Flames flickered in and out of existence as they drifted from the Glazed Lamp.
When the flames drew near Sha Wujing, his body trembled. His aura soared, and the thunderous sound of his heartbeat suddenly rang out.
"How is it?"
The Jade Emperor recalled the Glazed Lamp, then looked at Sha Wujing with gleaming eyes and smiled faintly:
"I didn't lie to you, did I?"
Sha Wujing fell silent.
The Jade Emperor continued:
"Curtain Lifting General, you have always been loyal, hardworking, and never complained. I've seen all of that. When I sent you down to the mortal realm to suffer, it was absolutely not to harm you. You should know that becoming stronger is extremely difficult. Yet after several centuries, you managed to make further progress despite having already reached the limit. How many people could dream of such a thing? With that in mind, do you still resent me?"
Before Sha Wujing could speak, Pigsy could not help but say:
"Jade Emperor, what you said would have been completely reasonable in the past. But after meeting my lord, we discovered that becoming stronger is far simpler than we imagined."
"Oh?"
The Jade Emperor glanced sideways, visibly moved.
"Marshal Tianpeng, could you explain in detail?"
"Of course."
Pigsy spoke smugly, as though showing off:
"My Senior Brother was suppressed beneath Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years. After leaving the mountain, he made no progress. Instead, because of the Tightening Hoop Curse Source, his strength kept declining. If things continued like that, within a hundred years, his strength would definitely fall by an entire major realm.
"But after meeting my lord, everything changed. Not only was the Tightening Hoop Curse Source perfectly removed, but my Senior Brother also received a method for rapid advancement. In an extremely short time,