Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 538: Matters of Heaven and Earth

“The world I inhabit is like a great furnace,” Wukong said slowly, word by word. “Brother Qilin should be able to guess that this furnace is actually a realm created by a sage.”

“Within the furnace are Pangu, Kunpeng, Qilin, the Phoenix, ancient figures, and the Three Pure Ones of Taoism…”

Every time Wukong mentioned a name, Qilin’s expression changed. Upon hearing the Three Pure Ones of Taoism, he could no longer hold back and stood up.

Wukong guessed somewhat and asked tentatively, “Do all these people I mentioned truly exist in this world?”

Qilin gave a displeased nod. “Exactly!” With still simmering anger, he raised his hand and smashed the table beside him to pieces, cursing, “Who dares to be so bold as to imprison a sage?”

Wukong asked, “Aren’t you still here?”

Qilin snapped, “That doesn’t matter either!”

Wukong was puzzled. Why was Qilin so enraged over such a trivial matter? Was there some rule at play?

Indeed, Qilin said, “You don’t know everything. It’s common for sages to create realms, but often those with ulterior motives use dark arts to lay down prohibitive spells and schemes within them.”

Wukong asked, “Won’t such actions be discovered sooner or later?”

Qilin replied, “Three million years ago, several cultivators at the level of Xuanxian on Zhamoluo Continent fell for this trick. Their cultivation gradually declined until they turned to ashes and died. After that incident, the sages of heaven and earth joined forces to hunt down the culprits, but they never found them.”

Wukong exclaimed in shock, “There really are such spells that can kill silently?” After hearing this example, Wukong felt a chill in his heart. Had that being from beyond the heavens orchestrated such a grand scheme?

All those people in the furnace were true sages in this world. If that person was skilled in formations and prohibitions, did he intend to eliminate all the sages in the world and rule alone?

Qilin said, “If a sage uses this method on Xuanxians, it’s always effective. But for those like us, with our cultivation level, even the slightest malice from others can be detected. Still, as a precaution, a rule was established: anyone who creates a realm and its contents must not have any connection to this world. Otherwise, they become enemies of the entire world!”

After saying this, Qilin smiled helplessly and added, “It’s just that sages creating realms keep it extremely secret, so how could others know? To be honest, the realm I created isn’t completely pure either. I only include trivial things and have no ill intentions toward others.”

Wukong asked, “Then why don’t you know anything about the furnace where I am, despite so many sages being there?”

Qilin frowned in thought and said, “You say you saw a qilin. What did it look like?”
Wukong thought for a moment, recalled the image of the qilin in his mind, and waved his hand to conjure a lifelike version of it, which stood on the ground. After taking a few looks, Qilin nodded and said, “It indeed resembles me closely. It seems this is by no means a coincidence.”
Wukong asked, “If that’s the case, does that mean this person is an enemy of the whole world?” He hoped that person would become the target of everyone’s attacks, rather than having to face such a powerful opponent alone.
Qilin replied, “Though that’s true, I don’t know what methods this person used to create a qilin without my knowledge. Could it be that he…”
Qilin shook his head, hesitating to speak further.
Wukong asked, “What’s wrong?”
Qilin said, “I suspect this person might very well become a True Sage!”
Wukong smiled bitterly and said, “Brother Qilin, I’ve just arrived here. I know nothing about these so-called Mysterious Immortals or True Sages.”
So Qilin began to explain the general situation of this world to Wukong.
This world had no name and consisted of four great continents: Dongsheng Divine Continent, Nanshan Blessed Continent, Xiniuhe Continent, and Beiju Lu Continent. Hearing this, Wukong thought to himself that the person in question must have wanted to save trouble by not creating a new name and simply using those from the outside world.
Beyond the four great continents were eight smaller continents, named respectively: Tihuo Continent, Pitihuo Continent, Shedi Continent, Shangyi Continent, Zhamoluo Continent, Faluo Continent, Laba Continent, and Julabao Continent.
There were also two immortal mountains, the Great Sumera Mountain and the Small Sumera Mountain, along with one immortal island called Xiaoyao Island.
In these twelve continents, two mountains, and one island, there were always sages who ruled over their respective territories.
The Dongsheng Divine Continent was under the rule of Taoism, governed by the Three Pure Ones of Taoism—Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Daozun, and Taishang Laojun. The ruler of the Nanshan Blessed Continent was a divine dragon whose head could be seen but not its tail; it was said to be named Jiu Tian Xuan Nu, though Wukong had never seen her. The Xiniuhe Continent was under Buddhist rule, with the current ruler being the Future Buddha, Maitreya.
Hearing this, Wukong quickly asked, “The Future Buddha, Maitreya? Have you heard of the Past Buddha and the Present Buddha?”
Qilin replied, “Of course. The Past Buddha, the Ancient Buddha Ran Deng, has long retired from the world. As for the Present Buddha, Tathagata, after leaving his position as World Honored One, went to the Small Sumera Mountain to establish his own sect.”
Tathagata! Small Sumera Mountain! Wukong immediately thought that the huge furnace must be on one of these two Sumera Mountains. If Tathagata had gone to the Small Sumera Mountain, could it be that he was captured by its ruler and imprisoned in the furnace?
“What kind of character is the Present Buddha, Tathagata?” Wukong asked.
Qilin was slightly surprised and said, “If his character isn’t good, how could he be a Buddha?”

