After persuading the disciples of Wuzhuang Temple, Sun Wukong arrived at the White Dragon Palace where Ao Luan resided at the bottom of the sea.

His appearance startled the entire palace filled with shrimp soldiers, crab generals, and Jade Shrimp Palace maids, all of whom came forward to salute him, addressing him as 'Great King'.

These sea demons were subjects of Ao Luan, belonging to Huaguo Mountain, and naturally regarded Sun Wukong as their king.

Besides them, the descendants of dragons who studied at Huaguo Mountain and stayed at the White Dragon Palace also heard the noise and came out to pay their respects.

"What brings the Great King here today?"

Ao Moang asked.

Having learned a great deal by Sun Wukong's side, and in recent years working at Huaguo Mountain, he hoped to apply what he learned and gain practical experience, in hopes of returning to the West Sea soon.

Sun Wukong replied, "I am here waiting for the Dragon King."

Shortly after this statement, a procession from the Crystal Palace arrived at the White Dragon Palace.

The East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang disembarked from his sea carriage, and seeing Sun Wukong, couldn't help but feel surprised: "Heavenly Immortal, weren't you teaching Lu'er the Tao?"

Sun Wukong nodded: "I predicted that the Dragon King would arrive today, so I concluded the teaching for now."

Ao Guang secretly sighed, indeed his divine skills were vast.

Recently, Sun Wukong's act of driving a local god to move mountains had caused quite a stir; immortals were all talking about him, saying his cultivation might not be much less than that of The Three Pure Ones.

How much exaggeration there was in this, a heavenly immortal like Ao Guang wouldn't know.

But he knew moving Longevity Mountain was extremely challenging. To use a drop of blood to drive a weak Mountain God to move Longevity Mountain from the Western Continent to Huaguo Mountain, a distance well over a million kilometers, was something a typical Taiyi Heavenly Immortal could not achieve.

Thus, Ao Guang now greatly admired Sun Wukong, and upon hearing he was teaching his daughter, he was overjoyed and rushed here when he found the time.

"Why isn't Lu'er here?"

Ao Guang wondered, seeing no sign of Ao Luan: "Didn't you stop teaching?"

"Not at all." Sun Wukong answered, "After I left, Immortal Zhenyuan and Elder Jin Chan took over the teaching."

The East Sea Dragon King's eyes widened.

Both Immortal Zhenyuan and Elder Jin Chan were renowned figures, and Ao Luan was incredibly fortunate to have them teach her together.

Ao Guang hurriedly thanked Sun Wukong, knowing in his heart that such esteemed figures would only teach because of Sun Wukong.

"May I ask the Great Immortal," Ao Guang asked joyfully, "what Tao were you teaching my young daughter?"

"The general Immortal Dao."

Sun Wukong replied, "She has good comprehension, and should be able to achieve Taiyi Immortal status in the future."

It was the path of Taiyi Immortal!

Ao Guang was overjoyed; their Dragon Clan managed the rainfall across the world, but among the immortals, they were ranked lower and were often subject to being marked at the Dragon Stripping Platform even for slight mistakes.

A Taiyi Immortal could match the Four Sea Dragon Kings even without being listed in the Immortal Records.

"Many thanks, Great Immortal, many thanks!"

Ao Guang repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Sun Wukong, then he took out a jade gourd from his chest.

"This contains Immortal Pills stored by the Four Seas Dragon Palace, all personally crafted by Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad," Ao Guang handed the gourd to Sun Wukong.

"I'm afraid Ao Luan's natural talents are limited, please Heavenly Immortal, hand these Immortal Pills to her."

Sun Wukong accepted the gourd, smiling, "I came precisely for them."

Even though he hadn't opened the gourd yet, Sun Wukong could feel the dense spiritual energy inside—it was unknown how many years the Dragon Palace spent to save these Immortal Pills.

Not to mention for Ao Luan, these Immortal Pills would also be greatly beneficial to Sun Wukong.

However, Sun Wukong did not dwell on this thought. He conjured a monkey spirit and handed the gourd to it: "Take this to Ao Luan."

