Primordial Era: I, Huanglong, have refined all the heavens, and will not join the Chan Sect.

Chapter 272 Serving as an Official in Heaven, Titled Equal to Heaven

Flower and Fruit Mountain, Water Curtain Cave

After Sun Wukong returned with the treasure, he did not deliberately show off. Instead, he kept a low profile, familiarized himself with a place, and then continued his cultivation in the mountains.

However, this trip to the East Sea gave him some inspiration, and he decided to strengthen Flower Fruit Mountain, especially the monkey clan.

To establish oneself in the Three Realms, one needs not only exceptional personal strength but also a powerful force.

So he led his monkey followers to sweep through Flower Fruit Mountain and quickly subdued the seventy-two demon kings of the caves.

These demon kings had varying levels of cultivation, with most falling below the Golden Immortal level.

However, they had been entrenched in this place for a long time and had accumulated quite a collection.

After defeating them, Sun Wukong did not kill them all, but only made them hand over half of their collection.

Subsequently, Sun Wukong redefined the territory and established a treasure vault.

He also instructed the monkeys and their offspring to collect rare and precious materials while they played and frolicked.

Finally, he passed on the basic weapon-making techniques he had learned at Lingtai Fangcun Mountain to his monkey grandson Meng, instructing him to make helmets and weapons to enhance the combat power of his monkey followers.

In addition, Sun Wukong also passed on his alchemy skills.

Although he was not interested in alchemy, he did not diligently study the art of alchemy at Lingtai Fangcun Mountain.

However, the one who taught the art of alchemy was Patriarch Bodhi, and was Patriarch Bodhi's benevolent corpse. The alchemy techniques he taught were not simple.

Even if they only learn a little bit, it's enough for these monkeys and their offspring to use in their daily lives.

Using these rational methods and the special medicinal herbs of Flower Fruit Mountain, Sun Wukong established a demon market on the edge of Flower Fruit Mountain and the East Sea.

Any faction can obtain spirit wine through exchange, thereby acquiring numerous rare and precious materials, magical abilities, and supernatural powers.

Although most of the transactions in the myriad worlds are now conducted at the Myriad Worlds Trade Tower.

But this doesn't mean there aren't trading markets in other parts of the prehistoric world.

The truth is quite the opposite. Due to the World Trade Tower, trading venues have been set up in various parts of the prehistoric world, and trading has long been prevalent there.

After the establishment of the Flower Fruit Mountain Demon Market, it attracted many creatures to trade there.

Most of the items were useless to Sun Wukong, but they greatly enriched the Water Curtain Cave's collection.

For Sun Wukong, the greatest gain from establishing the Demon Market was that he gathered more information, broadened his horizons, and increased his knowledge within it.

Of course, during this period, some foolish creatures also appeared.

Now that the market for rare and precious materials is newly established, their quality is generally low, and they hold no appeal for true powerhouses.

In the end, all those ignorant Golden Immortal Demon Kings were killed by Sun Wukong with a few blows of his staff.

All his flesh and blood benefited Flower Fruit Mountain, and Sun Wukong used it to make soup to reward his monkey followers.

The Golden Immortal Meat Soup has extraordinary effects, and many spirit monkeys have made great progress in their cultivation, saving them from a thousand years of arduous cultivation.

A century later, the Flower Fruit Mountain Demon Market became increasingly famous in the surrounding area.

Then beings from the Earthly Path lineage came to this place and established the entrance to the Multiverse Trade Tower.

So Sun Wukong brought the precious items he had collected over the years to the World Trade Tower to barter with other fellow Daoists.

These things, while not particularly precious, are still considered to be at the Golden Immortal level.

Sun Wukong was quick-witted, intelligent, and had a likable personality. He used these items to exchange for some good things to help him with his cultivation.

Sun Wukong's actions were observed by many powerful figures, some of whom admired him, while others were dissatisfied.

