Honghuang: My understanding is beyond belief. I am the first immortal of Jiejiao.

"This...this is..."

Sun Wukong's voice trembled. He stretched his neck desperately, trying to get closer to see more clearly, and his saliva uncontrollably secreted.

"Good...good baby! Old Lin! Let me see! Let me smell! No, let me lick it! Just one lick, please?! I'm begging you! Old Lin! Brother Lin! Grandpa Lin!"

The mighty Monkey King, for this fruit, was now begging without any regard for his image. His impatient and anxious manner was completely different from his ferocious appearance when he swore to beat the Buddha to death.

Looking at his expression, Lin Zhu smiled even more and said slowly.

"This is the Yellow Plum. It is no ordinary Yellow Plum; it is the best-quality fruit among the four innate spiritual roots, containing the most complete original Dao principles. Its effect... is enough to directly create a Great Luo Golden Immortal with a solid foundation and protect him on his future path."

"For someone like you, a unique being of this world, with the body of a spiritual stone monkey, the effect will be especially significant, and may even unleash more potential deep within your bloodline."

With each word he spoke, Sun Wukong's eyes shone brighter, and his breathing became more rapid. Directly creating a Great Luo Golden Immortal? Unleashing his potential? This was practically a supreme treasure tailor-made for him! Countless times better than the peaches of immortality he had longed for!
"Give...give it to me?"

Sun Wukong could hardly believe his ears; his voice had even changed.

"It's been a long time since we last met, so I can't come empty-handed. Consider this a small gift for you."

As Lin Zhu spoke, she stopped teasing him, bent down, and gently placed the yellow plum in her hand, which emitted an alluring purple light and surging spiritual power, into Sun Wukong's mouth, which was wide open in excitement.

The fruit melted in his mouth without needing to be chewed, instantly transforming into a gentle yet domineering torrent, carrying vast spiritual power and profound fragments of the Great Dao, rushing into Sun Wukong's limbs and bones, and his eight extraordinary meridians!

Even though most of his body was suppressed by the Five Elements Mountain, that power was like an all-pervasive stream, forcibly penetrating, nourishing, and transforming every inch of his body and primordial spirit that had been suppressed for five hundred years!

"Well--!"

Sun Wukong groaned, feeling an indescribable sense of comfort and power instantly sweep over his body. The pain of being suppressed by the mountain seemed to have lessened considerably, replaced by a thirsting and violently enhancing feeling, like a parched land receiving rain!
He could clearly feel that his cultivation, which had stagnated for a long time, was rising, solidifying, and undergoing a qualitative change at an alarming speed! The power of the Yellow Plum was not only replenishing his losses of five hundred years, but also laying a solid foundation for him to break through to a higher realm!

"Good...good stuff!"

Sun Wukong gave a vague compliment, then immediately closed his eyes and focused his mind, fully guiding and absorbing this sudden and vast gift.

He knew that this opportunity was once in a lifetime!
Seeing that he had begun to absorb the energy, Lin Zhu stopped disturbing him, stood up, looked down at the monkey head immersed in the purple halo below the mountain, and said something indifferently.

"This item will help you. The road ahead is uncertain, so take care. If you encounter any difficulties, you can go to the Heavenly Court... perhaps you can find some assistance there."

His words were somewhat vague, and he did not specify who he was looking for.

After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.

"Old Lin! Wait!"

Sun Wukong sensed that he was about to leave, so he quickly separated a sliver of his mind from absorbing the energy, opened his eyes and called out, his eyes filled with reluctance and gratitude.

"You...you're leaving already? Aren't you going to stay a little longer?"

After five hundred years of solitude, he had finally met an old friend and received a great benefit from him. He really didn't want the other person to leave so soon.

Lin Zhu didn't stop walking. She just waved to him with her back turned, and her figure gradually faded away at the end of the mountain path, as if she had blended into the sunlight and mountain mist and disappeared.

"Old Lin..."

Sun Wukong gazed in the direction where he had disappeared, muttering to himself, his heart filled with complex and indescribable emotions. There was the ecstatic joy of hope for escape, the gratitude for obtaining a priceless treasure, the burning fighting spirit for the future, and even more... a hint of chilling realization that he had been seen through.

He suddenly became alert.

Lin Zhu's visit, gifting such a precious treasure, was it truly just for reminiscing and offering assistance? Or had he already seen through my plans to stir up trouble and create chaos, unwilling to be a pawn? Is that why he warned me that "the road ahead is unpredictable" and said "if there are any difficulties"?
Sun Wukong's mind raced, and he recalled Lin Zhu's aura and state when she appeared earlier.

