Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 155: The Bull-Fighting King

Wukong and the others stood in midair above the sea, all feeling as if they had escaped from a cage. Dayu and the Qilin were especially moved.
Suddenly, the Qilin frowned and said, “Something’s wrong. Where is this?”
Dayu immediately asked, “Whose realm is this?”
Wukong was surprised. “You can tell?” He then explained the matter of the three realms, saying that someone had imitated heaven and earth to uncover the mysteries of creation. In two hundred years, this realm would merge heaven and earth, though they concealed the fact that these three realms were created by the Three Pure Ones.
The Qilin said, “This realm is not simple; it’s almost indistinguishable from reality.”
Chi Songzi also said, “It’s easy to leave this realm, but hard to destroy it. Whoever created it must be one of the greatest beings in the world.” From their words, it seemed they considered themselves inferior to the Primordial Lord.
Wukong asked, “Why is it easy to leave but hard to destroy?”
Dayu replied, “Unless you reach the Hunyuan realm, you won’t understand. What he means is that finding an exit is easy, but destroying the realm is extremely complicated.”
Wukong said, “Since there’s nothing else to do, let me hear more.”
Dayu said, “To create a realm, one must first rely on heaven and earth. Only when heaven is stable and earth is firm can the realm have a foundation. We once fought to create our own realms inside the Kunpeng’s belly to see who could break the other’s realm. To destroy a realm, one must disrupt its heaven and shake its earth to succeed. I see that this heaven is as clear and blue as when Pangu created it, and the earth here is solid and deep—thousands of feet thick. It’s beyond our ability to destroy.” He didn’t know that this heaven and earth existed only because of the Kunpeng’s help.
The Qilin said, “If we combine our forces, we might give it a try.”
Wukong quickly said, “Why destroy this realm? If heaven collapses and earth splits, where will the creatures here go?”
The Qilin replied, “Even if this realm collapses, we still have ways to survive.” The Qilin had always been arrogant; as an ancient divine beast with noble blood, he naturally looked down on ordinary creatures.
Wukong said, “Don’t be like that. All things in heaven and earth were created by nature—we should cherish them.”
The Qilin said, “Then forget it. Does Wukong have a place to stay here? Anyway, there are still two hundred years. At the worst, we can just flee when the time comes.”
Wukong said, “I have a few friends here. I’ll go look for them.” After a brief thought, he flew toward the continuous mountains in the west. With Fengtong Wang Yu’s abilities, it should be easy for him to establish a foothold in this realm. Three hundred years ago, the three of them built a “Heaven-Preserving Cave.” If nothing went wrong, the other two should be there.
Indeed, once he entered the mountains, Wukong sensed their auras. From afar, he saw Fengtong Wang Yu coming forward. Seeing many strange people and beasts following Wukong, he was stunned and stood frozen in place.

Tongfeng glanced at everyone and immediately fixed his gaze on Zhurong. Various memories flooded his mind, and a murderous intent appeared in his eyes. Wang Yu and Hou Yi also had grudges against each other, with the God-Slaying Circle already in Wang Yu’s hands.

Wukong quickly intervened, saying, “Don’t be reckless! Let’s talk inside the cave!” Dayu and the others never expected to encounter two more divine apes here. Seeing the tuft of white hair on Tongfeng’s forehead, Wang Yu’s blood-red eyes, and his sharp claws, all showing murderous intent, they immediately recognized who these two divine apes were.

Dayu pulled Zhurong and the others forward to bow, saying, “We are guilty offenders; leave it to the divine apes to decide our fate.” At their bow, Tongfeng and Wang Yu were instead at a loss. Wukong quickly helped Dayu and the others up and whispered to Tongfeng and Wang Yu, “There are many complexities to this matter. These elders have been deceived by villains and have suffered for tens of thousands of years. Don’t let people laugh at us divine apes for being narrow-minded.”

After hearing Wukong’s explanation, Tongfeng and Wang Yu were still confused. Tongfeng said, “Old Ox came to this realm early to look for you. He drank a bit too much yesterday and is still sleeping soundly in the cave.”

Why had the Ox Demon King come to this realm? Wukong wondered, but the thought passed by in an instant. Tongfeng and Wang Yu turned and led the way forward. Wukong and Dayu smiled and said, “These two are stubborn; don’t be offended by them.”

Dayu replied, “It’s fine. It’s only natural.”

Qilin watched Tongfeng and Wang Yu’s backs and then looked at Wukong, deep in thought.

At this time, Cuntian Cave was bustling with life, housing no less than seven or eight thousand demons of various sizes. Originally, there were only three cave entrances, but now there were a hundred or so more. Tongfeng and Wang Yu had already dispersed all the demons and welcomed Wukong and his group inside. Realizing that everyone had something to talk about, Qilin simply pointed, creating another cave on the mountain wall, allowing the beasts to enter and practice on their own.

After everyone sat down, Wukong explained in detail the whole story of how the divine apes were defeated. Tongfeng and Wang Yu suddenly understood. Tongfeng said, “I was wondering why that enemy couldn’t be found—as if he had disappeared from this world!” Wang Yu shook his head repeatedly, saying, “Despicable! Despicable!” He was referring to the person behind the schemes.

With the misunderstandings cleared and old grudges resolved, everyone was overjoyed.

After arranging for Dayu, Qilin, and the others, Wukong went back to catch up with Tongfeng and Wang Yu.

Nothing had changed in this realm for three hundred years. Initially, the people here were panicked upon learning that the realm was doomed, but over time they got used to it, and no more chaos occurred. Tongfeng and Wang Yu had already subdued all the monsters in the mountains. Besides Cuntian Cave, there were many other caves scattered throughout, housing no fewer than thirty or forty thousand demons in total.

