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

Chapter 542 The "Sword Bearer" of Heavenly Laws

"The God of Justice, in charge of the Heavenly Laws..."

After the Queen Mother of the West finished speaking, the temple of Erlang Shen was deathly silent.

The sandalwood smoke in the burner rose straight as a thin column, as if time itself had frozen at that moment.

Yang Jian sat upright like a statue, his body as still as a mountain. The remaining wine in his cup reflected his sharp, blade-like eyebrows, and his eyes gleamed with a complex light.

Only the knuckles that gripped the jade cup tightly, turning a cold, jade-like white from excessive force, revealed the turmoil in his heart.

The four characters "God of Justice" represent the cold and ruthless heavenly rules and laws, like a wedge, fiercely driven into the softest part of his heart.

Deep within it lies the painful memory of his mother, Fairy Yunhua, being suppressed for violating heavenly rules, as well as the hatred and resentment he felt when he split Peach Mountain with an axe, burning like a raging fire that is hard to quell.

The fierce rivalry between his uncle, the Jade Emperor, and his mother in the past, the final sorrow and despair in his mother's eyes before her resolute departure... countless images, tinged with bloodshed, surged up instantly, almost breaking through the dam of his reason.

"Hahaha!"

A short, cold laugh abruptly shattered the silence.

Yang Jian suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp and undisguised, piercing straight at the Queen Mother's dignified and noble face.

He put down the jade cup, suddenly stood up, his tall figure rising like a solitary peak, carrying a heavy pressure, and approached the Queen Mother step by step.

Yang Jian sneered and said:
"Your Majesty is joking."

"When I, Yang Jian, cleaved Mount Peach with my axe and beheaded the Golden Crow, it was all to shatter the shackles of heavenly rules that imprison all living beings!"

"Now you want me to be its guard dog, at its beck and call?"

“My uncle’s methods are truly remarkable! First, he used the blood of his own sister to stain his newly ascended throne as the Heavenly Emperor with the blood of a ruthless man, making all beings in the Three Realms revere his heartlessness!”

"What? Is His Majesty planning to use my nephew's bones again to rebuild the so-called 'majesty' of his Heavenly Court? What a clever scheme!"

"presumptuous!"

The Queen Mother of the West was surrounded by a faint glow, and an invisible yet powerful pressure surged forth like a tidal wave, causing the wine on the jade table to ripple and tremble.

"Yang Jian, your mother Yunhua is his younger sister."

"Didn't Your Majesty wish to have the best of both worlds back then?"

"But he is the ruler of the Three Realms! All beings in the Three Realms look up to the Heavenly Court, so he has to consider the bigger picture and prioritize the well-being of the world!"

"If the law is abandoned because of family ties, where is the majesty of the Heavenly Court, and how will the order of the Three Realms be maintained?"

"When the Heavenly Rules are first established, if anyone shows favoritism towards the judicial deities who are in charge of criminal law, the laws of Heaven will instantly turn to dust and cease to exist!"

"How can the Heavenly Court establish its authority? How can the living beings maintain their faith? That is the true ruthlessness and indifference towards the billions of living beings in the Three Realms!"

"Today, the duty of the God of Justice is not for personal reasons, but as a vital instrument of justice for the three realms!"

"His Majesty entrusted you with this important task precisely because you are his nephew, possess great magical powers, and are trusted and relied upon!"

Yang Jian seemed to have heard the most absurd joke in the world. A chilling smile curled at the corner of his lips. He pointed sharply at the memorial tablet of Fairy Yunhua on the offering table, his voice stern and ruthless:

“Back then! My mother defied the law, and His Majesty put righteousness before family! Such an ‘example’ is something Yang Jian is truly unworthy of, and dares not accept!”

"Your Majesty, please return. My temple at Guanjiang Estuary is too small to bear the seal of the God of Justice!"

"I don't want my hands to get dirty from the blood on it."

"Stained with blood?"

Although the Queen Mother's voice was not loud, her logic was meticulous and logical, and she spoke slowly:
"Yang Jian, you are a victim of the Heavenly Rules. Therefore, you are caught in the middle of this situation and blinded by hatred, unable to see the truth behind it."

"If you keep thinking about things this way, you will not be able to understand or see things clearly."

“Look closer at that mark. Besides the bloodstains Yunhua was forced to leave, what else is there?!”

"More so the blood of those demons who have dared to trample on the heavenly laws, wreak havoc in the three realms, and poison the human world over thousands of years."

"The Heavenly Laws are shackles, binding the gods' personal desires and preventing them from acting recklessly; they are also the foundation that maintains the balance of this heaven and earth and ensures the peace of the Three Realms!"

