I'm already a Great Luo Golden Immortal, how come you're only Martial Saints?

Wukong was both anxious and angry. He had only been away from Flower Fruit Mountain for a few decades, and these monkeys no longer recognized him as their Monkey King?

He grabbed the little monkey by the fur on its chest, revealing his vicious face.

"You little monkey, take a good look at who your grandfather is!"

The little monkey had never seen anything like this before. It was so frightened that its eyes rolled back, and a foul stench emanated from it—it had wet itself in fear.

Ning Chen quickly tried to dissuade him.

"Senior brother, don't be angry. Perhaps these little monkeys are new additions to the family in recent years and don't recognize you, their king. It's understandable. Why don't you find an old acquaintance and ask them what's going on?"

As soon as he finished speaking, an old ape with withered fur and a hunched body shakily poked its head out from a crevice in the rocks, hidden by vines.

It opened its cloudy old eyes, carefully examined the situation for a moment, then suddenly its eyes flashed with a sharp light, and it cried out in a mournful voice.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Is it you who has returned? Heaven has granted us a blessing!"

It hurriedly emerged, not even bothering to bow, and eagerly greeted us.

"Your Majesty! And this Taoist priest! Come quickly with this old ape, this is not the place to talk!"

The old ape led the two brothers through a maze of twists and turns until they arrived at an extremely secluded, dark cave, barely large enough for a monkey to crawl into.

Upon entering, a strong smell of herbs and a fishy odor hit you.

The cave was crammed with dozens of thin, wounded monkeys, who all cowered in fear at the sight of people.

The old ape knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face, his voice hoarse.

"Your Majesty! You've finally returned! If you had come any later, I fear... I fear you wouldn't have seen us old bones again!"

It cried so hard it couldn't breathe, and the surrounding monkeys also let out suppressed cries of sorrow.

Sun Wukong felt as if his heart was being torn apart, and said anxiously.

"Stop crying! Stop crying! Speak quickly! What exactly happened at Flower Fruit Mountain? Who dares to humiliate you like this?!"

The old ape, suppressing his grief, wiped away his tears and said...

"Your Majesty, you may not know this, but ever since you crossed the ocean to seek the elixir of immortality, the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain have been leaderless. For the first few years, things were alright; thanks to Your Majesty's remaining prestige, the beasts in the mountain were quite well-behaved. But a few years ago, a powerful demon appeared out of nowhere, calling himself the Chaos Demon King!"

A deep fear flashed in the old ape's eyes.

"That demon king was extremely ferocious, wearing a black helmet, a black robe, a black iron belt, and deerskin boots. He was three zhang tall, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, eyes like copper bells, and a mouth like a blood basin! He wielded a large, flat-bottomed sword, which flashed with cold light when he swung it, accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder—he was truly formidable!"

"He disliked the filth of that Water Curtain Cave, so he coveted our blessed Water Curtain Cave. He first sent some little demons to harass us, stealing fruits and kidnapping monkeys. At first, we relied on our advantageous location to deal with him and even gathered a crowd to resist."

At this point, a hint of fear flashed in the old ape's eyes.

"But the Demon King himself came, and with a single stroke, he killed dozens of monkey soldiers! We fought desperately, but how could we possibly be a match for him? He had countless demon soldiers under his command, each one fierce and ruthless, who slaughtered us, causing us to flee in disarray and suffer heavy casualties. Many of our old brothers... all perished under his blade!"

At this point, the old ape broke down in tears.

"That demon king seized the Water Curtain Cave and drove us out. He then occupied this blessed land and now tyrannizes himself in the cave, treating us like slaves. If we are even slightly negligent, he whips us at best, and at worst..."

The old ape trembled all over, his voice filled with grief and indignation.

"He loves to eat monkey brains! Every few days he catches a strong monkey, cracks open its skull, and eats it raw. We can only cry out to heaven and earth in vain! We can only hide in this dark cave and eke out a living! Your Majesty! If you don't come back soon, he will eat all the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain!"

"Wow!"

After listening to the old ape's tearful complaint, a surge of violent energy rushed to the top of Sun Wukong's head!

His golden eyes were bloodshot red, his fangs were bared, his golden fur stood on end, and he let out a deafening roar!

The voice was filled with regret and murderous intent, making the entire cave vibrate and causing gravel to fall in a rustling sound!

"You wicked devil! You bully me, the monkey! You occupy my cave! You devour my offspring! I, Old Sun, will never let you go!"

Wukong was furious and turned to rush out of the cave.

"I'm going to the Water Curtain Cave right now to tear that demon king to pieces! I'll skin him alive! Only then will I be able to vent my hatred!"

