Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 286: Crossing the Cosmic Era

Laojun said, “The three of us were utterly defeated and convinced. We were eager to learn at that time, so how could we possibly disagree? Thus, we knelt down to become his disciples and followed him on his travels to study the Way.” As Laojun spoke, regret was evident in his voice, as if becoming his disciple had been a huge mistake and a great loss for him.
“That man studied an extremely wide range of subjects—vast as the ocean—and mastered each one. He casually chose three fields for the three of us to study: Yuanshi focused on formations, Lingbao on techniques, while I dedicated myself to the Dao scriptures. After studying for a long time, we realized that these three fields ultimately led to the same goal. As we learned more, we set an ambitious goal—to establish a comprehensive and all-encompassing foundation. By then, the three of us were unmatched in the world, of course, excluding that man.”
“The three of us gathered disciples and began to establish the Taiyi Mysterious Gate. When that man found out, he didn’t object and simply let us proceed. Ten thousand years later, during the last cosmic era, the Way was everywhere in the world. It was only then that the Daoism truly took root.”
“That man interfered in nothing we did. When we saw him again, he brought along a woman who later became our junior sister. Her name was Jiutian Xuannv.”
“Jiutian Xuannv?” Wukong replied promptly.
“Have you also heard of this name?” Laojun asked, noticing Wukong’s unusual expression.
Wukong answered truthfully, “In the three realms, the elder Dayu once mentioned this name to me and said that the secrets of the Xuankong Method were created by Jiutian Xuannv!”
Hearing the words “secrets of the Xuankong Method,” Laojun murmured them several times, seemingly lost in deep thought, his mind wandering elsewhere.
Wukong asked, “Are there anything unusual about the secrets of the Xuankong Method?”
Laojun shook his head and said, “Jiutian Xuannv is no less intelligent than that man. This method is said to be the culmination of what she learned over two lifetimes. To be honest, I don’t know the intricacies of it.”
Wukong asked, “Why ‘two lifetimes’?”
Laojun replied, “From the last cosmic era to this one, isn’t that two lifetimes?”
Wukong said, “I understand. Surely that man took you four as his disciples, and when the crisis of the cosmic era came, he used his great powers to help you overcome it, but he himself perished as a result. That’s why his name is not heard in this world; only the Three Pure Ones and Jiutian Xuannv are known.”
Laojun smiled and said, “You’re really assuming too much. That man’s intentions are inscrutable—even I don’t know what he truly intends to do.”
Wukong asked, “Laojun keeps referring to him as ‘that man.’ Does he not have a name?”

Laojun thought for a moment and said, “There is, but I don’t wish to mention it.”
Wukong, seeing that Laojun wouldn’t speak, didn’t press further, assuming it was a hidden wound of Laojun’s. Though Laojun said little, this conversation revealed extremely important information. Wukong connected it with what he had known before, and his mind became chaotic as he couldn’t sort things out.
The two fell silent for a while, then Laojun said, “Don’t you want to know how we overcame the calamity of the Age of Transformation?”
Wukong didn’t answer but asked instead, “Why did you tell me so much?”
Laojun replied, “I always act in accordance with the way of nature, without overthinking. Since I felt you were trustworthy, I told you.”
Wukong asked further, “Is it because I am the Divine Intelligent Ape? What’s the difference between the Divine Intelligent Ape and the other divine apes?”
Laojun said, “From chaos, you were born first, followed by the Yin-Yang divine apes and the Five Elements divine apes. From chaos comes clarity, and from clarity comes chaos again. Birth and death occur in an instant—do you understand?”
Wukong replied without hesitation, “I don’t understand!” So the Divine Intelligent Ape represents chaos. This seems similar to the idea that the Ultimate gives rise to the Supreme Pair, which then gives rise to Yin and Yang—on the surface, it seems to be the principle of heaven and earth. But upon closer thought, why must the principle of heaven and earth be exactly this? Why do many principles conform to certain laws? Why do the Three Pure Ones and Taoists firmly believe this to be the supreme truth? The more Wukong thought about it, the more he felt that this seemingly self-evident theory wasn’t that simple after all.
Since Wukong was from another world, he naturally had an advantage no one else had—that of daring to doubt, to doubt everything! Human understanding of all things is always limited by their environment, even the Three Pure Ones are no exception. After meeting “that person,” they sincerely admired him, opened their minds to learning, and accepted his abilities. Tracing back to its origin, “that person’s” ideas took root in the hearts of the Three Pure Ones and grew into a towering tree.
Wukong knew that the Three Pure Ones’ minds were completely occupied by Taoism, and it was impossible to change them. If forced to change, they might even go mad. Therefore, he could only ponder these thoughts on his own and couldn’t share them with others. Looking at Laojun with this perspective, Wukong felt a hint of sorrow, and an idea arose in his mind: The Three Pure Ones must also be being used by someone.
Laojun said, “At that time, we didn’t know about the calamity of the Age of Transformation. We simply dedicated ourselves day and night to prospering Taoism. In the end, eight or nine out of ten people in the world followed our teachings. Even three-year-olds could recite moral truths fluently.”

