Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 366: Man Surpasses Heaven

Seeing Hou Tu’s smile fade and his expression turn stern, as if he were truly angry, Wukong felt somewhat moved. Naturally, Hou Tu was extremely worried about him; otherwise, why would he care whether the Qilin was deceiving him or not?
Hou Tu snorted and said, “Today, I’ll see just how capable the King of All Beasts really is.”
The Qilin was startled and exclaimed happily, “Perfect! I’ve been itching to fight—come on!”
Wukong quickly stepped in to stop them. If those two started fighting, they might even flatten a thousand feet of the Qitian Ridge. Standing between them, he said, “The world is about to fall into chaos. Do you still have the leisure to compete?”
The Qilin snorted, “It’s good that you’re unharmed. What chaos could there be?”
Seeing that Wukong didn’t seem to be lying, Hou Tu asked, “What did Ran Deng tell you?”
Wukong shook his head and said, “It’s not because of Ran Deng. It’s because Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva has appeared!”
“Ah!” Hou Tu’s mouth dropped open. “How could he appear? And why?”
Without saying another word, Wukong returned to his cave. Hou Tu and the Qilin exchanged a glance—their hostility had dissipated—and followed him in. The three sat down, and Wukong sent a message to Feng Tong. Feng Tong entered the cave and said happily, “I knew you must be fine, but I didn’t expect you to return so quickly.” Wukong wondered, “How did you know I was fine?”
The Qilin shrugged, “I never said Ran Deng was your master.”
Feng Tong replied, “I heard it from my master and uncles chatting. It certainly wasn’t the Qilin who said it.”
Wukong said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Feng Tong also shrugged, “I thought you already knew. Since you didn’t ask, how could I have such foresight?”
Wukong said, “Never mind. It’s not a big deal. I could guess it myself.”
Feng Tong asked, “Then why did you call me here?”
Wukong said, “The matters of the Buddhist Hell—senior Qilin and Feng Tong probably don’t know about them yet.” He then recounted his experiences entering the Buddhist Hell from the River of Mother and Child, describing what he saw and heard. He also explained that the Buddhist Hell was divided into two halves: one under the rule of Kshitigarbha, one of the three bodies of Tathagata, and the other under Ran Deng’s supervision.
Regarding Ksitigarbha’s mention of the essence of creation, Wukong only briefly touched on it, not revealing that Ksitigarbha was the judge of creation. The Qilin and Feng Tong were stunned, and even Hou Tu didn’t realize the purpose of the Buddhist Hell was such.
Wukong said, “Upon hearing this, my first thought was—what is the purpose of that Creation Furnace in the Heavenly Court?”
“Me?” Hou Tu laughed. “I’ve never cared about that.”

Wukong said solemnly, “I didn’t care before, but now I must. I originally thought as long as Qitianling remained safe, everything would be fine. But now it seems… hehe, who can escape the rise and fall of heaven and earth?”
Qilin raised an eyebrow and said, “Don’t boast. The heavens are unattainable, and the earth is infinitely deep—who has the power to overturn everything?”
Houtu also nodded and said, “In the heavens, there are stars, the sun, and the moon—visible but unreachable. As for the earth, I’ve descended millions of feet beneath it yet returned empty-handed. Wukong’s talk of destroying heaven and earth is probably just nonsense, right?”
Wukong was surprised. Did Qilin and Houtu really know nothing about this calamity of the cycle? As he pondered, Houtu said, “Wukong, you’re not believing some rumors about this calamity, are you?”
Wukong exclaimed, “Sister, you know about this too?”
Houtu curled her lips and said, “I do know, but of course I don’t believe it.”
Wukong glanced at Qilin, who smiled and said, “I don’t believe it either.”
Wukong thought to himself that someone had already come here during the last cycle—yet they still didn’t believe it. But he couldn’t reveal the true nature of the Three Pure Ones, so he said, “Alright, if you don’t believe it, I won’t insist. But what’s the Buddha’s underworld doing right now? Can any of you see through it?”
Qilin replied, “What they do is none of my business.”
Wukong was speechless. But then he realized Qilin had a point—after all, why should he care what the Buddha’s underworld was doing? Likely, many people in the world shared Qilin’s mindset, preferring to believe their situation would never change. That’s why speaking of being prepared for danger seems simple, yet how few can actually do it? If it weren’t for his special background and knowledge of the Journey to the West, how could he have encountered so many things and woven together so many unrelated events into a larger pattern?
Seeing Wukong lost in thought, Houtu assumed he was troubled and said, “Wukong, whatever you plan to do, sister will help you.”
Wukong shook his head and smiled bitterly. “I don’t even know what to do now.”
He waved goodbye to Houtu. Watching Wukong’s lonely figure, Houtu felt inexplicably sad. She rushed after him, grabbed him, and asked, “Do you truly believe in this calamity of the cycle?”
Wukong nodded firmly and said, “I swear on my life—it’s true.”

Houtu and the Qilin exchanged a glance. Regarding the rumors of the Calamity of the Origin, he had heard about it from Dayu. Dayu only knew of rumors of such a calamity in the Three Realms, so he casually mentioned it to Houtu. Houtu also knew that the Three Realms were created by the Three Pure Ones, but she simply laughed it off. As the Goddess of Earth, she knew her land better than anyone; even with the combined strength of the world, no force could destroy it, so she didn’t believe it.

But since Wukong was so confident, Houtu couldn’t help but feel a hint of doubt. Who was Wukong? The Divine Monkey of Wisdom! Would he deceive her about such an important matter?

