The Woodcutter Revealed

The Woodcutter senior apprentice-brother, who had always kept a low profile on Mount Innerheart chopping wood... was actually the legendary Houyi?

Back when Ji Ning was training in the [Houyi Archery Art] on the mountain, the senior apprentice-brother had carried his axe and passed by a few times, even offering a single crucial pointer. At the time, Ji Ning hadn't thought much of it; he’d simply assumed that given the senior apprentice-brother's strength, offering guidance was perfectly normal. Who would have imagined that this senior apprentice-brother was none other than Houyi himself, the creator of the [Houyi Archery Art]!

"Junior apprentice-brother." Jidian called out with a smile, waving his fan.

"Little junior apprentice-brother." A streak of light flew over from afar, landing to reveal the golden-armored Monkey King.

"Second senior apprentice-brother, Sixth senior apprentice-brother." Ji Ning quickly greeted them, unable to help but take a closer look at this Sixth senior apprentice-brother. Many stories of ancient times were still passed down on Earth; though sometimes distorted, this Sixth senior apprentice-brother, 'Sun Wukong,' was still quite famous on Earth. Of course, Ji Ning had long since met too many great powers to count.

He had seen the likes of Lu Dongbin, the Daoist Three Purities, Patriarch Subhuti, and the Buddha Tathagata. Seeing his Sixth senior apprentice-brother now, Ji Ning was quite calm, merely a bit curious.

"Hehe, I never imagined that our senior apprentice-brother was actually Houyi." Sun Wukong chuckled. "Back when I first joined Master's tutelage, the senior apprentice-brother showed me the way. I thought he was just an ordinary woodcutter back then. I only found out later that he was the senior apprentice-brother, and I remember thinking, 'This senior apprentice-brother sure keeps things close to his chest.' Today, I learned that he's actually the great god Houyi of ancient times. He's been hiding far deeper than I ever imagined."

Houyi's fame had come far too early.

When Houyi had slain the Golden Crow Demon King, Sun Wukong hadn't even been born yet.

"I joined Master's tutelage quite early myself, but I still didn't know the senior apprentice-brother's origins," Jidian said with a cheerful smile. "When I first became a disciple, the senior apprentice-brother was already following Master, working as a woodcutter. Honestly, I was puzzled back then. He was clearly Master's disciple, yet I never saw him seek Master's guidance. Master once said that the senior apprentice-brother had long since reached the level of a True God and Daofather and needed to comprehend things on his own, so he couldn't offer further pointers. I didn't think much of it after that."

"I heard that back in the day, for the sake of Chang'e, the senior apprentice-brother charged straight to the Lunar Star, intent on chopping down the osmanthus tree there. But that divine tree... even after being cut, it would simply regenerate. He simply couldn't do anything to it. Every day, the senior apprentice-brother chops wood on Mount Innerheart. Do you think he's still thinking about returning to the Lunar Star Palace one day?" The Monkey King lowered his voice, even setting up a sound barrier around them.

"Things concerning the senior apprentice-brother—are they things a monkey like you should be discussing?" Jidian immediately scolded. "That's not something to talk about."

"The senior apprentice-brother can't hear us. I'm just saying it behind his back." Sun Wukong blinked.

Ji Ning was also aware of the affair between Houyi and Chang'e. It was Houyi's scar! Ripping open old wounds wasn't a good thing.

"Come, come. Right now, the Buddha, the Three Purities, and the others are in the middle of negotiations with the Seamless Chaosworld. Let's just rest on the sidelines for now." Jidian glared at Sun Wukong. "You, monkey, had better not cause any trouble. Be careful not to provoke the senior apprentice-brother; if you do, we won't be able to help you."

"Yeah." The Monkey King shuddered and quickly nodded. "The senior apprentice-brother dominated the ancient era with his archery, and now he's this formidable even with an axe. That Magic Hand Daofather is incredibly famous too, on par with leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects. And yet, our senior apprentice-brother cut off his arm with a single axe-stroke!"

"That was because the Magic Hand Daofather was far too arrogant," Jidian said. "Back in the ancient era, the senior apprentice-brother's strength was astonishing. Even the leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects had to go all-out against him. That Magic Hand Daofather actually dared to greet an attack with a single hand... it would have been strange if he hadn't suffered!"

Ji Ning smiled, preparing to put away the Myriad Master. But then, recalling how the Magic Hand Daofather's casual slap had sent him crashing to the ground, he carefully examined the Myriad Master.

"Oh?" Ji Ning's expression changed.

"What's wrong?" Ji Ning immediately discovered a crack in a core area on the interior of the Myriad Master's abdomen and lower back.

