Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 435 - 429: Wholehearted Iron Soldiers [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

Even from a distance, Sha Chen could hear the rapid beating of the Six-Eared Macaque’s heart. His expression was calm, even slightly amused. In truth, he hadn’t actually heard the Six-Eared Macaque’s voice or his longing. No matter how powerful Sha Chen was, it was impossible to know the situation of another who was eavesdropping without any reaction on their part. This was especially true since the Six-Eared Macaque was far away, hiding amongst the people in the city and living like any ordinary creature. Eavesdropping on Sha Chen’s teachings was like ordinary people watching celebrities on television; the celebrities could never know who had seen them at a given moment or heard their voices.

The reason Sha Chen knew about this was due to a system prompt. The Six-Eared Macaque had a desire to become his disciple, which activated the system’s choice function, presenting options. Only then did Sha Chen realize the Six-Eared Macaque had always been listening to his teachings. After sending others away, he listened carefully to his surroundings but didn’t detect the Six-Eared Macaque’s presence. Then, he decided to trick the Six-Eared Macaque, and surely enough, due to his lack of concentration, he revealed himself.

It was only when the Six-Eared Macaque first spoke that Sha Chen truly became aware of his whereabouts. Because the Six-Eared Macaque was also whispering, had Sha Chen not known his location, he wouldn’t have heard him speak. Being able to converse with the Six-Eared Macaque proved that Sha Chen knew his whereabouts, which was the reason for the rapid pounding of the macaque’s heart afterward.

"Discovering the Six-Eared Macaque’s desire to apprentice himself to the host, you have the following choices."

"Option One: Accept the Six-Eared Macaque’s request to become a disciple, and receive the reward [Will-following Iron Staff Soldier]. Will-following Iron Staff Soldier: West Sea Land Sea God Needle Will-following Iron Staff Soldier, an Innate Spirit Treasure with the power to stabilize the seas, can only be lifted by those of immense strength."

"Option Two: Reject the Six-Eared Macaque’s request to become a disciple, and receive the reward [Will-following Golden-banded Staff]. Will-following Golden-banded Staff: The Magic Cudgel from the East Sea with the power to stabilize the seas, Sun Wukong’s Magical Tool."

Seeing the choices, Sha Chen’s face betrayed shock and then took on a complex, peculiar expression. This choice was foretold by a system prompt earlier, which is how he learned of the Six-Eared Macaque’s existence. And the rewards for this choice were both linked to The Magic Cudgel, causing Sha Chen’s expression to become even more peculiar. One belonged to the Six-Eared Macaque, the other to Sun Wukong—two beings bound by fate. Sha Chen was also wondering if he accepted the Six-Eared Macaque as a disciple, whether he could take possession of the Six-Eared Macaque’s Will-following Iron Staff Soldier. Or were there other variables? The rewards were secondary; he mainly wanted to take the Six-Eared Macaque as his disciple. Here was a being with excellent potential and talent, capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Sun Wukong. Having such an apprentice with infinite potential, powerful strength, and special abilities, Sha Chen felt, would enable him to accomplish even more.

The Six-Eared Macaque revered Sha Chen, yearning to become his disciple. Meanwhile, Sha Chen had always been looking forward to meeting the Six-Eared Macaque. In fact, when he sent his avatar, Daoist Hanshan, to the Nether World, it was also in search of the Six-Eared Macaque. But he had never had the chance to encounter him, not even at the Naihe Bridge or finding The Stone of Three Lives—naturally, he hadn’t met the Six-Eared Macaque. Legend had it that the Six-Eared Macaque was born from The Stone of Three Lives, with a background and origin similar to Sun Wukong’s. Daoist Hanshan’s avatar intended to seek out the Six-Eared Macaque on the Naihe Bridge to guide him.