Wukong was even more confused. While in the furnace, he had asked Buddha why he was captured and thrown into it. Buddha himself had said that in this world, he was called a demon. And Buddha’s behavior in the furnace was indeed cruel and indifferent, just like that of a demon. But the Qilin said that Buddha had a good character—whose words could be considered fair then?
“Buddha, have you ever killed?” Wukong asked again.
The Qilin shook its head repeatedly and said, “Buddha wouldn’t even harm the life of an ant, let alone kill.”
Wukong murmured, “If he doesn’t kill, why does he call himself a demon?”
The Qilin was surprised and asked, “What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, Wukong had an idea and asked, “Who is the ruler of Little Sumeru Mountain?” He had asked many questions before, but none were very useful. Since he now knew that Buddha was captured by the ruler of Little Sumeru Mountain, he decided to go straight to the point.
The Qilin’s gaze toward Wukong became extremely strange. Wukong felt uneasy under its stare and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The Qilin replied, “Are you intelligent or foolish? I’ve already said that after Buddha gave up his position as the World Honored One, he went to Little Sumeru Mountain. With his abilities, how could the position of its ruler fall to anyone else?”
“What?” Wukong was shocked. “Are you saying the ruler of Little Sumeru Mountain is Buddha!”
There was no need for the Qilin to confirm further. Just by looking at its expression, it was clear that what it said was true. Wukong was now completely lost.
Buddha had once been the ruler of Buddhism in Western Jambudvipa and also the ruler of Little Sumeru Mountain. And the person in the furnace also called himself Buddha. If that furnace was on Little Sumeru Mountain, could it be that Buddha threw himself in? Or perhaps someone invaded Little Sumeru Mountain, captured Buddha, and threw him into the furnace?
In any case, Wukong could be sure of one thing: the Buddha in the furnace was indeed someone from outside the world. This made him fundamentally different from people like the Qilin.
Since he couldn’t figure it out right away, Wukong asked, “Alright, then tell me, who rules the other continents?”
The Qilin replied, “Northern Kusala Dvipa is ruled by Ksitigarbha.”
“Ksitigarbha is here too!” Wukong blurted out. The Qilin glanced at him and said, “That man has great ambitions. It seems he really wants to capture all these sages.”
The Qilin continued, “As for the eight smaller continents, this one is called Tīrthakṣetra, and next to it is Vitarka, ruled by Zhenwu. Both are inhabited by scaled creatures. Further west is Śrāvastī, ruled by Xiangliu, with insectoids living there. Even further west is Urdhvaśāṅkha, ruled by the Phoenix, with birds living there. These four continents are ruled by the lords of all birds, beasts, scaled, and feathered creatures. The remaining four continents are ruled by human kings.”

“Oh? Who is the King of Men?” Speaking of the King of Men, Wukong couldn’t help but think of that two-headed monster fish. He had taken it out from the waters of the netherworld, but it had little use since then.
The qilin said, “The King of Men is Emperor Fuxi. Under his command are many capable and extraordinary figures such as Chi You, Gong Gong, Dayu, Hou Tu, and Hou Yi. In terms of power, his realm is almost as strong as those of the Four Great Continents.”
Hearing these familiar names, Wukong suddenly felt as if he had returned to the ancient times. If he had the chance, he must see them in person.
“Besides the Twelve Continents and the Two Mountains and One Island, there must be even more talented people there, right?” Wukong asked.
“You’re right. With my cultivation level, I can go anywhere in the Twelve Continents, but I dare not venture to the Two Mountains and One Island so easily.”
“Oh?” Seeing that the qilin was also unrestrained in nature and showed fear when mentioning the Two Mountains and One Island, Wukong asked, “What’s so strange about those places?”
The qilin replied, “Let’s start with the island. Its name is Xiaoyao, and its master is named Lao Zhuang—”
“Lao Zhuang? Is it the Lao Zhuang who wrote ‘Free and Easy Wandering’?” Wukong asked in surprise.
“That’s him!” The qilin wasn’t surprised that Wukong knew about ‘Free and Easy Wandering.’ He already believed that world was an imitation, with everything one could imagine present.
“Under Lao Zhuang’s command is a monstrous bird that becomes a Kun when in water and a Peng when on land—it’s extremely powerful!” The qilin shook his head repeatedly, seemingly having suffered great losses at the hands of the Kun and Peng.
Wukong asked, “The Kun and Peng are powerful, no doubt about it. Even in the furnace, they rank among the top figures. But isn’t Lao Zhuang just a weak scholar?”
The qilin sneered and said, “A weak scholar? I’ve heard that in this world, there are many false sages—about twenty or thirty of them. But true sages? There are probably no more than three. Lao Zhuang could very well be one of them!”
Wukong was secretly shocked. He never expected Zhuangzi to hold such a lofty status.
“Alright, what about those two immortal mountains?”
“I’ve already mentioned that Mount Xiaosumi is under the control of the World-Honored Buddha. The World-Honored Buddha has an unfathomable level of cultivation and has never lost since he appeared in the world. That’s why he was able to take control of Mount Xiaosumi,” the qilin said.
“Take control? From whose hands?” Wukong asked.
“The original master of Mount Xiaosumi was quite close to me. His name is—Pangu.”