Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 240: The Completion of the Dao Fruit

At this moment, all the vital energies within Wukong converged in two places: the Niwan Palace in his upper dantian and the Guanyuan acupoint in his lower dantian, with the rest remaining empty. He knew that his great task was now complete. Though nothing unusual seemed to happen, at least these two areas had stabilized. Wukong sighed in relief. Who knew how many days had passed since he began cultivating—Tang Seng must be growing anxious by now.

Just as he was about to get up, he suddenly sensed movement again in those two areas. The milky-white spiritual liquid in the Niwan Palace rushed downward and flowed into the Guanyuan acupoint. Wukong was shocked—how could that place hold it all?

The vital energies in the Guanyuan acupoint had originally been circulating on their own, but now, with external forces added, their rotation speed increased. The milky-white spiritual liquid gradually solidified as it spun, emitting a faint golden glow.

Wukong decided to ignore it, thinking, “It can’t possibly kill me.”

In just a short while, the Niwan Palace was once again empty. The immense power of the thirteen ginseng fruits gathered entirely in Wukong’s lower dantian. That solidified energy formed a firm oval bead, resembling a seed in shape. As the spiritual liquid washed over it, the “seed” grew rapidly, no longer resembling a seed at all but instead turning into a round, smooth bead! The bead was flawless, about the size of a fist, with hues of black, white, red, and blue swirling across its surface, shining brilliantly and looking stunning.

Upon seeing this fruit, Wukong was astonished: The Hunyuan Dao Fruit?

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he laughed at himself. Even Yuanshi Tianzun needed to ascend to heaven with Zhenyuanzhang to study the secrets of the Hunyuan Dao Fruit—how could he possibly reach such a level?

Once all the vital energies within him had converged, the bead’s rotation slowed down. It didn’t matter much that it slowed; eventually, it stopped spinning entirely and hung quietly in Wukong’s dantian.

Wukong thought, “This should be it now.”

Before his thoughts could settle, he suddenly felt as if the miraculous bead exploded, emitting countless beams of golden light. Each beam contained not just vital energy but also an indescribable force that instantly spread throughout Wukong’s body.

If anyone had been watching, they would have witnessed a remarkable sight: a monkey sitting quietly, suddenly covered in golden light from head to toe, like a golden monkey descending to earth.

Wukong felt utterly comfortable all over. The golden light granted him infinite strength. He could clearly sense that this strength was more than twice as great as before he consumed the ginseng fruits, and the golden light continued to emanate. This strange energy tempered his entire body. His physique was already as strong as that of a vajra-being, and after being bathed in the golden light, it even became somewhat translucent, like unpolished jade.

After another moment, the pearl finally settled down and began to rotate steadily, with a slight increase in vitality with each turn. Worried that there might be further consequences, Wukong sat for a while before daring to open his eyes. What he saw was truly astonishing. When he first arrived, this place was covered in dense forests; now, within at least fifty miles, every living thing had withered and perished. Wukong immediately realized this was the manifestation of lost vitality. Had he absorbed all this vitality? Why didn’t he feel anything? How did this sky and land seem different from before? No, it wasn’t different—it was that he now had a deeper understanding of the laws governing all things. Even if Wukong were slow to understand, he should know that he was no longer a Taiyi Golden Immortal but a genuine Hunyuan Golden Immortal. The biggest change was his left pupil—the star-like dot, which usually didn’t appear easily, now flashed every now and then. Though extremely tiny, it could be seen at a glance by those who paid attention. Yet Wukong knew nothing about this dot and couldn’t stop it from appearing. With no other choice, he tried to match its flashing frequency by blinking. Every time the dot flashed, he would close his eyelids, so that ordinary people couldn’t see it. This didn’t greatly affect Wukong, as he could still see everything clearly even with his eyes closed. He had heard from Dayu that the Spiritual Monkey had stars in its eyes, yet as a Spiritual Monkey himself, he didn’t understand the meaning of these stars—quite frustrating. But since it was a natural divine ability, it couldn’t be harmful. As long as he was careful, he should be able to conceal it. The biggest difference between a Hunyuan Golden Immortal and a Taiyi Golden Immortal was that vitality transformed from void into substance, forming a Hunyuan Dao Fruit. But even these Dao Fruits varied in quality. Although Wukong’s Dao Fruit was only just formed, his internal accumulation was profound. He had originally been born from vitality and had absorbed countless amounts of it on Flower-Fruit Mountain, giving him a strong foundation. Later, he consumed the Immortal Elixirs of Laozi and the Immortal Peaches of the Mother Tree, and today, by sheer luck, he swallowed fourteen Ginseng Fruits. This Hunyuan Golden Immortal was far superior to many others. While others practiced alchemy to refine elixirs, Wukong had shifted from the Golden Elixir path to the Vitality Path. Thus, the Hunyuan Dao Fruit within him was likely much larger than those of the Great Peng and Zhenyuanzi. The four colors—black, white, red, and green—were actually the five elements practiced by Wukong: black for water, white for metal, red for fire, and green for wood. Only earth was missing.

Zhenyuanzi made up nonsense, claiming that the ginseng fruit originated from the time when chaos first separated, yet coincidentally, he was right. This fruit truly originated from the dawn of creation, when heaven and earth had not yet been formed, as a spiritual essence. However, this essence went through many hardships and was never planted until Zhenyuanzi obtained it, at which point this miraculous fruit appeared in the world.

