Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 219: The King of Ying

The Immortal of the South Pole set up the Qingqiu Ghost Vine Formation to trap Wukong and Fengtong, feeling somewhat relieved. Today’s battle had cost him dearly—his white deer, already at the level of a celestial being with ten thousand years of cultivation, had perished unexpectedly.
The Immortal of the South Pole flew swiftly southward with the formation, arriving at the boundary between the green and blue seas where he found another vortex. He deployed the formation there. The material of these ghost vines was unknown; like metal, they sank when exposed to water.
After waiting for a while with no abnormalities, he left in peace.
The sea here had a peculiar color—green on the east and blue on the west, with a clear boundary. The green waters belonged to the Purple Palace on Changzhou Island, ruled by the Immortal of the South Pole; the blue waters were under the jurisdiction of Guanyin Bodhisattva on Mount Putuo Luojia.
The Immortal of Eternal Life of the South Pole and Guanyin of the South Sea held high status, and no one dared to invade their territories. Little known was that at the bottom of the sea where these two areas met, there was a newly built Zizai Palace.
After deploying the formation, the Immortal of the South Pole headed straight to Mount Putuo Luojia to seek Guanyin Bodhisattva. He knew full well that Emperor Zhuanxu and that ape god with white hair on its forehead were extremely powerful. His formation could only trap them for a while—conquering them was pure delusion.
Upon entering Mount Luojia, a dragon maiden came to greet the Immortal of the South Pole. Anxiously, he asked if the Bodhisattva was in the mountain. The dragon maiden replied, “The Bodhisattva left for the West yesterday; it’s unknown when she will return.” The Immortal of the South Pole quickly bid farewell and rushed out, cursing himself for being foolish. If the ancient gods of Qitian Ridge went to the West to fetch someone, fighting was almost inevitable—how could Guanyin Bodhisattva be absent in such a situation?
Since Guanyin was not there, he had to settle for second best. The Bodhisattva had recently recruited a subordinate in the Zizai Palace, also at the level of a Taiyi Golden Immortal. He might as well go seek his help.
Meanwhile, Wukong was worried about Guanyin Bodhisattva. Seeing him emerge from the trap, Fengtong frowned and asked why. Wukong said, “This Zizai Palace is likely a separate residence built by Guanyin of the South Sea. The old man from the South Pole deployed his formation here—could he be working with Guanyin to capture us?”
Fengtong thought for a moment and said, “If that’s the case, it’s best for us to leave this place as soon as possible.”
Wukong felt an urge to storm into the Zizai Palace to find out, but survival came first. He wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could defeat Guanyin—a being who could hold back an entire sea with one hand.
So the two of them concealed their presence, refraining from using any water-control techniques, and slowly floated upward.

