being swarmed all at once would likely overwhelm their small team without even causing a ripple.

“Good idea,” Meng Qi praised, looking toward the floating island, “Let’s find a place to hide?”

The floating island was the barracks, built with bronze walls and iron fortifications, and arrays were set up. Once triggered, there was a high possibility of awakening the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, so there were no hiding places on the perimeter.

Looking left and right, aside from the Baiyun Long Bridge, there was only the illusory river shimmering with faint light, its surface faintly revealing stars.

“Hiding in the river?” Ruan Yushu asked, half inquiring, half suggesting.

With the ability of an Outer Manifestation expert, even if they weren’t adept at swimming, holding their breath for a long time wouldn’t be a problem.

Meng Qi squatted down and carefully examined the illusory and intangible Milky Way water: “Hiding in the river seems to be the only option, but we should test it first. After all, we don’t know if the Milky Way water has any peculiarities. What if it can disintegrate flesh, contains water toxins, or can’t even float a goose feather?”

“A prudent suggestion,” Zhao Heng praised. Generally, when entering ruins, one must never assume things work as they normally do.

The five of them searched the nearby area but found nothing except swirling white clouds. The items on their bodies that could be exchanged for merit had already been exchanged, and the remaining ones were all useful.

Seeing this, Meng Qi didn’t dare to delay. He plucked a single hair and transformed it into a clone, which he sent into the Milky Way.

As soon as it entered the water, “Meng Qi” felt the water was illusory and bone-chillingly cold. The ambient spiritual energy remained, but most of the normal components required were missing, replaced by many harmful elements, suitable only for cultivating specific techniques.

The buoyancy of the Milky Way water was less than that of air, and since Meng Qi was within the Heavenly Court and couldn’t fly, he began to sink straight down.

Through the connection between himself and the clone, Meng Qi preliminarily confirmed that the Milky Way water had no other peculiarities. As long as he didn’t stay too long, the cold wouldn’t damage his physical body or spiritual essence. He then extended his right hand, attempting to pull the clone back up.

Just then, the clone’s body suddenly became heavier, accelerating its descent, as if pulled by a powerful force exceeding Meng Qi’s pulling strength.

Meng Qi narrowed his eyes and looked down. He saw a brilliant star in the distance, seemingly far away, appearing only the size of a bowl’s mouth. As the clone approached, Meng Qi realized it was a massive orb burning with orange-red flames. The surrounding light was distorted, the void abnormal, and waves of intense heat and scorching winds radiated outward.

A true sun! Meng Qi was startled and quickly severed the connection.

Silently, the clone experienced combustion, melting, and vaporization, leaving no trace!

Was every self-luminous star in the Milky Way a “star”? This was truly the “Milky Way”! Meng Qi extended his spiritual sense and felt the vastness of the Milky Way, boundless and endless, with no clear beginning or end.

The stars emitting light within were as numerous as sand grains, each giving a sense of undeniable reality while simultaneously permeating every corner of the surrounding void.

Suddenly, Meng Qi felt deep respect for Old Pig. To command water troops patrolling such a Milky Way was no feat for an ordinary immortal or deity!

Jiang Zhiwei also noticed the clone’s situation and frowned slightly: “We can’t hide in the Milky Way.”

If they could still fly, avoiding the luminous stars and briefly hiding wouldn’t be a big problem. But under the current circumstances, entering the river would be tantamount to suicide.

“Still, we should carefully pass through the barracks. If anything happens, we choose to retreat,” Qi Zhengyan suggested.

It was the only option left. Meng Qi inhaled deeply, adjusted his state, stepped silently, and cautiously advanced onto the floating island, entering the barracks.

The entire barracks was eerily silent, yet Meng Qi, observing the postures and states of the silver-armored Heavenly Soldiers, seemed to hear voices from hundreds or even hundreds of thousands of years ago—the sounds of conversation, drinking, chewing, cavity resonance, and the neighing of celestial horses. Yet all this noise had frozen in the void, as if preserved in time.

Everything seemed exactly the same as it had been back then. They appeared as if they would awaken at any moment, resuming their ancient Heavenly Court lives.

Step by step, Meng Qi remained fully alert, carefully choosing his path through areas where the silver-armored Heavenly Soldiers were less dense. He dared not allow his mind to wander, fearing that even a single blink might reveal a swarm of armored soldiers rushing at him.

Jiang Zhiwei brought up the rear, holding her breath, her expression calm but focused, her eyes devoid of fear, filled only with concentration.

In this state, the five of them held their breath, exchanging air imperceptibly through their pores, moving as cautiously as ordinary humans traversing a jungle teeming with pythons.

Under such conditions, both mental and physical exhaustion were immense, comparable to battling an opponent of equal strength. Fortunately, the Heavenly Soldiers within the barracks remained dormant, allowing Meng Qi and the others to successfully pass through the densest area. Ahead, they spotted several elaborately decorated barracks.

Inside each sat several golden-armored Heavenly Generals, their swords resting on tables, surrounded by various items. Their vitality was strong—just seeing them gave Meng Qi a feeling of blood rushing through his body, as if each drop of their blood could become a hidden weapon capable of piercing his flesh, and if all their blood were extracted, it could form a river brimming with immense power.

