[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully activating the first tribulation of the New Journey to the West, "The Great Sage is Besieged," thus commencing the new Journey to the West calamity.]
[Note 1: Due to changes in the new heavenly calendar, the host will no longer follow the original timeline of the Journey to the West calamities. Instead, the first tribulation will be transferred from Jin Chanzi to the host.]
[Note 2: As the host has not yet found the future Little White Dragon, this system can temporarily shield heavenly secrets for the host. However, this will last for a maximum of seven days. After seven days, regardless of whether the Little White Dragon appears, the journey will continue.]
[Note 3: The original first tribulation began with Jin Chanzi's banishment. Now, the first tribulation starts with the host. On the surface, there seems to be no difference, but the underlying implications are vast. The specific unfolding of subsequent calamities is for you to discover.]
After the system's simplest prompt, it brought Sun Kong the most thrilling and unexpected "surprise."
Everyone in the world knew that the first tribulation of the Journey to the West began with Jin Chanzi.
But now, the situation was different.
He didn't know who had summoned these tens of billions of sentient beings. Because they had surrounded Sun Kong for too long, even the Heavenly Dao had determined that he was more suitable to begin the first tribulation than Jin Chanzi.
And so it was.
Just as Sun Kong was preparing to move, he was intercepted by Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and others.
Others might not know Patriarch Subdue the Buddha's purpose in stopping him, but Sun Kong had already understood: they were here for the merit of this first tribulation.
How to obtain this merit?
The system hadn't said.
Sun Kong didn't know.
The Tathagata, Patriarch Subdue the Buddha, and others knew even less, and could only look towards him!
In the past, they had all wanted to drive Sun Kong away.
Now, everyone was looking at him expectantly, almost calling him "Grandpa"!
Therefore.
This led to the situation where the Buddhas feigned a request to stay, the Tathagata believed them, Sun Kong didn't, and the outside billions of people continued to surround them, escalating the conflict!
This scene almost made Sun Kong fly into a rage.
But after calming himself, he had no choice but to heed the system's prompt, transforming his dissatisfaction into strength and his resentment into ambition.
Although, so far, the system's hints had been too few, and his preparations were far from sufficient.
Yet Sun Kong also knew that in this place called the Primordial Chaos Three Realms, no one could ever be perfectly prepared to face a calamity.
Even the Six Saints and the Dao Ancestor Hongjun could not have predicted this "accident" in advance.
They would be as shocked as he was!
Sun Kong had no alternative, no choice, and could only follow the system's guidance, both system and he accelerating their actions.
On the system's end, Sun Kong instructed it to shield heavenly secrets for seven days.
This was to prevent the outside world from knowing, which would be even more disadvantageous to him.
Especially, he couldn't let the New Six-Eared Macaque know.
As for Sun Kong himself, while Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and the others were still performing, he coughed, let out a cold laugh, and exposed the matter!
"Tathagata, come back. This matter is not what you think. Otherwise, why would Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and the others only come to help today?"
"Patriarch Subdue the Buddha, I, as the acting Deputy Buddha, have dealt with you more than once. This time, I'll be more straightforward."
"I have a way to keep the news of the first tribulation's commencement a secret for up to seven days. However, you Buddhas must also do something, otherwise, I don't mind doing it alone."
In order to drag Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and the others into this, and to devise a method to resolve the first tribulation within a mere seven days, Sun Kong had to once again employ his advanced "suicidal" tactics.
However, this time he had changed it slightly.
The original first move was to feign weakness and cry.
To force Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and the others to help, he changed it to feigning strength and fierceness.
Indeed.
As he spoke, Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and the others blushed, and were once again shocked. They had no time to refute or whitewash themselves, and in order not to lose merit, they could only nod quickly.
They willingly became Sun Kong's helpers in facing the first tribulation!
"Senior Brother Tathagata, Fellow Daoist Sun, why must you do this alone? Although this Buddha does not know how Fellow Daoist Sun has the ability to shield even these heavenly secrets."
"But this Buddha understands that you are both troubled, so I am willing to help you with anything."
"As for the merit afterwards, hehe, please don't mind, but we at Spirit Mountain have tens of thousands of Buddhas who need merit to survive. It's not easy for anyone."
Patriarch Subdue the Buddha, who had been proud of becoming a Buddha not long ago, descended the mountain to seek help from Sun Kong for the first time, and no longer had so much confidence. Instead, like Primordial Heaven-Honored, he humbled himself.
Seeing this situation.
Although Tathagata was very displeased, he knew that the situation was pressing and internal strife was not an option. He endured his anger and also persuaded Sun Kong to be more magnanimous.
Under these circumstances, Sun Kong felt the time was right and immediately assigned new tasks to everyone.
Moving house?
What nonsense about moving house.
Who knew which scoundrel had used the karmic forces gathered by tens of billions of sentient beings to force a change in the heavenly calendar and bring forward the Journey to the West calamity.
Sun Kong wanted to find the mastermind, but for now, he had to deal with the immediate major event.
Division of labor?
Of course, there had to be a new division of labor. Besides using this opportunity to reprimand the Buddhas of Spirit Mountain, making them truly listen to his arrangements, the most important thing was not to ruin the grand scheme due to mutual distrust.
To put it bluntly, even if the future Tang Sanzang had not yet appeared, and the future Sha Wujing was still waiting, and the future Little White Dragon had not even arrived yet.
Since the Heavenly Dao had chosen Sun Kong as the protagonist of every subsequent Journey to the West calamity, he had to bear this responsibility!
Thus.
As both groups of people looked on, Sun Kong hardened his heart and decisively made arrangements one by one!
Among them.
Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and the others were divided into two groups.
Patriarch Subdue the Buddha, leading three thousand Buddhas and others, was responsible for fully blocking the impact of more sentient beings.
The Eight Great Bodhisattvas, led by Tathagata, were responsible for converting and guiding them with silent Buddhist teachings.
The Three Great Generals were responsible for leading the million monkeys and their descendants to cooperate with Patriarch Subdue the Buddha and the others.
Wuzhiqi was sent to the Chan Sect to inquire if Erlang Shen had found the Little White Dragon.
As for Sun Kong himself, as the protagonist of the first tribulation, he had to temporarily leave this place and go to Zixiao Palace to have a word with the Dao Ancestor Hongjun!
"Everyone, try your best to stall for time."
"I believe he will have a solution or a hint. He can't suddenly tell me about this prematurely initiated Journey to the West calamity without knowing about it, right?"
Sun Kong performed a few somersaults and truly headed towards Zixiao Palace!
...
At the same time.
The Six Saints were stunned by this scene.
And in the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor seemed to know that this matter would happen in advance, showing no surprise at all. Instead, he revealed a kind of arrogance and self-confidence that no one could have anticipated!
"The first tribulation of the Journey to the West calamity has finally begun early. Dead monkey, you absolutely cannot handle it."
"Styx, this is the first gift you've given me."
"I wonder what your next move will be? Don't forget, if Sun Kong dies or is defeated, this heavenly punishment will not distinguish between you and me."
"Are you sure this scheme is so well-hidden that even the Heavenly Dao cannot find the truth?"