The Qilin also said, “Wukong, if anything happens, let us know. Though I don’t believe it, I still need to ensure your safety.”

Wukong nodded and said, “I’ll naturally be aware of it.”

He bowed to the Qilin and Houtu, then took Fengtong to another cave.

Without any restraint now, Wukong asked, “What is the use of the Essence of Creation?”

Upon hearing the words “Essence of Creation,” Fengtong’s eyes showed confusion. He thought for a long time, covering his head with both hands, and said, “This thing seems very important, but I just can’t remember.”

Wukong said, “The Essence of Creation is divided into nine parts: Pan Gu got three, the Kunpeng got two, the Seven Divine Monkeys got one, and the rest scattered throughout the heavens and earth…”

Suddenly, Fengtong raised a finger, telling Wukong to stop. After thinking for a while, his eyes lit up as he said, “I remember now. The Essence of Creation is the essence of chaos; there is only one such amount in the heavens and earth, neither increasing nor decreasing. But Pan Gu got three… His body turned into the earth, causing much of the Essence of Creation to scatter. As a result, there is much more of it in the heavens and earth now, which is why ancient people could cultivate more easily than people today.”

Although what Fengtong said wasn’t the answer Wukong wanted, it wasn’t useless either. Wukong asked again, “What if someone obtained a large amount of the Essence of Creation?”

Fengtong said, “Are you saying that what’s refined in the Buddhist hell is the Essence of Creation?”

Wukong replied, “Exactly!” Since Houtu and the Qilin were present earlier, Wukong had only mentioned “creation” without specifying “Essence of Creation.” Now that Fengtong had caught the discrepancy, he hit the nail on the head.

Fengtong said, “If one person obtains it… it depends on how much they get.”

Wukong asked, “What’s the difference in how much they get?”

Fengtong replied, “The Essence of Creation is actually the power of chaos. If Pan Gu didn’t have three parts of it, how could he have the power to create the heavens? If the Kunpeng didn’t have two parts of it, how could it clear the skies? If someone could truly obtain three parts of the Essence of Creation like Pan Gu… they might indeed have the power to destroy the heavens and earth!”

Upon hearing Fengtong’s words, Wukong suddenly came up with an extremely bold idea: Could it be that this calamity of the End of Eons wasn’t something caused by heaven and earth themselves, but rather a disaster created artificially by someone who possessed the power of chaos? Wukong’s thought wasn’t entirely unfounded. Though he didn’t agree with Hou Tu’s claim that the heavens were extremely high and the earth extremely deep, he was also very puzzled about where such a world-destroying force could come from. Fengtong’s words provided him with another possibility—that humans could acquire such power. Pan Gu had been able to create the heavens with just a third of the power of chaos; if others possessed the same power, they might well be able to destroy the heavens. There’s also a saying that destruction is much easier than creation. With this idea in mind, Wukong wondered what the purpose of such a person in destroying the heavens might be. If the heavens were destroyed, everything would return to chaos, and everything would start over. Could it be for fun? After pondering for a while, he remembered what Laojun had said: “One must understand that if creation has no origin, there will be no way for things to develop; if creation has no restraint, it will become excessive and cause harm. From my reasoning, although there is more and more creation in the three realms, it is becoming increasingly chaotic and murky—this is the manifestation of lack of restraint. Therefore, the three realms will perish in 200 years, not because of us three using our strength, but because the immortals and demons within them have committed their own sins and can no longer survive…” According to Laojun, it wasn’t outsiders who destroyed the heavens, but rather an uncontrolled surge in creation, like a balloon that keeps inflating until it finally bursts, destroying the heavens and earth. This idea was even stranger—there was nothing outside the heavens and earth, so how could they burst? Since this calamity of the End of Eons truly existed, it must have been caused either by human effort or some external force, and it was impossible to deduce at the moment. With this thought in mind, Wukong decided to go and take a look at those two Creation Furnaces. Both the Heavenly Court and the Western Heaven were engaged in refining the heavens, and these two major events must be related to the heavens and earth. The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the Heavenly Court simply followed the orders of the Buddha of the Previous End of Eons, carrying out their duties without deviation, unaware that their “rival” was actually their own boss. If he could take a look at those two Creation Furnaces, using his own abilities as the Divine Ape of Creation, he might be able to uncover many secrets. But this wasn’t an urgent matter right now. Since he had returned safely and could no longer take on Zhuanxu’s form, he needed to go back to retrieve the scriptures. Otherwise, he would have to hide every move he made from others, which would be extremely inconvenient. Wukong said, “I need to go back to retrieve the scriptures. What should I do?” Fengtong hummed in response and said, “I’ll go first and see where the clever Divine Ape has gone.” Fengtong left the cave and returned after a while, saying, “He’s moving very slowly. He’s still in the northeast of Qitian Ridge.” Wukong said, “Think of a way to let me switch places with the clever one, without anyone else finding out.”

Tongfeng said with a smile, “I knew this day would come; I’ve already thought of a plan.”
Wukong replied cheerfully, “It must be foolproof.”
Tongfeng said, “Of course, not the slightest mistake is allowed. But this matter requires a large-scale operation so we can take advantage of the chaos.”
Wukong suddenly understood and asked, “Are we going to use the name of Qitianling to capture people again?”
Tongfeng smiled and said, “It’s not about capturing people; it’s just to lure out the clever ones. What comes out is a clever divine ape, but what returns is a wise divine ape—how can anyone tell the difference?”
So Tongfeng and Wukong left the cave and headed straight for the Qilin Cave.