That single word “scram” had kept Sage Jieyin smiling for several hours, his mood suddenly brightening.
Even the Heavenly Dao had days like this!
Li Changshou watched the constantly changing scenes in the cloud mirror with concern, his attention naturally focused on Sun Wukong.
Though secretly, he too was quite amused.
These two juniors were truly lacking in martial virtue!
How could they be so fierce toward Heaven’s dignified Imperial Messenger?
When that imposter Gold Star appeared, attempting to stop the battle between Nezha and Wukong, he received nothing but a harsh rebuke, yet the old fellow’s expression remained unchanged.
Nezha and Sun Wukong fought with real fire, clashing in mid-air and leaving trails of afterimages.
The ghosts of ten directions were shocked, while veteran powerhouses’ eyelids twitched…
Li Jing reacted swiftly, immediately deploying his Treasure Pagoda and issuing commands, ordering dozens of Heavenly Generals behind him to act together.
The Heavenly Generals formed the Heaven-Stemming Formation, forcibly separating Sun Wukong and Nezha, though they were shaken by the attackers’ force, their qi churning and spirits unstable.
Nezha glared at Sun Wukong, Sun Wukong glared at Nezha, but they were each pressed back by the Heaven-Stemming Formation – one into the sky, one to the ground.
Their stance suggested that today, one of them must fall here.
After the commotion, the Heavenly Army and demon forces each withdrew their formations.
Sun Wukong shouldered his iron staff, his fur stained with blood and his armor darkened red, his gaze fixed on Nezha who was surrounded by Heavenly Generals in the sky. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
“Little brat.”
Nezha, who had just calmed down, immediately flew into a rage. With disheveled hair, he cursed: “You filthy monkey! Try saying that again!”
“Hmph.”
Sun Wukong sneered and said coolly:
“We’ll fight again next time.”
“Afraid of me?”
Nezha snorted, withdrawing his Six-Armed Divine Form and various treasures, riding his Wind Fire Wheels as he flew toward the Eastern Heaven Gate, not even returning to the military camp.
Though Nezha couldn’t understand why, when Heaven could destroy the demons here, they insisted on recruiting this smelly monkey instead.
But after today’s battle, he had to admit this monkey wasn’t bad.
Quite strong.
Regarding Nezha’s ‘willfulness,’ the Heavenly Generals dared not say much.
Nezha wasn’t foolish – he knew that once the ‘Imperial Messenger Gold Star’ appeared and announced the Jade Emperor’s decree, these days of battle would end, leaving no chance for further combat.
Sun Wukong’s energy quickly returned to its peak. He glanced at the immortals in the sky, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, shouldered his Golden-Hooped Rod, and turned to walk toward his demon army.
In the clouds, Li Jing looked at Gold Star with deeply furrowed brows.
Great Sage Equal to Heaven, personally conferred by the Jade Emperor…
This title seemed far too grand.
Did Heaven’s Court lack a powerful fighter like Sun Wukong? Not.
Perhaps there were some calculations and strategies at play here, but as a mere military general, he couldn’t understand why this was necessary.
“All armies withdraw.”
Li Jing commanded in a deep voice, and the generals behind him responded in unison.
That ‘Gold Star’ transmitted to Li Jing:
“Marshal Li, withdraw the army to the Eastern Heaven Gate. The battle here shall cease for now.”
Li Jing pondered for a moment, seeming to have something to say but ultimately choosing wisely to remain silent.
He saluted ‘Gold Star’ and began ordering various divisions of the Heavenly Army to return to the Eastern Heaven Gate.
However, Li Jing didn’t issue a full retreat order, still having the army set up camp outside the Eastern Heaven Gate, ready to advance on Flower Fruit Mountain at any moment.
As the Heavenly Army overhead began to withdraw, the demons of Flower Fruit Mountain erupted in excitement.
But many older demons who had thought they understood Heaven’s Court’s intentions were confused; they had originally believed Heaven’s Court was using the Seven Demon Sages as bait to lure and trap all demonkind at once.
Now they had all been proven wrong.
Heaven’s Court had issued a decree to recruit Sun Wukong, granting him the title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
What was the reasoning behind this?
Had Heaven’s Court suddenly found demons pleasing to the eye and decided they should add some demon elements, thus recruiting Sun Wukong, a young demon king with enormous potential?
