Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

Life in Qitian Prefecture was novel at first, but it became boring after a while.

Besides eating celestial fruits and drinking fine wine, Sun Wukong spent his days teasing the celestial maidens and warriors in his palace. Occasionally, he would stroll around the South Heavenly Gate, joking and bantering with the guards. Although the celestial beings of Heaven were outwardly polite, Sun Wukong, with his golden eyes, could clearly see the aloofness and disdain hidden deep in their eyes.

"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven? Hmph, it's just an empty title, used to fool monkeys."

"Exactly, without any official position or power, idling around all day, how are they any different from those纨绔 (spoiled brats) in the mortal world?"

Such idle gossip inevitably reached Sun Wukong's ears. He smiled and laughed on the surface, but inside he was burning with anger. He practiced the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique taught by his master (Lu Chen) day and night without slacking off, and the power within his body surged like a tide, but he had nowhere to unleash it, which made him feel even more frustrated.

On this day, he was dozing on a cloud outside the Peach Garden—although he had been named the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, he was still not qualified to enter such an important place as the Peach Garden. Suddenly, an enticing fragrance of fruit wafted in on the wind, lingering and entering his nostrils.

Sun Wukong sat up with a start, sniffing the air: "This smell... is it peach? No, it's a hundred times more fragrant than the peaches from my Flower Fruit Mountain!"

He followed the fragrance and saw that the peach orchard was bathed in rosy light and auspicious clouds. The peaches hanging on the branches were red, green and purple, each one plump and juicy. In particular, the peaches on the old trees in the deepest part of the orchard were emitting a misty purple aura, which made it clear that they were not ordinary.

Just then, several fairy maidens emerged from the garden carrying jade platters containing several purple-veined, yellow-pitted peaches. They chatted and laughed softly as they walked.

"The Queen Mother of the West's Peach Banquet is in three days. I heard that all sorts of immortals and Buddhas have been invited, but the 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven' is the only one not invited."

"Hehe, a monkey with a nominal position, how could he be worthy of attending such a grand event? I heard that his name wasn't even on the invitation."

"What a pity about these purple-veined peaches that ripen only once every nine thousand years. We can only look at them, and we can't even smell them much..."

The fairies gradually faded into the distance.

Sun Wukong squatted on the cloud, the smile on his face gradually disappearing, and firelight flickering in his golden eyes.

Didn't you invite him?

The Monkey King, who is equal to the heavens, couldn't even receive an invitation to the Peach Banquet.

He recalled the gossip he had heard these past few days, and the contempt that lay beneath the outward respect of those immortals and gods. A nameless rage surged to his head!

"What a Jade Emperor! What a Queen Mother! They've gone too far!" Sun Wukong gritted his teeth and gripped his golden cudgel tightly.

Just then, a familiar voice entered his ears; it was his master (Lu Chen) speaking through the golden cudgel: "Monkey, are you angry?"

"Master!" Sun Wukong's spirits lifted. "They've gone too far in bullying us!"

"If they bully you, fight back." Lu Chen's voice was tinged with laughter. "However, don't be reckless. I'll teach you a method—if they don't invite you, go by yourself. If you see any immortal wine or golden pills at the Peach Banquet that you like, take them. But remember, only take 30%, and specifically choose those that won't be immediately noticed. After taking them, leave some 'traces,' preferably... like an ignorant monkey stealing food, rather than intentionally provoking someone."

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up: "Master, you mean... let me, Old Sun, pretend to be a greedy wild monkey and cause some trouble, without making them turn against me immediately?"

"Smart," Lu Chen praised. "Also, don't touch those nine-thousand-year-old purple-veined peach trees deep in the Peach Garden. But you can pick some of the other six-thousand-year-old and three-thousand-year-old ones, but only take thirty percent of them, and don't damage the roots. Use the simple 'Sleeve Universe' technique I taught you to store the peaches you pick, and don't eat them on the spot, or you'll attract attention."

Sun Wukong scratched his head: "Only 30%? That's not enough!"

"Too much of a good thing is bad." Lu Chen said seriously, "If you empty the Peach Garden and steal all the Golden Elixir Wine, the Heavenly Court will immediately fight you to the death, and even Buddhism won't be able to protect you. Now, taking only 30% means there will be losses, but they won't be crippled. The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother will lose face, but they may not immediately break off relations. You need to grasp the balance carefully."

Although Sun Wukong felt unsatisfied, he thought his master's words made sense, so he nodded in agreement: "I understand!"