However, he is involved with the Sage Nuwa and the Sage Huanglong. Even though the Buddhist sect is dissatisfied with Sun Wukong's current changes, they can only sigh helplessly and dare not act rashly. They can only let things develop as they are.

As long as Buddhism ultimately prospers, that's all that matters. As for Sun Wukong, that monkey...

We'll just have to take it one step at a time.

Three hundred years later, Venus arrived at Flower Fruit Mountain according to the script. He invited the Monkey King to take up a post in Heaven under the pretext of establishing the Flower Fruit Mountain Demon Market and the famous Myriad Worlds Trade Tower.

Sun Wukong had naturally heard of the Heavenly Court, knowing that it was the most powerful force in the prehistoric world, possessing the legitimate title of the prehistoric world, and responsible for regulating yin and yang and managing the prehistoric world.

Sun Wukong did not immediately agree to the Heavenly Court's invitation, but agreed to go to Heaven once. As for whether he would join the Heavenly Court, it would depend on the Heavenly Court's sincerity.

The current Sun Wukong, though not as knowledgeable as he was in the time traveler's memories, is not so easily fooled.

Furthermore, he stated that if Heaven were to appoint an official, it would not be able to spare the benefits of Flower Fruit Mountain, otherwise he would not be able to rest easy about the monkeys and their offspring that inhabit the mountain.

Venus smiled wryly at this, realizing that this monkey was truly difficult to fool.

He was a kind-hearted man in Heaven and also wanted to form a good relationship with Sun Wukong.

In addition, he was also a star god, and Sun Wukong had a connection with Guixu, so he was naturally willing to grant the monkey's wish.

Therefore, he promised that after Sun Wukong went to heaven to become an official, no matter how the Heavenly Emperor dealt with him, he would use his own power to allocate some resources to the Water Curtain Cave.

Although Huaguo Mountain is now quite well-known in the area, it is still just a small place for Venus.

With his power in Heaven, it would be a piece of cake for him to take care of Flower Fruit Mountain.

After receiving Taibai Jinxing's promise, Sun Wukong decided to stop while he was ahead and flew towards the Heavenly Realm with the help of Taibai Jinxing's escape light.

The current primordial world is much larger than what the transmigrator remembered, even larger than the era of the Lich War.

Even if Sun Wukong were a Golden Immortal, it would still take him thousands of years to fly to the Heavenly Realm.

……

heaven.

After the Investiture of the Gods ended, the number of gods increased dramatically, and the Heavenly Court was no longer sparsely populated as before. It could be said that it was now well-equipped and its strength had greatly increased.

Over the years, the South Heavenly Gate alone now has dozens of Taiyi Golden Immortals as its guardians, and even more so, the Heavenly Officials of Daluo Golden Immortals who secretly protect it.

Having cultivated the Red Eyes and Golden Pupils supernatural power, Sun Wukong could immediately discern the cultivation levels of these heavenly soldiers and generals.

On the surface, they seemed indifferent, but inwardly they were extremely vigilant and held the Heavenly Court in even greater reverence.

The gatekeepers are all Taiyi Golden Immortals, so the Heavenly Court's strength is probably no weaker than that of the Dragon Clan.

As expected of the Lord of the Azure Sky and the true successor of the Heavenly Dao, such strength is truly terrifying.

In the Lingxiao Palace.

The statues of gods stood solemnly and majestically, their golden splendor dazzling.

Various divine lights intertwined, and celestial maidens scattered flowers as they wandered about.

After entering the hall, Sun Wukong appeared nonchalant, like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, but in reality, he was subtly observing the gods of Heaven.

Although with his cultivation level, he couldn't discern the realms of these celestial officials.

However, he could still discern the cultivation levels of some of the celestial maidens.

Even the celestial maidens within the Lingxiao Palace possess the cultivation level of Golden Immortals.

Although this kind of Golden Immortal is flashy but impractical, and is obviously built up with rare and precious materials, its combat power is at the bottom among those of the same level.