Was this reasonable?
This was absurd!
Far too absurd!
Among the powerful beings and great mystics observing this place, most harbored such doubts, not knowing what Heaven’s Court was plotting.
At Spirit Mountain, in Jieyin’s thatched cottage.
Li Changshou watched through the cloud mirror as the fake Gold Star descended toward Flower Fruit Mountain, seemingly to discuss the terms of recruitment, and inwardly sighed.
The Dao Ancestor’s control over the ‘script’ was confirmed.
Without sufficient pressure, he would stubbornly follow that predetermined path – not even eight oxen could pull him back.
Li Changshou silently complained for a while, then saw through the cloud mirror that chaos had erupted again on Flower Fruit Mountain.
The fake Gold Star came riding clouds, surrounded by immortal light, and called out to Sun Wukong, who was surrounded by demon kings:
“Great Sage! Great Sage~”
“Hmm?”
Sun Wukong turned his head to glance at this old fellow, then issued a command, ordering a group of monkeys to come forward and bind the old fellow, hanging him from a tree beside the victory feast.
This scene truly shocked many Heaven Court immortals who witnessed it and terrified a certain bull demon who knew the fake Gold Star’s true identity.
This bull demon was none other than Bull Demon King, Sun Wukong’s sworn brother, and leader of the Seven Demon Sages, the main culprit responsible for Lord Lao Zi only being able to ride Lesser Gold and Lesser Silver.
Bull Demon King watched as the monkeys bound up that white-robed immortal and hung him in the tree, momentarily speechless.
Heavens, the will of Heaven’s Dao, the Dao Ancestor’s avatar, just got tied up like this?
Bull Demon King moved closer to Sun Wukong, his thick eyebrows and large eyes flickering with light, and whispered: “Brother, think this through carefully. This is an opportunity to resolve the situation at Flower Fruit Mountain. Don’t be discourteous to Gold Star.”
Sun Wukong snorted, only calling his sworn brothers to drink and eat peaches, not directly responding to this issue.
He was angry.
Bull Demon King didn’t dare advise further, being swept along by the crowd of demons to drink and boast, inevitably including praise for his seventh brother’s bravery.
The old fellow hanging in the tree looked quite awkward but maintained his smile.
On the high throne in the Lingxiao Palace, the Jade Emperor’s lips curved in a faint smile.
Above Flower Fruit Mountain, in the yet-to-withdraw Heavenly Army camp, some generals spoke of rescuing ‘Gold Star,’ but were stopped by Li Jing.
Li Jing said: “This great one surely has his plans. We shouldn’t make casual guesses.”
Thus, the generals could only watch from afar.
In the sage’s residence on Spirit Mountain, Sage Jieyin wore a benevolent smile, watching this scene with great interest, and even introduced the fake Gold Star’s identity to his beloved disciple ‘Virtual Puti.’
Li Changshou feigned surprise: “This is an avatar of the Heavenly Dao’s will? The disciple had thought it was merely a puppet.”
“The Dao Ancestor placed this avatar only to supervise His Majesty the Jade Emperor,” Jieyin said. “The Jade Emperor has grown too close to that taboo, causing even the Heavenly Dao to become wary of him. Puti, regarding Heaven’s Court, or rather the Heavenly Dao recruiting Wukong to Heaven’s Court as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven – what are your thoughts?”
“This appears to be good fortune, but there must be other calculations at play,” Li Changshou pondered briefly, then said slowly, “The Dao Ancestor previously discussed this matter with a disciple beside the Stone Embryo. He seemed to want Sun Wukong to gain fame as an example of a being who rebelled against Heaven but was tamed by it, thus warning future generations. Beyond this, it also concerns the Buddhist Sect’s prosperity.”
“Good.”
Sage Jieyin sighed softly: “Such are the Dao Ancestor’s calculations. This way, we need not worry too much about Wukong’s safety.”
“Master,” ‘Virtual Puti’ asked in a low voice, “When you just divined Wukong’s fate, did you foresee any disasters or tribulations?”
Jieyin spoke slowly: “There are indeed tribulations. The heavenly secrets reveal he is fated for imprisonment, and later faces a great life-or-death calamity.”
“A life-or-death calamity?”
