In the following years, Tianyi appeared in various systems and constructed permanent teleportation portals. The location of each portal was carefully selected. It couldn’t be too distant from the center of power, but neither could it be so close that the pantheon wouldn't have time to react if an enemy invaded using the portal.

Previously, it didn’t matter much since each pantheon would simply ask Tianyi to open the portal before immediately closing it. In addition to choosing the location, one of the systems had to serve as a hub for all portals. Although Tianyi was fully capable of creating several portals linking all the pantheons, each portal still needed a power source to remain stable should Tianyi be incapacitated. And having multiple portals increased the risk factor.

To consolidate their rule, God King Herakles even suggested using the Herakles System as the cross-universe teleportation portal hub. However, all the other pantheons objected. Although each had reservations about using their own home system as the teleportation portal hub, it signified a huge benefit for the host.

The divinities of the top ten rankers in the devil hunt had not yet fought it out, so it was also inappropriate for the Herakles System to take the lead. Yes, during the years Tianyi was in a coma, the various pantheons had not yet competed. It was only natural. Immortals had a distorted sense of time compared to mortals, and divinities had an even more distorted sense of time.

The time of competition was counted in thousands of years, and even then, the divinities felt it was a bit rushed.

With Tianyi’s contribution, the gathering of divinities would no longer require thousands of years of travel, but that didn’t mean they could avoid showing up in person. Although it was a competition without life-and-death stakes, accidents could still occur. Furthermore, the pantheons did not trust the others to not deliberately create such accidents.

They also had to prepare for any contingencies so that their home system would not fall into chaos should anything happen to them. Of course, the chances of such an accident were infinitesimally small. With so many pantheons and powerful divinities present, anyone who acted in a secretive or harmful manner would be scrutinized. If they were identified as an enemy, they would face the wrath of all the divinities present.

Unless they had transcendental power like the Almighty, they would be severely injured or perish.

Still, the teleportation portal hub had to be established before the competition. In the end, the location of the teleportation hub was set at the Kamuy System.

The Kamuy System was recorded in the Immortal Court’s archives. According to the records, the Kamuy System was a vassal of the Kotoamatsukami System. In Earth terms, the Kamuy System corresponded to Ainu mythology, while the Kotoamatsukami System correlated to Shintoism.

Just like in Earth’s history, the Kotoamatsukami System also contacted the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System and brought back many influences. Of course, it was still called the Pangu System at that time.

Like the current Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, the Kotoamatsukami System had entered a new age, with most of the old divinities buried by the river of time. Unlike the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, however, the strongest divinities of the Kotoamatsukami System were at the sovereign level. The Kotoamatsukami System had many divinities, but all of them were divinities of faith. Throughout the entire history of the Kotoamatsukami System, only a few divinities of law ever appeared.

That didn’t stop Tianyi from opening a backdoor to allow the Kotoamatsukami System to have a teleportation portal. He and Daoyi even took their second honeymoon there.

Deep in a cave lay a figure atop a platform covered in beast skin. The pelt reflected light vividly against its lush and soft texture, but the figure didn’t appreciate it, having grown accustomed to it over the years. The figure scratched its back and hummed a merry tune. In its hand was a piece of metal shaped into a rectangle.

“Man, it’s been twenty-four hours, thirty-six minutes, and fifty-four seconds. When will the next three chapters of Monkey Defying the Heavens release? The author isn’t doing his job. If only I could find out who the author is and force him to focus wholeheartedly on his story,” the figure said. His voice was slightly high-pitched and had a strange accent to it.

Not only that, but the back of his hand and fingers were golden with silver-white fur. The fur covered every exposed body part peeking out of his clothes. Finally, the fur belt around his waist unfurled to reveal a tail flicking lazily in the air like a cat’s.

The figure wasn’t a man at all, but a monkey!

The tail elongated and lassoed a fruit from the platter, pulling it into his outstretched hand. The monkey brought the fruit to his mouth and took a big bite. Juices burst out and leaked down his chin, dripping onto the pelt. The pelt immediately absorbed the fruit juices, but showed no signs of stickiness or staining.

After devouring the fruit, pit and all, the monkey rolled back and forth on the pelt bed, Xiyi Talisman held in both hands. “Ahh, I really want to know how the Monkey took off the golden circlet and tricked the stupid monk into wearing it! I want to see how he reacts to the golden circlet tightening around his neck!! Go update, you stupid author!!!”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The monkey threw a tantrum for who knows how long. When he finished, he sulked in his cave. Finally, he sighed. “The last time the author stopped updating for a day, he didn’t post again until eleven years later. Should I find some other stories?”

He immediately shook his head. “No, no. Other authors are shit. Even if they write about demons like myself, they eventually become background props to the humans! I can’t betray the author who is also my brethren!”

Immediately after saying that, the monkey deflated a bit. “But what should I do? It’s so boring. Should I find a group of monkeys to rule and call myself Monkey King II?”

