Chapter 635
A stark contrast!
If Sun Wukong were allowed to continue refining the creature in this way, it would probably take a long time. In that case, Tang Sanzang and his party would go west first, and the Journey to the West mission would still proceed as planned, which would not meet the requirements of his mission.
"It seems we need to help Wukong so he can refine the Six-Eared Macaque as soon as possible. At the same time, we also need to find a way to make Tang Sanzang and the others stop and wait for Wukong to join them."
Jiang Wang thought to himself.
With a thought, a faint power of the laws of time emanated from his body.
Jiang Wang has cultivated for many years and his control over the laws of time is already superb. Now he wants to use the laws of time to set the environment in which Sun Wukong refines the Six-Eared Macaque to a time contraction of twelve times.
In this way, what has happened to the outside world over the past thirty years is equivalent to only three months internally.
In this way, Sun Wukong would have ample time to refine the Six-Eared Macaque in a shorter amount of time outside, while Tang Sanzang and his group would have a sufficient reason to stop and wait.
Jiang Wang's fingertips condensed strands of silvery-white time power, which, like silk threads, quietly wrapped around the area where Sun Wukong was refining the Six-Eared Macaque.
These temporal powers were extremely well hidden, and even Sun Wukong did not notice them.
As the power of time operated, the space around Sun Wukong slightly distorted, forming an independent time domain.
Within this realm, the flow of time becomes extremely slow, while time outside flows normally.
Jiang Wang could clearly sense that although the speed at which Sun Wukong refined the Six-Eared Macaque within the domain seemed unchanged, it was twelve times faster than outside.
After doing all this, Jiang Wang nodded in satisfaction.
The next step was to devise a plan to obstruct Tang Sanzang and his group, forcing them to stop and wait for Sun Wukong.
Jiang Wang moved swiftly, transforming into a streak of light, and flew rapidly towards the direction where Tang Sanzang and his group were.
At this moment, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing were walking in a desolate wilderness.
The mountain path was rugged and overgrown with weeds, making it extremely difficult to walk.
Tang Sanzang rode the white dragon horse, looking somewhat tired, but his eyes remained firm.
He clasped his hands together, muttering incantations, constantly praying that he could reach the Western Paradise as soon as possible and obtain the true scriptures.
Pigsy, carrying his nine-toothed rake, followed behind, panting heavily, his face full of complaints: "Master, this road is too difficult to travel! Why hasn't Eldest Brother returned yet? Without Eldest Brother, we're in the middle of nowhere. What if we encounter monsters?"
Sha Wujing remained silent, carrying his heavy luggage and making difficult progress step by step, only occasionally looking up into the distance with a hint of worry in his eyes.
With their eldest brother absent, their strength is greatly diminished, making their journey to the west even more perilous.
Just then, the sky suddenly darkened, and the previously clear weather was instantly covered with dark clouds. A strong wind howled, stirring up dust and fallen leaves that swept towards Tang Sanzang and his companions.
"Oh dear, why is the wind suddenly so strong?"
Pigsy exclaimed in surprise and quickly covered his face with his hands to avoid getting sand in his eyes.
Tang Sanzang frowned, tightened the reins of the white dragon horse, and said in a deep voice, "Bajie, Sha Wujing, be careful, it seems the weather is about to change."
No sooner had he finished speaking than large raindrops began to fall in a torrential downpour.
The rain, mixed with the gale, lashed at everyone like countless whips.
The white dragon horse was frightened and kept neighing and struggling, almost knocking Tang Sanzang to the ground.
"Master, quickly find a place to take shelter from the rain!"
Sha Wujing quickly stepped forward, steadied the white dragon horse, and shouted loudly.
The three of them hurriedly looked around, trying to find a place to shelter from the rain, but in this desolate wilderness, apart from weeds and strange rocks, there was nowhere to shelter from the wind and rain.
The wind and rain grew increasingly fierce, and the rainwater streamed down their hair and clothes, chilling them to the bone.
But that wasn't the end of it. Not long after, hail began to fall from the sky.
The hailstones, the size of fists, fell from the sky like dense cannonballs, making a loud thud as they hit the ground. They shattered instantly upon impact with the rocks, sending up countless shards of ice.
"Oh no, it's hail!"
Pigsy's expression changed drastically. He quickly raised his nine-toothed rake and held it above Tang Sanzang's head, trying to block the hail attack.
Sha Wujing quickly put down his luggage and used his carrying pole to protect himself and the white dragon horse.
