Chapter Eighty-two The Eight Great Saints

  A moment later, Li Jing's face was filled with worry and he said: "I thought this little demon monkey would be easy to capture, especially since my son is fighting him for the first time. But this guy's magical powers are astonishing, and even my son can't defeat him. And there's another, even stronger demon here, what am I supposed to do? Returning to Heaven like this, with our tails between our legs, is truly humiliating."

  The Wide-Eyed Heavenly King Mo Lishou hesitated and said, "No, my four brothers and I will lead our troops to Mount Huaguo to take a look around and probe the strength of that Laborer Monkey King Sun Wukong."

  Nezha and the Four Heavenly Kings have been in contact for many years. Seeing Guangmu Tianwang, he still wants to test the reality of Wanjin Dasheng. He says with some resentment: "That Wanjin Dasheng can't even grasp victory over the Crown Prince, let alone you guys with your skills. I'm afraid that if you go, you won't be able to come back."

  Upon hearing Nezha's blunt words, the face of Guangmuzi Mo Lishou turned alternately pale and livid, but he was no fool either, able to discern the protective intent in Nezha's tone. Moreover, as warriors themselves, they were well aware of Nezha's actual strength as a fellow warrior. If what Nezha said was true, then even the Great Sage Equaling Heaven would not be confident of defeating him, let alone his four brothers together - going there would be nothing short of sending themselves to their deaths.

  Seeing the four heavenly kings also nodded, Li Jing sighed repeatedly: "What to do? What can be done?"

  Nezha saluted Sun Wukong as a worthy opponent and suggested: "This matter doesn't necessarily require the use of force, I'll just fight him. The Handsome Monkey King once said that he had taken a title for himself called 'The Great Sage Equal to Heaven', if the Jade Emperor grants him this title, then everything will be settled. If not, we don't need to attack the mountain, just wait for him at the South Heavenly Gate and let him come up."

  Li Jing was shocked and changed color, saying: "What? This demon monkey still wants to fight its way up to the South Heavenly Gate? Alright, since we can't defeat him in battle, let's not try to hold out against him. Let's return to Heaven and report the demon monkey's demands to the Jade Emperor. If the Jade Emperor grants his wishes, then our crimes will be pardoned. If he doesn't grant them, then more troops should be sent and powerful heroes invited from the lower world to come and capture him - it won't be too late."

  Nezha heard this and just coldly smiled, but didn't say anything else.

  After making up his mind, Li Jing immediately ordered the heavenly soldiers and generals to break camp and return directly to the Heavenly Court. This battle that came with great momentum ended in a disappointing manner at Huaguo Mountain.

  Lei Hao, who was in front of the Water Curtain Cave, remained vigilant for a long time but didn't see any heavenly soldiers or generals coming to attack. Instead, the sound of war chariots fading away into the distance came from the sky. Before long, the countless heavenly soldiers and generals vanished into thin air.

  "How could it have retreated so quickly?" Lei Hao was also secretly puzzled in his heart.

  …………

  A few days later, at the invitation of Sun Wukong, the six brothers arrived simultaneously. Coincidentally, Lei Hao and Sun Wukong were having a grand celebration feast in the Water Curtain Cave. Immediately, Sun Wukong arranged for the little demons to prepare a sumptuous banquet to welcome the six brothers.

  "Old Seven, Old Eight, you two have fought well in this battle, and brought honor to our eight brothers. Especially Old Seven, your cultivation has improved too quickly, hasn't it? In just over a decade of effort, how did you leap from the Heavenly Immortal Realm to the Golden Immortal Realm? It's truly embarrassing for me, an old lion who has lived for so many years and is still wandering in the Golden Immortal Realm." At the banquet, the Lion King, with a sleepy expression on his face, spoke to Lei Hao with full of praise.

  Lei Hao hurriedly said, "Fourth brother is overpraising me, I'm so flattered. Don't you think that each of the brothers has been polishing themselves at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm for thousands of years? I just happened to break through to the Golden Immortal realm by luck, my cultivation is far inferior to all of you."

  The Bull Demon King put down his wine jug and laughed: "Seventh Brother's cultivation has improved, and his temperament is indeed becoming more refined. Don't the several brothers present know that your current strength should be? Think back to the great battle at Accumulated Thunder Mountain, Seventh Brother, you were only a mere Heavenly Immortal in the early stages of your cultivation, yet you could exchange blows with Puxian, who was already in the Taiyi True Immortal Realm. Now that you've broken through to the Golden Immortal Realm, how much weaker can your strength be? I'm afraid even if you were a great demon at the peak of the Golden Immortal Realm, it wouldn't be a big deal to you!"

  Lei Hao repeatedly said he didn't dare.

  After finishing speaking, the Bull Demon King turned his head to Sun Wukong and said: "Old Eighth, this time you have indeed repelled the heavenly soldiers and generals of the Heavenly Court, but you have also lost face for the Heavenly Court. I'm afraid the Heavenly Court will not let it go easily. As for your Flower Fruit Mountain, there are still some thin people, do you need more good hands? If you're in trouble, don't be polite to the brothers, we still lack a few demon troops under our command."

  The Monkey King also said: "It's not just the demon army, if the eight brothers are short-handed in the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, I can stay here to help them too!"

  The gibbon king said so, and all the brothers kept nodding in agreement.

  After drinking a large bowl of wine, Sun Wukong said with a nonchalant tone: "Those small soldiers and generals, how dare they trouble you brothers? With me and Old Seventh on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, it's enough. I, Old Sun, thank you again for your kindness, brothers." After finishing speaking, the Handsome Monkey King bowed his hands to everyone.