Based on his understanding of the Journey to the West, the Six-Eared Macaque was destined to seek out Sun Wukong later, to replace him and continue the Journey to the West. There were even conspiracy theories suggesting that in the battle of true versus false Monkey King, Sun Wukong had already been slain by the Six-Eared Macaque. That thereafter, the Sun Wukong that appeared was the Six-Eared Macaque in disguise, who went on to become the Fighting God of Buddhism. But Sha Chen felt the possibility was almost zero. Sun Wukong’s identity had already made the Six-Eared Macaque equivalent to his shadow. Moreover, Sun Wukong had almost been subdued by Buddhism before the true versus false Monkey King incident. It was improbable that they would give up Sun Wukong for the Six-Eared Macaque. After all, the Six-Eared Macaque joined the Buddhist path halfway, and to continue subduing him, to make him sincerely submit, would require time and testing. It made more sense to directly subdue Sun Wukong, as opposed to subduing the Six-Eared Macaque all over again. Secondly, Monk Tang and the others had also formed an attachment to Sun Wukong. How could they possibly kill Sun Wukong because of the Six-Eared Macaque? Tathagata naturally wanted to have both under his command. It was a pity, however, that Sun Wukong had probably sensed the danger from the Six-Eared Macaque and thus took the initiative to kill him.

However, the Six-Eared Macaque did not die later on but instead followed Demon King Wutian, becoming his Black Lotus Messenger, bringing a great calamity to Buddhism, as well as to Sun Wukong and others. Everything in this world follows cause and effect. The cycle of karma means retribution is inescapable. All things will reach their peak and then decline; after declining, they will rise again. The same could be said for Buddhism. During the time of Divine Enthronement, the two Saints of the Western Sect established Buddhism and gradually bolstered their own strength with the fate of Divine Enthronement. After that, they leveraged the calamities of the Journey to the West to bring their sect’s destiny to its peak. Eventually, they faced turbulence from Demon King Wutian in the Western Heaven, after which they declined from their zenith. Although they emerged victorious later, Buddhism also lost its former glory for this very reason. Great prosperity will surely decline. The cycle of karma.

With Sha Chen’s understanding of the calamities of the Journey to the West, the Six-Eared Macaque was a very key figure. If such a person could be brought under his command, many problems would be solved. It would also mainly allow for early preparations concerning the calamities of the Journey to the West. He might not be involved in the calamities of the Journey to the West, but that did not mean he planned to stay utterly disconnected from the matter. The biggest beneficiary of the Journey to the West’s calamities was Buddhism, and they certainly wanted to maximize their benefit. Regardless of whether they continued to woo him or whatever they did later, they surely wouldn’t make things easy for him. Sha Chen naturally could not just passively endure hardship; he had to take the initiative to plan. The Six-Eared Macaque was an important figure he needed to plan for; taking him as a disciple, teaching him Dao Techniques, and winning over his mind—these were all critical.

As Sha Chen’s thoughts stirred, he said in a low voice, "If you want to take me as your master, then come to me formally and properly. However, you cannot let anyone find out that you are the Six-Eared Macaque; you need to come as an ordinary person."

"You must be low-key, and I do not wish for others to know that I have taken a disciple who will shine brightly."

It seemed as if for a moment no words came through, but Sha Chen had always locked onto the Six-Eared Macaque and could feel the macaque’s heavy and excited breathing. He smiled faintly.

The voice of the Six-Eared Macaque came through once more, sounding extremely excited. Excitedly, he said, "Really, really, you, you, you really are willing to take me as your disciple?"

Sha Chen spoke indifferently, "First, come to me low-key, without letting anyone discover your identity or trace, then we shall talk."

The Six-Eared Macaque said, "Master, rest assured, your disciple will not be discovered."

Although he had not formally become a disciple, the Six-Eared Macaque had already started calling him Master. Sha Chen smiled slightly, not stopping him. He knew the Six-Eared Macaque was playing a little trick. How could a monkey who wanted to replace Sun Wukong’s position have pure thoughts? He definitely had schemes and yearned for strength. Sha Chen knew this, understood it, and found it very important to have such ambitions, as long as he did not betray him. If the Six-Eared Macaque truly became his disciple, Sha Chen would make sure the macaque knew he could never escape his grasp. This would ensure that the macaque would never dare to play any tricks on him; at most, he might play some inconsequential cleverness. Sha Chen could just laugh it off and pay it no mind.