Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 390: The Essence of Creation

At Wukong’s question, aside from Diting, who remained lying on the ground with eyes closed as if asleep, the other three all nodded slightly.
Wukong smiled bitterly and said, “This matter is indeed baffling, with many unclear aspects.”
Xuan Nu replied, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask.”
Wukong asked, “Where is the essence of creation created by Pangu?” He then looked up at Yuan Shi Tian Zun and asked further, “How did this trace of the essence of creation on Your Majesty come about?”
Yuan Shi Tian Zun smiled and said, “As for how I obtained this essence of creation, it was purely by chance back then. My two junior brothers and I, having nothing to do, began discussing the vastness of heaven and earth. In truth, our cultivation levels were only at the level of saints, so it was naturally difficult for us to reach the heavens. Thus, we concluded that heaven is infinitely high, beyond anyone’s reach. Looking back now, I realize how ignorant we were about the true extent of heaven and earth.”
Xuan Nu interjected, “So you mean you now know how high heaven is?” Perhaps only Xuan Nu herself would dare speak to Yuan Shi Tian Zun so bluntly.
Yuan Shi shook his head before nodding and saying, “I don’t know, but I do know that heaven isn’t infinitely high—it’s just that the winds there are so fierce that no one can reach it.”
Xuan Nu was stunned but remained silent, smiling. What Yuan Shi said matched her own thoughts.
Yuan Shi continued, “After reaching heaven, the three of us went back underground. We’ve done this absurd thing before during a previous cycle, but back then we didn’t have the cultivation level we have now. This time, full of ambition, even if we can’t reach the bottom of the earth, we must gain something.”
“This time, it took five days and five nights. I have no idea how deep we went, but by my estimate, it’s at least ten million zhang.”
Wukong couldn’t help asking, “Still no bottom?”
Yuan Shi replied, “There’s no bottom, but the three of us can’t go any further.”
Isn’t that contradictory? Wukong asked, “Why?”
Yuan Shi explained, “The three of us share the same cultivation method and possess a supernatural ability that we can use together. When it comes to going underground, I’m not boasting—others probably can’t compare. But at that moment, we were blocked by an overwhelming force, preventing us from moving an inch further.”
Wukong said, “It’s Pangu!”
Yuan Shi nodded. “Exactly, it’s Pangu!”
Wukong immediately asked, “Pangu… is he dead or alive?”
Before Yuan Shi could answer, Xuan Nu said, “Feigning death.”
Yuan Shi was stunned, then burst into laughter. “Exactly, he’s feigning death.”
“Feigning death?” Wukong was very puzzled. With Pangu’s abilities and his possession of one-third of the essence of creation, why would he need to feign death?
Xuan Nu replied, “Of course he’s feigning death—because the dead can’t speak.”

Wukong suddenly understood—Pangu had once spoken to the four of them.
Yuan Shi continued, “That aura was incredibly powerful, beyond anything we had ever heard of. The three of us were instantly terrified, thinking that Tathagata had hidden underground and cultivated some divine powers unknown to us, and we thought our lives were over.”
Wukong couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. Even the Three Pure Ones had experienced such embarrassment—surely no one else could imagine that!
“We heard Pangu say, ‘The earth is the same as the sky; going down is pointless. I’ll give you a bit of fate—go!’” Yuan Shi said.
Wukong had never heard Pangu speak before. He pondered those words carefully. The rest made sense, but the phrase “the earth is the same as the sky” was hard to understand. What did it mean? When Pangu created the world, he split the chaos with an axe—lighter elements rose, while heavier ones sank. How could the earth be the same as the sky?
He looked at Yuan Shi Tianzun for an answer, but Yuan Shi shook his head, saying he didn’t understand either.
Xuan Nu said, “Wukong, there is no unsolvable problem in the world. Though I am the Eye of Fate, I am not an innate force of fate, so I cannot see the whole picture of this world. I created the ‘Mysteries of the Void’ precisely to use your sharp eyes to see through it all!”
Wukong felt somewhat flattered. If even Xuan Nu couldn’t do it, could he? But since Xuan Nu had said so, he had to give it a try, regardless of success or failure. For now, he still needed to resolve many doubts in his mind.
Wukong said, “Alright. Since Yuan Shi Tianzun went deep underground to meet Pangu, it seems that the essence of Pangu’s fate is hidden in the deepest places. Then why, after just walking on the surface with the Yin-Yang Divine Apes, could we still stir up the essence of Pangu’s fate?”
Yuan Shi sighed and said, “It’s not just me who can sense the stirring of Pangu’s fate’s essence. Haven’t the senses of fate—sight, hearing, judgment—all arrived here?”
He turned to Wukong and asked, “I heard you went to the netherworld to consult Ksitigarbha and study the mysteries of souls.”
Wukong nodded. “That’s true!”
Yuan Shi asked, “After learning that, did you discover anything about the Yin-Yang Divine Apes?”
Wukong was stunned. After thinking for a moment, he realized Yuan Shi already knew the answer. It wasn’t a question meant to elicit an answer from him, but rather a way to convey it to him. Wukong said, “The essence of the Yin-Yang Divine Apes’ fate has been almost completely destroyed by Tathagata, using some unknown method!”
Yuan Shi said, “That’s right. Tathagata has been setting this trap for countless years, but we have finally begun to see through it.”

