Volume 1: Unsayable – Chapter 30: Wind and Thunder Wings

The man on the south side cursed, “You ungrateful wretch! The Heavenly Court is full of hidden dangers. Everyone has spies—being careful can never hurt.”
The man on the west side said, “Let’s get to the point. We’ve been working day and night, not knowing how much ‘Creation’ we’ve refined. It’s unclear whether this method will work.”
The man on the east side snapped, “This method for refining Creation is unique in the entire world. I obtained it from an old man in the South Pole using a pill from the Immortal Laozi. How dare you doubt it?”
The man on the west side explained, “It’s not that I don’t believe it, but since Creation is invisible and intangible, I’m a bit hesitant.”
The man on the east side said, “Enough chatter. Let’s hurry and refine hundreds of thousands of units of Creation so we can present a gift.”
The four of them immediately fell silent and used their powers to sustain the vortex, continuing to collect those white threads.
Wukong felt fortunate. If he had arrived a little later, he might not have heard so many secrets. From their conversation, it seemed they had gathered these white threads to give to some emperor, and these threads were actually Creation! From ordinary people, one life could yield one thread of Creation—such a high price was indeed excessive.
Another oddity was that despite the large formation these four had set up, they couldn’t see this Creation, yet he could clearly see those white threads.
Wukong thought, if this is Creation—and it’s said to be highly beneficial for cultivation—why not collect some for himself? With just a thought, countless white threads swarmed toward him like swallows diving into a forest, rushing in through his seven orifices and nine pores. Their speed was thousands of times faster than that of the vortex created by the four men.
Wukong felt no discomfort at all and allowed the threads to enter his body. In just a short while, he sensed his golden pill circulating and his vital energy surging. His invisibility spell was about to expire, but after absorbing so much Creation, he could clearly feel he could sustain it for at least another hour.
In about half an hour, Wukong had absorbed all the Creation inside the curtain. Unaware that hundreds of thousands of such units would take ordinary cultivators years to acquire, he found the situation amusing. It seemed the “emperor’s new clothes” scenario was playing out again in the Heavenly Court.
After absorbing the Creation, Wukong’s cultivation deepened. He initially wanted to wield his Ruyi Jingu Bang and fight those four unjust heavenly generals, but then realized fighting might not guarantee victory, while not fighting left a ready-made trap.

He had already absorbed all those hundreds of thousands of amounts of natural energy completely. Since these four could not see it, they naturally were unaware of the changes in the amount of energy within the furnace. And since this energy was meant as a gift, they certainly did not dare to try to take it for themselves. When the unnamed emperor took back the energy furnace and found that the amount of energy inside was vastly different from what the four had said, he would surely be furious. Judging from their tone, they seemed to fear the emperor greatly. So, who needed to worry about consequences? Wukong, having figured this out, couldn’t help but feel secretly proud of his cunning. But in an instant, his heart was filled with rage. Cultivating to seek immortality was understandable, but stealing even a tiny amount of energy from innocent mortals was truly despicable. From what he heard, the mastermind behind this was none other than the Old Man of the South Pole. Who else could it be but the Great-Eyed Old Man of the South Pole? Who would have thought that this so-called immortal, with his pretentious appearance, actually owed countless blood debts? All his spiritual power and energy were forged upon countless bones—this debt would have to be settled with him sooner or later. As Wukong left, he glared at the four once more, memorizing their appearances and auras, and vowed silently, “I’ll spare your lives for now, you four scoundrels. If you survive until we meet again, I’ll kill you then.” He returned the same way. When descending to the mortal world, he was still struck by nine bolts of lightning, but Wukong paid no attention. These lightning bolts were likely meant to prevent people from ascending to heaven, but their power seemed rather weak. Upon arriving in the mortal world, he found himself at that same low peak. The battlefield from the previous day had been reduced to ashes. Upon closer inspection, thousands of corpses had turned into bones. With the bleak autumn wind and the onset of night, what had once been a pleasant place had become a mass grave. Wukong was shocked. In just a few hours, how could things have changed so much? Could it be that the flesh and blood of these corpses had been taken away by demons to craft some harmful spells? At that moment, a fallen leaf blew in front of him, reminding him that the battle between those two thousand people had taken place in spring, yet now it was already deep autumn. Wukong sighed, thinking, “One day in heaven equals one year on earth”—it truly held true. Suddenly, he remembered that he had invited the Bull Demon King and the Rakshasi woman to live on Flower-Fruit Mountain. Half a year had passed already—had he broken his promise? In a hurry, he leaped up, summoned clouds, and returned to the mountain.

