Journey to the West: Sun Wukong's Advice System
Chapter 66 Recruiting Talents

Chapter 66: Chapter 66 Recruiting Talents

Invite Ne Zha and Yang Chan?

Sun Wukong thought this was a good suggestion, as he indeed needed assistants.

Moreover, he suddenly realized that Ne Zha’s earlier visit might have had this intention, but he hadn’t thought in that direction at the time.

Otherwise, why would Ne Zha have made a special trip to tell him that Li Jing was the former general manager of the great assembly?

Wasn’t that hinting at who had experience in organizing events?

Even though Ne Zha always said he found Li Jing displeasing to the eye in their interactions, perhaps it was a way to lower his guard against Li Jing, hence the initial suggestion not to take it to heart.

"Heh heh, indeed none are simple," Sun Wukong’s lively eyes twinkled. Being in a high position in the Celestial Court and wielding real power, who could be naive and innocent?

Of course, this didn’t mean he would have any particular opinion about Ne Zha.

If it was someone without a brain, Sun Wukong would look down upon them too.

At this moment, another new reply came.

Old Man of the Stream: "Don’t forget to take care of the face of the great leader, His Majesty the Jade Emperor. This is the most critical issue in officialdom. Your work can be done excellently, but it’s not as good as a satisfied smile from the leader.

From the current background, the Jade Emperor’s intention of holding the military exercise seems to be to coordinate the contradiction between the Chan and Jie teachings, and at the same time, to deter Buddhism and demonstrate the imperial authority of the Celestial Emperor,

but as the Chan teaching holds great power in the Celestial Court, and Li Jing leans toward the Chan teaching, coupled with the continuous defeats that Jie teaching has faced recently, the Jade Emperor is sure to suppress the Chan teaching this time.

Therefore, Brother Monkey can completely start from this point, give a good blow to the prestige of the Chan teaching while deterring Buddhism, and at that time, His Majesty the Jade Emperor will surely be pleased."

[You have received a new suggestion: diminish the prestige of the Chan teaching, deter Buddhism, and please the Jade Emperor. Completing this suggestion will grant a sixth-tier treasure chest.]

"This senior’s suggestion is exactly what I, Old Sun, had in mind!" Sun Wukong was very pleased.

To have him honestly hold a successful assembly? That would be far from thrilling!

The bigger and livelier the event, the better, of course!

...

When Ne Zha returned, he found Li Jing propping up the Gold Pagoda at Cloud Tower Palace waiting for him.

The father and son both had palaces in the Celestial Court, one living in Cloud Tower Palace and the other in Visa Palace. Although they were close, they seldom interacted.

"Why have you come again?" Ne Zha was impatient since Li Jing had just visited not long ago, urging him to help Sun Wukong organize the military exercise.

After his visit to the Great Sage Equalling Heaven’s residence, he had beat around the bush, and seeing that Sun Wukong had no intention of inviting him, he felt too embarrassed to broach the subject.

"Did Sun Wukong agree?" asked Li Jing.

"Ask ask ask, aren’t you annoying? Are you or aren’t you?" Ne Zha snapped back at him, grabbing an Immortal Fruit from the table and squatting to the side to eat it.

"Ne Zha," Li Jing tried to persuade him earnestly, "this matter concerns the future of our Li family in the Celestial Court. You must help Sun Wukong, to dispel His Majesty’s wariness of our Li family."

"What do I care about the Li family, ptooey, ptooey, it tastes awful" Snorted Ne Zha with a cold laugh, spitting the Immortal Fruit he had just bitten into back out.

"I know you have grievances in your heart," Li Jing sighed. "But no matter what our father-son relationship is, in others’ eyes, we are a family, sharing both glory and loss together,

The way His Majesty acts now is not as before, and there will inevitably be changes in the situation in the Celestial Court and the three realms. If we father and son do not work together, the Li family’s current position may not last.

Only if you go and help Sun Wukong wholeheartedly organize the military exercise can you prove to His Majesty that our Li family has no disloyalty."

"Pshaw, family, sharing glory and loss together?" Ne Zha sneered, "If you’re capable, put down that pagoda."

Li Jing’s face darkened.

At that moment, a guard outside reported that the Great Sage Equalling Heaven had come to visit.

"Please welcome him quickly!" Li Jing hurriedly said.

"This is my house, what are you ordering!" Ne Zha glared at him and turned to go outside to welcome the guest, soon followed by laughter coming back in: "Ha ha, Great Sage Sun, it’s been only a short while since we’ve not seen each other, what brings you here to my place?"

Li Jing shook his head helplessly and went out to greet them, only to see Ne Zha and Sun Wukong coming in merrily chuckling and roughhousing.

