I, the son of Yang Guo, abducted Zhang Sanfeng across the heavens

"No."

Yang Jian never expected that despite the level of skill displayed by Xue Rengui, he would still be rejected by Hua Shi.

"No, brother, this General Xue is the ceiling of what we can send out from the Tang Dynasty now. The next one up will have to be Wu Yunzhao."

"Neither can Wu Yunzhao." Hua Shi shook his head. "No matter how violent he is in the mortal army, he is still a mortal. The monsters on the journey to obtain the scriptures are all gods and demons. A monster that can bring danger and tribulation to the tenth generation of Buddhist monks must be at least an old immortal in heaven. How can Wu Yunzhao fight monsters of this level?"

"I'm asking you to say that we're going to die on this journey." Yang Jian finally got a little angry. After all, I'm an emperor, and I'm trying to coax you into talking, which is good enough, but I keep saying that you can't do that, and that's not good enough, and it's endless.

Where is my dignity and face as an emperor?
"It's not like seeking death. Don't we still have some reincarnated gods in our Tang Dynasty?" Hua Shi said as he glanced at Li Jing and Wei Zheng who were sitting in Li Shimin's camp.

At this time, including Luo Cheng who just died and Shan Xiongxin who died of illness a few years ago, basically all the reincarnations of the gods have died. After all, the reincarnations of the gods are also mortals, and after the great era is over, they will also return to heaven.

Nowadays, there are only two reincarnations of gods who still exist in the Tang Dynasty and whose identities are known. One is the reincarnation of Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, the military god of the Tang Dynasty; the other is the reincarnation of Cao Guan, Wei Zheng.

"There are also some people who practice Taoism. Some of them may not seem to have an official position in heaven, but in fact their practice is quite strong. Don't you think so, Yuan Shoucheng?" Hua Shi turned his gaze to one of the people sitting at the end of the table in Prime Minister Li Shimin's residence.

"The old prince even knows this?" Yuan Shoucheng stood up from behind with a look of shock on his face.

This person was discovered by Li Shimin in the countryside, and it was not Yuan Shoucheng who was discovered, but his nephew Yuan Tiangang.

Five years ago, someone reported from the local area that Yuan Tiangang was a genius with profound spiritual practice, and his physiognomy and fortune-telling skills were as accurate as a god.

Li Shimin was eager to find talented people. After hearing about it, he immediately sent someone to invite Yuan Tiangang to the prime minister's residence to sit down and discuss with him.

After some discussion, Li Shimin discovered that Yuan Tiangang did have amazing skills, so he prepared to recommend Yuan Tiangang to serve as an official in the court.

However, Yuan Tiangang said, I am just a charlatan who tells fortunes and reads faces. Even if I am somewhat accurate, it is not enough to make me an official. An official who takes lives so lightly is irresponsible to the people.

Li Shimin thought so too, so he kept Yuan Tiangang in the Prime Minister's Mansion as a retainer and aide. Anyway, Li Shimin had already opened a government, so he was qualified to hire some officials of his own. Although he was not included in the court system, he could attend court as a political advisor in the Prime Minister's Mansion.

This is why Yuan Shoucheng and his group sat at the back of the Prime Minister's Mansion today, cowering and feeling extremely timid. They themselves are not officials of the imperial court, nor do they have the qualifications to attend court. They are just Li Shimin's pendants. Naturally, they have to stay at the back, reduce their presence, watch more things, and talk less.

Although he spoke little and had no formal qualifications to attend the court, Yuan Tiangang was still Yuan Tiangang. This Taoist practitioner was beyond the imagination of ordinary people in terms of physiognomy and divination. After Yuan Tiangang made several moves, he was indeed extremely accurate, which surprised Li Shimin beyond words. He exclaimed: "The ancestor of the country, Saint Yang Gui, is no more than this!"

Yuan Tiangang was so frightened by these words that he knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction where Yang Gui was, then stood up and waved his hand and said, "Prime Minister Li is really overpraising me. Compared with Saint Yang, my ability is not even comparable to that of a candlelight or the bright moon. If Prime Minister Li still wants me to live two more years, please don't mention it now."

"Ah, is it so serious?" Li Shimin had never seen a god. Seeing Yuan Tiangang's ability, he thought that gods were no more capable than him. He wanted to help Yuan Tiangang, but he almost scared Yuan Tiangang to death.

"You are full of seriousness. I am not a god. At best, I have some skills in divination and physiognomy. I can be called a 'half-immortal'. I have an apprentice, Li Chunfeng, who is also a half-immortal. The two of us can barely be called a god." Yuan Tiangang was not polite. Calling himself a god was not a big pressure for him.

