Since there was hope for revenge, Zhu Long naturally thought of adjusting his state first.
Otherwise, if he could not recognize Haotian God upon encountering him, it would be awkward.
Thinking that he had actually been at the beck and call of Haotian God, Zhu Long had a sudden urge to die.
Zhu Long left, and Sun Wukong watched him go.
Then, Sun Wukong shouted into the void, "Come out."
Tathagata Buddha appeared, and he said with a smile, "Your spiritual sense has become quite powerful, little monkey, to the point that you could detect my arrival."
Sun Wukong curled his lips. If it came to concealing one’s presence, he was an expert.
Although Tathagata Buddha was stronger than him, this did not necessarily extend to concealment.
Understanding how to hide also meant understanding how to detect.
With Sun Wukong’s Eyes of Golden Flame, Tathagata Buddha had barely arrived when he was discovered.
"I sensed Zhu Long’s presence and hurried over, only to find that you had actually persuaded him to join forces with us. You really have changed," Tathagata Buddha said, his expression complex.
In fact, he truly regretted it.
If he had not harbored evil thoughts back then and imprisoned Sun Wukong in the nineteenth layer of hell,
given Sun Wukong’s personality, even if he had some opposition to his actions,
he would still definitely have helped in expanding the Buddhist Realm.
Even if not becoming the Supreme of the Three Realms, the Buddhist Realm by now would definitely be one of the foremost powers in the world, even unafraid of the Heavenly Court.
Regrettably, he had ultimately made a mistake back then.
Therefore, the consequences were his to bear alone.
"What’s so surprising about that? The enemy of our enemy is our natural ally. Besides, what I said was all true. Zhu Long indeed had not committed evil. If it wasn’t for his attack on Old Sun, Old Sun wouldn’t even want to raise a hand against him. He’s just a pitiable person," Sun Wukong said with a cold laugh.
He knew the taste of being imprisoned, where loneliness was the greatest demon, capable of causing any god to collapse.
Compared to the few thousand years Sun Wukong was locked up, Zhu Long had been confined from the Primordial age until now.
Honestly, Sun Wukong felt Zhu Long was incredibly kind for not slaughtering the world after his release.
Even if Zhu Long did anything outrageous, Sun Wukong would think it normal.
"The Great Saint is merciful," Tathagata Buddha said with a smile.
Sun Wukong glanced at Tathagata Buddha and responded with a smile, "Is that what you call mercy? Mercy is too cheap if that’s the case. Tathagata Buddha, sometimes you should take a good look at your own actions. The failure of the Buddhist Realm to thrive is not due to a lack of potential or strength but because of your feigned mercy. Your mercy is too meager and shallow. If you could truly be as merciful as you claim, no one could stop the rise of the Buddhist Sect."
Tathagata Buddha appeared pensive.
Then, he couldn’t help but give a wry smile.
It seemed he had been taught a lesson by Sun Wukong.
But why did it seem to him that what Sun Wukong said made so much sense?
Real mercy and fake mercy were quite different.
Sun Wukong didn’t think his release of Zhu Long was an act of mercy. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t even a member of the Buddhist Sect, yet he had such magnanimity.
Looking at the various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats within the Buddhist Sect, who felt they had shown great mercy just by having a fleeting thought, made Tathagata Buddha feel ashamed.
He vaguely began to understand why the Buddhist Realm couldn’t thrive.
It wasn’t because of mercy, but because of hypocrisy.
With this realization, he sighed.
Even if he was reluctant to admit it, he had to acknowledge that he had led by this example.
Those people were merely following the example of their master.
"Thank you for the enlightenment, Great Saint," Tathagata Buddha said earnestly.
The transition from ’monkey’ to ’Great Saint’ indicated Tathagata Buddha’s change of attitude toward Sun Wukong;
he acknowledged Sun Wukong’s words and even felt that Sun Wukong’s realm might be higher than his own, which is why he spoke this way.
Otherwise, considering Tathagata Buddha’s pride and their current non-tense relationship, it would not have been surprising for him to casually call Sun Wukong ’monkey.’
Sun Wukong would not care about these formalities, as he was never one to be overly concerned about them,
especially after becoming familiar, he was all the more free of pretense.
Sun Wukong gestured dismissively and said to Tathagata Buddha, "Pass a message to Ziwei, Zhu Long is now one of us. Don’t touch him. Old Sun is heading back to Huaguo Mountain."
Without waiting for Tathagata to react, Sun Wukong turned and left.
Returning to Huaguo Mountain, he immediately began to convalesce.
The battle in the Demon Realm had taken a huge toll on Sun Wukong.
However, what surprised him was that the Primordial Demonic Qi, despite being severely exploited, had not lost much of its Demonic Qi and even seemed satiated.
At that moment, the Primordial Demonic Qi trembled, and a thought entered Sun Wukong’s mind.
Sun Wukong suddenly had an epiphany.
It wasn’t that the Primordial Demonic Qi hadn’t been depleted; rather, it had, but being so close to the Demon Realm, it had absorbed the Demonic Qi of the Demon Realm to replenish itself.
The bearer of the Primordial Demonic Qi would be immortal as long as the Demon Dao existed.
Of course, the Primordial Demonic Qi itself was also indestructible.
The Demon Realm was where the Demon Dao was most prosperous, so the Primordial Demonic Qi naturally did not have to worry about the exhaustion of mana and even gained a satisfying refill.
After realizing this, Sun Wukong easily put his mind at ease and then felt completely justified in exploiting the Primordial Demonic Qi.
The Primordial Demonic Qi immediately regretted informing Sun Wukong so much, cursing its own host for being so wicked, and now set to exploit the mana it had finally accumulated.