Chapter 26: Chapter 26: The Return of the Six-Eared Macaque, The Second Great King's Unchallenged Prestige
Overwhelmed with excitement, Sun Wukong hosted a grand feast for several days. Thinking of his brother Shi Yue and their senior sister, he asked everyone if Shi Yue had returned during his seclusion, but the demon kings in Water Curtain Cave all shook their heads vigorously.
The demons of Flower Fruit Mountain, having witnessed the mysterious and powerful Stone Yue Great King, were bursting with pride. Having not seen him for over ten years, they missed him greatly and speculated whether he was being detained by the Dragon King of the East Sea, preventing his return.
Immediately, someone suggested waging war on the East Sea! Even Sun Wukong broke into a sweat at this proposal.
He quickly waved it off, saying it was impossible. The Dragon King of the East Sea was merely a minor deity and could never restrain his brother, who alone could defeat the East Sea. Although he'd never compared himself directly with Shi Yue, he often felt overshadowed by him. Initially, this feeling irritated him, but over time, it evolved into motivation not to fall behind his brother.
Knowing Shi Yue hadn't returned left him disappointed as he couldn't find out what had happened after his own departure, nor where Shi Yue had gone.
Sun Wukong scratched his head in confusion, contemplating a trip to the East Sea to inquire, yet was held back by his pride. For some reason, he thought of the Six-Eared Macaque, once designated as the Second Great King of Flower Fruit Mountain.
When he asked about the Six-Eared Macaque, none of the demon kings could give an answer, not even the veteran Four Marshals of Flower Fruit Mountain.
The truth was, everyone had deliberately forgotten about him. Flower Fruit Mountain was full of exceptional talent and power, with numerous demon kings at the Core Formation stage. Why would they want to submit to a Second Great King still at the Transformation stage? He wasn't the prince of Flower Fruit Mountain! Rumor had it that he only accomplished minor feats, and Shi Yue had offhandedly named him.
No one believed he could attain the same level of celestial power as the two Great Kings in such a short time. They were considered divine by birth! What qualification did the Six-Eared Macaque have to compare with them?
Attention shifted as they chattered about the Bull Demon King, who had visited three times during Sun Wukong's seclusion. On his last visit, he promised to return with his four brothers from Western Aparagodaniya to formally greet Sun Wukong. If Sun Wukong waited a few more days, these five renowned great demon kings would arrive together.
However, they were unaware that the original sixth brother, Macaque King, was missing from the group.
Meanwhile, the illustrious demon king, the Six Paths Demon Lord, was also heading to Flower Fruit Mountain. During his time in Northern Uttarakuru, he had significant friction with Peng Demon King.
Gifted in hearing, discerning, understanding past and future, the Six-Eared Macaque was indeed a remarkable entity in the world. Perhaps only Shi Yue knew the astonishing achievements that awaited the Six-Eared Macaque in the future.
Shi Yue had even heard a rather unbelievable theory regarding the battle of the true and false Monkey King, suggesting that even Tathagata himself couldn't tell who was the real Sun Wukong. In desperation, he subdued one and had the other beaten to death, which would mean the real Wukong perished.
These tales varied widely and couldn't be proven, but if true, it meant the Six-Eared Macaque was extraordinarily cunning, pulling off a grand deception under Tathagata's watchful eye, not only fooling all the celestial beings but also eliminating the real Sun Wukong.
The Six-Eared Macaque, born with acute hearing far surpassing others, inherently understood the ways of the world and discerned the cause and effect of many things with ease. Just as he could perceive where Sun Wukong and Shi Yue's destiny lay, he could also sense where his own opportunities awaited. So, after the two departed, he immediately set out to seize his fate, embarking on his path to becoming a great demon king.
Eventually, he discovered his opportunity in an ancient cave on an immortal mountain: the Nine Cycles Arcane Art, an even more mysterious technique than the Eight-Nine Arcane Art of Erlang Shen. With immense perseverance, he mastered the third cycle, reaching the realm of a Golden Immortal and claiming his place as a demon king.
However, despite this, he couldn't escape his fate as the Six-Eared Macaque, always connected to Flower Fruit Mountain—a place he could never forget. He had witnessed the rise of the two Great Kings and infinitely admired and revered them. Yet, as the Six-Eared Macaque, a unique being in the world, he couldn't help but harbor pride. Over time, he felt that perhaps the Great Kings were not so different after all, and wondered if one day he might take their place.
But an anomaly existed here: the mysterious Stone Yue Great King, whose destiny was inscrutable to him, filled him with curiosity.
It is said that the path of a king is lonely, but who would choose loneliness if family and brothers could be by their side?
In a twist of fate, he was suddenly named the Second Great King of Flower Fruit Mountain by the mysterious Shi Yue, and it touched his heart to be granted a name and recognized as a brother to the two Great Kings.
