The monkey scratched his head and looked around for a seat. His energetic eyes scanned the surroundings and saw occupied and unoccupied prayer mats. After searching for a bit, he found a prayer mat that seemed particularly enticing. Not only that, it was in the front row too!

He didn’t know why no one else chose the prayer mat in such prime real estate, but since no one chose it, all the better for him.

Once the monkey sat on the prayer mat, he fidgeted a bit before he focused on the sermon. After Ancestor Fusang welcomed him, the monkey discovered that the previously obscure words became clear. They became even clearer when he sat on the prayer mat.

At first, the monkey fidgeted, unable to calm down. He could perfectly understand the words, but they did not mesmerize him. He would rather take out his Xiyi Talisman and read the new updates, but since he knew that there were none, he could only force himself to calm down and learn.

Time seemed meaningless. As the sermon continued, a demonic cultivation method naturally appeared in his mind. Upon learning it, he subconsciously used it. Were it not for the high qi density of the mountain, all the spiritual qi in the surroundings would have disappeared in a few hours.

The monkey, who had never cultivated since his birth, rapidly advanced. It only took a few minutes for him to reach the peak of the qi-gathering pupil level. An hour later, he reached the foundation establishment level. Because the monkey was born at the acupoint-opening master level, his rapid ascension did not incur heavenly tribulation.

Even if it did, Ancestor Fusang would only allow the monkey to undergo heavenly tribulation when he reached the peak of the acupoint-opening master level. It took the monkey half a year to reach the peak of the acupoint-opening master level and another month to incur the heavenly tribulation.

Once the clouds gathered, Ancestor Fusang stopped his sermon. “It’s a joyous occasion, another one of you has broken through the limit.”

The immortal waved his hands and sent the monkey into the distance, far enough that the heavenly tribulation would not spread to bystanders, but still close enough to witness the heavenly tribulation.

One of the people sucked in a deep breath. “It’s actually a grandmaster-level heavenly tribulation. I sensed the monkey demon was strong when he first appeared since he sat in the front row, but I didn’t expect him to reach this level so quickly.”

Each prayer mat had a unique seal on it. To sit on one of the prayer mats, these cultivators had to have enough strength and be compatible. The monkey fulfilled both criteria. Otherwise, even if he were at the demon lord level, he would not be able to sit on the prayer mat.

“Do you think he can pass it? The newbie only appeared in less than half a year. What can he learn in such a short amount of time?” another human questioned.

A demon snorted. Since time immemorial, demons and humans have always had strained relationships. Humans constantly war against their own kind, how could they treat other races any better?

“He can succeed. At the same level, demons will always have superior strength to humans.”

“That may be true at the beginning, but humans have superior talent to demons. Not only do they cultivate faster, but their peak far exceeds demons!” a woman countered.

The demon snorted. “Just you wait and see.”

While this group entered a heated debate, some groups showed a harmonious side, showing the possibility of peaceful coexistence between humans and demons.

“How is it, do you think the newcomer can transcend the tribulation?” a demon asked.

A human crossed his arms and only answered after a moment of contemplation. “He should be able to.”

The demon was secretly happy. “Oh, why do you think so?”

“Many dao seekers like ourselves have come. In the outside world, each one of us can be considered geniuses, but a minority still failed to overcome the tribulation. However, I don’t believe a genius who can sit in the front row will fall.”

Rather than saying he trusted the monkey demon, it would be more apt to say he trusted Ancestor Fusang’s judgment.

Ancestor Fusang and his students all watched bolt after bolt of lightning descend and strike the monkey demon. In total, nine sets of lightning bolts struck the monkey demon. Each set contained nine bolts, which meant the monkey demon endured eighty-one bolts of tribulation lightning.

When the black tribulation clouds dissipated, a monkey with burnt black fur revealed itself. Immediately after, the black color fell off his body, like mud sliding off polished steel. The monkey’s fur was still silver white, but they had a darker tone, making it slightly grayer. The changes made them appear like steel instead of fur.

“Is this the grandmaster level? So powerful! Woohoo!” the monkey demon shouted. He crouched and used all his power to jump high into the sky before landing again. Looking at his opened palms, he clenched hard, feeling the power in his body. “I feel like I can even wreck the Immortal Court and bully the Jade Emperor!”

“Monkey, have you already grown arrogant, even with only this little bit of power?”

The monkey looked up to see Ancestor Fusang looking down at him with amusement dancing in his eyes. The immortal’s finger moved towards his head, and the monkey wanted to dodge, but it felt like his body was frozen in place.

Ancestor Fusang flicked the monkey’s forehead, causing him to fall flat on his back. Only then did he feel his power return to him.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Alright, to congratulate this little fellow’s successful tribulation, there will be a week-long break,” Ancestor Fusang said. He clasped his hands behind his back and prepared to walk away.

“Please wait!” the monkey called out.

His words caused the others to hold their breath. Many of them had accepted Ancestor Fusang’s teachings much longer than the monkey, but they never dared to call out to him, even to ask questions. Ancestor Fusang was a high and mighty immortal, far beyond them. Weaklings like themselves could only grovel at his feet and accept whatever was given to them.

Bang! The monkey ran in front of Ancestor Fusang and kneeled on his knees. “Please accept me as your disciple!”

Everyone sucked in a cold breath. It was not that no one had asked Ancestor Fusang to become their master, but the first person who did so was ignored by Ancestor Fusang with only the comment, “Not interested.” The human who asked lost his spirit and couldn’t focus before eventually being kicked off the mountain. His story continued to pass down among the dao seekers present, causing none of them to dare ask.

To their surprise, Ancestor Fusang did not walk away. Instead, he said, “Look up.”

