Volume 4: The Revelation Revealed – Chapter 5544: Racing to Mount Sumeru

The story came to an abrupt halt here.
What exactly the Tathagata had seen, Ksitigarbha did not know, nor did Dharma Listening. For after that, no further sound was heard.

Wukong remained silent for a long time. He naturally could not guess what the Tathagata had seen, but he knew that his ability to emerge unimpeded from the furnace was not by chance—it was due to the help of the master of Mount Sumeru.

Although the Tathagata inside the furnace was indeed the one he cared about, Wukong now felt that he was probably far more important than the Tathagata inside. Otherwise, why would the Tathagata pursue him relentlessly, even at the cost of allying against other saints, just to capture him? The arrival of Ksitigarbha and Earthly Mother further solidified this belief in Wukong’s mind.

As he pondered, Ksitigarbha gave him an answer.
“Do you know who you are?” Ksitigarbha asked.
“Who am I? In that realm, I was the Spirit-Clarity Divine Ape, the leader of the Creative Divine Apes. Here, I truly don’t know who I am,” Wukong replied.

Ksitigarbha said, “Don’t you think it’s too coincidental that the master of Mount Sumeru said those words at this exact moment?”

Wukong thought to himself that this was far more than coincidence. After thousands of years of silence, speaking precisely at this time was beyond even the description of telepathy.

Ksitigarbha slowly said, “The Spirit-Clarity Divine Ape… The Tathagata has laid out a truly grand strategy.” He suddenly raised his head and asked Wukong, “Do you know what the master of Mount Sumeru’s name is?”

Wukong shook his head in confusion. Everyone mentioned him simply as “the master of Mount Sumeru,” as if he had no name at all. Ksitigarbha said, “At the top of Mount Sumeru, there is a grand hall called the ‘Hall of Spirit-Clarity’.”

Wukong’s body trembled as he asked, “Are you saying the master of Mount Sumeru’s name is Spirit-Clarity?”

Ksitigarbha nodded and said, “He was originally called Spirit-Clarity. If I’m not mistaken, that was the title he gave himself after reaching the realm of the saints.” Wukong asked, “If he has a name, why doesn’t anyone call him that?”

Earthly Mother, who had remained silent until then, said, “The master was the first to achieve sainthood in this world. When he reached that realm, many of the saints we know today had not yet been born. He called himself Spirit-Clarity because he believed he had transcended mental obstacles and attained spiritual clarity… The master once said that those below the level of saints were still struggling on the path to immortality, with confused minds. Only by reaching the level of a saint could one understand the origin of the universe and the life of all things. But unexpectedly, later on, the master reached a realm of discarding falsehood and retaining truth, and suddenly abandoned his title of Spirit-Clarity, forbidding others from calling him that.”

Wukong thought for a while and said, “So he had some further realization?”

Hou Tu said, “He only said four words back then—‘a frog in a well.’ He must have felt that the title ‘Lingming’ didn’t suit him.” Reaching the realm of sages, discarding the false to retain the true, attaining the state of true sageship, and then retreating in seclusion to seek the path of eternity… Thinking of these things, Wukong couldn’t help but sigh. At such a sage-like level, they had lived for countless tens of thousands of years. For them, it was less about seeking immortality or longevity and more about pursuing the Dao. The Lord of Mount Mahasumera was probably the loneliest person in the world—lost in uncertainty with nothing to guide him, forced to fumble his way forward. One wrong step could waste tens of thousands of years, or even—lead to eternal ruin! And the Lord of Mount Mahasumera called himself Lingming—what was his relationship with this very Lingming Divine Ape? Could he be the reincarnation of the lord? If so, why end up in that furnace? Wukong murmured, “I really want to know what the Tathagata saw on Mount Mahasumera.” He asked Ksitigarbha and Hou Tu, “Has anyone ever been there?” Ksitigarbha replied, “The summit of Mount Mahasumera is a forbidden place; no one has ever gone there.” Wukong said, “I want to go and take a look!” Ksitigarbha, seemingly anticipating this, knew Wukong’s identity was extremely special and that there seemed to be a subtle connection between the lord and Wukong, so he said, “Hmm, if you want to go there, no one will stop you.” Wukong hesitated, “It’s just…” Hou Tu asked with a smile, “Are you worried about the Tathagata?” Wukong replied, “Exactly!” Ksitigarbha and Hou Tu exchanged a glance. Hou Tu said, “I can send someone to protect him with the power of the four continents.” Ksitigarbha added, “If nothing goes wrong, the Qilin, Phoenix, and Zhenwu won’t stand by idly either.” “With so many people around, even if the Tathagata enters the realm of discarding the false to retain the true, he can only retreat. Wukong, when do you plan to go?” Hou Tu asked. “The sooner, the better,” Wukong replied, already eager. Hou Tu said, “Good. You two wait for me here for a moment.” With that, Hou Tu’s figure vanished from the chair. Ksitigarbha stroked the fur on Diting’s neck and sighed, “This world will never know peace after all.” Wukong asked, “May I ask, Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, how are the powers in this world distributed? Aside from the Lord of Mount Mahasumera, are there any other sages who are on good terms with the Tathagata?” Ksitigarbha replied, “The Tathagata has always been solitary, with no interactions with others. The Three Pure Ones belong to Taoism and hardly get involved in worldly conflicts. The Phoenix, Qilin, and Zhenwu are very close friends, and Fuxi and I have been close friends for many years. As for the Buddhists Ran Deng and Maitreya, I often interact with them too; we can be considered close friends.” Wukong asked, “What about Laozi and Zhuangzi from the Isla Xiaoyao, and the Kunpeng?”

