Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 129: The True Form Emerges

Wukong was fine. Though deeply astonished, he was merely surprised—he never expected Tongfeng and Wang Yu to appear in this realm as well. Earlier, Tongfeng and Wang Yu had located Wukong by sensing his aura. Learning that he wasn’t dead, they were overjoyed and took some time to calm down before regaining their senses.

Tongfeng stared at Wukong, his eyes filled with disbelief. Pointing at him, he stammered, “You… you…” Wang Yu suddenly understood what Tongfeng meant and also looked shocked, asking, “Why do you look like this?”

Wukong still didn’t understand and asked puzzledly, “What’s wrong with my appearance? I’ve always been like this—” He glanced at himself, then at Tongfeng and Wang Yu, and suddenly realized he was in his true realm. Why was he still dressed as a scholar in white?

Suddenly, his mind buzzed. Could it be…?

Tongfeng also racked his brains. The rules of this realm were well-known—anyone who entered it would take on their true form, and no one could use transformation magic or even ordinary spells like clone techniques.

Wukong was the leader of the Seven Divine Apes—the Spiritwise Divine Ape. This was impossible to fake. The aura of a divine ape was unique, and the seven divine apes could communicate mentally. In this world, only they seven were of the same species, created by nature itself—a subtlety no one could imitate. Yet this scholar in white was utterly different from Wukong’s original appearance. One was an ape, the other a human—how could they be compared?

Wang Yu circled Wukong, pinching his arms and touching his head from time to time. Wukong was helpless. Of course, he couldn’t admit he had come from another world. He could only pretend to be confused and asked Tongfeng, “What’s going on?”

Hearing Wukong speak, Tongfeng’s voice even changed—it was no longer shrill like a monkey’s, and the confusion in his eyes deepened. This was clearly Wukong, so why had he changed so drastically?

Wukong suddenly remembered that when he fought the Nine-Headed Worm in the Realm of Calamity, he had taken on his ape form for a long time without noticing anything strange. He said, “Since entering the Realm of Good and Evil, I’ve taken on a human form. It’s easier to move around in different lands. I’ve also returned to my true form to fight a few times, with no issues. Now—”

Tongfeng waved his hand to stop Wukong and continued, “Wait. I seem to understand a bit now.”

Wukong’s heart trembled. Could Tongfeng even figure this out? Then Tongfeng said, “I once heard my master say, ‘One’s true self is one’s true heart.’ Could it be that you, as a divine ape, actually aspire to become human?” Tongfeng had been quite polite to Wukong before, but now anger flickered on his face.

Wukong looked embarrassed. Wang Yu reminded him, “Try it and see if you can use the transformation spell.” Feng Tong glanced at Wang Yu and said, “If he can turn back into a monkey, I’ll kneel before him—” Before he could finish, Wukong had already transformed into the Spirit Monkey and was standing beside him, smiling.

Feng Tong looked stunned, as if foolish. Others might not understand the mysteries of this realm, but he knew them all too well. For him, Wukong’s ability to transform in this realm was as shocking as the collapse of heaven and earth.

Wang Yu said, “Try transforming into something else.” Wukong did as he was told. Thinking of a peach tree, he recited an incantation, trying to take on its form. Yet despite reciting the incantation, his internal energy became blocked, and after a brief pause, the attempt failed. Unwilling to give up, Wukong tried several more times but still failed. He said, “This is strange. I can transform into a human, but not into a tree.”

By now, Feng Tong had recovered. His gaze toward Wukong held a hint of admiration as he said, “I’ve figured it out. It’s still that saying, ‘The true self is the original heart.’ Think about it carefully.”

Wukong laughed and said, “If you knew, you would have told me earlier. Why make me go through this trouble?”

Feng Tong replied, “What’s the harm in telling you? Since you can transform into a human, you can probably only take on this form. If you don’t believe it, try transforming into something else.”

Wukong shook his head. “No need to try further. It’s indeed true.”

Feng Tong continued, “The human form you’ve taken must be someone extremely important in your life or someone who left a deep impression on you. Otherwise, why would you be able to transform into that form in an instant? Right?”

Wukong nodded, inwardly praising Feng Tong for his sharp insight.

Feng Tong added, “As for ‘the true self is the original heart,’ once you enter this realm, it’s not that you can’t transform, but that you can’t go against your true heart. Since you can transform into this human here, it means you’ve already mastered two true forms.”

Seeing the emotional tone in Feng Tong’s words and not understanding, Wukong asked, “What are true forms? And are two true forms a blessing or a curse?”

Feng Tong gave Wukong a look and said, “True forms are one’s original appearance. What’s unclear about that? But the true forms I’m talking about are very different from what Buddhism calls ‘dharma forms.’ Those dharma forms are created through magic spells, useful only for deception and not much else. Your two true forms, on the other hand, arise from the heart. You can transform right before everyone’s eyes without anyone noticing anything amiss. In other words, aside from the divine monkeys, no one else in the world can recognize you.”