The more the monkey thought about it, the more fond he became of the idea. “No, no, that’s too disrespectful to the Heaven-Equaling Great Sage. Since the great sage is the Flower-Fruit Mountain Monkey King, maybe I should call myself the Plain Mountain Monkey King?”

After a moment, he said, “That’s terrible. The mountain I live on is too ordinary! That’s it. I’m going to find a better mountain before I crown myself a monkey king!”

As a man—er, monkey—of action, he immediately packed up his belongings and left the cave. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a spatial ring and could only wrap all his belongings in a cloth and carry it on his back like a backpack. The monkey didn’t care and whistled a jaunty tune as he did so.

The monkey travelled for three years and three months. During this time, he accidentally encountered humans and fellow demons. Some humans just stared warily at him, but others attacked him on sight. The same was true with fellow demons.

He had not yet found the perfect mountain to claim as his territory, but something else caught his eye. The monkey stood still in front of a wall-less gate with the words Immortal Enlightenment written on the arch. If that were all, the monkey would have walked past it and checked it out, but there was a large group of beings—both human and demon—kneeling outside.

Curious, the monkey walked up to a dog demon and patted his arm. “Hey brother, what’s going on? Why is everyone waiting outside?”

The dog demon turned toward the monkey. “Don’t you know? Didn’t you come here to seek the immortal’s teachings?”

“Immortal’s teachings?” the monkey repeated. He turned toward the gate, eyes blazing with interest.

The monkey was not a demon born of parents, but from a metallic ore in the shape of a monkey. He didn’t know how long he had existed, simply living a paradisiacal life on the mountain where he was born, with no worries or goals.

That all changed when a human cultivator appeared. The monkey and the human fought. Naturally, the monkey won and killed the cultivator. Although he was a demon, the monkey had been born without cultivation or an innate method. Even so, he was extraordinary—comparable to an acupoint-opening master.

After killing the cultivator and rummaging through his belongings, the monkey discovered the Xiyi Talisman. It was like Eve eating the apple of Eden, or mankind discovering fire. The monkey gained wisdom and knowledge from that encounter.

What did the monkey do with his newfound knowledge? Go out and adventure, embarking on the immortal path? No—he got addicted to the Xiyinet. Since he could survive on spiritual qi alone, the monkey would spend months or even years in his cave, becoming a shut-in.

That didn’t mean he didn’t want to cultivate. He had wanted to, but most of the users on the Xiyi Talisman were humans, and their methods didn’t work for him. The few demonic methods were subpar; his natural absorption rate of spiritual qi was faster than theirs.

“Do you kneel here and wait until the immortal allows you to enter?” the monkey asked.

The dog demon gave a bitter smile. “No, we’re all rejects who failed to pass the test. Only those who can walk through the gate have the fate to listen to the immortal’s teachings.”

“Just walk through?” The monkey looked at the gate again. It didn’t seem that hard.

The dog demon already knew what the monkey was thinking. “It’s not that simple. You have to pass through the gate. If you go around the side and walk up the mountain, you won’t find anyone—not even the people who passed through.”

“Has anyone walked out?” the monkey asked.

“Yes,” the dog demon said. “But those were the ones whose fate with the immortal had ended. No matter how hard they tried, they could no longer walk through the gate.”

“Then has anyone become the immortal’s disciple?”

“I don’t know,” the dog demon said. “If they did, they should be able to walk through the gate even after leaving, right? Who knows, maybe they’re still on the mountain, receiving the immortal’s teachings.”

The monkey nodded. That made sense. “I’m going to try.”

The dog demon didn’t stop him. Since the monkey hadn’t heard of the immortal, it meant he hadn’t tried yet. However, he didn’t raise his hopes. He expected the monkey to hit an invisible barrier when trying to walk through the gate—but to his surprise, the monkey passed through and disappeared.

Jealousy and envy filled the dog demon, but in the end, he sighed. This wasn’t the first time he had seen someone walk through.

Back with the monkey—his vision changed after passing through the gate. Although the mountain remained lush and full of greenery, it had changed. Flowers blanketed the ground, birds sang, ripe fruits hung from every branch, and an immortal aura filled the air. He could even hear the immortal’s words.

That wasn’t the monkey’s imagination. He could literally hear chanting from the mountaintop. It wasn’t distinct—filtered and garbled, as if to prevent any leakage of the teachings.

Heart soaring, the monkey climbed the mountain. The closer he got, the clearer the words became, but even when he reached the top, he couldn’t understand them. It was as if a thin film blocked him from fully comprehending them.

The monkey didn’t care. His eyes were glued to the fantasy-like scene he had only seen in cultivation dramas on the Xiyinet. An immortal in white sat at the center, surrounded by countless humans and demons. Despite having the face of a young man, the immortal’s hair was whiter than snow. White robes embroidered with silver branches and leaves clad his body.

Though the immortal kept his eyes closed and never paused his speech, the monkey heard him speak and instantly knew his name.

“Welcome, Monkey. Take a seat.”

He was Immortal Fusang.