Li Changshou’s eyebrows twitched slightly – could this refer to the true and false Monkey Kings? The Buddhist Sect’s grand deception?
The matters Sage Jieyin divined now were all revealed by heavenly secrets, showing the most likely direction in the Heavenly Dao’s calculations, not predetermined future events.
Li Changshou didn’t dwell on this much.
If he won his upcoming confrontation with the Dao Ancestor, there would be no need to worry about the so-called fate surrounding Sun Wukong.
The cloud mirror continued showing split scenes – on the left, ‘Gold Star’ hung from the tree, being teased by a group of monkey spirits, quite humiliated; on the right, Sun Wukong drank and celebrated with the demon kings.
The smile never left Jieyin’s lips.
This ‘Gold Star’ was simultaneously an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, representing the Dao Ancestor, and wearing the appearance commonly used by the Western Teaching’s old nemesis, the former Second Heavenly Emperor of the previous Heaven’s Court.
Triple the joy!
Li Changshou felt no schadenfreude about this – if the Dao Ancestor held a grudge against the monkey, it would be beneath his dignity.
He was watching the demon kings around Sun Wukong, also hearing their conversation through the cloud mirror.
The demon race was persuading Sun Wukong to go to Heaven’s Court and become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Bull Demon King drank alone in the corner, and Sun Wukong’s other sworn brothers couldn’t speak up at this moment. Instead, several senior demon kings continuously advised Sun Wukong:
“Great Sage, Heaven’s Court doesn’t want to expand the conflict. Let’s give them a way to save face. Great Sage, think about it – if all the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals pressed down here, even if they could ultimately achieve victory, they would have to pay the price of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a price Heaven’s Court cannot bear. Moreover, if the title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven is acknowledged by Heaven’s Court, the Three Realms will praise it. In the future, throughout Heaven and Earth, you’ll be this!”
Sun Wukong glanced at the old pigeon demon’s waggling thumb, snorted, and continued eating bananas boredly.
“Great Sage, this is an enormous stroke of fortune. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven title bestowed by Heaven’s Court is completely different from what we call ourselves. You’ll go enjoy blessings in Heaven’s Court, and we’ll take care of Flower Fruit Mountain. We definitely won’t let your monkey children suffer any grievances!”
“Great King!” an elder monkey shouted, “Heaven’s Court deceived you last time. They might have some trick this time too!”
Sun Wukong nodded in deep agreement and said: “Hmph, let’s not try to match these Heaven Court immortals in craftiness. They’re very black-hearted.”
Another elder monkey spoke up: “Great King, maintaining this standoff with Heaven’s Court brings us no benefits. In these continuous battles, all divisions have suffered heavy casualties. Although we repel the Heavenly Army each time, every king’s forces have lost at least thirty percent, while Heaven’s Army hasn’t lost much. Moreover, Heaven’s Court has hundreds of True Gods – Nezha is just one of them. Nezha’s father Li Jing hasn’t even acted yet, and there are many more experts to come. The Three Realms are all under Heaven Court’s management. If we continue this hard resistance… we have only one path – death.”
“You old monkey!”
A great demon stood up and cursed: “What nonsense are you spouting here! Someone! Drag him away and throw him in the oil pot!”
The elder monkey trembled and was about to kneel, but suddenly saw a flash of light before his eyes. The fierce demon flew backward, stuffed with juicy peach, and his mouthful of sharp teeth instantly shattered.
Sun Wukong coldly snorted but didn’t even look at that demon, sitting on his stone throne somewhat lost in thought, his expression rather gloomy.
The victory feast immediately fell silent.
Sun Wukong suddenly said: “Bring Gold Star here.”
The monkeys responded and lowered the fake Gold Star from the tree, carrying him toward Sun Wukong.
Many demon kings lowered their heads silently, afraid to show their faces to this old fellow, while others directly left their seats, temporarily avoiding this place.
At this moment, this fake Gold Star was like an ordinary old mortal, not using any magical powers or displaying any pressure. The monkeys carried him by his hands and feet, bringing him directly before Sun Wukong.
The monkeys all pushed at once, causing the old fellow to stumble before barely steadying himself.
He looked up and met Sun Wukong’s face before him, that thunder god-like mouth baring sharp teeth, the Golden-Hooped Rod pressing on his shoulder, seeming ready to strike at any moment.
