Monster Chronicles: My Daoist Skill Comes from Mythology

"How are you feeling?" Song Lin asked.

"Very good, just need a few more years of recuperation."

Mao Ying still felt a sense of peculiarity; this feeling of being as if in a world apart had not been experienced for many years.

Upon hearing Song Lin confer upon him the title of Heavenly Lord Emperor, Mao Ying gladly accepted.

The Yuan Shi Heavenly King incident in the Sanmao Heavenly Court should have made them wary of outsiders and the Heavenly Emperor, but since his two brothers endorsed Song Lin, it seemed there was no issue.

"I have a presumptuous request." After casually chatting for a while, Song Lin finally approached the main purpose.

"Please speak."

"Could I borrow your magic treasures?"

"Haha, feel free to take them."

Mao Ying waved his wide sleeve, and two treasures immediately floated in the void: a seal and a sword.

The seal was the Nine Elders Immortal Capital Seal, the foundational seal of the Mao Mountain Taoist lineage, privately also referred to as the Divine Weapon Seal of Myriad Techniques, housing countless Mao Mountain Yin Soldiers and Taoist Skills.

It was a True Immortal Seal—even an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator holding this seal could wield Mao Mountain's thousand techniques and summon infinite heavenly soldiers.

The sword was the Jingzhen Jade Target Sword.

Jing refers to Jing Gate, associated with fire; Zhen represents thunder, hence called Thunder Fire Sword.

This, along with the Qiankun Treasure Tower.

In total, three True Immortal Artifacts.

With this, Song Lin now possessed four True Immortal Artifacts and was even more confident in resolving karmic debts.

Mao Ying produced a jade scroll.

"This contains the methods for controlling Immortal Artifacts. The seal holds only one trillion heavenly soldiers. I wonder if that will suffice."

"It's definitely enough."

"I'll be borrowing them for now. Upper Mao Monarch, please rest well. Should you need anything, feel free to approach the Heavenly Court. We're all part of the same family, no need for courtesy."

"Haha, I won't hold back, then."

"That's good to hear."

Song Lin took the treasures and departed, returning to the narrative world.

...

A century passed in the narrative world.

Zhenwu Great Emperor acquired two shards of relics.

The process was simple—he claimed battle merits and expressed his desire to engage in alchemy, requesting permission to use Lord Lao Zi's Pill Room. Though the Lord was absent, being a disciple of his disciple made him well-qualified to access the room as Lao Zi's grand-disciple.

The Jade Emperor agreed without concern.

The Pill Room left behind by Lao Zi had already been raided multiple times, with only the alchemy furnace remaining—essentially devoid of anything worth taking.

And so, two relic shards fell into Song Lin's possession.

Only the Amitabha Buddha Relic and Sun Wukong's Boneless Relics remained.

Another retreat for a hundred years.

One day, at the Lingjiu Mountain Dragon Mansion Jade Gourd World, flames engulfed the skies, and the heat was akin to a smelting furnace.

The eighth Great Dao Golden Pill—the Fire Pill.

Now, only the Earth Pill remained unformed.

Still, with his current strength, ordinary True Immortals could be completely crushed.

During this hundred years of seclusion, numerous major events transpired in the Mortal World.

The Zhenwu Great Emperor ascended to True Immortal and realized the Jade Emperor's swelling influence in the Heavenly Court, prompting action. He was conferred the title Dangmo Heavenly Venerate, tasked with demon extermination and suppression in the Mortal World.

The Jade Emperor's aim was to expand Heavenly Court's sway and push the Buddhist Sect to marginalized corners.

The Jade Emperor even ordered all officials to cooperate with Zhenwu in his endeavors.

Yet he had not predicted Zhenwu's uncompromising nature. As soon as Zhenwu arrived in the Mortal World, he unleashed an unexpected storm of bloody slaughter against demons.

First came the Worldwide Demon Extermination Order, gathering extraordinary warriors and strange figures from across the land to establish the Heavenly Master Hall.

Within ten days, all demons who considered themselves innocent of killing were summoned to the Heavenly Master Hall to prove their innocence.

This decree was initially dismissed as laughable by the demons. After all, the Heavenly Court had chanted "Demon Extermination" for years with nothing but empty thunder—especially regarding demons with powerful backing.

If even the Great Sage Equalling Heaven could not deal with them, what could Zhenwu accomplish? Wouldn't it end the same way, with powerless minor demons taking the fall?

Unfortunately for them, they were mistaken.

On the tenth day, the Mortal World was bathed in blood and storms.

All demons were slaughtered.

Not only the demons but also heretical and crooked sects, indiscriminately of whether Taoist or Buddhist.

One Bodhisattva's mount was captured, prompting the Bodhisattva to seek a favor.

Wudang Mountain, Zhenwu Dojo.

Zhenwu sat enthroned at the center, wielding the Zhenwu Seven-section Sword, flanked by Turtle Snake Generals, Huaguang Heavenly King, Thunder and Fire Generals, Seven Luminaries, Four Spirits, and Twenty-Eight Star Constellations.

The Bodhisattva facing him seemed instantly diminished in stature.

"What brings you here?"

"The Green Jade Lion under this humble monk was taken by the Emperor. Today, I have come to request its return, and I implore the Emperor to be merciful."

"The Green Jade Lion?" Zhenwu's gaze drifted toward Left Assistant. "Bring forth the case of the Green Jade Lion."

Soon, a jade scroll was presented to Zhenwu Great Emperor.

