One day later.
General Ba reported that under the leadership of the second great king Wu Zhiqi, with the cooperation of marshals Ma and Liu, and finally Tathagata being effective once, they managed to resist the army of billions.
It's uncertain how long they could hold.
However, at the very least, a few hours before moving were secured.
All the monkeys and their descendants from the New Flower Fruit Mountain returned to Sun Kong's side.
Standing by, ready for orders!
Facing his own people, Sun Kong did not hide anything, revealing his plan to move and leave the hundreds of billions of people behind.
Most of the monkeys and their descendants were somewhat shocked but gradually understood him.
When it came to the highest echelons, each voiced their opinions.
"Good morning, Great King!"
"Your Majesty's wise decision, we three will never go back on our word, not even if we die."
As expected, General Ba, Marshal Ma, and Marshal Liu, three of the four most favored monkey generals by Sun Kong, had always supported him.
They were also the first to express their support this time.
Sun Kong nodded, very pleased, and looked at the other two who had not spoken but held considerable weight.
They were none other than Tathagata and Wu Zhiqi!
"Hello, Brother Sun!"
"Still call me Eldest Brother. With your cultivation restored and the opportunity given by Zhu Yishi, you have nothing to worry about. It's good to get used to our address early."
"Okay, I'll listen to you, Brother Sun... Eldest Brother. Regarding this move, I have no objections. I just want to remind Eldest Brother to go far, far away."
"Why?"
"Because this Spirit Mountain is too unlucky. I thought we had a patron here, but instead, it attracted so much trouble and disturbed everyone's cultivation. It's better to run a hundred and eighty million miles away so they can't find us."
Wu Zhiqi had a straightforward personality and held nothing back from his good brother, Eldest Brother Sun Kong, but his words were somewhat hurtful.
As soon as he finished speaking, Tathagata on the other side looked a bit uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Tathagata was no longer the Buddha, but merely the person in charge of executing the Journey to the West plan. Although he didn't like his Spirit Mountain being slandered,
he had to admit that after this period of interaction, he increasingly agreed with Sun Kong's initial idea of forcibly joining the Spirit Mountain and better understood that the Buddhas of Spirit Mountain were unbearable to cooperate with.
The reason was simple.
It was mainly due to two aspects.
One was himself. He had taken care of the Buddhas for many years, yet they lacked any loyalty. Instead, after he was stripped of his Buddha title, all the Buddhas went to fawn over and curry favor with the Burning Lamp Buddha!
Although Tathagata was not greedy for such petty vanity, as the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Buddhas, he felt extremely imbalanced and saw through the minds of these Buddhas.
Their strong opposition to Sun Kong joining back then, and their driving away of Tathagata today, were both to protect their own core interests.
They had no sense of Buddha at all!
The second was that after being abolished last time, and after spending more time with the people of the New Flower Fruit Mountain, Sun Kong, Wu Zhiqi, the three generals, and millions of monkeys and their descendants, Tathagata gradually came to understand the joys, sorrows, loves, and hates of the creatures at the bottom of the Immortal Realm, which the Buddhas of Spirit Mountain could never comprehend.
Although Sun Kong and the others were monkey demons, and destined to be pawns used by various forces, they lived more freely and at ease.
Especially Sun Kong's repeated recklessness and shocking actions gradually assimilated Tathagata.
Although he didn't say it, he secretly approved of his actions!
On a small scale, it was envy that Sun Kong could still get rewards for his recklessness, improve his cultivation and strength, gain the support of more forces, and turn the Journey to the West into a calamity he could control.
On a grand scale, it made Tathagata feel as if he had returned to the time before the Investiture of the Gods calamity, when he and his fellow disciples in the Jie School spent their days in class and communicating with each other.
At that time, the Jie School was even more prosperous than the Western Sect. If not for the failure of the Investiture of the Gods, he, Tathagata, would still be the respected senior disciple.
With the doting of the Heavenly Lord Tongtian, the admiration of his many fellow disciples, and Tathagata's own comprehension,
he believed that severing the corpse would not be difficult.
Even achieving the Great Perfection of a quasi-saint, infinitely close to a saint, was within reach.
After all,
when Sun Kong almost fought with the Human Sect and Chan Sect last time, he had sensed some profound artistic conceptions. If he were as free to cultivate as Sun Kong, he would have this opportunity!
"Master Tongtian, Duobao, I truly regret following the two saints of the Western Sect. Now, this Journey to the West calamity is getting bigger and bigger, how can it be resolved?"
"Never mind, I'll continue to follow my adopted son, Sun Monkey, who likes to court death and annoy me."
"He can live a more fulfilling life than I can, and he has his reasons. All I seek is to complete the Journey to the West, satisfy everyone, and break through."
"What reason do I have to continue lecturing him as a non-existent Buddha?"
"It's not possible that I think I understand the pros and cons of Sun Monkey's actions better than Empress Nuwa and Heavenly Lord Yuanshi, is it?"
Thinking this, as Sun Kong turned to look at him, Tathagata immediately agreed and expressed that,
besides personally casting a spell with the power of his two corpses to lift the New Flower Fruit Mountain, he did not intend to inform the Burning Lamp Buddha and others.
In short,
he wanted to leave decisively.
If he was going to leave, he would leave with Sun Kong, wander through the Great Desolation's three realms, travel the mortal world, and experience various joys and sorrows again, thereby understanding a higher level of Buddhist teachings!
"Little Lai Lai, are you sure you're moving with us?"
"Don't forget, although you are not the Buddha, you are considered a Buddha of Spirit Mountain, and you are being monitored by the two saints of the Western Sect. If you really leave, I'm afraid..."
Sun Kong was surprised by Tathagata's decision. He wanted to advise him not to act impulsively, lest it draw the intervention of the two saints of the Western Sect, making things difficult for him in the future.
But unexpectedly,
Tathagata's attitude this time was firm, with no possibility of turning back. But just as he was about to speak, an accident occurred!
No one could have predicted.
At this moment, the Burning Lamp Buddha, accompanied by eight great Bodhisattvas and three thousand Buddhas, descended.
They were not only there to persuade Sun Kong and his followers to stay,
but they also did something that astonished Sun Kong and his followers.
They actually stepped forward to block the army of billions for them!
"Senior Brother Tathagata, Vice Buddha Kong, we are all family, how can we let you wander alone? We will find a way to resolve this trouble."
"If absolutely necessary, opening the Spirit Mountain's warehouse to feed them for half a year or so is still possible."
"We truly cannot leave you, especially Vice Buddha Kong. You are the second-in-command of Spirit Mountain. If you leave, how will we live?"
The words of these Buddhas moved Tathagata,
but they did not move Sun Kong, because, at that instant, Sun Kong used the "Martial Prime Minister's Seven Stars Array" to deduce their true purpose.
It was not for the sake of Sun Kong and his followers.
But rather, as hundreds of billions of beings troubled Sun Kong, the Heavenly Mandate had changed again, and the first of the eighty-one tribulations of the ninety-nine tribulations had appeared right here!