In just this short while, everyone unanimously tagged the Great Sage Sun, as referred to by the Artifact Lord, as someone with powerful backing and formidable personal combat strength.
[And that's not all. Wasn't he in charge of the heavenly horses in the Milky Way before? Later, he disliked the lowly title and poor reputation of the 'Pi Ma Wen' (Horse Tender) and ran back to his hometown, the Flower-Fruit Mountain and Water Curtain Cave, to live a carefree and happy life.]
Yue Fuguang agreed, saying, "Brother Monkey wasn't wrong! When it comes to work, if you don't want to do it, just quit! I remember, didn't the Marshal of the Heavenly River also look down on him?"
[That did happen. So, after the Great Sage ran back home, the Jade Emperor sent the Supreme Lord Lao Zi to coax him back with sweet words, assigning him to manage the Queen Mother's Peach Garden.
Those peaches could extend life, allow one to become an immortal or a sage. They bloom once every three thousand years, bear fruit once every three thousand years, and ripen once every three thousand years.]
Yue Fuguang laughed. "Having a monkey watch a peach orchard? Who on earth came up with that idea!"
The 'audience' was first startled—so this Great Sage Sun was a monkey spirit?
No wonder the little immortal lord called him Brother Monkey; he really was a monkey!
The young princes, princesses, and Yu Ningxuan were already completely enthralled. Although the Artifact Lord had only briefly summarized the deeds of that Great Sage Sun, one could easily imagine the process must have been thrilling.
They were now eating almost by instinct. Like the Seventh Prince, who had stuffed himself until his eyes were rolling back, which made their father, Emperor Mingxi, frown deeply.
If he weren't afraid of interrupting the conversation between those two, he would have already slapped this foolish son's backside with his shoe!
Thankfully, a sister was more considerate. Seeing her seventh brother's stomach stretched taut, the Eighth Princess quickly poured him a cup of hawthorn water to aid digestion.
However, the shrewd ones among them sensed something different; the whole affair reeked of conspiracy!
Based on instinctive intuition and the sharpness honed from years of political maneuvering, they also felt that putting a monkey in charge of a celestial peach orchard was ill-intentioned.
Whether mortal or immortal, it's hard to resist one's nature. As the saying goes, it's easier to defeat an enemy than to conquer oneself.
Of course, while thinking this, it didn't stop them from drooling with envy over the peaches—extending life, becoming an immortal or a sage!
Who wouldn't want that? If they were that Great Sage Sun, they wouldn't be able to resist eating a couple either!
[So, I heard from Yue Lingzhu that when the Queen Mother held the Peach Banquet, not only was the Great Sage Sun not invited, but when the Seven Fairies went to the Peach Garden to pick peaches, they found many peaches of different grades missing and were sure the Great Sage had eaten them, so they went to report him.]
"Brother Monkey ate the peaches? If the Seven Fairies succeeded in reporting him, wouldn't the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother punish him?"
[Don't worry, Master. The Great Sage Sun used his magic to immobilize them in time, so they didn't go! However, the Great Sage only immobilized them; he didn't kill them!]
"Of course! My Brother Monkey's moral compass is so upright! He calls Princess Iron Fan 'sister-in-law' and the Jade-Faced Fox 'seductress'. He knows the difference between the proper wife and the mistress, much better than some adults!"
Some adults instantly trembled in fear. They really had long since reformed, their concubines long dismissed, and now they couldn't be more respectful to their own wives!
"And even drunk on immortal wine, he never laid a hand on the beautiful fairies. Unlike some who use being drunk as an excuse to act wildly, calling it 'true nature'—what a load of nonsense!"
Hearing the little immortal lord suddenly swear, these people not only didn't find it improper but inwardly condemned those beastly colleagues of theirs. Look how angry they've made the little immortal lord!
Yue Fuguang thought of many other things but didn't say them, only adding, "Some people's kindness lacks judgment, but my Brother Monkey's kindness is principled.
He never spares evil spirits, dealing out beatings or killings as deserved. But he never harms the innocent and shows kindness to ordinary mortals."
