Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 536: Emerging from Heaven

Wukong could hardly wait to leave heaven. Gazing at the white sky above, he felt the urge to use his Heavenly Secret Staff to pierce a hole through it. He said to Zhu Yin, “Thank you.”
Zhu Yin was panicked and replied, “How dare I! It’s my greatest fortune to have even a few words exchanged with a sage.”
Wukong said, “If I can establish myself after leaving heaven, you may take any Mount Sumeru stones needed for Fengze as you wish.”
Hearing this, Zhu Yin was so moved that tears streamed from his eyes. He bowed respectfully before Wukong and said, “If this is truly the case, you will be my benefactor for all eternity!”
Wukong waved his hand, lifting Zhu Yin up, and said, “Every word spoken is a favor. I’m leaving now.”
Wukong found a hole to exit and headed straight for the River of Heaven with great determination. Having heard of what lay beyond heaven, his desire to leave grew even stronger. That world was even vaster and more magnificent than the Inner Furnace of Heaven and Earth. Yet these were not the real reasons driving him—he needed to find the master of the Inner Furnace first.
According to Zhu Yin, this person was also a sage, and judging from his promises to Zhu Yin, his status must be quite high. As another sage, what place could he occupy among them?
Soon he reached the River of Heaven. Wukong took out his Heavenly Secret Staff and dived in. The path to heaven, the gate to heaven—as the formation activated, he felt as if he had entered another strange realm. Everything around was covered in white mist, empty of anything, and he alone retained consciousness, unable to see where he was.
This time it took longer than the last time he passed through here, which made Wukong secretly pleased. This was already the fourth time he had used this formation. The first two times, his cultivation level was too low, so he stopped halfway in the strong winds. The third time, he and Yin-Yang reached the realm of Yin-Yang and ascended into that space that defied natural laws. The mystery of this formation lay in its ability to send people to corresponding heights based on their cultivation level.
If the realm of Yin-Yang could reach above the furnace, then where could the realm of spiritual clarity reach?
As Wukong pondered this, he suddenly sensed a change in the surrounding space. Soon, the familiar power of creation surrounded him. His eyes lit up, and he unleashed all his magic, immediately using invisibility to float motionless in the air.
Was this… a pill-making hall?
Wukong looked around. It was a very tall hall, empty except for a massive furnace over a hundred zhang high standing in the center.
There was no one in the hall.

Is this the Cosmic Furnace? How did I manage to come out like this?
Wukong examined the furnace carefully. It had a lid, surrounded by eight pillars that supported its roof—those eight pillars were actually the Nine Heavenly Jade Pillars! Indeed, it was the Cosmic Furnace. Seen from inside, it seemed vast and boundless; from the outside, it appeared only a hundred feet tall. This person’s skill in creating realms was truly unparalleled!
But where had this person gone? A few days ago, he had still tapped the furnace a few times, but now he was gone.
Still, this was better. Wukong could move around more quietly now. However, if that person kept a close watch on what happened inside the furnace, he would eventually notice the absence of the Spirit Ape.
After some thought, Wukong decided he shouldn’t stay here any longer. Inside this furnace were Dayu, the Three Pure Ones, the Qilin, and the Phoenix. And Zhu Yin had said these sages also existed in this world. Wukong couldn’t help but think that this furnace was far more than just a trap for Buddha. If he could find those sages, he might even be able to get their help to uncover this mystery together.
Wukong flew straight toward the palace door. The door was slightly ajar, with a two-foot-wide gap. Wukong slipped through like a fish, then suddenly exclaimed, “Not good!”
It turned out that there was a formation in that gap—not meant to trap people, but as a warning. Not daring to look back, Wukong immediately used his Cloud Jumping skill, leaping an unknown distance. Before leaving, he glanced back and saw that the palace stood atop a very high mountain—this mountain was entirely made of the material of the Heavenly Jade Pillars!
Mount Sumeru? Whether it was the Great Sumeru or the Small Sumeru, at least Wukong now had a target. He wouldn’t be lost when searching for it later.
After flying away, no one pursued him. Only then did Wukong realize that his single Cloud Jump had covered over three hundred thousand miles in this world.
It seemed there were many restrictions inside the Cosmic Furnace—its powers and creation abilities were far inferior to those of the real world. But where should he go now?
Wukong activated the Mysterious Void Technique and was delighted to find that it still worked in this world. Though he couldn’t see the whole landscape like inside the Cosmic Furnace, he could still see hundreds of miles without any hindrance.
With a thought, he found a remote and desolate mountain and landed there.
Here, Wukong couldn’t afford to be careless anymore. The owner of the furnace was now clear—most likely the master of either the Great Sumeru or the Small Sumeru. He just didn’t know which one.