“Law-body…” Meng Qi eyed them enviously but dared not approach, choosing instead to detour. Even Zhao Heng dared not look too long, fearing that his gaze might provoke them.

They certainly didn’t want to awaken the Law-body due to greed for the items inside.

Especially considering the previous incident, awakened Heavenly Soldiers showed no signs of weakened strength!

After passing these barracks, they reached the central command tent, where a wooden plaque hung at the entrance, bearing the words “Heavenly Marshal Tianpeng!”

Damn, would they see the frozen Old Pig? Seeing the wooden plaque, amidst the heavy and oppressive atmosphere, Meng Qi couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

Jiang Zhiwei’s expression grew even more serious. If even the Heavenly Generals were at least Law-body experts, then what about the Tianpeng Marshal who commanded them—or someone even higher?

“It’s empty,” Ruan Yushu suddenly transmitted mentally, and having already glanced inside briefly while Meng Qi was still reeling from shock.

“Empty?” Meng Qi looked carefully and saw that the central command tent was wide open, completely empty. Not only was there no Old Pig, but there wasn’t even a single item left—no tables, no dust. It was as if someone had cleared everything away.

“Someone moved everything…” Meng Qi had a sudden realization, imagining the scene:

A fat, stout pig-faced man sweeping through the central command tent, muttering to himself: “It’s over, over. The Heavenly Court has no hope left. Let’s quickly divide the valuables and go home. Disband now.”

If that were true, Old Pig had been far more perceptive than the ordinary Heavenly Soldiers and Generals…

As they mused, Meng Qi and the others passed through the central command tent and came upon a pond. The water was illusory, no different from the outside, its flow seemingly connected secretly to the Milky Way.

“Could this be the place where Heavenly Soldiers enter the ‘Milky Way’? What’s different from directly entering the water outside?” Meng Qi wondered aloud.

Qi Zhengyan, expressionless, said, “The Heavenly Soldiers’ camp wouldn’t randomly have a pond. We’ll test it and find out.”

Meng Qi nodded and plucked another hair, transforming it into a clone, which he sent into the pond.

The water was illusory but not as icy cold as outside. The usual components of spiritual energy were fewer but still present, while harmful elements gradually increased.

As he descended deeper, “Meng Qi” felt increasing buoyancy, and a layer of water film formed around his body!

Breaking outward into the Milky Way, Meng Qi discovered he could now swim freely, as long as he returned before the water film disappeared.

“We can hide,” Meng Qi showed a hint of joy, “Why don’t we hide here?”

“It seems like the Heavenly Soldiers here won’t awaken,” Ruan Yushu said, puzzled.

Meng Qi chuckled: “The demons don’t know about the Heavenly Soldiers awakening, so they won’t be as cautious as we are. Even if they pass through successfully, we can follow behind, hunting any stragglers to gain merit. Since we need to search for core treasures anyway, why not switch from open confrontation to stealth, letting them take the lead?”

Mainly, the distance hadn’t widened as expected due to the Heavenly Soldiers awakening, and the demons were chasing closely behind. They hadn’t had enough time to search thoroughly and had no choice but to change tactics.

“Yes, and we don’t know what other dangers the Heavenly Court might still hold. Letting them take the lead is better,” Jiang Zhiwei nodded.

“And if we can kill a few more Demon Kings, even if we don’t complete the mission, we’ll still earn merit. Ever since the Political Affairs Hall started monitoring me and strictly controlling resources, I haven’t been able to spend freely like before,” Zhao Heng added.

After finalizing their plan, Meng Qi and the other five dove into the pond, covered themselves with the water film, and entered the Milky Way.

Before them stretched an endless, dark expanse, with countless brilliant stars far away, as if they had entered the universe itself—vast and magnificent, making them feel small and marveling at the beauty of the heavens.

“Truly beautiful…” Ruan Yushu sighed, seemingly moved to poetic inspiration, wanting to compose music to match the scene.

Meng Qi looked left and right, increasingly feeling as though he had entered a cosmic starfield, yet somehow sensing a difference.

Exactly what the difference was, he couldn’t quite discern.

At this moment, the clone was nearly pulled away by a nearby “sun,” forcing Meng Qi to recall it, while he himself carefully avoided the danger.

During this process, Meng Qi noticed a relatively large “dark spot” on this “star.”

Thinking for a moment, Meng Qi activated his Wisdom Eye, focusing intently. Within his pupils appeared a massive, burning fireball, on whose surface lay a pig corpse of unimaginable size, its skin charred and blackened by the intense heat and flames, its fat evaporated, leaving it shriveled and emaciated!

Even compared to the entire fireball, this pig corpse wasn’t small. Its eyes were wide open, frozen in an expression of disbelief.

“Old Pig?” Meng Qi was stunned, instantly feeling an intense heat assailing him. His eyes burned as if on fire, turning a bright red, with tears streaming down uncontrollably.

Even with his Divine Eye of Wisdom, observing a “sun” from a relatively “close” distance still resulted in backlash!