Although the ginseng fruit cannot compare to the peach tree, in terms of its inherent power, few other elixirs or wonders can match it. Fortunately, Wukong swallowed those fifteen ginseng fruits. As he was a being of innate creation, he was unaffected by such powers. If the Great Peng had eaten all fifteen at once, it would have been fortunate if he hadn’t died from overindulgence. Such rapid cultivation is limited by one’s physical constitution and cannot be forced.

Wukong felt an abundance of creative energy within him, seemingly endless, so he was overjoyed. He soared through the air, circling several times in no time, feeling his movements much faster than before. Calming his excited emotions, he slowed down and headed west.

Although Wukong’s cultivation took three days, Tang Seng and the others moved slowly waiting for him and were still on the road. When Wukong found them, Tang Seng asked, “Wukong, why did it take you three days? Your master was very worried.”

Seeing the concern in Tang Seng’s eyes, Wukong didn’t lie and replied with a smile, “Master, you’ve forgotten—one day in heaven equals one year on earth. This is already fast for me.”

After reuniting, the group traveled for a day. By evening the next day, they arrived at Wuzhuang Temple again. Wukong led the way and saw that the temple gate, which he had destroyed earlier, was still a sieve-sized hole, and the burned front hall was still a wasteland of ashes. It seemed Zhenyuanzi, having lost the fifteen ginseng fruits, had no interest in dealing with such trivial matters.

Tang Seng exclaimed from behind, “Wuzhuang Temple must have been robbed! How did it end up like this?”

Wukong thought to himself, You’re right—the thief is right in front of you.

Tang Seng continued, “Are there any important items in my luggage…?”

Wukong was speechless. This Buddhist disciple only cared about himself—how could he talk about saving all sentient beings?

Wukong entered Wuzhuang Temple, searched around, and caught a Taoist priest. He asked, “Where is your master, Zhenyuanzi?” The priest recognized Wukong immediately and replied fearfully, “Master… he’s gone on a pilgrimage…”

Wukong wondered. If Zhenyuanzi had gone on a pilgrimage at this time, could it be to seek help? With the Great Peng’s skills, stealing the ginseng fruits left no trace at all. Even if Zhenyuanzi reported it to the heavens, there would be no evidence. So why did he go?

He searched the temple and found that his luggage and staff were intact, all placed in the back hall. Wukong took them and left. He had originally been quite concerned about the six remaining ginseng fruits on the tree, but since he returned without avoiding anyone’s eyes, he couldn’t act rashly.

When Bajie saw the luggage, his face fell, but he had no choice but to pick it up. With this incident temporarily resolved, the four of them plus the horse left Wuzhuang Temple and set off once again on their long journey westward.

Meanwhile, in the Tushita Palace in the thirty-third heaven, the Divine Treasure Daoist rushed in hastily.

Laozi was viewing paintings in the hall. When the Divine Treasure Daoist saw him, he wore a half-smiling expression and said, “It’s done!”

Laozi laughed and asked, “What’s so remarkable about that?”

The Divine Treasure Daoist replied, “As expected, fate has played its role—far beyond ordinary circumstances. All fourteen ginseng fruits were swallowed by him alone.”

Laozi was shocked and asked, “Fourteen? Good heavens! That monkey is too greedy.”

The Divine Treasure Daoist explained, “It wasn’t him who did it. It was the Golden-Winged Roc, who reappeared in the human world to help him steal the fruits. That roc was generous too; it took only one for itself and gave the rest to Wukong.”

Laozi chuckled and said, “That makes sense. Everyone has their own fortune.”

The Divine Treasure Daoist raised his thumb and said, “Your junior brother has descended from a sage’s status to do this—what a clever move!” Though he praised him, there was clearly an undertone of sarcasm.

Laozi replied, “Do you think I’ve harmed Zhenyuanzi? Hmph. With those ginseng fruits in his hands, it’s like a child carrying gold through a marketplace. For him, it’s actually a curse—he’ll eventually be tricked into giving them away. It’s better to give them to Wukong instead.”

The Divine Treasure Daoist laughed and said, “Very well, very well. Even if you’re saving him, it’s a pity he doesn’t realize it. Won’t he come to confront you later?”

“Confront? Confront about what? What does this have to do with me?” Laozi wore an innocent expression.

The Divine Treasure Daoist laughed heartily and pointed at Laozi, saying, “Your behavior is just like when you cheated during those contests back then.” Both of them were in high spirits now that the Spiritual Monkey had obtained such great fortune.

At that moment, a boy came in from outside the hall and reported, “Your Majesty, a Taoist claims to be Zhenyuanzi and asks to see you.”

The Divine Treasure Daoist laughed even harder. “So he’s here after all. Let’s see how you explain this.”

Laozi glared at the Divine Treasure Daoist and said solemnly to the boy, “Since we’re both disciples of the Taoist sect, let him in.”

Although Zhenyuanzi was filled with resentment, he didn’t dare act presumptuously in Tushita Palace. He entered respectfully and, seeing Laozi and the Divine Treasure Daoist seated on embroidered thrones, paid his respects first.

Laozi said cheerfully, “Great Immortal Zhenyuan, you must be very idle. What a rare visitor!”

Zhen Yuanzi was startled upon hearing this voice; it was vastly different from the old Taoist he had seen that day, with not the slightest resemblance. Although he had met the Supreme Lord Laozi before, given his status, he had never approached him to speak. Zhen Yuanzi grew somewhat doubtful—could it be that the old Taoist from that day was not the Supreme Lord Laozi?