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

Forty-nine days passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, in the Tushita Palace, the Eight Trigrams Furnace shook incessantly, and dazzling golden light shone through the gaps in the lid, with the faint sound of monkeys crying out.

"The time has come." Laozi opened his eyes, waved his whisk, and commanded, "Open the furnace!"

The two furnace attendants, Jinjiao and Yinjiao, quickly stepped forward and worked together to turn the furnace plate.

"boom--!"

The furnace lid shot skyward! A scorching wave of air, accompanied by blinding golden light, erupted forth! From within the golden light, a figure leaped out and landed in the center of the alchemy room—it was Sun Wukong!

But he was now completely different from before he entered the furnace. His golden fur shone even brighter, as if dark golden light was flowing through it, a sign that the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique was being tempered and refined by the furnace fire to a new level. His eyes were even more dazzling with golden light, and wherever his gaze swept, the void seemed to distort—on the surface, he was no different from the legendary "Fiery Eyes of Truth".

In reality, he secretly used the "Chaos Concealing Breath Technique" passed down by Lu Chen to hide the true seed of "Insightful Golden Eyes," only simulating the extraordinary phenomenon of Fiery Eyes.

"That monkey! Not only is it not dead, but it's become even more ferocious!" Laozi was startled, but he had expected it. He pointed his whisk and said, "Li Tianwang, seize it!"

Li Tianwang, the Four Heavenly Kings, Nezha, and others, who had been lying in ambush, rushed in, each wielding their magical weapons, and surrounded Sun Wukong.

"Haha! Old man, your stove is quite good. It gave me, Old Sun, a very refreshing bath!" Sun Wukong laughed, his golden cudgel appearing out of thin air. "Come, come, let Grandpa Sun see. Have you all improved in the forty-nine days I haven't seen you?"

Before he finished speaking, he had already transformed into a golden light and rushed straight towards Li Tianwang! He swung his golden cudgel in a wide arc and brought it down, carrying the immense power forged in the Eight Trigrams Furnace!

Li Tianwang hastily summoned the Golden Pagoda to block the attack.

"clang--!!!"

With a deafening roar, the Golden Pagoda was sent flying backward by a single blow, crashing into half of the alchemy room! Li Tianwang's tiger's mouth split open, and he retreated in horror!

Seeing this, Nezha thrust his Fire-Tipped Spear at the enemy; the Four Heavenly Kings surrounded him with their respective weapons; the Giant Spirit God swung his axe and slashed... In an instant, magical treasures flew wildly in the Tushita Palace, and supernatural powers clashed, causing the sky to darken.

Sun Wukong fought with increasing ferocity, wielding his golden cudgel with impenetrable force, forcing the gods into a retreat. He remembered his master's (Lu Chen's) instructions: "Make a big fuss, but don't hurt the key figures." Therefore, although he attacked ruthlessly, he only repelled and injured the gods, without killing them.

Before long, the entire Tushita Palace was in ruins. Seeing that the situation was not good, Laozi had already secretly sent a message to the Lingxiao Palace.

In the Lingxiao Palace, the Jade Emperor, looking at the chaos reflected in the Haotian Mirror, exclaimed with a grim expression, "This demon monkey... is even more ferocious than before! Even Li Tianwang couldn't stop him!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva stood by, palms together, and said, "Your Majesty, do not worry, this monkey's calamity has arrived. The Buddha Tathagata is about to arrive."

As soon as the words were spoken, a great light shone brightly in the western sky, and the sound of chanting resounded throughout the Thirty-Three Heavens! A golden giant Buddha phantom appeared, covering the sky and the sun, which was none other than the Tathagata Buddha of the Western Paradise!

"Sun Wukong—" Buddha's voice was majestic, like the grandest of bells, "You have repeatedly violated heavenly laws, disrupted the Peach Banquet, stolen the elixir of immortality, and now you have destroyed the Tushita Palace. Your crimes are unforgivable. Why don't you surrender now?"

Sun Wukong, engrossed in his fight, looked up at the sound, his golden eyes fixed on the boundless Buddha figure. He grinned and said, "You are the Tathagata? I've heard your Buddhist power is boundless. Dare to make a bet with me, old Sun?"

"Oh? What are we betting on?" Buddha's voice was calm.

"Let's bet..." Sun Wukong's eyes darted around, "I, Old Sun, can somersault 108,000 li in a single bound. If I can fly out of your palm, you can have the Jade Emperor move out of the Lingxiao Palace and let me sit on the throne of the Heavenly Emperor! If I can't fly out, I, Old Sun, am at your mercy!"

These words caused an uproar among the immortals. How dare this monkey covet the throne of the Heavenly Emperor?

The Buddha smiled and said, "Very well. So be it."

He stretched out his right hand, his five fingers spread, and a Buddha-light flowed in his palm, transforming into a hazy world where mountains, rivers, the sun, moon and stars were faintly visible.

"If you can fly out of this palm, you win."

