Volume 3: A Long Journey – Chapter 294: Winds from Beyond the Sky

Besides this, the Tongtian River was also the only place during the entire journey of obtaining the scriptures where they encountered disasters twice. Tang Seng fell into the water there on both occasions, unable to avoid it no matter what. Initially, Wukong had not thought of this place, but after today’s strange events, he found the Tongtian River increasingly extraordinary and grew increasingly suspicious.

Wukong stood there in thought for a long time before leaving the Tongtian River and returning to Chen’s Village. When Tang Seng saw Wukong, his first question was naturally when they could cross the river. Wukong replied, “Those evil dragons have been driven into the river by me, but I don’t have any good plans. If we want to cross, we’ll surely be disturbed by them.”

Wu Ping said, “I’m not afraid of them in the water, but if those evil dragons escape, I won’t be able to chase after them.”

Wukong said, “That won’t help either. I can drive them away too, but they don’t want to fight. They just want to stop Master from crossing the river, which is really difficult.”

Wukong didn’t want Wu Ping to get involved because he wanted to uncover the mysteries of the Tongtian River. As for staying in Chen’s Village for another ten days or half a month, he didn’t really care.

At that moment, Wuhui said, “Senior brother, what if Wu Ping carries Master across the river while the two of us protect him?”

Wukong replied, “It’s two against five. On land, we’re not afraid, but they stir up trouble underwater without even showing their heads. What can we do?” Wuhui stuck out his tongue and said, “Never mind. I didn’t say anything. I’m naturally afraid of water.”

Tang Seng said, “If it’s difficult, let’s ask Guanyin Bodhisattva for help.”

Wukong laughed and said, “Master, that Bodhisattva has already been extremely kind to you. There’s no debt between us. Why ask her over and over again? In other words, if she does too much, can this journey of obtaining the scriptures still be considered our achievement?”

Tang Seng thought it made sense and said, “I heard from Elder Chen that from the Great Tang Dynasty to here is exactly 54,000 li. We’ve already covered half of the journey. At this point, there’s no need to rush. People say the road gets harder the further you go; there will likely be more obstacles ahead.”

Wukong said, “Master, please stay calm. I will definitely find a way to cross the river!”

Tang Seng calmed down and spent time discussing scriptures with Elder Chen, enjoying a rare moment of peace that gradually soothed his anxiety.

Wukong left Chen’s Village and headed back to the Tongtian River. He flew upstream along the river, carefully exploring every part. At his rapid speed, it still took him two hours to reach the source of the Tongtian River.

In the midst of a great mountain, countless springs gushed forth, with tiny streams converging from all directions. They flowed down steep cliffs to form waterfalls and pools, eventually gathering at the foot of the mountain to create a river of such immense scale. Wukong found nothing unusual at the source of the Tongtian River. Generally, rivers are formed by the melting of springs, glaciers, and snow-capped mountains, with streams and tributaries merging together to create a powerful current—rarely is there an exception.

Since there was nothing extraordinary about the river’s source, someone must have intervened. A formation? A Tongtian formation? This formation was far too mysterious—it not only went unnoticed but also had the ability to discern people.

After some thought, Wukong decided to try again.

He returned to the place where he had fought the five dragons, entered the water, and swam upstream. This time, he was focused and did not stop at all, swimming straight to the foot of the mountain. When he emerged from the water, completely dry, he was stunned.

How had he come this far so easily? Where was that formation? Wukong thought carefully. There was no difference between this trip and his last one—except… last time he had the Ruyi Tianji Stick in his hand. Was that the reason? Wasting more time on speculation was pointless; he would find out by trying again.

Wukong started over, holding the Ruyi Tianji Stick in front of him. He went to the spot where the anomaly first occurred, feeling somewhat nervous.

Without any warning, he was in the water one moment and at the sky’s peak the next. The fierce winds hit him like knives. This time, Wukong was prepared and managed to steady himself amid the violent winds.

He could sense that he was now far above the thirty-six heavens of the heavenly realm. Suddenly, he remembered something Hou Tu had said, “It is hard for humans to overcome heaven. Even if they succeed, there is still a heaven beyond!” He had been confused when he heard it, but now he began to understand.

Could the “heaven beyond” Hou Tu mentioned be this place? Did she know this secret? And how much did she know?

Wukong looked up, but saw nothing but emptiness.

The winds were bitterly cold, very similar to those of the Golden Heaven and Silver Earth, but many times stronger than when he first arrived there. Could this place be connected to the Golden Heaven and Silver Earth? Wukong wondered and flew directly eastward.

After flying for a while, Wukong smiled bitterly and lowered his altitude. Flying at such high altitudes was extremely exhausting; each leap covered only a few thousand miles. When would he reach the Golden Heaven and Silver Earth?

When he landed in an area free of strong winds, the pressure vanished instantly, and he realized even more how apt Hou Tu’s words “there is a heaven beyond” were. With a few somersaults, he arrived at the Golden Heaven and Silver Earth.

Wukong first arrived in the Golden Heaven and Silver Earth as a Taiyi Golden Immortal and found the fierce winds here already astonishing. On his second visit, however, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the effects of his martial arts and supernatural powers were much reduced. Wukong continued eastward until he reached the Pillar That Supports the Heavens.

