Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 132: Reveal of the Heavenly Secrets

Wukong’s staff technique suddenly shifted from defense to attack, and indeed, the Black Bear Demon showed signs of defeat after just a few moves. Wukong thought to himself that, judging from its fighting skills, this bear was very similar to the Black Bear Demon in the Black Wind Cave—almost certainly the same one. In terms of combat strength, this Black Bear Demon was only slightly inferior to Wukong, making it a formidable opponent. Moreover, the black-tasseled spear in its hands was no ordinary weapon; even Wukong’s Ruyi Jingu Bang could barely dent it. Wukong joked with himself that although the Ruyi Jingu Bang was said to be the “Divine Rod to Stabilize the Seas,” it didn’t seem that much stronger after all.

At this point, the Black Bear Demon’s arms were sore and numb, and it had lost its initial vigor. Seeing the unfavorable situation, it tried to flee, but King Wind Blocker Yu had already blocked its path. The Black Bear Demon fought back randomly for a while before becoming even more panicked—these two monkeys were no less strong than the one with the staff! It had never had any trouble with monkeys before; today was truly a day of bad luck.

In this world, only cloud riding was possible; the Five Elements Escape Technique wouldn’t work. As Wukong closed in, raising his staff to strike, the Black Bear Demon dropped its spear and cried, “Stop!”

Wukong asked with a smile, “Not fighting anymore?”

The Black Bear Demon replied dejectedly, “You three against one—how can I possibly win?”

Wukong said, “If you don’t run, the other two won’t attack. Come on, if you’re not convinced, we can fight again.”

The Black Bear Demon shook its head. “I lost—what’s the point?”

Wukong said, “You’re quite honest. Since you’ve lost to me, do you still remember our earlier bet?”

With a downcast expression, the Black Bear Demon said, “I’ll just hand over the cave to you—what else can I do?”

Seeing the once domineering king now reduced to a pitiful state, Wukong laughed. “You’re too petty. Just lost one fight—why act as if your mother has died?”

Ignoring him, the Black Bear Demon called out to its subordinates and pointed at Wukong, “This is your new king. Good luck to you.”

Wukong laughed heartily. This Black Bear Demon was quite interesting, almost as if entrusting his subordinates to him.

King Wind Blocker sighed, “How many heroes have been defeated by such a mere setback?”

Hearing this, the Black Bear Demon lifted its eyelids and suddenly pointed at the sky, cursing, “Damn you, you hairy old Taoist! I was practicing peacefully in the Black Wind Cave when I was kidnapped here and forced to live in idleness—”

Upon hearing this, Wukong was delighted—this was indeed the Black King of Black Wind Mountain. He stepped forward and delivered a powerful punch. Unprepared, the Black Bear Demon was knocked to the ground, blinking in confusion. How could it know that the “hairy old Taoist” it was referring to was actually Wind Blocker’s master, the Primordial Heavenly Lord?

“Why are you hitting me?” the Black Bear Demon dared to speak angrily but didn’t dare retaliate.

Tongfeng shouted, “You’re so fortunate yet unaware of it! How dare you talk nonsense?”
The Black Bear Spirit instead showed a pleased expression and asked, “Could it be you have a way to escape this calamity?”
Tongfeng gave him a disdainful look but ignored him.
Seeing that these three monkeys were truly unusual, the Black Bear Spirit immediately changed his expression, adopting a flattering tone as he said, “I see that you three are wise and valiant, born with the appearance of saviors. From now on, I’ll serve you at your beck and call, but—”
Wukong laughed and said, “Wait, wait! We’re just as troubled by rumors as you are. We’re also searching for a way to leave this realm.”
The Black Bear Spirit replied, “That’s not true! The calamity of the Origin Realm is by no means a rumor!”
Wukong asked, “How do you know that?”
The Black Bear Spirit stammered, “So many people have spoken of it, so naturally… naturally, people believe it.”
Just as Wukong was about to speak, a deafening crash echoed in the sky, followed by thunder. Everyone looked up and saw the clear sky, with several lightning bolts flashing across it. Many small demons were terrified and collapsed to the ground. Wukong was also greatly alarmed by these lightning bolts.
The lightning formed the character “half,” an enormous character that spanned the sky. Anyone in this realm could see it clearly if they looked up.
Wukong glanced at Tongfeng, who also appeared confused.
After a while, another burst of thunder resounded through the clouds. This time, it formed the character “sky.”
Half of the sky? What did that mean?
No one spoke for a while, all waiting for the next thunderclap.
After a long silence, there were only those two sounds—no more thunder. Everyone’s hopes were in vain.
“What was that?” Wukong finally asked.
Tongfeng murmured, “Half… sky. What does that mean?”
The Black Bear Spirit exclaimed in panic, “Could it be that if half of the sky disappears, the world will collapse?!”
Wukong spat and said, “Stop talking nonsense!”
Tongfeng said, “If strange phenomena occur in the sky, there must be a reason. Let’s go around and ask around.”
Wukong nodded and said to the Black Bear Spirit, “Stay here and guard my cave well. Don’t even think about escaping. In these three realms, no matter where you go, I’ll bring you back!” With that, he soared into the clouds and left.
In this realm, there was only one great city called “City of Questioning the Heart.” This city was enormous, spanning tens of thousands of miles. It was home to countless cultivators, as well as immortals and beasts, who generally coexisted peacefully.
Since Wukong and his companions wanted to gather information, they naturally went to crowded places. Upon entering City of Questioning the Heart, nine out of ten people were discussing the meaning of “half of the sky” formed by the lightning, with many making wild guesses.
Some said half of the sky would collapse first, others said the sky’s height would be reduced by half, and still others, like the Black Bear Spirit, believed that the world would end within half a sky.

