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

In the Eastern Continent of Divine Victory, in the Kingdom of Aolai, at Flower and Fruit Mountain.

The celestial stone atop the mountain, nourished by the essence of heaven and earth, has finally reached its critical point. Its surface is covered with cracks, and it contains a five-colored radiance, faintly emanating a sound like the beating of a heart.

High above, auspicious clouds gathered, accompanied by the faint sounds of dragons roaring and phoenixes singing. Such extraordinary phenomena naturally alarmed the Heavenly Court.

In the Lingxiao Palace, the Jade Emperor was discussing matters with his ministers when suddenly a messenger with clairvoyance and keen hearing urgently reported: "Your Majesty, in the lower realm of Dongsheng Shenzhou, on Flower Fruit Mountain, a celestial stone has cracked open, and spiritual light soars into the sky, as if a naturally formed spiritual creature is about to emerge!"

A glint flashed in Haotian's eyes, but he feigned indifference: "Things of the lower realm are born from the essence of heaven and earth, nothing unusual." Though he said this, he already knew in his heart—the first protagonist of Journey to the West, the Spiritual Stone Monkey, was about to be born.

He subtly winked at Venus. Venus understood and secretly instructed the pre-arranged duty officers and mountain and local deities to keep a close watch and be ready to "guide" him at any time.

Meanwhile, on the Western Vulture Peak, the Buddha was preaching when he suddenly felt something, stopped preaching, and looked through the void towards the direction of Flower Fruit Mountain.

"The cicada has entered the cycle of reincarnation, and the stone monkey is about to emerge. The prelude to the journey to the West has begun." He murmured a Buddhist chant and said to the Guanyin Bodhisattva beneath him, "Venerable Guanyin, this monkey has a karmic connection with the Buddha. You will need to guide him in the future."

Guanyin clasped her hands in prayer and accepted the order: "I will obey the Buddha's teachings."

Countless hidden gazes instantly appeared around Flower Fruit Mountain. Those from the Heavenly Court, the Buddhist sects, and even some curious wandering immortals and powerful demons all wanted to see what kind of spiritual creature had caused such a commotion.

However, no one noticed that just before the immortal stone was about to shatter, a hazy, inconspicuous stream of light quietly pierced through layers of restrictions and sight, and directly entered the interior of the immortal stone!

It was a wisp of the original essence of the Chaos Brick that Lu Chen had transformed into!

Inside the immortal stone was not a physical entity, but a chaotic and ethereal spiritual space. At the center of the space, a golden, hazy ball of spiritual light slumbered, radiating a pure and flawless innate spiritual aura.

"What a fine piece of jade!" Lu Chen's clone transformed into a blurry point of light, hovering beside the ball of spiritual light. "It's a pity that as soon as it was born, it was plotted against by all sides. It will either become the Victorious Fighting Buddha of the Buddhist sect or the Great Sage Equaling Heaven of the Heavenly Court. In the end, it is just a pawn."

He came not to destroy, but to...enlighten!

"Little one, since we are destined to meet today, I will give you a 'meeting gift'." The light flickered slightly, slowly injecting a filtered and processed stream of information into the depths of the spiritual light cluster.

This information stream consists of three parts:

First, the simplified version of the "Nine Revolutions Profound Technique" basic chapter. It is not the complete technique, but rather the most core principles of body refinement, qi absorption, and enlightenment. All sect imprints and backdoor traps have been removed, leaving only the purest path of "strengthening oneself." It is enough for the Stone Monkey to lay an unparalleled foundation, but it will not be exposed too early and attract the attention of sages.

Second, basic scientific thinking and logical reasoning. This is not specific knowledge, but a way of thinking about problems: observation, hypothesis, verification, and summarization. It will enable him to think more independently and less blindly when facing various "divine schemes" in the future.

Third, a very faint seed of "True Meaning of Power" belonging to Lu Chen's own Great Dao of Power. This seed is hidden deep in the bottom of his soul and is not usually visible. It is only activated when he encounters a desperate situation, feels unwilling, and angrily questions the heavens, making him instinctively yearn for the path of "power returning to oneself and destiny being in one's own hands".

Once the information flow was complete, Lu Chen's clone vanished without a trace.

Almost simultaneously—

"Snap!!!"

The immortal stone shattered with a deafening roar, sending fragments flying everywhere! Golden light shot into the sky, directly piercing the Dipper Palace!

In the golden light, a monkey with golden eyes and golden fur leaped out, its eyes shooting out two beams of golden light that shot towards the heavens, startling the stars in the sky!

The stone monkey was born and bowed to the four directions, but his eyes showed no ignorance; instead, they held a hint of clever contemplation. He scratched his head, looked at his hands, then at the mountains and rivers, and suddenly grinned, revealing his sharp teeth.

"Interesting, interesting!" He imitated a human, cupping his hands and bowing in all directions. Although his movements were still immature, he already possessed some of the demeanor of a "human." This naturally amazed the duty officers, mountain gods, and local deities who were secretly observing, who thought to themselves that this monkey was indeed extraordinary.

The stone monkey quickly integrated with the monkey troop in the mountains. Relying on his innate intelligence and the mindset secretly implanted by Lu Chen, he swiftly became the leader of the troop. He led the monkeys to the Water Curtain Cave and was revered as the "Handsome Monkey King," living a carefree and happy life.

But whenever the night is deep and quiet, and he sits alone outside the Water Curtain Cave, gazing at the starry sky, a trace of confusion and...longing always flashes in the stone monkey's eyes.

In my mind, there are always some blurry fragments: about power, about immortality, about the faint cry of "My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens."

"The old monkey said, all living beings must die." He scratched his head. "I don't want to die. I want to stay this carefree and happy forever. But how can I avoid dying?"

This idea, like a seed, quietly took root in his heart.

Meanwhile, high above, in the Lingxiao Palace.

The Jade Emperor looked at the incredibly intelligent yet subtly "off" stone monkey reflected in the Jade Mirror, and frowned slightly: "This monkey seems to be more intelligent than I expected, and also more... opinionated?"

Venus smiled and said, "It's better to have higher intelligence, so that you can shoulder great responsibilities in the future. Your Majesty, rest assured, everything is under control."

At the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mount Ling, the Buddha withdrew his gaze, his fingertips twitching slightly as if he were calculating. After a moment, he slowly said, "The heavenly secrets have been slightly disturbed, but it will not affect the overall situation. Venerable Guanyin, once he develops a desire to seek the Dao, you should go and guide him."

Guanyin nodded: "Disciple understands."

Despite everyone's calculations, things proceeded as planned.

No one knew that a completely different seed had already been planted in the heart of that stone monkey, who should have been innocent and unaware.

This seed was quietly planted by a "black brick".

It will sprout, it will grow, and it will lead this grand Journey to the West in a direction no one could have predicted.

Lu Chen's true form was currently squatting in the clouds outside Flower Fruit Mountain, cracking melon seeds he had smuggled from Wuzhuang Temple, watching with great interest.

"Monkey, oh monkey, your master leads you through the door, but the cultivation is up to you. Whether you become a Buddha or a saint, or whether you overturn the heavens, depends on your own destiny."

He spat out the sunflower seed shells, then vanished in a flash.

Next stop—we should go see if the ten reincarnations of that "Golden Cicada" were also so "standard".