The Pillar That Supports the Heavens remained unchanged. Wukong approached it and touched it. Its material was peculiar—neither metal nor stone nor wood. Could it really be jade? Good heavens, how much jade would that take, and where could there be such sturdy jade?

Anyone who saw this Pillar That Supports the Heavens could not hide their awe. It was clearly not the work of human hands but rather the product of divine craftsmanship. Wukong suddenly remembered: where was the Pillar That Supports the Heavens when Pangu created the world? In the chaos of creation, did such a pillar exist? If it did, and if it truly served to support the heavens, it meant the world had originally been separated. If not, how could Pangu’s axe create multiple such pillars? This made no sense from a botanical perspective!

Enough, enough! I can’t dwell on these thoughts. Life is finite, but knowledge is endless. Let’s keep climbing!

Wukong climbed up the smooth stone surface of the Pillar That Supports the Heavens. He came here for one reason only—to see how high he could go before encountering those fierce winds, so as to have a reference point.

Having surpassed the level of a Hunyuan Golden Immortal, Wukong reached the nine infinitely extending giant branches with little effort. It was the first time he saw these branches, and then he realized the Pillar That Supports the Heavens resembled a giant tree, with branches upon branches, like a strange giant hand reaching into the vast sky, disappearing without a trace.

Wukong circled the nine giant branches and was surprised to find another person on them.

The woman wore a green robe and was extremely beautiful. She stood on a platform, her skirt fluttering in the wind, yet she remained unmoved.

Those who could reach this place were surely not ordinary people. Wukong grew wary upon seeing her back.

The woman turned around and said with a smile, “You’ve come too.”

Wukong was shocked. The woman was none other than the godmother of Little Fox Hu Yu—the Nine-Tailed Fox of Qingqiu! Wukong asked, “You… recognize me?”

Qingqiu replied, “Niú Ér has already told me. Not many people in the world can reach this place, let alone someone as remarkable as you. How could I possibly mistake you?”

Wukong felt relieved. Since the Bull Demon King had said he was his brother, she surely wasn’t an outsider. But hadn’t Qingqiu always been hiding from Buddha? How dare she suddenly appear here?

Wukong asked, “Elder, you’ve come here alone. Aren’t you worried… that they’ll come to capture you?”

Qingqiu gave a sad smile and said, “I’ve thought about it too. If they could capture me and keep me with them, it would be better than my current situation.”

Wukong remained silent. It turned out that the fox clan was more loyal than ever—Hu Yu and Hu Zhi were like that back then, and Qingqiu and Qinglin were the same today.
Qingqiu said, “Even Tathagata is not all-knowing. Back then, Qingqiu and I hid together for too long, and he managed to trace our whereabouts. If I only came here suddenly today, how could he know?”
Wukong asked, “Senior, why have you come here?”
Qingqiu looked southeast and said, “Three thousand li from here used to be Qingqiu Mountain, but it has long disappeared.”
Wukong was greatly surprised. This place was a land of gold and silver, with nothing but fierce winds and a solitary jade pillar reaching into the sky. Even a stone mountain or an iron peak couldn’t withstand such winds and would eventually be worn away.
Qingqiu continued, “Originally, the mountains here were continuous, extremely steep, and magnificent. Qingqiu and Qinglin were born in Qingqiu Mountain. Then, the winds started.”
“The winds came from nowhere, growing stronger day by day without pause. They broke the trees on the mountains, uprooted the grass, dried up the moisture, and blew away the stones… Eventually, the small beasts in the mountains could no longer stand, and those blown against the rock walls were crushed to death.”
“We were nine-tailed foxes, naturally much stronger than ordinary beasts. In the end, on the bare Qingqiu Mountain, only Qingqiu and I were left.”
“We grew up here from childhood and naturally didn’t want to leave, but seeing that there was nothing else in this land except this pillar, what else could we do?”
Wukong couldn’t help asking, “Senior, was this pillar here from the beginning?”
Qingqiu replied, “Of course it was. Back then, the lower part of the pillar was buried in the soil, and it gradually revealed itself later.”
Wukong asked, “Where did these winds come from?”
Qingqiu shook his head and said, “At first, it seemed they blew from outside the sky. As the winds grew stronger, they came from all directions.”
From outside the sky? Could there really be winds from outside the sky? Wukong thought about it—the winds grew fiercer the higher he went—and remembered Qingqiu’s words.
Wukong asked again, “Was there nothing else besides the winds?”
Qingqiu said, “Nothing, just winds. We thought we had angered the Wind God, but later we realized even the Wind God didn’t have such power.” Qingqiu pointed at the platform and said, “When I came here last year, this formation wasn’t like this. It has changed again this year.”
A formation? Wukong looked closely and indeed saw a large formation on the platform. He didn’t recognize what kind of formation it was, but felt as though both he and Qingqiu were inside it. Shocked, he immediately thought of Phoenix and Xiangliu.

Qingqiu said, “You need not worry. Though this formation is large, it seems to have no harmful effects; one can pass through it freely without any issue.”
Wukong was puzzled. Since a formation was set up, it must either be to protect treasures or to harm people. There were no treasures on those bare pillars, and it didn’t harm anyone either. Then what was the purpose of this formation?