In less than fifteen minutes, as expected, waves of fragrance wafted from the Sun-Moon Universe Furnace, not only intoxicating the four inner disciples.
It also shocked the Grand Pure One, who believed himself to be absolutely rational and to have seen through all of Sun Kong's secrets.
"What is this?"
"Where did this furnace come from? It actually, even I cannot discern its origin?"
"Young friend Sun, you won't tell me that you intend to use this mere acquired merit spirit treasure, hmm? No, this thing isn't an acquired merit spirit treasure, it's more like..."
With the Grand Pure One's loss of composure, Sun Kong's nearly lost confidence returned to full strength, and with the system's timely prompts, he was grinning.
A prompt for a great shock!
[Ding! For the first time, the host has greatly shocked the stubborn Grand Pure One, causing him to change his previous disdain and dislike, and see the host in a new light.]
[Two rewards are given.]
[Reward 1: Two fragments of the Biyou Palace.]
[Reward 2: A Biyou Palace Beginner VIP Pass! This VIP pass is more effective than a normal pass, allowing direct meetings without anyone's permission or notification, except for the Grand Pure One himself!]
Sun Kong grinned from ear to ear upon hearing these two rewards.
The first was a double shock reward.
Although it still couldn't compensate for the loss from the previous reverse reward, it reduced his losses and offered hope of gradual recovery.
The second was something Sun Kong hadn't expected: Biyou Palace, a sacred land of the Jie Sect, actually had such a pay-to-win item as VIP passes!
He truly wondered if this item was merely created by the system on the spot, or if it was real and actually created by the Grand Pure One.
"Saint Shangqing, there's no need to be surprised. Please try it first, and see whose product is better and more authentic: your senior brother's, or my pot of sacred water soup."
"And please, Saint Shangqing, mind your demeanor. The Dao Ancestor said that all three thousand Great Daos can lead to sainthood, and no one has the right to look down on another, nor is anyone inherently superior to others."
"As a junior, I, Sun, dare not question whether the Taiqing Saint plagiarized my patent, but I dare say that apart from the Dao Ancestor, no one in the Three Realms of the Great Desolation can brew this sacred water soup."
"Don't believe me? Try it?"
Sun Kong heard an additional piece of news from the Grand Pure One's mouth.
It seemed that the reason he almost failed to shock him this time, besides his own underestimation and mistakes, was also an important factor.
It was that the Taiqing Saint, Laozi, had plagiarized his patent.
Although he didn't know how this Laozi dared to do such a thing, Sun Kong would absolutely not miss this opportunity to offer the sacred water soup and have the Grand Pure One drink it personally.
Indeed.
Just one second later, without a doubt, the Grand Pure One, who had been extremely harsh and questioning towards Sun Kong, let out a scream of pleasure!
"So refreshing!"
"It's incredibly delicious, absolutely amazing!"
"As expected of young friend Sun, whom I admire. I have nothing more to say. Just for this pot of sacred water soup, and for not blaming me for misjudging you and speaking incorrectly, and for still brewing soup for me."
"I promise you now, for any trouble before or after the Journey to the West that does not violate the rules of the Heavenly Dao, you can come to me."
"I can't guarantee much more, but ensuring your survival shouldn't be too difficult."
"I didn't expect that, besides the time my senior brother gave me this soup, which refined my magic power that had not changed for billions of years and increased my cultivation by a hundred billion billionth, there would be a second such opportunity."
"Please don't take offense to the harsh words I just said, young friend Sun. I... hmm, you scoundrels, how dare you snatch the soup before I've even finished speaking?"
"You're courting death!"
This was the second time the Grand Pure One had drunk the sacred water soup. Although it didn't have the same effect as the first time, it still made him extremely satisfied, and immediately restored his relationship with Sun Kong.
On one side, he angrily berated his four incompetent inner disciples for being so greedy and trying to snatch the soup from him in front of Sun Kong.
On the other side, while Sun Kong was happily counting his rewards, he gratuitously offered him a reminder!
"Does young friend Sun know why I was so harsh on you just now?"
"Please, Saint Shangqing, speak plainly."
"It's simple. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now that I recall, there are a few suspicious points. There are probably two reasons."
"The first is that the origin of this furnace of yours is very unusual. At first, it was indeed an acquired merit spirit treasure, but after boiling the sacred water soup last time, it changed."
"I can't even discern its current grade. I can only tell you, don't think it's a good thing just because its grade has upgraded and even we Saints can't see through it."
"Perhaps, it's a scheme by some eternal runner-up behind it."
The Grand Pure One's words almost made Sun Kong burst into laughter.
He naturally didn't know that the Sun-Moon Universe Furnace's first soup was for Yuan Shi Tianzun's Guangchengzi, and because of that, he had received Yuan Shi Tianzun's help in resolving the relocation issues of Tathagata and others.
In Sun Kong's eyes, Yuan Shi Tianzun was his benefactor. How could he suddenly act to upgrade the grade of the Sun-Moon Universe Furnace, and for it to be a bad thing?
Even if it were possible to be schemed against, the system should have given a prompt earlier!
"It seems young friend Sun still doesn't believe me, this eternal third place. It's no wonder, after the Investiture of the Gods, everyone belittles my Jie Sect, who takes me seriously?"
"But don't disbelieve me. Although my words have a hint of defamation towards a certain eternal second place, they are also sincere."
"The future will prove whether I am right."
"Now, let's talk about the second reason."
"I mentioned earlier that this sacred water soup was once claimed by my senior brother as his original creation, which is why I was so incredulous of your abilities."
"Thinking back carefully, that senior brother was indeed not normal at the time. Based on my understanding of Laozi, he dislikes noise the most, prefers quiet, and is biased towards a certain eternal second place."
"Except for sending Xuan Du Da Fa Shi to deliver soup to me last time, he hasn't come once in thousands of years. Why would he inexplicably plagiarize your sacred water soup and repeatedly emphasize that I shouldn't believe you?"
"There's only one reason: this person most likely used some obscure divine ability, indistinguishable even to us Saints, to impersonate Laozi and deceive me."
"As far as I know, such divine abilities are only possessed by the Dao Ancestor and the Demonic Ancestor Luohu, who co-existed with the Dao Ancestor."
"In short, young friend Sun, after you return this time, you must be extra careful. The calamity of the Journey to the West is approaching, don't let anything happen to you."
"As for this sacred water soup, if you are willing, send it over from time to time, and I will naturally offer you more support, for mutual benefit and to each their own. Hehe!"
After finishing his important business, the Grand Pure One had nothing else to say and personally saw Sun Kong off, encouraging him to visit often in the future.
This showed that this former Saint Shangqing, after his tragic defeat, had lost some of his arrogance and gained a bit more worldly charm.
But at this moment, Sun Kong couldn't immerse himself in the joy of having a Saint as his backer.
Because the fake Laozi made him think of someone.
The Six-Eared Macaque!