The monkey spirit nodded and then left the White Dragon Palace.

The East Sea Dragon King watched this scene, thinking to himself that Sun Wukong was indeed open and noble, holding such a treasure without any selfish desire.

Ao Guang and Sun Wukong chatted leisurely in the White Dragon Palace through the night, and only when daybreak arrived did Ao Guang bid farewell and leave.

Sun Wukong returned to Shuilian Cave, and along the way, he saw a white light soaring into the sky from Lotus Island.

He showed a pleased expression and flew over, just in time to see a robust man taking shape in midair, with a fierce look, imposing without anger.

"Congratulations..."

Sun Wukong was about to convey his congratulations, when suddenly a red light attacked from behind. He snorted coldly, turned around, and the red light quickly retreated.

"Great King, what was that?"

The robust man flew over and asked Sun Wukong.

"Some Immortal wants to make you his mount," Sun Wukong answered. "He saw me appear and hurried away."

The robust man suddenly realized and quickly thanked Sun Wukong.

"Since you have successfully transformed today, you should choose a name."

Sun Wukong said to him, "Have you thought of one yourself?"

"I have."

The robust man nodded, "Since I gained sentience, others have called me Stone Lion, so I see no reason to change it."

Sun Wukong nodded, as long as he liked it, any name would be fine.

Happy about Stone Lion's transformation, Sun Wukong brought him back to Shuilian Cave for a feast, and then inquired about his future aspirations.

"I don't have any particular job I am fond of," said the Stone Lion. "Please arrange one for me, Great King."

"That's fine," Sun Wukong thought for a moment. "You were originally guarding the Three Star Cave as a Stone Lion, so from now on, you will suppress and guard the Royal City for me."

Stone Lion was delighted, as this job perfectly suited his divine abilities.

"Great King," he continued to ask, "when will you invite the Grandmaster over?"

Stone Lion still remembered Sun Wukong's words before he left Three Star Cave; now that he was beginning to undertake great tasks and build great works, why had he not yet called the Grandmaster out?

"It's not urgent," Sun Wukong shook his head. "Even if I invite him now, he won't come."

Stone Lion furrowed his brow, "Great King, please forgive my bluntness, but you really have changed..."

He did not finish his sentence, but Sun Wukong knew what he meant.

Sun Wukong nodded.

Stone Lion understood in his heart.

Everyone regards Huaguo Mountain as all there is to Sun Wukong, but they don't realize that maybe he never thought so from the start.

Stone Lion couldn't help but sigh.

"Great King, what do you want to happen to Huaguo Mountain?"

he continued to ask.

Having lived on Huaguo Mountain for over twenty years, Stone Lion had grown attached to it and really hoped Sun Wukong wouldn't abandon it after using it.

"Don't worry, what I do won't involve Huaguo Mountain," answered Sun Wukong.

His fondness and loyalty to Huaguo Mountain were deep-seated, but initially, he did indeed prepare for the worst. To prevent the worst outcomes and protect Huaguo Mountain from harm, he adopted the most cautious approach.

But with the development of Huaguo Mountain up to today, Sun Wukong considered his experiments essentially complete.

To him, the significance of Huaguo Mountain is not about how well it develops, but to explore a possibility—a possibility that has now been proven.

Now changing his plans, Sun Wukong intended to enhance the military strength of Huaguo Mountain, hence he invited Immortal Zhenyuan to move there and simultaneously teach Ao Luan the Tao.

Previously, before Huaguo Mountain had developed, high military power was more harmful than beneficial to Sun Wukong, and an increase in power might be perceived by the Heavenly Palace as a threat.

But at this stage, with Huaguo Mountain's wide-reaching fame, everyone praised it.

Nowadays, even if Huaguo Mountain were to increase its military strength, the people of the Four Great Continents knew Sun Wukong was dedicated to doing good deeds and would not see Huaguo Mountain as a threat.

The Heavenly Palace would not dare to contravene the major undercurrents of the world by attacking Huaguo Mountain without just cause, so Sun Wukong naturally didn't need to keep a low profile anymore.

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