Journey to the West: Treasure Vase of the Great Dao

This person was none other than Juling Shen, the Vanguard Heavenly General who led the first expedition against Huaguo Mountain. He had once boastfully claimed that he would capture the Monkey in one fell swoop, only to have his face slapped resoundingly, which led to his once-respected name being dragged through the mud, turning him into a laughingstock in the Heavenly Court.

This disgrace had gnawed at his heart, but he did not dare to trouble Sun Wukong. Instead, he now vented his anger on the little monkeys of Huaguo Mountain.

"You demon monkeys, this time I am determined to catch you all in one net," declared Juling Shen as he looked down at the group of monkeys below.

"Heaven abides by the virtue of preserving life; I implore you to show mercy and spare the lives of these monkeys," Lu Yu decided to initially try diplomacy before resorting to force, given that this dimwit officially represented the Heavenly Court.

Who knew that Juling Shen was such a fool? Hearing Lu Yu's words only fueled his arrogance more.

"Who is this Scholar who dares to stick his nose into such trifles? I think you must be part of the monkeys' faction as well, and now I can take care of you along with them!" His murderous intent flared as he glared fixedly at Lu Yu.

"Sorry, you might not be able to handle that!" Lu Yu said with a smile to Juling Shen. After his battle with Yang Jian, Lu Yu had gained a clearer understanding of his own combat strength. After diligently cultivating for such a long time, he had become a master in the Five Qi Realm. Except for the few exceptional ones such as Yang Jian and the Monkey, ordinary people really couldn't handle him.

The despised look in his eye and his indifferent tone fueled the Heavenly General's rage. Grinding his teeth, he spat out, "Ignorant Scholar, if you seek death, I will oblige you."

Juling Shen transformed into a hundred-zhang-tall Giant holding a Giant Axe and swung it at Lu Yu. Naturally, Lu Yu did not show any weakness and also used Law of Heaven and Earth.

"Has Law of Heaven and Earth become so common nowadays? It seems like everyone knows it," Juling Shen felt utterly frustrated. This Divine Skill was originally his signature move, but after the battle between the Monkey and Yang Jian, everyone knew what the true Law of Heaven and Earth looked like, leading many to think that Juling Shen had disgraced this Divine Skill.

Witnessing Lu Yu employ it now, his annoyance was palpable.

As Lu Yu fought with Juling Shen, he realized why the Monkey had mockingly called Juling Shen a puss-filled sore—he really was all bark and no bite. Since achieving success in his cultivation, the only beings Lu Yu had actually crossed hands with were the Serpent King and the True Monarch, each extraordinarily powerful in combat, which made Lu Yu extremely cautious before any fight.

It was only after engaging in combat that he discovered how mediocre Juling Shen's martial abilities were; the god had a shallow foundation and was simply no match for Lu Yu. It took only a few exchanges before Lu Yu had him running for his life, head in hands.

This was a blow to Juling Shen's pride. He had always relied on his innate Divine Power and gifted Divine Skills, considering them unrivaled, and believed there were few in the world who could best him. However, he unexpectedly faced consecutive embarrassments at Huaguo Mountain.

Out of furious embarrassment, he cast aside any sense of shame and, with a wave of his hand, ordered his Heavenly Soldiers to swarm Lu Yu with no regard for strategy, hoping to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.

As Lu Yu watched the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals charge toward him, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. Even though he was fully aware of the Monkey's destiny and felt powerless to change it, and couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder with the Monkey in battle due to concerns about the powerful entities behind him, deep down he harbored a raging fury.

Now having the chance to clash with the multitude of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals eased some of the regrets in his heart.

A Treasure Vase suddenly materialized from nowhere, and from its mouth emerged a jet of water. The stream was not large at first; however, as it rushed toward the Heavenly Court's battle formation, it grew larger and larger, eventually becoming a vast, overwhelming river.

The river surged with mighty waves; any Heavenly Soldiers or Generals touched by its waters found themselves helplessly swept into the current. Only then did they realize that this was no ordinary water, for it seemed to have the ability to seal their Mana.

This was a new Divine Skill of the Treasure Vase that Lu Yu had developed by refining with the Innate Qi, capable of transforming ordinary water into Xuan Yuan water. This type of water was first, heavier than ordinary water, and second, it could grind away a person's Mana.

Lu Yu had not had this ability for long, and the water in the Treasure Vase was only Yuan Heavy Water, otherwise these Heavenly Soldiers would have been crushed to death by the water the moment they were swept into it.

Juling Shen struggled ceaselessly in the water, preparing to escape from it, never expecting that Lu Yu's Sword light would keep circling above his head, scaring him from daring to rush upwards, and in a moment of inattention, he ingested a great deal of water.

Just as these Heavenly Soldiers were about to drown in the water, suddenly a blaze of flames fell from the sky. The fire seemed unusual, instantly steaming up vast amounts of water vapor the moment it touched the riverwater, creating a truly spectacular sight.

After the steam dissipated, there appeared a Child Servant holding a Fire-tipped Spear and standing on Wind Fire Wheels; it was Third Prince Nezha from the Heavenly Court.

Nezha had unintentionally discovered that Juling Shen was venturing to the mortal world to settle personal grudges in private. Knowing that Wukong came from an extraordinary background, and after the previous battle allowed Yang Jian to successfully step into the threshold of the Five Qi Realm, Nezha decided to come to Huaguo Mountain to prevent Juling Shen from doing Wukong a favor.

Unexpectedly, he saw the struggle between Lu Yu and Juling Shen, which piqued his interest. Although Juling Shen was a fool, he was quite loyal to Li Jing and his son, and as a general who had once fought in battlefields, Nezha, having not had a major fight for many years, had his fighting spirit ignited by the last battle with Wukong.

Seeing a skilled person like Lu Yu, he naturally could not resist the urge to spar earnestly.

"What Scholar dares to strike a Divine General of the Heavenly Court?" Nezha opened with an assertive challenge.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Great Chen, Lu Yu!" came the calm reply from Lu Yu's mouth, Nezha inwardly commended him, as not everyone had the courage of Lu Yu.

You must know that this is a lineage of the direct troops of the Heavenly Court; if one truly provokes the Jade Emperor, there may be nowhere in heaven or earth to find peace.

However, Lu Yu was truly unafraid. As a transmigrator, his greatest advantage was his familiarity with future trends. He was very clear that the entire attention of the current Heavenly Court had already gathered on the so-called Journey to the West, with every immortal preparing to gain benefits from this great calamity.

The co-sovereign of Heavenly Court was of course no exception, taking advantage of Wukong's actions to reduce the supply of Peaches of Immortality to the other immortals.

Now that Wukong had been captured and brought back to the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor's attention must be focused on Wukong, thus he was convinced that the Heavenly Emperor currently had no interest in attending to these trifles. Besides, Wukong being the heaven-appointed protagonist is fated to achieve his rightful fruit one day.

Being adept in tactics, he surely did not wish to fall out too badly with Wukong.

Seeing Lu Yu's nonchalance, Nezha was not angry. To him, the prestige of the Heavenly Court had nothing to do with him. The only thing he wanted was an exhilarating battle.

Since the Divine Enthronement calamity had passed, the powerful ones no longer appeared, and the Three Realms had been calm for quite a while, which was incredibly frustrating for a warlike person like Nezha.

The last battle with Wukong had just reached its peak when he was caught off guard by a surprise strike, leaving him unsatisfied; hence, maintaining the Heavenly Court's majesty was just a pretense, finding a reason to fight was the reality.