Zhenwu opened the scroll and read aloud word for word: "In the 200th year of Tang Country, Wind City Dragon Tower Town saw the entire town's 23,000 people devoured by demons, evidence pointing to the Green Jade Lion, with 132 witness testimonies and 1,600 material evidence pieces.

In the 315th year of Tang Country, Wushi Town faced 10,500 deaths; the culprit was the Green Jade Lion... The Yangchen Taoist Temple was exterminated, and the ancestral treasure Green Gold Stone was lost. Huh, the very one now affixed to your head? Haha, you've delivered yourself here. Guards, seize him."

Turtle Snake merged into the Black Tortoise form, instantly subduing the Bodhisattva.

After confirming the evidence to be true, the Bodhisattva's head was left behind at the Immortal Slaying Stage.

This execution ignited a war between the Buddhist and Taoist factions.

Zhenwu's fierce sweep against demons provoked grievances among several generals under the Heavenly Emperor, yet the Jade Emperor's power amplified significantly. Mortal Buddhist temples were mostly shuttered, and overall, the campaign yielded satisfactory results.

Even the Bodhisattva's demise, unexpected by the Jade Emperor, was met with resolve—now that the action had begun, it must proceed fully.

Buddhist and Taoist factions officially began ruling separate territories, no longer the harmonious coexistence of past times.

The root cause lay in Lord Lao Zi's departure, along with the Jade Emperor and Buddha's greed for the Golden Immortal Realm.

In the Mortal Realm:

Three hundred Buddha Countries advanced eastward while hundreds of tribal grassland factions marched southward.

The Central Plains Dynasty was caught off guard but soon retaliated.

The Heavenly Court, comprising thirty-two realms, thirty-two Heavenly Emperors, various Heavenly Lords, Divine Generals, Immortal Sovereigns, led their trillion-strong heavenly armies against the Buddhist Sect.

The Underworld, too, split between Fengdu and Ksitigarbha King, with Ghost Kings laying claim to territories.

The Mortal World entered disarray, day turning into night, demons running amok.

Still stationed in the Mortal World, Zhenwu Great Emperor received an imperial decree delivered by the Jade Emperor's minister.

"Proceed at once to the Buddha Realm to join the battle. Never mind the Mortal World. Also, summon Ziwei—past grievances are bygones. If he refuses, I will personally strip him bare."

The Jade Emperor's directive was straightforward: stabilize the demons in the Heavenly Court amid this crisis; the mortals were disposable and would regenerate in due time.

After the minister departed, Zhenwu Great Emperor's expression grew solemn.

"Master, what should I do?"

Was he truly to wield blades and spears recklessly against the Buddhist Sect?

Regardless of the victor, the number of Three Realms' sentient beings left alive was minuscule, and the few remaining moral immortals would be entirely wiped out.

Those who survived would gain nothing. The sole beneficiaries would be the Jade Emperor or the Buddha.

As both sought Golden Immortal Perfection, those sacrificed merely served as stepping stones.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted overhead, with dazzling golden light flashing for a moment before plunging the world into eternal darkness.

"Ah..."

Beside him, the Deity of the Sun spat out a mouthful of blood.

The collision between the Jade Emperor and Buddha extinguished the Sun.

Their duel disregarded consequences entirely.

And it had only been a range-bound conflict—what if they engaged in full combat? This Middle Thousand Earth would be utterly annihilated.

Perhaps, to them, reconstruction after conquest posed no issue.

Zhenwu Great Emperor sent out a message to Song Lin.

Soon, a figure appeared, holding a ghostly green lantern. Before Zhenwu could speak, Song Lin interjected: "Prepare to close the net. Let's go to the Palace of the Polestar and pay the Jade Emperor a visit."

Elsewhere in the Pure Land:

Le Tian Bodhisattva also received his summons. Yet, instead of heading directly to the Great Leiyin Temple, he flew to Huaguo Mountain.

Since Sun Wukong had regained his fighting spirit and returned to Huaguo Mountain, he'd been spending his days playing with his monkey kin.

At Huaguo Mountain:

Sun Wukong, slightly intoxicated, held spirit fruits he'd gathered from the East Sea, sharing them with his brethren. Suddenly, the sight ahead left him frozen.

Huaguo Mountain was desolate and in ruins.

Fiery flames, fresh blood, demonic corpses, and monkey carcasses lay scattered everywhere.

Huaguo Mountain had suffered extermination.

At that moment, Anan Venerable and numerous Buddha Soldiers emerged from Shuilian Cave, escorting captured demons.

"Victory Fighting Buddha, this humble monk arrived under Buddha's decree, yet never expected to witness this... My apologies, I came too late. These demons..." Anan's face was filled with grief, his expression hiding a strangely amused glint.

Sun Wukong abruptly raised his head, calmly staring at Anan, his gaze bone-chilling: "Why? Why treat me like this?"

"Because they want you to abandon your true nature. They desire a submissive monkey and thus severed your ties."

Song Lin's voice interjected, as he appeared and looked toward Anan, laughing: "Time to return what belongs to me."

BOOM!

The Thunder Fire Sword emerged, lightning-fast. Anan's head dropped, and the Randeng Relics were reclaimed.

"Do you have doubts in your heart? Let's head to the Great Leiyin Temple and demand answers from the bald-headed ones."

Truth be told, even Song Lin hadn't anticipated Anan's treachery; otherwise, there might have been an opportunity to salvage the situation.