Three days later, the Peach Banquet was held as scheduled.

In the celestial realm of Yaochi, celestial music filled the air, and the air was thick with the fragrance of incense. Immortals, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Star Lords gathered together, clinking glasses and chatting merrily. The Queen Mother of the West sat in the main seat, while the Jade Emperor, though not present in person, sent Venus as his representative.

At that moment, a golden light flashed within the Peach Garden.

Sun Wukong, dressed in the stolen robes of a celestial official, swaggered into the garden. The garden's guards and local deities had already been knocked out by his drowsy spells. Following Lu Chen's instructions, he specifically chose the branches laden with fruit, picking only the ripest and best two or three tenths of the fruit from each tree, which he then collected using his "Sleeve Universe" technique. When he encountered the nine-thousand-year-old purple-veined peach tree, although his mouth watered, he stubbornly resisted touching it.

Before long, he had "strolled" through the peach orchard, and his sleeves were filled with hundreds of peaches of various colors.

Next, he made his way to the Tushita Palace. Laozi, at the invitation of Yuanshi Tianzun, had gone to Kunlun to discuss the Dao, leaving only two furnace- tending boys dozing in the palace. Sun Wukong, following the same method, knocked the boys down and slipped into the alchemy room. There he saw gourds and jade bottles filled with golden elixirs.

Remembering his master's instruction to "only take 30%", he poured a little from each bottle and collected it in jade bowls. He filled more than a dozen bowls, estimating that it was about 30%, before stopping. Before leaving, he deliberately knocked over two empty gourds and messed up the alchemy rack, creating the illusion of a hasty theft.

Finally, he slipped back to the Jade Pool. At this time, the banquet was in full swing, and the fairy maidens were bustling about serving wine. Sun Wukong transformed into a small flying insect, landed by the wine jars, and while the fairy maidens were not paying attention, he used his "Sleeve Universe" technique to collect half of the dozens of jars of imperial wine. He then sprinkled a handful of "gravel and sand" made of monkey hair into the remaining wine jars to spoil the taste.

Having done all this, he was satisfied and was about to slip away when he bumped into seven fairy maidens picking peaches—they were preparing a fruit platter for the final dish of the Peach Banquet, "Offering Auspicious Peaches."

When the fairies entered the garden, they saw fallen leaves everywhere and sparse peaches on the branches. They were immediately terrified and screamed, "Oh no! The peaches have been stolen!"

The Jade Pool was thrown into chaos!

The Queen Mother was furious. Upon hearing the news, the Jade Emperor slammed his fist on the table and ordered Li Tianwang to lead 100,000 heavenly soldiers to set up a net and capture the demon monkey!

Meanwhile, Sun Wukong had already returned to the Qitian Palace, where he hid the stolen peaches, elixirs, and imperial wine. He then transformed into a speck of dust, stuck to the roof beam, and chuckled to himself.

"Master is right. Taking only 30% will anger them, but they won't fight to the death." He felt the treasure in his sleeve. "This is enough for me and my children to enjoy for a long time!"

Sure enough, Li Tianwang led his troops to surround Qitian Palace, but couldn't find Sun Wukong—he had already used his seventy-two transformations to hide. Although the Heavenly Court was furious, after assessing the losses, they found that only 30% of the peaches were missing, not many golden pills were lost, and most of the imperial wine was intact. They concluded that although the monkey was a habitual thief, he was cowardly and greedy, and not a threat.

"That monkey demon is despicable! But with the Journey to the West imminent, it's not wise to start a major conflict." The Jade Emperor and Guanyin secretly discussed, "Let him roam free for a few days, and we'll deal with him all at once later!"

Therefore, the Heavenly Court only issued an arrest warrant and did not actually carry out a full-scale extermination.

Sun Wukong hid in the shadows, watching the Heavenly Court make a lot of noise but little action, and was so amused that he scratched his head and cheeks.

Deep within the clouds, Lu Chen cracked sunflower seeds, watching this "controllable version of Havoc in Heaven," and nodded in satisfaction.

"The monkey's acting was quite good; it handled the situation very well."

"Next... it's time for a 'trip through the Eight Trigrams Furnace'."

"But this time, we can't let Laozi refine him into having fiery eyes again."

"We need to try a different approach."

With a flicker of his figure, he silently disappeared towards the direction of the Tushita Palace.

In this grand drama in Heaven, the main characters have taken the stage, and the supporting characters are in place.

Meanwhile, the real director is preparing to add some "new ingredients" to Laozi's Bagua Furnace.