As Sun Kong had predicted, just as the seven individuals were about to reconcile with Jin Chanzi and his group, the demonic seeds hidden within their bodies erupted.
The one who triggered these demonic seeds was none other than the Jade Emperor himself.
"Dare you seven betray me?"
"Do you truly wish to die?"
"Good, good, good! I shall fulfill your wish. Fortunately, I knew you harbored ill intentions and would never truly serve me. So, explode and die, all of you!"
In the Heavenly Court.
The Lingxiao Treasure Hall.
As the Jade Emperor uttered these enraged curses, the seven individuals immediately felt a demonic seed deep within their primal spirits rapidly consuming their magical power and cultivation. They were on the verge of exploding.
"Save us!"
"Your Majesty, spare us!"
"Master Jin Chanzi, save us! Chan Master Wu Chao, save us! Master, save me!"
Alas, the seven only wished to offend neither side and had not truly betrayed anyone. However, in the Jade Emperor's eyes, not helping him deal with Sun Kong and his companions was betrayal, punishable by death.
Seeing this, Jin Chanzi and the others' expressions changed drastically.
The next second.
Jin Chanzi was about to summon Chan Master Wu Chao, Wu Zhiqi, Zhou Wuxian, and the Seven Immortals of Chan to try and save the seven before they exploded.
But unexpectedly.
The Jade Emperor was faster!
"Not good!"
"The Jade Emperor is actually using demonic seeds from the demonic path as a catalyst! Once they explode, not only will these seven perish, but we will also be affected."
"These demonic seeds are incredibly potent. Even a quasi-saint would suffer, let alone us who are not..."
"Jin Chanzi, fellow Daoists, perhaps we should retreat. Though their physical bodies may die, their primal spirits can return to the Demon Sealing List and start anew. But we have no such opportunity."
At this critical juncture, Chan Master Wu Chao, with his superior status and strength, saw the situation most clearly.
The moment he offered this suggestion.
Chan Master Wu Chao decisively acted, unleashing a torrent of Golden Crow magical power to temporarily shield them from the shockwave of the seven's explosion.
Then.
He took the powerless Jin Chanzi with one hand and retreated tens of thousands of miles. With the other hand, before Wu Zhiqi, Zhou Wuxian, and the Seven Immortals of Chan could even consider leaving, wanting to save the others, he had already whisked them away at great speed!
This was not Chan Master Wu Chao being unreasonable.
It was simply the circumstances.
And their own carelessness, having forgotten Sun Kong's warning: "This fifth tribulation will not weaken due to the conflict between Dao and Demon; it might even grow stronger!"
"Alas, my poor Xue Ehu. Your master... is helpless. I hope we can find a way to bring you back next time we meet."
"This detestable Jade Emperor! If he wants to betray the Heavenly Dao, so be it. But why must he rewrite my Chan Sect's Investiture of the Gods into a Demon Sealing List!"
"Daoist Tianzun of your Heavenly Court and I are irreconcilable!"
Daoist Tianzun was the most heartbroken among the seven immortals.
Even Chan Master Wu Chao, a mighty figure close to quasi-saint status, couldn't control the situation.
What hope did he have?
As he watched the seven's bodies gradually consumed by the demonic fire from the exploding seeds, their physical bodies cultivated for millennia were gone. Even if their primal spirits survived and could return to the Demon Sealing List, the damage would be immense.
His heart bled!
Moreover, upon their return, they would undoubtedly face the Jade Emperor's scolding and torment.
Although Daoist Tianzun still had two disciples left, Wei Hu and Han Dulong, after Xue Ehu's death, he had witnessed his three disciples being taken by the Investiture of the Gods in the past, unable to save them.
He was filled with countless regrets, guilt, and self-blame.
He had thought that during this Journey to the West tribulation, he could participate, restore his cultivation, and find a way to rescue his three disciples from their suffering.
Who would have imagined that this Journey to the West tribulation would become a two-round event, with Sun Kong and the new Six-Eared Macaque, and that he would be unable to help, only able to watch Xue Ehu be blown to bits?
Such heartbreak.
Was truly beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
Of course, Long Xuhu, another third-generation disciple of the Chan Sect, whose physical body was also destroyed, deserved sympathy. However, his master, Jiang Ziya, after the Investiture of the Gods, was enfeoffed as the founding ruler of the State of Qi in the Western Zhou.
He was not on the list.
Nor did he return to the Jie Sect.
Instead, he entered the normal cycle of reincarnation, naturally unable to witness this heartbreaking scene!
...
An hour later.
After the seven individuals' physical bodies exploded and their primal spirits were forcibly summoned back to the Demon Sealing List, leaving behind a colossal pit with a radius of thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three li,
Chan Master Wu Chao then led everyone back to the scene. Witnessing the devastation and the ravaged land, even these once-lofty deities could not help but shed tears.
What was most unbearable to them was that after such tactics by the Jade Emperor, the Heavenly Dao or the Ancestor Hongjun would not punish him.
On the contrary, because he had killed countless people, causing rivers of blood and a skyward surge of malevolent energy and resentment,
He would gain recognition from the demonic path!
Faced with such a scene, whether it was Chan Master Wu Chao, who had experienced the devastation of the demon race, or Jin Chanzi, Wu Zhiqi, Zhou Wuxian, and the Seven Immortals of Chan,
They were all filled with emotion.
Unable to bear it any longer.
"Alas, we third-generation disciples of the Chan Sect truly shouldn't have been on the list back then."
"Now, with just Long Xuhu and Xue Ehu like this, who knows how the Jade Emperor will torment them in the future seventy-six tribulations using the Demon Sealing List."
"Master Jin Chanzi, the two great kings of the New Flower-Fruit Mountain, and Daoist Wu Chao, do the three of you have any methods to help us?"
"Even if we gather everyone now and storm the Heavenly Court to seize the Demon Sealing List, it would be acceptable. We eight immortals of the Chan Sect have endured humiliation for millennia; it's time for a surge of passion!"
As Chi Jingzi and the others spoke, they felt a genuine impulse to storm the Heavenly Court.
Alas.
The Investiture of the Gods becoming the Demon Sealing List was orchestrated by the Demon Sage and the thirteen demonic saints behind him. Even the Chan Sect Master, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, could do nothing to change it.
How could mere "ordinary" experts like them, who were not even quasi-saints?
In their helplessness.
Everyone could only engrave this hatred in their hearts. For now, they temporarily bid farewell to Jin Chanzi, allowing him to embark alone from Baihu Ridge, from the westernmost territory of the Great Tang Empire.
Thus entering a new journey of the second phase of Journey to the West.
Chan Master Wu Chao, after advising Jin Chanzi, returned to Wu Chao Mountain to quietly observe.
Wu Zhiqi and Zhou Wuxian, having their own missions, also departed.
The Seven Immortals of Chan cast resentful glances towards the Heavenly Court high above, then returned to Chang'an City to await their next assignment.
Finally.
Jin Chanzi, who had lived two lives and felt empathy, rode the treasure horse gifted to him by Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, towards the eighth tribulation, encountering his eldest disciple, Sun Kong.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh tribulations were all lost due to the Jade Emperor's detonation.
Not only was there no merit reward,
But it also gave people the feeling that the subsequent tribulations would likely be intensified as well.