"Without it, the chaos in Donghua is only the beginning, not the end! The Three Realms will never have peace, and all living beings will suffer!"

What is small love, and what is great love?

“You hate His Majesty for being heartless back then, but if it was His Majesty who acted out of personal favoritism, allowing immortals and mortals to marry privately, ignoring the collapse of heavenly authority, and letting immortals and gods act recklessly.”

"How could this Southern Jambudvipa have such a peaceful land where you have controlled the waters and protected the people? How could it have such a tranquil and peaceful scene!"

"The myriad lights of this Southern Jambudvipa, the peaceful land you painstakingly protected, have long since sunk into an even more terrifying and endless calamity, reduced to ruins!"

"You can't let go of your hatred for your uncle."

"But do you think he can let go of his hatred for you after you killed nine of his adopted sons whom he treated like his own?"

"Endless hatred will only make the Three Realms more turbulent and plunge them into endless strife and slaughter!"

"Ask your Xuanyuan Sword again! Ask your heart that yearns to control the floods for the sake of all people! What is true responsibility!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Jian remained indifferent and unmoved, coldly stating:
"Yang Jian is not interested in your outdated set of heavenly rules."

The Queen Mother of the West slowly said:
"Yang Jian, don't you understand?"

"When immortals fall in love, the three realms are thrown into turmoil."

"The word 'love' is the most difficult force to control in the world. It is like a wildfire that, once ignited, is hard to contain."

When gods fight, mortals suffer.

"Just like the floods in the human world today, it is all because the Eastern Emperor and the Peony Fairy fell in love and had an affair."

"Because of his personal feelings, he caused such a disaster, resulting in the deaths of countless people and widespread suffering."

"It can be seen that if gods have too much personal affection and desire, they will forget their duties as gods and abandon the common people in the mortal world because of their own selfishness."

"What's the difference between that and a man-eating demon? It's just that one 'eats people directly' and the other 'eats people indirectly'."

"Immortals and gods possess extraordinary power, far surpassing that of ordinary people."

"A country has its laws, a family has its rules, and heaven has its laws. The laws of heaven are important and indispensable principles for maintaining order in the three realms."

“If the immortals and gods are not strictly bound by heavenly rules, this vast Three Realms will only become more chaotic and fall into a state of disorder.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Jian remained silent for a long time.

When emotions and the law clash, it is always difficult to achieve a balance; this is one of the most difficult problems in the world to solve.

The Queen Mother of the West was right when she said that when gods fight, mortals suffer and are innocently harmed.

The power of the gods is too great, and their battles will bring great disasters to mortals.

When the gods fought in the heavens, a few furnaces with embers fell to earth and formed a flaming mountain that stretched for eight hundred miles, causing countless deaths and injuries and shattering countless families.

In the past, the water god Gonggong and the fire god Zhurong fought, causing the pillar of heaven to break and the earth's axis to snap. The waters of the Milky Way poured down on the human world, raging like a ferocious beast.

The sky broke, the earth collapsed, and the whole world almost disappeared, plunging into chaos.

today.

The floods in the mortal realm were caused by a fight between the gods in the heavenly realm.

The Eastern Emperor and Marshal Tianpeng fought, and Marshal Tianpeng opened the floodgates, causing the Heavenly River Weak Water to flow into the human world, devouring everything like a raging flood.

The number of beings who drowned in the lower realms was in the hundreds of millions; countless lives perished in this calamity...

The gods and immortals in the celestial realm often fight each other, causing huge upheavals, and those who suffer heavy casualties are often innocent humans in the mortal realm.

The gods and immortals would often threaten to destroy the Three Realms, claiming that the world was no good and that they needed to rebuild the earth, fire, wind, and water.

But the ordinary beings in the lower realm are so innocent; they are the most tragic victims of this calamity.

It is:

"A single thought from a deity can cause countless calamities in the mortal realm."

"When gods prosper, the common people suffer; when gods perish, the common people suffer."

At this moment, the Queen Mother of the West looked at Yang Jian with a complex expression and slowly spoke:
“Yang Jian, blood is thicker than water. He is, after all, your uncle. You are connected by blood, and that is an undeniable fact.”

“He is your uncle, and you are his nephew. Strictly speaking, you are the family. You should support each other and safeguard the peace of the three realms together.”

"He is the ruler of the Three Realms and bears a heavy responsibility. His actions back then were not aimed at your Yang family, but for the sake of the overall situation of the Three Realms."

"The Heavenly Court merely upholds the Heavenly Way and maintains the majesty of the Heavenly Laws to ensure peace and order in the Three Realms and for all living beings!"

"This is the duty of the Heavenly Court!"