At that moment, the water waves parted, and a figure descended from above, heading straight for the entrance of the Zizai Palace. It was none other than the Southern Pole Immortal.
Wukong didn’t know that the Southern Pole Immortal had gone around Mount Luguo. Puzzled, he thought the old man should have arrived ahead of them—why was he coming now?
The Southern Pole Immortal entered the Zizai Palace as if it were his own home, stepping in without hesitation. Soon, loud laughter came from within the palace. Someone said, “Immortal, it’s been a long time.”
Hearing this voice, Wukong was greatly surprised. How could he be here? The person was none other than the Nine-Headed Worm whom Wukong had encountered in the three realms.
After that, there was no sound from the palace. Apparently, the Southern Pole Immortal and the Nine-Headed Worm were communicating silently. After a while, the two emerged from the palace, with the Southern Pole Immortal leading the way, rushing toward the exit of the Qingqiu Ghost Vine Formation.
As they got closer, the Southern Pole Immortal’s expression changed drastically. “Bad! Those two have escaped!”
The Nine-Headed Worm, with his ever-changing face, showed no discernible emotions. He asked, “Does the Immortal still remember what those two look like?”
The Southern Pole Immortal shook his head. Even if he described their appearance, what good would it be? He couldn’t catch them even if he tried, and even if he did, he might not be able to subdue them. He had been quite confident about the Qingqiu Ghost Vine Formation, thinking he could trap Wukong and the others for at least a few days. But who would have thought they would encounter a master of formations like Fengtong, who broke the formation in just one hour?
The Southern Pole Immortal thought to himself, “If those two escape, they will surely reveal my plan with the Creation Furnace. The Heavenly Army has just suffered a defeat, and the Jade Emperor is quite upset. Things might get blown out of proportion. This is a serious problem.” With that, he hurriedly bid farewell to the Nine-Headed Worm and returned to the Zifu Palace in Changzhou to make arrangements.
The Nine-Headed Worm returned to the Zizai Palace alone, while Wukong watched his back, deep in thought. The bottom of the South Sea was certainly not a place to stay long. Wukong used his magic to quickly surface and return to Qitian Ridge.
Qitian Ridge was filled with joy. Fighting against the Heavenly Army soldiers, the ordinary demons on the ridge had never even dared to imagine such a thing. It was only through this battle that they realized those Heavenly soldiers were also made of flesh and blood—cut by swords, they bled, and without a head, they died. After this battle, Qitian Ridge’s reputation grew even greater. More and more demons would surely come to join them in the future, and the ridge might not be able to accommodate them all.
Seeing everyone in high spirits, Wukong and Fengtong quietly returned and went straight to look for the Qilin. Dayu and the others hadn’t returned from the Western Heaven yet, which was truly worrying.
In the Qilin Cave, the Qilin sat on a chair, watching with great interest as the Nine Spirit Primordial Sage and the young Qilin fought with magic on the ground. Though young, the young Qilin wielded fire magic in an extraordinary manner. The two spat fireballs at each other in the air, creating a spectacular sight.

Seeing Wukong enter, the Qilin family welcomed him joyfully. Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng asked, “Wukong, have you achieved anything on this trip?” Wukong shook his head, took out the white deer’s head from his bag, and threw it to Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng, saying, “Big brother, here’s a ornament for you.” Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng took it and said, “These deer antlers are truly beautiful!”
Wukong said, “That old fellow from the South Pole is cunning; the two of us can’t handle him.”
Qilin replied, “Nephew, don’t worry. If I see that old fellow again, I’ll definitely capture him.” He didn’t ask for reasons; he simply knew that without Wukong, his family of three wouldn’t have such happiness today, so his gratitude went without saying.
Wukong said, “There’s no need. I’ll expose his shameful deeds to the Heavenly Court, ensuring he lives in discomfort.” Seeing Qilin acting as if nothing had happened, Wukong couldn’t help asking, “Where have Senior Dayu and the others been for so long?”
Qilin replied indifferently, “Of course, they got into a fight.”
Wukong asked further, “Could anything serious happen?”
Qilin shook his head and said, “The God of Metal, the God of Wood, and the God of Fire are all just one step away from becoming the Supreme Hunyuan Saints. Dayu and Hou Yi are no weaker than them. Even Chi Songzi is a top-tier Hunyuan Golden Immortal. If anything happened to these six, how could heaven’s principles hold?”
It was only then that Wukong realized how powerful Dayu and Hou Yi really were, and he felt greatly relieved.
He then asked, “Uncle, may I ask you now…” Qilin laughed heartily and said, “I’m roughly on par with the Lingbao Daozun, but slightly inferior to Yuan Shi.” Wukong nodded and said, “As I guessed. If I hadn’t already become a saint, how could I have repelled the Savior of Suffering with just one palm strike?”
Qilin said, “That Savior of Suffering also knew when to retreat. If he had hesitated even a little longer, I would have struck again.”
Wukong chuckled and said, “Uncle, back in the three realms, you were even beaten by me once.” Qilin replied angrily, “Don’t act smug after gaining an advantage. Back then, I thought you had a strange background, so I only used three-tenths of my strength. If it had been a real fight, could you have lasted even three exchanges? Then I’d call you uncle.”
Wukong stuck out his tongue. This Qilin seemed proud, but actually had a kind and humble heart. He remembered that Qilin had always claimed to have been a Hunyuan Golden Immortal for tens of thousands of years, only admitting today that he was the Supreme Hunyuan Saint.
Wukong asked again, “Uncle, do you know the True Martial Emperor?”
Upon hearing this, Qilin froze, his gaze drifting far away, as if piercing through the thick rock layers of the Qitian Ridge caves to reach the heavens above. Then he sighed and said, “True Martial… You call him True Martial, but I call him the Dragon God.”
“The Dragon God? Is he the leader of all dragons?” Wukong asked.
Qilin replied, “Exactly.”

