Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

"Wukong, if anyone in the Heavenly Court gives you trouble in the future, send someone to tell me, and I will stand up for you!"

Outside the Lingxia Palace, Nezha the Third Prince, newly appointed as the Garrison Great General, pulled Sun Wukong aside to a deserted place and said.

"Nezha, I appreciate your kindness, but your brother Sun hasn't reached the point where he needs others to stand up for him!"

Sun Wukong said with a proud smile, "Those who can trouble your brother Sun haven't been born yet in this Heavenly Court!"

"That's true! Anyone who dares to mess with you, Wukong, is definitely biting off more than they can chew. I was worrying too much! But Wukong, if you really do need help, just let me know!"

Nezha let out a carefree chuckle. With Sun Wukong's strength, there really weren't many in the Heavenly Court who could give him trouble. Powerhouses of the level of the Three Purities and Donghua Emperor wouldn't bother others without a reason, and anyone daring to provoke Sun Wukong would truly be blind, unaware of what kind of retribution they would face!

Nezha had to go and take over the military power, so he got up and left. For the moment, Sun Wukong was left with not much to do.

The Jade Emperor had told Sun Wukong to report to the Naval Marshal's Mansion in the Heavenly River the next day, but he had not instructed him on how to get there. Moreover, the looks that the other Immortals and Gods gave Sun Wukong were filled with disdain as well as a hint of fear, obviously, none of them planned to tell Wukong how to get there.

But it didn't matter, because Sun Wukong knew very well.

In his previous life, when he wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Court, Sun Wukong had nearly roamed every corner, and there wasn't a place he wasn't familiar with. The Naval Marshal's Mansion was located beside the Jade Pool at the source of the Heavenly River. There was no need to ask; Sun Wukong already knew the way. There was no need to rush to report just yet, as it wasn't time.

"Right, why not go check how the Peaches of Immortality are growing? I wonder if they've ripened yet."

Scratching his head, Sun Wukong transformed into a little honeybee and flew towards the Peach Tree Garden. It didn't take long before he arrived outside the Peach Tree Garden.

"The Barrier around the Peach Tree Garden is the same as before."

In the Heavenly Court, every important location was guarded by Barriers, and the Peach Tree Garden was no exception. However, to Sun Wukong, the Barrier of the Peach Tree Garden was not at all defensive.

Not to mention that his Void-Breaking Divine Eye could break any Barrier in the world, it's likely that no one else in the Heavenly Court besides the caretaker of the Peach Tree Garden knew how to open it. After all, in his previous life, he had been the overseer of the Peach Tree Garden for so long, hadn't he?

Easily cracking the Barrier of the Peach Tree Garden, Sun Wukong, in the form of the little honeybee, buzzed into the garden.

Sweet fragrances wafted over, and Sun Wukong knew at once that they were the seductive scents of ripe Peaches of Immortality. Judging by the time, in a few more years, it would probably be the day of the Queen Mother's Peach Banquet. Most of the Peaches of Immortality in the garden had ripened, each of them plump and hanging from the branches, irresistibly enticing.

"This is the one that blooms in a thousand years, bears fruit in a thousand years, and ripens in another thousand years. Eating it could grant one the path to immortality, but it's of no use to your brother Sun."

There were a total of three thousand six hundred Peach Trees in the garden, divided into three types.

The first one thousand two hundred ripened once every three thousand years, with barely noticeable flowers and small fruits, and were more beneficial to those below the Heavenly Immortal Realm; the middle one thousand two hundred bore fruits that were a size larger and ripened every six thousand years, useful for anyone below the Daluo Golden Immortal to consume; the last one thousand two hundred ripened every nine thousand years, their fruits as big as a human face with purple Dao Patterns on their pits, and could grant longevity equal to the heavens and earth, even benefiting Heavenly Dao Saints.

Sun Wukong's visit this time was specifically for these nine-thousand-year-old Peaches of Immortality.

In his past life, when he was the keeper of the Peach Tree Garden, he had eaten countless Peaches of Immortality, big and small, but had wasted a majority of them.

The three-thousand-year-old Peaches were just for taste and useless to him, while the six-thousand and nine-thousand-year-old Peaches, although beneficial, didn't maximize their potential due to his failure to cultivate and absorb their essence. Most of the potency was squandered.

Only the fact that he later drank a lot of Immortal Wine and ate the Nine-Turn Golden Elixirs given by Laojun made it possible for him to achieve an Indestructible Body.

This time, however, Sun Wukong would not waste them any longer. Good steel must be used on the blade's edge. Those three- and six-thousand-year-old Peaches were of little use to him; if he was to eat, he would only eat the nine-thousand-year-old ones!

Picking a ripe nine-thousand-year-old Peach, Sun Wukong opened his mouth wide and bit down, only to see a figure flash. His upper and lower teeth collided with nothing between them. The Peach had disappeared from his hand, and two yards away, a small and exquisitely carved little boy was holding the Peach with starry eyes and a drooling expression.

If not the shape-shifted Dragon Cat, then who could it be?

"Big brother, what kind of peach is this? It smells so good, it woke me up!"

The Dragon Cat said as he was about to bite down.

"Wait!"

Sun Wukong shouted to stop the Dragon Cat, and seeing a puzzled look on his face, walked over and knocked him on the head, "You little rascal! You hide and sleep during a big fight, but you come out faster than anyone when there's something good to eat!

