Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 484: Inside and Outside

Wukong asked Yin-Yang, “Can you already leave heaven?”
Yin-Yang replied, “Perhaps. I haven’t tried yet.”
Wukong said, “If I had such ability, I would have gone there long ago. You can really hold back.”
Yin-Yang said, “If I were you, I would also go. But I’m not you.”
Wukong found Yin-Yang’s words vague and laughed, “Enough. Let’s not overthink it. We should focus on cultivation first.”
Wukong glanced at the Five Elements Divine Apes, all of whom seemed nervous, as if afraid of Yin-Yang. He asked, “How did you bully them?”
Yin-Yang replied, “I didn’t bully them. Yin and Yang give rise to the Five Elements. They fear me by nature—it’s innate in them.”
“Why aren’t they afraid of me?” Wukong asked with a smile.
Yin-Yang answered, “You’ll understand eventually. Back when the Divine Apes were first born, they were like brothers, playing in the world and competing with the Peach Ancestor. But that wasn’t their true form back then.”
“This world has gone through seven cycles. The Divine Apes have existed since the beginning, just a bit later than Pangu, and before the Kunpeng—”
“What? What are you saying?” Wukong was shocked. It was said in this world that it began from chaos, with Pangu creating the heavens and the Kunpeng clearing the skies, after which the Divine Apes appeared. Were the Divine Apes older than the Kunpeng? That was utterly unbelievable.
Yin-Yang dismissed it, saying, “You’re talking about later times. I’m referring to the first cycle. In the first cycle, when this furnace was first created, there was no Kunpeng. Do you understand now?”
Wukong smiled bitterly. It seemed Yin-Yang wanted to tell him something but spoke hesitantly, leaving him even more confused. He said, “I don’t understand now, but I will eventually. Let’s collect the Thousand-Foot Jade first.”
Yin-Yang agreed.
He drew seven circles in this space and had everyone sit inside them. Once the Six Divine Apes were seated, Yin-Yang drew another boundary, enclosing the thirty-six pieces of Thousand-Foot Jade within it.
Wukong could roughly guess that the boundary drawn by Yin-Yang was used to change the speed of time. There was immense potential within the Thousand-Foot Jade. If cultivation didn’t take place within this boundary, even thousands of years might pass in an instant.
Then, within this boundary, Yin-Yang drew another one. Under Wukong’s Xuan Kong Fa secrets and powers, these two boundaries couldn’t hide. Looking from inside out, they resembled two bubbles colliding—overlapping yet separate. Wukong couldn’t help asking, “Why draw two boundaries?”
Yin-Yang replied, “It’s a bit redundant, but it’s just to prevent outsiders from entering this boundary. If others enter one of the boundaries, we can go to the other to hide.”

Wukong nodded. He could also control realms, but he didn’t know that the method of creating realms could be used in this way.
Yin Yang said, “You said that the Tathagata, along with the Stupa Tower and Nirvana, disappeared into thin air one after another along with the Buddhist hell. In fact, this is similar to what happens in these two realms.”
“That’s also a spell of overlapping realms. Only, in his case, those two realms blend together so seamlessly that there’s no distinction between inside and outside, which is why they can’t be found.”
“No distinction between inside and outside? What kind of evil magic is this?” Wukong wondered. Everything has an inside and an outside; without them, wouldn’t it go against common sense?
Yin Yang replied, “Simply put, the Buddhist hell can contain the Stupa Tower, and the Stupa Tower can contain the Buddhist hell. Do you understand?”
Without hesitation, Wukong shook his head and said, “I don’t understand.”
Yin Yang murmured, “The principle is very simple. How could you not understand?”
Wukong picked up a peach and said, “If this peach is a realm, with the flesh being the outside and the core the inside, how can the core hold the flesh?”
Yin Yang was stunned for a moment before laughing and saying, “That’s an interesting way of putting it. The distinction between inside and outside isn’t that simple.” He fell into deep thought. He understood the principle in his heart but didn’t know how to explain it clearly to Wukong. As he thought, he unconsciously twisted his earlobe. After a while, Yin Yang’s eyes lit up, and he said, “I’ve got an idea.”
Wukong asked, “How?”
Yin Yang replied, “You have a supernatural skill called ‘Reversing Heaven and Earth’. Do you still remember it?”
Wukong said, “How could I forget?”
Yin Yang continued, “Once ‘Reversing Heaven and Earth’ is used, what was originally outside becomes inside, and what was originally inside becomes outside. Isn’t that just common sense? If you consider the peach core as the outside, then the flesh is the inside. Isn’t that very simple?”
Wukong thought about it and realized it indeed made sense. In the realms of the Tathagata and Nirvana, there was no distinction between inside and outside—each contained the other. This was why Wukong couldn’t find them.
After understanding this principle, Wukong felt a strong sense of crisis. If the Tathagata had done this, it was to make it impossible for others to find him. And if he was hiding, it must be to gather the power to form his full body as the Great Sun Tathagata. With just one palm or one arm, the Great Sun Tathagata could defeat Xuan Nu without her even having a chance to fight back. If he were to fully form his body, how terrifying he would be! Although Wukong had the Heavenly Fate Staff, it could only give him an advantage against a single severed arm. Against the Great Sun Tathagata himself, it would be utterly useless. He wondered if the Yin Yang Divine Monkey could defeat the Great Sun Tathagata…
Yin Yang set up the two realms and, seeing that all six Divine Monkeys were seated, he sat down in the circle on the ground as well. He then said, “Creation is complete! The dantian is open!”

He raised both hands, drawing a thread of creation from his fingertips and placing it on the Thousand-Foot Jade. With a gentle flick of his fingers, the thread broke and fell atop Wang Yu’s head. This path of creation was created with just a wave of his hand.

