hotmtlnovel Chapter 178: Emperor’s Birthday - 4!
Chapter 178: Emperor’s Birthday - 4!
"The heavens, desperate to stop me, called upon the Buddha to deal with me. They thought he could outwit me, but little did they know, I was always ten steps ahead."
"The Buddha approached me with a smug grin, claiming that if I could leap out of his palm, he would concede that the heavens were wrong and grant me dominion over the celestial realm."
"But if I failed, I would have to submit to their punishment. Ha! As if I, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, could ever lose such a challenge."
"I leaped into the sky, soaring past the clouds, the stars, and even the very edges of the universe. I reached the farthest pillars of creation and left my mark there, carving my name into the fabric of reality itself."
"But when I returned, the Buddha claimed I had never left his palm. Can you believe the audacity? He used his powers to create an illusion, making it seem as though I had failed."
"But here’s the truth: I let him think he had won. Why? Because I knew that by playing along, I could expose the depths of the heavens’ deceit."@@@@
"I allowed myself to be ’trapped’ under the Five Elements Mountain for 500 years, not because I was defeated, but because I was gathering strength and waiting for the right moment to strike."
"After I allowed myself to be ’trapped’ under the Five Elements Mountain—a mere strategic retreat, mind you—I spent those 500 years gathering intelligence and planning my next move."
"I knew that the heavens’ corruption ran deep, and to truly defeat them, I needed to dismantle their power from within."
"So, when the opportunity arose to join the monk Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West, I saw it not as a servile obligation, but as the perfect cover to infiltrate their ranks and expose their misdeeds."
"The heavens, foolish as they were, believed they had tamed me by binding me to the monk. They thought I would be too distracted by the journey to continue my rebellion. But they underestimated me, as they always do."
"I played along, pretending to be a loyal disciple, while secretly gathering allies and uncovering the heavens’ darkest secrets."
"Along the way, I defeated countless demons and monsters, many of whom were actually agents of the celestial realm sent to test me."
"But I saw through their disguises and crushed them without mercy. Each victory was a blow to the heavens’ authority, and with every step, I grew stronger and more determined."
"When we finally reached the West and obtained the sacred scriptures, I revealed my true plan. I confronted the Jade Emperor, the Buddha, and all the so-called ’gods’ of the celestial realm."
~ The present,
"Is this really the spirit from legends? The spirit that the Eternal Great Sovereign had?" The Emperor asked curiously, excitement evident in his eyes.
Shrink... Ashen thought as the staff began to shrink in size.
"...It appears that way, your majesty." The Grand minister murmured, his gaze fixed on the staff that had shrunk to its original size.
Meanwhile, The First prince’s eyes were wide open in disbelief: "Is this really happening? He awakened the spirit from legends?"
He was disheartened, losing the previous confidence from his face. He has always been at the top of the succession fight, witnessing someone who could threaten his future as the emperor took a toll on his mind.
At this moment, his mother who was sitting next to him, encouraged: "This isn’t a big deal. With a high-level spirit, he can only cultivate till the core-formation realm at a fast pace, however, to advance to the king realm and the emperor realm, one needs attainment."
The first prince looked at his mother, asking: "But doesn’t that mean he’d catch up to us in just some years? Won’t that make me look like a fool?"
He had spent over 250 years to reach where he was now, if someone so young achieved similar results in mere decades, won’t that made him appear like someone with no talent?
The empress shook her head, rejecting his worries: "It’ll take a long time for him to catch up to you and who knows if he will even be able to raise his attainment in time? What if the succession is already over when he becomes powerful enough to compete against you? There isn’t much time left, remember?"
In another gallery, the second prince was asking same questions to his mother: "Then what about the Shang clan? Won’t they help him in rising like a phoenix?
His mother’s face tensed up: "Yes, they are a problem, but we have the Lei clan on our side. Don’t undermine yourself so much."
She scoffed: "What difference does it make if he awakened a legendary spirit? He is more than 200 years younger than you, which means he is already 200 years behind. Do you think he can cover the difference of 200 years so suddenly?"
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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)