Journey to the West: Demon Emperor: Beginning as a Little Toad

Chapter 246: The Enchanted Toad Spirit

Quicksand Country.

In front of the magnificent and majestic Great Temple of Light.

As the people of Liusha Kingdom continued to worship devoutly.

These pure powers of faith slowly rotated around the statue and were absorbed and condensed by it bit by bit, making the originally cold stone statue seem to gradually warm up and emit a faint light.

The Pleiades star official actually "came back to life".

No, it should be the appearance of the Pleiades star official.

A strange wave of energy surged in the sky above the Great Light Temple.

A "Great Priest of Light" slowly appeared.

He wore a mask that concealed his true appearance, a big red feather crown on his head, and a colorful feather robe on his body. He flew out of the Great Light Temple, floating lightly in the air, overlooking all living beings, and said in a majestic tone:

"I am aware of your request."

……

"Pleiades?"

Xiao Chen hid in the dark, his eyes as sharp as torches, fixed on the figure of the Great Priest of Light in front of him.

However, with just one glance, he rejected the idea.

"No, this is not the Pleiades chicken."

"It must be someone pretending to be him."

Xiao Chen shook his head, having already made up his mind.

Fourteen years ago, he had broken the neck of the Pleione chicken with his own hands and it became his food.

He probably still remembers the smell and taste of this big rooster.

The Great Priest of Light before him was only at the Xuanxian realm in terms of strength, far from the real Pleiades.

Of course, the most important thing is that this great priest of light has a familiar smell on him.

This certainly doesn't smell like chicken, it smells a bit like toad...

"Worship the Great Priest of Light. May your light shine upon the Kingdom of Flowing Sands and help us escape from this endless locust plague!"

"Great Priest of Light, please help us drive away the locust plague."

"I can't thank you enough!"

……

With the appearance of this great priest of light.

The people of Liusha Kingdom shouted in unison and knelt down devoutly.

Under the Great Temple of Light, the sounds of their worship and prayers were so loud that they were deafening, like the roar of a mountain or the sea.

The pure power of the incense almost condensed into substance, pouring into the statue of the Pleiades star official like a trickle of water.

At this moment, the statue seemed to have life and was greedily absorbing the power of faith.

Upon seeing this, the High Priest of Light nodded, a satisfied smile appearing on his lips.

He glanced at the locusts that were swarming like a cloud and opened his mouth to suck them in.

That mouth is like a bottomless abyss.

Just for a moment.

He swallowed up half of the dark cloud of locusts.

The remaining locusts were terrified when they saw this, and fled in panic as if they had encountered their natural enemy.

"This method is like a toad swallowing the sky."

Xiao Chen is also a toad that has become a spirit, so he is naturally familiar with this familiar method.

He already understood that this High Priest of Light was actually a toad spirit in disguise.

Besides, it's human nature.

As a male toad, King Jinjiao is naturally very sensitive to the scent of female toads:

"This is still a female toad..."

However, his golden-horned toad was hiding in the dark, he had the cultivation of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, and he also had the "Ancestral Dragon Pearl" to conceal his aura.

This female toad couldn't find him no matter what.

Of course, the most important thing is.

Xiao Chen also noticed.

Several locust monsters have emerged among these locust swarms. They have practiced Taoism for thousands of years and are the leaders of these locusts, driving the entire locust swarm.

The female toad spirit seemed to have made great efforts and killed half of the locusts.

But she didn't swallow any of those locust monsters.

The reproduction speed of locusts is terrifyingly fast. With the existence of these locust monsters, a large number of locusts will soon be born.

It is obvious that she is just nurturing the enemy and enriching herself.

In nature, toads and locusts, both creatures, make their living in low-lying waters such as fields, reed marshes, and ponds.

But toads feed on locusts and are the natural enemies of locusts.

A small toad can eat ten thousand locusts in one summer.

When he, the Golden Horned King, was still a little toad in the Flower-Fruit Mountain, he would also bite hundreds of little locusts every day, and they were crunchy to a crisp.

Any locust can only tremble in front of the toad and has no power to fight back at all.

The same is true for the locust monster in front of the toad monster.

"This Vimala Bodhisattva also brought a toad spirit here to control the locust plague."

Xiao Chen looked at all this and understood.

"Viramā Bodhisattva, the Toad Spirit..."