"Then can you two compare with Patriarch Yang?" Li Shimin asked again.

Yuan Tiangang's face turned green. Are you just going to pick a fight with Yang Gui? You have to ask. I told you not to ask, but you still ask. If you ask again, I'll strike you to death with lightning, do you believe me?

Li Shimin saw Yuan Tiangang's face was not good, and he knew that he had asked the wrong question, so he quickly stopped talking. But even after he stopped, Yuan Tiangang was still worried and had to ask Li Shimin:
"Master Li, please remember that Patriarch Yang is a saint in heaven, the elder brother of the Jade Emperor, and the uncle of Tathagata Buddha. Do you know what this means? The heavenly soldiers are also immortals. This is the comparison between me and my two disciples."

Okay, I understand. Li Shimin nodded.

He didn't know about any other sequences of gods, but he was very clear about the difference in status between a big-headed soldier and an emperor. After all, when he was young, he had dreamed of becoming an emperor.

Yang Gui's status is higher than that of the Jade Emperor and Tathagata, while Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng, master and apprentice, are only fighting for one heavenly soldier. The difference between them is obvious at a glance.

"But I have an uncle. I learned Taoism from him." Before Li Shimin could feel disappointed, he heard Yuan Tiangang say, "His ability is even better than mine."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes lit up again: "Then..."

Yuan Tiangang quickly went over and covered Li Shimin's mouth with his hands, pointed at Li Shimin with the same expression as the husky with Wang Jingze's face and warned: "Don't say anything, don't say anything!"

Yuan Tiangang was also puzzled. Why did Li Shimin always want to make things difficult for Yang Gui? What kind of grudge did this kid Li Shimin have with Yang Gui, an old saint?

In fact, there was no grudge, and Li Shimin had long since given up the idea of ​​finding another immortal to overthrow Yang Gui and seize the throne. The key point was that he was familiar with Yang Gui, an old immortal. When he was in the army of King Hou Tu, he had been the number one figure under Yang Gui.

Li Shimin didn't have a close relationship with other old immortals. After all, he was the prime minister. He couldn't just put down his work and follow the old immortals to practice Taoism, right? So naturally, when he heard about immortals, he subconsciously used Yang Gui as a benchmark and comparison. Otherwise, what could he do? He couldn't compare himself with Hou Tu, right?

They are a couple and naturally she subconsciously compares him with a man. Hou Tu has not shown any strength that is obviously stronger than Yang Gui.

If it was someone else who was compared with newcomers one after another, it would have become a unit of measurement. Who would have thought that Yang Gui's identity and strength were so strong that no matter how many new gods appeared, his position was so unshakable.

"My uncle Yuan Shoucheng is only stronger than me, but he can't be compared with a real immortal. If I can be called Yuan Banxian, then my uncle can also be called Yuan Duobanxian."

This is how Yuan Tiangang introduced him to Li Shimin.

In this case, Li Shimin naturally could not let Yuan Shoucheng go, so he asked Yuan Tiangang to invite his uncle over and gave him a position in the prime minister's mansion. Yuan Shoucheng has always been very low-key. Although he is a Yuan Duo half-immortal, he has never used his magic power to do anything extraordinary. His favorite thing in his life is to set up a fortune-telling stall at the city gate, tell fortunes for the peddlers passing by, and earn some pocket money.

Usually, when Li Shimin asked him to attend court, he was reluctant, but he did not expect that Hua Shi would recognize him today.

"Old prince, excuse me for making fun of you." Yuan Shoucheng subconsciously wanted to calculate the fate of this old prince, but then he thought it was disrespectful, so he gave up. He stood up and bowed deeply to Hua Shi, then said:

"The quest for scriptures is a big deal. I am not very good at it and can't really help you. I only have some fortune-telling skills. In front of a real immortal, I can only be laughed at."

What Yuan Shoucheng said was true. Although he had some magical powers, he was not as good as Huayan who went on the journey to obtain the scriptures alone. To fight against all those monsters and demons on the journey, a little demon might be able to deal with a few of them, but if he encountered a demon king, not even a bone would be left.

Don't think that people who practice Taoism can do anything. People like them have pure energy in their bodies, and monsters love to eat them. After eating them, not only can they improve their magic power and prolong their lifespan, but they also taste much better than ordinary people's meat.

The monsters all wanted to eat the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi and the tenth generation good monk who had gone to the West to seek the scriptures. They didn't just want to eat the tenth generation good monks. They loved to eat anyone who had practiced cultivation. However, eating ordinary practitioners was not as good as eating the tenth generation good monk who had gone to the West to seek the scriptures.

