Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 350: The Star of the Right Eye

The five colors within the Hunyuan Dao Fruit converged, remaining just out of reach of one another. Wukong felt as if he had entered a mysterious state of balance. The Dao Fruit rotated slowly, guiding the flow of vital energy throughout his body. The stream of vital energy in his mouth involuntarily flowed into his dantian.
In an instant, this stream was drawn into the Dao Fruit and then vanished without a trace. The Old Lord’s gourd remained utterly silent. Wukong found this strange—since all five elements were present in the Dao Fruit, where had this stream of vital energy gone? He sensed that something was about to change. Sure enough, the Dao Fruit stopped rotating.
The five-colored vital energy split into five equal parts. At the intersection of these parts, the stream seemed to find an exit, releasing strands that hovered motionless above. After a long while, Wukong realized that these strands had condensed into a young seedling. This seedling was completely different from the Immortal Tree he had created using wood-based powers before; perhaps there was no other seedling in the world that resembled it.
By the time all the vital energy from the peach had been used, the seedling had just sprouted two leaves. These leaves were not yet solid, appearing like mist above the Hunyuan Dao Fruit—one black and one white. The black was light gray, while the white was milky white.
Wukong examined the seedling closely. His mind buzzed as he noticed that the light gray leaves were slightly darker and grayer, distinctly different from the black color of the water-based vital energy in the Hunyuan Dao Fruit. They were exactly like the vital energy he had taken from the golden ring on his head!
As a wise and intelligent divine ape, Wukong could instantly tell that this was undoubtedly vital energy. Yet, before encountering the qilin and obtaining this vital energy from it, he had never seen it before. The three rings given by Buddha to Guanyin, as well as the golden ring on his head, contained this same kind of vital energy. Initially, he thought this energy must be evil, but since it also appeared in his Hunyuan Dao Fruit, how could it possibly be bad?
After the two-leaf seedling took shape, the Hunyuan Dao Fruit suddenly began rotating faster than before. Five-colored light radiated from it, illuminating Wukong’s entire body.
Wukong felt intense pain all over his body, as if countless needles were piercing him. Every corner of his flesh, once as firm as diamond and as clear as jade, became blurred and hazy under the influence of the five-colored light. His flesh, which should have been solid, now seemed somewhat illusory.

Suddenly, an idea struck him: could those two leaves, one black and one white, represent yin and yang, with his own body destined to become chaos? The moment this thought arose, Wukong found it absurd. He had just mastered the five elements—how could he dare think about yin, yang, and chaos? Besides, it was merely a wild guess; he still had no idea how to proceed with his cultivation.

After eating just two peaches of immortality, tremendous changes took place within his body, yet he felt nothing at all. He had no idea what level of cultivation he now possessed. He also didn’t know what restrictions Laozi had placed on that gourd, as he felt completely disconnected from the world around him.

Wukong thought for a while. He had been here for who knew how many days, and it was time to leave. Although he still had one peach of immortality, he would never eat it until he understood the purpose of that seedling and the reasons behind the changes in his body.

Wukong called out to Laozi twice, but there was no response. He wandered around inside the gourd, but everything was shrouded in mist—clearly, there were many restrictive arrays. Wukong cursed himself, thinking, “I’m truly stupid. Didn’t I learn the powers of the five elements just for the secrets of the Mysterious Void Technique? Why wait any longer?”

He activated the Mysterious Void Technique. He had already reached the third volume of this technique, “Preserving Truth,” among the three realms. Using it now, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Strange—this technique seemed to exist solely for him, without any need to control other techniques, and his magical energy didn’t even diminish at all.

Wukong scanned the surroundings and felt overjoyed. Initially, he had been blocked by the arrays around him and couldn’t see anything. It turned out this was Laozi’s treasure vault!

In the distance, several pill furnaces were lined up, likely from some past era of Laozi’s, now left unused. There were also many cabinets and bookshelves filled with jade bottles, jars, and ancient scriptures. Wukong ignored the rest and headed straight for the most exquisite jade bottles.

Laozi was renowned for his alchemy skills, so the best bottles must contain the rarest elixirs. Delighted, Wukong moved extremely carefully, stepping around the arrays until he reached the cabinets. Just as he was about to reach in, he heard a tinkling sound—he had stepped on a trap. Laozi’s voice came from behind, “Monkey, what are you doing?”

Wukong was filled with regret. Just as he thought he had succeeded, Laozi turned out to be so meticulous—not only had he set up arrays but also hidden bells underground.

Wukong turned around with a sheepish smile, “Laozi, um… you’re back.”

Laozi snorted, “Fortunately, I returned early. Otherwise, you would have eaten up all my elixirs.”