The hailstones pounded on the nine-toothed rake and the carrying pole, making a clanging sound with great force, which made Pigsy and Sandy's arms go numb.
Tang Sanzang hid in the middle, his face full of horror.
He had never seen such bizarre weather before. One moment it was a raging storm, and the next it was hailing. This was clearly not an ordinary natural phenomenon.
Just as the three were struggling against the hail, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.
A deafening roar came from underground, like the howling of thousands of giant beasts.
Huge cracks appeared in the ground, and the surrounding mountains began to collapse, with boulders rolling down and crashing towards the three of them.
"Earthquake! Run!"
Pigsy was so frightened that he grabbed Tang Sanzang and ran to the side.
Sha Wujing quickly grabbed the white dragon horse and ran towards a safe place.
The three struggled to escape the collapsing mountain and the shaking ground, with boulders constantly rolling down around them, and a single misstep could result in their deaths.
A sudden storm, with strong winds, torrential rain, hail, and earthquakes, struck at the same time, plunging Tang Sanzang and his companions into an unprecedented crisis, as if it were the end of the world.
Tang Sanzang was being dragged along by Zhu Bajie, stumbling and falling all the way, his body covered in mud and rainwater, his face full of fear and confusion.
He couldn't understand why they would encounter such a strange natural disaster on their journey to the West. Was this a test from heaven?
Just then, an old and majestic voice suddenly rang in the ears of the three, like a great bell, resounding through the sky: "Tang Sanzang, your pilgrimage team is not large enough. If you insist on continuing westward, it will surely trigger a great calamity, bringing disaster to the Three Realms. At that time, all living beings will suffer, and you will be sinners for all eternity!"
The voice seemed to come from the heavens above and the depths below, carrying an undeniable majesty that was deeply imprinted in the minds of the three.
Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang was startled and stopped in his tracks, his face filled with shock and fear.
He was a compassionate man, and he was most worried about the suffering of the people. Now, upon hearing these words, his heart was filled with hesitation.
"Is...is this real?"
Tang Sanzang muttered to himself, his eyes filled with confusion.
He didn't know where the voice came from, but its imposing aura made him dare not question it. Pigsy also stopped, his face filled with horror: "Master, this voice...this voice is terrifying! Can we really not continue our journey westward?"
Sha Wujing frowned and said in a deep voice, "Master, the origin of this voice is unknown, but the matter it speaks of is of great importance and we must be on guard."
Perhaps we should really wait for our senior brother to return before making any plans.
Tang Sanzang was torn between his inner thoughts and his own.
He wanted to obtain the true scriptures as soon as possible to save all living beings, but he was also worried that forcibly going west would trigger a great calamity and bring disaster to the three realms.
The warning voice weighed on his heart like a boulder, making it difficult for him to make a decision.
Jiang Wang, hidden in the shadows, watched this scene with a barely perceptible smile on his lips.
The storms, hail, and earthquakes were all his doing, and the warning sound was also fabricated by him using supernatural powers.
He knew that Tang Sanzang was compassionate and valued the safety of the Three Realms most. As long as he grasped this point, he could easily make him stop his journey to the West.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Tang Sanzang made up his mind.
He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply to the sky: "If it is truly as you say, I am willing to suspend our journey to the West and wait for Wukong to return so that we can go to the Western Paradise together to obtain the scriptures. I would never dare to cause a great calamity and bring disaster to all living beings because of my own selfish desires."
After saying this, Tang Sanzang instructed Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing to find a safe place to camp and wait for Sun Wukong.
Pigsy and Sandy were already hesitant to continue their journey westward, but now that Tang Sanzang had given them instructions, they readily agreed.
Jiang Wang breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that his goal had been achieved.
He left behind a clone to secretly monitor the movements of Tang Sanzang and his party, ensuring they would not change their minds and continue their journey westward.
Then, Jiang Wang's true form transformed into a stream of light and flew towards the direction of Nanzhanbuzhou.
Having resolved the matter of the Journey to the West, Jiang Wang still had one major concern on his mind: the Auspicious Realm.
He had always suspected that the Sovereign Clan behind the Sovereign Primordial World was plotting something sinister and might use the interdimensional teleportation array to invade the Auspicious Realm, thereby threatening the safety of the Primordial World.
The Auspicious Realm and the Primordial World are inextricably linked. If the Auspicious Realm falls into the control of the Sovereign Clan, the Primordial World will inevitably face a great crisis.
Therefore, Jiang Wang decided to personally go to the Auspicious Realm to investigate and uncover the conspiracy of the Supreme Clan, so as to prepare in advance.