When practitioners slay demons and monsters, the monsters will also eat the practitioners.

Yuan Shoucheng was in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. Relying on the luck of the human race, he could pretend to be a master. However, if he really set out on the journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures, he would not be enough to feed the monsters.

"Well, I know you're not good enough, but I don't mean to ask you to die."

Hua Shi waved his hands, and the words he said were not human language. "I used you as an example just to show that there are many people in the court who are stronger than Xue Rengui, a purely ordinary warrior. I must go on this journey to obtain the scriptures."

"Ah this..."

Everyone looked at each other.

Although most of the people in the court have never worked with this old Prince Hua Shi, and even fewer have dealt with him or met him, who among these people did not grow up listening to his legend?

He is so wise that he is almost a demon. He has every plan in mind. He wears a feather fan and a royal turban. He is a god of war in a wheelchair. He is the pinnacle of wisdom and a saint in brain.

Why is it that he speaks so wildly today?

"My old prince, please calm down for a while. If you are really worried, I will ask Huayan to come out and protect Master Xuanzang to go to the West to obtain the scriptures. Is that okay?" Yang Jian was really at a loss and almost knelt down to beg him.

"Huayan? Huayan is not good enough." Hua Shi was happy. "Back then, he was defeated by me. Right under his nose, I took your son away and had Luo Yi kill him. Have you forgotten?"

"You're going to make me die of anger today, aren't you?" Yang Jian couldn't stand it anymore. "What on earth are you going to do?"

"I'm going to seek the scriptures." Hua Shi was very happy. "I told you at the beginning. I calculated that this journey was destined, and I also calculated that I was destined to seek the scriptures. I have to go."

"Go to hell with you!" Yang Jian was so angry that he wanted to curse, "There is Guanyin Bodhisattva here. She brought the Buddha's edict from the West. The West has said that Xuanzang is the destined person to obtain the scriptures. What does it have to do with you?"

Yang Jian was really furious. Actually, Guanyin Bodhisattva never said that Xuanzang was destined to be the one to seek the scriptures. But what Yang Jian said was not wrong. This was all planned in advance by the gods and Buddhas. The original Jin Chanzi was not destined to be the one to seek the scriptures, but Xuanzang, who had been reincarnated ten times, was definitely destined to be the one to seek the scriptures.

The sunk cost is so high that even the Jade Emperor and Buddha cannot afford it.

"Oh, that's not true. There is never only one person seeking the scriptures. The journey is long and dangerous. How can one person obtain the scriptures? There must be other people to help. I observed the celestial phenomena at night and calculated that there should be at least five people in the team."

Hua Shi shook his head and said, "The Tang Dynasty has two quotas, one for Xuanzang and the other for me. Although I don't know why, I can't go in my current body, but my calculations are correct."

"Okay, okay, go ahead, go ahead! Just go ahead!"

Yang Jian was so angry at Hua Shi, the old stubborn man, that he suspected that Hua Shi had Alzheimer's disease due to his poor health and old age. This guy was not the Hua Shi, the wisest man in the world, but just an old man with dementia.

"I wonder how you can go with your character. Let's not talk about where the Western Paradise is and how far it is from the Tang Dynasty. I wonder if you can get out of Chang'an. If you can get out of Chang'an and survive, I will send you off with state ceremony at the edge of Chang'an City. Okay?"

"Okay." Hua Shi nodded and looked at Xuan Zang: "Then shall we set off now?"

"Don't rush to set off yet." Yang Jian said with a look of annoyance: "Xuanzang, you set out as a member of our Great Tang Dynasty. I will grant you the surname of the country, and from now on you will be Tang Monk. Bodhisattva, how many volumes of the Western Heaven Sutra are there?"

Guanyin clasped her hands together and said, "Your Majesty, I have a collection of Dharmas to discuss the heavens; a collection of theories to discuss the earth; and a collection of sutras to save ghosts. The three collections total thirty-five parts, or 15,144 volumes, which are the path to cultivating the truth and the door to righteousness and goodness."

"Well, in that case, Tang Monk will go to obtain the scriptures and be given the Dharma name Sanzang." Yang Jian looked at Xuanzang and asked, "Does the Buddha King think it is okay?"

"I obey your order." Xuanzang put his hands together and said, "Since this is the case, I will be Tang Sanzang today."

Everyone seemed to see the Buddha's light surrounding Tang Monk, the sound of Sanskrit chanting, and the lotus platform holding him up. They all exclaimed, "What a holy monk!"

"Okay, let's go. We will see the holy monk off." Yang Jian waved his arm and stepped down from the dragon throne, calling out to the officials, "Ancestor, Bodhisattva, please." (End of this chapter)