Wukong said, “How could that be? I just want to taste a few.” He awkwardly stepped back. Laojun examined Wukong carefully, then sat down heavily on his chair, pointing at him without being able to speak for a long time. Wukong looked down at himself and saw nothing unusual, so he asked, “Laojun, you’re not being so stingy, are you? I haven’t even eaten one yet.” Laojun sighed and stared intently at Wukong, asking, “Wukong, what have you done just now?” Wukong shrugged innocently, “I only ate two peaches; I didn’t touch anything else!” Laojun said with a bitter smile, “Two peaches… Two peaches… Do you know that you’ve already crossed the threshold of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal?” “Ah!” It was Wukong’s turn to be surprised. “I’ve become a sage?” Laojun replied, “Not quite a sage—you’re still at the threshold.” Wukong understood that this must be the peak realm of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal. He asked Laojun, “Can just two peaches bring such great benefits?” Laojun said, “Maybe. I haven’t eaten them either, so how would I know?” Wukong thought for a moment. Perhaps the peaches were meant specifically for the divine apes, and eating them might double the effect. Laojun added, “Including the one from the three realms, that makes three in total.” Wukong’s mind became confused. Suddenly, he remembered a saying: “If one can eat twelve peaches, the universe will remain eternal.” This was what Pangu and the Seven Divine Apes had said, so it surely couldn’t be false. What were the effects of twelve peaches? What level of cultivation could they grant? Could they make one a sage or even a creator of the heavens? No matter how powerful he became, he probably couldn’t compare to Kunpeng or Pangu—both of whom couldn’t escape the fate of change, repeatedly subject to the cycles of destiny. What power did the Seven Divine Apes have to make the universe eternal? Wukong said to Laojun, “I’m going to steal the peaches.” He thought to himself that eating too many peaches couldn’t hurt, and if he could take back the peach tree, he’d try eating all twelve first. Laojun shuddered and said, “Dream on!” Wukong was stunned. “What do you mean, dream on? The peach tree belongs to the divine apes. If they’re allowed to take it, why not us?” Laojun replied, “Unless my elder brother, the Primordial Lord, helps you, it’s impossible to succeed.” Wukong smiled and said, “Then I’ll go ask the Great Lord.” Laojun sneered, “Your cultivation may be growing, but your mind is getting duller. How could my elder brother do such a thing for you?” Wukong knew this was the likely outcome, but since he had made up his mind, he wouldn’t give up. So he said, “Back in the day, Hou Yi alone was able to steal the peaches. With the power of the Whole-Heaven Mountain, I believe I can succeed.”

Laojun smiled and said, “Times change. If you don’t believe it, go ahead and try. I’ll just enjoy watching the show.” Seeing Laojun’s leisurely attitude, Wukong knew he wasn’t joking, so he said, “Enough, enough. Forced attack won’t work; we must use strategy. I just hope Laojun will bestow more gifts on me.” Laojun replied, “I didn’t expect your cultivation to progress so quickly. If I give you two more, you might actually dare to steal the Peach Tree.” Wukong asked, “Have I been cultivating for a long time?” Laojun said, “Not many days. Is there something wrong?” Wukong leaped up abruptly and said, “Not just something wrong—things are utterly chaotic!” Laojun said, “Then let’s go. Be careful.” “Be careful of what?” As soon as Wukong spoke, he felt himself outside the gourd, followed by a whirl of the world as countless energies surged in, like bloodthirsty mosquitoes piercing his body. It turned out that although his cultivation had improved, he hadn’t connected with the universe, so his sensitivity was low. Though his Hunyuan Dao Fruit was full, his internal energies were still greatly depleted. Once outside, the energies of the Jade Pure Heaven rushed in like a gust of wind. This place was the safest in the heavenly realm, and even if chaos erupted in the Jade Pure Palace, no one dared to intervene. Wukong greedily absorbed these energies, filling himself to an indescribable degree of fullness and comfort. His eyes sparkled with stars—originally only his left eye had stars, but now his right eye too shone. Opening and closing his eyes created a dizzying sense of time and space intertwining. Just as he was using his powers, Yuan Shi, seated high above, stretched out a finger and pointed at Wukong. Instantly, Wukong fell to the ground, and the incoming energies lost their source and dispersed. Laojun was stunned and asked, “Senior brother, why seal him?” Yuan Shi replied, “Though the divine ape has no barriers to absorbing energies, his path to sainthood shouldn’t be rushed. It’s better to proceed slowly.” Laojun realized then that Yuan Shi had thought further ahead. As Wukong’s cultivation improved, the power of many of his spells and techniques had changed. It was better to master his own techniques first and steadily explore the path of cultivation—this was the proper way. Without such understanding, it would be difficult to make up for it later. Wukong landed on the ground, taking Yuan Shi’s words to heart and feeling grateful. Suddenly, he felt his body return to normal and stood up to thank Yuan Shi the Heavenly Venerable. Yuan Shi said, “There’s no need to thank me. Go back to the mortal world quickly.” Laojun smiled and said, “I’ll see you off.” He used some unknown spell, creating an invisible barrier that enveloped Wukong, who then disappeared from the Jade Pure Palace. When he reappeared, Wukong saw the troops from Qitian Ridge assembling not far away.

Wukong thought to himself, What a coincidence! He transformed into Zhuanxu’s form and descended. When the Roc saw Wukong there, it said cheerfully, “Where have you been?” Wukong looked around and asked, “Where has the Ox Demon King gone?” Hearing Wukong mention the Ox Demon King, the Roc held back its laughter and recounted what had happened earlier. Wukong soared to the top of a cloud, used his secret techniques to gaze westward, cried out, “Oh no!” and rushed westward at full speed. The Roc was shocked—this place was over two thousand miles away from Xishi Gou. How could Wukong see it? It chased after him quickly but was still half a step behind Wukong, filling itself with even greater astonishment.