Wukong transformed into human form, with a height of six feet, a fair face without a beard, exuding an aura of scholarly elegance. His eyes were lively, making him appear like a talented scholar from a wealthy family.
Wukong found a path and headed towards the Water Curtain Cave. Although it had been destroyed, he still wanted to take one last look.
Without using spells, he trekked for three full days before reaching the Water Curtain Cave.
Upon closer inspection, drastic changes had taken place.
The floral and fruit trees had long turned to ashes, the once-clear river water no longer existed, and all that was left was scorched earth!
"My monkey children, your king has failed you," he murmured to himself.
Wukong silently recited this in his heart as he grabbed a handful of charred earth, letting it slowly slip through his fingers. Once naive to sorrow, his eyes now bore deep, unscalable sorrow and pain. If he had known, he would have preferred to remain a monkey that knew no spells.
"Yaksha, look, someone is coming!" Garuda called out, parting the clouds.
The Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons appeared in the sky, their eyes cold and indifferent, looking down on Wukong as if he were an ant.
After the last speck of dust fell from his fingertips, Wukong slowly raised his head and glanced at them.
The Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons seemed to say, "Move along, this is no place for mortals!"
After locking eyes with the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons for a moment, Wukong flicked his sleeve. However, he didn't brush off the dust on his body and turned to leave. His heart was filled with rage, and he wanted to kill these eight minions of Buddhism by his own hands! But he refrained, for it wasn't the time yet. Killing them would only bring endless trouble.
"Hmm?" Yaksha was dissatisfied with the way Wukong looked at them and wanted to punish him slightly.
Ordinary people would inevitably kneel upon seeing them, but Wukong's gaze was indifferent and devoid of any fear.
"Hey, boy, stop right there!" Yaksha shouted.
Wukong turned a deaf ear and quickened his pace, his every step spanning thirty feet.
Garuda said, "I wonder from which Sect this outstanding disciple comes, to possess such courage and capability. At such a young age, he has already mastered the Ground-Shrinking Spell. In the future, he might well be ranked among the immortals."
Yaksha snorted coldly. Seeing that Wukong ignored him, anger rose in his heart. He flicked his finger, and a beam of light shot from his fingertip towards Wukong's knee, intending to break it! However, as the light almost touched Wukong, he sidestepped, and the light barely grazed the hem of his robe.
A flicker of murderous intent flashed in Wukong's eyes, but he did not stop. Instead, he quickened his pace even more.
Yaksha exclaimed in surprise, his fingers flicking like lightning, launching ten beams of light towards Wukong, which arrived in an instant.
Wukong sneered to himself, "If it were the old days, you mere eight Dharma Bodies would be dead by my stick!"
Wukong formed a seal with his hand and his body turned into a stream of blue smoke, rising into the air. The ten beams of light pierced through it, hitting the ground and sending dirt flying and dust billowing, but they did not harm Wukong in the slightest.
"Enough, Yaksha, don't make trouble! This young man is no ordinary person, and he must have a formidable master supporting him. If you really killed him and brought trouble, the Buddha Ancestor would know and you would doubtlessly be punished!" Mahoraga, seeing that Yaksha was increasingly aggravated and was about to kill the young man with a trident, hurriedly intervened.
Yaksha, fierce by nature, but also wary of the Buddha Ancestor's punishment, reluctantly sheathed his trident and watched the young man in green clothes leave.
Wukong ran a hundred li in one breath and, seeing that the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons did not pursue him, he heaved a sigh of relief.
"Heh, these people of the Buddhist Family really present a righteous façade. They appear compassionate on the surface, but the moment something goes against them, they seek to punish others! Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons, wait and see how I'll smash you all to death with one stick!" Wukong secretly detested them and was extremely disdainful towards the Buddhist Sect.
"It is said that eating Tang Monk's flesh grants immortality and greatly increases mana! Now that the Buddhist Sect treats me this way, and since Tang Monk torments me with the Tightening-Crown Spell, I might as well eat him first and foil the Buddhist Sect's plot!"
Wukong sneered and quickly made his way towards the Western Direction, remembering the route from days gone by.
"No, that won't do!"
Wukong suddenly slapped his forehead and thought to himself, "That Six-Eared Macaque is extremely powerful, matching the former me. Just recovering some mana and going after Tang Monk now would likely get me killed by that Six-Eared Macaque. It seems I'll have to wait some more time; their ninety-nine eighty-one ordeals can't be completed in just a couple of years anyway. Ideally, finding a few formidable allies would certainly make things easier."
Though Wukong knew he was no match for the Six-Eared Macaque, he was in no rush, recognizing that cultivation isn't something that can be achieved in just a few days. If he were to be overly eager for quick success, it could backfire.