Wukong and his two companions wandered for a long time but found no useful clues. It had been almost half a day since they set out when news came in—simultaneously with the appearance of the characters “half” and “sky” in the sky of this world, two characters also appeared in the “Realm of Calamity”: “meeting” and “earth”. This seemed to offer a lead. Yet there were various ways to arrange these four characters: half-sky-meeting-earth, half-meeting-sky-earth, earth-sky-meeting-half… It remained confusing, with little clear meaning.

Wukong said, “Since characters have appeared in the skies of both realms, it’s likely there are also characters in the Realm of Good and Evil. But we don’t know when the Gate of Life will open. Even if we went now, it would take a long time.”

Tongfeng replied, “We just need to wait patiently. Once the gate opens, news will surely reach us.”

The three settled down, waiting for the characters from the Realm of Good and Evil to arrive. Wukong wandered through the city, seeing many rare beasts and extraordinary people, and couldn’t help but marvel at how the Three Pure Ones had gathered so many highly skilled individuals—none of whom were from the stories of the Journey to the West. After staying for a few days, Wukong gradually understood the meaning of this world. By “true self,” it wasn’t just referring to an unchangeable appearance; rather, it meant one should never forget their true heart. What was the true heart? It was the pursuit of the Dao and an understanding of the workings of heaven and earth.

In this world, some were cunning, some fickle, some simple-minded, and some stubborn. From the perspective of pursuing the Dao, even those who were extremely evil must remain consistent to achieve anything. In this City of Self-Reflection, there was a ferocious tiger that loved killing. Its path was the path of slaughter—if it had free time and stopped killing, its cultivation would decline instead of progress. Wukong compared it to the Black Bear Spirit and thought the tiger might have a better chance of winning.

Was killing wrong? For those who did good deeds daily and recited scriptures morning and night, it was undoubtedly a grave sin. Yet this tiger’s cultivation was close to that of a Taiyi Golden Immortal. How many good people could achieve such a level?

In the City of Self-Reflection, there was also a red-headed rhinoceros that followed the path of scripture recitation. It sat in meditation in its room all day long, and its skills were similar to those of the tiger. Wasn’t that strange? The rhinoceros practiced non-stop, reciting scriptures for years at a time. With such a method of cultivation, it was likely there was no second like it in the city. And the seemingly simplest method of cultivation, if perfected to the extreme, could be astonishing.

The cultivation of the Dao heart came in all forms, but ultimately, it all revolved around the workings of fate. In this world, if someone was angry, their face would show it clearly, with no room for concealment. If someone harbored murderous intent, their gaze would become fierce, alerting their opponent in advance.

Wukong stayed for half a month, exploring almost every corner of the City of Self-Reflection, marveling at this realm of the true self—where all deceit and falsehood had no place to hide. One day, news finally arrived: indeed, half a month earlier, two characters had also appeared in the sky of the Realm of Good and Evil—these characters were “End” and “Union.” Upon hearing this, Wukong picked up a branch and wrote the six characters on the ground: Half a period, a full period, End and Union. Fengtong saw them and murmured, “Half a period ends, heaven and earth unite… So that’s what it means.” Wukong repeated them several times. In this realm, one “period” equaled 1,080 years, while half a “period” was 540 years. Could it be that after 540 years, heaven and earth here would unite? At that moment, chaos erupted in the city, growing louder and louder. Monsters ran around, shouting and calling for their allies. Once the news spread, it swept through the realm like a tide, filling everyone with fear and panic, as if the sky might collapse any day. Seeing the city on the verge of chaos, Fengtong sighed, “Disaster is not to be feared; it’s human hearts that are terrifying.” Wang Yu said, “In times of great crisis, there’s little difference between immortals and mortals.” Previously, rumors had spread in the three realms that heaven and earth would collapse sooner or later. Though true, they were still just rumors. While people were skeptical, they still held out some hope. But now, as these characters appeared in the skies of all three realms, spanning the entire sky, they were clearly not the work of any cultivator’s magic. Apart from heaven and divine will, no other explanation made sense. Combined, the six characters made it clear: heaven was about to collapse! Within just an hour, chaos grew worse in the city, with looting becoming rampant. Everyone scrambled for magical treasures to protect themselves, hoping to survive when heaven and earth united. Whether immortals or monsters, most now focused solely on self-preservation, flying outside the city. A place once vast and bustling with people now showed signs of desolation. Wukong and his two companions watched from above, their faces growing darker with sorrow. As heaven and earth were about to perish, these people, instead of finding solutions, began killing each other first. Did they not understand the truth that “he who kills will always be killed”? After this fighting, at least ten thousand people died. It’s absurd—these people didn’t perish from heaven and earth but from their own fear. At that time, a group of powerful monsters took advantage of the chaos, expanding their ranks and growing stronger, acting with impunity. A strange bird, seeing Wukong and his companions leisurely watching from above, pointed at them and said, “Those three monkeys are strong; they must have treasures on them!”