Xuanzang and the others had already embarked on the journey to the Western Paradise, while Li Ling, who was currently in the Underworld, remained completely unaware of this.
This could hardly be blamed on Li Ling, as he certainly had not expected Rulai to pull such a move on him. For Rulai, the lost merit could no longer be recovered, especially since he had already dispatched people to the Underworld to make up for it as much as possible. Yet, for the entire Western Paradise, the most important matter remained the Journey to the West; as long as that was completed, everything else could be easily handled.
Li Ling had overlooked this detail, assuming that leading the members of Jiejiao to carve away chunks of the Western Paradise's foundation would make Rulai miserable. That was indeed true—Rulai was certainly suffering—but precisely because of this, Rulai became even more determined to see the Journey to the West through to completion.
Chapter 283