Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 144: At the Bottom of the Volcano
The vast universe is boundless and mysterious; the height of the heavens varies from place to place. The blue sky acts like a dome, covering the four continents and seas beneath. In the eastern part of the sky lies the orthodox celestial realm of Taoism, divided into thirty-six layers. Starting from the first layer, the Taihuang Huangzeng Heaven, to the thirty-sixth layer, the Daluo Heaven, each layer has strict hierarchies and distinct boundaries.
The thirty-fifth layer is the Qingwei Heaven, the residence of the Jade Pure Primordial Lord, a sacred and forbidden area in the celestial realm. Aside from the Three Pure Ones and their disciples, even the Jade Emperor is not allowed to enter without permission.
In Qingwei Heaven, only one Jade Pure Palace is visible to the naked eye; the rest are concealed by magic arrays, creating a misty atmosphere. Within this mist lie the realms established by the Three Pure Ones: the Realm of Good and Evil, the Realm of Calamity and Slaughter, and the Realm of the True Self. In the Realm of the True Self, to the east of the land, lies an enormous ocean, vast and boundless.
At the deepest part of this ocean, a giant monster lies, its length unknown—perhaps tens of thousands of miles. Within the belly of this monster lies a sacred land of utopia, peaceful and free from evil. Its people live happily, its immortals roam freely, and its demons live at ease.
Yet at this moment, one person is far from comfortable—that is Wukong.
That day, Dayu instructed everyone to teach Wukong the arts of the five elements. Zhu Rong was the first to cheer, saying, “This monkey is a good person. Let me be the first to teach him.” When Dayu heard Zhu Rong call Wukong “monkey,” he frowned and was about to scold him. Wukong quickly said, “Alright, then please do it.” Unaware of Dayu’s displeasure, Zhu Rong grabbed Wukong and said, “Come with me.” Wukong’s arm was seized—Zhu Rong’s slender hand was surprisingly strong—as he was pulled into the sky.
Dayu sighed bitterly and said, “Wukong, you’re in for a tough time.” Chi Songzi replied, “Not necessarily. I think Wukong is very intelligent. Maybe he can escape the sea of fire in a hundred years, haha!”
Ru Shou said unhappily, “How can one joke about their savior?” Chi Songzi replied, “Wukong himself asked us to stop mentioning this. Why do you bring it up?” Ru Shou said, “It’s to teach you a lesson.” Chi Songzi retorted, “Who asked you to teach me?” After a few words, they were about to fight.
The Wood God Jumang had no interest in their quarrel. He came to bid farewell to Dayu and said, “Next, I’ll teach him.” Dayu smiled and nodded. Jumang was very reticent in speech, but he always kept his word. If he said he would teach Wukong, he would do so wholeheartedly and without reservation.
Hou Yi watched the two fighting in the sky and said, “They think of each other even without meeting, yet fight once they do.” Dayu replied, “We can’t stay here much longer. It’s hard to leave now; I feel quite reluctant.” Hou Yi sighed and fell silent.
Dayu asked, “What troubles you? Chang’e took the peaches from the Queen Mother of the West, so she should be easy to find.” Hou Yi said, “After thousands of years, everything will likely have changed.” Dayu was speechless; he couldn’t predict what that place would be like now.
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Zhu Rong led Wu Kong into a cave. Before they got close, Wu Kong sensed a terrifyingly scorching heat approaching. Zhu Rong chuckled and said, “Don’t be afraid. This is a great place.”
Wu Kong immediately felt his mouth and nose turn extremely dry. He managed to ask, “Where is this?” Zhu Rong replied, “This is one of the nine volcanoes I created with magic. The Kunpeng asked us to help him create a world—how could volcanoes be missing?” Wu Kong said, “I can’t stand fire at all. Why did you bring me here?” Zhu Rong pretended to be surprised and said, “Oh, I don’t know. It’s just that Dayu ordered everyone to teach you the arts of the five elements. I dare not disobey.”
Zhu Rong led Wu Kong deeper into the volcano. Wu Kong’s feet seemed rooted to the ground as he couldn’t move. Zhu Rong released him and walked a few steps ahead, saying, “To master the arts of the five elements, you must endure some hardship.” Wu Kong endured the heat and said, “It’s better to proceed step by step.” Zhu Rong paced slowly in the volcanic cave, then grew serious and shouted, “There are many who want to learn my skills. Why are you being picky?” Wu Kong replied, “If it’s a deadly art like this, I’d rather not learn it.” Zhu Rong’s expression changed as quickly as the weather, and she smiled again, saying, “But now, you have no choice.”