After traveling an unknown number of li, Wukong saw an old man on a mountain peak nearby gathering herbs.
Next to a multicolored ginseng sat a python about eighteen feet long. The old man, holding a sharp knife in one hand and clinging to the rock wall with the other, struggled with the python. Their fight was evenly matched. The python opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue, pushing the old man back from cutting the multicolored ginseng, yet wary of the sharp edge of the knife, it dared not press too hard.
Although the old man appeared aged, he was nimble and skillfully maneuvered on the cliff with the python entangled.
The old man struck with his knife.
The python, dodging the old man's knife by tilting its head, then bit toward the old man's neck.
With a flick of his wrist, the old man's thrown knife spun back, drawing a circle before chopping towards the python's attacking head.
That python proved to be cunning and resilient; reacting quickly as it saw the old man's sharp knife coming, it immediately tucked its head, lashed its tail, and struck at the old man's face!
The old man grunted, tapped his toes against the rock wall, and like a bat, swept up into the air, flipped over, dodged the lashing tail, and swung down with his knife! This strike, surprisingly imbued with an aura of sharpness, showed that the old man actually possessed some spell cultivation!
Wukong watched in amazement. Although he could now crush this python with one hand, watching this mortal struggle with the python was both intriguing and thrilling.
The python was cleaved in two by the old man's knife, its body unable to cling to the tree branches on the cliff, and it fell down, pulverized into a mush from the several-dozen-meter fall. The old man heaved a sigh of relief, drenched in sweat, plucked the multicolored ginseng, but at that moment of relaxed alertness, he misstepped and suddenly fell from the cliff!
"Be careful!"
Wukong yelled, hurried to beneath the cliff, just as the old man fell above him. He raised his left hand to support the old man's waist, then grabbed his left leg with his right hand, spun, generating momentum, then took two steps back, transferring the old man's force to himself and dissipated it through his feet, thus steadying him securely.
"Whew!" the old man exclaimed, startled and dripping with sweat, catching his breath, and hardly having a moment to give thanks.
Wukong smiled and said, "Old sir, are you all right?"
The old man replied, "Young man, thank you. Otherwise, I might have been done for today."
Wukong, seeing that the old man had unleashed a sharp energy with his knife strike, must be a person of significant cultivation, yet surprisingly, he could not even fly. Curious, he asked, "Old sir, I saw your knife skills were fierce, seemingly with some cultivation, yet you don't know even the simplest flying techniques?"
The old man waved his hands and laughed, "What cultivation do I have? I only learned a few skills from some itinerant performers in my youth, and have been gathering herbs and chopping wood in the mountains all my life."
Wukong was even more surprised and asked, "Then how did that strike that killed the python carry an aura of sharpness?"
After listening, the old man lightly "Oh"ed and said, "Young man, are you a spell practitioner? This question has been asked by many people before."
Wukong continuously nodded, his curiosity boundless.
The old man touched the multicolored ginseng in his hand and smiled, "It's something I grasped over the past few years. People who cultivate seek eternal life; us mountain villagers only think about how to chop more wood than others... Over time, it becomes skilful, and with further reflection, I unexpectedly discovered some tricks and thus managed to cultivate this sharp aura."
Wukong asked in surprise, "Without a method, how did you cultivate it?"
The old man smiled and said, "This old man doesn't know, but I have my own perspectives, would you like to hear them?"
Wukong nodded and replied, "Please do tell!"
The old man said, "The method isn't important; what's important is a sincere heart." The old man finished speaking, patted Wukong on the shoulder, and said, "Young man, press on!"
Watching the old man's figure slowly disappear into the distance, Wukong seemed enlightened.
In this world, there originally was no method; methods are but those pondered by one's self, as the old man said. The most important thing is a sincere heart. He had no methods, but he had a heart passionate about life and tirelessly researched how to cut faster. Even though he was merely chopping wood daily, he cultivated a sharp aura difficult for ordinary Taoists to achieve.
Hearing the old man's simple words, Wukong felt he had gained much.
Watching the old man's fading silhouette, he couldn't help but feel reverence.
"In the past, I was too mischievous, so even though I practiced many methods, I didn't achieve much progress. Tathagata could annihilate me with one palm strike! If I had had a sincere heart earlier, not overestimating myself, and diligently cultivated daily, then Tathagata wouldn't have been able to subdue me so easily! Oh... If I had understood this principle sooner, I wouldn't have fallen into such a state!" Wukong's thoughts stirred.
He released his mind, using his body to deeply feel every tiny bit of nature.
Even for a green leaf, he now gained a different enlightenment.
Flying flowers, flowing water, green mountains, white clouds... Former hatred that veiled before his eyes was now unseen, replaced by a rare tranquility.
Wukong, Wukong...
He felt he truly had become enlightened!