He looked dead serious, as if he had already made up his mind, "Once I get stronger, you'll have to listen to me, and then you'll work obediently."
"What the heck!"
"Indeed, only a monkey that could talk about learning my martial arts to defeat me could have such a unique way of thinking."
Sun Wukong admired him, speechless, and could only pat his shoulder in support, "Then work hard! Elder White Ape, cultivate diligently, and we'll meet at the peak!"
And you know what? Sun Wukong's words really fired up the monkey, and so White Ape, with newfound fighting spirit and burning with enthusiasm, ran off to practice martial arts.
From then on, the monkey troop finally got on the right track and began developing towards becoming stronger warriors.
Sun Wukong finally had some peace and, casting aside all distractions, began to focus on his cultivation.
A night passed without words.
The early morning sun rose, and the Xigao Ridge welcomed another new day.
But the monkey troop hadn't slept at all; they were still hooting and hollering on the training ground.
After a night of hard training, and with the One-Armed Monkey, Yang Guo, surprisingly having already condensed ten Demon Cores, the rest of the monkeys went wild with enthusiasm and decided to train for another full day. After all, they recovered quickly, so why not train to the death?
Seeing this, Sun Wukong felt very heartened and demonstrated the staff technique again, along with sharing some insights and wisdom, ending naturally with a long uplifting pep talk.
"You need to understand that what you're learning now is the staff technique left by our ancestors. That person was a renowned figure in all four continents, acknowledged by everyone, titled the Great Saint. Think about it, could something left by such a being be commonplace? Of course not, it's extraordinary and might even have been the very technique that earned him the title of Great Saint. If we dedicate ourselves to it, we will surely follow in the footsteps of our forebears and even reach the same heights."
"So tell me, do you or do you not want to train hard?"
"Train hard! Train hard! Train hard..."
The speech was explosively effective. The group of monkeys responded enthusiastically, their eyes turning red with excitement.
Sun Wukong raised his voice again, "Do you or do you not want to surpass him?"
"Surpass! Surpass! Surpass..."
Finally, Sun Wukong concluded, "So, should we or should we not be strong, should we or should we not exert effort, should we or should we not give our all to catch up?"
The monkeys were exhilarated, lifting their arms and shouting, "Be strong! Be strong! Be... strong, be strong..."
????
"Crap, sidetracked!"
"Time to slip away!"
Seeing a potential disaster, Sun Wukong decisively made his escape, leaving behind the monkeys whose faces had turned red.
A new fervor for cultivation was about to erupt. Having been fortified with a dose of motivational pep talk, Sun Wukong believed that they would all eventually condense Demon Cores and achieve transformation.
"While there's still time, give it your all, monkeys!"
Sun Wukong silently cheered them on and went to the place where the One-Armed Monkey, Yang Guo, was cultivating.
There was White Ape as well, imitating Yang Guo and practicing on a flat rock. With his incredible strength, he had already managed to move the rock, reaching the level of ball-playing.
Though Yang Guo had condensed a Demon Core, he still only had one arm, making his cultivation progress slow.
But his diligent practice and regular water drinking had allowed the Demon Core within him to grow significantly, solidifying his demon body and granting him the power to shake massive boulders.
It was only a slight power, but it gave him a glimpse of hope for success.
Seeing this, a flash of insight struck Sun Wukong, and he added physical training for the monkeys, a complete set including running, sit-ups, frog jumps, all topped with added weights for difficulty.
"Since recovery is fast, just go all out!"
Thinking thus, Sun Wukong immediately arranged it, and the monkey troop became even more excited. Without a second thought, they started hanging rocks all over their bodies.
Their entire bodies were covered, turning into literal stone monkeys, which was absurd.
Sun Wukong, speechless, corrected them on the spot, eventually changing it to limb weights.
The monkeys naturally followed suit and resumed their enthusiastic practice.
