Sun Wukong feigned a look of regret and said, “It seems our Monkey King is destined by heaven.”
“Children… oh no, brothers, why aren’t you quickly hailing the Great King?”
With that, Sun Wukong took the lead, raising his fists and shouting, “Monkey King!
Monkey King!”
The simple monkeys didn’t overthink it.
They just followed along, shouting.
“Monkey King!”
“Monkey King!”
…
The Old Monkey stood at the cave entrance, looking at the group of monkeys below.
His old face was a bit red, but more than that, he felt helpless.
“You, you’re so high up… how am I supposed to get down?”
The Old Monkey wasn’t stupid; he knew his own limits.
Getting up there was purely accidental, and as the saying goes: easy to get up, hard to get down.
After a moment of hesitation, the Old Monkey went into the Water Curtain Cave, planning to find some vines to make a rope.
“Actually, I feel like if you hadn’t fallen, you probably could have jumped up there, right?” the Spirit Monkey, who was helping Sun Wukong, said.
Upon hearing this, the other monkeys also looked at Sun Wukong with puzzled expressions, deep in thought.
Logically speaking, if Sun Wukong could bump someone up there, he should be able to jump up himself.
Hearing the Spirit Monkey’s words, Sun Wukong quickly explained earnestly, “Don’t say that.
Our Monkey King is destined by heaven.
All of this is the will of heaven.”
“Heaven’s will decreed that I fall, and then that the Great King go up.”
Listening to Sun Wukong’s earnest explanation, the simple monkeys were all relieved.
They felt that Sun Wukong was right; this was destined by heaven.
Heavenly Court.
“Pfft!”
In the Lingxiao Palace, Thousand-Mile Eyes and Shunfeng Er suddenly couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Seeing this, the Jade Emperor asked with some confusion:
“Immortal, why are you so undignified?”
Thousand-Mile Eyes: “Reporting to Your Majesty, you asked us to observe that Stone Monkey.
Just now, a group of monkeys were arguing under a mountain spring waterfall about who could jump into the cave behind the waterfall to become the Monkey King.”
Shunfeng Er: “Who would have thought that the Stone Monkey, who originally had the strength to jump up, suddenly stumbled and accidentally bumped an Old Monkey up, losing the position of Monkey King.”
The Jade Emperor was amused when he heard this and laughed, “According to this, the Stone Monkey is indeed quite unlucky.”
“Yes, although the Stone Monkey is born with a spiritual body, he has not undergone any cultivation.
Plus, monkeys are naturally clumsy, so it’s normal,” Taibai Jinxing replied with a smile.
“However, I wonder if it will affect future events.”
The Jade Emperor waved his hand and said, “Continue to observe.
We will just follow the normal procedures.
If there are changes, we don’t need to push them.”
“Besides, with the Stone Monkey’s ability, if he waits another ten or eight years until the Old Monkey’s life ends, he will still be able to rise and become king.”
After all, whether the Stone Monkey becomes the Monkey King or not is irrelevant to the Heavenly Court.
Spirit Mountain.
The Buddha was also paying attention to the events on Flower-Fruit Mountain.
Seeing that the Stone Monkey had not become the Monkey King, the Buddha frowned slightly, then smiled.
“Buddha, why are you smiling?” Guanyin asked, somewhat puzzled.
The Buddha replied, “I just observed that Stone Monkey, clumsy, he stumbled and fell, losing the position of Monkey King.”
“This…”
Listening to the Buddha’s words, Guanyin began to consider: if the Stone Monkey doesn’t become the Monkey King, will he leave Flower-Fruit Mountain?
Will the subsequent arrangements be affected?
The Buddha saw Guanyin’s thoughts and said, “No matter.
That Old Monkey’s fate is sealed.
Go to the Underworld and make arrangements, then push the progress of the matter.”
Guanyin’s face lit up, and she nodded, saying, “Disciple understands.”
After speaking, Guanyin flew directly away from Spirit Mountain.
How could Guanyin not understand the Buddha’s meaning?
This matter is easy to handle.