That was no ordinary aura of immortals and gods, but a more transcendent and profound aura, seemingly in harmony with the great Dao of Heaven and Earth, yet carrying a sense of aloofness and unfathomable mystery.

Especially the subtle pressure of cultivation that made him feel uneasy... This was definitely not the Lin Zhu he remembered from five hundred years ago, who was mysterious but whose cultivation did not seem to be much higher than his own!

"A half-step quasi-saint... and even, already tainted with true sainthood?!"

Sun Wukong was startled by his own deduction.

Five hundred years! Just five hundred years! Lin Zhu actually jumped from a level roughly equivalent to a True Immortal or Golden Immortal to the true pinnacle of the Three Realms? What a terrifying leap!
As one of the four great spiritual monkeys, the Spirit Stone Monkey was exceptionally gifted. After being suppressed and honed for five hundred years, he felt that he had made considerable progress. However, compared to Lin Zhu's heaven-defying leap, it was like a firefly compared to the bright moon!
"What on earth did this guy go through?"

Sun Wukong was deeply shocked, and at the same time, he felt a strange mix of emotions. He was overjoyed that his old friend had become so powerful, but he also felt a bittersweet sense of being left far behind despite being of different species. It was as if some kind of dignity he held as one of the Four Divine Monkeys had been silently "shattered".

"So powerful... no wonder he's so fearless, able to freely enter and leave the Five Elements Mountain, which is under the watchful eye of the Buddhist sect, and even able to produce a treasure like the Yellow Plum..."

He took a deep breath, suppressed the turbulent thoughts in his mind, and refocused his attention on his body.

The immense energy transformed from the yellow plum was still surging wildly, propelling his cultivation towards an unprecedented realm. His demonic power surged and raged, almost uncontrollable, bursting forth from his body!

"Good! Great!"

Sun Wukong felt the earth-shattering changes within his body, and ecstasy once again took over. With this newfound power, his chances of breaking free would greatly increase! His original plan could now be even bolder and more violent!
"The day the mountain is broken will be the beginning of chaos! Buddha, Jade Emperor, and those hypocritical immortals and Buddhas... you just wait for me, Old Sun!"

A fierce resolve hardened within him, and his gratitude and respect for Lin Zhu deepened even further. Regardless of whether Lin Zhu had seen through his plan, he remembered this timely help that laid the foundation for his rise. Forcibly suppressing the urge to break through the mountain, Sun Wukong activated his increasingly refined and sharp Fiery Eyes of Truth, his gaze piercing through the obstacles of rocks and trees, looking far eastward toward the path he had come from.

At the edge of his vision, a stumbling, disheveled figure, with a faint Buddhist light still covering his left hand to stop the bleeding, was leaning on a wooden stick he had picked up at random, carrying an unyielding grief and deathly silence, as he struggled toward the direction of Five Elements Mountain.

Above the figure's head, a faint Buddhist light and a wisp of even more obscure and imperceptible black energy intertwined and entwined.

The pilgrim is finally about to arrive.

Sun Wukong's lips slowly parted into a cold yet expectant smile.

Tang Sanzang, or rather, Xuanzang's wandering monk at this moment, was trudging through the weeds and rocks, his steps uneven.

Although the bleeding at the severed finger on his left hand had been hastily stopped by the Buddha's light from the departing Five Directions Protector, the excruciating pain that penetrated to the bone marrow and reached the soul had not disappeared. Instead, with every heartbeat and every jolt, it clearly reminded him of the purgatory he had recently experienced.

The pain of losing a finger, mixed with the horrific sight of witnessing Monk Lu being torn apart and chewed alive by Lord Xiongshan, and his two followers being disemboweled, ripped out of their hearts, and chopped into pieces, haunted him like the most grotesque nightmare, refusing to leave.

Every step felt like walking on cold, sticky blood; every rustle of wind sent shivers down his spine, as if those blue-faced, fanged monsters were about to pounce out of the shadows.

A vast shadow and boundless terror enveloped his mind, threatening to crush his remaining sanity. Anger and lingering fear gnawed at his heart like two venomous snakes.

The intense pain and lingering fear that followed gradually fermented into a burning resentment.

He attributed all the hardships and fears he had experienced along the way to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas of the Western Paradise who were high above him and whom he had once devoutly believed in!
"To stand by and watch someone die... to see them die... is this your compassion? Is this your Buddhism?!"

He gritted his teeth, biting his lips until they bled, which, mixed with the blood on his face, made him look exceptionally pitiful.

A thought, clearer and darker than ever before, began to take root in his mind and grew rapidly.

All of this is the fault of Buddhism! They arranged this journey to the West, they promised to protect him, yet they stood idly by in his time of crisis! The blood of his brothers, his own pain, must not be shed in vain! This debt must be repaid in the future! A vague yet incredibly firm vow to "collect the debt" quietly rose from the ruins of his shattered faith.

