Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 394: The Heart-Connecting Staff

Wu Shen Jumang, fearing that Guanyin might use force, leaped to Tang Seng’s side and stood flanking him with Feng Tong to protect him.
The Bull Demon King shouted, “Guanyin, if he doesn’t want to retrieve the scriptures, why force him? Are those so-called scriptures from the Western Heaven worthless that you have to force them upon others?”
Guanyin replied with a smile, “Everyone, don’t overreact. I’ve come today merely to ask Tang Seng what he truly thinks. With just my own strength, can I really take him away?”
The Bull Demon King snarled, “You’re all deceitful—we must be cautious!”
Tang Seng said, “Now that I know my true nature, I certainly won’t go west anymore. You almost lost your life over this matter yet still refuse to turn back—your situation is even more pitiable than mine.”
Guanyin was truly troubled for a long time. After much deliberation, she decided to follow Buddha’s advice. Yet inwardly, she resolved that after completing this task, she would not go to Mount Ling to become a Buddha but would seek another way out. She knew she was in a very delicate situation; one misstep could ruin all her chances. What annoyed her most was that the person who had secretly passed her the note never appeared, leaving her unable to make a decision. The only threat now came from Buddha, so she decided to get through this hurdle first.
Guanyin said, “Very well, I’ll ask you one more time—will you retrieve the true scriptures or not?”
Tang Seng sneered, “Since when has the Bodhisattva Guanyin become so wordy? Even if I don’t take them, what can you do to me?”
Seeing that Tang Seng’s attitude was vastly different from before, Guanyin realized he was no longer the meek ordinary man but had returned to his true self as the Yin-Yang Divine Ape. Looking at Tang Seng, she wondered to herself, “At least he’s found himself—what about me?”
But this thought passed quickly. Guanyin hadn’t forgotten her purpose here. She shouted, “Tang Seng, just don’t regret it!”
Tang Seng turned to Feng Tong and said, “Everyone in the Western Heaven is detestable. Let’s go back to our cave.” Feng Tong nodded, and the two turned to leave.
With firm resolve, Guanyin chanted, “I am the King of Brahma, the Great King of Brahma—none created me. I exist on my own, unburdened by anything. I am most at ease in all worlds, possessing all virtues and abundance. I can create all things. I am the parent of all beings!”
Tang Seng also recognized these words. What Guanyin had recited was from the Chang Agama, nothing extraordinary. He continued walking downhill without looking back. Then Guanyin chanted again, “The master of creation, the ruler of heaven and earth, the ruler of dust, the ruler of dharma and non-dharma, the ruler within and beyond heaven! Creation connects hearts; hearts resonate with each other!”

After Guanyin finished reciting this passage, a sudden change occurred. A bizarre, human-shaped weapon flew out of the cave at the peak of Shitaoling. It seemed to have a head and limbs, but upon closer inspection, its “head” was actually a ring, and its arms and legs emitted bright light, each with two rings. Guanyin was shocked to see this weapon—it was none other than the Nine-Ring Staff! For some reason, the Nine-Ring Staff had taken on such a strange form and flew out of the cave straight toward Tang Seng. Guanyin immediately realized that this Nine-Ring Staff was given to her by the Tathagata to be passed on to Tang Seng. Back then, the Tathagata had given her five magical treasures. She had examined each one carefully, and both the Nine-Ring Staff and the Purple Gold Alms Bowl seemed ordinary, without any hidden mechanisms. So how could they have changed like this now? Jumang and Fengtong, who were closest to Tang Seng, saw the Nine-Ring Staff transform into a strange shape and fly toward Tang Seng through the air, blocking his path. Jumang raised the Evergreen Tree and swung it at the Nine-Ring Staff, thinking that with this strike, he would easily capture it. Yet when the green Evergreen Tree touched the Nine-Ring Staff, it was as if it hit nothing at all—the Nine-Ring Staff passed through the shadow of the whip unimpeded and continued flying toward Tang Seng. Fengtong was terrified and threw his spear, which also passed through the Nine-Ring Staff without any resistance. In shock, the Nine-Ring Staff flashed in the air and a silver light pierced into Tang Seng’s body, disappearing without a trace. Everyone was stunned—what exactly was this thing? It seemed tangible yet just out of reach, and even the Wood God couldn’t stop it. If it had entered Tang Seng’s body, it surely wasn’t something good! Just then, Tang Seng’s body stiffened, his face contorted in apparent agony as he reached forward, seemingly trying to grasp something. ※　※　※ While Wukong practiced hard in the realm created for him by Ksitigarbha, Ksitigarbha would send over a spiritual message from time to time. Since beginning his cultivation, apart from practicing the arts of the five elements in the three realms, this was the most difficult period of his training. The spiritual messages sent by Ksitigarbha were the opposite of Zhenwu’s White Jade Bead—they were extremely pure and concise expressions of the cosmic way. These two complemented each other, allowing Wukong to immerse himself in various supernatural techniques, feeling for the first time in his life that cultivation could be so joyful. Unknown to him, many years passed there. One day, Wukong sensed a sudden change in the Yin and Yang leaves on the Hunyuan Dao Fruit—the creative energy within the fruit surged toward these two leaves, and soon they began to solidify. Yet at that very moment, the creative energy within the fruit vanished entirely.

