Primordial Era: Refusing Hongjun's path to sainthood, I attained the Dao of Hunyuan.

Chapter 183 The Protagonist of the Great Tribulation

When the stone monkey was born, it was endowed with a pair of divine eyes that could see through illusions. The eyes emitted golden light that shot into the heavens and earth, causing the entire Three Realms to be astonished.

Above the Heavenly Realm of the Thirty-Three Heavens, in the Lingxiao Palace, a court assembly was being held. The Supreme Jade Emperor of the Golden Palace of the Vast Heaven, seeing this, ordered the two generals, Thousand-Mile Ear and Wind-Following Ear, to open the South Heavenly Gate to observe.

The two generals hurriedly obeyed the order, went out of the South Heavenly Gate, and looked towards the sea outside the Eastern Continent. After a while, the two generals returned to the Jade Emperor and reported the details.

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor, having already deduced the origins of the stone monkey through divination, said, "The creature below is born of the essence of heaven and earth; it is nothing unusual."

The court assembly was thus suspended, and the officials were dismissed.

The Jade Emperor returned to the Jade Pool Wonderland to see the Queen Mother of the West and told her what had happened.

The Queen Mother said, "Now that you know his background and that he is that person's disciple, how should we deal with him?"

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor gave a wry smile and said, "How can we possibly deal with this?"

"Not to mention that behind that stone monkey is a sect with two great Hunyuan, its own strength is only above mine, not below mine."

As he spoke, the Jade Emperor shook his head repeatedly and said, "I only see that he is the protagonist of this great calamity, and with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth increasing day by day, this great calamity may be his opportunity to attain enlightenment."

"At that time, the Xuanhuang lineage will probably become a sect with three Hunyuan. What power that would be! Only when the Three Pure Ones were one can compare to it. But now, the Three Pure Ones have severed their brotherhood. The Xuanhuang lineage will probably be at its peak for a time."

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother sighed and said, "The Primordial Chaos Realm is much harder to attain than becoming a saint. Only one lineage knows the mysteries of the Primordial Chaos Realm, which is why Primordial Chaos Realm cultivators frequently emerge. As for us, who only cultivate diligently on our own, we don't know when we will have the opportunity."

The Jade Emperor couldn't help but laugh and said, "Becoming a saint is something that is recognized by the Heavenly Dao, so there is nothing difficult about it. Only the Primordial Chaos requires one's own ability."

"Fine."

The Jade Emperor sighed and said, "Since he is the protagonist of this great calamity, I might as well hide for a while longer and make a good connection."

The Queen Mother of the West nodded in agreement.

……

Now, after the stone monkey was born, it used its Eye of Truth to see all of heaven and earth, and gradually it withdrew its supernatural powers and went into hiding.

After that, the stone monkey roamed around the mountains, eating grass and drinking from streams, picking wildflowers, and searching for tree fruits.

They live among wolves and insects, in packs of tigers and leopards, as friends with deer and monkeys.

They spent the night beneath the rocky cliffs and explored the caves of the peaks in the morning. They were extremely happy. They were born with extraordinary talents, not only possessing the divine eyes that could see through illusions at birth, but also having extraordinary strength, subduing the tigers and leopards in the mountains, and becoming the king of the monkeys.

He was known as the Monkey King. Not long after, he found a blessed place in the mountains called the Water Curtain Cave, where he lived with a group of monkeys. They lived a carefree and leisurely life.

One day, upon seeing a monkey die of old age, the Monkey King was overcome with sorrow and shed tears.

Upon seeing this, the monkeys hurriedly inquired, and the Monkey King replied, "Today we live in this blessed land, carefree and at ease, but I fear that in the future, when we grow old and frail, and die, it would be a waste of our lives in this world."

Upon hearing this, the monkeys covered their faces and wept, all filled with sorrow.

Just then, a gibbon suddenly jumped out from among the monkeys and shouted, "If Your Majesty is so farsighted, it shows that your Daoist heart has been developed! Now, among the five insects, only three kinds of names and forms are not under the jurisdiction of the Ten Kings of Hell."

Upon hearing this, the Monkey King was overjoyed and eagerly asked, "Do you know which three classes they are?"

The gibbon said, "They are of the three classes: immortals, Buddhas, and gods. They have escaped reincarnation, are neither born nor die, and can live as long as heaven and earth, sun and moon."