In the remote mountains of Jambudvipa, there lies a mysterious cave called Qilin Cave.
This Qilin Cave is a secret realm left behind by the ancient Qilin clan, and hidden inside the cave is a spatial passage leading to the Auspicious Realm.
However, this spatial passage is extremely hidden and protected by powerful restrictions, making it impossible for ordinary cultivators to detect, let alone enter.
Jiang Wang sped along and soon arrived at the deep mountains where the Qilin Cave was located.
This deep mountain is majestic and precipitous, with ancient trees reaching for the sky and a rich spiritual atmosphere, yet very few people come here.
Monsters roam the mountains, and miasma permeates the air, making it a dangerous place.
But none of this mattered to Jiang Wang.
With a flash, he traversed numerous obstacles and arrived at the entrance of the Qilin Cave.
The entrance to the Qilin Cave was shrouded in a faint light curtain, upon which runes flowed, radiating a powerful restrictive force.
This is a restriction set up by the ancient Qilin clan to protect the spatial passage and prevent outsiders from entering at will.
Jiang Wang's gaze fell on the light screen, carefully observing the runes on it.
He possessed profound cultivation and had some knowledge of ancient restrictions. Before long, he saw through the mystery of the restriction.
Jiang Wang gathered a wisp of pure magic power at his fingertips, and gently tapped it onto the light screen.
The magic flowed along the runes, like a key.
Chaotic air currents tore wildly through the spatial passage, and Jiang Wang's figure, like a pale golden streak of light, sped through the distorted void.
He was surrounded by a nearly transparent halo, which was the Origin-level "Upright and Shadowless" aura.
The outward manifestation of this state is as if it has detached itself from the rules of this space, leaving no trace of dust or dirt.
But today, this unparalleled ability to conceal itself seems to have touched some kind of taboo, and the passage wall behind him is collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At first, there were only tiny cracks, like traces spreading on a spider web. Accompanied by a low hum, the cracks rapidly expanded, turning into jagged ravines. Chaotic energy surged into the cracks, carrying the power to destroy everything.
Jiang Wang could clearly feel the tremors coming from the passage. The void beneath his feet was sometimes solid and sometimes illusory, as if it would collapse completely at any moment.
He dared not stop for a moment, pushing his speed to the limit. The pale golden aura around him was slightly distorted due to the high speed, rubbing against the chaotic spatial energy around him and producing fine light fragments.
The sound of collapse behind him grew closer and closer, like thunder exploding in his ears. A wave of scorching energy chased after him, making his back feel slightly hot.
He gritted his teeth, pushed the primordial energy within his body to its limit, and forcefully broke through the last section of the collapsing passage. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and his figure, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, staggered out of the spatial passage's constraints.
Upon landing, Jiang Wang was so stunned by the sight before him that he forgot to breathe.
This was not any of the places he had imagined, but a vast and boundless chaotic realm, completely different from the chaos of the primordial world.
The primordial chaos was violent and lifeless, filled with the savage power of destruction and rebirth. But the chaos here was tinged with a faint seven-colored glow, gentle and mellow, like a fine wine brewed for millions of years, flowing with auspicious energy.
Even more astonishing is that countless enormous "bubble worlds" float in the chaos. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are round and smooth, like fine glass balls, with a dazzling halo flowing across their surface. Others are slightly irregular, with a faint mist swirling around their edges, making them seem like a fairyland.
These bubble worlds are far larger than the primordial world that Jiang Wang is familiar with. At a glance, they look like huge stars floating in the chaos, maintaining a subtle distance from each other, not interfering with each other, yet together forming this magnificent world.
Jiang Wang stood at the edge of chaos, his gaze sweeping over the enormous bubble worlds, an endless curiosity welling up in his heart.
He could sense that each bubble world contained a vast and pure energy, an energy imbued with vitality and peace, a stark contrast to the primordial violence.
Just as he was about to carefully explore the details of this world and find out where he was, a strong sense of crisis suddenly came from all directions, enveloping him like a tide.
Almost instinctively, the pale golden aura around Jiang Wang suddenly tightened, attempting to completely conceal his form.
But at that moment, six dazzling rays of light rushed from the depths of chaos, like shooting stars chasing the moon, and instantly appeared around him, forming a tight encirclement.
As the light faded, six majestic Qilin appeared before us.
They were enormous, some reaching a thousand feet in height, their fur as smooth as steel forged in fire, gleaming with a metallic sheen. Their limbs were thick and powerful, and each step they took in the chaos caused the surrounding space to tremble slightly. (End of Chapter)