Whether it’s appropriate to use Gold Essence looted from slain Celestial soldiers to buy supplies from Heaven’s Treasury, Moon Frost still has her worries. Monkey, however, is brimming with anticipation, and although Belle keeps quiet, she’s just as eager.
For Monkey, weapons and armor are already in hand—the only thing missing is the breakthrough elixirs needed to advance his cultivation.
Unfortunately, with Monkey’s current cultivation at the peak of the Celestial Sage level, even a slight advancement would require elixirs worth an astronomical sum. To spend all this hard-won Gold Essence on something so uncertain would be a waste.
If not for himself, then should he buy for Belle?
Weapons and armor for the Sage’s Path and alchemy materials for the Enlightened Path are bottomless pits, but Belle is only halfway to the Spirit-Refinement Stage. No matter how good the materials, it would be wasted on her now—at most, a better alchemy furnace, which wouldn’t cost much.
After much thought, Monkey finally decided to buy real weapons for the generals of Blossom Mountain. But that meant the three thousand Gold Essence he had wouldn’t be enough.
Helpless, Monkey wrote his plan on the Linked Bamboo Scroll and asked Anna Yang to find a way to bring the Gold Essence from the warehouse up to Heaven as soon as possible. But as soon as he did, a single stone stirred up a thousand waves—within half an hour, the Linked Bamboo Scroll was covered with a sprawling list that left Monkey stunned. He could only sigh, “These guys really don’t know how to hold back.”
Before the words faded, Monkey hurriedly called Belle over to help copy down the list.
After a flurry of work, Monkey stared at the pile of bamboo slips stacked like a small mountain, his brows furrowing into a deep V. “Shortbeak wants two hundred heavy war bows—that’s expected. Rhino wants a seven-thousand-jin battle axe—also expected, both are necessities. But why does Nine-Headed Wyrm want a Night-Pearl to give his wife?”
Hearing this, Belle immediately shot Monkey a glare and huffed, “That’s what makes a good man. Get it?”
Fine, women are all the same. As long as you treat her well, she won’t care if you’ve betrayed the whole world.
But this list in front of him was truly bizarre. Originally, Monkey just wanted to get them some weapons, but now everything from clothes and shoes to hairpins had made its way onto it, making Monkey feel more like a personal shopper than a war leader.
"Whatever—who says we aren’t rich? If you don’t spend Gold Essence, it’s just wasted."
"Exactly!"
Belle chimed in excitedly, while Moon Frost couldn’t help but furrow her brows.
With the shopping list settled, all that remained was to wait for the Gold Essence.
Monkey had guessed it would take Anna Yang at least three to five days to get the Gold Essence up to Heaven, but to his surprise, it arrived the very next night.
The one who came was a young monk.
“The Gold Essence entrusted by the Holy Mother of Mount Hua is still on the way. My master said we should bring an equivalent amount first and deliver it to the Monkey King, so he wouldn’t have to worry.” With that, the monk gestured for several celestial servants to unload the crates stacked on the Buddha-Marked Skybarge.
Staring at the monk, Monkey was momentarily stunned. After thinking it over, he suddenly understood.
All this time, Monkey had known that Anna Yang had private connections in Heaven—connections that kept feeding them information about Heaven’s movements even at the height of the Blossom Mountain war.
If it were an ordinary Daoist immortal, no matter how close the relationship, at best they’d help with trivial matters—like Nezha does—but when it came to a real showdown between immortals and demons, they’d never take the demons’ side.
But Buddhist monks are different. Though they serve in Heaven, Heaven is a Daoist domain, and the monks are essentially foreign contractors, with no real sense of belonging. Only they would dare secretly help Blossom Mountain even when Heaven and Blossom Mountain are locked in mortal combat.
Once most of the Gold Essence had been moved, Monkey quietly asked, “May I ask who your master is?”
The monk pressed his palms together and replied, “My master is Borosen Jeti.”
“Borosen Jeti—one of the Five Directional Wardens?”
The monk nodded, smiling faintly. “During the Blossom Mountain war, my master even saw the Monkey King. But it was truly inconvenient to greet you. This time, he specifically asked me to convey his apologies to you.”
With that, he pressed his palms together again and prepared to bow.
Seeing this, Monkey hurried forward to support him, patting his shoulder. “There’s no need to apologize. In that situation, if your master had greeted me, he’d probably have died before I did. Honestly, he’s helped me so much all this time, and I’ve never properly thanked him. Maybe I should visit and thank him in person someday?”
Upon hearing this, the monk’s smile faded slightly and he replied quietly, “Monkey King, please don’t. To be honest, my master sent me ahead with the Gold Essence partly so you wouldn’t have to wait, but also because, by rule, I had to pass this way today. My master has already placed a large-scale illusion outside… If any interested parties saw us interacting, this route would be cut off forever. I hope you understand.”
Hearing this, Monkey understood at once. He mimicked the monk’s gesture, pressing his palms together and nodding. “Then I’ll trouble you to thank Borosen Jeti for me.”
“My master is a close friend of the Yang siblings. If you thank him, it’s too formal.” Returning the gesture, the monk drew a jade tablet from his sleeve and handed it to Monkey. “If you ever need anything from me, just let me know.”
After a brief exchange, the monk hurried away.
Watching the Buddha-Marked Skybarge with its huge ‘Buddha’ character sailcloth, Monkey couldn’t help but wonder, “Why are the Buddhists helping Anna Yang so much? Do they have some hidden agenda?”
Ever since hearing Elder Leonard Ling’s story about Buddhism, Monkey hadn’t thought much of monks.
But then again, Monkey hadn’t thought much of Anna Yang at first, either.
"Maybe I’m just being too suspicious of decent people. At least for now, it doesn’t look like Buddhism can get much out of the Yang siblings. Besides, Anna Yang is as sharp as a monkey—she’s not someone who’d be easily tricked." Monkey thought.
Meanwhile, the black-haired elder hidden on a distant floating rock had his eyes narrowed to slits.
To the average person, it was just a skybarge slowly passing over the Imperial Horse Bureau, pausing for some unknown reason. But to the elder, it was something else entirely.
He saw clearly that the ship docked at the Imperial Horse Bureau, and dozens of crates were unloaded. The monk even got off and spoke with the demon monkey…
“That’s… Borosen Jeti’s disciple? How are the Five Directional Wardens involved again? They even used a large-scale illusion spell—if I hadn’t come in person, I’d never have noticed.”
No wonder he’d been staking out this spot for so long—he’d finally found something substantial. But the discovery left him even more puzzled.
“Could it be that the Western Buddha is getting involved too?” He thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Unlikely. Buddhism isn’t like our Daoist sect, it’s all about transcendence, and its disciples are scattered like sand. Even if the Buddha himself wanted to, he couldn’t order the Five Directional Wardens around.”
Taking a deep breath, he straightened his rod and widened his eyes, continuing to watch the Imperial Horse Bureau.