Sun Kong saw that Jin Chanzi was serious, not joking, and most likely, it was precisely because the protection of Pangu's vital blood was gone that he was more worried about not being able to survive the subsequent tribulations.
Thus, he had to take a master.
Seeing this, Sun Kong did not mind Jin Chanzi's little calculations and could only accept it calmly.
But before the two's relationship was officially established.
There were still necessary three rules to be agreed upon!
"First, between us, in front of others, you are still Master Tang Sanzang, and I am your eldest disciple Sun Xingzhe. Behind closed doors, you can call me whatever you want."
"Agreed?"
"Agreed!"
"Second, our master-disciple relationship is only known to us. It must not be told to anyone else, to avoid unnecessary trouble, or even to provoke the fear of the Heavenly Dao."
"Understand?"
"Understood!"
"Alright, now I can tell you the third rule..."
Under Sun Kong's guidance, coupled with Jin Chanzi's increasing admiration for Sun Kong and his intention to cling to him, he naturally became more obedient.
Before Sun Kong could finish, Jin Chanzi replied preemptively, and as expected, it was all "Agreed" and "Understood."
He didn't care what excessive demands Sun Kong might have; he just wanted to be his disciple.
Seeing this.
Sun Kong no longer hesitated and finished the third rule in one go, which was...
To ask Jin Chanzi to change his hairstyle!
"You actually want me to change my hairstyle?"
Crash!
Hearing this, Jin Chanzi choked and fell to the ground.
He had expected Sun Kong to make things difficult for him in other ways.
But he never imagined that they were both Buddhist disciples, and Sun Kong would bring this up, saying his hairstyle was not good. But he was a monk, what other hairstyle could he have besides a bald head?
For a moment.
Jin Chanzi was somewhat displeased.
Seeing this, Sun Kong chuckled to himself, knowing that after his nonsensical talk, Jin Chanzi seemed to have truly forgotten that they were both on the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk before.
But to be sure, and to confirm that no one else knew about Houtu possibly giving him a tear.
Sun Kong still had to harden his heart and continue to test Jin Chanzi.
"No change of hairstyle? You are indeed the most loyal Buddhist disciple. Then let's change your name?"
"Agreed!"
"Calling you Little Jinjin is too informal. Calling you Tang Xuanzang seems to imply a close connection with the Great Tang Empire, which is not true. How about calling you Golden Turtle Egg..."
"Master Sun, I, your disciple, am willing to accept this name, Golden Turtle Egg. Let's hurry up and continue the journey to the West; don't delay important matters."
"Good heavens, you don't even dislike being called Golden Turtle Egg? Then I'll just call you Golden Turtle Bug. This Golden Turtle Bug was used by a certain celebrity, and I'll let you use it for free."
"Still agreed, agreed, agreed. Your disciple can accept any name or any change except for his hairstyle. Master Sun, please, don't dawdle, let's go find Chan Master Wuchao to hand over."
"Even if you're afraid I received more rewards than you last time, I also worry about gossip. I am serious about taking you as my disciple, and besides my strength falling, I am genuinely impressed by you."
"You don't believe even this, do you?"
"Then I'll just be like you and leave the Spirit Mountain to become a monkey demon. I truly don't want to continue being a puppet of Buddhism!"
Perhaps Sun Kong's tests were too complicated and tedious, causing the future Tang Sanzang, who was supposed to be the most talkative, to become somewhat unbearable.
While making solemn oaths that he would treat Sun Kong as his master well,
He actually, before Sun Kong could react, crippled the cultivation that was hard-earned and had just been severely injured by Patriarch Kunpeng, thus falling to the lower grade of Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal.
Along with it, his Buddhist teachings and most of his destiny with the Spirit Mountain, i.e., the Lesser Vehicle Buddhism, were also crippled, leaving only the Buddhist root bestowed by Tathagata in the past.
If even his Buddhist root were gone, even though he could continue his journey to the West, he would never become a Buddha in the future!
Such courage.
Perhaps others would laugh at Jin Chanzi for being an idiot.
But when Sun Kong saw this, he felt only immediate respect and admiration, along with a genuine belief in Jin Chanzi's sincerity in taking him as a disciple!
"Don't do that, Little Jinjin... Forget it. Since you're so sincere, how can I, Old Sun, take advantage of you every time? We won't change your name or anything else."
"I'll still call you Jin Chanzi."
"I believe your sincerity, but there is too much karma intertwined between us. Such reckless acts cannot happen again, understand?"
"Also, without direct karma, I cannot directly intervene. So, hurry up and drink this bowl of Holy Water Soup to recover some of your cultivation."
"Lest you suffer terribly on the journey without anyone to protect you."
Sun Kong was startled by Jin Chanzi's resolute will to become his disciple. Even with his Fiery Eyes Golden Gaze and foresight, he couldn't understand how this could happen.
However, since it had come to this, regret was useless, and opposition was futile. It was better to truly accept this disciple.
After all.
No matter what, the two had indeed gone through life and death together several times and should be able to trust each other.
"Thank you, Master Sun. Your disciple feels recovered... Huh? Oh no, I don't know why, but my body seems unable to absorb this Holy Water Soup."
Jin Chanzi thanked Sun Kong and was about to take a few sips, but to his surprise, after drinking a bowl, the Holy Water Soup could not help him recover his cultivation.
Let alone recovering to the perfection of Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal.
Even recovering to the lower grade of Heavenly Immortal seemed impossible!
And this.
Should not have happened. Although he had just crippled his cultivation, his Buddhist root was still there, and he should have been able to recover more than fifty percent of his strength with the power of the Holy Water Soup.
How could this be...
"It's okay, it's okay. It's probably because when you crippled your cultivation, you also followed the will of heaven and returned to the original track, so external forces cannot help you recover."
"In the future, you'll have to rely on yourself. Old Sun believes your comprehension is definitely no lower than Randeng's."
Seeing the hint of panic on Jin Chanzi's face, Sun Kong spoke reassuringly.
However.
When Jin Chanzi continued on his way, preparing to find Chan Master Wuchao to settle his karma with him, Sun Kong, with his peripheral vision, clearly saw deep within Jin Chanzi's primordial spirit.
A mysterious restriction was left behind, which even he could not understand!
It seemed that it was precisely because of this restriction that Jin Chanzi's cultivation could only be crippled and not recovered.
And this restriction, with such precise timing, who else could it be?
It could only be that...
Heavenly Dao!
...
Somewhere in the chaotic void.
After reuniting, Heavenly Dao remained silent, completely lacking its usual human-like expression. However, Patriarch Hongjun, who was sitting opposite, had a sly look on his face!
"Sun Monkey becoming Tang Sanzang's master? Interesting."
"Tang Sanzang's cultivation can never be recovered, having only a Buddhist root but finding it difficult to collude with him to cause trouble? Excellent!"
For some reason.
At this moment, the smile in Patriarch Hongjun's eyes lacked any of his usual demeanor as the Dao Ancestor; instead, there was a kind of terrifying aura that was unknown to others!
...
On Sun Kong's side, he couldn't resolve this restriction himself, and even the system couldn't help.
Resentting Heavenly Dao again.
He could only deal with important matters first!