Wukong also gradually understood. It turned out that Buddha wanted Tang Seng to be reborn more than ten times not just to obtain the essence of the Yin-Yang Divine Ape, nor out of some dark intent to torment it, but rather to deliberately empty that essence. Then… by having the Yin-Yang Divine Ape go through such a journey on the westward path, would the essence of Pangu come to life? Although Wukong had some ideas, he still wasn’t fully clear and asked, “Why can just our journey trigger the essence deep underground, whose depth is unknown? How does Buddha know where the essence of Pangu is? With his current level of cultivation, it’s impossible for him to reach the deepest places even the Three Pure Ones have been to.”

At this moment, Ksitigarbha spoke up, saying, “As the judge of creation, I am qualified to resolve your doubts. The lineage of creation is not merely connected by blood and shared thoughts among the seven divine apes; Pangu, Kunpeng, and you all are no different either. Pangu is extremely kind and generous, which is why he could transform himself into the earth. If he were to learn that the lineage of creation has lost its essence, he would rather sacrifice himself to find a way to replenish it. This is my humble opinion.”

Xuan Nu then added, “In the previous era, people only knew of Pangu’s name but not his existence. In this era, Pangu first made the essence of creation bear the Peach Tree of Immortality, endowed Yuan Shi with the essence of creation, and granted us, the judges of creation’s senses, a form very different from before. This unusual movement of the essence of creation cannot be explained by ordinary logic.”

Ksitigarbha said, “There may be differences, but all things in the world are based on common sense. If there’s no common sense, where would extraordinary logic come from?”

Di Ting suddenly raised his head and said, “Both are correct. Stop arguing.”

Yuan Shi couldn’t help but laugh and asked, “What can Di Ting hear?”

Di Ting replied, “Both are correct. Stop arguing!”

Yuan Shi, frustrated, stopped talking. Ksitigarbha and Di Ting exchanged a few words through telepathy and also couldn’t help but laugh, saying, “What he said is what he heard. Pangu just said, ‘Both are correct. Stop arguing!’”

Both are correct! It seems that what Ksitigarbha and Xuan Nu said makes sense. Perhaps Pangu, as Ksitigarbha said, cannot bear to see the lineage of creation bullied by Buddha, or maybe, as Xuan Nu said, he has other intentions.

To be fair, Wukong still leaned more towards Ksitigarbha’s view. Not only because Ksitigarbha had long lived underground and understood the principle of “earthly humility,” but also because Kunpeng once said, “My divine powers are vastly different from yours. Kunpeng can swallow vast expanses of space. If I transform once, everything within thousands of miles will be swallowed by me and turned into creation energy—how could countless living beings not suffer?”

Pangu’s powers are even greater than Kunpeng’s. If that’s the case, it’s likely that Pangu fakes the essence of creation to oppose Buddha, as he himself cannot act recklessly, for doing so would harm living beings! This is the true heart of creation!

Wukong said, “The Tathagata has made a clever plan—actually targeting the essence of Pangu’s creation. Even if this plan succeeds, does he really have the ability to swallow it?”
Yuan Shi replied, “The eight or nine Golden Immortals in the Heavenly Court and the three thousand Buddhas in Buddhism are all eyeing it eagerly. Even if they can’t get it all, they can at least obtain most of it.”
Only then did Wukong remember that the actions of the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother in the Heavenly Court were also in line with the Tathagata’s intentions. This Tathagata had staged a grand drama of conflict between Buddhism and Taoism before everyone in the world, all for the sake of that essence of creation.
At that moment, Wukong thought of something and said, “Great Supreme Lord, if we tell the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother about matters related to the Buddhist hell, could that make them destroy each other?”
Yuan Shi shook his head and said, “I’ve thought of that too. The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother don’t know that this Tathagata is actually that Tathagata. They truly regard the rulers of the world as rivals. But if it comes to matters related to the Buddhist hell, I’m afraid just a few words from the Tathagata could reveal the origins of the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother. By then, not only would we not be able to reap any benefits, but it could also lead to them joining forces, which would be even worse!”
Wukong thought about it and realized Yuan Shi’s point made sense. At the beginning of time, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother were just children; they probably didn’t even know the name of the Tathagata. But surely the Tathagata had ways to control them? If Buddhism and Taoism really went to war, even before touching the foundations of the Buddhist hell, the common people of the world would suffer greatly.
Wukong said, “Now I finally understand why they had to wake up Tang Seng at this time. You’re afraid that if Tang Seng doesn’t wake up, the essence of Pangu’s creation will find its way out, giving the Tathagata an opportunity, right?”
Xuan Nu replied, “Exactly!”
Wukong asked, “With your cultivation levels, can’t you stop the Tathagata or the Buddhas of Buddhism?” He spoke to them without any formality, asking directly.
Yuan Shi said, “Good question. That Tathagata sitting in the Great Hero Hall on Ling Mountain is certainly not our match. Among the Buddhas in the Western Heaven, only the Medicine Buddha and Vairocana can barely be considered rivals; the rest are not worth mentioning.”
Wukong laughed and said, “Maybe I’ve oversimplified things. If force can win, why go through all these troubles?”
Xuan Nu replied, “You’ve overlooked one person.”
“Oh? Who is it?”
Xuan Nu said, “Of course, it’s Bodhisattva Nili!”
Wukong asked, “Bodhisattva Nili? I’ve heard he’s only powerful inside the Buddhist hell. Outside, he’s roughly on par with the Earthly Goddess. What’s there to fear?”
Xuan Nu asked, “Do you know why he’s only powerful inside the Buddhist hell?”
Wukong naturally shook his head. Xuan Nu explained, “It’s because the skills he practices are only useful within that essence of creation!”