The boy ran across the cracked earth.

Before he reached the village, he saw several Taoist priests wearing long robes standing at the village entrance, talking with the village chief.

"It's the Taoists!"

The boy's heart tightened.

Were they here for demon extermination?

He watched for a while, and after the Taoists said a few words, they turned and left.

The boy sighed with relief.

He approached the village chief: "Chief, what did those Taoists come for?"

"A Saint is passing through our area; they were scouting ahead."

The village chief smiled: "Xiaoyun, hurry back home and get your mother to come out to help prepare a communal feast."

The boy was startled: "Prepare a communal feast for what?"

"To entertain the Saint of course!"

The village chief said: "He could help us resolve this drought."

The boy was somewhat skeptical, but still went home and called his mother out.

Two incense sticks later, a long procession walked over the cracked earth and arrived at Liu Family Village.

The village chief, leading the villagers, waited at the village entrance. They were all startled upon witnessing the arrival of the procession.

To their surprise, the procession was entirely made up of Taoists, including tigers, leopards, and other fierce beasts, which, without any shackles, obediently walked within the ranks.

"It truly is a Saint!"

The village chief thought and immediately led the villagers to bow down.

"Greetings to the Saint!"

Just as Sun Wukong was leaping off the back of an elephant, he nearly stumbled off balance upon hearing this greeting.

"Saint? Who's spreading these rumors about me?"

He glared at the surrounding Taoists.

The Taoists secretly snickered, and a few who were responsible for scouting came forward, saying: "Sir, you've been relieving worries and resolving problems all along the way; naturally, you are a Saint."

Sun Wukong widened his eyes.

These foolish Taoists think the squad isn't big enough, spreading rumors everywhere?

"I'll ditch you lot sooner or later."

Sun Wukong muttered to himself.

Along his journey, more and more people had gathered around him, now numbering over a hundred.

It wasn't just the number of people; they seemed to fear that no one knew about them—ushering before and after, making it so that Sun Wukong didn't even dare to enter towns.

He thought an Immortal would appear soon, then he could find a chance to ditch these followers. But to his surprise, after a month, he hadn't seen any Immortals.

"What's with these Immortals and how they operate."

Sun Wukong pondered as he told the villagers to stand up.

The villagers hadn't expected the Saint to be such a young boy, all of them gawking in disbelief.

"We will be staying here for a few days. We will take care of our own food, but we do ask the village chief to provide some thatched cottages for us to rest."

As Sun Wukong spoke, the village chief was overjoyed.

"Of course, of course."

Nevertheless, he still invited Sun Wukong and his companions to enjoy a communal meal.

The next day, Sun Wukong followed the village chief to the great river on the east side of the village.

Due to the drought, except for the trickling stream in the middle, most of the riverbed had large cracks.

"This year's rainfall is scarce, and the river water is also decreasing; the crops in the fields are nearly withered."

The village chief explained.

Sun Wukong gave instructions to several Taoists to check upstream of the river.

"Sir, there's no water upstream either."

Soon the Taoists flew back to report.

"There's no choice; we must increase the Spiritual Energy of the Wanling Tree."

Sun Wukong declared.

The Taoists were shocked: "Sir, to nourish this land, the Spiritual Energy we have left might all be exhausted."

"Spiritual Energy should be used in such places; that's the nature of it."

Sun Wukong stated.

He planted a tree next to the village's well.

This Wanling Tree was larger than any of the previous ones. After a few days, bubbles began to appear from the well, and water overflowed.

"We have water, we have water!"

The villagers cheered joyfully, each bringing buckets to collect the water.

Some stray Spiritual Energy fell, and Sun Wukong stored it in his bracelet.

"Why is there so much left?"

He looked at the remaining Spiritual Energy, surprised.

Apart from planting the next Wanling Tree, he should have used up all the Spiritual Energy.

But the leftover Spiritual Energy was enough for him to plant two trees.

Sun Wukong looked curiously at the large tree, whose leaves trembled slightly as if thanking him.

"Could it be that even this big tree has life?"

This thought flashed through Sun Wukong's mind.

The Wanling Tree stood tall, and the youth hid in the distance, quietly watching the cheering villagers.

"So they are truly Saints."

He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that these Taoists weren't here for demon extermination.

The joyful youth returned home, opened the door, and was suddenly taken aback.

He saw a little flower sprite sitting on a flower pot, swinging her legs and talking to a squirrel.

"How did you come out?"

The youth quickly asked.

The flower sprite was a little demon he had encountered on the roadside a few days ago; she was dying of thirst, so he had saved her and brought her home.

"I am leaving."

The flower sprite fluttered her wings, flying around him.

"That Saint is from Wanling Country, and I want to go with them."

The youth was stunned.

"Do you want to go with me?"

The flower sprite asked again.

"Me?"

The youth's eyes lit up: "Can I?"

But his spirits dimmed soon after.

"Never mind."

He had never considered leaving the village, and his parents would never allow him to.

Another day passed, and Sun Wukong was about to leave the village.

The villagers brought out their homemade rice wine to offer to the Taoists.

After expressing their gratitude, the Taoists' long procession gradually moved away from the village.

The youth stood at the entrance of the village, watching them leave.

"Go ahead."

A pair of hands suddenly patted his shoulder.

"Father."

The youth turned around to look.

"A true man should venture out into the world."

His father smiled, "That gentleman is a real Saint, he didn't take anything from our village. Since there is an opportunity, go and follow them!"

"But Mother..."

"She agreed as well."

The father handed a bundle to the youth: "This is a new set of clothes she knitted for you."

"Yes."

The youth gratefully accepted the bundle and chased after the procession.

Halfway through, he stopped, turned around, and repeatedly bowed to his father.

"Go!"

His father waved his hand.

The youth continued and finally caught up with the procession.

Behind that long procession, one more person was added.

In the sky, two Immortals watched this unfold.

"I have never seen such a daring mortal."

The Inspector Spirit Official looked at the winding procession below: "Does he not know this is leading to war?"

"This only proves one thing."

Gold Star Taibai, watching the youth riding on the back of an elephant, said: "It is indeed Wu Xiang."

Wu Xiang had been just as audacious when he ascended the Heavenly Ladder.

"Isn't he afraid of defying orders and being blamed by the Cloud Fairy?"

The Inspector Spirit Official continued to ask.

"If he can play against Your Majesty, how could he be afraid of that person?"

Gold Star Taibai shook his head: "This youngster possesses great wisdom and is extremely hard to convince. You go down and observe for a while, see if you can win him over."

"Yes."

The Inspector Spirit Official nodded and then transformed into a streak of golden light and descended.

"Your Majesty really has thought everything through."

Gold Star Taibai contemplated.

The Jade Emperor did not opt for immediate conflict, but instead dispatched Immortals to absorb every dispatched member from Wanling Country.

These were all exceptional talents.

The Wanling Immortal Path - even Immortals could make use of it.

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