[Exactly! The Great Sage Sun is the ideal type for many young fairies!
We just mentioned the Great Sage immobilizing the Seven Fairies. Before the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother could trouble him, he went to the Peach Banquet himself. Not only did he use magic to knock out all the immortals, but he also drank the immortal wine.
Staggering drunk all the way to the Lihen Heaven in the Thirty-Third Heaven, he stumbled into the Supreme Lord Lao Zi's Tushita Palace. It's said he stole and ate many of Lao Zi's elixirs, which pained the Supreme Lord greatly.]
With every sentence the system uttered, everyone's hearts ached in sympathy. This Great Sage Sun ate the peaches, drank the immortal wine, and now treated the elixirs like a meal!
They were green with envy. Forget the peaches and wine for a moment; just those elixirs—although they didn't know how they differed from the Artifact Lord's—they knew anything with 'immortal' in its name couldn't be bad!
Hadn't they seen how a single Body-Strengthening Pill made the Yu family strong and healthy, with Yu Chongshan's white hair turning mostly black?
And how half a Detoxification Pill cured the 'Hundred-Day Drunk' poison that even the famous Daoist Xuanmingzi was helpless against?
Not only was the poison cleared upon taking the medicine, but they had also seen the child Baiyi—strong and healthy, even better than before the poisoning!
How could they not be envious?
"Lao Zi is a master at alchemy. So he ate them? He can just make more; alchemy is his specialty anyway!
Oh right, Little Pearl, I remember you also have a few furnaces of Lao Zi-brand elixirs."
Everyone: Hold on, isn't the little immortal lord being a bit too biased? Those are immortal elixirs!
What does she mean, just eat it if you ate it? Does she think immortal elixirs are like the meat skewers in their hands? Something you can have whenever you want?
And the Divine Artifact actually has some there too! Ah, they're all green with envy!
Thinking of this, many people took a fierce bite of the golden-brown, sizzling, and fragrant meat skewer in their hands, feeling a heroic boldness akin to the Great Sage stealing and eating the immortal elixirs!
["There indeed are, but Master, in your current mortal flesh, cannot consume the immortal elixirs.
The Great Sage was different. After eating the pills as if they were regular meals, he directly fled back to his old home, the Water Curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain.
This infuriated the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother, and a host of other immortals.
They immediately commanded a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals to descend to the mortal realm and capture the Great Sage.
The Great Sage instantly defeated the Giant Spirit God, fought one against nine to overpower the Nine Luminaries, beat Nezha until he cried, and battled Erlang Shen from the ground all the way to the heavens!
In this great war, every notable immortal from the Heavenly Court joined the fray! It's a pity we came to the mortal world and missed witnessing it in person."]
"Did my Brother Monkey win? Did any senior brothers or sisters from our Lingxu Mountain go to lend support?"
["He naturally won. But don't worry, Master. Our Lingxu Mountain has always been on good terms with Fangcun Mountain, so of course we didn't go.
The Jade Emperor couldn't possibly invite our Divine Sovereign!"]
Yue Fuguang's voice was brimming with pride, "My master is truly the most powerful being I have ever seen!"
Everyone grew even more curious about the Divine Sovereign of Lingxu Mountain, whom they had heard mentioned several times, but unfortunately, neither the Divine Artifact nor the young immortal gentleman said more on the subject.
The conversation turned back to the extraordinarily powerful Great Sage Sun, who wreaked havoc in all directions and emerged victorious.
On the journey back, the Divine Artifact supplemented the tale with many more details, getting everyone present fired up with excitement.
The originally less-than-an-hour journey by the swaying carriage ended up taking nearly an hour and a half. By the time they returned to the city, it was already dark.
Even so, because the Divine Artifact kept digressing while telling the story, by the time they reached the imperial city gates and Emperor Mingxi had to bid farewell to the officials seeing him off, they still hadn't heard about how it ended after the Great Sage Sun fought his way up to the Heavenly Court!
Yue Fuguang: I did that on purpose. If you want to know what happens next, tune in next time!
