Volume 4: The End of Secrets Chapter 504: No Path in the Sky

These monsters seemed fierce, but they held no hostility toward Wukong and the others. Their gazes at Wukong and Yin-Yang were like those of children seeing novel toys. Due to the difference in cultivation levels, Wukong and Yin-Yang also felt uneasy.

Not knowing what to do, Yin-Yang sent a message to Wukong: “There seems to be no path up there.”

Wukong understood that by “no path,” Yin-Yang meant two things: first, there were many monsters with extremely high cultivation levels up there; second, there was no exit visible in the cold white sky above.

Wukong hadn’t considered this issue yet. He thought, Was leaving the sky meant to come here? What place was this? Aside from monsters and a sky with no visible exit, there was nothing else.

It felt as if there was no way forward. The world beyond the sky in Wukong’s imagination wasn’t like this—or rather, it wasn’t here!

Wukong asked Yin-Yang, “Did Kunpeng send us out of the sky to come here?” Yin-Yang shook his head in confusion and said, “I don’t know either.”

Wukong declared firmly, “It definitely isn’t here! Let’s go upward!”

Going upward was the only option—turning back would mean all their efforts were in vain.

“Upward?” Yin-Yang looked up. Those monsters were intimidating.

Wukong said, “They… seem harmless. Let’s give it a try.”

The two joined hands and flew upward toward the nearest monster. The closer they got, the stronger the wind became. After much effort, they reached the two-headed dragon beneath the bird-faced monster. The dragon still had its eyes closed, seemingly having slept for countless years.

The bird-faced monster on the dragon’s back ignored them as well, allowing Wukong and the others to continue flying upward. Once past the monster’s head, they felt no pressure at all—the fierce winds no longer affected them, as they seemed to blow only downward, leaving the upper areas unaffected.

Yin-Yang asked, “Do these monsters just keep blowing wind?”

Before Wukong could answer, the bird-faced monster let out a shrill voice, “One left, and now two more. Why bother?”

Hearing that the monster could speak, Wukong was overjoyed and asked, “Has anyone been here before?”

The monster replied, “That person was far stronger than you two. What’s the use?”

Wukong thought for a moment. Who in this world could be stronger than him and Yin-Yang? In this vast world, aside from Pangu, it was Kunpeng. And the possibility of Pangu appearing was extremely low—most likely, it was Kunpeng. So he asked, “Who is it? What does it look like?”

The monster rolled its eyes and recalled, “Well, they were everywhere—this place could hardly hold them all.”
Wukong thought to himself that “everywhere” must refer to the Kunpeng. So the Kunpeng had also been here before—it too wanted to reach the heavens!
But since the Kunpeng had tried to create yin and yang and wanted yin and yang to come here with Wukong to give it a try, that meant the Kunpeng had failed! If even the Kunpeng couldn’t do it, could he?
Wukong asked, “What’s… your name?”
“I? I am Yujiang!” the monster replied.
“Yujiang!” Wukong exclaimed.
Yin and Yang looked at Wukong in surprise—they had never heard of Yujiang before. How could Wukong know? They had already remembered the past events, yet Wukong hadn’t even woken up yet.
How could Yin and Yang know that Wukong had heard of Yujiang not from this world but from a book in his past life? Yujiang was the wind god in ancient myths; it was said that his fierce winds could spread plagues, which was why he was also called the Plague God.
Wukong suppressed his astonishment and pointed at the monsters that looked exactly like Yujiang in the distance, asking, “You’re Yujiang. What about those?”
Yujiang replied, “They’re all the same—no real difference.”
Wukong saw that although Yujiang was ugly and fierce in appearance, his speech was normal, and he seemed harmless. Otherwise, with his powers, capturing Wukong and Yin and Yang would have been effortless for him.
Wukong increasingly felt that these monsters were acting on someone else’s orders, trying to inject wind energy into the Great Furnace of Heaven and Earth.
He pretended to be ignorant and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Yujiang looked slightly confused but then said firmly, “I’m here for a very important purpose.”
Wukong asked, “What important purpose?”
Yujiang thought for a moment and said, “Hm, why can’t I remember right away?” Though he was talking to Wukong, he continued using his wind-control magic without pause.
Wukong said, “If you can’t remember, there’s no need to. I don’t even know what those creatures are called. Please tell me.” Without hesitation, a long beard beside his giant mouth stretched out, pointing at the monster with a sparrow’s head, deer’s body, snake’s tail, and leopard-like patterns, and said, “This one is called Fei Lian.”
Fei Lian! Wukong mentally noted it down. He had also heard of this ancient divine beast before—it was another creature capable of controlling powerful winds.
Yujiang then pointed at the monster with a dog’s face and human body and said, “That one is Shan Hu Jun!” Shan Hu Jun? The name of this strange beast was quite peculiar, but because it was rare, Wukong had remembered it from his past life. It was said that when Shan Hu Jun appeared, it was a bad omen of a major wind disaster.