‘Gold Star’ hurriedly called out: “Great Sage, don’t be rough, don’t be rough! This old one comes by order of His Majesty the Jade Emperor to announce the decree. Please put down the iron rod, put down the iron rod.”
Sun Wukong snorted coldly and said: “What? Heaven’s Court is scared now?”
This ‘Gold Star’ smiled awkwardly but said:
“Great Sage speaks wrongly. Heaven’s Court has barely shown any real strength yet. It’s just that all beings in the Three Realms are Heaven Court’s subjects. His Majesty the Jade Emperor is merciful and unwilling to unleash widespread killing. Moreover, seeing the Great Sage’s exceptional martial prowess, His Majesty is quite pleased, thus specially bestowing this title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven, letting the Great Sage receive a salary in Heaven’s Court.
Great Sage, you previously complained that the Stable Duty position was too low-ranked, not knowing that Heaven Court’s True God positions are all filled, making it impossible to appoint a ranked True God position. But this time when the Great Sage ascends to Heaven, you’ll receive the treatment of a third-rank True God, wielding the authority of a third-rank True God, cultivating and comprehending the Dao in Heaven’s Court, receiving that merit, early enlightenment to the Great Luo Dao – wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“Oh?”
Sun Wukong’s eyes rolled, and he released the fake Gold Star’s collar, asking: “Then what about my Flower Fruit Mountain?”
“Flower Fruit Mountain… Flower Fruit Mountain,” fake Gold Star smiled and said, “Flower Fruit Mountain will be the Great Sage’s territory hereafter, personally demarcated for the Great Sage by Heaven’s Court. If the Great Sage accepts the appointment, Heaven’s Court will not pursue or suppress the demons in Flower Fruit Mountain.”
Sun Wukong sat back on his stone throne, somewhat hesitant.
Nearby, more demon kings spoke up, persuading Sun Wukong to comply with Heaven Court’s decree, while also trying to make themselves known to this Imperial Messenger.
Soon, Sun Wukong looked toward Bull Demon King hiding in the corner and called out:
“Elder Brother Bull, what do you think?”
The old bull inwardly thought “This is troublesome,” raised his head to look this way, mouth dripping with oil but giving a hesitant laugh, somewhat nervously glancing at the fake Gold Star before speaking:
“Brother, you accepting this appointment is good for Flower Fruit Mountain, good for Demonkind, and good for yourself. Just… don’t forget about us brothers when you make it big.”
“Alright then.”
Sun Wukong looked at the Golden-Hooped Rod before him, weighing it in his palm a few times, then stood and said: “I’ll trust Heaven’s Court one more time.”
The old bull felt fake Gold Star’s gaze fall on him and hurriedly showed a fawning smile.
That ‘Gold Star’ had some light flickering in his eyes but only smiled gently, not conversing with the old bull.
Thus it was:
Heaven bestows the Great Sage title with a reluctant heart,
Wukong lowers his rod, peace at last to start.
…
“There must be calculations at play.”
In the thatched cottage on Spirit Mountain, before Sage Jieyin.
These five words were slowly uttered by Li Changshou disguised as Virtual Puti, and Sage Jieyin nodded with a smile, quite agreeing with this.
Jieyin said: “The Dao Ancestor’s calculations are beyond what we master and disciple can imagine. Let’s not meddle in this matter. Since you’ve returned to Spirit Mountain this time, why not stay here for a while? Once Wukong’s matter is settled, I can unlock your Dao Realm shackles for you.”
‘Virtual Puti’ showed joy on his face and stood up, saying: “Thank you, Master.”
Jieyin asked: “Where will you cultivate?”
“Disciple’s previous cave dwelling seems to have been occupied.”
Li Changshou sighed, looked around outside the window, saw the distant lotus pond, and said: “Disciple will cultivate beside that pond, also serving as Master’s gatekeeper.”
Sage Jieyin revealed a gratified smile, raised his hand to point, opening a small gap in ‘Virtual Puti’s’ Dao Realm shackles, and said softly: “Cultivate well, don’t make it known.”
Li Changshou lowered his head to accept the command, almost laughing out loud.
Moments later, he sat quietly beside the lotus pond and closed his eyes, his immortal consciousness locked onto the Golden Cicada just a pond’s width away from him.
It was truly effortless.