Looking sowhat disheartened, the little monkey glanced at the distance before speaking to Sun Wukong in a tone tinged with frustration, "Ling Ming, what I can't understand is why there are so things you must know, yet you stubbornly refuse to learn the truth. And then there are things I try my best to conceal from you, but you insist on knowing them. Why is that? Let tell you who the undercover is, and then we can join forces to take him down. With that elent of uncertainty removed and my help, winning would be as easy as flipping your hand. Wouldn't that be better? Afterward, I could erase the marks from that bearded monk's and your souls, and then both of you could return to Flower Fruit Mountain. Isn't this the ending you ought to strive for?"
Sun Wukong listened very seriously as the little monkey rushed through all he had to say. Facing the monkey's sowhat exasperated tone, Sun Wukong harbored no anger or other emotions. After glancing at the little monkey, he spoke calmly, "The reason I'm unwilling to do certain things is that I want to believe in sothing. And I need the truth for other things because I must make a clear judgnt. In my life, I've always been led by the nose by others. Now, every path I take must be one I've chosen myself; otherwise, I'd rather stay here forever."
"Through-back," the little monkey said, fidgeting nervously with his graying monkey hair as if entangled in contemplation, "Ling Ming, how about this: we both take a step back. You tell what you've seen, and then I'll explain what it is you've actually seen! It's impossible for to tell you the whole truth directly—even if you killed , I wouldn't say it!"
Feeling the determination in the little monkey's tone, Sun Wukong realized this might already be the best outco, although it fell short of his hopes. It was still much better than Through-back saying nothing at all. Nodding his head, Sun Wukong said, "What was the true purpose of this trial in the Patrolling Celestial World? Using the Heaven and Earth Dao Eye, I saw a world filled with nothing but slaughter. And I vaguely made out soone's silhouette. Even though it was just a silhouette, I could affirm, it belonged to the Pioneer. Of course, I've never seen the Pioneer, but I was very certain."
As Sun Wukong finished speaking, the little monkey's expression grew even uglier. Struggling painfully in his eyes, after a silence of a full quarter of a Chinese hour, the little monkey finally spoke, "Back then, in the great battle between Lord Pioneer and the Demon King known as Underworld Venerate, almost every race and world in the universe got dragged into it. In the end, Lord Pioneer sacrificed himself to seal away the Underworld Venerate. And this Patrolling Celestial World is ant to maintain that seal. As you've seen, those so-called Underworld God Army are just a group of slaves with relatively more freedom. Their sole purpose is to provide endless energy for that seal, though they themselves don't know it. This trial in the Patrolling Celestial World has three objectives. The first is as declared, to re-evaluate the ranking of the powers in the ten directions. The second is to let the real powerhouses erge from the trial. As for the last purpose..."
As the little monkey's gaze transferred its complexity to Sun Wukong, he did not continue. Sun Wukong, however, showed not a hint of impatience or urging, but concluded for the little monkey, "The third purpose is because, for that seal to be maintained normally, it requires not only a massive amount of pure Heaven and Earth Energy but also the use of strong souls. I am not wrong, am I?" The little monkey's facial expression finally relaxed slightly, and after shaking his head and letting out a bitter laugh, he said, "Now I'm certain, with Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils combined with the Heaven and Earth Dao Eye, what you can see exceeds my imagination by far. Yes, it is to gather the souls of the powerful to strengthen the seal. And it must be the souls that possess strong and persistent wills."
The little monkey's last words dispelled another of Sun Wukong's doubts. There was nothing strange about so powerful seals requiring blood or even souls for their operations. Considering the Seal Heavenly Stamp that Sun Wukong had mastered, he had thought the nine diamond chains were the strongest form of the stamp. But only when he was truly able to use all nine chains did he realize there was another way to activate the Seal Heavenly Stamp. Although this thod far outstripped the stamp's current power, it required Sun Wukong to pay the price of his own flesh and blood.
When Sun Wukong, through his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils along with the Heaven and Earth Dao Eye, discovered that the souls of the dead mysteriously disappeared after death, he began to harbor suspicions. At that ti, he was engaged in a fierce battle with the people from the Transforming Thunder Ancestral Realm. However, he could not be certain whether this was due to the trial rules or sothing inherent to the Patrolling Celestial World itself, which might allow the souls of those from the ten powers to possibly return to their own worlds after death.
But it was after the battle with the Myriad Spirits Realm ended that he saw the soul of the monk of Domain Lord level, Master Xu Miao, did not imdiately dissipate after committing suicide. Instead, it stayed beside his body for a full three Chinese Hours before being led by Ming Wanjie to the Netherworld World. Indeed, the reason Master Xu Miao was able to enlist help from the Netherworld World to assassinate Master Tongtian was the price he paid: joining the Netherworld World. That's why he took his own life, and then his soul was sent to the Netherworld World by Ming Wanjie.
The subsequent series of battles only reinforced Sun Wukong's suspicions: the souls of all those not belonging to the Patrolling Celestial World would mysteriously disappear upon death. Relying on his extensive understanding of souls from his ti spent cultivating in the Netherworld, he was certain these souls could not possibly return to their original worlds. Thus, he ford a bold conjecture: the Patrolling Celestial World could absorb their souls after death.
And when Sun Wukong found out that the little monkey, the Through-back Ape, was, in fact, the Realm Spirit of the Patrolling Celestial World, his suspicion beca even more confird. So, when he, using his Heaven and Earth Dao Eye, saw the little monkey's other identity, that conjecture ca to mind. Judging by the little monkey's response, Sun Wukong guessed correctly.
Sun Wukong nodded, without much surprise in his heart, and continued, "In fact, were you sent here to monitor this trial?" The little monkey did not respond, but Sun Wukong knew he had guessed correctly again. With that in mind, the little monkey's every action made sense. Back when the Annihilation Demon Palace was besieged by ferocious beasts for the third ti, after hearing the little monkey's explanation, Sun Wukong harbored a question. According to the little monkey, he could not be sure whether the people from the Annihilation Palace were Sun Wukong's allies or not. That's why he reduced the strength of the last beastly siege, only to have all the ferocious beasts explode suddenly when Xi Zhao and others arrived.
Does that an the little monkey's initial intention was to reduce the intensity of the beastly assault, making the Netherworld Alliance believe the beasts were weak, thus prompting them to join the battle themselves? And then, a sudden explosion would kill everyone. However, plans do not always keep up with changes. Upon realizing that Xi Zhao and the others were much calr than he anticipated, he had to prematurely detonate the beasts. And in order to increase the death toll in the fight between the Netherworld and Annihilation Demon Nation, he didn't let the beasts explode and kill everyone from the Annihilation Demon Nation. After all, the stronger the obsession, the greater the utility of the soul after death—and undoubtedly, the strongest obsession is the attachnt to life itself.
However, later on the little monkey claid that the entire Patrolling Celestial World was under his monitoring; if this were true, then the little monkey would not have the problem of being unable to judge whether the Annihilation was an ally of Sun Wukong. Hence, Sun Wukong's confusion was knowing that the little monkey had lied to him; he just could not determine exactly at which point he had been deceived. But now, he knew.
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