Just make some arrangements in the Underworld, and when the Old Monkey’s lifespan ends, it’s done.
Simple.
Inside the Water Curtain Cave, the Old Monkey found many vines, tied them together, and then fastened a large stone to them, using it to climb down.
After the Old Monkey came down, Sun Wukong led a group of monkeys in unison, shouting, “Greetings, Great King!
Greetings, Great King!”
Hearing Sun Wukong and the monkeys call him Great King, the Old Monkey’s old face turned red, feeling extremely awkward.
He truly felt unworthy of being this Great King.
Seeing the Old Monkey’s hesitant expression, Sun Wukong quickly said, “Great King, you don’t need to overthink it.
Your ability to go up was the will of heaven.”
“Since it’s heaven’s will, then the Great King will surely lead us to a better life.”
The monkeys, hearing Sun Wukong’s words, chimed in together, “That’s right!”
“Yes!
Yes!”
Upon hearing this, the Old Monkey felt much better.
After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Then… alright.”
As the elder of the monkey troop, the Old Monkey was already highly respected.
Now that he was king, everyone was quite satisfied.
“Other Great Kings have titles.
Great King, you should also choose one.
How about Handsome Monkey King?” Sun Wukong continued, stealing the show.
Sun Wukong was just frantically, secretly pushing the Old Monkey towards the title of Handsome Monkey King.
What?
Listening to Sun Wukong’s words, the Old Monkey’s face became even more awkward.
He was already so old, and still Handsome Monkey King?
Wasn’t that a bit shameless?
This time, none of the monkeys followed along, as Sun Wukong’s suggestion of “Handsome Monkey King” didn’t quite fit the Old Monkey.
“How about… Old Monkey King?” the Spirit Monkey next to Sun Wukong suggested.
“Oh, that’s good…”
“Old Monkey King is quite fitting.”
A group of monkeys chattered in agreement, while Sun Wukong’s face darkened slightly.
“Oh, your monkey sister’s long legs.”
“Ahem, I don’t think that’s appropriate.
Our Handsome Monkey King is a title.
The first generation Monkey King is the Handsome Monkey King, and every future generation of Monkey Kings will also be the Handsome Monkey King.”
“In the future, every one of our Great Kings will use the title of Handsome Monkey King.
Wouldn’t that be better?” Sun Wukong began to tempt them.
The monkeys listened and felt that there seemed to be some logic to it.
The Old Monkey also scratched his head, thought about it, and no longer felt such strong resistance to the title of Handsome Monkey King.
Seeing that everyone was persuaded, Sun Wukong immediately made a definitive decision: “It’s settled then.
Let’s all welcome the first generation Handsome Monkey King.”
“Greetings, Handsome Monkey King!”
“Greetings, Handsome Monkey King!”
“…”
A group of monkeys also started shouting along.
Ding!
“Task successful!
Reward obtained: Supreme Cosmos Evolution Art.”
Hearing the system’s prompt, Sun Wukong was instantly delighted.
It was done.
Ding!
“Task: Do not leave Flower-Fruit Mountain for three years, and do not apprentice to anyone for martial arts.
Task reward: Seventy-two Transformations of Earthly Fiends, Somersault Cloud…”
“Hahaha!”
Sun Wukong immediately burst into laughter.
This task was good; he didn’t need to apprentice, and he would still have everything from the journey to the west.
Perfect.
“What are you laughing at?” the Spirit Monkey asked, looking at Sun Wukong beside him, puzzled.
After all, the position of Monkey King, which should have belonged to Sun Wukong, was now gone, yet he was still laughing?
Sun Wukong stopped laughing and explained, “I’m happy!
From now on, we have a Monkey King, and under his leadership, tomorrow will be better.”
“Tomorrow will be better…”
A group of monkeys also started shouting along.
However, the Old Monkey and the two Spirit Monkeys had somewhat strange expressions; they always felt that this whole thing was a bit inexplicable.
“Let’s not just stand there!
The Monkey King helped us by letting down a vine from above.
Let’s all climb up and take a look!”
As Sun Wukong spoke, he led the way into the pond, ready to climb up.