Chapter 825: Fated

Encountering the monkey let Su Fan know what kind of world he was currently in.

However, Su Fan felt no joy in meeting the monkey; after all, the monkey was a huge source of trouble, whether now or in the future.

As for whether he could scheme for some Merit during the Journey to the West, Su Fan had no such thoughts for the time being.

Even if he were familiar with the plot, what of it? With insufficient cultivation, what could he possibly scheme for?

Those demons and ghosts with backgrounds—would you dare to scheme against them? That is no different from seeking death.

And those monsters in Journey to the West without backgrounds are not weak in strength, whether it be the White Bone Lady who was struck three times by the monkey, the Black Bear Spirit, or the three demons of the Chechi Kingdom.

Their strength is not simple; at the very least, every one of them has become an immortal.

They are certainly not someone Su Fan can compare to.

Don't look at how the White Bone Lady was slain by the monkey; she still managed to fight a few rounds with him.

How strong the monkey was at the beginning—perhaps his strength declined after being under Wuzhishan.

But Su Fan felt that the monkey being pressed under Wuzhishan was not a punishment, but more likely a form of tempering.

During the Havoc in Heaven, the monkey consumed so many Golden Cores, Immortal Peaches, and Immortal Wine; with that terrifying Qi, it was clearly impossible for the monkey to refine it all at once.

Stored within his body, five hundred years under Wuzhishan might just be to allow him to digest it better.

As for the Buddhist Sect wanting to weaken Sun Wukong's strength.

Su Fan did not quite believe it; after all, logically speaking, the Buddhist Sect needed a Protector and enforcer, so wouldn't it be better the stronger he was?

As for worrying that the monkey would be too strong and unruly.

No matter how strong the monkey is, can he be stronger than the Buddhist Sect? Not to mention the two Saints, even Rulai and Randeng are powerhouses at the Quasi-Saint level in mythology.

In the entire world, powerhouses of this level are few and far between.

Although the monkey's origin is decent, when it comes to his true origin, he is just a Five-Colored Divine Stone, which is still a bit inferior to the likes of Rulai.

The only thing that might have some talent is the Lingming Stone Monkey, one of the Four Spiritual Monkeys, and that bit of Qi of Luck.

But even so, it is extremely difficult for him to cultivate to the Quasi-Saint realm; after all, among the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect and the Ten Thousand Immortals of the Jie Sect, how many have reached the Quasi-Saint level?

Although the monkey's master is the Bodhi Patriarch, he only taught him a little bit.

Therefore, the Buddhist Sect has no need to worry about his strength at all.

As for the monkey gaining Merit after the Journey to the West and being able to significantly increase his strength, that is even less of a concern.

Using Merit to increase strength is indeed the simplest method, but true great beings are all aware of the drawbacks of this.

So even if the monkey eventually uses the Merit from the journey to improve his cultivation, he definitely won't be able to get that strong.

In that case, the Buddhist Sect has no need to fear the monkey; using Wuzhishan to suppress him, and even feeding him Copper Juice and Iron Pellets, is to ruin him.

That is simply impossible.

Under Wuzhishan, the monkey being pressed for five hundred years is more about tempering his temperament and allowing him to solidify his own foundation.

It is just a pity that the monkey does not seem to have reached what Rulai expected in these five hundred years; otherwise, upon emerging again, the monkey's strength should have been even greater.

But even so, after the monkey left Wuzhishan, his strength was definitely stronger than before the Havoc in Heaven.

Don't look at how majestic the monkey was during the Havoc in Heaven, making the Jade Emperor crawl under the table; it was just them cooperating to put on a show.

The monkey's strength at the time might have been strong enough, but it was not enough to be taken seriously by the entire Heavenly Court.

As for the Six Royals of the Heavenly Court, except for Gouchen and Ziwei who were a bit lackluster, the other four Royals go without saying.

The Jade Emperor is the ruler of the Heavenly Court, with strength comparable to Rulai of the Buddhist Sect; the East Pole Qinghua Great Emperor is an ancient venerable god of the Taoist Sect, and his strength goes without saying.

The South Pole Longevity Great Emperor is a disciple under the Primordial Saint and a senior brother to the Twelve Golden Immortals.

As for the final Earth Goddess, that goes without saying; the Earth Goddess is a figure whom even Saints must respect.

Of course, besides these, there are the Southern Dipper Six Departments and the Northern Dipper Seven Departments, these combat units—which of these gods, like the Northern Xuanwu Great Emperor or the Demon Subduing True Monarch, is not stronger than the monkey?

When the monkey caused Havoc in Heaven, these people were just watching a show.

Especially those from the Jie Sect who were on the list; they also treated this as a play. They naturally knew about the Buddhist Sect's Journey to the West plan, and that the monkey was the protagonist.

Although they hated the Western Sect, the Journey to the West was the Great Trend, and they could not stop it. Moreover, the East is currently dominated by the Chan Sect.

Their Jie Sect had long since ended.

Now that the Western Buddhist Sect's momentum is rising, it is the Chan Sect that should truly have a headache, so these people are even more inclined to watch the show.

That they didn't add fuel to the fire behind the scenes is already very conscientious of them.

Of course, the monkey doesn't know any of this; it was only later, perhaps during the latter part of the journey, that he started to lie flat.

Because he discovered the true truth of the journey.

The monkey was originally very clever; seeing that every monster had a master behind them, how could he not make the connection? Plus, with people in the Heavenly Court intentionally making things difficult for the Buddhist Sect, it is not impossible that the truth of the journey was revealed.

So the monkey's lying flat in the later stages is also understandable.

Of course, regardless of whether he lies flat or not, his strength is still extremely powerful.

And those monsters on the journey without backgrounds are indeed no match for the monkey.

And these monsters without backgrounds are also very strong, especially the likes of Niu Mowang and the Black Bear Spirit, whose talents are not much worse than the monkey's.

Later, not only did they not die, but they were even converted by the Buddhist Sect.

If Su Fan wants to scheme for Merit on the journey, he can only look for methods within these tribulations that lack backgrounds.

But this is not easy; he cannot intervene lightly, and if his strength is insufficient, that is just courting death.

Furthermore, to intervene, he needs to have a connection with the monkey, or with the others.

But among the five-member group of the journey, besides the monkey, Tang Seng is the least likely, and Zhu Bajie, who looks lazy and gluttonous, is actually a second-generation figure with the Human Teachings standing behind him.

And Sha Seng is the Jade Emperor's man.

Therefore, they are all hard to approach; as for the Little Dragon Horse, he is of the Dragon Clan, and he was a price the Buddhist Sect paid to subdue the Dragon Clan.

Among these, the monkey is the most straightforward and easiest to approach.

After all, which of the others hasn't cultivated for a long time and doesn't have experience? As someone who hasn't even become an immortal, what right does Su Fan have to approach them?

Thinking of this, Su Fan looked at the monkey that was hugging his leg and refusing to let go.

He immediately pointed his finger through the air at the monkey's forehead.

A stream of information was transmitted into the monkey's Mud Pill Palace.

"Monkey! Your path of cultivation does not lie with this poor Taoist, but since we are fated to meet, this poor Taoist has a technique for strengthening the body and building health, which I shall pass on to you."

Having said this, his figure moved, shaking off the monkey, and he flew away rapidly.

What he had transmitted to the monkey was precisely the Nine Refinements Golden Body Art; although the Nine Refinements Golden Body Art was incomplete, it was still an extremely profound method of Refining Body.