Jade Emperor: Bring Him In, Beat Him... Forget It, Recruit Him Instead

"Your Majesty!" Worshipful Star Lord stepped forward again and said angrily, "That demon monkey has run utterly wild! He actually dared to name himself 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven'—this is the grave crime of usurpation! If we do not suppress him, where will the order of the Three Realms be? Where will the Heavenly Court's dignity remain?"

Quite a few immortal officials chimed in as well, feeling that they could no longer tolerate this.

Yet the Jade Emperor fell silent for a moment. He glanced at Li Jing beside him, who had just finished receiving eight hundred military-cane strikes and was being supported by others, his face deathly pale—probably an act. Then he thought of the utterly empty Cloud Tower Palace roster, as well as the Buddhist Sect's covert pressure, and his feelings became a tangled mess.

Fight? Who could he send now? Nezha and Qingping had just returned "defeated," while Li Jing was in this state. Who was left? The Heavenly Court certainly had plenty of capable fighters, but none of them could be mobilized. Besides, this monkey was destined to enter the Buddhist Sect. We cannot truly kill him outright...

Just as the Jade Emperor was struggling with this, Taibai Jinxing stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this old minister believes we may try recruitment once more."

"Recruit him again?" Worshipful Star Lord nearly jumped up. "Jinxing, that monkey has already proclaimed himself 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven'! How can we tolerate such insolence any longer?"

Taibai Jinxing remained unhurried as he said to the Jade Emperor, "Your Majesty, all Sun Wukong seeks is an empty title and some face. Since he has named himself 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven,' why not grant him that empty name? Bestow upon him the hollow post of 'Great Sage Equal to