First Signs of Suspicion

A day in heaven is a year on earth.

Mo Ran volunteered to stay in the sky as a timer.

The remaining four soon encountered the Monkey King, who was covered in dust and dirt.

During this time away.

The Monkey King was imprisoned at the bottom of the mountain for countless years.

Its clothes were torn, its fur was matted, and its head was surrounded by cobwebs, dead branches, and fallen leaves.

Wang Wen approached.

The Monkey King stared at him with dazed, confused eyes for a long time.

I finally recognized the person in front of me.

He grinned and said, "I recognize you! You drank at Old Sun's cave many years ago!"

Wang Wen nodded silently.

Zhu Xingguo stepped forward to help clean up the trash, his hands brushing the surrounding area clean, leaving no dust behind.

He tried to lift the rock, and looked at the Monkey King with some sadness, saying, "Monkey Brother, you've suffered."

The Monkey King tilted his head and laughed, "It's not hard at all. Here, I eat well, drink well, and sleep well every day. Everything is good."

The words had barely left his mouth.

An old dwarf emerged from the soil nearby.

Leaning on his staff, he walked up to the Monkey King, took out a dark, unremarkable iron lump, and said, "Great Sage, are you hungry?"

The Monkey King was somewhat embarrassed when he realized he had been exposed.

He waved his hand impatiently and said, "If you're not going to eat, then get out of here!"

Zhu Xingguo grabbed the metal lump and demanded, "What is this?"

The old dwarf looked at him suspiciously. "Who are you?"

Before he could even answer, Zhu Xingguo saw the skill list and immediately flew into a rage. "You dare give Monkey Brother iron!"

He turned and glanced at Wang Wen.

After receiving tacit approval, he immediately drew his Divine Power Light Gun, aimed it at the old dwarf, and fired.

The old dwarf had just ignored Zhu Xingguo, but as soon as the strange beam of light shot towards him, it disappeared into the ground with a whoosh.

Zhu Xingguo sold the broken energy gun, opened his palm and slammed it into the ground, unleashing the seventh-level extraordinary skill [Ignite].

A few meters away, a figure of fire leaped out, frantically patting the flames off its body and pleading with Zhu Xingguo, "Immortal, please calm your anger! This humble god was merely following orders!"

The Monkey King, who was trapped under the mountain, then spoke up, pleading, "Brother Zhu, please don't blame the local earth god. He was indeed ordered by Tathagata to take care of my food."

Zhu Xingguo gritted his teeth and pointed to the sky, cursing, "Not a single one of them is good; they all deserve to die!"

The Monkey King shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Years have passed in the blink of an eye, and I 'Tathagata to understand. The Buddha trapped me to save me, and the iron balls and molten copper were meant to solidify my foundation."

"Nonsense!" Zhu Xingguo interrupted immediately, "You're trapped because no one can kill you, and 'stabilizing your foundation' is even more absurd! Why would you need to eat such junk for so many years to stabilize your position?"

Wang Wen calmly concluded, "It's all just hypocrisy and feigned benevolence."

High above the distant clouds.

A group of people sat upright in the Heavenly Court, drinking fine wine and watching the show through their celestial eyes.

The God of Food cruelly stewed cranes and lingzhi mushrooms together in one pot and served it to all the immortals.

The Queen Mother ate the most happily.

The Jade Emperor, who was used to eating dragon liver and phoenix marrow, tasted the crane meat a couple of times and then put down his jade chopsticks, finding it tasteless.

I was intently watching a fast-forwarded movie of the Five Elements Mountain on the ground, which was six minutes per second.

The Queen Mother laughed and said, "Tathagata the Buddha's great Dharma to subdue and suppress it, that demon monkey will not be able to rise again."

"That's true." The Jade Emperor's eyes flickered, and he murmured softly, as if talking to himself, "It's just a pity about that monkey."

The sacred mountain of the West.

Beside the Lotus Platform, those close to the Buddha, after bowing with palms together, looked at the Buddha Tathagata his third eye opened and asked curiously, "Why did you seal this mere stubborn rock with such profound power?"

The Buddha's eyes flickered, and he smiled, saying, "Tathagata the Great Heavenly Venerable needs celestial fruits and nectar to survive for countless eons, while we Buddhas rely on Buddhist teachings to live and endure. Consider that stone monkey, who, since gaining wisdom, neither drinks nor eats, requires no external force, and is immortal—what a remarkable destiny! Once he sheds his unruly and demonic nature, this old monk will elevate him to a higher position and attain enlightenment, thus fulfilling his destiny. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The friends and family clapped and praised, "Excellent!"

Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs.

From this perspective, it seems that Heaven also has many things to do and is too busy to attend to everything, so it transforms the world into a game of chess to pursue its own interests.