But a Golden Immortal is a Golden Immortal; they are beings who have just attained immortality.

This made Sun Wukong even more vigilant.

The celestial maidens' attendants all possessed the cultivation level of Golden Immortals, so it's likely that all the celestial officials present had at least the cultivation level of late-stage Taiyi Golden Immortals, or even possibly Daluo Golden Immortals!

"Sun Wukong, a wandering immortal from the mortal realm, greets His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor!"

Sun Wukong was neither humble nor arrogant, and bowed to Haotian without any faults.

However, when he ascended to heaven, it followed the script. No matter how well he performed, he was ultimately assigned to a low-ranking official position—the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses.

However, his actions earned him a slight favor from the Heavenly Emperor and some of the Heavenly Officials.

Intelligent and polite people are always hard to dislike.

Haotian did not explicitly state the rank of Bi Ma Wen. According to Sun Wukong's original intention, he wanted to see the official position before deciding whether to keep him.

However, after witnessing the Heavenly Court's resources, he agreed.

In the Heavenly Court, even those who are merely servants in the Lingxiao Palace possess the cultivation level of a Golden Immortal.

He was just a Golden Immortal, and even if he was only to serve as a minor official in the Heavenly Court, there was nothing for him to hesitate about.

The Sun Wukong of today is not the ignorant and arrogant monkey he once understood this, and he agreed.

More importantly, Haotian only assigned him the official position of Bi Ma Wen (弼马温), but there were no mandatory requirements.

The celestial realm is rich in spiritual energy and starlight essence, making cultivation here twice as effective.

Even before the Imperial Stables had a stable master, things were still handled very well.

So, after understanding the duties of the弼马温 (Bima Wen), Sun Wukong ordered his subordinates to take care of the heavenly horses and maintain the operation of the Imperial Horse Stable as before, and to report regularly.

He himself, on the other hand, used the spiritual energy of the heavens to concentrate on seclusion, cultivating and comprehending the Tao.

The spiritual energy of the celestial realm far surpasses that of Flower Fruit Mountain.

Furthermore, becoming a Heavenly Official allows one to enjoy the blessings of Heaven's fortune.

In just over a decade, Sun Wukong's cultivation reached the pinnacle of the Golden Immortal realm.

"As expected of the Heavenly Court, every place here is a blessed land!"

Sun Wukong was extremely satisfied with the current situation, but his appearance was causing a lot of headaches for the powerful figures behind the scenes.

According to their plan, it was after Sun Wukong learned that Bi Ma Wen was just a minor official without a formal title that the plan was implemented.

He would then fly into a rage, draw his Ruyi Jingu Bang (a magical staff), and smash the Imperial Horse Stables, causing all the celestial horses to run away, destroying a large number of celestial buildings and causing considerable losses to the Heavenly Court.

More importantly, Sun Wukong's actions would embarrass the Heavenly Court, giving them an opportunity to attack him and create conflict.

The problem is that Sun Wukong is too composed now. Even though he knows that Bi Ma Wen is just a minor official, he doesn't get angry about it.

On the contrary, he was very satisfied with the current situation, and his cultivation speed was much better than when he was in Flower Fruit Mountain.

Moreover, with the promise of Venus, Huaguo Mountain will have an extra resource.

This is equivalent to doing one job and getting two benefits, so what's there to be dissatisfied about?

Left with no other option, the powerful figure behind the scenes had to find another way.

After some discussion, they adopted the most direct and quickest method.

That means sending someone to provoke us!

However, Sun Wukong spent his days cultivating at the Imperial Stables.

It took hundreds of years before the heavenly soldiers and generals in charge of this matter finally found an opportunity to successfully clash with Sun Wukong.

He verbally humiliated Sun Wukong in various ways and threatened to raze Flower Fruit Mountain to the ground and exterminate all his monkey descendants.

These heavenly soldiers and generals have been waiting here for hundreds of years, and they have quite a few complaints about Sun Wukong.

