Always believing that the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod was an artifact forged by The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord within the Eight Trigrams Furnace, Sun Wukong had now begun to suspect that might not be the case. If his feelings were correct, both the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod and this Wishful Iron Staff were divine iron conceived after the cosmic creation. The Great Dao Runes etched upon it likely formed during the gestational process itself. The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord probably took the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod from The Borderlands and merely conducted a simple ritual refinement within the Eight Trigrams Furnace, without making any significant changes.
The Wishful Iron Staff in the Six-Eared Macaque's possession must have been procured by Tathagata Buddha when he entered The Borderlands. Modeling its design after the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod, he simply replaced the rod's ends with golden hoops rather than silver ones. These two Divine Weapons were of the same origin and appearance, indistinguishable from one another and without any distinction in superiority, which is why Sun Wukong could not vindicate himself.
However, in this lifetime, hmph, let's see where that bald donkey Tathagata finds a Divine Weapon of the same form and nature now. I, Old Sun, will take them all for myself!
As Sun Wukong reached out towards the Wishful Iron Staff, he felt a powerful force of resistance, starkly different from when he took the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod. The Wishful Iron Staff, which hadn't been ritually refined, seemed exceedingly unruly.
"Perhaps, the quenching of the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod in The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord's Alchemy Furnace was not to enhance its quality, but to suppress its untamed nature?"
An idea flickered through Sun Wukong's mind. The next moment, his competitive spirit flared up like blazing fire, "I don't believe that I, Old Sun, who has subdued the Chaos Divine Pearl, can't subdue you!"
The Wishful Iron Staff, towering like a heavenly pillar, was merely an Acquired Spiritual Treasure and had not yet reached the level of an Innate Spiritual Treasure. But Sun Wukong knew that whether it was the Wishful Iron Staff or the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod in terms of power, both were absolutely above average Innate Spiritual Treasures. With the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod currently merging and upgrading within his Qi Sea, what he needed to do now was to claim this Wishful Iron Staff as well, resistance be damned!
"Boom!"
True Solar Fire surged from within, enveloping the titanic Wishful Iron Staff. Sun Wukong exerted his full mana to suppress the staff's rebelliousness, forcefully compressing it, "Shrink for Old Sun! Shrink down!"
Immortal Force transmuted into mana, gushing out and pressing the Wishful Iron Staff with immense heat. Although artifacts have sentience, the Wishful Iron Staff, being an Acquired Spiritual Treasure, had a lesser spirit. Under Sun Wukong's overpowering suppression, it finally reacted, rumbling as it slowly diminished, forcibly reduced by Sun Wukong to the thickness of a bowl rim and a length of ten feet, floating in front of Sun Wukong wrapped in True Solar Fire.
"Refine for Old Sun!"
With a fierce shout, Sun Wukong spat out a blood arrow towards the Wishful Iron Staff, which merged into the enveloping True Solar Fire. He intended to use his blood essence to refine the weapon, to fully subdue the Divine Weapon while preserving its spirit as much as possible. No way would he, like The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord or Tathagata Buddha, destroy the weapon's potential for ascension.
Seeing Sun Wukong enter the process of refining and subduing the Divine Weapon, Luo Bai curled his lips and conscientiously continued to play the role of Guardian. Though this blood essence refinement was less dangerous than the Soul's True Spirit refinement, it was similarly intolerable to be disturbed; otherwise, there was a risk of having all his previous efforts wasted or even suffering backlash and injury.
However, it took far less time for Sun Wukong to subdue the Wishful Iron Staff than it had to conquer the Chaos Divine Pearl. After only ten years, Sun Wukong had subdued the Wishful Iron Staff. Except for the silver hoops at both ends, this Wishful Iron Staff bore no difference to the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod, of course, before its own upgrade. There was no need to speculate that the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod, blended with the stalk of the thirty-six-grade Pure World Green Lotus, would certainly undergo changes and at the very least ascend to the level of an Innate Supreme Treasure. As for other particulars, Sun Wukong could not yet say.
"The name 'Wishful Iron Staff' sounds too ugly; it cannot be called that. Let's name it after its form instead. Let's call you the 'Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod', making a good pair with the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod, eh?"
Twirling the Wishful Iron Staff, now the thickness of a bowl and length of ten feet, Sun Wukong mused. After all, this treasure had already fallen into his hands in this life, the old Tathagata had no chance of naming it. Naturally, he could not still use its original name. The Divine Weapon of Sun Wukong, after all, should be named by Sun Wukong himself.
"Hum~!"
The Silver-Hooped Iron Rod vibrated slightly as if it was quite pleased with the name Sun Wukong had chosen. Sun Wukong also smiled with satisfaction, and with a thought, he shrunk the freshly named Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod to the size of an embroidery needle and tucked it into his ear. Of course, he could have also placed it within his Qi Sea, but as the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Rod was currently undergoing an upgrade there, it was better to keep both rods separated before the upgrade was complete, to avoid additional complications.
