Wukong had attained the Dao of Immortals, but people of the Immortal Path still needed to cultivate spells to evade the Three Disasters and Nine Tribulations, lest they have no chance of surviving under the wrathful fire of the heavens. It was akin to a child who possessed great strength, capable of sending someone flying with a single punch, yet did not know how to wield this power. And spells were the method and means of its use, or in the terms of the mortal world, mana was the cultivation strength, and spells were the skills of fist and foot.
Wukong knelt at Patriarch Subhuti's feet and said, "Master, teach me, teach me! I shall never commit evil deeds!"
However, Subhuti shook his head and said, "Your fate is peculiar, destined to disrupt the Three Realms. If I pass on this Taoist art to you, I too will injure my own virtue."
Wukong listened silently, the havoc in the Celestial Palace was not his desire, but he was subject to various schemes, and moreover, there were so many experts in the Heavenly Court. If any great emperor of the Heavenly Court stepped forward, Wukong would be turned into minced meat. However, the waters of the Heavenly Court ran deep, filled with dragons and fishes mixed together, each great emperor loyal in appearance to the Jade Emperor, but actually harboring their own cunning plans in secrecy. Moreover, Grand Supreme Lord Laozi and Laojun were engaging in abetting tyrants, taking Wukong to the pill furnace to refine pills, ostensibly for alchemy, but in fact helping him temper his body, and even refining a pair of Flaming Eyes for him, thereby advancing his skills so that even thunderstorms couldn't harm him.
The Jade Emperor's dissatisfaction with the Three Pure Ones started there, of course, and there was also covert dealings between the Jade Emperor and the Buddhist sect, otherwise, the Three Pure Ones wouldn't have been so enraged, using him to start a conflict and thus commence the Buddhist-Daoist struggle of the Journey to the West. Today, the Buddhist-Daoist situation is extremely tense, with the Jade Emperor as the leader of Taoism, yet exchanging glances with Tathagata, truly thinking that holding the divine position of the Great Heavenly Master would allow him to do as he pleased, disregarding the three great hierarchs altogether.
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Subhuti then stopped speaking further and pressed his finger to Wukong's forehead, where golden light shimmered, and phrases of the Incantation and Heart Method were transmitted into his mind.
This Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Transformations were created by Goddess Nu Wa, but in the Middle Ancient Period, during a great war, even Saints took part, causing the heavens to collapse, after which Nu Wa used the Qiankun Ding to refine the Five-Colored Crystal Stones to mend the heavens. Among them, the divine skill employed was the most powerful "Manipulate Creation" of the Thirty-Six Transformations.
Subhuti intended to teach Wukong the three methods of "Action," "Stillness," and "Art," many of which were included in the Thirty-Six Transformations.
Subhuti pondered silently, "Empress Zhi Ren, this Macaca is also deemed your descendant, born from the mended heaven stones you refined. By doing this, I consider your karmic connection concluded."
Having received the Method of Thirty-Six Transformations, Wukong felt joyous and said, "Master, you must also pass on to me a powerful Escape Technique, so if I can't win a fight, I can at least run away!"
Subhuti was torn between laughter and tears, but retorted, "You scoundrel... well, let me teach you the divine skill of VLOOKUP(A1025,[1]Sheet1!$A:$B,2,0), After mastering it, with a single somersault, you can travel up to eighteen thousand miles away on the clouds."
Wukong clapped his hands in delight and said, "Good, thank you Master, thank you Master!"
Subhuti thus transmitted the oral spell and mental method of the Somersault Cloud to Wukong, instructing him to practice on his own. In fact, Wukong had long since mastered it, but he feigned ignorance to avoid arousing any suspicion from Subhuti, as this was after all a Daoist art "produced by Subhuti," and Subhuti was certainly some formidable figure hidden in the shadows. He wondered whether Subhuti was more powerful than Tathagata or the Three Pure? Tathagata had captured Wukong with a single palm strike using his Heaven-Penetrating Power; even now, thinking about it left him shaken. It was the Buddhist sect's Divine Skill, the Buddha Land in Palm, which could even transform a single grain of dust into ten thousand Buddha kingdoms. Naturally, Wukong could not escape from the palm of Tathagata.
