Volume 4: The End of Cosmic Secrets Chapter 502: Ascending to the Heavens

Upon hearing the words “leave the heavens,” Xuan Nu grew panicked. Before she could ask further, Yin Yang and Wu Kong had already disappeared. Even more alarmed, Xuan Nu realized that the speed of these two divine apes had surpassed the limits of this world—clearly, this realm could no longer accommodate them.

Yin Yang pulled Wu Kong upward, knowing that to leave the heavens, they must ascend. This time, the ascent was countless times greater than any before. Wu Kong felt the fierce winds whipping against his face, almost suffocating him. Both of them found it extremely difficult to speak, so they communicated through telepathy.

“Why do we need to leave the heavens? Can we really go out?” Wu Kong asked.

Yin Yang replied, “The Kunpeng has asked us to leave the heavens for a reason. Whether we can or not depends on trying.”

“What’s beyond the heavens?” This was a question Wu Kong had long wanted to answer. If this world was a great furnace, what would the world outside be like? Could it be that outsiders had thrown Buddha and Pangu into this furnace? These mysteries haunted Wu Kong’s mind, but perhaps he would never find answers while remaining inside the furnace. What was the Kunpeng’s intention in asking Yin Yang and Ling Ming to leave the heavens? Could it be that the Kunpeng itself couldn’t escape?

The winds were so strong that Wu Kong couldn’t even use his Cloud Somersault technique. Here, the power of opposing fate seemed less intense than in the Golden Heavens and Silver Earths—perhaps the range controlled by the Pillars of Heaven was limited as well. Wu Kong felt slightly relieved. If the entire sky were filled with this opposing fate energy, it would indeed be a disaster.

In this world, everyone cultivated using the power of fate, and all things grew thanks to it. An excess of opposing fate energy would naturally have a profound impact. But that was still a minor issue. More importantly, if the opposing fate energy reached a certain concentration, could it accelerate the Oncoming Calamity of the Vital Essence? Once that calamity struck, although all things in the world would be destroyed and Buddha’s efforts would be rendered meaningless, even the Divine Apes of Fate would revert to chaos. All the secrets he had painstakingly uncovered would be lost—something he certainly didn’t want.

At this point, Wu Kong could only hope that the opposing fate energy would come slowly, giving him time to uncover the origins of this cosmic furnace.

After countless somersaults, Wu Kong looked down and saw only mist. Though he had mastered the secrets of his Xuan Kong technique to the utmost, the distance was too great—he could no longer see anything on the ground. Looking left and right, he could clearly see the eight Pillars of Heaven. These pillars, divided into nine branches, gradually converged toward the center of the sky. Wu Kong knew that where those pillars met was likely the entrance to this furnace.

Heaven and earth form the furnace; if someone were to watch from outside at this moment, they would see two little monkeys setting off from the bottom of the furnace and having already climbed past more than half of its height. Beyond this point, ascending further becomes even more difficult.

Yin Yang said, “Back then, the Kunpeng stopped right here. Now, no one knows where he has gone.”

Wukong asked, “So you’ve never been to the space above either?”

Yin Yang replied, “We both still have enough strength to stay here. According to the Kunpeng, this heaven and earth can only trap the Heavenly Saints. We have already reached the realm of Yin and Yang, so leaving should not be a problem.”

Wukong smiled and said, “It’s not that I’m afraid. I’m just wondering what’s up there.”

Yin Yang said, “Worrying is useless. I don’t have any memory of anything beyond the heavens. Let’s go!” With a shout, Yin Yang leaped into the air, using the power of the Yin and Yang realm, and vanished in an instant.

Wukong was shocked. How could he be so fast? His realm of Yin and Yang was on par with his own. If he could do it, he shouldn’t fall behind. But since he had just entered the realm of Yin and Yang, his mastery of its powers was still lacking.

Wukong stood there for a while, then seemed to have an epiphany. It turned out that to use power, one had to draw the creative force from the Hunyuan Dao Fruit. After absorbing the thousand-foot jade creative energy, his Yin and Yang energies had solidified, almost covering the Hunyuan Dao Fruit. Could it be that the realm of Yin and Yang allowed one to directly use these opposing creative forces from within the dantian?

This is what they mean by “fortune enlightening the mind.” With a thought, Wukong unleashed both opposing creative forces simultaneously, just as he would normally use his power. Immediately, a strange sensation arose—he felt lighter, and the fierce gales were no longer as terrifying as before.

Indeed! Wukong inwardly rebuked himself for being foolish. He thought that reaching this realm meant everything would be fine, but he forgot that cultivation required continuous effort. Holding such great power yet not knowing how to use it was like wasting a precious treasure.

In just a short while, Wukong caught up to Yin Yang. Yin Yang let out a light exclamation and said, “How is it that you’re faster than me?” Wukong replied, “Weren’t you waiting for me?” Yin Yang asked, “Who said I was waiting for you?”

As they spoke, they continued moving without pause. After a while, they suddenly saw a sky of azure blue at the top.

Wukong looked up carefully and stopped in awe. Yin Yang stopped beside him and pointed upward, saying, “That is…” Wukong could see clearly too—a sun hung right in the center of the azure sky.