She moved swiftly, and a red light shot toward the cave wall before disappearing. Wu Kong was puzzled—why had she left on her own? Then he heard Zhu Rong’s voice from deep within the volcano, “I’m leaving. Practice hard in there. I’ve set up traps all around, so don’t waste effort trying to find your way out.” Her silver-bell-like laughter faded into the distance.
Wu Kong hurriedly looked back the way he came, but saw only darkness. Behind him, red flames had sealed off any path. He thought it must be a trick. Relying on his memory, he took a few steps forward. Suddenly, the flames surged several feet high, sending waves of heat toward him. Wu Kong quickly jumped back several steps and snapped, “That crazy woman! She doesn’t teach me anything—what kind of practice is this?”
Wukong shouted loudly in the cave, but there was no reply at all. All around, only flames were burning fiercely. Seeing that Zhu Rong no longer appeared, Wukong had no choice but to think of a solution on his own. He knew nothing about battle formations, so naturally he couldn’t break Zhu Rong’s formation, and there was no way out. Among the spells he knew, only the one that summoned wind and rain could extinguish fires, but to do that, clouds were needed. Yet he was now inside a mountain—where could he find clouds? Among the Thirty-Six Transformations, there was also a spell that reversed wind and fire, which was somewhat similar to summoning wind. It could barely blow the flames away, but wind only made the fire worse, doing more harm than good. With no other choice, Wukong decided to move deeper in, hoping to find a slightly cooler place. Soon, he faced scorching winds and saw red rocks everywhere. After walking dozens of steps, the heat didn’t lessen, but it didn’t get any worse either. Wukong continued forward and saw a passage ahead—it was the only way out, so he stepped in. The passage was very short. After walking just a dozen steps, he felt increasingly hot, as if the mountain walls might explode at any moment. The hot wind caused his fur to quickly dry and curl. In such extreme heat, Wukong looked around and his heart sank! Below the passage was a cliff, and beneath it, red magma flowed like waves, crashing against the surrounding rocks. The mountain walls glowed red, and with each wave, countless brilliant sparks flew up, creating a stunning sight. A dead end! Wukong hurriedly retreated to where he started. Then, Zhu Rong’s voice came again: “To master fire control, you must first be able to resist fire. The magma here will erupt in ten years. I’ll come back to see you then, hehe!” “Let me out!” Wukong shouted, but realized his throat was completely dry. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Ten years! Was this a joke? Staying in such a place for ten years would surely kill him either from the heat or dehydration. Since he began his cultivation, he had never felt so desperate and helpless. Fire, everywhere fire—was this really the Flaming Mountain? Remembering the Flaming Mountain, Wukong suddenly thought of Laojun’s alchemy furnace. It was said that the Flaming Mountain was formed by bricks from that furnace falling and piling up. Wukong had even entered Laojun’s alchemy furnace before—how could he be afraid of ordinary flames? Right, the Fire-Avoidance Spell! But he only knew the Water-Splitting Spell; he didn’t know any Fire-Avoidance Spell. How could he not know such a simple spell? He regretted being too lazy. Back on Flower Fruit Mountain, he could have easily learned it by asking anyone.
Wukong didn’t know that among the seventy-two transformations of the Earthly Fiends was the “Sitting in Fire” technique, while among the Heavenly Heroes’ transformations there was only the “Mending the Heavens and Bathing the Sun” technique, which allowed one to enter the true fire of the sun after mastering it. How could Wukong possibly know this at the time? Seeing the fire grow fiercer and the flames closing in around him, realizing he would soon have no way to escape, he desperately took out his Golden Cudgel, which instantly grew to ten zhang in length, and swung it at the stone wall. With a loud “boom,” not even a speck of stone dust flew off—the shock even numbed his arm. Damn it! Clearly, his strike had hit the formation. Zhurong, you foolish woman who knows neither depth nor measure! A vicious woman who repays kindness with hatred! A stupid woman who lacks common sense… Wukong cursed inwardly, feeling his head burn even from just thinking. At that moment, a red line began to spread from below the passage. Heaven! Magma was rising—just moments ago, it was still several zhang above them. How could it rise so quickly? It must be Zhurong’s doing. Could she even hear his curses? Speaking of Zhurong, her delicate voice came through, shouting, “I forgot to mention earlier—this cave is different from the outside world. One day inside equals one year outside. I’ll leave now. If you survive ten days, I’ll come to rescue you. If not… haha… I’ll come to eat the roasted meat!” Wukong was furious, his teeth itching with rage. One day here equaled one year—this volcanic pit was just as strange as the Heavenly Palace. What kind of strange magic was this? No wonder the magma rose so fast. All those thoughts must have passed many days. The magma rose quickly, and it flowed even faster. The passage was a gentle slope, with bubbling red flames rushing toward Wukong’s location. With no other choice, Wukong flew into the air. Fortunately, he could still use his magic; otherwise, his feet would have cooked first. The magma kept gushing out, sending waves of heat, and the temperature inside the mountain grew higher and higher. Wukong used his magic to stay suspended in the air, which kept him safe for now, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. By now, the passage had become like a red gate, filled with magma that rushed forward even faster. No matter how large the mountain was, it would eventually be filled. Wukong’s body was completely burned, not a single hair left. The smell of scorched flesh flashed before his nose before being driven away by the intense heat waves. Wukong thought that though he had never seen an ant on a hot pan, his situation was probably even worse. How ridiculous— a Taiyi Golden Immortal trapped by a small volcano.