Ksitigarbha said, “These two are extremely carefree, like the idle clouds and mist of Laozi and Zhuangzi—acting without restraint. But their nature is straightforward, so it’s utterly impossible for them to secretly collude with Tathagata.”
“Hmm, what about Xiangliu, the King of All Insects?” In the world within the furnace, Xiangliu was Tathagata’s accomplice, and Wukong was worried the same might be true here.
Ksitigarbha laughed, “Xiangliu? His meager abilities can’t stir up any waves.”
Wukong thought about it and agreed. This world was different from the furnace—inside the furnace, Tathagata acted in secret, with knowledge of the outside world and advance planning for each cycle. But here, Tathagata wasn’t the only powerful force; the Master of Mount Mahamaya and Laozi and Zhuangzi were equally unfathomable. Tathagata had to be extremely cautious if he wanted to take any action.
Thinking of the Master of Mount Mahamaya having meditated for thousands of years, while the seven cycles in the furnace world totaled only a million years, Wukong suddenly felt that Tathagata must have been waiting for this moment for a long time.
In other words, as long as the Master of Mount Mahamaya was around, Tathagata dared not act rashly. That man’s single word could terrify Tathagata, showing just how much Tathagata cared and feared him.
Ksitigarbha suddenly said, “Tathagata’s seizure of Little Mount Mahamaya was already highly unusual. But after that, he ceased all activity, leaving no further moves. Others had no reason to accuse him of wrongdoing. All the sages of this world guessed at Tathagata’s motives. It wasn’t until you came out of that realm that some clues emerged.”
Wukong asked, “What clues?”
Ksitigarbha replied, “Lingming is gone, and the Divine Ape of Lingming has appeared. The mountain master’s intention to protect you is obvious. I even think you might be the reincarnation of the Master of Mount Mahamaya! Or… perhaps the Dao essence has taken possession of you!”
Hearing this, Wukong wasn’t surprised. But when he heard the words “Dao essence,” he suddenly remembered Ran Deng’s words, “The Dao essence never perishes!” If the Master of Mount Mahamaya couldn’t find a way to achieve immortality through a physical body, could he transfer the Dao essence to the Divine Ape in the furnace to achieve immortality? Perhaps all this would only be resolved once they reached Mount Mahamaya.
At that moment, Houtu stepped out from behind the glow and said, “Everyone has been waiting outside.”
Ran Deng smiled, “Sure enough, under Lingming’s orders, no one dares to disobey.”
But Wukong had no mood for jokes. Whenever Mount Mahamaya came up, he felt vaguely that some major event awaited him. Whether it was good or bad, only heaven knew.

The globule kept flying upward and soon emerged above the ground. Wukong looked inside and saw the Phoenix, Qilin, Zhenwu, Fuxi, Dayu, Houyi, and others waiting outside with solemn expressions. Behind them were a few more people—by their appearances, they were clearly Zhu Rong, Jumang, and Rushou. There was also one person dressed in black with a rugged look. Wukong guessed that this must be the Water God Gonggong; so this was what Gonggong looked like. Gonggong and Zhu Rong stood hand in hand, showing that the saying “water and fire cannot coexist” was just a myth—these two must be a divine couple.

The Phoenix looked at Wukong with an earnest gaze, as if wanting to say something but hesitating.

Wukong stepped forward and asked, “Phoenix, what do you want to say?”

Hearing this, everyone stepped back and formed a circle around the Phoenix and Wukong. They kept their distance to avoid any misunderstandings. The Phoenix transmitted a message, “Let’s talk on the way.”

The Phoenix took off into the air, flapping its wings toward Wukong as if waving him to follow. Wukong got up and followed. The two of them flew ahead, distancing themselves from the rest.

Wukong asked through telepathy, “How are your injuries?”

“The Phoenix replied, “It’s nothing serious.”

Wukong asked, “Where has Buddha gone?”

“The Phoenix said, “Seeing that you were nowhere to be found, he lost interest in fighting and went to look for you.”

Wukong said, “It’s fortunate we met Hou Tu and Ksitigarbha; otherwise, who knows how long he would have kept pestering me.”

“The Phoenix said, “The more I look at you, the more you remind me of someone.”

“Oh? Who?” Wukong was surprised. He was currently in monkey form. If he resembled anyone, it would only be another monkey species. And these sages all had human appearances—so who could he possibly resemble?

“The Phoenix asked, “Do you think you resemble Fuxi?”

Wukong was speechless. Fuxi was a king among humans, noble and distinguished. How could he possibly resemble him? He immediately shook his head.

“The Phoenix asked, “Have you heard of the concept of the ‘second true form’?”

Wukong was shocked. “The second true form? Could it be that Fuxi is the second true form?” He thought to himself, I’ve not only heard of it but also mastered it myself.

“The Phoenix confirmed, “That’s right. Fuxi’s human form is indeed his second true form. He was originally an ape, but few people know this.”

Wukong was even more surprised and asked, “How could an ape become a king among humans?”

“The Phoenix explained, “Apes don’t belong to the four categories of scaled, feathered, insect, or reptile creatures; they fall under the category of ‘other’. So it’s not strange for them to become kings.”

Wukong murmured, “So you’re saying I resemble Fuxi.”

The Phoenix shook its head. “No. Although he is an ape, you and he only resemble each other in appearance; your expressions are very different.”

“Oh? Then who do I resemble?”

Phoenix said solemnly, “Have you ever thought that the ruler of Mount Sumeru is also an ape?”
“Huh?” This was completely unexpected for Wukong—the supreme being in the world—was actually a monkey?