[Ding! The host has shocked Guanyin with the Holy Water Soup, gaining a reward: Guanyin Sister's sincere heart-to-heart, beginner level.]
[Ding! The host has shocked Manjushri with the Holy Water Soup, gaining a reward: Manjushri Sister's sincere heart-to-heart, beginner level.]
[Ding! The host has shocked Samantabhadra with the Holy Water Soup, gaining a reward: Samantabhadra Sister's sincere heart-to-heart, beginner level.]
[Ding! The host has shocked Jurusun with the Holy Water Soup. Due to him being far less sunny and handsome than the host, he felt ashamed and greatly admired him, gaining a reward: Jurusun Ugly Brother's sincere heart-to-heart, advanced level!]
...
[Ding! The host has shocked the second-in-command of Spirit Mountain, the Vice Buddha, Dipankara Buddha, gaining a reward: Elder Dipankara's sincere heart-to-heart, one-fifth of beginner level.]
[Simultaneously gained a reward: Elder Dipankara personally bestowed a Dinghai Pearl!]
[The twenty-four Dinghai Pearls, when gathered, are supreme innate spiritual treasures. While a single pearl's power is weakened, it is still an innate spiritual treasure and can serve as an alternative 'mobile phone-like' spiritual treasure for contacting Elder Dipankara at any time.]
...
In the blink of an eye, Sun Kong, with just one pot of Holy Water Soup, managed to gain the goodwill and shock of most of the top figures on Spirit Mountain. Setting aside the rewards, the method with which he instantly changed everyone's stance was indeed super awesome!
Following this, in the Great Thunderclap Temple, there was no longer any high-ranking opposition to him bestowing Buddhahood upon the tragically deceased monkeys and their descendants. Instead, one by one, they drank the soup, advertised it, praised him, and expressed their admiration.
It was as if the place was about to become another Flower-Fruit Mountain, exclusively for Sun Kong!
"Vice Buddha, Sister Manjushri, Sister Samantabhadra, Jurusun... Ah, you ugly brother, you don't deserve to drink this Holy Water Soup with us. Go play elsewhere."
"Did I, Guanyin, not advertise it correctly? Did I say anything wrong?"
"Alas, in the end, it was we ourselves who were too shallow, mistaking Brother Kong Kong's excessive enthusiasm and earnestness for rebellion or some ulterior motive."
"To think that he would repay our grievances with virtue, and our Spirit Mountain Buddhas with soup! How great, how righteous, how incredibly moving."
"Therefore, I believe that there's no need to be so concerned about the Thirty-Six Heavens Buddhas or the Seventy-Two Earth Buddhas. It would be better to let Brother Kong Kong bestow the titles himself."
"To put it bluntly, we are all in the same pot. It was indeed our fault before, not to have accepted, not to have retaliated against those lovely little monkeys."
"Now, by bestowing a hundred and eight nominal titles, we can help them achieve transcendence. Is this not an opportunity to showcase our Buddhist righteousness?"
Guanyin Bodhisattva, who was the first to drink and the first to be won over by the Holy Water Soup, unexpectedly, after all the Buddhas joined the Holy Water Soup banquet, was the first to side with Sun Kong.
Upon hearing this, the other Buddhas, such as Dipankara, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and Jurusun, offered no further objections. One by one, they stamped their approval and gave Sun Kong their consent.
Even at this moment, the true top figure of Spirit Mountain, the Tathagata, had not yet returned.
Even though many present Buddhas, many Tathagatas, and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas were solely focused on their own enjoyment, without considering the envious and jealous gazes of the middle and lower ranks, this decision remained unchanged!
Thus, Sun Kong, without any effort, obtained the power to bestow Buddhahood upon the monkeys and their descendants. Even if they were mere nominal titles, it was still better than them being made into demons in life and finding no peace in death.
Even.
When outsiders did not notice, Sun Kong secretly smiled. Of course, he would not let these fellows off the hook for free. It was just that instead of rashly joining before, it was now a gradual infiltration.