What he didn’t know was that flames in the world were divided into five categories, from lowest to highest: red flames, white flames, green flames, purple flames, and ghost flames. Ghost flames were formless, colorless, and shapeless, yet they were the most powerful.
Zhu Rong, seeing that Wukong had reached the realm of Taiyi Golden Immortal, assumed that ordinary flames would not be a challenge for him. So, on the first try, he took Wukong into the belly of a volcano ranked fourth. The flames there appeared to be red flames, but in reality, they were mixed with many ghost flames, which were invisible to the naked eye. Not only were they extremely hot, but they also had a psychological effect, causing internal heat to rise and making one feel extremely irritable. Naturally, Zhu Rong had no idea that Wukong didn’t even know the simplest fire-avoidance techniques, so he went to play in another volcano.
Wukong stuck to the ceiling of the cave in the volcano’s belly, watching the magma slowly rise below. His own anger also boiled over. If this continued, he would eventually be swallowed by the magma.
At that moment, he remembered something—the Xuan Kong Secret Technique! It was said that this technique could distinguish truth from falsehood. Why not try it to break Zhu Rong’s formation?
Wukong then held his breath, quieted his mind, and dismissed all distractions. Normally, using the Xuan Kong Secret Technique wasn’t difficult, but due to his inner anxiety and external irritability, it took him a great deal of effort to enter a meditative state.
He used the first technique, “Filtering Dust,” but saw no changes—no trace of the formation at all. He tried the second technique, “Entering the Realm.” Huh? There were many transparent flames floating in the air. These flames were extremely hot—could they be the cause?
Wukong tried “Turning Wind Back into Fire” to blow away those transparent flames. Haha, indeed, these flames were strange. Without them around him, he immediately felt much cooler. But this was only a temporary solution. If he couldn’t break the formation, he wouldn’t be able to escape this deadly situation!
The red flames below gradually turned orange, then slowly green—this was the result of the mixture of ghost flames and red flames, and the number of ghost flames in the air decreased significantly.
There was no way to stop the orange magma from rising. In the scorching belly of the volcano, time seemed to drag on endlessly. Wukong didn’t know how many days had passed; he only knew that his magical power was gradually fading.
Fortunately, the upward movement of the orange magma slowed down. The cave was quite large, and Wukong was still about thirty feet away from the magma. He thought to himself, “This is good enough. I hope my magical power can last ten days.”
The vortices formed by the flowing magma gradually stopped, and even the boiling bubbles disappeared.
Silence—deadly silence. Behind this silence, some great change was brewing.
I don’t know how much time passed. Suddenly, a muffled thud came from deep within the mountain, and another surge of magma rushed into the passage. Then, the magma throughout the mountain’s interior began to churn like boiling water. Giant waves surged, with orange flames flickering intermittently, rising into the air before plunging back into the sea of fire.
Wukong had already been overwhelmed by the scorching heat and felt dizzy, as if on the verge of passing out. That loud noise woke him up. Could it be that the volcano was about to erupt?
He opened his eyes and saw the sudden change in the magma, filling him with terror. When he checked his internal energy, he found it nearly exhausted. What could he do?
It seemed there was some monstrous force stirring beneath the orange magma. With the volcano on the verge of eruption, the long-held calm could no longer hold. Another series of loud explosions echoed from the center of the mountain as a massive surge of magma hit the stone walls surrounding the passage. Unable to withstand repeated high-temperature impacts, the walls collapsed silently.
“Boom—rumble!” A deafening explosion rang out. After several attempts, the volcano finally erupted. Orange flames poured in through the open passage, and the magma level kept rising—three zhang, two zhang, one zhang. Wukong’s chest felt like it was about to explode from the heat, and he dared not open his eyes anymore.
At that moment, his internal energy was completely depleted, and he could no longer hold on, so he fell.
Falling into a sea of fire felt just like falling into an ocean—both brought utter despair.
If there had been a lifeline in the air at that time, he would have clung to it at all costs.