Yin and Yang followed suit, drawing four more paths of creation and placing them on Feng Tong, Wu Zhi Qi, the Clever Divine Ape, and the Arm-Through-Clouds Divine Ape. With these paths of creation guiding them, the Five-Element Divine Apes immediately began to absorb the creation energy from the Thousand-Foot Jade without hesitation.

In just a short while, the thread had grown as thick as an arm. Creation energy surged forth from the Jade and flowed into the bodies of the Five-Element Divine Apes. These five paths gradually took on the colors of white, green, black, red, and yellow.

Yin and Yang twisted their fingers, drawing another thread from each of the five paths. They twisted these five threads together into a single strand and threw it upward, which landed precisely on Wukong.

Wukong took hold of this thin, multicolored path of creation but felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He didn’t know what role Yin and Yang had played in this, but the power of this creation energy was many times stronger than when he had helped the Five Divine Apes train before.

As the multicolored creation energy flowed into his body, his Hunyuan Dao Fruit, which had not changed for a long time, immediately began to spin rapidly. Each color of the creation energy found its proper place within it, causing the Hunyuan Dao Fruit to swell rapidly.

Wukong was slightly surprised but soon calmed down. With Yin and Yang here, what obstacle could there be that he couldn’t overcome?

※　※　※

It was only after the Seven Divine Apes of Creation entered seclusion that the world truly settled down.

The once-mighty Heavenly Court had now vanished completely. Most of its thirty-six palaces and seventy-two halls were destroyed by the demons of Qitian Ridge, leaving not a single tile standing. In their place, buildings comparable to those in the Heavenly Court were built on Qitian Ridge, and many immortal herbs and trees were transplanted there. From afar, it resembled an immortal mountain.

Thinking back to Qitian Ridge in the past, although it also had breathtaking scenery, it was full of demonic soldiers and caves everywhere, appearing nothing more than a mountain inhabited by demons. With the downfall of the Heavenly Court, thousands of years of accumulated wealth from the Thirty-Six Heavens was brought back to Qitian Ridge, enough to adorn this 800-li-long mountain range with grandeur.

Unexpectedly, the Qilin, while in the Thirty-Six Heavens and seeing the towering Lingxiao Palace, suddenly had an idea. Using its great power, it uprooted the Lingxiao Palace and placed it atop Qitian Ridge’s main peak. The plaque reading “Lingxiao Palace” was discarded, replaced by the domineering characters “Qitian Palace”.

Not all the powerful demons of Qitian Ridge were fortunate enough to witness the massive construction of their homeland. At that time, the busiest people in the world were figures like Dayu and Hou Tu.

The four great continents stretched for hundreds of thousands of miles, with a Rain God Temple and a Earth Goddess Temple built every thousand miles—a truly astonishing undertaking. Almost all the demon tribes above the level of immortals in the Qitian Ridge region were mobilized, and the dragon tribes across the four seas as well as those in Guanjiangkou were also extremely busy. Fortunately, the powers of the gods far surpassed those of ordinary people, and after twenty years, the construction of the temples was finally completed.

As early as twenty years prior, Chi Songzi had led many divine beasts to live on Huaguo Mountain on the coast of the East Sea, near the country of Aolai. Holding the True Wu token, he commanded obedience from all the dragon tribes across the four seas.

It is worth mentioning that during these years, Tai Bai Jin Xing provided considerable assistance to Dayu and the Earth Goddess.

One day, when the Jade Emperor and the Buddha faced off, seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Tai Bai Jin Xing left the Kunlun Immortal Island early and went to a secluded place in the mortal world to hide. Later, after investigating everywhere, he learned of the downfall of the Heavenly Court. Shocked, he began to consider his next move. With the Heavenly Court gone and the Buddha vanished, it was an undeniable fact that only the Qitian Ridge held supreme power, with Maitreya in the Western Heaven being closely allied with them.

Tai Bai Jin Xing was always adept at navigating various situations, and he had no grudges against the Qitian Ridge. Coincidentally, at that time, Dayu and others were busy with the construction of the temples, giving him an opportunity to present himself. Having served in the Heavenly Court for many years, he was well-versed in administrative and personnel management, and he had the support of the Heavenly Court’s immortals and officials. Dayu saw Tai Bai Jin Xing offering his services willingly and regarded him as a precious asset.

With Tai Bai Jin Xing and the many immortals he gathered to assist, progress indeed accelerated greatly. Seeing the Rain God Temples and Earth Goddess Temples rising tall in the mortal world, Tai Bai Jin Xing couldn’t describe his feelings.

The Heavenly Court had ruled over heaven and earth for tens of thousands of years without ever considering the needs of ordinary people or building such temples. On earth, the Palace of the Queen Mother, the Palace of the Heavenly Kings, the Palace of the Dragon Kings, and so on, were all built by ordinary people. When there was a need for rain, people had to burn incense, pray, and perform rituals, yet even then, the Dragon Kings might not necessarily be aware of it.

And even if the Dragon Kings learned of a severe drought, what could they do? The Jade Emperor’s governance was inconsistent—sometimes effective, sometimes ineffective. A slight delay in heaven meant that mortals had to wait for three to five months, or even three to five years. By the time the Jade Emperor issued an order, countless people would already have died of thirst or hunger.

In contrast, the two temples built by the Qitian Ridge were constantly guarded by demon tribes. When people made wishes, the demons would first verify their authenticity. After making a decision, they would immediately send someone to the East Sea to find a Rain God or send someone to the Qitian Ridge to find the Earth Goddess. In this way, the people’s troubles were resolved within at most two days.

Taibai Jinxing wandered the world and, seeing the people rushing about to spread word of Hou Tu and the Rain God’s fame, couldn’t help but exclaim, “He who has many supporters will have the world at his side!”