Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told – Chapter 172: Saving the Five Dragons
The soil in this realm is pure and uniform, created by the Three Pure Ones using the power of the Five Elements, making it ideal for practicing earthtechniques techniques.
Yet when Wukong reached a depth of a thousand zhang, massive rocks blocked his way. Ordinary earthtechniques only allows passage underground to a depth of no more than ten zhang. Facing these huge rocks, although Wukong could still pass through, it was extremely slow. Knowing little about the earth element among the Five Elements, he feared it would take a decade or two before he could reach the dragons trapped beneath. With no other choice, he had to retreat.
Seeing Wukong return, Laojun asked with a smile, “You’re back so quickly. Where is that evil dragon?”
Wukong replied, “Earth is just earth—how could there be countless rocks mixed in?”
Laojun laughed heartily, “Everything in this world, no matter how soft, has an indestructible side. I can’t help you, haha.”
Anxious, Wukong thought of many tasks waiting for him in the world and refused to waste time here. Ignoring Laojun, he went to look for Dayu and the others.
Sure enough, Dayu had just finished his practice. Seeing Wukong arrive, he asked with a smile, “I saw you circle in the sky a few times. Is there something wrong?” After explaining his purpose, Dayu said, “If it’s just earth, it’s not a problem.” Wukong was overjoyed.
Wukong took Dayu to the base of the Demon Sealing Tower. Together, they entered the earth. Upon reaching the rocks, Dayu recited a spell and passed through immediately. Wukong followed, finding the rocks no different from soft soil.
Dayu transmitted a message, “This is the simplest rock-piercing technique in the earth element. How come you don’t know it?” Wukong replied, “I only know earthtechniques; I don’t know anything else.” Dayu said, “There’s also a rock-piercing technique within earthtechniques. If I were to go alone, I’d use it, which would be ten times faster.”
Wukong asked, “Since you’re so skilled at controlling earth, why didn’t you teach me that in the Kunpeng’s belly?” Knowing Dayu’s kindness, he didn’t feel his question was rude.
Dayu replied, “The arts of the Five Elements are incredibly profound. My skills are only above average—I wouldn’t dare teach them to you. How many cultivators in this world don’t know the Five Elements? But most only grasp the surface and fail to understand the essence. Only those like Zhurong and Rushou, who reach the origin of the Five Elements, truly master them.”
Wukong said, “I see.”
After walking for a while, they reached a depth of three to four thousand zhang. Wukong cursed inwardly—this Kunpeng was too cruel. Why trap these unfortunate dragons so deep without reason?
As he thought this, he felt the rocks growing hotter. Dayu said, “We’re probably near lava.” Indeed, after another hundred zhang, they broke through the rock layer and entered a sea of fire. Wukong was amazed—the Three Pure Ones were truly remarkable; they even knew there was fire underground and had created it as well.
At this moment, Dayu said, “There’s such a saying—that earth is the root of the five elements. Indeed, it’s true. Looking inside the earth, there’s fire, water, metal, and wood. Truly, greatness lies in inclusiveness.”
Wukong examined it carefully and found it to be true. It seemed that the art of the five elements had indeed wide applications. Perhaps he should go in search of the Earth Goddess. Though he didn’t know whether she was an enemy or an ally, it might be worth a try.
The two were naturally unafraid of fire and moved through it as if in their element. After a while, they saw a giant dragon dozens of zhang long lying in the lava, seemingly dead.
Wukong and his companion approached to take a look. Suddenly, the dragon raised its head. Seeing people there, it was overjoyed, and its entire body came to life, stirring the lava and causing waves in the sea of fire.
Wukong noticed that although the dragon made a lot of noise, it couldn’t move more than a hundred zhang around itself. It circled a few times before lowering its head dejectedly, a tear falling from its huge eyes and instantly disappearing in the lava.
Dayu said, “Judging from its appearance, there’s undoubtedly a restriction around it.”
Wukong used the secrets of the Mysterious Void technique and observed carefully for a long time. Indeed, there was a faint barrier about a hundred zhang around the dragon, intangible and hard to detect.
Then the dragon roared, “Are you two here to laugh at me?”
Wukong had already realized that the barrier was created using the power of creation—clearly the work of the Kunpeng. Seeing the dragon roaring, he shouted, “If you want to get out alive, shut up now!”
The dragon, realizing Wukong was there to save it, was overjoyed again but dared not make a sound.
Wukong floated closer and gently touched the barrier. The Kunpeng was very stingy; the barrier used only a tiny amount of creative energy, but it was pure essence of creation. With a thought, Wukong removed the barrier.
Free from its prison, the dragon became frenzied, swimming back and forth in the sea of fire dozens of times before kneeling before Wukong and saying, “I am Ao En, the little dragon. I thank you greatly, savior. May I ask your names so I can repay you someday?”
Wukong replied, “It’s no big deal. All beings in the three realms return to heaven and earth. I asked the Great Heavenly Lord to come and save you from this predicament. No thanks are needed.” Ao En bowed several more times before raising its head, letting out a loud roar, and soaring into the sky through the rocks.
Dayu led Wukong out again. They saw that the Dragon Suppression Tower had broken in half at the waist and was leaning sideways in the ground. The dragon was nowhere to be seen, just as the Old Lord was gone as well.
The two went to another Dragon Suppression Tower, which stood on the Plain of One Thought in the west of their world. The situation was similar—they rescued a dragon named Ao Gong. Wukong thought to himself that it seemed they were all part of the Ao family. He wondered if they were related to the Four Seas Dragon Kings.
