Wan Lei scratched his scalp and chuckled,
"I've checked the records, elder. Your name is Wukong, but you don't have a surname. Why do you always refer to yourself as 'Old Sun'?"
Upon hearing the question, the Monkey King sneered,
"You ask this? This goes back to when the Immortal Venerables spoke of it. After the five of them became Immortal Venerables, that Earth Immortal Venerable, Wan, would call me Sun Wukong every time he saw me.
I told him I wasn't surnamed Sun, and he insisted I was.
And so, I became surnamed Sun.
Later, I asked him why he called me Sun Wukong, and he explained that it was from a myth and legend on a planet called Earth, in the Yinghuo Ancient Realm, the homeland of the four Immortal Venerables.
There, there was also a stone monkey from Mount Huaguo, who also apprenticed under Master Bodhi to learn skills, and his name was Sun Wukong.
But I don't know why it veered off course later, saying Old Sun went to wreak havoc in the Heavenly Court. I still can't fathom it; could that little Heavenly Court of Di Jun withstand my rampage?
Later, the Jade Emperor in that myth and legend sought help from the Buddha. The Buddha came and suppressed me under the mountain for five hundred years.
A monk rescued me, and then I apprenticed myself to that mortal monk. I remained loyal, acting as his bodyguard, protecting him on his journey to the West to retrieve scriptures. Finally, I achieved the fruit of Buddhahood, attaining the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha."
Hearing this, Wan Lei let out a snort and laughed,
"That myth and legend must have been written by a monk; it's a distortion of facts."
"Exactly, it's pure subjective imagination, bullying Old Sun because I wasn't in that world, saying whatever they pleased.
When the Immortal Venerable spoke of this legend, the Buddha was present, and he playfully suggested that Old Sun become his Victorious Fighting Buddha.
So, I beat him up.
Later, every time I saw him, I beat him up."
"The Buddha must have held a grudge against you because you beat him, which is why he set you up this time."
"Makes sense, I'll beat him up again next time."
The Monkey King deeply agreed.
Poor Buddha...
Wan Lei thought to himself and then asked,
"Great Sage, I need to return to the Five Elements Hall to report. Can I take the Six-Eared Macaque's head back with me? It can serve as evidence to close the case."
"Take it. After the case is closed, remember to bury it, let him return to dust and earth."
The Monkey King was indifferent.
Wan Lei nodded, stood up, and walked towards the steps below.
The Monkey King said nothing, merely watching him quietly.
When Wan Lei reached the lowest step and came to beside the Six-Eared Macaque's head, he suddenly turned and knelt before the Monkey King above.
"Junior Wan Lei, I thank Great Sage for saving my life and imparting his teachings. Once I rescue my wife, I will surely bring her here to express my profound gratitude."
The Monkey King smiled and waved his hand,
"Go. If you can rescue her, and you're in danger, flee to me. Old Sun will protect you. If you're not in danger, you don't need to come; I still need to go into seclusion to comprehend the Great Dao you taught me."
With that, a spatial vortex, emitting a black-blue light, suddenly appeared behind Wan Lei.
Wan Lei stood up, smiled and nodded at the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, then picked up the Six-Eared Macaque's head, turned, and leaped into the spatial vortex.
Watching the disappearing spatial vortex, the Monkey King's smile gradually faded. He sighed and said leisurely,
"Old Sun, I dislike this tendency of yours to be so cryptic and hide everything from others. You're doing it for their own good, yet you deliberately keep them in the dark.
Watching them being played around by you, do you feel a sense of accomplishment?"
A figure in black suddenly appeared in the place where Wan Lei had been sitting.
The young man in black sat alongside the Monkey King, both looking ahead.
"You don't understand. Many things, if they were known, would not achieve the desired effect.
Just like back then, when the Ghost Emperor of the First Generation, in conjunction with the Will of the Ghost Realm and the Will of the Immortal Realm, reversed the future and reshaped Xia Dayu. Did they tell us everything?
It's impossible. They wouldn't."
Earth Immortal Venerable Wan Yi said,
"Precisely because it's unknown, they take it seriously. For example, if I told him that the task of finding the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was almost certainly fatal, but at a crucial moment, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven might save him, then he wouldn't die.
Do you think he would still struggle or hesitate?
This is a test, a trial, to see if he has the compassion to avenge the innocent deaths of tens of thousands of residents in that small town, the wisdom to deduce the truth, and the courage to risk his own life.
It's the same with his attempt to break into prison. It wasn't my instruction to have his wife captured. Everything happened naturally, and I was only responsible for testing him.
If he knew that the person teaching him divine abilities was actually an Immortal Venerable, would he still dare to risk certain death to break into prison?
Would he still treat this matter as anything more than a game?
I won't concern myself with his life or death; I'll only arrange things for him. Whether he passes the trial or not depends entirely on him.
The God-Making Plan, is it really that easy? Without experiencing countless near-death experiences, how can one grow?
Everything he is experiencing now is merely arranged by fate, happening naturally. All I can do is go with the flow and devise minor plans to test him.
Of course, I could have brought him directly to the Five Elements Hall for meticulous training, but that would have altered his destiny's trajectory, ultimately leading to failure.
If he knew that the Immortal Venerables valued him so much, would he become arrogant? Would he become conceited? Many prodigies have been ruined this way."
The Monkey King pondered for a moment and then asked,
"So, your arrangement for him to come to me for a mission was also intentional, right? You knew the knowledge he possessed could help me."
"This was also just going with the flow. He offended Li Yan, so arranging a fatal mission for him is only logical, isn't it?
His knowledge helping you is one aspect, and your Seventy-Two Transformations helping him is another. It's a win-win situation.
This mission suits him, so I let him come along."
"Regardless, Old Sun owes him a great favor."
The Monkey King sighed,
"Wan Yi, you must have known for a long time that I wanted to become an Immortal Venerable."
"Nothing in the prime dimension can escape our notice."
"Then why... didn't you stop me?"
"Why should we stop you? You haven't done anything wrong. Do you think we would be wary of you, afraid of your growth? Afraid that you would shake our position after becoming an Immortal Venerable?
Heh heh.
We were already at a disadvantage when facing the Seven Demon Lords of the Demon Race. We desperately need Immortal Venerables Lei and Feng to help us turn the tide.
If you can become the Supreme Immortal Venerable and annihilate the negative plane in one fell swoop, we will even worship you as a god."
Earth Immortal Venerable Wan Yi's figure was slowly disappearing, and he left his last words.
"Cultivate with peace of mind. I don't know if Wan Lei's method is correct, but someone has to try. No one will disturb you during your secluded cultivation."