"Thunderous boom!"
No sooner had Sun Wukong stowed away the Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod than a muffled sound of thunder flashed through the valley. This rumble of thunder was oddly pressing, as if descending from the vault of heaven. Along with the peal of the Thunder God, bright electric light suddenly sprang up around Sun Wukong, making him feel a stark sense of dissonance and rejection with the surrounding space.
"Could this possibly be...?"
Sun Wukong was startled, recalling the tap on his back by Puti Patriarch when the latter opened the way to the Secret Treasure Land of The Borderlands. He had felt as if something had transferred to him from Puti Patriarch's palm then, but he hadn't dwelt upon it. It appeared now to be this very lightning.
The lightning grew increasingly fierce, manifesting completely from Sun Wukong's body and forming a spatial passageway beside him.
Now everything became clear to Sun Wukong. No wonder Puti Patriarch had said that whether or not he secured the Magical Treasure within the hundred-year period, he would be transported out of The Borderlands—it referred to the lightning power left in him, didn't it?
There were only a few years left until the centennial mark, and perhaps because he had already obtained the divine weapon magical treasure, the lightning power activated the space portal ahead of schedule. If he didn't leave now, he feared he would be trapped in The Borderlands for hundreds of years, just like Luo Bai.
"Brother Monkey, this, this is the passage to leave?"
Luo Bai's voice trembled. Before meeting Sun Wukong, he had been trapped in the godforsaken Borderlands for over five hundred years. With insufficient cultivation realm, he simply could not open the passage to leave, having no way to cross the barrier between the Borderlands and the Three Realms. Now that he had obtained the divine sword he had dreamt of, and the exit passage had appeared, happiness came too damn suddenly!
"Indeed, this is the passage to leave. Let's go!"
Sun Wukong nodded and took the lead stepping into the portal. There were still many treasures in this valley, but since he had already acquired the Chaos Divine Pearl and the Ruyi Silver-Hooped Rod, he had his magical weapons. A monkey shouldn't be too greedy; too much is as bad as too little.
"Brother Monkey, wait for me!"
Luo Bai was still in awe when Sun Wukong already walked into the teleportation channel. Not daring to slack, he hurriedly jogged and followed in, not knowing how long this spatial portal would last. If it disappeared, he would regret it to death!
Just a few breaths after Sun Wukong and Luo Bai left, the lightning-formed space portal began to flicker and seemed about to vanish. Suddenly, two clouds of mist, one red and one black, flew out from the valley and almost at the same time, burrowed into the portal. The next moment, the space portal violently pulsed twice and dissipated.
In the Three Realms, in the Heavenly Court's Ninth Layer of Heaven, within the Jade Pond Water Pavilion.
"Crackle and pop!"
A burst of lightning suddenly flashed into existence, followed by a glowing blue portal from which Sun Wukong and Luo Bai emerged one after another.
"What place is this, with such dense Immortal Spirit Qi?"
Luo Bai sniffed and his face revealed a look of astonishment, but Sun Wukong's expression became somewhat strange. That's because he had been here before, or more precisely, he had been here in his past life!
This is the Jade Pool!
How could the exit of the spatial portal open here? Master, you're not playing a joke on your old Sun, are you?
"Little White, this is the Jade Pond Water Pavilion. I have important matters to attend to, so let's part here. If you ever have time, you are welcome to visit my Water Curtain Cave at Flower-Fruit Mountain in the East Victorious Divine Continent!"
Having said that, Sun Wukong vanishes with a buzz, transforming into a tiny bee and disappeared without a trace.
"Brother Monkey, where are you going? Hey... damn it, just like that? You're leaving?"
Luo Bai was dumbfounded as Sun Wukong was already out of sight. He could only sigh without words and turned to walk in a random direction.
Within the corridors of the Jade Pool, the little bee that Sun Wukong had transformed into was "buzzing" and flying rapidly. He had already reached the breaking point when he was in The Borderlands, but due to the evolving Heavenly Dao Laws there, no tribulation descended upon him. However, back in the Three Realms, the immense pressure before the catastrophe could fall upon him at any moment, and the calamity of the Dark Sun Wind Disaster might strike anytime. He needed to find a safe place to hide from the disaster quickly.
Unfortunately, of all places, the exit of the spatial portal opened inside the Heavenly Court's Jade Pool. If he were to seek refuge and undergo tribulation here, the entire Heavenly Court would be alerted. Sun Wukong did not wish to reveal himself to all the immortals and gods of the Heavenly Court so soon, especially not in such a high-profile manner.
Flying too hastily while worried about the impending Dark Sun Wind Disaster, Sun Wukong seemed a bit preoccupied. After turning a corner, he was suddenly faced with someone running towards him. By the time Sun Wukong realized what was happening, it was too late to dodge, and he crashed straight into the person's arms!
"You scoundrel! I'm going to kill you!"