They believed they had control over all things and all living beings.

Little did they know that at a certain time and month in a certain year, a group of troublemakers who loved to overturn tables and often even toppled houses stood at the foot of that mountain.

The monkey king, trapped at the bottom of the mountain, was shocked to see that even the usually calm Wang Wen had uttered such subjective words.

He shook his head helplessly, his voice softening, "I'm not afraid of anything, I just wonder how those monkeys and their offspring are doing."

Cheng Queyi and the other woman exchanged a glance, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "What happened? What's going on?"

Wang Wen briefly recounted her experience from the previous trip.

Cheng Queyi still somewhat confused.

The skinny boy nodded thoughtfully—besides Wang Wen, he had the highest level of Scientific Deciphering skills among those present.

The old dwarf not far away was almost cooked through, rolling on the ground and wailing, "Esteemed immortals, could you please spare this humble god? This fire is quite strange and I can't put it out!"

Wang Wen casually cast a [Purification] spell to extinguish his fire.

The old dwarf lay on the ground, barely alive, yet he still managed to say thank you, "Thank you, Immortal, for sparing my life."

They're all at the level of gods; as long as they're not dead, they can slowly recover.

Nobody paid any attention to him anymore.

Zhu Xingguo looked up at the huge banner pasted on the mountain, squinted, and said, "Monkey Brother, I'm here to rescue you!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

The Five Elements Mountain began to tremble.

Soil and gravel kept sliding down.

Birds and beasts fled in panic.

A figure flew down from the sky and addressed Wang Wen and the others in a deep voice. "I know you are not willing to give up easily. The mischievous monkey's sins have not yet been fully served, and you cannot escape. You should quickly return to the Heavenly Court to plead guilty. I believe the Heavenly Venerable will consider Laozi's intercession and give you a lighter punishment."

Zhu Xingguo turned around and saw that it was Guanyin appearing in Guanyin form of a Bodhisattva.

He quickly pointed to the foot of the mountain and said, "The Great Sage is innocent. The ones who should truly be imprisoned here and punished are those scheming, power-hungry villains in Heavenly Court."

" In Heavenly Court, only the most revered and holy are allowed; how could there be any villains?" Guanyin frowned. "Stop talking nonsense! If you don't submit, then don't blame the magical artifacts for being heartless!"

The clouds churned.

Countless figures appeared and disappeared.

They observed from afar, as if exerting pressure.

They seemed completely unconcerned.

There were even mocking voices coming from the air:

"Ignorant child!"

"Do you really think that even the most revered saints are powerless?"

"It's not that I can't, it's just that I don't want to."

Zhu Xingguo was so angry that his face turned red.

He opened his mouth, still wanting to argue.

An angry shout of "Stubborn fools!" came from the clouds, and then a bolt of lightning exploded in broad daylight, striking Wang Wen and her group directly.

Guanyin, who was in mid-air, only had time to frown and say, "Wait!"

The lightning had dissipated into scattered specks.

The air fell silent.

Guanyin was slightly taken aback.

Wang Wen, holding up the transparent barrier, calmly gazed at the countless gods and Buddhas in the sky, feeling that everything was too coincidental.

He had already intentionally avoided actively seeking progress, but the progress still caught up spontaneously.

A day in heaven is a year on earth.

How much time has passed? Unless those people in the sky do absolutely nothing but stay here all day, they wouldn't have enough time even if they sprinted a hundred meters!

It felt like there was always a hand pushing me forward from behind.

Am I really just an insignificant pebble in the long river of fate, destined to drift with the current, unable to turn back or stop?

He lowered his eyes.

With a casual wave of his hand.

Zhu Xingguo rode the invisible energy giant to the top of Five Elements Mountain and reached out to grab the banner pasted on the mountain wall.

Guanyin quickly advised, "The Buddhist scroll cannot be removed, nor should it be. You will only be guilty of a wasted effort..."

The Bodhisattva had not finished speaking.

The giant banner on the mountainside vanished with a "whoosh".

The Five Elements Mountain resounded with a deafening roar.

The Handsome Monkey King burst out of the mountain, laughing loudly.

Wang Wen waved his Scepter, teleporting Mo Ran back to his side. At the same time, he unleashed a bubble to envelop the Monkey King and his allies, and loudly proclaimed to the heavens, "Laojun, didn't you want to see the outer heavens? Open your eyes and take a good look!"

Unity with Heaven and Man

[Oath Scepter]

The oath energy is restored at full speed, without restrictions, regardless of progress, and without limits.

Heavenly Palace, Sacred Mountain.

All the chess players, who were sitting comfortably sipping wine, listening to music, and enjoying the performance, were suddenly jolted.

Then his expression changed drastically.