Under the seat of the meditating arhat, there is a female toad spirit.

He suddenly thought of the snow-white toad with round eyes on Lingshan Mountain.

When Yang Jian was fighting against the Eighteen Arhats, the snow toad spirit even sprayed him with love wine in an attempt to knock him out.

However, Yang Jian's physical resistance and magical resistance are both very high.

Obviously, she failed.

This toad spirit that was kept captive by the Golden Arhat of Lingshan has probably been completely brainwashed and has become a die-hard fan of Lingshan.

Just like the dragon of Subduing the Dragon Arhat, the deer of Sitting Deer Arhat, the elephant of Riding Elephant Arhat and the lion of Laughing Lion Arhat, this female toad spirit is most likely already a loyal believer of Lingshan.

"The drought demon will retreat soon. Don't forget to worship it three times a day."

The "Great Priest of Light" said in a majestic tone.

"Thank you, Great Priest of Light, for getting rid of the locust plague for us."

"We will worship devoutly!"

"will not forget."

……

The people of Liusha Kingdom expressed their gratitude endlessly.

Xiao Chen has no plans to capture the female toad spirit and interrogate her yet.

Judging from the situation, this female toad spirit will continue to collect incense here for a short period of time.

just now.

The Golden Horned King is in the dark, and the Bodhisattva Vimala is in the light.

He has the initiative, so he should not act rashly.

There is a saying: "It is easy to dodge a spear, but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark!"

The most difficult to guard against is someone who stabs you secretly from behind.

Right now, if he were to be captured directly by the female toad spirit of Lingshan, it would easily alert the enemy and make the Bodhisattva Vimala behind it on guard.

……

Xiao Chen left the Liusha Kingdom and headed straight for the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea.

He planned to seek out some information from the Great Sage Monkey King, who had a pair of audible ears and was well-informed.

But success is due to ventilation, and failure is also due to ventilation.

Although the Monkey King may sometimes be misled by false information and hear false news.

But he wouldn't make mistakes when it comes to some common sense information.

……

Xiao Chen had been to the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea many times and was already familiar with the place.

After stating the purpose of your visit.

Xiao Chen met the Monkey King and Wuzhiqi who had recovered in the side hall.

"Brother Jinjiao, I heard everything. Thank you for rescuing me from the cage in heaven last time."

Wuzhiqi, who transformed into a human form, was a tall, middle-aged, white-faced man with a majestic appearance.

This middle-aged, fair-faced man was bowing to thank Xiao Chen.

"Hey, Senior Wuzhiqi, why are you still saying these things?"

"You are a senior of our demon clan who once fought against Dayu. You are a role model for all the demon clans in the world."

"I have heard of your reputation a long time ago, and I admire you very much."

"You are in trouble, so we, the younger generation, naturally have no choice but to go and rescue you."

Xiao Chen smiled and bowed to Wuzhiqi in return.

Although King Jinjiao helped Wuzhiqi, it was because he owed the dragon clan a favor.

But, you can't say that when you speak.

When one is navigating the three realms, one cannot rely on one person to fight alone.

Forming cliques, using numbers to bully the few, and relying on strength to bully the weak is the right way!

For example, in the prehistoric times, the Three Pure Ones huddled together. Who dared to bully them? Who could bully them?
The Two Saints of the West are also two people.

Although Taoist Kunpeng was strong, he was alone. That was why he was bullied by the two Western saints in Zixiao Palace and was forced to give up his seat. He lost the chance to become a saint and regretted it for the rest of his life.

When this Taoist Kunpeng meets the two brothers Dijun and Taiyi joining forces, he can only obediently go to the ancient demon court to become a demon master. ...

You have to know how to handle this most basic social etiquette.

Otherwise, it is easy to offend people.

He is disliked by everyone and dogs hate him. He can't get along well anywhere.

"Hahaha, little brother Jinjiao is joking."

"I am just a defeated general and a lost dog. How can I have any reputation?"

Wuzhiqi said self-deprecatingly.

"Senior Wuzhiqi, you are too modest."

"The Heavenly Court is so powerful now. Even if the demons from the four continents gather together and hold together, we may not be able to defeat it."

"How can you, a single demon, fight against this?"

"Senior, you are able to fight against the Human Emperor Dayu, and you are able to fight against the current Heavenly Court, and spread the name of my demon race, which is worthy of my admiration."

