"Oh, damn, your belly has gotten even more prominent after only a few months!"
"Did you forget to use your magic to maintain your physique?"
"Alright, come back with me later. I'll teach you a slimming technique. Within a month, you must lose tens of thousands of pounds of fat for me, or don't tell anyone I'm your elder brother!"
Following Wu Zhiqi's gaze, Sun Kong looked towards his dan tian. He hadn't noticed anything else but saw Wu Zhiqi's distended belly, laden with tens of thousands of pounds of fat.
He couldn't help but tease.
Unexpectedly.
At this moment, Wu Zhiqi didn't mind being called fat. Instead, he let Sun Kong look further in, past the fat, and at his dan tian.
There was a not-small wound, inflicted by the new Six-Eared Macaque.
The wound had long since healed.
However, the damage it caused to his dan tian, and the severe loss of cultivation, causing Wu Zhiqi to fall to Earth Immortal and be unable to recover,
This was the most terrifying part!
"Brother Sun, why don't you give up on me? Let me be a wanderer in the mortal world; it's better than being a burden to you."
"You see, right?"
"She's ignoring me because of our engagement, and I, even more so, am useless. Because of the incident with my dan tian, I'll be a Great Perfection Earth Immortal my entire life. What qualifications do I have to go to her, or to you?"
As he spoke, Wu Zhiqi broke down in tears, almost committing suicide.
Fortunately.
Sun Kong acted swiftly and saved him.
Then.
Seeing his sworn brother Wu Zhiqi suffering so much and being so devoted, Sun Kong couldn't continue to lecture him. He could only quickly take the unlucky fellow and return to New Flower Fruit Mountain first.
Along the way, although Wu Zhiqi stopped crying, his dejected appearance was seen by the Tathagata, who couldn't help but mock him.
"It's okay, it's okay. Let Brother Sun scold me. I deserve it."
"Even if you take me back, I won't live for many more years."
"My dan tian is ruined too quickly. I probably won't even be able to maintain my remaining Great Perfection Earth Immortal cultivation. Just let me lie down, eat and drink every day, and die happily."
Before Sun Kong could retort to the Tathagata on his behalf, Wu Zhiqi, with a heart turned to ash, actually began to resign himself to his fate.
This made Sun Kong's heart tremble!
This was his sworn brother.
Not related by blood, but closer than a brother.
Because he was in seclusion and was momentarily careless, his brother had suffered an accident, lost his life, lost his spirit, and lost his wife.
How could Sun Kong not be heartbroken?
However, as someone who had courted disaster many times and shocked others, Sun Kong could allow himself to be angry, to be mad.
He absolutely refused to be like Wu Zhiqi, who, knowing the new Six-Eared Macaque had a powerful background and even the Sages didn't intervene, still went to his death.
Not to mention, the new Six-Eared Macaque's body alone could extract a drop of Pangu's essence blood. The person behind him must be even more terrifying!
Conversely.
After bringing the two back to New Flower Fruit Mountain, giving them their instructions, and having his third brother Zhou Wuxian personally protect his second brother Wu Zhiqi.
Sun Kong took a cold shower to regain his usual state of mind.
For the next few days.
He still had to deal with some superficial matters.
For example, the Seven Sages had clearly agreed to visit him, but for some reason, they suddenly changed their minds.
It was as if the declaration made by Daoist Zhun Ti that day made the other Sages wary.
They all concluded that Sun Kong was indeed the adopted son of the Tathagata, the godson of Nuwa, and the third-generation disciple of the two Western Sages, someone not to be easily provoked!
Another example, those who were supposed to come and negotiate the ninety-nine eighty-one tribulations never showed up, but instead postponed the meeting with various excuses.
It seemed they were also frightened by the Tathagata's words and dared not negotiate with Sun Kong casually, so they had to reschedule and think about the specific details.
But the reason for this remained unknown to anyone.
Another example, after Sun Kong finished studying the Journey to the West equipment set, he wanted to use his free time to chat with Jin Chanzi, but was stopped by the Tathagata.
The Tathagata didn't know about Jin Chanzi's matter.
Instead, he told him some unexpected news!
"Wukong, don't you want to stand up for your second brother Wu Zhiqi?"
"This Buddha has just fulfilled his mission and found that Cui Lan and her fiancé for you. However, I'm afraid neither you nor I can stop this matter."
"The reason is simple: she was merely kind and helpful, not in love with your second brother, and her fiancé is someone you absolutely cannot touch."
"Because that person is none other than a crucial figure in the Journey to the West tribulation, the past life of your second disciple, Zhu Bajie."
"Or, to be precise, it is Marshal Tianpeng, who is destined to have a nine-life romance with Cui Lan in the heavenly court."
"It's not that this Buddha is lecturing you, but if you truly possess the ability to impress even Sages and earn their praise, then be discerning and don't offend Marshal Tianpeng because of a Red-rumped Macaque."
"Not to mention, you still have the bond of fellow disciples."
"Just looking at him, this Buddha sees some peculiar blood threads that, besides shielding heavenly secrets, even this Buddha cannot approach him."
"I thought, this is not an ordinary magic or divine power, but clearly the unique ability of the Asura Sect. Surely you wouldn't dare to provoke Patriarch Styx too?"
Since transforming from Buddha into a Bodhisattva, the Tathagata's greatest change, apart from having to obey Sun Kong's arrangements and cooperate with him as a father and son, was that he was no longer as arrogant and confident as before.
As it happened.
After going out for a trip, he discovered that Cui Lan's fiancé was indeed the Marshal Tianpeng who had descended to the mortal world, and there were many techniques of the Asura Sect shielding him from heavenly secrets.
The Tathagata looked grave and repeatedly warned Sun Kong not to provoke such a fated person. For this reason, he made an exception and guaranteed.
Once Wu Zhiqi's cultivation is truly wiped out and he dies of old age, he can be reincarnated and enter the ranks of the Spirit Mountain disciples.
He couldn't be a Buddha, Bodhisattva, or Arhat, etc.
At the very least.
He could become a Buddha's son, cultivate Buddhist Dharma, and live for ten thousand years without dying.
This was possible!
"Become a Buddha's son?"
"Cultivate Buddhist Dharma?"
"Live for ten thousand years without dying?"
"Hahaha, little Lai Lai, do you think I'm a three-year-old child?"
"You know all about those tribulations that I'm aware of too, so why do you still think I'll just put up with it and not act?"
"This time, no one can persuade me. It's the Heavenly Court, it's the Jade Emperor, and it's that damned Marshal Tianpeng who harmed my second brother."
"I can't find that new Six-Eared Macaque, but I can still give Marshal Tianpeng a few blows."
"The Asura Sect scares you into such a coward, but I won't!"
After saying this, Sun Kong actually returned to the mortal world because of this matter and quickly found Cui Lan and Marshal Tianpeng.
He intended to make a decisive move and separate them, avenging Wu Zhiqi.
Unexpectedly.
At this very moment, an unprecedented pressure was monitoring him.
It was none other than.
It was somewhat like the will of the Heavenly Dao!
It seemed that it could only agree to Sun Kong's Journey to the West, but not to him finding Wu Zhiqi and Zhou Wuxian to replace Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.
But Sun Kong was a master of courting disaster, daring to defy Sages, Heavenly Dao, and the Great Dao.
How could he care about these things?
Before making a move, he activated the "Marquis Wu's Seven Star Formation."
Unexpectedly, he obtained an unexpected result from Marshal Tianpeng!