The next moment, Sun Wukong expressed his resolve in the most direct way possible. His aura surged, and his cultivation, stagnant for more than five hundred years, finally advanced again. He stepped into the middle-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
He had already emerged from the illusion. Zixia Immortal Maiden was wonderful, but without sufficient strength, he could not control his own fate. Just as Patriarch Bodhi had told him while he was eating peaches, if he were strong enough, no one could suppress him even if he punched a hole through the heavens. Yet once he truly possessed the strength to do so, he would no longer choose to act that way.
So Sun Wukong wanted to stand at the height Patriarch Bodhi had described and see whether he would still think as he did now.
As for Zi Xia and Qingxia, they had ultimately been nothing more than a dream. In reality, this was a trial set by a mighty being, and he had no desire to be left hanging from a tree. He, the illustrious Great Sage Equal to Heaven Sun Wukong, had already suffered enough humiliation after being suppressed by Tathagata Buddha for five hundred years.
He now understood that beyond every heaven lay another heaven, and beyond every master stood someone greater.
He also understood why Patriarch Bodhi had said he would inevitably cause trouble. He loved showing off, and a little flattery was enough to make him forget himself. Those six demon sages he had sworn brotherhood with back then were all frauds who had led him around by the nose.
This tribulation lasted only a single night before the entire pilgrimage party admitted defeat. When they woke up, Zhu Bajie was still hanging from the tree, and he was still the one crying