What they said was absolutely flawless, and they even genuinely had the idea of ​​descending to the mortal realm and sweeping across Flower Fruit Mountain.

Even though Sun Wukong is extremely composed now, how could he tolerate being insulted to his face and even being attacked by the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain?

In the end, Sun Wukong drew his Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Cudgel) and killed these heavenly soldiers and generals.

It was precisely because of the words of these heavenly soldiers and generals that he became worried about the monkeys and their offspring in the mortal realm, so he left the Heavenly Court and returned to Flower Fruit Mountain.

Seeing that the monkeys and their offspring were all safe, he felt relieved.

However, he still instructed his monkey offspring to practice battle formations.

If they were to encounter a powerful enemy in the future, they would not be without the ability to fight back if they formed a battle formation.

Afterwards, Sun Wukong planned to return to the Heavenly Realm to resolve the matter of killing the heavenly soldiers and generals.

He would accept any punishment from the heavenly rules for this, since he was the one who killed someone.

But at that moment, lightning and thunder suddenly struck over Huaguo Mountain.

Li Jingjing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, led Nezha, the Giant Spirit God, and heavenly soldiers and generals to Flower Fruit Mountain.

They came here to punish Sun Wukong, citing his killing of heavenly soldiers and generals and his unauthorized departure from the Heavenly Court, which led to the escape of the Heavenly Horses from the Imperial Stables.

No matter how Sun Wukong explained, Li Jing and the others wouldn't listen.

Seeing this, Sun Wukong glared angrily, determined not to sit idly by and wait for his death.

Therefore, under his command, Flower Fruit Mountain also responded to the battle. Under Sun Wukong's command, the seventy-two cave demon kings and their demons formed a battle formation to confront the heavenly army.

Sun Wukong, relying on the supernatural powers taught by Bai Mi, fought against the Giant Spirit God and Nezha, who were of higher levels, and won after dozens of rounds.

Left with no other choice, Li Jing had to temporarily retreat.

On the surface, it seems like they are helpless against the monkey demon, but in reality, it's just a performance according to the script, creating momentum for Sun Wukong.

The Giant Spirit God had followed Wu Tian since the early days of the Heavenly Court, remaining loyal and highly trusted.

Although his talent and background were average, with the influx of abundant resources and countless years of cultivation, he is now completely different from what he used to be.

His cultivation had reached the pinnacle of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, and he was just one step away from leaping out of the River of Destiny and achieving the Great Luo status.

Given that he had fought for the Heavenly Court for many years, possessing formidable combat power and rich experience, how could he not be a match for Sun Wukong? It was all just an act.

Nezha was even more extraordinary!

He was originally a third-generation disciple of the Chan Sect, and later joined the Guixu Sect, where he received guidance from Bai Mi. In terms of both status and strength, he was above the Giant Spirit God.

Today, Nezha is a powerful being in the early stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

This action was merely to cooperate with the Heavenly Court's performance.

……

Flower and Fruit Mountain, Water Curtain Cave.

Sun Wukong sat on the stone chair, head bowed in deep thought.

Whether it was the Giant Spirit God, or Nezha and Li Jing, Sun Wukong had heard their legends.

They were already quite famous before the Three Realms were even created.

Having experienced the unique cultivation environment of Heaven, Sun Wukong knew very well that even a pig could achieve something great through cultivation, let alone them.

Although Sun Wukong considered himself extraordinary, he was not arrogant or conceited.

He was self-aware, knowing that he was born later and that he still had a considerable distance to go before catching up with them.

This time, they were inexplicably defeated by themselves, and Sun Wukong felt that something was amiss.

Combining his experiences in Heaven over the years with the seating arrangements of the Bull Demon King and others, he had a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

So, he accepted the recommendation of the Bull Demon King and others, and raised the banner of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, wanting to test the waters and verify his conjecture...

(End of this chapter)