Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 392: The White Jade Pearl

Anuo said, “This is indeed good news. The third sentence is: If you enter the Spirit Mountain once more, you will become a Buddha!”
Guanyin’s face lit up with joy as she said, “Thank you, Venerable One!”
Anuo joined his hands in prayer, exchanged a few polite words with Guanyin, then returned to the Spirit Mountain.
As Guanyin watched Anuo’s figure grow smaller in the distance, a shadow covered her beautiful face. Upon closer consideration, these three sentences grew increasingly sinister. The first sentence was still tolerable—merely urging her to devote herself wholeheartedly to Buddhism. But the second was a blatant threat: “You, Guanyin, can hide nothing from me, the Tathagata Buddha!” Yet she couldn’t figure out how the Tathagata could know about that note.
The third sentence terrified her the most—becoming a Buddha? She had seen many Buddhas on the Spirit Mountain, all of them lifeless in appearance, constantly reciting Buddhist scriptures, utterly dull. If she became a Buddha too, it would be better to die outright! Whether this call to become a Buddha was an attempt by the Tathagata to win her over or intimidate her was unclear. Perhaps in his eyes, every Buddhist wanted to become a Buddha, but he was completely wrong about her! She, the Bodhisattva Guanyin, simply refused to become a Buddha!
Yet there was an important task awaiting her right now—“accelerating the balance of yin and yang within half a month.” If Tang Seng truly refused to leave, would she have to use that method? Once she recited the spell given to her by the Tathagata, could Tang Seng really continue his journey to the West? Had the Tathagata turned Tang Seng into a puppet?
In half a month, should she follow the Tathagata’s orders or devise another plan to find a way forward?
Guanyin was deeply troubled. She stood motionless by the sea near Mount Luojia for a long time, the strong sea wind blowing her white robes fluttering…
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Wukong was in the Lion Camel Ridge, unaware of the passage of time in the human world. He was immersed in the spiritual essence given to him by Ksitigarbha. This essence contained all of Ksitigarbha’s insights from reaching the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal to becoming the Hunyuan Supreme Sage. Wukong didn’t know how long he pondered before gradually grasping some clues.
It turned out that in this world, whether human or beast, anyone with nine orifices could become an immortal, with many mysteries involved.
The so-called nine orifices refer to the two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, the mouth, and the genital and anal passages.
As the scriptures say: “Heavenly energy descends and flows to the earth; earthly energy rises and ascends to the sky. Heaven and earth interact to give birth to all things. By inference, humans are born from the yin and yang energies of heaven and earth. Thus, the human body corresponds to heaven and earth’s sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, valleys, and so on.”

Of the nine orifices in the human body, the upper three—eyes, nose, and ears—are all even-numbered, while the lower three—mouth, urethra, and anus—are all odd-numbered. Between odd and even lies the philtrum, which is not by chance but has a fundamental reason.

The five internal organs are also connected to the nine orifices: the liver corresponds to the eyes, the heart to the tongue, the spleen to the mouth, the lungs to the nose, and the kidneys to the ears and the genitalia. Among the five organs, the lungs, heart, and liver are yang within yin, hence their orifices are even-numbered; the spleen and kidneys are yin within yin, so their orifices are odd-numbered. This is the wonderful workings of the universe!

For within the nine orifices, there is yang within yin and yin within yang. As yin and yang interact, harmony is maintained between the upper and lower parts of the body. Water circulates outward along with qi, enabling the orifices to function—this is how heaven and earth interact and the orifices become open. If yin and yang are unbalanced, the orifices become blocked, water circulation stops, and both form and qi decline.

Those who practice immortality share the same origin as heaven and earth and regard themselves as part of the universe. Ordinary people live only a hundred years, so it’s natural they cannot perceive such profound mysteries in the human body.

What cultivators must do is uncover the secrets of their own bodies. Throughout their lives, they must remain in close harmony with heaven, earth, and the universe to achieve the highest level of enlightenment!

Often, immortals declare proudly, “My fate is in my own hands, not in heaven’s!” This shows they have taken control of their own destiny and confidence to endure alongside heaven and earth. Thus, cultivating one’s nature involves balancing both life and spirit. The innate primordial spirit, the acquired conscious spirit, the five internal organs and six bowels, the eight meridians and nine orifices—all are important components of this small universe within us.

The Hunyuan Golden Immortal and the Hunyuan Supreme Sage represent two extremely important stages on the path to immortality. If the Hunyuan Golden Immortal is someone who has only vaguely understood the mysteries of their own body, then the Hunyuan Supreme Sage is one who has fully understood themselves and transformed their body into a miniature universe.

Wukong realized this and finally understood why some could create their own realm. Once one reaches the Hunyuan Supreme Sage level, the first thing to learn is the mysteries of “space.” Once this is grasped, creating one’s own realm becomes extremely easy.

He then recalled his experience in Buddha’s palm. Buddha, at the level of a Hunyuan Golden Immortal, tried to create a realm using his power. Though he had extensive experience and knowledge, his cultivation was not sufficient—or rather, he had not yet met the conditions to create a realm—so he made mistakes and Wukong managed to escape!

Whether it was the Slanting Moon Three-Star Cave created by Ran Deng or the three realms jointly built by the Three Pure Ones, they were far more stable than the realm in Buddha’s palm. It seems that without reaching the Hunyuan Supreme Sage level, it’s impossible to achieve the understanding of space needed to create a realm.