“Strangely enough, since the establishment of Taoism, the three of us saw rapid progress in our cultivation, to the point where we seemingly met the qualifications to become sages. Not understanding why, we believed that promoting Taoism was the greatest meritorious task, so we devoted ourselves wholeheartedly to it.”
Wukong couldn’t help but ask, “What was the Nine Heavens Goddess doing at that time?”
Laojun replied, “Though she is our junior sister, she didn’t interact much with us. It seems she was engaged in some secret task. But back then, we were almost fanatical and had no time to care about others.”
“Finally, one day, that person gathered the four of us together and revealed the secret of the calamity of the Great Assembly.” Laojun’s body trembled slightly as he continued, “I’m not afraid of you laughing at me, but do you know how we three felt at that time?”
Wukong remained silent. He could easily imagine how the Three Pure Ones, who had devoted their entire lives to building Taoism, had poured all their efforts into it only to find it a mere illusion. This was no longer a matter of personal life or death; it was a profound deception deep within their hearts, and this deception came not from humans or objects, but from heaven and earth itself.
What kind of sense of powerlessness could that be? Even falling into an abyss or being struck by lightning in clear skies couldn’t compare.
Suddenly, Wukong noticed a flaw in Laojun’s words and asked, “Were only the three of you shocked? What about the Nine Heavens Goddess?”
Laojun said, “I was completely in turmoil at that time. I saw Lingbao weeping bitterly as if in shock, while Yuanshi felt an unnamed fire surge from his crown. But the Nine Heavens Goddess remained eerily calm.”
“Did she already know this outcome?” Wukong pressed.
“No. Her calmness surprised even that person. Clearly, she wasn’t informed in advance; rather… it was something the Nine Heavens Goddess deduced on her own!” Laojun replied.
Wukong was once again shocked. The Nine Heavens Goddess! What kind of being was she? While the Three Pure Ones were still in confusion, she had already been prepared. Could there really be a power of foresight in this world?
“After learning this terrible news, it took the three of us three full days to regain our composure. That person and the Nine Heavens Goddess just sat there, watching us without saying a word.”
“Yuanshi was the first to recover his senses and asked, ‘What should we do?’ He knew that since it was that person who spoke, there must be no way out left—only to do our best and accept fate, hoping for a sliver of hope.”
“That person said, ‘I knew about this long ago, but I feared telling you too early would disrupt your minds and ruin my plans.’ Then he took out a furnace from his bosom and said, ‘It took me over fifty thousand years to gather the materials and forge this furnace. On that day, the four of you just need to enter this furnace, and you’ll be safe!’”
Wukong exclaimed, “The Creation Furnace!”

Laojun glanced at Wukong and said, “You also know about the Creation Furnace.”
Wukong nodded and replied, “I’ve only heard about it from others.”
Laojun said, “Since you already know, I won’t explain further. The so-called ability of the Creation Furnace to accumulate cosmic energy is actually its most basic function. In truth, this furnace possesses the power to seize heaven’s essence and bring about the calamity of the collapse of heaven and earth—turning everything into chaos and destroying all things, yet the furnace remains unharmed.”
Wukong asked, “So, it was by hiding inside the Creation Furnace that you survived this disaster?”
Laojun nodded.
Wukong suddenly understood. He had heard from Fengtong that among the entities in chaos, aside from Pangu, Kunpeng, and the Divine Ape, there was only one Creation Furnace. It turned out there were great mysteries hidden within this furnace, secrets even Fengtong didn’t know—probably known by few in the world.
Laojun said, “It seems that after learning about the secret of the calamity of the collapse of heaven and earth, that person devoted his entire life to creating such a furnace. We don’t know why he was so confident in it, but at that time, we were in a state of chaos and had no time to ask such questions.”
Wukong asked again, “What was it like on the day the calamity struck?”
Laojun replied, “Well… I don’t know either. Three years before the disaster struck, the four of us entered the furnace. From the outside, it seemed ordinary, but inside, it was full of mysteries, with protective formations everywhere. That person said that once inside, we must not wander around; we could only stay in one room, otherwise we risked being reduced to ashes.”
“One room? Isn’t the furnace empty? Are there many small rooms?” Wukong asked.
Laojun confirmed, “That’s right. Though we didn’t dare move around, we could use our mental powers to explore. It seemed there were dozens of rooms connected to each other, but we couldn’t reach any further.”
Wukong pressed further, “So even if there were others in those rooms, you wouldn’t know?”
Laojun praised, “You’re indeed clever. We really didn’t know at that time.”
“Could there really be others?” Wukong asked again.
“Yes!”
“Who?”
“We entered the furnace and stayed there for three whole years. At the end of the third year, suddenly, the furnace shook violently. Fortunately, we had great magical powers; otherwise, we would have died from the shaking. But we had no idea what was happening outside.”
“When the shaking finally stopped, we found that our magical powers were mysteriously disappearing bit by bit, and we lost complete control over our bodies—like walking corpses, with only our minds remaining clear. At that moment, it was better not to know anything at all.”
“I don’t know how long passed before we could finally move again…”