“Hatred, I know the hatred in your heart.”

The Queen Mother paused slightly, her gaze sharpening.
"But you caused havoc in the Heavenly Realm back then, and you also killed nine of his adopted sons!"

"Your Majesty has lost nine adopted sons whom you treated as your own. Is this heart-wrenching pain not enough to offset the old resentment in your heart?"

"Must this flame of hatred burn eternally, consuming the last thread of blood ties between you, and destroying the precious respite that the Three Realms have finally gained?"

"It's been over a thousand years, and the feud between you uncle and nephew should be resolved by now."

"If Yunhua were still alive, the last thing she would want to see is you imprisoned here by hatred, never to be freed."

"Now, His Majesty is willing to set aside his pride, his dignity, and the hatred between us to invite you to take up a post in Heaven and jointly safeguard the peace of the Three Realms." "This is already quite an achievement."

"Nephew and uncle?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Jian's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes filled with disdain and mockery:

"What the Jade Emperor values ​​is nothing more than my magical power, Yang Jian."

"If it weren't for my good fortune to become a disciple of Yuanshi Tianzun and learn his skills..."

"If it weren't for my sister Yang Chan being protected by the Goddess Nuwa and having the Lotus Lantern to protect her,..."

Will he still acknowledge me as his nephew?

"I'm afraid my brother and I have already perished under the guillotine of Heaven, leaving no trace of our remains."

"This time, I'm afraid all the Jade Emperor wants is a sharp knife, an executioner to serve the Heavenly Court."

"how?"

"Now, the celestial realm is in great chaos."

"The Jade Emperor, dissatisfied with the insufficient intensity of the blood on the Heavenly Emperor's crown, actually intends to use my nephew's blood, mix it into the mud, and try to rebuild his crumbling Heavenly Court's majesty?!"

"Hmph, what a fine example of blood being thicker than water! What a perfect use of resources!"

The gentle expression on the Queen Mother's face vanished instantly, replaced by the majestic authority of the Heavenly Emperor, a sharp glint flashing deep within her eyes.
She thought to herself:
"This eldest nephew is indeed arrogant, but he also sees things very clearly."

However, the Queen Mother of the West was not angered by the rebuttal. Instead, she met Yang Jian's almost piercing gaze, her voice turning cold:

"Yang Jian, you have worked hard for more than ten years to control the floods and slay demons. You also know that if a god has a single thought, countless calamities will befall the human world."

"You should also understand that if the laws collapse and the way of heaven crumbles, the first to suffer will be this most vulnerable human world!"

"Your efforts to control the floods in the mortal realm are merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause."

"You can cure the afflictions of the human world, but you cannot quell the chaos in the heavens."

"Do you think His Majesty appointed you as the God of Justice simply to be a powerful 'executioner'?"

The Queen Mother's eyes were sharp and penetrating, carrying a hint of persuasive charm:

"No! Yang Jian, you're wrong."

"It is precisely because you have tasted the excruciating pain of these heavenly rules, and because you are of Yunhua's bloodline, that you can best understand their cruelty and ruthlessness."

"You have great magical powers, great merits, and a heart that knows pain and suffering!"

"Only you, as the 'sword-bearer' of this Heavenly Law, can truly balance the almost impossible 'degree' between 'emotion' and 'law'!"

"Only in this way can we avoid the tragedy of another 'Guanjiangkou Massacre' or another 'Donghua Rebellion' happening under the unbridled laws and regulations."

"Think about it, if you were the one who went to Fangzhang Immortal Mountain to capture Emperor Donghua and Fairy Peony."

"Instead of Wang Lingguan."

"Would things have been better after that?"

"The heavens will not suffer this calamity."

"The human realm will not encounter such a calamity."

"None of this will happen."

"You have been controlling the floods in the mortal realm for many years, and the people of the mortal realm revere you as 'True Lord of the Pure Source and Wondrous Way'."

"You should also understand that to control floods, you must address their source."

"The root of the calamities in the lower realm actually lies in the celestial realm."

"The gods who govern the heavens are the key to pacifying human calamities."

"The high position of the God of Justice is not a shackle, but a sharp blade, and can also be a key."

The Queen Mother's voice suddenly turned low, and the atmosphere in the Erlang Shen Temple abruptly became solemn and dignified.

She gently raised her jade hand, and a divine seal, neither gold nor jade, entirely black, wrapped with fine lightning patterns, and exuding a solemn and ancient aura, silently floated in her palm. It was the "Seal of the God of Justice," which symbolized the pinnacle of the laws of the Three Realms!
The moment that small seal appeared, the invisible rules within the temple seemed to tremble and groan.