Though Wukong understood this principle, understanding it and putting it into practice are two different things. It took Ksitigarbha countless years to achieve sainthood—how could one comprehend such things in just an instant?

Wukong pondered deeply within the space created for him by Ksitigarbha, striving to understand fully what Ksitigarbha had taught him, yet making little progress. He wondered if he was simply too dull. Unaware that ordinary people must first grasp the principles of cultivation before spending years in meditation to gradually comprehend them, like water seeping into rock, Wukong, having never gone through such a process, grew impatient.

At that moment, an idea struck him—he remembered the white jade bead given to him by Zhenwu. Zhenwu had said that this bead contained his insights into the universe. Hmm, Ksitigarbha had only passed on the “principles of the universe” to him, without delving into matters related to the cosmos. Had Zhenwu transcended the boundaries of the “universe”?

No! That was impossible. Even the Primordial Heavenly Lord had not surpassed the Supreme Unity—how could Zhenwu possibly have? Wukong focused his mind on the white jade bead, sending his spiritual awareness inward, only to feel an immense presence enveloping him.

This presence was astonishingly powerful yet chaotic and disordered. Wukong carefully analyzed it and realized the chaos stemmed from Zhenwu’s unique path of cultivation, vastly different from that of ordinary people. As the supreme dragon deity, Zhenwu followed a path distinct from those with nine orifices, combining innate inheritance from nature with his own sudden insights.

At this point, an idea arose in Wukong’s mind: Were the five types of kings determined by heaven and earth? Why were they divided into these five categories, and what was the basis for it? He knew that even if he asked the Ancestral Dragon directly, he would likely get no answer, with the reply probably being “It’s just the way it is from birth.”

But Wukong, with his unique status, insisted on delving deeper. Ignoring everything else, he focused on the power inherited by the Ancestral Dragon from nature. This power included supernatural abilities and cultivation techniques—methods for strengthening the body, honing scales, sharpening teeth and claws, controlling clouds and rain… This was by no means an innate inheritance from heaven and earth; it was clearly taught by others!

Wukong thought that although he didn’t know much about qilins and phoenixes, they were probably similar to dragon deities. In other words, their so-called innate supernatural abilities were taught to them by others!

This person… Even with his extraordinary imagination, Wukong could hardly fathom his existence. The five types of kings had existed since the last cycle, so theoretically, the person who taught them their abilities should have existed in every cycle. Recalling his conversation with Xuan Nu, where she mentioned that heaven and earth were the same in two cycles, could it be that the five types of kings, like the Lamp-Burning Buddha, were also special beings?

Did Ran Deng truly emerge from heaven and earth? Or was he also created by others, just like the King of the Five Categories? Since the other four categories had pre-determined candidates, why did the King of the Winning Category keep changing? What was the difference between humans and the other four categories?

Wukong thought that the white jade bead held only insights from cultivation. Little did he expect to encounter such a major mystery upon entering. He suppressed his doubts, focused his mind, and began to delve into Zhen Wu’s understanding of the universe.

Dizang created this world for Wukong so that he could cultivate in peace. If Wukong wandered with his thoughts, wouldn’t it be a waste of Dizang’s kindness? Finally, Wukong was able to concentrate fully and study the mysteries within the white jade bead.

It was unclear how much time passed, but Wukong had roughly reviewed all the cultivation techniques and powers within. Many of them were beyond his ability to master due to his physical limitations. However, some of the dragon clan’s transformation techniques, as Zhen Wu had said, could indeed surpass Ran Deng’s Thirty-Six Transformations. These powers were part of the ancestral dragon’s inherited abilities. Wukong carefully selected three of the most practical ones.

The first technique was called “Controlling Clouds and Rain,” which was similar to the “Calling Wind and Rain” skill in the Thirty-Six Transformations. That day in Ran Deng’s Hall of Fixed Light, Wukong claimed to have mastered “Calling Wind and Rain,” but was mocked by Ran Deng. After seeing “Controlling Clouds and Rain,” he realized he had only learned the basics. When truly applied, this skill could change the heavens and earth—in other words, clouds could alter the sky, and rain could destroy the world! The second technique was called “Fake Death and Rebirth,” which was similar to the “Reviving the Dead” skill in the Thirty-Six Transformations. It was also a power Wukong had not yet mastered. The third technique was called “Reversing Heaven and Earth,” which was somewhat similar to the “Manipulating Fate” and “Reversing Yin and Yang” skills in the Thirty-Six Transformations, though not exactly the same.

Wukong recorded these three techniques and became increasingly convinced that the person who passed these powers to Zhen Wu must have had a very close connection with Ran Deng.

Many of Zhen Wu’s powers were related to the Thirty-Six Transformations, so Wukong treated them as precious treasures and devoted himself to cultivating them with great enthusiasm. The white jade bead was like a treasure trove. After just a brief review, Wukong gained knowledge that was more than ten times greater than what Dizang had given him in the form of spiritual insights.

Since Zhen Wu created this white jade bead casually, following his own whims, it resembled a person’s journey of cultivation from shallow to deep. Although its depth was not as profound as Dizang’s, its advantage lay in having a clear origin and development, allowing Wukong to understand it.

To improve Wukong’s cultivation, Ksitigarbha naturally spared no effort, but he had no experience in teaching disciples. The wisp of divine consciousness he gave was, to put it bluntly, merely the result of a sage’s cultivation. Even with Wukong’s natural talent and intelligence, it was difficult for him to understand it right away.