Ji Ning tried to use the Myriad Master to summon its power, but found he couldn't at all. This crack... it was as if a disconnect had appeared in the entire energy transmission network of the Myriad Master, rendering it completely useless.

"It's broken? How is that possible?" Ji Ning was stunned.

The Myriad Master.

This, this had been his most powerful killer move, allowing his strength to approach the level of the top leaders, letting him rival Patriarch Subhuti and Daofather Shadowless. But how could the Myriad Master suddenly be broken? Even attacks from the leaders of the Buddhist and Daoist sects would struggle to leave a single scratch on it.

And yet, one light, casual palm-strike from the Magic Hand Daofather had crippled it? It had indeed been strange at the time; a single slap had sent him toppling over.

"Second senior apprentice-brother, Sixth senior apprentice-brother." Ji Ning lowered his voice. "The Myriad Master... is destroyed."

"What?" Jidian and the Monkey King were both shocked.

Ji Ning nodded solemnly. "It should have been the Magic Hand Daofather. I don't know how she did it."

The Monkey King gritted his teeth.

Jidian frowned and spoke softly: "Mmm, this Myriad Master puppet was created by the Seamless Gate. They would naturally have taken precautions against it being seized by our side. They should have left behind a method to 'destroy the Myriad Master.' But this method is very difficult to pull off. On the battlefield for the struggle over fortune, your opponents were all Empyrean Gods and True Immortals; they couldn't destroy your Myriad Master. However, the Magic Hand Daofather is a leader-level great power after all. Knowing some key weakness of the Myriad Master, she could cripple it easily."

"Mmm. I've also heard that in the old days, when the Lord of All Demons died, all of his Myriad Masters were destroyed at once." The Monkey King nodded as well.

"The Seamless Gate's Myriad Master puppets still require a Magic Hand Daofather to personally take action to destroy them. They're not even as formidable as the Lord of All Demons' were." Jidian said.

Jidian suddenly spoke: "This matter needs to be reported to Master immediately."

"Right, hurry and tell Master." The Monkey King quickly agreed.

...

The negotiations between the Nuwa Camp and the Seamless Gate were being conducted by the most supreme of great powers.

Time flowed on.

The other great powers silently awaited the outcome in the All-Stars World. Ji Ning, Jidian, and the Monkey King of Mount Innerheart were also waiting off to one side.

Finally, the sky began to grow faintly light.

Only then did the great powers of the Seamless Gate depart from the All-Stars World.

...

"Master, senior apprentice-brother."

Ji Ning, Jidian, and the Monkey King, who had been seated, immediately stood up. Patriarch Subhuti and Houyi walked side by side over empty air into the courtyard.

"How did it go, Master?" The Monkey King quickly asked.

"Your junior apprentice-brother, Ji Ning, suffered a great loss, but our Nuwa Camp managed to come out ahead." Patriarch Subhuti said.

"A loss for a disciple is nothing, as long as it benefits our side in this war." Ji Ning said.

Patriarch Subhuti looked at Ji Ning: "Myself, Houyi, and several others discussed it in private. The Seamless Gate suddenly acted against you; they've probably made many detailed preparations. They are prepared; we are not. And since we hold the upper hand in the struggle over fortune, despite our anger, we won't easily force a final decisive battle."

Houyi also nodded: "Of course, if the Seamless Gate insists on a decisive battle, then we'll go to war against them."

"Clearly, the appearance of your senior apprentice-brother, and especially the strength he displayed, threw their calculations off." Patriarch Subhuti said. "The outcome of this round of negotiations is still somewhat beneficial to our Nuwa Camp."

"What was the result?" The Monkey King pressed.

"The Seamless Gate had only one demand: Ji Ning is not to participate in the struggle over fortune any further." Patriarch Subhuti said.

Ji Ning's expression shifted.

"What? That's far too—" The Monkey King was immediately enraged.

Patriarch Subhuti continued: "We agreed. Our demand was this: the Seamless Gate's Myriad Masters are all forbidden to participate in the struggle over fortune. The Seamless Gate still has nine of them remaining after this one was destroyed! If all nine Myriad Masters were to set out, even my disciple Ji Ning here would find it difficult to manage alone."

"Mmm." Ji Ning nodded.

Indeed.

Dealing with a single Myriad Master took him some time; he had to disrupt its center of gravity before capturing it. If two Myriad Masters worked in tandem, they could completely neutralize him. The other seven would be free to slaughter wantonly.

"After all, you suffered a great loss this time, Ji Ning; they had to pay a price. The Darklight Swordmaster died for nothing." Patriarch Subhuti looked at Ji Ning. "Disciple, you won't be able to take part in the struggle over fortune going forward. But in forcing them to remove all of their Myriad Masters as well, you have rendered a truly great service to our side. If there is anything you need, just say the word."