Its weight lies not in its physical form, but in the heavenly rules and laws it embodies, which are the cornerstone of the order of the Three Realms.

The Queen Mother spoke earnestly, her gaze fixed intently on Yang Jian:

"Yang Jian! God of Justice, this is the authority to rewrite the rules!"

"Back then, you dared to split Peach Mountain to save your mother. Your courage and fearlessness moved the entire Three Realms."

"Why do you dare not uphold the Heavenly Rules for the Three Realms today?"

"Only those in power can rewrite the rules."

"Only the one who wields the power can change the power."

"His Majesty is not inviting you today as your uncle, but in the name of the Lord of the Three Realms, entrusting you with the heavy responsibility of upholding the Heavenly Rules and maintaining peace in the world!"

"You say the Heavenly Laws are corrupt? Then go and change them, and prove to the Jade Emperor that his choice between emotion and law was wrong back then."

"Go and prove that the Jade Emperor was wrong back then."

"Only when you have the position of God of Justice in your hands can you truly understand the hardships His Majesty faced back then. If you don't even dare to accept this position or are unwilling to fight for it, you will only stand in the mortal world and curse the merciless laws of Heaven."

"That would be the greatest betrayal of Fairy Yunhua's sacrifice!"

……

"The God of Justice, this is indeed a position that can change the rules of heaven and prevent more tragedies..."

The words of the Queen Mother resonated in Yang Jian's heart, causing his thoughts to drift away involuntarily.

Yang Jian thought of the massacre at Guankou, which happened to the Yang family years ago.

He felt as if he had returned to those unbearable years, and the tragedy at Guanjiangkou was replaying before his eyes like a nightmare.

The heart-wrenching screams of his loved ones, the collapse of his home in an instant, and the deaths of his father and brothers in pools of blood—the gruesome scene was like a cold blade, piercing his heart time and time again.

Every shout, every drop of blood, transformed into endless hatred and pain in his heart, becoming an indelible painful memory for him over the years.

Then there was the war against Heaven waged by Emperor Donghua, where the gods waged a thrilling battle in the celestial realm for their own interests and ideals.

Amidst the clash of swords and the swirling of magic, the celestial realm was thrown into chaos.

The aftermath of this war caused the Heavenly River and Weak Water to descend to the mortal realm, triggering a flood in the lower world.

The flood raged like a ferocious beast, engulfing countless villages and towns.

The people were displaced and their cries were deafening. They looked helplessly at their homes being swallowed by the flood, their eyes filled with despair and fear.

Children struggled in the floodwaters, the elderly wept in the ruins, and even ordinary pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep... had no way to survive; they cried out in despair in the flood...

Those tragic scenes... were all witnessed by Yang Jian during his flood control efforts.

Rain, gales, thunder, lightning, plagues, droughts, sunlight, moonlight, and even the passage of time in the human world are all under the control of the gods in the heavens.

It is true that: "When gods fight, mortals suffer."

All of this made Yang Jian realize profoundly:

"The root of human disasters actually lies in the heavens."

This also made him deeply question the Heavenly Rules.

What are the Heavenly Laws?

Yang Jian fell into deep thought:
"The order of the Three Realms is based on the Heavenly Dao; all living beings in the Six Directions are governed by the Heavenly Laws!"

"The Heavenly Court Code was established to maintain the order of heaven and earth and the rotation of yin and yang. All beings in the three realms under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Court, including gods, immortals, humans, demons, and ghosts, must abide by it."

"The Heavenly Laws are: first, to uphold the Way of Heaven; second, to protect all living beings; third, to restrain divine authority; fourth, to balance cause and effect; and fifth, to regulate Yin and Yang..."

As a victim of the Heavenly Laws, one whose family was destroyed and whose life was ruined by them.

Yang Jian knew that although the Heavenly Rules were established to maintain the order of the Three Realms and had good intentions, as time went by, some of the rules had gradually become rigid and corrupt, and were no longer suitable for the development of the Three Realms.

The Heavenly Rules are a double-edged sword; while maintaining order in the Three Realms, they also bring about many injustices and tragedies.

Some heavenly laws are too harsh, causing many innocent lives to suffer unnecessary punishment.

They may have made a small mistake, but because of the severity of the Heavenly Laws, they paid a heavy price.

The Three Realms are developing rapidly, with new contradictions and problems emerging one after another.

However, some heavenly rules are too outdated to cope with new situations and problems that arise in the Three Realms.

……

His mother, Fairy Yunhua, died because of the Heavenly Laws.

If the current Heavenly Laws are incorrect.

With power in his hands, Yang Jian could potentially overturn the Heavenly Laws, reform them, and rewrite them!

(End of this chapter)