This is a Peach of Immortality, maturing once every nine thousand years, teeming with massive amounts of Spiritual Energy and condensed Great Dao Runes within. You can eat it, but you can't eat too much of it. Every time you eat one, you must cultivate and completely absorb its potency, without wasting it, understand?"

During the battle in the Eastern Sea, Sun Wukong had thought about summoning the Dragon Cat to help fight Ran Deng Buddha, but this little rascal was sound asleep inside the Spiritual Beast Bag, completely ignoring Sun Wukong's calls, as if they were unheard. Now, however, upon smelling the sweet fragrance of the Peaches, the little rascal immediately jumped out!

"Can I only eat one at a time?"

A hint of disappointment appeared on Dragon Cat's face as it licked its lips unwillingly, eyeing the peaches of immortality laden on the surrounding trees, "Can't I eat just a couple more?"

"Eating more would be wasteful!"

Sun Wukong glared, "These peaches of immortality take nine thousand years to bear fruit, it would be such a pity to waste them like that. I still want to use them to brew wine!"

"Brew wine? Big brother, you know how to do that?"

Dragon Cat's mouth gaped open.

"What's so surprising about that? Is it really that strange for old Sun to know how to brew wine?"

Sun Wukong rolled his eyes, "In our Monkey Tribe of Flower-Fruit Mountain, we have a method for brewing wine. The wine we brew is called monkey wine, and the better the ingredients, the more potent the monkey wine becomes. I've never seen such fine ingredients for brewing as these peaches of immortality; I don't even know what kind of spiritual wine they could possibly make, so we can't waste them!

If you want to eat them, you can, but one by one; you're not allowed to eat another until you've fully absorbed the medicinal power of the first!"

As he spoke, Sun Wukong reached out and sucked another nine-thousand-year peach of immortality from the branch into his hand, took a big bite, and the sweet juice immediately flowed down his throat into his body, while a tremendous essence qi also began to diffuse from the juice and flesh, flowing toward his limbs and bones.

After polishing off the peach in three or two bites, Sun Wukong set up a barrier that concealed his figure and sat down cross-legged, beginning to cultivate the Eight-Nine Profound Skill to absorb the medicinal power of the peach.

Dragon Cat, seeing Sun Wukong like this, could only look up at the peaches hanging full on the branches with a sense of unwillingness, heaved a sigh, finished the peach in its hand, and then turned into a streak of grey light that burrowed into the spiritual beast bag at Sun Wukong's waist.

It was better to absorb the medicinal power back in the spiritual beast bag; that way, it wouldn't have to salivate over the trees full of peaches.

Half a day later, Sun Wukong opened his eyes, ate another nine-thousand-year peach of immortality, and sat in meditation absorbing it for another half day before stopping, not continuing to eat more. Although he had cultivated to absorb the medicinal power, he had only taken in a small part, with some hidden away in various places in his body, requiring time to gradually draw it out.

Eating more now would also be a waste.

In his previous life, Sun Wukong couldn't understand why everyone at the feast of peaches was limited to, at most, two peaches each, and thought Queen Mother was just being stingy. Now he realized that the short-term absorption limit for everyone was indeed just two peaches at most.

According to Sun Wukong's estimate, to completely absorb the medicinal power of these two peaches, it would take at least half a year. He decided to leave the peaches hanging for now; he would come back to enjoy them after half a year!

"Qiankun Bag!"

As he got up to leave, Sun Wukong stopped after a couple of steps, stirred by a thought to open the Qiankun Bag and took one peach from each of the three thousand six hundred peach trees. Three thousand six hundred peaches of immortality fell into the Qiankun Bag, the perfect material for brewing monkey wine.

He kept them in reserve, and once he gathered some more spirit fruit, he could start refining. After all, with only one peach missing from each tree, no one would notice.

A sly smile curling on his lips, Sun Wukong shimmered and once again transformed into a small honey bee, flew through the barrier, and left the peach garden, heading towards the source of the Heavenly River next to the Jade Pool.

Naval Marshal's Mansion of the Heavenly River.

"That demon monkey Sun Wukong is going to report for duty shortly. All of you, brace yourself. When he comes, we'll give him a proper 'welcome,' letting him learn just how formidable our Heavenly River Navy truly is!"

Marshal Tianpeng Zhu Tianpeng sat on the marshal's chair in the main hall of the Naval Marshal's Mansion, his face full of ferocity as he addressed the naval generals on both sides.

"Rest assured, Marshal! We have long been prepared. Not just anyone can join our Heavenly River Navy. Whether he can set foot inside this marshal's residence depends on what skills this demon monkey has!"

"Exactly, all the traps and formations are already set. They will definitely give that demon monkey a tough time!"

"I bet that demon monkey will be crying and fleeing in disgrace halfway through, hahaha~!"

The Naval generals of the Heavenly River discussed animatedly, with some even bursting into laughter at the thought of Sun Wukong being tormented by the traps and formations into a sorry state.

But a light laugh came from outside the main hall, tinged with mockery and teasing, "What a lively morning at the marshal's residence! What's so funny? Share it with old Sun and let me have a laugh too!"

A figure with hands clasped behind his back and a face full of mischief walked in with nonchalance—Sun Wukong himself!