  After a pause, Sun Wukong continued: "Let's not mention the reinforcements for now. There is another important matter I want to discuss. Both I and Erlang Shen are now called Great Sages. I am called the Equal of Heaven Great Sage, and Erlang Shen is called the All-Powerful Great Sage. The reason I invited all of you brothers here today is to discuss this matter. My idea is that since both Erlang Shen and I have become Great Sages, all of you brothers can also be referred to as Great Sages."

  After Sun Wukong finished speaking, the atmosphere suddenly cooled down. Even the unruly and explosive Lion Camel King did not rush to answer Sun Wukong, but instead turned his head to look at the Ox Demon King, with an inquiring expression.

  Niú Mó Wáng thought for a long time, then slowly opened his mouth and said: "Since Lǎo Bā has this intention, I, the old cow, have no opinion. Originally, with my tribe's residual energy being greatly injured, it is not suitable to take such a name that attracts attention. However, after the previous battle at Jī Léi Shān and these few days of battles at Huā Guǒ Shān, even if my eight brothers want to secretly cultivate and nurture their nature, it would be difficult to achieve. On the contrary, it's better to take this opportunity to establish our name as the eight brothers. As long as we can withstand this test, my eight brothers will be able to gather most of the demons in the land, forming a force that no one dares to underestimate. At that time, the situation of my tribe will naturally become much better."

  Sun Wukong heard this and laughed, saying: "Still, Old Bull is meticulous, I, Sun Wukong, didn't think that much, but since there are so many advantages as Old Bull said, then all of you brothers mustn't delay."

  The Bull Demon King said: "I will be called the Great Sage Equaling Heaven."

  The gloomy-faced Jiaomo Wang spoke: "I am called Hailong Dashi."

  Fanning himself with a plain white paper fan, Peng Meng Wang said elegantly: "I am the Great Sage of Muddled Heaven."

  The Lion Camel King said in a majestic tone: "Then I'll just call myself the Great Sage who can move mountains."

  The Monkey King sprang up onto his mount and said: "I am called the Great Sage Equal of Heaven."

  The whole body of the wolf king shook suddenly, and a black air burst out. He said somewhat gloomily: "I am called the Great Sage of Driving Spirits."

  Lei Hou laughed and said, "This is for the best. With my younger brother, the Great Sage of a Thousand Jin, and Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, my eight brothers will be collectively known as the Eight Great Sages, and together we will shake the Three Realms."

  The eight brothers all cried out together: "Good, let's form the Eight Great Saints." The eight brothers continued to feast for several days, but in the end, because Sun Wukong didn't need any support no matter what, the six brothers all left one by one. Only Lei Hao and Sun Wukong were left on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits.

  On this day, in the Water Curtain Cave, Lei Hau asked Sun Wukong with a serious face: "Monkey, if Heaven really agreed to let you be the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, would you still go to Heaven?"

  Sun Wukong thought carefully and then nodded firmly at Lei Hao.

  Lei Hao's expression paused for a moment, and he said expressionlessly: "Reason."

  "I have my own reasons, no matter what, I must go to heaven once, even if the Jade Emperor doesn't invite me again, I will sneak into the heavenly court."

  Lei Hao pondered for a moment, then turned to Sun Wukong and said: "One day in heaven is one year on earth. You've gone off to heaven without a care, what about all these old people and children?"

  Sun Wukong said matter-of-factly, "Isn't the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits yours if I'm not there? If I'm not around, you're the king of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. Moreover, I've found that whether I'm on the mountain or not makes little difference, but you can make the mountain even more prosperous."

  Lei Hao gazed into Sun Wukong's eyes, enunciating each word: "You're wrong, Huaguo Mountain isn't for just anyone, but it absolutely can't do without you, because only you are the god of Huaguo Mountain. As for me, I'm at best just a steward."

  Seeing Lei Hao's expression, Sun Wukong said helplessly: "I promised you to come and go quickly, isn't that enough? You just want to return to your broken Kuan Yuan Mountain, really don't understand, Huaguo Mountain and Kuan Yuan Mountain aren't the same? They are all self-contained caves, why do you always think about going back."

  Lei Hao said, "It's not that I want to return to Kan Yuan Mountain, but this battle has already lost face for the Heavenly Court. If you go back to the Heavenly Court and cause more trouble, the Heavenly Court will indeed be at odds with us forever."

  "Unfazed, Sun Wukong said: 'Not dead or rested? Those wine-bag rice buckets in Heaven's Court? I, old Sun, can send them all off with just one Golden Hoop Rod.'"

  Lei Hao sneered, "The Heavenly Court was established for who knows how many years, gathering the manpower and resources of the four major continents. Do you really think the Heavenly Court's power is just on the surface? If the Heavenly Court were to launch a full-scale attack on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, even if you, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, are not afraid, what about these monkeys and their descendants all over the mountain?"

  Sun Wukong was deep in thought, carefully recalling his days as the 'Bajie Warm' in Heaven. He truly discovered that many forbidden areas in Heaven emitted a dangerous aura. He said: "Niu Tou, you've reminded me, I recall my days in Heaven's Palace, indeed discovering many powerful experts who made even me feel threatened. But why does the Jade Emperor have so many skilled subordinates under his command and yet sends this bunch of useless trash to capture old Sun?"

  Lei Hao shook his head and said, "This is beyond what I can know. The master of the three realms is indeed not simple."