After a while, flags fluttered atop Flower-Fruit Mountain, and noises of chaos rose in waves. Wukong didn’t know what had happened. Seeing Hu Yu among the crowd gazing upward, he asked carefully and learned that the Bull Demon King had returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain with the Rakshasi woman that day. Since Wukong hadn’t returned yet, they had been waiting here. The Rakshasi woman’s cave was not far from Hu Yu’s residence, so the two women often visited each other.

Wukong asked, “Why is everyone making such a fuss here?”

Hu Yu replied, “A man came yesterday. Having heard of Flower-Fruit Mountain’s fame, he came here specifically. But after a few words with Brother Niu, they started fighting. Sister Niu got worried and went up to take a look.”

They even called her Brother Niu and Sister Niu. Wukong was slightly surprised. Hu Yu shyly said, “It was Sister Niu who told me to call her that.”

Wukong smiled without saying anything. The Rakshasi woman was quite skillful and knew how to use indirect methods.

He soared into the sky, pondering who could have such great powers as to fight the Bull Demon King for a whole day and night. He flew high into the heavens and used his cloud somersault skill to circle widely but still couldn’t find the two of them. In the distance, he saw a woman with a heroic appearance also hovering in the sky. He approached her, bowed, and said, “I am Sun Wukong. May I ask if you are Sister Niu?”

Upon hearing the word “Sister Niu,” the woman’s face blossomed with a smile, though she couldn’t hide her anxiety. She said, “Uncle Sun, my Brother Niu and that man have gone somewhere—I don’t know where. They were here just a moment ago.”

Wukong said, “Don’t worry, Sister. With my brother’s abilities, there’s no place in the world he can’t reach. I’ll take you back to Flower-Fruit Mountain first, then go look for him.”

“Thank you so much, Uncle,” said the Rakshasi woman.

Wukong sent her back to the mountain and then went up to search for the Bull Demon King.

After a long time, he saw two figures rushing toward him from afar, accompanied by gusts of wind and thunder. The man in front had an eagle-like nose, small ears, a tall frame, short hair, and a proud expression. Behind him, the Bull Demon King shouted, “If you’re men, don’t run!”

Wukong stood in their path, waving his Golden Cudgel and shouting, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Seeing Wukong blocking the way, the man quickly turned and vanished without a trace.

Wukong was greatly astonished. The man’s speed was incredible—he had moved like lightning just moments ago but then stopped to use evasion techniques, something Wukong thought he could never do.

Meanwhile, the Bull Demon King hurriedly arrived on a cloud from behind, cursing nonstop, “Damn beast! Running so fast!”

Wukong quickly asked where he had been that whole day and night.

The Bull Demon King, filled with anger, recounted what had happened. That man was also a demon. Having long heard of Flower-Fruit Mountain in the Eastern Victory Continent as a place of outstanding people and blessed land, he had come to pay a visit.

Who knew Wukong wasn’t at home? As sworn brothers, the Bull Demon King took charge. After exchanging a few words, the man said, “Flower-Fruit Mountain is nothing special—this saves me the trouble of fighting to take it.” Of course, the Bull Demon King wouldn’t accept that, and they started fighting after just a few words.

The man was highly skilled in martial arts, but his land-based combat skills were no match for the Bull Demon King. When the Bull Demon King revealed his true form, he drove the man into flight.

It seemed the matter would end there, but the man kept persisting. When the Bull Demon King retreated, he advanced; when the Bull Demon King chased, he fled. The Bull Demon King simply couldn’t catch up with him. The two traveled all over the four great continents, and it was hard to say who was stronger.

Wukong laughed heartily. Hearing what the Bull Demon King said, he realized who this man was.

“He was born with wind-and-thunder wings that allow him to fly ninety thousand li at a stroke. How can you possibly catch up to him?” Wukong joked.

The Bull Demon King slapped his head in realization. “I know now! He must be that Great Peng from Western Ox-Happy Continent. I heard of him when I conquered Lion and Camel Kingdoms.” He then said dejectedly, “If I had known it was him, why would I have chased after him?”

He shook his head again. “Tch! If I don’t chase him, he comes to harass me, persisting relentlessly. Where’s that in the way of a true master?”