Yu Jiang pointed at the extremely long serpent-headed monster in the east, his voice much softer, and said, “Zhu Yin! He has a bad temper—don’t provoke him.”
Zhu Yin! This is a famous divine beast from ancient times! It is said that Zhu Yin is incredibly powerful—opening his eyes creates daylight, closing them brings darkness; blowing out his breath brings winter, inhaling brings summer. He never stops eating or resting, and when he rests, it turns into a hurricane.
Wukong asked, “I see there are many other creatures, but why is Zhu Yin the only one?”
Yu Jiang replied, “I don’t know that.”
Wukong asked, “Then why is it said he has a bad temper?”
Yu Jiang shook his head slightly and said, “I can’t say for sure. We’ve always been a bit afraid of him from birth; surely his temper must be bad.”
Wukong smiled inwardly. What kind of logic is this? Could it be that Zhu Yin is the nemesis of these monsters like Yu Jiang? Or is he the ruler of this place, overseeing these monsters? But from Yu Jiang’s words, it seemed he had never dealt with Zhu Yin either.
These monsters all followed their own duties diligently, with none slacking off—so why would they need someone else to watch over them?
Wukong pointed at the one-legged blue ox and asked, “What’s this called?”
Yu Jiang replied, “That’s called Kui Niu. It has the loudest voice here.”
Wukong was indeed right—this monster was Kui Niu.
After Yu Jiang named these five monsters, Wukong saw the connection: these ancient divine beasts were all masters of controlling the wind. They had no other tasks here except to blow air into the cosmic furnace. If this was a coincidence, not even ghosts would believe it. It seemed there was someone even more powerful behind these monsters, steering everything.
Wukong was also surprised by Yu Jiang’s talkativeness. If Yu Jiang was under someone else’s control, he spoke without any restraint, only showing slight confusion when asked the most critical questions. He had no reason to lie at all.
Wukong asked Yu Jiang a few more questions but gained nothing more, so he took Yin Yang with him upward, flying to a high place near the white sky, to find a spot to sit in peace.
Here, free from the strong winds, they could rest properly and sort out their thoughts. The two gazed at the thousands of extremely powerful monsters in this layer, each immersed in practicing their wind-control magic over and over again, never tiring—as if they were born to blow air here.
Yin Yang said, “This scene feels somewhat familiar.”
Wukong was surprised and asked, “How so? Have you seen it before?”
Yin Yang replied, “I’ve never been here before—where could I have seen it? I mean, each of these monsters has divine powers. Even if just one of them slips away, it could become a disaster for the world.”

Wukong nodded. Indeed, that was the case. But seeing these monsters performing their rituals in perfect order in the sky, none of them acting erratically, the scene seemed familiar to him as well.
“So you mean you’re thinking of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas under Buddha’s rule?” he asked.
Yin Yang replied, “How similar?”
Wukong said, “It’s certain these monsters are being controlled by someone. But how could Buddha learn such a secret technique to control beasts?” He said this because he believed that person must be far more powerful than Buddha.
Yin Yang said, “It’s too complicated to say for sure.”
Looking at these legendary ancient divine beasts, wondering how many tens of thousands of years they had been here, Wukong sighed, “The wind can penetrate the nine realms, move in all directions, adapt to the changes of the four seasons, follow the flow of the six qi, propel clouds and mist, clear the heavens and earth, and transform in countless ways without leaving a trace. Thus, it is free and unrestrained, open and unobstructed… Yet those beasts that control the wind don’t even have a moment of freedom. How could this be their true desire?”
Yin Yang was also deeply moved. He had been trapped on the top of the Stupa Tower by Buddha for ten lifetimes—a situation where each day felt like a year, worse than death. In such a state, there was no talk of one’s true nature; one didn’t even know who they were. To preserve one’s true nature, to help others do the same… It sounded easy, but in reality, how many people in the world could truly achieve it?
Wukong then declared firmly, “The person behind this might very well be an evil one too!”
“Oh?” Yin Yang was puzzled. “Is this the person who created this cosmic furnace to trap Buddha?”
Wukong replied, “Maybe not, maybe yes.”
Yin Yang said, “Buddha is inherently evil. If this person opposes Buddha, how can he be evil? If both are evil, who is good then?”
Wukong said, “It’s common for two evils to clash.” He looked up at the white sky and said, “Anyway, we must get past this strange layer of heaven first. The place Kunpeng wants to go, the place he wants us to go to, is definitely not here.”
Yin Yang reached out and touched it, saying, “Since it’s made of the same material as the pillars holding up the sky, forcing our way through is impossible.”
Wukong said, “Then let’s find another way out!”
The two of them used their martial arts skills to soar through this layer of heaven. Below, over a thousand monsters were generating wind. Many of them ignored Wukong and Yin Yang, as if they already knew their efforts were futile, or perhaps they had no intention of stopping them at all. All they had to do was keep producing endless gusts of wind.

Wukong and Yin Yang spent many days searching the entire white canopy, and the result was as expected—there were not even the slightest gap or hole in it. No wonder the Kunpeng returned in defeat; there was simply no way out.