According to Chen Zhuyin, these two immortal mountains are the most famous in the world. It seems these two must also be extremely powerful among the sages; otherwise, how could ordinary people protect treasures like the stones from Mount Sumeru?
In this vast world, preserving one’s life is of utmost importance.
After arriving in this desolate place, Wukong’s first task was to practice all his supernatural abilities. Relying solely on the Sky Mechanism Staff techniques and the Thirty-Six Transformations, he went through them all from start to finish and found no adverse effects, which gave him some relief. As long as he could use his abilities, he felt much more at ease. After practicing, he had another idea and used the power of reverse creation to practice these abilities again. To his surprise, the powers exerted through reverse creation were far more powerful than those through normal creation.
Why was this? Logically, positive and negative creation, yin and yang, should be equally balanced. In this world, normal creation is dominant, while reverse creation exists only faintly. This situation resembled when the Tathagata first introduced reverse creation into the cosmic furnace. He remembered that when he rushed toward the sky’s peak with yin and yang, he had first glimpsed the power of reverse creation, and its use greatly enhanced the strength of his abilities.
Could it be that this trace of reverse creation in the world exists to draw out the yin fish in his dantian? Where did this reverse creation come from, and should it even exist?
He couldn’t find answers to these questions. What lies at the origin of creation is likely a difficult puzzle even in this world. Trying to trace everything back to its roots might exhaust him even if he tried forever. His purpose here was to uncover the master of the cosmic furnace; as for everything else, he would wait for opportunities.
As Wukong was thinking, he suddenly felt a pressure coming from the sky. He immediately became alert and looked up to see a huge monster, its entire body red, its hooves emitting yellow light, spewing flames from its mouth, and surrounded by colorful lights as it rushed toward him.
Upon seeing this monster, Wukong exclaimed, “A qilin!”
Indeed, the monster looked exactly like a qilin, only its size was several times larger than that of the qilin in the cosmic furnace. What was even more terrifying was the pressure it emitted, which made Wukong feel a great threat as well.
The qilin landed on the ground, staring at Wukong with its large eyes and saying, “Are you a newly risen sage? You’ve come to my Tihe Continent—do you want to fight?”

Wukong heard the qilin’s tone, which was somewhat similar to that of the qilin in the Great Furnace, and couldn’t help but laugh. Yet he knew clearly that this was not the Great Furnace of the universe; he was just a newcomer, and everything had to start from scratch, requiring extreme caution at every step.

Wukong first bowed, then said, “Is this Tihe Continent? Then you must be the ruler of Tihe Continent?”

The qilin snapped, “Nonsense! I am the ruler of Tihe Continent, as known to all under heaven. Fight me. If you win, the position of ruler will be yours; if you lose, you’ll serve me as a slave for ten thousand years!”

Hearing this, Wukong realized it was exactly the same rule as what Zhu Yin had mentioned. In fact, this method was quite fair—accept defeat if you lose the bet. But Wukong didn’t want to gamble with the qilin. Though the rules of the universe were significant, for Wukong, his own matters were the most important. Although he wasn’t a significant figure in this world, he knew that in another world, he was a wise and divine ape, part of the Creative Line, and the only one likely to save that world.

Wukong laughed heartily and said, “Who set these ridiculous rules? Why should I follow them?”

The qilin was stunned, then snapped angrily, “Dare you! All sages in the universe abide by these rules. What’s so special about you?”

Wukong curled his lips and said, “What’s so special? If I tell you, I’m afraid it’ll scare you to death!”

This time, it was the qilin who laughed loudly, “Go ahead and say it! If I move even a little, it counts as me losing!”

Wukong replied, “Let me tell you—I’m not from this world, so I don’t need to follow these rules. How about that? Are you scared?” With that, Wukong turned and walked away.

The qilin was stunned and immediately chased after him. But when Wukong turned around, he said with a smile, “You moved? Then you’ve lost!”

As soon as those words left his mouth, a ball of dark-red flames shot out from the qilin in the air and struck Wukong’s back.

Wukong quickly dodged and snapped, “Tch! All talk, nothing but trying to cheat!”

The qilin roared, “What a cunning monkey! All tricks and schemes! These are the kind of people I hate the most in my life!”

Wukong’s clever plan backfired. He thought the qilin was straightforward and would admit defeat once caught in the trap, but instead, it worked against him. So Wukong drew out his Tianji Stick and shouted, “Think I’m afraid of you?”

Seeing Wukong reveal his weapon, the qilin rejoiced, “Great! I haven’t had a chance to use my strength in ages!”