"Wait a minute, senior brother!"

Ning Chen reacted swiftly, his figure blurring as he blocked the cave entrance, his arms outstretched to firmly hold back the enraged Sun Wukong.

"Get out of the way! Junior Brother Wuchen! Don't block my way!"

Sun Wukong was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks, rubbed his fangs together, and unleashed his power, trying to push Ning Chen away.

What a clever stone monkey! Although it had not formally cultivated, it possessed immense strength in its rage. Ning Chen felt a brute force rushing towards him, almost too much to resist.

His gaze sharpened, his internal energy circulated, and he activated the Dragon Subduing Tiger and Golden Bell Shield techniques simultaneously, finally managing to stabilize himself.

He hissed.

"Senior brother! Calm down! We must not act impulsively in this matter!"

In the original story, Sun Wukong studied under the Bodhi Patriarch for ten years, learning the Great Celestial Immortal Technique and the Seventy-Two Transformations of Earthly Fiends. Even so, he still had to use his external incarnation to finally slay the Demon King of Chaos.

At this moment, Sun Wukong's cultivation was not deep, and he had not yet mastered the immortal arts. He was no match for this mischievous demon king.

Ning Chen stared directly into Sun Wukong's crimson eyes.

"Senior brother, have you forgotten why the Patriarch sent us back together? This is your tribulation! You have only cultivated under the Patriarch for a year, your foundation is not yet stable, and your Taoist arts and supernatural powers are not yet fully developed! That Demon King of Chaos was able to occupy the Water Curtain Cave and defeat the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain without any power to fight back; his cultivation is by no means easy to deal with!"

"Your anger is overwhelming you now. Rushing there would be like throwing an egg against a rock! Not only would you fail to avenge your family or save the monkey, but you would also lose your life and betray the expectations of your ancestor!"

Ning Chen's words were like ice water poured over his head, causing the enraged monkey to freeze in its tracks.

Sun Wukong recalled that he had indeed only learned some mortal martial arts on Fangcun Mountain.

They only have a few stick techniques, but they're still passable.

Thinking that he might not be able to avenge himself and instead die, the Monkey King forcibly suppressed his anger, but the killing intent in his golden eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

"Then... then what do you suggest we do? Are we just going to stand by and watch that demon king commit evil deeds? Watch the monkeys and their offspring in the mountains be devoured alive by him?"

Sun Wukong's voice was hoarse and filled with resentment.

"Of course not!"

Ning Chen's gaze was sharp.

"With the enemy's situation unclear, how can we rashly engage in battle? Only by knowing ourselves and our enemy can we win every battle! Senior brother, you stay here to calm the monkeys and compose yourselves. I will go ahead to investigate and ascertain the true strength of that troublemaker king, then find his weaknesses and devise a foolproof plan! If we brothers join forces, we will surely eliminate this scourge and reclaim our cave!"

Ning Chen's calm tone instilled immense confidence in Sun Wukong.

My junior brother has always been resourceful and has shown remarkable talent.

In the past few months, he has made rapid progress. Since the patriarch sent his junior brother back with him, he must have foreseen this scene and specially sent his junior brother to help him.

Looking into Ning Chen's calm and determined eyes, and then at the monkeys in the cave who were looking at him with anticipation, Sun Wukong's violently heaving chest finally calmed down a little.

He understood that Ning Chen was right; if he charged in now, it would only vent his anger and wouldn't help anything.

On the contrary, it might cost him his life, harm his junior brother, and ruin everything.

Wukong took a few heavy breaths, the redness in his eyes receding slightly, and he gritted his teeth and said.

"Alright! I'll listen to you, Junior Brother! Go quickly and come back quickly, and be extremely careful! If, if that Demon King is truly powerful, don't fight him head-on; we'll discuss it again when you return!"

"Don't worry, senior brother!"

Ning Chen nodded and turned to the old ape.

"Show me a shortcut, one that avoids the Demon King's notice as much as possible."

The old ape nodded quickly, pointed in the direction, and described several dangerous spots and sentry posts.

Ning Chen memorized everything, then his figure blurred, and he silently made his way towards the Water Curtain Cave.

He concealed his aura, sensing the heavy, unsettling demonic energy emanating from the abundant moisture ahead, his eyes sharp as an eagle's.

The actions of Patriarch Bodhi are always unpredictable. Since the Patriarch sent him and Wukong back together, there must be a deeper meaning behind it.

Could it be that the 100,000 demon monkeys that appeared out of nowhere in the third level of the Journey to the West's Divine Realm are related to this Mischievous Demon King?

If that's really the case, then this devilish king is doomed to die today!