After handling all this, it was somehow already noon. Sun Wukong found a skinny monkey outside the territory and learned that black eagles had been monitoring them all this time. After pondering for a moment, he ran back to the General's cave dwelling.
As he had predicted, the black eagle soared into the high skies and began its blatant surveillance.
It played right into Sun Wukong's hands; he first went to spar with Yin Hu, then turned and ran away. Afterwards, he entered the Purple Leaf Fruit Land and kidnapped the newly appointed Wild Boar King.
He deliberately created the impression of a Demon Monkey who loved to cause trouble everywhere, preying on the weak and fearing the strong.
Poor Wild Boar King had not enjoyed his position long before he was taken away, becoming a resource for Sun Wukong's cultivation.
Not only was the Demon Core eaten, but even the bones were ground into weapons by the group of monkeys, especially the femur bones, perfectly suited for weaponry.
And amidst all this bustle, the sun had set once again.
"It seems like I hardly did anything, yet the day has turned dark again; time is passing too quickly!"
There was an inexplicable feeling that time was speeding up.
But Sun Wukong knew it wasn't an illusion; it was because he was too busy, with endless tasks to complete, giving rise to this sensation of time flying by.
"Sigh! I wonder how the Eagle King will react. He should observe for a bit longer, after all, it's a rare opportunity to watch a fight from the sidelines. The best chance to strike is when both parties are injured."
Sitting cross-legged, Sun Wukong began to speculate on the Eagle King's reaction.
In his view, watching the fire from across the shore was the most likely scenario.
Putting himself in the shoes of the other, with unknown motives of his opponent, he too would choose to wait and observe a bit longer before making a move.
"I should be able to buy some more time!"
Sun Wukong felt vaguely certain.
However, the reality was...
"Great King!"
In the middle of the night, a thin monkey rushed over in haste, reporting an unexpected message to Sun Wukong, "Great King! Just now, a black eagle flew into our territory, circled once, and dropped a young tiger cub before flying away."
Damn!
Sun Wukong stood up sharply and followed the thin monkey out of the cave, heading to the scene.
The area was already surrounded by monkeys, who quickly dispersed upon seeing Sun Wukong approach, revealing the mangled corpse of the white tiger cub on the ground.
There were no claw marks, but instead, the body was covered in bruises, and the fatal blow was a shattered skull, which completely hid any trace of the eagles' involvement.
"So it comes to this!"
"Eagle King, you think too small!"
Despite the surprise, Sun Wukong looked down on the Eagle King somewhat.
Acting on impulse, quick to anger, with a narrow-minded view—the Eagle King's vision at best matched that of a small-factory foreman, hardly worth mentioning.
"However, I can't rule out other possibilities, so I still need to be on my guard."
Strategic contempt was necessary, but at the same time, he needed to take it seriously in his heart. Sun Wukong dismissed the troop of monkeys and sat alone at the site, pondering his next move.
"Hmm... judging by this move, they must have stolen the white tiger cub in secret, which means that the white tigers do not know yet, or maybe they do now and are on their way here."
"In other words, I need to prepare in advance to avoid any misunderstanding from Yin Hu, but what should I do..."
Just as Sun Wukong was contemplating.
Far from the monkey's territory, a hundred miles away, General Yin, red-eyed and furious, was leading his subordinates in a rush towards the site, clearly intent on a deadly confrontation.
For just before, Rat Demon, one of his seven generals, had suddenly reported that a subordinate had seen his youngest son being abruptly kidnapped by the monkey troop.
The young tiger had been bitten and beaten along the way, an ominous sign.
Upon hearing this, Yin Hu exploded on the spot. He stormed off to seek redress and had already thought of a series of compensations the monkeys would have to pay afterward.
"Execute the monkeys involved, then make that Golden Monkey pay compensation."
"If they don't pay, I'll raze their monkey den!"
With these thoughts in mind, the anger on Yin Hu's face grew even denser, and seeing that the monkey troop was just ahead, he roared out, "Minions, charge for me, kill those monkeys!"