This reward was the most peculiar.
And also the stingiest, bar none!
No one could have imagined that while the Spirit Mountain's Buddhas and the Heavenly Court's immortals all offered rewards of varying degrees, even the lowest being something for the monkeys and their offspring.
Or perhaps points of reverence, useless for now but of some value when accumulated.
Only the Ancestor Hongjun was.
Truly, to the extreme of stinginess.
Was he expecting this old man to work for him for free through an entire Journey to the West tribulation just for these three sentences?
The more Sun Kong thought about it, the angrier he became.
He unconsciously swung his Chaos Golden Cudgel, smashing it at the void where the Purple Heaven Palace had long since vanished.
As he smashed,
He also carefully considered this unreliable matter.
“Ancestor Dao can't hold on? Ancestor Dao perishes? What kind of nonsense is this damn system spouting? Even if I die, he won't.”
“This time, that Hongjun old man is playing a big game, actually dragging me and the system into it. Could it be that he’s the one who found those 36.5 billion living beings?”
“Forget it, forget it, he's Ancestor Dao after all. What can I do to make him admit he acted? I should hurry back and deal with those billions of gluttons.”
“I really don't know if in my past life I forgot to top up for some author, reading too much pirated web novels, leading to such an unlucky present life.”
“If I don't find a way to resolve this soon, I'm afraid I won't even need to wait for the subsequent eighty-one tribulations, this first tribulation alone could be my undoing!”
With this thought, Sun Kong's anger subsided by more than half. He no longer expected Ancestor Dao or the Six Sages to offer any constructive advice.
He then mounted his Chaos Somersault Cloud and returned to New Flower Fruit Mountain.
This back and forth took a total of six days, three days each way.
By the time Sun Kong landed, the number of people paying homage to him had risen from over twenty billion to seemingly even more, as if more people knew that this was the first tribulation of the Journey to the West.
They rushed over in droves.
Cannot be killed.
Cannot be driven away.
Helplessly, Sun Kong had to restart the only method he had previously considered: relocation.
However, as expected, they were once again blocked by the Buddhas of Spirit Mountain.
This obstruction, in turn, wasted the last day, the seventh day that the system had helped to shield heavenly secrets.
Finally.
The Six Sages were the first to deduce the situation here, greatly astonished and each with their own hidden agendas.
Other Quasi-Sages and beings from the Primordial World also heard of the matter one after another.
Exclamations of all kinds!
…
Xuandu Heaven.
Eight Views Palace.
The Grand Pure Sage Laozi was startled by Sun Kong's situation!
“This Sun Monkey has actually stirred up this much trouble?”
“How could this be?”
“Given his previous performance, this shouldn't be happening. If it were, then letting the evil corpse Li Er send him the Eight Trigrams Furnace and Six Ding Divine Fire last time seems like a loss?”
Laozi was just calculating how much he had lost, but then he thought that this matter was driven by the Heavenly Dao, and he shouldn't be guessing blindly by himself.
He should ask Ancestor Dao.
Thus.
He purified himself, bathed, burned incense, and prayed, preparing to communicate with Ancestor Hongjun using his true spirit to seek some guidance.
Unexpectedly.
As soon as he began communicating, he was scared pale.
Hongjun, whom they, the Six Sages, had always regarded as their Ancestor Dao and Master, was actually gone?
“This is impossible!”
“This is absolutely impossible.”
“The Journey to the West tribulation is just a minor tribulation, none of us Six Sages paid much attention, how could our Ancestor Dao… actually be gone?”
“Wait, didn't Sun Kong go to the Purple Heaven Palace just now? He didn't go long before Ancestor Dao vanished, could it be that this brat is the culprit behind Ancestor Dao’s demise?”
“Then just how terrifying is this Sun… Great Sage Sun?”
“Is this the true purpose of his repeated courting of death, to drive away Ancestor Dao, to awe everyone, to reign supreme, and dominate the Journey to the West?”
“This is something even the Demon Ancestor Luohu couldn't accomplish, how could it be…”
Laozi grew more and more uneasy as he thought.
He couldn't break the rules to go and question Sun Kong.
Nor could he find Ancestor Dao Hongjun for confirmation.
In the end, he did something similar to Hongjun's own approach, closing the palace doors and refusing all visitors except for those necessary to comply with heavenly mandates!
…
Similar situations also occurred at the Primordial Venerable Lord of the Chan School, the Master of the Interception School Tongtian Cult Master, the Mother of the Human School Nuwa Niangniang, and the Two Sages of the Western Teachings, Jieyin and Zhunti.
However, unlike Laozi’s immediate thought of connecting it to Sun Kong, the others did not blame Sun Kong for causing Ancestor Dao to disappear, nor did they believe he had the ability to do so.
Instead, they only linked this matter to the 36.5 billion beings surrounding New Flower Fruit Mountain, arriving at a conclusion that was frightening, but far less so than what Laozi had imagined.
“Ancestor Dao is wise. He knew in advance that the Journey to the West tribulation would begin early due to this troublemaker Sun Monkey, and thus educated us in advance and retreated in a timely manner.”
“Such foresight, we are full of admiration. Since it has come to this, we Sages should also abide by the rules and withdraw from the public eye in succession.”
“However, the opening of the Journey to the West tribulation is very peculiar. I wonder how the subsequent eighty-one tribulations will be arranged, and whether the outcome will also be peculiar?”
“Everything hinges on how this Sun Monkey plays it out!”
With these感慨 and sighs, the five Sages had similar and different reactions.
The similarity was.
After Ancestor Dao Hongjun "disappeared," and after Laozi was the first to close his doors, the Jade Purity Palace of the Chan School closed its doors, the Jade Void Palace of the Interception School closed its doors, and Nuwa's Wa Palace partially closed its doors.
The Pure Land of Bliss of the Two Sages of the Western Teachings also closed its doors, but not completely, nor partially. The Two Sages, except for opening it to Sun Kong, did not easily open it to others.
The difference was.
The Primordial Venerable Lord instructed the Eight Great Golden Immortals to descend to the mortal realm, ready to be summoned by their ally Sun Kong at any time, without delay.
Tongtian Cult Master had no available disciples at the moment, but due to his cooperation with the Jade Emperor and the new Six-Eared Macaque, he passed messages to both sides.
He demanded that the Heavenly Court and the Demon Race open their doors to the gods of the Interception School!
He himself, seeing that Ancestor Dao Hongjun had seemingly vanished, was eager to try. On the surface, he cooperated with the Jade Emperor, the new Six-Eared Macaque, and Sun Kong.
His hidden intentions, however, were unknown!
Nuwa sent one of her most favored attendants, Feng'er, down to the mortal realm.
She arrived at New Flower Fruit Mountain to convey her motherly concern and reminder to her son, Sun Kong, urging him to be extremely cautious.
The Two Sages of the Western Teachings were even more direct.
They transmitted their message through the Buddhist Dharma, notifying Buddha Dipankara and Tathagata.
Although the Heavenly Dao had undergone new changes, after the calculations of the two, except for the first tribulation being transferred to Sun Kong, the rest would largely follow the original plan.
Only the details would differ.
“For the first tribulation, that Sun Monkey should already have a solution. If not, you must find a scapegoat and slaughter those people to avoid delaying Sun Monkey’s actions.”
“As for the second and subsequent tribulations, you must make arrangements in advance and not miss the appointed time.”
“Of course, if you can reveal some information to Sun Kong, you may do so appropriately, as long as it does not incur heavenly punishment, all is well!”