After finishing speaking, that beam of light vanished with a whoosh. If he guessed correctly, this should be the Great Sage transmitting a message to the Buddha.
Wan Lei stared at the Great Sage, dumbfounded.
Although he didn't know what grievances existed between the Great Sage and the Buddha, seeing the usually calm and wise Great Sage angered to the point of exclaiming that he wanted to be the Buddha's father made it easy to guess that the Buddha had likely tricked the Great Sage.
Recalling what he had just said, it was definitely the Buddha, that insignificant scoundrel, who didn't want to try this method himself and thus let the Great Sage scout the path first. After all, if there was a pitfall in the end, it would be the Great Sage who fell into it, and it would have nothing to do with this humble monk.
Knowing that the Great Sage was very angry at the moment, Wan Lei wisely kept his mouth shut.
"In a while, I'll go settle the score with that old bald donkey."
The Great Sage suppressed his rage and then asked Wan Lei,
"How did you know all this?"
Wan Lei smiled and replied,
"As junior I said, it was by consolidating the beliefs of all sentient beings to shape the immortal status.
I was the great hero who saved my homeland and defeated the demon race. People revered me as the Thunder Emperor, the Lord of the Plane.
At that time, I learned that several Demon Lords were invading, and I knew that without becoming an immortal, it would be difficult to resist.
However, our homeland was merely a mid-level spiritual plane, and only one person could become an immortal at a time. I gave this opportunity to my wife.
As for me, I called upon all the people in the world to contribute their faith, to help me become an immortal.
In the process of collecting the beliefs of all sentient beings, I felt that although the vast majority of people sincerely helped me become an immortal, there were still a small number of people cursing me to die a horrible death.
After all, the human heart is so complex; everyone has their own thoughts.
Those curses formed black threads, making my ocean of faith impure. At that time, I knew this was a great hidden danger.
If I could defeat the Demon Lords, it would be fine, but if I failed, all sentient beings would surely resent me. The immense faith that helped me become an immortal would instantly transform into resentment and tear me apart.
Incense worship is poisonous, a double-edged sword. The more they revere you, the more they will resent you in return.
The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
After all, faith must be pure, and deities must be perfect. If you make any mistake, it will be infinitely magnified in their eyes.
Therefore, becoming an Immortal Venerable, junior believes, is not very reliable through sheer numbers. The important thing is to gain the recognition of the righteous plane's will and have it grant authority."
The Monkey King nodded upon hearing this, then shook his head.
"What you said earlier is all correct, but the last sentence is wrong. You are too weak and know nothing about that level.
Immortal Venerables are omniscient and omnipotent. They are not granted authority by the righteous plane; rather, their authority and will... transcend the righteous plane."
The Monkey King sighed,
"Therefore, Immortal Venerables are truly free and unrestrained, with no will that can supersede them.
In fact, this is a very dangerous matter. How old are the Immortal Venerables? They become immortals in ten years, saints in a hundred years, and then die for a thousand years before becoming Immortal Venerables.
In their long lifespan in the Immortal Realm, these five are actually children. Entrusting this supreme authority to them..."
"But the Immortal Venerables are doing a good job, aren't they? This has nothing to do with age, right? They might not be mature, but as long as they have wisdom, can manage people, and govern the righteous plane well, it should be fine."
Wan Lei unconsciously fell into his old habit of arguing. He could sense that the Monkey King was being sour grapes.
"I know that. If it weren't for the most intelligent person among them, the Immortal Realm would have descended into chaos long ago, relying on the other four."
"Great Sage, junior doesn't understand. With your wisdom and experience, how could you possibly have been so easily fooled by the Buddha?"
Wan Lei pondered for a moment, unable to suppress his curiosity. He decided to ask the most sensitive question, as his desire for knowledge had always been strong.
"All tricksters in the world exploit the greed of their victims.
If you are not greedy, you will not be deceived. I was greedy."
The Monkey King raised his head, his brow furrowed.
"That time, the Buddha and I were fighting the demon race on the Sea of Suffering. After repelling the enemy's attack, he asked me to stay.
Looking at his demeanor, he had something to discuss with me. He chose the Sea of Suffering because it was the only place where Immortal Venerables could not be omniscient and omnipotent, allowing him to hide it from them.
That time, we sat on a large, memetic rock and talked for a long time.
Finally, he asked me if I wanted to become an Immortal Venerable.
I said yes.
Then, he said he had a way, which was to achieve Immortal Venerable by condensing the power of incense worship. I was not surprised, as Buddhism has the largest number of believers, so it was natural for him to understand incense worship the best.
He gave me a mustard seed, a seed as tiny as a speck of dust. That single mustard seed was this universe.
Refining a universe into the size of a speck of dust. Buddhism indeed possesses such a divine ability, but it is far inferior to the supreme divine ability of the Five Elements Hall. The divine ability of the Five Elements Hall can arbitrarily change the rules of the universe, whereas Buddhist divine abilities can only change the size of the universe.
The condition he proposed then was that this universe would be mine, and I would be registered in the Buddhist sect as some damned Fighting Buddha.
To me, it was just a name. I didn't have to go there regularly and could stay at Flower-Fruit Mountain, so I agreed.
Later, I spread teachings in this universe using the name 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven,' not 'Fighting Buddha.'
Later, I discovered that this amount of faith only provided a slight increase in my combat power and was of no other use.
So, I handed this place over to my subordinate, the Six-Eared Macaque, for management. Later, I fought in the Sea of Suffering year after year and gradually forgot about this matter.
It wasn't until today, when the Six-Eared Macaque attacked you and I sensed the aura of a sage, that I remembered this place.
So this beast, behind my back, did such inhumane things!"
Hearing this, Wan Lei curled his lips. He decided he couldn't hold back, as the Great Sage was a kind person and wouldn't be unhappy, right?
"Great Sage, as you said, the Buddha is the most adept at using the power of incense worship. If he has such a good method, why doesn't he use it himself? Is he truly selfless and doesn't covet the position of Immortal Venerable?
I think... he might have intended to use you as a pawn to see if this method worked. If it failed, it would be your failure, and he would have no loss."
Upon hearing this, the Monkey King fell silent and emitted another golden light,
"Buddha, I'll go f*ck your mother."
Whoosh, the golden light flew away.
Wan Lei felt a bit embarrassed, thinking he shouldn't say anything more. In such a short time, the Great Sage had already cursed the Buddha twice.
"Well... Great Sage, let's not rush to curse people for now. Junior has a method, and I don't know if you're willing to try it."
As Wan Lei spoke, the Creation God Disk appeared on his brow. After a moment of hesitation, he handed it to the Great Sage.
"What is this thing? Your shield?"