Within the Buddha-viewing Pagoda, it was indeed true that the higher one ascended, the greater the attraction to the merit and destiny within one's body. Sun Wukong had proved this with his own experience, charging up in one breath to the eighth layer of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda.
The Buddha statue shadows on the eighth layer of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda were only two in number, representing the Ran Deng Buddha and Maitreya Buddha. Naturally, the attraction also manifested from the shadows of these two Buddha statues.
Given Sun Wukong's current strength, it was already his limit to resist the pull of these two Buddha statue shadows on the merit and destiny within his body, and it was not realistic to go up one more layer to withstand the attraction of the Tathagata Buddha's statue shadow.
Having realized this, Sun Wukong did not continue upward but instead sat down to meditate within the eighth layer of the Buddha-viewing Pagoda.