Despite being a unique and proud creature in the world, the opportunity to be counted among the Great Kings left him brimming with pride. He couldn't help but feel honored and excited, knowing he belonged to Flower Fruit Mountain, like the naturally divine Great Kings. The mysterious Shi Yue Great King had even bestowed upon him the name Six Paths.
All of this profoundly moved the Six-Eared Macaque.
There's a saying that those with understanding will die for those who know them. To have such brothers, he wouldn't mind facing all the gods and Buddhas in heaven. Moreover, the three of them were from Flower Fruit Mountain. Who could be closer to him than the two Great Kings?
After achieving some progress in his cultivation, he heard, by chance, that the giant demon who stole the black lotus was none other than Shi Yue Great King. Like Sun Wukong, he longed to stand beside Shi Yue in battle, even if it meant opposing the heavens and all demons, not wasting the brotherhood they shared!
The subsequent events were predictable. Overwhelmed with fervor, he impulsively attacked a Bodhisattva's sanctuary in Western Aparagodaniya, with three main reasons.
First, he wanted to stand with Shi Yue Great King, regardless of opposition from all the gods and Buddhas. Second, he coveted a sacred tree belonging to the Bodhisattva, intending to make it his weapon. Third, his pride urged him to showcase his strength, to spread his renown: "I, Six Paths Demon Lord, dare to challenge even a Bodhisattva."
However, through his unique abilities, he also sensed that the powerful, veiled woman was related to Shi Yue, like a wife, and very close to him. So he resolved that if given a chance, he would kill the High Sun Officer of The Heavenly Court—declaring that no one could touch a woman belonging to his brother, Six Paths Demon Lord!
If the High Sun Officer realized this, he would likely be furious enough to consider suicide. The Rainbow-Clad Fairy's incarnation had little affection for him, her accidental son, who was actually more of an elder brother by nature. Only when their spirits merged did she reluctantly acknowledge him as her son, albeit with a much cooler demeanor than before. Gone was the Rainbow-Clad Fairy's former cordiality, replaced by Pilanpo's distinct detachment. This was a story better left untold.
The Six-Eared Macaque, with his unique abilities of hearing and foresight—knowing the past and future, understanding all things—sensed a faint trace of destiny regarding Shi Yue that even great sages could not detect.
Recently, he had a foreboding sense that Shi Yue might be in mortal danger. This was something he could sense only because his destiny was intertwined with Shi Yue's. Thus, he decided to return home, to Flower Fruit Mountain, for a look.
Whether returning home in triumph or as a king, Flower Fruit Mountain remains his birthplace and his greatest inner demon. If the true Wukong was the one who perished in the battle of the true and false Monkey Kings, one reason must certainly involve Flower Fruit Mountain.
Wearing the same golden armor, with orange-hued fur, and wielding a massive dark wooden staff, if not for his distinctive six ears, he would resemble a far more feral Sun Wukong, though his expression was fiercer.
The three great demon kings of Flower Fruit Mountain, although all monkey-bodied, and with Stone Yue sharing origin with Sun Wukong, differed significantly in appearance and stature.
Stone Yue resembled a world-destroying titan, with bronzed, almost human-like skin, shiny black fur, and uniquely draped shoulder hair. Sun Wukong boasted a jade-like visage, golden-yellow fur, an elegant physique, and a tailored-looking phoenix plume cap, golden chain mail, and cloud-stepping boots, truly earning the title of Monkey King!
Compared to Stone Yue, the Six-Eared Macaque, Six Paths, resembled Sun Wukong more closely, albeit with a fiercer countenance, long limbs, and similarly bright orange fur. The three brothers also possessed vastly different temperaments: Stone Yue was wise with a touch of wit (knowing more than he revealed), Sun Wukong was playful and mischievous (still possessing monkey nature), and Six Paths was silent and reserved (with words as rare as they were meaningful).
Their weapons, too, were vastly different. Sun Wukong wielded the iconic Ruyi Jingu Bang, with golden hoops at each end and a dark iron shaft, gleaming like a golden rod. Stone Yue carried the Measuring Sky Staff, a dark and mysterious Measure Heaven Ruler. Six Paths wielded a profound wooden staff, once seized from the Buddhists, now a versatile artifact that can change size at will, though rugged and unrefined, a true great staff.
Donning golden armor, with a massive dark wooden staff on his shoulder, the renowned demon king Six Paths Demon Lord soared across the sky, his heart swelling with uncontainable emotions—he, Six Paths, had finally returned! Eager to see how Sun Wukong Great King would receive him, he also relished talking about how his ancestral home, Flower Fruit Mountain, now boasted tens of thousands of armored demon soldiers, both impregnable and awe-inspiring. He couldn't help but feel proud.
However, Six Paths didn't know that his rival, Peng Demon King, was accompanying Bull Demon King to Flower Fruit Mountain, with all five demon kings preparing for a grand visit!
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