[Thousand-Mile Eye reports that Sun Wukong is currently causing havoc in the Northern Jambu Continent, gathering a million demon soldiers, preparing to assault the Heavenly Court!]
[Now, the gods all know it's not you!]
[Enraged, the Jade Emperor immediately appointed Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing as Great Marshal of Demon Subjugation and Nezha as the Grand God of the Three Altar Sea Assembly. He summoned the Twenty-Eight Constellations, Nine Luminaries Star Officials, Twelve Yuan Chen, the Protectors from the Five Directions, Four Heavenly Clerks, Stars of the Eastern and Western Skies, the Twin Deities of the South and North, the Five Sacred Mountains, Four Rivers, Universal Star Formation, and a total of a hundred thousand Heavenly soldiers to lay down a Heavenly Net and Earthly Snares on the lower realms. They proceeded to the Northern Jambu Continent to encircle it with the Great Emperor of True Martiality, determined to capture that miscreant for punishment.]
Reading this, Sun Wukong seemed contemplative.
The Six-Eared Macaque, on his initial path, intended to replace him and embark on the Journey to the West to become the Victorious Fighting Buddha and gain true enlightenment.
It was just that the simulated self had seen through the six-eared deception, thus scheming for a higher status for himself and gaining a promise from Siddhartha in the west.
Now, his fate had changed, yet the Six-Eared Macaque still envied him, assuming his likeness, gathering a throng of demons, intending to defy the heavens.
If the Six-Eared Macaque had acted in its true form, he would have held it in higher esteem.
But now, it was still impersonating him...
Such short-sighted beings.
It seemed, the Six-Eared Macaque deserved to die under his cudgel.
[Regarding the Six-Eared Macaque daring to impersonate you, you had intended to join the siege, but the Jade Emperor stopped you, saying that a hundred thousand Heavenly soldiers were more than enough and justice would certainly be upheld on your behalf.]
[Thus, you, the Jade Emperor, and all the celestial officials watched the great battle from outside the Northern Heavenly Gate, within the Mystical Barrier Mirror.]
[The hundred thousand Heavenly soldiers, each capable of fighting a hundred, could not match the demon hordes of the Northern Jambu Continent, but the Six-Eared Macaque was not weak in magical powers, spells, and martial skills, nearly identical to you on your original life trajectory. However, it lacked the Vajra Indestructible Body, Fiery Eyes, and even the divine powers to seize the creation of heaven and earth and encroach upon the mysteries of the sun and moon.]
[Yet even so, with a single swing of its cudgel, it could repel a hundred thousand Heavenly soldiers!]
[Driven to madness, the Six-Eared Macaque even used the Law of Heaven and Earth divine power, grew to a thousand zhang tall, and, without regard for the demon soldiers at its feet, swung its great cudgel at the Heavenly troops.]
[In an instant, the Heavenly soldiers and generals suffered heavy casualties!]
[Shocked and furious while watching, the Jade Emperor had not expected that a mere impostor of Sun Wukong could hold off the court's hundred thousand Heavenly soldiers.]
[At that moment, South Sea Guan Shi Yin arrived. Seeing you, she was slightly surprised but still paid her respects, and sent the protector Muzha to combat the Six-Eared Macaque. They fought for dozens of rounds, but Muzha could not meet the adversary and retreated in defeat. It was after this that Guanyin recommended Yang Erlang of Guan River Mouth to you and the Jade Emperor.]
[After some consideration, the Jade Emperor dispatched a Strong Demon King to Guan River Mouth, and Yang Erlang gladly accepted the decree, leading the six brothers of Mount Mei: Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Minister Li Si, along with Generals Guo Shen and Zhi Jian, as well as two thousand lesser deities, to the Northern Jambu Continent.]
[Upon arrival, he first instructed Heavenly King Li and others not to steal the show, just to oversee the fight from the outside, before he entered the fray to do battle with the Six-Eared Macaque.]
[Three hundred rounds passed without a victor.]
[Then, Yang Erlang was the first to use the Law of Heaven and Earth divine power, becoming a ten-thousand-zhang-tall giant, touching the heavens and standing upright. Seeing this, the Six-Eared Macaque clenched its teeth and forcibly grew to the same height, to face him.]
[Their collision shook the heavens and the earth, making the entire Northern Jambu Continent quiver.]
[Because the Six-Eared Macaque was undistracted, without concerns or attachments, and filled with vile energy that reverberated throughout the skies, Yang Erlang was unable to subdue it for a while.]
[It was only with the aid of the Six Sages of Mount Mei that they managed to trap the Six-Eared Macaque. In the end, it was captured by Yang Erlang who pierced through its pipa bone, revealing its true form of a sharp-snouted, fan-eared monkey demon.]