"Oh, Li the Heavenly King is also here?" Sun Wukong was somewhat surprised.

"He came to ask me to do him a favor, it was driving me crazy, thank goodness you came to relieve me," Ne Zha sighed.

"Hehe, then you’re gonna be driven mad today because I’m also here to ask you for a favor," Sun Wukong said with a chuckle, then cupped his hands towards Li Jing, "Lord Li, I’ve brought respect here for you."

"Great Saint, you’re too kind." Li Jing smiled in return, "Since you have matters to discuss with my son, I won’t disturb you."

"Not disturbing at all, not disturbing at all," Sun Wukong waved his hand, "It just so happens that I also have something to ask Lord Li, so I don’t have to make another trip to Visa Palace."

Li Jing and Ne Zha exchanged glances, then Ne Zha snorted coldly and turned his head away.

Clearly, both of them had guessed the purpose of Sun Wukong’s visit this time.

"I’m unskilled, but His Majesty the Jade Emperor has appointed me as the general director of the martial arts tournament," Sun Wukong continued with a smile, "Just now I heard Ne Zha say that Lord Li was the general director of the tournament in previous years, with rich experience, I hope the Lord will not hesitate to enlighten me."

"Great Saint gives me too much praise, it’s all thanks to His Majesty’s trust," Li Jing respectfully cupped his hands toward Miro Palace, then said, "If the Great Saint doesn’t mind, I will certainly share all my experience with you,

Furthermore, my son Ne Zha participated in the organization of the previous tournaments and is familiar with all aspects of the martial arts tournament; you could have him assist you."

Ne Zha frowned but said nothing; since ascending to heaven, he had rarely seen Li Jing stoop to ask favors from anyone.

"Haha, that is exactly my intention," Sun Wukong beamed, "But Lord Li speaks too seriously, Ne Zha and I are good friends, how could I ask him to assist me,

In the organizing team for the martial arts tournament, I’m the team leader, and Ne Zha will be the deputy team leader."

"Thank you, Great Saint." Li Jing gave a serious bow.

Ne Zha became excited, asking Sun Wukong, "Great Saint, how much power does the deputy team leader have? How many people are in our organizing team?"

"Hehe, a lot, not few," Sun Wukong said, scratching his face with a smile.

Afterward, Li Jing passed on his experiences from organizing the previous martial arts tournaments one by one, giving Sun Wukong something to reference.

By the time he left Cloud Tower Palace, Sun Wukong had a clear understanding of the organizing rules of the tournament and was no longer clueless.

However, most importantly, he had brought Ne Zha into the team.

Because he’s also one who fears neither heaven nor earth, and has the courage to oppose the teachings of both Chan and Buddhism.

After returning, Yang Chan was also summoned by Sun Wukong from Yaochi Palace.

As the Great Sage Equalling Heaven’s residence was just to the right of the Peach Garden, not far from Yaochi Palace, Yang Chan often came over to play, and she readily accepted Sun Wukong’s invitation.

At this moment, Ne Zha realized what Sun Wukong meant by having a lot of power and many people; it turned out to be like this, with just three people in the entire organizing team, besides the team leader, the other two were deputy team leaders.

"Not just three, we’re still short of one," Sun Wukong said with a laugh.

He already had a plan in mind for how to organize this martial arts tournament.

Ne Zha and Yang Chan were curious, who else is there?

...

North of the heavenly court, the vast and boundless Heavenly River rolled endlessly through the void.

Sun Wukong took out his Ruyi Jingu Bang, inserted it into the riverbed, and called out Marshal Canopy.

"Who’s the pest... my monkey ancestor, hey!" Marshal Canopy turned around and dove into the water.

"Hehe, where are you going?" Sun Wukong blinked into place, laughing as he grabbed Marshal Canopy’s shoulder.

"Oh, my brother, what exactly are you up to?" Marshal Canopy felt resigned, gave up resisting, and also noticed Ne Zha and Yang Chan not far away.

"I’ve got a good job here with not a small amount of merit, and I want to invite you to do it with me," Sun Wukong said with a smile.

"No way," Marshal Canopy shook his head firmly, having never encountered anything good since meeting this monkey, and thus declined, "I am Marshal Canopy, in charge of eighty thousand soldiers of the Heavenly River, what additional merit do I need?"

"Don’t play the ingrate; this is a task given by His Majesty. I’m asking you again, will you do it or not?" Sun Wukong twisted Marshal Canopy’s ear.

"Fine, fine, fine, I’ll do it," Marshal Canopy immediately yielded.

Since it was a task by the Emperor’s decree, it couldn’t be bad.

At worst, he would just go through the motions to avoid offending this plague of a monkey and keep the peace in the future.