Xiao Chen said solemnly.

In this world, you can win over 50% of people by saying a few nice words. You can win over 70% of people by saying a few nice words and giving a little something.

Ninety-nine percent of people can be won over by just saying what they like and giving them the right benefits.

If you can deal with 99% of the people, you don’t have to worry about the remaining 1%.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if he says nice things, King Golden Horn won't lose anything, so he can just praise it casually.

Moreover, Wuzhiqi was a great monster that existed in ancient times and fought against Dayu.

As he is a young man from the demon clan, it is not an exaggeration to call him "senior".

"Haha, great monsters appear in these three realms every generation."

"We guys from the ancient times are still old after all."

Wuzhiqi was obviously frustrated and seemed quite disheartened.

"Brother, just stay in the sea and don't think about going out again."

"It will also save my sister-in-law and three nephews from worrying."

The Monkey King consoled him.

"By the way, fourth brother, are you looking for me this time?"

The Monkey King asked Xiao Chen curiously.

"Third brother, do you remember that when we rescued the Heavenly Palace last time, we killed some Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals?"

Xiao Chen said.

"Well, I remember that you, fourth brother, killed more than a thousand heavenly soldiers, killed the Yaksha general, chopped down the twenty-eight constellations, and also killed the Pleiades star official."

"It was a killing spree, really fierce."

The Monkey King smiled with a hint of smile on his face, a sharp light flashed in his eyes, and he laughed.

He has a pair of sharp ears, can see through all directions, and has a clear grasp of the battle situation.

"I was in Xiniu Hezhou and saw someone setting up a shrine for the Pleiades star official, offering sacrifices lavishly, and collecting incense."

"Is there any mystery in this?"

"Or in other words, can the power of this incense revive these slain heavenly soldiers and generals?"

Xiao Chen asked the Monkey King directly.

He had some guesses, but the Monkey King and Wuzhiqi were both there. The Monkey King had the ability to ventilate, and Wuzhiqi was an ancient demon. They should know more about this.

"Concentrate the incense?"

Upon hearing this, the Monkey King looked at Wuzhiqi, but did not find it strange.

"Brother Jinjiao, have you ever heard of this 'Incense and Fire Way'?"

Wuzhiqi asked with a smile.

"Incense Shinto."

Xiao Chen heard this and nodded and said:
"I have heard of some of them."

"The Taoist scriptures say: The fragrance spreads through the three realms, and the smoke reaches the nine heavens."

"The incense reaches the Great Luo Heaven of Ten Thousand Saints, and the incense ranks among the Purple Palace Immortals of the Thousand True Ones. The incense fills the void and condenses into auspicious mist, and the incense rises from the Emperor's throne and spreads smoke. Once the incense rises, all the True Ones can see through it."

"That is, incense can convey the believers' thoughts and demands to the gods through the rising incense."

“And the gods of the three realms can enjoy the sacrifices and offerings of the human world through incense.”

There is a saying: People fight for a breath, Buddhas fight for a stick of incense.

The word "incense" runs through the entire world of Journey to the West.

Not to mention the gods like the land god and the city god, incense is their lifeblood.

In the middle, Erlang appeared as the Holy Lord Yang Jian.

Erlang Shen Yang Jian also cares a lot about his own incense.

In the original plot, during the battle at Huaguo Mountain, Sun Wukong transformed himself into Yang Jian and went to Erlang Shen Temple at Guanjiangkou.

Sun Wukong pressed down the cloud and went straight into the temple. The ghost judges could not recognize him and kowtowed to him one by one to greet him.

Sun Wukong transformed into Yang Jian, sat in the middle, and checked the "incense".

See the three animals Li Hu offered back, Zhang Long's promise of blessing, Zhao Jia's letter of request for a child, Qian Bing's good wishes for reporting illness...

Up to the Lord of the Three Realms, the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor would also go to Fengxian County to receive incense and offerings.

Even more.

The Buddhas of Lingshan Mountain, what were they trying to obtain by the journey to the West that they had so painstakingly arranged?
It is taken from the incense of the Southern Continent and the Eastern Tang Dynasty.

This shows the importance of incense to gods and Buddhas.

Wuzhiqi heard this and added:
"Yes, to put it simply, the gods in heaven feed on incense and practice the way of incense."

"However, the gods and immortals in this heavenly court have different degrees of reliance on the power of incense."