Wukong thought carefully. This ability was indeed useful, but then he realized he was in the Three Realms, and many people had already seen his true form—at least the Three Pure Ones surely knew that this white-robed scholar was Wukong from Flower Fruit Mountain. Wukong smiled and asked tentatively, “I still don’t know if I can leave this realm. What’s the use of having two true forms?” Tongfeng replied, “Leaving the realm isn’t difficult; it’s just not the right time yet.” Wukong grew suspicious. Even the Nine-Headed Worm had considerable powers yet was still worried about escaping this realm. Seeing Tongfeng so confident, he wondered what gave him such assurance. Wukong asked again, “Although I’ve been here for only a short time, I’ve heard rumors from Huiyuan. Don’t be careless, or you might suffer eternal suffering.” Tongfeng laughed heartily and said, “It’s not just a rumor. What Huiyuan said is true. Don’t worry; you’ll know for sure when the time comes.” Seeing that Tongfeng kept keeping things vague, Wukong stopped asking. At least he wouldn’t harm him. The three of them left the sea surface and climbed up into the clouds. Wukong naturally wanted to ask about his brothers. Tongfeng said, “Rumors say you were thrown into the Eight Trigrams Furnace by Laojun. Without Zhiqi, the Great Peng, and the Sea-Submerging Dragon, they would have attacked the Heavenly Palace to avenge you. Fortunately, Brother Yuansheng stopped them, preventing chaos. Everyone on Flower Fruit Mountain is safe. Erlang Shen Yang Jian is watching over them, so everything is in order.” Hearing that everyone was safe, Wukong felt relieved. He then asked, “What about the Western Heaven? Any developments?” Tongtian shook his head. “The Golden-Winged Great Peng caused trouble in the Western Heaven but was driven away from Ling Mountain by the Ancient Buddha Ran Deng and Maitreya Buddha. Since then, it’s been very quiet, with no further incidents.” Oh, Ran Deng and Maitreya both stepped in to resolve the situation. It seems the Buddha’s authority in Ling Mountain is indeed high, and the Golden-Winged Great Peng clearly underestimated the Buddha. Since the Western Heaven remained calm, it meant the Buddhist and Taoist sects hadn’t fallen out yet. It seemed these peaceful days would continue. By calculation, it was still many years before Jiang Liuer was born, so the journey to obtain the scriptures would take another five or six hundred years. Obtaining the scriptures! Obtaining the scriptures! The words “obtain the scriptures” suddenly popped into Wukong’s mind! According to the Nine-Headed Worm, until the end of time, there were only five or six hundred years left, which was similar to the time needed for the journey. Could there be some connection between the two? But upon further thought, it didn’t make sense. That Beautiful Monkey King had served in the Heavenly Palace for nearly two hundred years. Was he just overthinking it? Yet he always felt there must be a reason, though he couldn’t find any clues for now.

Wukong suddenly remembered the rumor that Guanyin had a thousand hands and a thousand faces, and that he himself had two true forms. It was only because he was from another world that, through some twist of fate, Guanyin could possess such great powers. He asked Fengtong, “I’ve heard that some people can take on a thousand forms. Could it be that such a person has also mastered a thousand true forms?” Fengtong laughed and said, “A thousand or ten thousand forms—those only work in that realm. Once here, they’ll be forced to reveal their true forms. Don’t underestimate yourself. These two true forms alone will benefit you for life.” Wukong asked, “How did you two end up in this realm?” Fengtong and Wang Yu exchanged a smile. Wukong pretended to be angry and said, “Are you trying to keep me in suspense?” Wang Yu replied, “I was just waiting to see when you’d ask that. So you’ve finally remembered.” Wukong was stunned and smiled self-mockingly. When he first met them, there were so many things to consider that he didn’t know where to start. Fengtong answered, “To be honest, our arrival here has nothing to do with you. Someone ordered us to come here to see if we can find a way out.” Wukong was confused. “Someone ordered you to come here? Who is it?” Fengtong nodded. “That’s right. That person is the master of this realm.” Wukong was shocked. “You know the master of this realm?” Fengtong laughed. “I’ve known him for thousands of years. He is my master—” “Yuan Shi Tian Zun! Yuan Shi is your master?” Wukong exclaimed in shock. Fengtong leaped up from the clouds, even more astonished than Wukong, and shouted, “How do you know that?” Wukong slapped his thigh, feeling slight pain—clearly, he wasn’t dreaming. He had no time to answer Fengtong, as he was pondering a major question. Fengtong was Yuan Shi Tian Zun’s disciple! The Bull Demon King was the disciple of the Supreme Lord Laozi! The Red Boy was the disciple of the Spirit Treasure Daoist! And there were also the Nine-Headed Worm and the Six-Eared Monkey, two unruly experts hidden in this realm. Three Purities, what exactly do you plan to do?