“I and the Dragon God are both leaders of the five categories; we have known each other for a long time, but we are not close friends. Back then, when Xiang Liu and the Phoenix forced me into a corner, I had a hypothesis.”
“What hypothesis?” Wukong asked eagerly. He knew the Qilin knew a great deal, especially these ancient secrets, which might provide him with some important clues.
The Qilin said, “The idea was that Xiang Liu and the Phoenix had no grudges against me, so their pursuit this time was utterly inexplicable. Especially since the Phoenix never does evil—I could tell at first sight that his actions must be under someone else’s coercion. Since they want to capture me, it seems even the leader of the ten-thousand-scaled creatures cannot escape this fate.”
“Coerce the Phoenix? Who could be that powerful?” Feng Tong exclaimed in shock.
The Qilin shook his head and said, “There is always someone above. When I was still a Hunyuan Golden Immortal, I thought the Supreme Sage of Hunyuan was invincible. Only after reaching the level of the Supreme Sage did I realize that heaven is the greatest—no matter how hard you struggle, you can’t escape its bounds.”
“Heaven? Are you referring to the Heavenly Dao?” Wukong asked.
“The heaven is the Heavenly Dao; what’s the difference?” He paused briefly before continuing, “Today, after meeting the Dragon God, I realized his situation is just like mine. I have suffered under that mark for tens of thousands of years—it’s an unforgettable torment. The Dragon God seemed worried and pensive, indifferent to matters outside himself, constantly introspecting, much like I was back then. Therefore, I can almost be certain that mark still exists within him.”
Wukong remained silent, never expecting that the noble True Martial Emperor also suffered daily. Then an idea struck him—Phoenix, Xiang Liu, Qilin, Dragon God…
He suddenly asked, “Could it be that someone wants to gather the rulers of the five categories?”
The Qilin stood up abruptly: “How did you know?”
His sudden rise startled everyone. Realizing his mistake, the Qilin forced a smile and sat back down. He stared at Wukong and sighed, “Wukong’s mind is too sharp. It took me tens of thousands of years to come up with this hypothesis, and it wasn’t confirmed until today. Yet you figured it out in just a few words.”
Eager to confirm this, Wukong pressed further, “I know about the four categories, but I don’t know who the ruler of the Rui category is.”
“The ruler of the Rui category is the king of humans,” the Qilin replied.
“With countless kingdoms on earth, there are naturally kings of humans—how can they be distinguished?”
“The origin of the world lies in the land of China in Jnanadwipa. Only the emperor of that country is the true king of humans.”

Wukong was somewhat excited but continued to ask, “Emperors have come and gone in countless numbers, and their bloodlines have been lost to history. Does that mean anyone who sits on that throne is automatically a king?”
The qilin replied, “The size of a nation does not lie in its territory but in its magnanimity and grace. A great nation that attracts worship from all other countries must possess a breadth of vision, depth of strategy, and grandeur unmatched in the world—this is what truly makes one a king.”
Wukong understood. According to the qilin, the king of the human race in this world was Li Shimin.