The monkey did so, and Ancestor Fusang looked the demon up and down. Finally, he flicked the monkey’s forehead two more times before walking away.

“Hiss,” the monkey rubbed his forehead as a red welt appeared. He was in a daze as he looked at the immortal’s departing back.

One of the students, the human who believed that the monkey could succeed, walked to him. “Why are you so impulsive? You’re lucky Ancestor Fusang only punished you by flicking your forehead twice and not driving you away. The last time someone rashly did this, their fate with Ancestor Fusang ended soon after. Even if we will leave eventually, it’s better to stay longer before leaving.”

The monkey didn’t answer. He continued to rub his injury as a smile of expectation appeared on his face. However, he didn’t refuse the human’s goodwill and integrated into the group. The direct manifestation of this integration was adding these people’s Xiyinet accounts as friends.

Of course, there were some students who didn’t like the monkey and made it known. There were humans that didn’t like him because he was a demon, and there were demons that didn’t like him because he did not hate humans. Luckily, few people were at the grandmaster level, and the number of venerables could be counted on one hand.

After interacting with his fellow students, the monkey learned that he was living on Earth Dragon Planet. It was not that the monkey had not tried to find where he was, but his Xiyi Talisman did not have a GPS function. To do that, he would need to find a more powerful unbound Xiyi Talisman, which relied on luck.

Everyone knew that the creator of the Xiyi Talisman was the Nine Heavens Creator, but only those who lived in the Nine Heavens had regular access to them. Those like him who did not live on the central system could only rely on luck to pick up Xiyi Talismans, which randomly appeared throughout the universe. Some immortals might not even have a Xiyi Talisman.

Rarer Xiyi Talismans even had the function of spatial rings. Unlike regular spatial rings, even if they lost the original Xiyi Talisman, as long as the user bound another Xiyi Talisman, they could still access their stored belongings because each storage space was linked to individual accounts.

As something even immortals coveted, it was a necessary tool they had to use in order to navigate the universe when they left their planets. Naturally, said Xiyi Talismans had to have the GPS function at minimum.

Despite coveting these rare Xiyi Talismans, few, if any, cultivators robbed them. Once bound, no one else could access the user’s account even if the user died. A Xiyi Talisman could not be unbound either, meaning each Xiyi Talisman could only have one user. That did not mean the reverse was true. Users could bind multiple Xiyi Talismans if they had access to them.

“Do you know how powerful Ancestor Fusang is?” the monkey asked.

The other students looked at one another, but each one shook their head. “Earth Dragon Planet is just a low-rank planet. Except for Ancestor Fusang, we haven’t heard of any other immortals on this planet. Perhaps he’s a true immortal.”

Because of the Xiyi Talisman, the exact differentiations between realms were no longer as secretive, making it common knowledge.

“Most immortals would have already left this planet for the wider sea of stars. It’s our good luck we met someone as good-hearted as Ancestor Fusang to guide us,” he said. However, he had another unspoken thought. Perhaps the reason why Ancestor Fusang did not leave was because he did not have the required Xiyi Talisman. Maybe he was hoping that his tutelage would result in a student offering what he needed.

“Really?” the monkey king asked. Why did he feel like Ancestor Fusang was more powerful than a true immortal? He didn’t know why he had such a thought, but his intuition told him he was not wrong.

Still, the monkey did not voice it out. He knew that no one would believe him. They would only say he was arrogant. After all, how could a little grandmaster-level demon know how powerful an immortal was?

That night, the monkey woke up in the middle of the night and walked toward the back of the mountain. It was considered a forbidden ground, even if there was not an explicit rule, because that was where Ancestor Fusang lived.

The monkey’s heart pounded as he ventured deeper. If his guess was correct, this was his fortuitous encounter. He could become a protagonist like all those stories he read.

The surroundings twisted the deeper the monkey walked. Simultaneously, indecision and other thoughts that made him want to turn back filled his mind. The monkey ignored those thoughts and soldiered forth. Finally, he saw a giant tree that seemed to hold heaven and earth apart. He wasn’t even an ant in comparison.

Next to the tree was a small house guarded by two stone creatures that resembled a qilin with long bushy tails. After a moment of hesitation, the monkey walked forward and knocked on the door. Each second seemed like an hour, but he forced down his nervousness and stayed firm.

“Why are you here so late at night?”

The monkey nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice behind. He turned around to see Ancestor Fusang looking at him. He turned his head toward the closed door before looking back at the immortal. Perhaps it was his illusion, but he felt like Ancestor Fusang did it on purpose.

Still, he answered. “Master, didn’t you say to come three hours after midnight?”

Ancestor Fusang chuckled. “Did you come up with that answer yourself or from reading ‘The Great Sage that Defies Fate?’”

The monkey felt his face flush with shame. “Does it matter?”

“No,” Ancestor Fusang said and asked another question. “Why do you want to take me as your master?”

The monkey thought of saying that he aspired to become a mighty immortal and lead others, but for some reason, he couldn’t open his mouth. Finally, he gave a bitter smile and said, “I want to become more glamorous than the Heaven-Equaling Great Sage. I want everyone who sees me to praise me and look at me in awe.”

“A bit vain.” Ancestor Fusang’s words caused the monkey’s heart to drop to his stomach. “However, there’s nothing wrong with that. As long as you do not aspire to become a devil, I will always remain your master.”

The monkey, who thought he would fail to become Ancestor Fusang’s disciple, snapped his head back up. “You mean?

“You don’t have a name yet, do you? Then let me give you your first gift. Since you revere the Heaven-Equaling Great Sage, I’ll grant you the name Sun Wutian.”