"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
Each strike of heavenly lightning grew more intense and descended faster. Soon, Monkey King's fur was singed black, beginning to fall off, but new fur quickly sprouted, thanks to the power of his Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. Finally, after the eighty-first bolt of five-colored lightning struck, a powerful force erupted from Monkey King's body. It wasn't just the surrounding spiritual energy that he absorbed; even the residual lightning still crackling around him was pulled in and refined.
In this moment, Monkey King ascended to the initial stage of the Great Firmament Golden Immortal.
After a brief moment of adjustment, the flow of spiritual energy in the world around him returned to normal.
"System, display my cultivation level as that of a Taiyi Golden Immortal!"
"Ding! Acknowledged, host. Cultivation level suppression complete!"
Monkey King felt a sense of relief. After all, without reaching sainthood, one could still be crushed underfoot.
"Thank you for your help, The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord!" Monkey King expressed his gratitude with a bow.
"No need for thanks; it's part of your fortune!" The The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord didn't mind, but as he observed Wukong's cultivation, his expression shifted. "Hold on, why is your cultivation still at the Taiyi Golden Immortal level?"
The The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord was puzzled. He had witnessed Wukong's tribulation and breakthrough firsthand—how could his cultivation level show no change? Had he misinterpreted the heavenly tribulation as a Taiyi one instead? But that didn't make sense; it had undeniably been the Great Firmament tribulation. Surely, he hadn't lost his senses after five hundred years of refining elixirs.
Monkey King saw the The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord's confusion and laughed. "The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord, there's no need to worry. I truly have broken through to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal stage; I just used a small technique to conceal it and maintain the appearance of a Taiyi Golden Immortal."
"A small technique?" The The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord looked at him deeply. The ability to mask one's cultivation from even a quasi-saint's perception was unprecedented. "You truly are extraordinary. Perhaps you really will succeed after all."
Monkey King just smiled.
"Let's go," said the The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord with a hint of satisfaction. "Bodhisattva Guanyin has already left, and it's time to throw a wrench in the Buddhist plot."
With that, the The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord and Wukong descended together. With a wave of his hand, the The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord restored the once-destroyed Tushita Palace to its former state.
Concealed from view, Monkey King reappeared only after the The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord had completed his subtle modifications to the Band-tightening Spell. "Master, I couldn't find any villages within a hundred miles, so I gathered some fruits for you to eat."
"No problem; I'm not hungry yet," Tripitaka replied casually, though in truth, his thoughts were occupied with meat. Having eaten his fill of Bodhisattva Guanyin's vegetarian meal, he had no appetite for fruit now.
Wukong, feigning ignorance, stowed the fruit away. "Huh? Master, where did this extra bundle of luggage come from?"
Acting surprised, Wukong pointed to a small package next to Tripitaka.
"Oh, that? Bodhisattva Guanyin left it here just now to aid me on the journey west," Tripitaka explained.
Wukong blinked. Wasn't Bodhisattva Guanyin supposed to be in on the scheme? Why was Tripitaka so readily throwing her under the bus?
Tripitaka opened the bundle himself and said, "Wukong, the Bodhisattva Guanyin mentioned that this treasure is called the Band-tightening Spell. She said its a rare and valuable defensive artifact!"
"The Bodhisattva Guanyin also said that once you wear it, whenever I encounter danger, I just need to recite the Band-tightening Spell, and youll know about it!"
Tripitaka revealed everything the Bodhisattva had told him without hiding a thing.
Sun Wukong stared blankly at the Band-tightening Spell in Tripitakas hands, completely baffled!
This is supposed to be a defensive artifact. Is this some kind of joke?
What exactly is this thing supposed to protect? A bit of skull?
But come to think of it, the Bodhisattva lied, didn't she? That would break a Buddhist precept! Doesn't she get penalized with any karma points for that?
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for altering the journey to the west, earning 100,000 karma points!"
Wukong grumbled internally, "System, were you planning to pocket that karma?"
"Host, no such thing! This system would never dare!"
"Then why was it so delayed?"
"Because the change in karma only took effect once you became aware of the situation through Tripitaka."
Alright, fair enough. It seemed that only events he personally witnessed counted as altering karma. There was no point in complaining about it further.
"Uh… Wukong, could I discuss something with you?" Tripitaka asked hesitantly.
Wukong raised an eyebrow. "Master, go ahead! As long as I can help, I'll gladly do it."
"Well, Wukong, you mentioned before that you have a copper head and iron bones, right?"
"Of course! Didn't I endure forty-nine days in the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord's alchemical furnace? Now my body's impenetrable to blades and immune to fire." He nodded, then asked, "But Master, what are you getting at?"
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