He didn't know how long he had walked or whether he was heading in the right direction; he was just instinctively moving westward, towards the so-called "sacred mountain." Exhausted both physically and mentally, he was in a daze, and waves of pain from his severed finger made his vision blur.

Just as he was about to collapse in this desolate wilderness, he saw a figure near a relatively flat boulder in front of him.

Tang Sanzang's heart tightened, and he subconsciously gripped the wooden stick he was using as a walking stick, looking around warily.

The figure stood with his back to him, dressed in simple white robes, hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the distant, uniquely shaped, five-fingered mountain peak that exuded a heavy, oppressive feeling. The mountain breeze ruffled the figure's robes, giving him an ethereal air, yet strangely blending him into the desolate backdrop.

Was it a monster? Or... a passerby? Tang Sanzang wasn't sure. Having experienced the tragedy in the cave, he was filled with fear and distrust of any unfamiliar presence.

He stopped, hesitating whether to go around it.

However, the man seemed to have noticed his arrival and slowly turned around.

It was a rather young, even handsome face, with a calm expression and clear yet unfathomable eyes that seemed to reflect everything in people's hearts.

He appeared harmless, even possessing a strange, unsettling aura. But Tang Sanzang was like a frightened bird, not daring to relax for a moment.

The man in white was naturally Lin Zhu.

His gaze fell on Tang Sanzang, especially on his left hand, which was wrapped in a faint Buddhist light and had a broken shape. A look of understanding flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

Interestingly, not far away, hidden behind the clouds, the Five Directions Protectors, who were ordered to secretly "protect" Tang Sanzang, were completely unaware of Lin Zhu's appearance!
It wasn't that they neglected their duties, but rather that the "sacred nature" emanating from Lin Zhu, which originated from Kunlun and had been tempered by himself, was subtly in harmony with the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. In addition, he deliberately concealed his aura, which allowed him to perfectly blend into the environment of this mountain wilderness.

He seemed to be a stone or a tree in this place, completely natural. Even with the cultivation of the Five Directions Golden Immortal, they could not detect the slightest abnormality, and simply thought that Tang Sanzang was wandering alone in the wilderness.

"you……"

Tang Sanzang opened his mouth, and his chapped lips uttered a single syllable, his voice terribly hoarse.

He didn't know what to say—ask a question? Ask for help? Or confront him warily?
Lin Zhu didn't answer, but simply strode towards him. Her steps were neither hurried nor slow, yet they carried a strange rhythm that made Tang Sanzang's thought of retreat freeze.

As Lin Zhu approached, his gaze fell on the severed finger on Tang Seng's left hand, on the wound that had been forcibly glued together and stopped bleeding by the Buddha's light, but whose cut surface was still gruesome.

He suddenly raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together. The tips of his fingers did not radiate any dazzling light, but rather a soft, gentle, and jade-like glow, which he gently touched the wound on the severed finger.

Tang Sanzang instinctively wanted to pull his hand away, but the gentle light seemed to have a calming power, making him stop. The instant his fingertips touched the wound, a cool and refreshing sensation, like the melting snow of early spring nourishing parched earth, instantly spread from the wound, not only dispelling the continuous, excruciating pain but also bringing a strange, itchy, tingling feeling, as if his flesh was rapidly growing!

Tang Sanzang stared wide-eyed at his left hand in disbelief.

Where the finger had been severed, bare and bloody, the flesh, tendons, and bones were visibly wriggling, connecting, and growing! In just a few breaths, a perfectly intact little finger, exactly the same as before, reappeared in his hand!
The skin was smooth, the nails were intact, and the movements were free, as if the person had never been injured! Only a faint trace of coolness remained, proving that what had just happened was not an illusion.

"This this……"

Tang Sanzang suddenly raised his left hand, repeatedly looking at the finger he had lost and then at the calm-looking young man in white before him. A tremendous surge of joy overwhelmed his ravaged heart like a tsunami. The miracle of his severed finger regenerating stood in stark contrast to the despair of his previous inability to call for help, the tragic death of his brothers, and the unbearable torment he had endured!
With a "thump," Tang Sanzang knelt down on the ground, ignoring the rough sand and gravel, and kowtowed three times to Lin Zhu, tears streaming down his face, his voice choked and hoarse.

"Thank you so much, Immortal Master! Thank you so much, Immortal Master, for saving my life! This disciple... this disciple Xuanzang is eternally grateful! Your kindness is like that of my second parents!"

He cried his heart out, not just out of gratitude, but also to release all the fear, sadness, grievances, and helplessness that had been building up for so long. (End of Chapter)