If you're so capable, then you go ahead and do it; this calamity is truly insurmountable.

"You son of a bitch—!"

This was the first time Sun Wukong swore during a battle.

The young man burst into laughter.

"Great Sage, don't be impatient. Come on, let's fight slowly, there's no rush."

"I'm in a hurry!!"

Sun Wukong's eyes widened in fury, his fiery pupils shooting out two beams of golden light, and he brought his staff down with the force to split mountains and shatter the earth—

"Bang!!!"

Both of them were sent flying backwards at the same time.

The exact same distance.

The exact same posture.

It's a 50/50 split.

It's a 50/50 situation again.

Sun Wukong steadied himself, his chest rising and falling slightly.

He stared at the still-smiling young man opposite him and finally realized something—

A month ago, when he was putting in 30% effort to stall for time, the other party was putting in 30% effort as well.

Two weeks ago, he used half his strength, and his opponent used half his strength as well.

Now, he's using all his strength—

The opponent is using all their strength.

"What exactly are you?!"

The young man stood up, dusted himself off, and smiled kindly.

Let me introduce myself.

"I am Lu Chen, a mere mortal."

"Great Sage, I've long admired you."

"A mortal?" Sun Wukong sneered. "Can a mortal withstand a full-force blow from my staff?"

Lu Chen shrugged, looking completely innocent. "If you weren't so good at fighting, Great Sage, I wouldn't have been able to show off, would I?"

Sun Wukong was speechless for a moment after hearing this.

What does that mean?

Did I give you your strength?

"Are you fucking making fun of me, Old Sun?!"

The golden cudgel was raised high once more.

"No, no, no!" Lu Chen quickly waved his hands. "It's really not for fun, Great Sage, listen to me—"

He suddenly narrowed his eyes and curled the corners of his mouth.

"Lord Bi Ma Wen, please calm down."

"..."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Sun Wukong's face turned completely black.

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Lu Chen shrank back, but he couldn't stop smiling. "I just wanted to say, Great Sage, you don't need to be angry with me. Think about it, when you were working in Heaven, they gave you a job tending horses, and you weren't this angry then."

"You can't even handle a fight with me now? That's not befitting of someone a stable boy like you!"

Sun Wukong was furious: "You're asking for death!"

The golden cudgel slammed down.

It's a 50/50 situation again.

They fought for a full three hours.

Sun Wukong was panting heavily, with seven or eight wounds all over his body.

The wound wasn't deep, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd been injured.

The young man opposite him also had seven or eight identical wounds on his body.

Even their locations are almost the same.

"Great Sage." Lu Chen sat down cross-legged and started flipping through his sweet potatoes again. "Let's stop here for today. The sweet potatoes are cooked, want one?"

Sun Wukong didn't say a word, and turned to leave.

The golden light faded into the distance.

As Lu Chen watched the golden light disappear into the horizon, the smile on his face slowly faded.

He looked down at his hands.

"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven... truly lives up to his name."

His name is Lu Chen, and yes, he is also a time traveler.

In my past life, I was a corporate slave who worked 996 hours a day until I died suddenly.

In the moment of his death, he was still thinking about the weekly report he hadn't submitted for tomorrow.

Then he came into this world.

Without a dazzling time-travel ceremony or a white-bearded old man to guide him, he suddenly appeared in a desolate wilderness, wearing the faded plaid shirt from his previous life.

They were thrown into this world where gods and monsters roamed freely, without any background, abilities, or bloodline.

He thought he was going to die.

In fact, he almost died. On the third day, a wild boar chased him halfway up the mountain.

It wasn't even a wild boar that had become a spirit; it was just an ordinary mountain boar.

Just as he was forced to the edge of the cliff, a thought popped into his head.

—【Ding. 55kai system successfully bound.】

—[Host's current combat strength: Mortal.]

—【System Core Capability: Automatically matches opponents of equal strength during battle, forcing a 50/50 match.】

—[Note: A sustained battle with the opponent is required for a sufficient duration to permanently add the corresponding level of combat power to the host's attributes. Unresolved combat power will be reset to zero upon leaving combat.]

Then he started fighting with the wild boar demon.

After dawdling with the wild boar for a good half day, the boar finally ran away on its own.

Then another sound rang in Lu Chen's mind.

—[Settlement complete. Host permanently gains combat power: One Pig's Strength.]

From that moment on, he understood the rules of the system.

The longer the battle lasts, the more combat power you accumulate. The stronger the opponent, the higher the rewards you receive.

But the problem is, where can he find a strong opponent to fight?

He was an untrained, self-taught individual; nobody knew him, nobody paid him any attention.

Should we actively seek out and fight the Demon King? But where would we find so many powerful Demon Kings? Besides, what if they run away after we've fought them a few times?

Until he heard something.

A high-ranking monk from the Tang Dynasty in the East led his disciples to the Western Paradise to seek the true scriptures.

He instantly realized that this was not a so-called high-magic world, but rather the world of Journey to the West.

Lu Chen understood immediately.

Why bother looking for a demon king?

Isn't this just... a ready-made assembly line of masters on the journey to the West?

The Golden Horned King, Silver Horned King, Red Boy, Bull Demon King, and Golden-Winged Roc are all deities' mounts and Buddhist disciples in disguise, each more ferocious than the last.

If he gets stuck on the journey to the West and refuses to continue—

Wouldn't those experts then have to come and fight him one by one?

One comes, one comes along.

Buy a pair, or I'll take a pair for free.

He just needs to sit there and wait.

"Is there anything more beautiful in the world?"

This is why Lu Chen is stuck on this road.

He did not come to obstruct the journey to the West.

He's here to gain experience.

As for what the pilgrims would think, and how Buddhism would view it—

What does it have to do with him?

He closed his eyes, and something unseen was slowly circulating within his body.

— [System notification from Wu Wukai: After 37 days and 4 hours of continuous battle with the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, the current progress is 12%.]

12%.

Only 12%.

The Monkey King's combat strength is indeed not so easy to assess.

"That's not enough."

Lu Chen sighed, picked up a roasted sweet potato, and blew on it.

He took a bite, gazing in the direction where the golden light had disappeared, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

"Great Sage, don't run away!"

"Our connection has a long way to go."

…………

at the same time.

Outside the valley, under the old tree.

Pigsy was dozing off against a rock, with juice still dripping from the corner of his mouth.

A beam of golden light descended, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

Pigsy opened one eye.

"Monkey King?"

He sat bolt upright, a smile plastered on his face: "All done?"

Sun Wukong remained silent.

He slammed his golden cudgel into the ground and sat down on a rock.

Pigsy paused for a moment, his smile still on his face, but it had already stiffened.

"...Didn't you get it sorted out?"

"Who said it wasn't done?" Sun Wukong glared at him.

"Then why did you come back?" Pigsy scratched his head. "Didn't you say it was just a matter of one blow with your staff?"

Sha Wujing also put down his staff, glanced over, and said nothing, but his meaning was clear—

Yes, senior brother, didn't you say it was just a matter of hitting someone with a stick?

Sun Wukong's face twitched slightly.

One blow.

He did say that.

Damn it, how could I have said that out loud?