Wukong recounted his three hundred years of experiences. Wang Yu, having heard so much of the past, couldn’t help but sigh deeply. Wukong took out the sword and said to Fengtong, “You’ve never had a weapon to use before. This sword is quite good; take a look to see if it suits you.” Fengtong, of course, wasn’t polite with Wukong. He took the sword, tried it out a few times, and said with a smile, “It’s perfect for me.” Wang Yu pouted and turned his head away, ignoring them. At that moment, they heard a commotion outside, so the three of them went out to check. They saw the snake-man having found his son, and just as they were delighted, the Black Bear Spirit stopped them from letting the snake-man take him away. Dayu, Jumang, and others were also watching from afar. Since it was Wukong who held authority here, they didn’t dare interfere. Wukong stepped forward to stop the Black Bear Spirit, and the snake-man thanked him without further words. Meanwhile, Jumang saw Fengtong and let out a soft exclamation before flying over to examine him closely. Fengtong asked, “What’s the matter? Is something strange?” Jumang asked, “Did Wukong give you the sword?” Fengtong was surprised and said, “I’ve hidden the sword inside my body. How did you figure that out?” Jumang laughed heartily and said, “I was puzzled from the moment I saw you three divine apes—how could your cultivation be so low? It seems you still don’t realize it!” Fengtong was even more confused. After thinking for a while, he said, “To be honest, although Wang Yu and I have long awakened, we can’t remember much about our past lives.” Wang Yu said, “You say we still don’t realize it—do you know what that means?” Jumang smiled and said, “It seems fate has enlightened you. Today, I think you’ll understand. Divine Ape Fengtong, come with me!” With that, he soared into the sky. Fengtong glanced at Wukong, who said, “Go ahead. Jumang and I are also like mentors to each other; treat him as such.” Fengtong nodded and followed him on a cloud. At that moment, a loud roar sounded: “Huh? Why are there so many outsiders here?” It was the Bull Demon King who had arrived from behind. Wukong quickly turned to greet him, but when he saw the Bull Demon King just glance at him, he remembered that he was now in white clothes, so naturally the Bull Demon King didn’t recognize him. Wukong decided to play a joke. He stepped forward and said, “Old ox, I’ve already chosen this cave as mine. It’s better for you to move out soon if you know what’s good for you!” The Bull Demon King looked at Wang Yu and then at Wukong, looking skeptical. Wang Yu quickly understood Wukong’s intention and shouted, “Dareful scholar! How dare you act recklessly here!” As soon as Wang Yu spoke, the Bull Demon King believed him. He had been here for a hundred years and was extremely bored.

When he first arrived, he pestered King Yu of Ventilation day and night, challenging him to fights. Neither of them could match the great strength of the Bull Demon King, so after a few attempts, they stopped fighting. The Bull Demon King then turned his attention to the Black Bear Spirit. After just one fight, the Black Bear Spirit’s fists burst open, and he never fought the Bull Demon King again. From then on, the Bull Demon King spent his days drinking for entertainment.

Now that someone had come to provoke him voluntarily, he was far more pleased than angry. Laughing loudly, he said, “After searching everywhere in vain, here you are—come and take a stick from old Bull!” Wukong drew out his iron rod and shouted, “You use a rod too, I use a rod too—let’s see who’s stronger!” The Bull Demon King raised his rod and leaped into the air, saying, “If you beat me, why not give you this cave?” Wukong laughed heartily, “Whether you win or lose, this cave belongs to me!” and charged forward with his rod.

“Shameless!” The Bull Demon King swung his rod down, but Wukong used the Fire in the Sky technique. The two iron rods collided, shocking the Bull Demon King. Seeing the thin build of this white-robed scholar, he thought, “Won’t this single strike turn him into meat paste?” Yet the scholar possessed extraordinary strength, not inferior to his own. Even more puzzling was that his own iron rod became stuck and was pulled aside by the scholar’s rod.

Wukong used his Golden Divine Power, which proved effective at once. He struck with a powerful blow aimed at the Bull Demon King, who responded in kind by raising his rod. The three iron rods, forged from Ruyi Golden Cudges, descended with a weight of 45,000 jin and immense momentum. For the first time in his life, the Bull Demon King suffered a heavy defeat, plummeting from the sky. His arms felt as if struck by lightning, and his fists were split but he no longer felt pain.

Not only the Bull Demon King but also King Yu was greatly surprised. He had heard Wukong claim to have learned the arts of the Five Elements, but he never expected them to be so powerful.

Wukong followed the Bull Demon King as he fell, asking with a smile, “Are you convinced now?” The Bull Demon King was stunned and blurted out, “Of course not!” But upon reflection, since both moves were head-on confrontations, why shouldn’t he admit defeat?

Wukong pointed at Dayu and the others, saying, “These are all my subordinates. If you still refuse to accept defeat, choose one of them. If you can beat them in just one move, we’ll leave it to you to deal with them!” The Bull Demon King’s eyes narrowed in anger as he roared, “Don’t be so arrogant!”

Seeing that these men were only slightly stronger than Rushou, he pointed at him and said, “You’re it!” Wukong couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. Why did you choose him? A Golden God! I really want to see how old Bull handles this. At that moment, King Yu felt pity and stepped forward, saying, “I also have a claim to this cave. Since you dare to challenge us, do you dare to fight one against two?”

Ru Shou drew two short axes from behind him, thinking to himself, “Wukong is really good at acting. I don’t know what offense this old ox has committed against him, but I might as well play along with him for now.” Then he raised his eyebrows and looked up, putting on an extremely arrogant expression and saying, “Not to mention the two of you, even if you all climbed up the cave, what’s the problem?”