Wukong groaned in frustration. He had already given the last peach to Tang Seng, and now, aside from the black pill given to him by Xuan Nu, he had no other treasures to enhance his cultivation. Xuan Nu had said that this pill could only be taken after attaining sainthood—what was he to do? He didn’t even know how much cultivation was needed to reach sainthood. Had he wasted this opportunity for nothing?

As Wukong struggled with his dilemma, he suddenly found himself inside a space instantly filled with the power of cultivation. To his astonishment, this power was as pure and potent as that of the peach tree. Without hesitation, he quickly used his techniques to absorb this cultivation into his body. The source of this power was unknown, yet it seemed endless.

Wukong absorbed all this cultivation into the Hunyuan Dao Fruit, then used the flow of the five elements to replenish what was needed for the Yin and Yang leaves. This process repeated itself, and after about half a month, the Yin and Yang leaves finally transformed from their misty state into two solid leaves of cultivation. From then on, his cultivation became unshakable, never wavering again.

Once the Yin and Yang leaves solidified, they stopped rotating, and even the Hunyuan Dao Fruit ceased moving. Two beams of light emanated from the leaves.

At the same time, Wukong’s mind became clear. Upon introspection, his entire body, illuminated by the black and white beams of light, seemed to expand into an endless space, forming a mysterious realm. Within this space, a speck of cultivation energy flashed by, then drifted from afar and merged into the Yin and Yang leaves.

With each speck merged in, Wukong felt his cultivation grow. Though each speck contained only a tiny amount of energy, its constant flow made it much faster than the cultivation gained from the rotating Hunyuan Dao Fruit.

At that moment, Wukong realized that, with Ksitigarbha’s help, he had finally crossed the threshold to sainthood. Naturally, he was eager to go out and use all the powers he had learned to see just how great a sage’s abilities truly were. But there was still much cultivation energy around him that he couldn’t afford to waste.

Wukong calmed his excitement and meticulously absorbed every last bit of cultivation energy in that space. He sat in meditation, reviewing the techniques taught to him by Ksitigarbha and Zhenwu, and earnestly understanding the wonders of the Dao. Only then did he realize that what they had taught were all extremely practical Dao methods.

If not for this, relying solely on one’s own efforts to comprehend, it would take hundreds or even thousands of years to succeed. Having grasped the principles of the universe, Wukong also realized that the art of the universe mentioned by Zhenwu was actually the manipulation of space and time. Zhenwu had been a sage for countless years but only had a superficial understanding of the ways of the universe; yet he passed on these limited insights to Wukong, which truly moved Wukong deeply.

Wukong was not someone who aimed too high. Since he had only just begun to master the principles of the universe, he dared not seek too much. Moreover, with the white jade bead in his hands, he had time ahead to gradually understand them.

Due to limited space here, although Wukong had learned many supernatural powers, he could not use or test them, so he had to focus on other things. Though he knew Tang Seng was still at Lion Camel Ridge, with Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva guarding outside and the three great deities of Qi Tian Ling protecting him, Wukong felt completely at ease.

At that moment, Wukong suddenly remembered that it was time to take the black pill given to him by Xuan Nu. Thinking of it, his curiosity surged—what treasure might Xuan Nu have given him? He eagerly reached into his bosom and took out the black pill. Instead of crushing it hastily, he first examined it carefully using the secrets of the Xuan Kong method. Upon inspection, he noticed that the stars in his right eye were flashing much faster than before, while the stars in his left eye remained constantly bright. Recalling his earlier speculation—that the left eye governed the universe and the right eye governed space—he realized that as his mastery of the universe principles improved, the stars in his left eye had stabilized.

Just then, Wukong’s body suddenly trembled, his expression blank, followed by overwhelming pain originating from deep within his soul.

Suddenly, the scene before him changed—Ksitigarbha had removed the barrier. With a displeased expression, Ksitigarbha frowned and said, “There’s a crisis between yin and yang!”

Enduring the pain, Wukong stood up. Ksitigarbha pulled him onto the back of Di Ting, and the two of them, along with the beast, vanished like shadows and left Lion Camel Cave.

At the foot of a beautiful peak on Qi Tian Ling, the divine ape king Yu was manipulating the God-Slaying Circle in the underground fire. The circle jumped up and down, and as the flames licked its inner ring, they gradually carved out a rune. As the imprint of the rune grew deeper, Yu suddenly froze, then spat out a mouthful of blood. He retracted the God-Slaying Circle and rushed out of the underground realm at lightning speed. After searching around Qi Tian Ling, he found the intelligent divine ape lying limp in a stone cave. Yu awakened the intelligent divine ape, and the two of them rushed toward Lion Camel Ridge together.

Deep in the Beihai Sea Eye, Wu Zhiqi was chatting casually with Fuhai Jiao across the table when his expression suddenly changed drastically. His white beard stood on end, and he forced down the anger in his chest. Then he soared through the roof of the palace and headed straight for the water’s surface! Realizing something serious had happened, Fuhai Jiao hurriedly followed closely behind. However, his skill in controlling water was far inferior to Wu Zhiqi’s, and soon he was left far behind. By the time he emerged from the water, there was no trace of Wu Zhiqi. After thinking for a moment, Fuhai Jiao set off for Qitian Ridge.