[The Six-Eared Macaque was then brought back to the Heavenly Court and placed upon the Demon-Slaying Stage to be executed.]
[However, even though the Six-Eared Macaque had not eaten the Pan Peaches or stolen the Golden Core, his body was exceptionally tough and had remarkable regenerative abilities. This was because, before his battle with the Heavenly Court, he had devoured countless demons in the Northern Jambu Continent, seizing their essence and vitality, allowing himself to thrive endlessly.]
[Just as the gods were at their wits' end, you looked towards the Old Master, but he seemed to have little interest in the Six-Eared Macaque, adhering to the principle of staying out of affairs that don't concern him.]
[In the end, you stepped forward and said you could refine and assimilate the essence the Six-Eared Macaque had ingested.]
[The Jade Emperor chose to trust you, and you did not disappoint. Reluctantly, the Old Master lent you his Eight Trigrams Furnace, into which you threw the Six-Eared Macaque to be refined.]
[The myriad essences of the demons devoured by the Six-Eared Macaque were extracted by you, yet the Six-Eared Macaque, with the support of his Freely Transforming Iron Staff and by hiding underneath the "Xun Palace" position, managed to keep his life.]
[Seeing the Six-Eared Macaque lucky enough to survive, you extinguished the thought of killing him and instead gave him an opportunity to achieve true fruition. Using the power of the Five Sacred Mountains and Five Elements, you formed a massive five-fingered mountain to suppress him beneath it.]
At this point, Sun Wukong ended this particular simulation.
He didn't need to see the rest to guess that probably the Six-Eared Macaque took over his role on the Journey to the West. However, given the temper of the Six-Eared Macaque, it was unlikely that he would become a Buddha or achieve his true fruition.
Moreover, he had now completely escaped his original destiny and under normal circumstances, would no longer embark on the Journey to the West.
While he wasn't opposed to taking that journey, the idea of being suppressed by the old monk from the West for over five hundred years didn't appeal to him. Besides, he really wanted to beat that fellow's head until he raised a bump on it.
Yet, that was just a simulation. If he used that as a reason to punish Tathagata, it seemed he wouldn't have much of a moral high ground.
"Ah, this simulation is a bit dull for me," Sun Wukong mused with a hint of Versailles, "I've already escaped my original fate, invincible indeed."
Yet, there was still one issue to address, and that was the matter of lifespan.
During this simulation, he had suppressed five great Demon Kings, truly alarming the Heavenly Court. Furthermore, when the court learned he was spreading enlightenment—teaching mountain spirits and wild monsters to read and write which was deemed a great merit—the Jade Emperor did not appoint him as the Protector of the Horses, but created a new official title for him—Carefree Emperor of the Equal Heavens.
This office ranked alongside the Six Royal Patrons.
The Six Royal Patrons are the Jade Emperor, who rules over all of Heaven; Great Emperor Gou Chen, who rules over all deities; Great Emperor Ziwei, who oversees the stars; Great Emperor Qinghua, who governs all spirits; Great Emperor Changsheng, who commands all beings; and the Earth Empress, who rules over all lands.
In today's Three Realms and Heavenly Court system, there are but four Royal Patrons, namely the Great Emperor of the North Pole, Ziwei; Great Emperor of the South Pole, Changsheng; Pagoda-Bearing King Gou Chen; and the Earth Empress Following Heaven's Mandate.
The Jade Emperor, ruling over all of Heaven, has the highest position and thus stands alone.
As for Great Emperor Qinghua, also known as Taiyi, the Savior from Suffering, because of his profound saintliness, great compassion, and his response to calls for aid, rescuing the suffering wherever they may be—not residing in the Heavenly Palace but wandering the earthly realm—he is considered separate.
And Sun Wukong's title in the simulation, the Carefree Emperor of the Equal Heavens, is akin to Great Emperor Qinghua, enlightening myriad demons independently, and his rank is indeed equivalent to the four Royal Patrons, complete with a stipend.
However, the title of Carefree Emperor of the Equal Heavens, though it pleased him with its prestige, did not match Sun Wukong's style to follow the simulation step by step.
This is why Sun Wukong was worried about the issue of lifespan.
Because he did not want to follow the path laid out in the simulation, attaining the office of Carefree Emperor of the Equal Heavens might not be possible in the short term. Hence, he would remain an "unofficial immortal."
Once his predetermined lifespan noted in the Book of Life and Death was up, he'd inevitably have to take a trip to the underworld.
This had nothing to do with whether or not he was a Heavenly Immortal or of mixed origin; it was merely because he did not appear in the roster of Three Realms' officially recognized immortals. As an unofficial immortal, the underworld would have to act according to the rules.
Thinking of this, Sun Wukong's Primordial Spirit abruptly exited his body...