In summary, it was one sentence.
Hou Fugui, do not forget me.
As the King of Flower-Fruit Mountain, he could not just focus on himself and his two brothers becoming Buddhas and ancestors, while forgetting the monkeys and their descendants.
Since Elder Dipankara and the others had changed their stance and agreed to this matter, Sun Kong was not one to be coy. He planned to bestow the titles after the banquet.
Firstly, it would bring some solace to the tragically deceased monkeys and their descendants, and in the future, if they were reincarnated elsewhere, they could remember him and act accordingly.
Secondly, it would be an opportunity for the Buddhas of Spirit Mountain to have no further excuses not to accept him!
With this open and aboveboard acceptance, who would dare to arbitrarily control, manipulate, or deceive him on the Journey to the West or after it?
...
"The five hundred Arhats, eight hundred Vajras, and three thousand Maitreya Bodhisattvas over there, don't look around aimlessly. I'm talking to you. Although your status is not as high as Sister Guanyin's, you are still family."
"Come here."
"Although the Buddhas, Tathagatas, and Bodhisattvas ate and drank too quickly and there isn't much left, I, Sun, will not treat you unfairly."
"Let's do this, one bowl for every hundred of you. It's less, of course, but it's better than nothing."
"Opportunities to improve cultivation and purify the Buddhist heart are not frequent."
Seeing the envy and longing in the eyes of the more numerous Buddhist disciples of the middle and lower ranks of Spirit Mountain, yet no one paying them any mind, Sun Kong took the last bit of Holy Water Soup to them.
"My ingredients are also very precious."
"Since you have all drunk it, can we discuss who retaliated against my monkeys and their descendants? And how will the other monkeys be arranged next?"
"Do they still have to live at the foot of the mountains where mortals reside, or in other caves inhabited by monsters?"
Upon hearing his words, the five hundred Arhats, eight hundred Vajras, three thousand Maitreya Bodhisattvas, and others in the middle and lower ranks, who had been extremely resistant and greatly dissatisfied with Sun Kong, immediately changed their expressions.
The five hundred Arhats exposed a certain ignorant Buddha.
As soon as his name was spoken, Elder Dipankara, who had finished eating and drinking, immediately responded to Sun Kong on the spot, incapacitating that person with a single finger.
Imprisoned in the Buddhist prison!
The eight hundred Vajras, with grinning faces, gave the ordinary temples originally intended for the next batch of Buddhist disciples and their descendants to Sun Kong, and went ahead to renovate them.
This made Sun Kong so happy that he didn't know what to say.
The three thousand Maitreya Bodhisattvas also did not stand idly by. They understood Sun Kong's difficulties and, without further ado, gathered everyone and used their magical powers.
They transformed the temples vacated by the eight hundred Vajras into secondary mountain peaks tightly clustered around the main mountain range of Spirit Mountain, forming a brand new Flower-Fruit Mountain!
"Thank you all for giving me face today. In the future, my brothers and I, along with our monkeys and their descendants, will redouble our efforts to repay Spirit Mountain!"
A soup banquet that began with murder and ended with laughter temporarily concluded amidst Sun Kong's laughter.
The night passed uneventfully.
Not to mention Sun Kong leading his two brothers and millions of monkeys and their descendants to occupy the new Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Let us speak of the other side. The Tathagata Buddha intended to hasten to report the matter and seek help from the two leaders, but unexpectedly, he was met with a closed door.
It wasn't until three days and three nights later.
A monkey of unknown origin with a sinister grin suddenly appeared beside him. After being reminded by the monkey, he finally realized that even the two leaders seemed to believe that Sun Kong had not violated any rules.
Hence, they were unwilling to interfere!
"Thank you, benefactor monkey," the Tathagata said with a helpless sigh and was about to leave.
Unexpectedly.
The monkey blocked him and, pointing in the direction of Spirit Mountain, sinisterly sowed discord!