Sun Wukong laughed loudly, put away his golden cudgel, somersaulted, and transformed into golden light, entering the Buddha's palm.

Upon entering his palm, he saw a vast world unfold, with five fleshy pillars reaching to the sky and standing tall. Sun Wukong chuckled inwardly, "This Buddha has quite the skill, making the universe within his palm appear so realistic. Too bad, he can't fool me!"

He flew to a "flesh pillar," plucked a hair that turned into a thick ink brush, and wrote "The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was here." He then urinated as a mark, and only then was he satisfied. He somersaulted out.

The scene before them changed, and they were back in front of the Lingxiao Palace. Sun Wukong, hands on his hips, laughed loudly: "Buddha! I, Old Sun, have already flown out of your palm and left a mark under that central pillar! You'd better tell that old Jade Emperor to move it..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Buddha's voice boomed like thunder: "You demon monkey! Look down at your feet!"

Sun Wukong looked down and saw a line of small characters under his right foot: "The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was here." The water stains were still wet—it was exactly what he had written and scattered under the "Flesh Pillar" just now!

"This...this is impossible!" Sun Wukong's expression changed drastically. He had clearly flown out of the palm, how could this be...?

Buddha flipped his palm over, and an immense suction force came, intending to suppress Sun Wukong!

In that split second, the chaotic mark left by Lu Chen inside the golden cudgel in Sun Wukong's arms suddenly lit up! At the same time, far away in the Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain, Lu Chen's true form sensed that the time had come through the Chaotic World Brick!

"Now! Space displacement!"

Lu Chen fully activated the spacetime power contained within the Chaos World Brick, using the mark inside the Golden Cudgel to locate and pinpoint the space in his palm where Sun Wukong was!

Just as Tathagata was about to press down with his palm, he suddenly felt a strange distortion and fluctuation in the space within his palm, as if something had been forcibly "replaced" for a moment. He frowned slightly, but did not stop. He closed his five fingers and pressed down with his palm!

"boom--!!"

The golden Buddha's palm transformed into the Five Elements Mountain, crashing down and suppressing "Sun Wukong" at its base! A six-syllable mantra Buddhist scroll was affixed to the mountaintop, its light swirling and reinforcing the seal.

The Buddha withdrew his palm and uttered a Buddhist chant: "This monkey is destined for this tribulation. He shall be imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain until a destined person arrives five hundred years later, at which point he may be freed."

The immortals and gods breathed a sigh of relief and praised in unison, "The Buddha's supernatural powers are boundless!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva's eyes flickered slightly. She felt that something was off for that brief moment, but upon closer inspection, she could confirm that Sun Wukong's aura was indeed being suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain. The arrogant demonic energy, the spiritual energy of the peaches and golden pills, and even the faint fluctuation of the "Fiery Eyes" were all undeniable.

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it," she thought to herself.

Beneath the Five Elements Mountain, Sun Wukong struggled fiercely, shaking the mountaintop violently, roaring repeatedly, "Buddha! I, Old Sun, refuse to submit! When I emerge, I will surely overturn your Spirit Mountain!"

His voice, breath, and the strength of his struggle were exactly the same as Sun Wukong's.

No one knows that what is suppressed under this mountain is the "Chaotic Monkey Hair Clone" that Lu Chen created by using the power of the Chaotic World Brick, combining a hair from Sun Wukong's origin, a wisp of his aura, and some chaotic energy!

This clone possesses 70% of Sun Wukong's strength, enough to deceive all those below the level of a saint, and can even simulate behaviors such as struggling and roaring, making it virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

The real Sun Wukong, in the instant of that spatial displacement, had already been guided by Lu Chen through the Chaos Passage to one of the Thirty-Six Heavens within the Chaos World Brick, and was safe and sound.

Inside the brick world, Sun Wukong looked at the smiling Lu Chen himself, then at the scene of "himself" being suppressed in the Haotian Mirror outside, and scratched his head, laughing loudly: "Master! Your trick of switching the beams and pillars is brilliant!"

Lu Chen tossed him a Chaos Spirit Fruit: "Don't be too happy yet. That clone under the Five Elements Mountain can only last for five hundred years at most. During these five hundred years, you need to cultivate diligently in this brick-like world of mine, push the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique to its peak, and completely refine the Seed of the Golden Eye of Illusion. Five hundred years later, when the Journey to the West begins, that will be your true debut."

"Disciple understands!" Sun Wukong took a bite of the spiritual fruit, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit. "Five hundred years from now, I, Old Sun, will definitely give that Buddha a real shock!"

Lu Chen looked outside and saw that the Five Elements Mountain was shining with Buddhist light, and the Three Realms all believed that the demon monkey had been subdued.

A slight smile played on his lips.

"The stage is set up, and the actors are in position."

"The next five hundred years... it's time to properly plan the 'surprises' on the journey to the West."

His gaze swept across the four continents, finally settling on the direction of the Great Tang Dynasty in the East.

There, the tenth incarnation of Jin Chanzi is about to be born.

The real show has only just begun.