The Monkey King then asked, "Where can these three be found?"

The gibbon said, "It is only in the Jambudvipa world, within the ancient caves and immortal mountains."

The Monkey King was overjoyed and impatient. He said to the monkeys, "If that's the case, then I will descend the mountain tomorrow and travel to the ends of the earth to find these three things and learn the secret of immortality!"

The monkeys clapped and laughed, "If that's the case, then tomorrow we'll cross the mountains and find plenty of fruit, firstly to host a banquet for Your Majesty, and secondly so that Your Majesty will have some food on the road."

The Monkey King was moved.

The next day, as expected, the monkeys held a feast, gathered mountains of fresh fruit, and ate their fill with the monkey king. They then built a raft and escorted the monkey king out to sea.

This journey, however, was a fortuitous encounter that stirred up a storm in the Three Realms. Unbeknownst to the Monkey King, as he sailed away, the monkeys behind him exchanged glances and revealed knowing smiles.

The gibbon that had previously advised them stepped forward and said, "With his departure, our path can indeed be accomplished."

Upon hearing this, the monkeys all laughed and said, "Absolutely! Absolutely!"

It turns out that this gibbon is actually a long-armed gibbon. Otherwise, how could a mere wild monkey possess such profound knowledge, understanding the three realms and knowing about immortals, Buddhas, and gods?

Without exception, all of these monkeys were incarnations of Liu Er, the eldest disciple of Xuanhuang.

Even the Monkey King, the Spirit Stone Monkey, is one of them, though he has lost all awareness and memory of it.

Now, the Monkey King set off, crossing the ocean, and arrived at the continent of Jambudvipa. He abandoned his ship and went ashore, where he began to roam freely.

After some years, having failed to find immortals and seek the Dao in his travels, the Monkey King once again had the idea of ​​leaving, so he made a boat and went out to sea again.

This time, however, he arrived at Xiniu Hezhou. It was all preordained by cause and effect. On Xiniu Hezhou, he finally found Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and Xieyue Sanxing Cave, where he became a disciple of Patriarch Subhuti.

This Subhuti Patriarch is also an incarnation of the Sage Cundi. The reason why the Monkey King took him as his master was twofold: firstly, this great eon was the period of great prosperity in the West, and the Monkey King was one of the main characters; secondly, this Six-Eared Serpent, relying on his Six-Eared Divine Power, had long heard throughout the Three Realms, and that no immortal, Buddha, or saint could actually be his teacher.

With this connection, it's not surprising that his spiritual stone monkey transformed into a disciple of the Daoist Zhunti.

The Taoist Zhunti knew the monkey inside and out, and knew that the monkey was actually very powerful and capable of all kinds of transformations. So he casually taught the monkey a few of his supernatural abilities. Sure enough, the monkey could learn them very quickly after just one try.

There was no need for much teaching, and the same was true when it came to imparting the Daoist teachings. He could apply what he learned to other situations, as if he had already understood these principles long ago.

With a single word of guidance from the Daoist Zhunti, he immediately understood. The Daoist Zhunti, or rather, the Patriarch Bodhi, knew that this monkey was so intelligent that he had to be taught some of the true essence of Buddhism and Taoism.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be worthy of the title of teacher. So, he took in the stone monkey, named him Sun Wukong, and taught him on the mountain for several years. When Patriarch Bodhi had nothing more to teach, he found a reason to send the monkey down the mountain.

After studying Taoism for several years, the monkey mastered several powerful supernatural abilities and was skilled in transformation. When he came down from the mountain, he was very proud. He first went down to the East Sea, made a great disturbance in the Dragon Palace, and obtained a set of armor and a piece of divine iron that Yu the Great had placed in the East Sea when he controlled the floods. It was also known as the Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Cudgel).

With supernatural powers and a handy weapon, he became increasingly arrogant and domineering. With the great calamity imminent, Xuanhuang was also paying close attention to him and secretly fueled his ambitions. This monkey went down to the Netherworld again and caused a great disturbance, crossing out his own name from the Book of Life and Death, as well as the names of his monkey followers.

Then, naturally, the Four Dragon Kings and the Ten Yama Kings filed a complaint with the Heavenly Court, leaving Haotian speechless.

The Four Dragon Kings are one thing, but when have you ever interfered in the affairs of the Netherworld? Now, for the first time ever, you're actually going to take charge of justice yourself.

(End of this chapter)