The sun—it was actually a sun. He had seen this sun countless times before; even when it flew upward just now, he could see it clearly. But Wukong never imagined that the sun would be right inside the furnace! Wukong was utterly shocked, while Yin and Yang, unaware of what he was thinking, asked, “Is that the sun?”
Wukong nodded blankly. Of course it was the sun, but he came from a later era. He knew that around the true sun there were nine major planets, and between Earth and the sun lay Venus and Mercury. He and Yin and Yang had traveled all this way without seeing anything until they suddenly saw the sun—how was that possible? This sun must be fake, just like those enlarged stars in the realm of Patriarch Subhuti—it wasn’t the true sun of the universe.
Who could have the courage and ability to create a sun that provided light for all things in the world? Wukong felt he was getting closer to the answer.
Wukong said, “Don’t stop, keep going!”
The two headed straight toward the reddish-yellow sun. After walking for a while, they felt unbearably hot. With their cultivation levels, ordinary fire in the world couldn’t harm them, but the heat radiated by this sun was beyond their tolerance.
Yin and Yang couldn’t hold back any longer and said, “If we keep going like this, we’ll probably turn to ashes first.”
Wukong replied, “It’s fine. The sun is in the sky; if we move to the side, we’ll naturally be away from it.”
As the sun moved from east to west, the two flew eastward horizontally. Indeed, they felt much cooler. Almost reaching the edge of the sky, Wukong said, “From here onward, there should be no problems.”
They continued upward, getting closer to the blue sky. The higher they went, the more astonished Wukong became—this sun was incredibly large. By eye, it seemed to be hundreds of thousands of miles in diameter. Yet, if it weren’t that large, it wouldn’t be able to benefit all things in the world.
With the sun below them, both felt slightly tired. This journey was far more exhausting than a fierce battle. The strong winds never ceased, growing fiercer as they climbed higher. Even Xuan Nu and Ni Li couldn’t stay here for long.
Amid these winds, the two sat cross-legged, meditating to regulate their breath. In the realm of Yin and Yang, creation continued endlessly, and the Hunyuan Dao fruit began to rotate, gradually filling the Yin and Yang aspects. The creation within the Hunyuan Dao fruit came from their previous cultivation. With their current cultivation levels, although the creation contained within it wasn’t infinite, it was almost impossible to exhaust it.
After meditating, the two felt extremely energetic and continued their journey. By now, the sky was gradually darkening. Wukong saw the sun sinking westward, and the heat vanished completely, leaving them much cooler.

Looking higher, Wukong was shocked once again. In his mind, since the sun was man-made, there must be a bright moon and stars during the day and night alternation. But when he looked up, he saw no stars or moon. As dusk approached, many holes gradually appeared in the blue sky, from which a faint light seeped out.

Yin Yang exchanged a glance with Wukong and exclaimed in surprise, “Could this be the starlight seen on earth?”
Wukong was speechless. With no stars in the sky, the so-called starlight on earth was actually just the light coming from these holes. This sky resembled a giant sieve!
Then where was the moon? Wukong asked Yin Yang, “What day is it today?” Yin Yang replied with a smile, “How could I possibly remember that?”
Wukong thought to himself that without larger holes, the moon couldn’t be seen from earth… Hmm, he had just seen a full moon in Jinping Prefecture. Today should be the 16th day of the lunar month, the night of the full moon—how could there be no moon?
As he pondered, a large hole appeared in the eastern sky. The blue sky looked like a curtain with many small holes, being pulled from east to west. From afar, didn’t it resemble the moon moving westward?
Yin Yang asked, “Is… is that the moon?”
Wukong nodded with a wry smile and said, “I’m afraid there’s no other explanation.”
Both of them knew this sky wasn’t truly a sky but a huge furnace. Yet they never imagined that the one who created this furnace had made only one sun, while using such a ridiculous method for the moon and stars. It was this curtain full of holes that deceived everyone.
Yin Yang said, “Let’s get out of this sky and see what’s behind it.”
Wukong was also filled with great urgency. The two set off toward the largest hole—the moon.
Though the fierce winds were strong, they couldn’t stop their desire to leave this sky. The vast expanse of the sky didn’t make Lingming and Yin Yang feel lonely. This cosmic furnace was unfathomable. Whenever a calamity struck, it was the day when all living things perished. What exactly did the person hiding behind that curtain want to do?
The journey became increasingly difficult. With each leap, they could only cover tens of thousands of miles. This time, it took them half an hour to reach the hole.
Wukong examined the curtain carefully. It wasn’t made of cloth but seemed to be jade emitting a blue glow. Since it could withstand such fierce winds, it was certainly nothing ordinary.
Where else in the world could there be such a hard material? Wukong immediately thought it was likely made of the same material as the Pillar Holding Up the Sky. Looking at the dense holes on it, he felt a sense of fear. If all these holes were dug using the blood of the five kings of beasts, how many qilins and phoenixes would have died?

The closer one got to the hole, the larger it seemed. The distance between this sky and the ground was countless miles, yet ordinary people on the ground could see it clearly. Wukong roughly estimated that the hole was also tens of thousands of miles away. And when looking inside through the hole, there was only a sea of white light…