Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 453: Gathering Strength

Wukong and his companions returned to Qitianling, laden with spoils. Guanyin merely paused briefly before heading to Ling Mountain. Zhurong and Houyi each returned to their caves. Only Wukong brought back many thousand-zhang-long jade pieces, feeling uneasy the whole time.

Jumang was in the ventilation cave, guiding the flow of energy from the five elements. When he saw Wukong enter, he signaled him to proceed as he saw fit. Wukong, of course, didn’t hesitate and sat down to ponder in silence.

This incident dealt a severe blow to the Heavenly Court. Gouchen the Supreme God and Dongji Qinghua the Great Emperor, both renowned figures among the Six Imperial Lords, were killed outright. Across the Ten Continents and Three Islands, aside from Kunlun Immortal Island, all treasures were looted and most immortals driven away. As for the Five Elders of Taoism, though Wukong didn’t know their status in the Heavenly Court, their cultivation levels suggested they were the Emperor Jade’s hidden trump cards. The Heavenly Court had sent these five to handle matters below, confident in their victory. But now, not only had their plans been disrupted, but all five were killed—only Qingling Zhenlao was thrown into the Xirang Furnace, with no chance of escaping.

In the tens of thousands of years of the Heavenly Court’s history, such heavy losses had never occurred. If the Emperor Jade and the Queen Mother hadn’t been furious, it would have been as if the sun rose in the west.

Wukong waited at Qitianling for three full months without any signs of activity. Every day, he would exit the cave and stand on the peak, using his Xuan Kong magic to see clearly the buildings and pavilions of the Heavenly Court. If any immortals descended, they would surely not escape his gaze.

One day, Wukong suddenly felt a strange sensation—the world seemed to calm down abruptly. Had the Heavenly Court given up on revenge? How could that be?

Wukong had no idea that the Emperor Jade and the Queen Mother were wary of Buddha, and after losing the Five Elders of Taoism, they were now both too afraid and unable to act. The Emperor Jade was irritable and cruel, while the Queen Mother was calm yet suspicious. Together, they came up with this plan. And these two were determined to bide their time and accomplish something great.

After some thought, Wukong flew to Ling Mountain, cursing himself along the way for panicking at the last moment. He had many tasks to handle; he could just leave this one to Diting.

Upon arriving at Ling Mountain, he encountered Guanyin coming out of the Great Compassion Hall. Wukong stopped her and asked, “Where are you going, Bodhisattva?” Guanyin replied, “Just now, Diting told me that the Heavenly Court is sending people to Xiniuhe Continent to commit those evil deeds again!”

Hearing this, Wukong flew into rage and said, “I’ll go with you.”

When they arrived in Xiniuhe Continent, Wukong’s sharp eyes spotted four Hunyuan Golden Immortals rushing toward a mortal kingdom on earth.

Wukong cursed, “They’re utterly insane! Still not giving up!”

The two emitted a burst of golden light, blocking the four Golden Immortals. Guanyin unwound a willow branch from her hand, trapping the four. Without further delay, Wukong killed each one with a single strike! After dealing with these four, the two didn’t pause and returned to Mount Ling. Guanyin asked, “What brings you here?” Wukong replied, “I’m here to ask the Divine Beast Di Ting for some information.” Upon arriving at the Hall of Great Compassion, they saw Venerable Bai Xiong flying out urgently. Wukong asked him a question, but Venerable Bai Xiong shouted back without even turning around, “Jnanapada!” Wukong frowned—the Jade Emperor was determined to carry out this heartless act. If he dared to come, then Wukong would dare to kill! He and Guanyin followed Venerable Bai Xiong to Jnanapada, where they encountered Dayu and Hou Tu guarding the place. Wukong asked, “What are you doing here?” Dayu replied, “There’s nothing much to do on Mount Ling. If any danger arises, the Divine Beast Di Ting will alert us, so we simply came to guard Jnanapada.” As they spoke, four Hunyuan Golden Immortals descended from the sky. Wukong laughed, “One each—let’s see who’s faster!” No sooner had he spoken than Guanyin’s willow branch stretched for miles like a steel needle on a thread, piercing straight through the chest of one of the Golden Immortals. The tip of the branch then coiled back, tightly binding the immortal before Wukong destroyed its essence with a palm strike. Wukong was amazed—when Guanyin got fierce, she was truly beyond comparison. Her ruthless actions didn’t resemble those of a bodhisattva at all; she seemed more like a female demon. Seeing that Guanyin’s killing intent hadn’t faded, she turned to another immortal. Wukong urgently shouted, “Don’t fight over it!” He rushed forward with his staff, but before he could get close, a wave of earth-yellow soft light enveloped the immortal. Hou Tu said from behind, “This one is mine!” Wukong was speechless—these two women’s competitiveness was even stronger than that of men. Realizing the situation was unfavorable, the two Golden Immortals turned and fled. Dayu casually used the Yu Ding, deliberately sparing one for Wukong while covering the other. Wukong laughed, “Senior Dayu is truly generous!” He used a maneuver to chase after that immortal and smashed it into a pulp with his staff. He flew back, and Guanyin said with a smile, “Wukong, you lost.” Wukong replied with a laugh, “Losing to you is fine—after all, I still won.” Guanyin said, “Since people have come to these two continents, Eastern Victory Continent and Northern Kuolu Continent surely won’t be left unattended. Maitreya and Ksitigarbha are guarding them alone—do you want to go help?” Wukong replied, “Of course.” Upon arriving at the Eastern Victory Continent, they saw Maitreya smiling as he carried a bag that was bulging. Wukong asked, “How many?” Venerable Maitreya showed four fingers. The two then headed to Northern Kuolu Continent. This time, they waited for a long time but saw no one arrive.

