Chapter 663: Sun Wukong: Freedom and Respect Are More Precious Than Jin Dan and Peaches

"How's that, Brother Monkey!" Ye Hei leaned close to Sun Wukong. "Only one peach this time? Doesn't that feel underwhelming?"

After all, this one had once guarded the Peach Garden.

One peach? It wouldn't even fill a tooth gap!

But Sun Wukong shook his head, his expression utterly free of dissatisfaction. "No, you're wrong! Here, I feel freedom and respect—things no peach, no Jin Dan can match. I love this banquet so much~!"

As he said this, Sun Wukong wore a look of nostalgic reflection.

"There's no scheming here, no treachery. I feel utterly at ease, as if I've returned to Huaguo Mountain."

"In Heaven, everyone calls me the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, but inside, they still see me as just a monkey—looking down on me."

"Here, it's different. Everyone is of different races, yet they live in harmony. This is far better than Lingshan, Heaven, or the old Three Realms."

"Cultivating the Immortal Art of Eternal Youth, becoming a carefree immortal—this was my original purpose in cultivating!"

"Ye Hei, can you understand?" Sun Wukong gazed at him intently. "This is Old Sun's dream!"

Ye Hei was stunned—he never expected Sun Wukong to hold such deep thoughts, and he was taken aback.

Sun Wukong smiled. "You're surely thinking, why would a monkey understand so much, right?"

Ye Hei's expression turned awkward.

That was indeed what he had thought.

Sun Wukong raised his cup and clinked it against his. "No need to be embarrassed—it's normal. I present myself outwardly as that way. But during my training at the Xieyue Sansheng Cave, I read many books and learned many truths."

"Didn't you read Journey to the West?"

"When the monkey's combat power suddenly dropped, yet he displayed extraordinary abilities—medicine, statecraft—could all that have been self-taught during five hundred years under the Five Elements Mountain?"

"These are all skills Old Sun learned long ago."

As he said this, Sun Wukong looked slightly proud.

"Too bad, these are just minor arts—they're useless against divine battles!"

After chatting with Ye Hei for a while, Sun Wukong rose, cup in hand, and walked to Jin Chan.

"Master, I toast you—thank you for helping me escape suffering."

Jin Chan raised his cup and smiled. "Our fates are similar—we were both manipulated without knowing it. Helping you escape suffering was merely fate. Come, drink!"

After draining the cup, Jin Chan felt deeply content.

"What you just said to Ye Hei is right. The Tai Xuan Realm is truly wonderful. Here, no one looks down on us. Freedom and ease—this is the most precious thing in the world, not any immortal medicine or spirit peach."

Jin Chan held high status at Lingshan, seemingly greatly respected, and upon completing the scripture journey, he would become a Buddha, an Ancestor.

But all of it rested on the Buddha's favor.

Should the Buddha change his view, all of it would vanish.

But in this Tai Xuan Realm, he could truly feel—people respected him simply because he was Jin Chan, and nothing else.

"Only today do I know who I truly am!"