Taibai Jinxing was so startled that his beard trembled. His meticulously groomed white whiskers bristled.
He forced himself to remain calm. "Great Sage!"
He frantically signaled Wukong with his eyes, his brows knotting into three deep furrows, and urged in a low, anxious voice:
"Great Sage, stop making trouble! Remember where you are! Remember your standing!"
He pressed the handle of his Fly-Whisk down lightly before him, speaking in an extremely low, hurried voice tinged with panic:
"The entire Three Realms are watching!"
"Yuanshi Tianzun personally set the terms of this contest. The Great Heavenly Venerable approved them, and the Dao Ancestor and the Buddha both reviewed them. How can you demand changes just like that?"
Wukong paid no heed whatsoever to Taibai Jinxing's panic.
He shrugged, adopting a brazen, devil-may-care air.
Folding his arms across his chest, he lifted his head and shouted fearlessly at the sky:
"Why should we get a beating if we lose, but only have our karmic debts wiped clean if we win?"
"Tianzun! You yourself spoke up to warn my old brother Zhenyuan. You can't lay this whole debt at our door!"
"If, as you say, a beating settles our debt, then you still owe us something yourself!"
At these words,
the Three Mao Lords exchanged looks. This Great Sage truly was extraordinary. He actually dared bargain with Tianzun before the mighty beings of the Three Realms?
Driven to desperation, the Old Star Lord tried to cover Wukong's mouth:
"Great Sage! Wukong! Consider this old Daoist begging you! Stop talking."
Wukong swayed aside, nimbly evading him, and kept his head raised as he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I know you're all watching!"
"I have one condition, and you have to agree."
He turned his head, his gaze settling on the