Wukong said, “The Jade Emperor has also become quite skilled. After all, the Hunyuan Golden Immortal is no ordinary celestial soldier. If this continues, he won’t be able to sustain it.” Guanyin nodded and said, “Rather than dividing our forces like this, it’s better to unite and attack at one point.”

Wukong thought it made sense. However, the Jade Emperor’s move was likely more of a test. Since there were people guarding all four continents who could respond to each other instantly, even if the Jade Emperor was foolish, he wouldn’t send more troops.

On Mount Ling, Diting lived alone in the grand hall, lying on the ground as if worldly affairs had nothing to do with him. But when Wukong saw him again, he felt even more admiration.

The title “Hearder of Fate” was indeed well-deserved. What was rare was that he had opened a path to survival for ordinary people in the world—this was exactly what those in the realm of fate should do.

At that moment, Wukong realized that his journey was actually unnecessary. Since Diting was constantly monitoring the situation in the heavenly court, if he heard news unfavorable to Qitianling, how could he not inform him?

With this thought, Wukong felt much more at ease. After bidding farewell to Guanyin, he returned to Qitianling peacefully.

Along the way, Wukong kept repeating “Create a realm, create a realm.” The Five Divine Apes were all cultivating in the world, working tirelessly. Yet, time passed swiftly, and it seemed too slow to regain their strength before the Buddha’s third body awakened in the netherworld.

The art of creating realms could alter the flow of time—one day there could equal a year in the world. There were many who could create realms in Qitianling, but before that could happen, it was useless.

The reason was that whether it was cultivators or divine apes, they needed plenty of “fate energy” for cultivation. If the realm was empty and lacked fate energy, entering it wouldn’t be of much use.

Now, having seized many fate-energy elixirs and thousand-foot jade pieces from the Ten Continents and Three Islands—filled with fate energy—there should be enough for the Five Divine Apes to cultivate. This was the perfect time to create a realm.

Upon arriving at Qitianling, Wukong immediately summoned Zhu Rong and Hou Yi. Upon hearing Wukong’s plan, Zhu Rong agreed right away, saying, “This is easy. But to create a realm, I need someone to protect us and many elixirs.”

Wukong replied, “It’s a trivial matter. For protection, I’ll ask Hou Yi and the Golden and Wood Gods to help. If anyone really comes, bring out the Qilin as well, and send the Roc to Mount Ling for aid. If all else fails, go to the Purple Cloud Palace in the heavenly court and call on Zhenwu.”

Zhu Rong said, “Exactly. Even if the sky collapses, it won’t affect a single hair of mine!”

Hou Yi smiled bitterly and said, “Alright, alright. When the Fire God shows his power, who dares not obey?”

Zhu Rong said happily, “If you don’t obey, I won’t train archery with you anymore.”

Though it was just a joke, Zhu Rong still acted with great urgency. He chose the base of the Qilin Cave as the location for creating the realm, confident that he would wake up if anyone attacked. Back in the Kunpeng’s belly, Zhu Rong had already mastered the art of creating realms, but those volcanoes were lifeless. What was inside this realm now were six divine apes, crucial to the universe. Not wanting to take risks, he opted for the safest method. Though the realm wasn’t large, it was extremely stable—one year inside equaled one day outside, allowing it to sustain him for hundreds of years without issue.

Once the realm was set up, Wukong summoned the other five divine apes, each bringing the essence of one of the five elements into the realm. Wukong followed them in as well. The realm was only ten zhang square, and the five divine apes focused intently on cultivating. The essences of the five elements were no longer as large as before, having suffered some depletion. Wukong took out a thousand-zhang-long jade pillar and placed it in the center. Using his magic, he drew five streams of primordial energy and poured them directly into the five divine apes.

Upon contact with this energy, the five divine apes showed signs of joy. Though this primordial energy wasn’t as good as the Immortal Peaches, it was still extremely pure—likely impossible to find elsewhere in the universe. Watching the five divine apes cultivate with such focus, Wukong felt a strange emotion. Back in the day, the seven divine apes had gathered together, playing and wandering freely across the universe…

But after that, hardships came. The Divine Ape that once brought life to all things was abandoned and hunted by the entire universe, killed over and over again…

Suppressing his hatred, Wukong watched as the rich primordial energy flowed into the five divine apes like a divine revelation. These apes had never experienced such things before; they longed for primordial energy desperately and absorbed every bit of it.

The six divine apes cultivated hidden beneath Qitian Ridge. Meanwhile, far in the sky, in a place unreachable by anyone in this universe, there hung a colossal bird. People couldn’t see it, nor could it see them. But now it suddenly opened its eyes, emitting two brilliant lights that seemed to illuminate the entire universe.

Inside its belly lay another vast universe, filled with countless primordial elements. If any divine ape were to come here, they would find that all these elements flowed in one direction.

In a mountain hollow sat a monk with large ears. He was quite handsome, but at that moment, fine monkey-like hairs had grown on his body.