"If we break it down, it can be divided into Shinto and Immortal Way."

“There is a difference between the two.”

Xiao Chen listened attentively and said, "The way of gods? The way of immortals? I would like to hear the details."

"The immortal way focuses on oneself, emphasizing transcendence and freedom."

"And Shintoism is based on faith, and most people become gods after death."

"Shinto is mentioned."

"We have to mention - the Investiture of the Gods."

"In the past, when the Heavenly Palace was first built, this old Jade Emperor had no one to use."

"Because the world is at the transition period between the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Shang dynasty is about to end and the Zhou dynasty is about to rise."

"The three religions of Chan, Jie and Ren discussed together and established the matter of the List of Gods."

"The dead are deified, and the living are immortals."

"In the battle of conferred gods, those who died or disappeared were included in the Conferred God List, and a total of 365 gods were compiled, which were divided into eight groups: the upper four groups were thunder, fire, plague, and fighting, and the lower four groups were the stars, the three mountains and five peaks, the gods of rain and clouds, and the gods of good and evil."

Wuzhiqi continued:
"For example, Wen Zhong from the Thunder Department and the Pleiades star official from the Twenty-Eight Mansions were deified after their death. They are gods who have shed their shells."

"They are now cultivating the way of the gods, but they are restricted by the List of Conferred Gods, so their achievements are limited. They must use incense and fire to increase their cultivation."

"Of course, for example, Yang Jian, Nezha, Li Jing and others, they also serve in the Heavenly Court, but their physical bodies are still there, and they are still cultivating the way of immortals, not the way of gods."

"Yang Jian, Nezha, Li Jing and others also enjoy the incense offerings from the human world and can eat the power of incense."

“But their dependence on incense is not that deep.”

"This incense is more for the promotion of their reputation, the assessment of their priesthood, and other purposes. It is the icing on the cake."

Xiao Chen was thoughtful after hearing this and asked Wuzhiqi:
"Then, after their bodies and spirits are annihilated, can these immortals who practice the way of incense and fire be resurrected with the help of the power of incense and fire?"

He knew about the Battle of the Gods, and he also knew about the List of Gods.

Yuanshi Tianzun ordered the Nanji Xianweng to hand over the Investiture of the Gods to Jiang Ziya, gave him the Divine Whip, and ordered him to build the Investiture of the Gods Platform in Mount Qishan, on which to hang the Investiture of the Gods.

But the function of "Investiture of the Gods" actually only shows one.

The outcome of the Battle of the Gods is that Jiang Ziya recruited the souls of the dead soldiers, immortals and ministers of the Shang and Zhou dynasties into the platform for the Conferred Gods, and granted them different priesthoods and divine powers according to their numbers and positions on the list of the Conferred Gods.

In short, this platform for conferring gods is for gathering souls.

This List of Gods is a book that records the number of clergy, mainly names.

As for the magic weapon, Fengshenbang, does it have the function of resurrection?
do not know.

After all, this resurrection function has never been reflected in the Investiture of the Gods and has never been used.

During the entire Battle of the Gods, the resurrection function of the List of Gods never appeared once, and no one was ever resurrected.

As for the Conferred God Platform, it only means that the body dies and the soul is finally collected.

The only case of someone who died and was resurrected is Nezha.

After Nezha's "belly was cut open, intestines were removed, bones and flesh were removed, and returned to his parents", his body was completely destroyed, but his three souls and seven spirits were still there.

then.

Taiyi Zhenren made a clay statue for Nezha and placed it in the temple to receive incense.

Taiyi Zhenren wants to try to resurrect Nezha.

Of course, Nezha's statue was later smashed by Li Jing.

This is also the reason why Nezha has always wanted to kill Li Jing.

However, the key to Nezha's resurrection is that he still has a complete soul.

Nezha's three souls and seven spirits are all there, so Nezha can be resurrected with the help of the power of incense.

The situation of this Pleiades is completely different from that of Nezha.

Of course, the body of the Pleiades chicken was gone, and its soul was also refined by him.

Even if this Pleiades still has a little bit of true spirit left, it is still incomparable to Nezha's complete three souls and seven spirits.

Can this Pleiades chicken also be resurrected with the help of the power of incense?

In other words, did he, the King of Golden Horn, get the List of Gods directly?

(End of this chapter)