Next, with ease, the two rescued the remaining three dragons. Only the Dragon Suppression Tower in the sea posed some difficulty; Wukong had to use his water-controlling powers, which took quite a while. These three dragons were Ao Jing, Ao Nan, and Ao Sheng.
When the last dragon was rescued, Wukong finally asked about the reason, and it turned out to be similar to what Kunpeng had said. These five dragons were originally the nine dragons under the command of Yuan Shi Tianzun, with Ao Sheng being the leader among them.
Yuan Shi Tianzun created this world and sent these five to disrupt the balance of yin and yang. The dragons had always obeyed him, but they didn’t know how to truly disrupt that balance; they merely caused chaos in the world, thinking that was enough. Seeing their foolishness and the harm they caused to the creatures in the world, Yuan Shi Tianzun angrily sealed them underground.
At that time, the dragons still didn’t realize it was Kunpeng’s doing; they thought it was Yuan Shi Tianzun’s power. Naturally, Wukong wouldn’t reveal the truth.
Wukong asked, “Do you know Ao Guang?”
Ao Sheng was shocked and said, “Ao Guang is my younger brother. Where is he now?”
Wukong replied, “He is the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. Are Ao Qin and Ao Shun also your brothers?”
Ao Sheng confirmed, “Exactly! Back then, we were nine brothers, ordered by the Ancestral Dragon to serve Yuan Shi Tianzun, but we never expected to end up like this!” Wukong could hear resentment in his voice, which was understandable—being trapped underground for tens of thousands of years would surely fuel anger in anyone!
Ao Sheng continued, “Being freed today has nothing to do with others. I will forever remember your kindness. The Ancestral Dragon deceived me! Yuan Shi Tianzun harmed me!”
With a fierce roar, Ao Sheng soared into the air, circled a few times, and declared, “From today onward, I abandon the surname Ao and take the surname Wan. From now on, I have nothing to do with the dragon clan!”
His roar startled Wukong, who staggered slightly. What surname? Wan!
If Ao Sheng changed to the surname Wan, wouldn’t he become Wan Sheng? Could he be the future Dragon King Wan Sheng?
Suppressing his shock, Wukong asked, “Why do you want to use the surname Wan?”
Wan Sheng replied, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s Ao or Wan; any surname in the world will do. I just won’t use the surname Ao anymore!”
At this point, Wukong recalled the actions of the Dragon King Wan Sheng—his friendship with the Bull Demon King clearly showed his opposition to the Heavenly Court. He stole Buddhist treasures and sought to alienate the dragon clan from the Western Heaven. Didn’t this fit perfectly with Ao Sheng’s past and Wan Sheng’s present identity? Now, Wukong was almost certain that this Wan Sheng was indeed the father-in-law of the Nine-Headed Worm—the Dragon King Wan Sheng!
Watching Wan Sheng’s retreating figure, Wukong felt indescribable emotions. Many major events in this world were naturally decided by those in power. Even though Yuan Shi could save countless beings, he still acted out of self-interest and would never feel the slightest guilt toward the five Ao-named dragons who were oppressed—such was the mindset of those in high positions.
Wan Sheng, I hope you’ll take care of yourself!
Seeing that Wukong seemed lost in thought, Dayu said, “If there’s nothing else to do here, let’s go!”
Wukong replied, “Okay!” but remained motionless.
“Is there still something?” Dayu asked again.
Wukong finally sensed something was wrong but couldn’t recall what it was. At that moment, he heard a low rumbling from the ground, which gradually grew louder until the ground began to shake. Only then did Wukong remember that the five dragons underground had been set free, causing the ground to become unstable. The shaking was just the beginning; in a few days, the ground might collapse.
Dayu said, “It’s sad that the efforts of the three realms over ten thousand years will be destroyed in an instant. Fortunately, all the beings were able to escape—what luck!”
Hearing Dayu’s words, Wukong felt as though his skull had been split open and poured with ice water. “…All the beings were able to escape…” All of them?
In this life, I, Wukong, entered the three realms and luckily made it into the Kunpeng’s belly, where I found ancient deities, and thus built the Eight Directions Cosmic Array. The phrase “all beings escaped” seemed simple, but in reality, it was extremely difficult.
In “Journey to the West,” the three realms never appeared at all, so Wukong never entered them, and such a result naturally didn’t occur. But then, why were the Nine-Headed Worm, Wan Sheng the Dragon King, the three great immortals—Tiger, Deer, and Sheep—as well as the Black Bear Spirit and the Six-Eared Monkey—all in that world?
Who was it? Who moved them there? Were it the Three Pure Ones?
No! Laojun made it clear that only something created by fate could break the restrictions set by the Kunpeng.
Was it the Kunpeng itself? The Kunpeng had said it didn’t interfere in worldly affairs, so that possibility was also very low.
Suppose this world was destroyed and all things perished—how many people could survive? The Nine-Headed Worm, the Black Bear Spirit, and the Six-Eared Monkey were all Taiyi Golden Immortals and might be able to save their lives. Wan Sheng the Dragon King was only a TaiyiTaiyi -> TaiyiTaiyi and trapped under restrictions, so it was uncertain whether he could survive. As for the three of Tiger, Deer, and Sheep, it was impossible for them to survive—someone had to intervene to save them.
Who could that be? One must know the Three Pure Ones, be aware of the existence of the three realms, and have the ability to save others… No matter how much he thought about it, Wukong couldn’t figure it out.
Wukong comforted himself by thinking that the Three Pure Ones simply saved a few people casually and took them out as well. As for Wan Sheng the Dragon King…Ah, he still didn’t understand.
Wukong knew that since entering this world, he had taken a completely different path. Because of this difference, many questions might never have answers. Having come to this realization, he felt it was enough to do his best, with no real regrets.