"Master, I don't have any weapons that suit me, could you perhaps provide one?" Wukong asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Fie! You macaque, completely ungrateful! Find the weapons yourself, do not come asking me!" Subhuti couldn't help but rebuke him.
Wukong touched his head and said, "Master, this cultivation is perilous. Without suitable weapons and magical treasures, how can I stand against others? If I were to be defeated, it would also undermine your reputation."
Subhuti's expression turned cold as he said, "Then you should focus on cultivating in the Three Stars Cave until your divine skills are fully achieved before you venture out."
Wukong, with a bitter face, grabbed the lapels of Subhuti's robe and pleaded, "Master, please be kind."
Subhuti reluctantly laughed and cursed jokingly, "Fine, fine! I have here a magical treasure crafted by the Morality God in imitation of the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's Great Year Whip. Although its effects are far inferior to the true divine artifact in Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's hands, its power is certainly not weak. You may take it."
How delighted Wukong was inside! In his past life, he knew nothing but to rely on the Jingu Bang to show off his power. Whenever demons possessing powerful magical treasures appeared, even those with lower cultivation than his managed to give him a hard time, forcing him to seek help everywhere. But now, having obtained a Great Year Whip, albeit a counterfeit, he was exceedingly pleased.
Wukong watched as a soft whip appeared in Subhuti's hands. The whip was red and looked quite ordinary, but as Subhuti lifted and whipped it sharply, it made a crisp sound and dispersed a formidable pressure. Overjoyed, Wukong accepted the magical treasure, while Subhuti reluctantly transmitted the oral spells, mental method, and usage technique.
Laojun's methods of pill and artifact refining were regarded as second to none in the Three Realms. Although the Great Year Whip was a counterfeit, Wukong holding it in his hand felt its exceptional power. His own Jingu Bang merely qualified as a weapon, barely able to transform as a magical treasure does. However, weapons like the Great Year Whip, with their special effects, truly counted as magical treasures.
"Here is another magical treasure, a counterfeit of the Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun's God-Beating Whip: one soft whip and one iron whip, they can be considered a pair of male and female whips," Subhuti was quite generous to his disciple. Since Wukong had asked him for a magical treasure, he might as well give it, especially since it was a counterfeit, "This pair of magical treasures can be called the Pair of Male and Female Whips. You take them and refine them well, and once you are thoroughly proficient, you can leave the mountain on your own."
Wukong joyfully accepted that counterfeit God-Beating Whip, which had twenty-one segments and was three feet and six and a half inches long, thinking to himself, "If only I had been smarter back in the day and asked my master for more magical treasures, how could Yang Jian have subdued me during the Havoc in Heaven? Heh heh, these two whips are great: one hard, one flexible, complementing each other beautifully."
The God-Beating Whip was a spiritual treasure from the Ancient Era of Deification, a divine artifact that determined the divine statuses in the Three Realms and played a significant role in the Divine Enthronement battle. Jiang Ziya had also been invincible with this whip. Although Wukong's whip was a counterfeit, it was still impressive, especially as it had been casually crafted by Laojun. It was enough to make countless people of the Immortal Path vie for it.
Wukong held the God-Beating Whip and the Great Year Whip in his hand as a flash of golden light shimmered between his brows, shining upon them and instantly absorbing both magical treasures into his brow.
Subhuti didn't care about such magical treasures; after giving them to Wukong, he let him retreat on his own.
Having gained a benefit, Wukong was naturally fully satisfied. He kowtowed three times to Subhuti and walked away joyfully.
Subhuti couldn't help but shake his head and curse, "This Macaca truly knows no gratitude!"
After acquiring the two magical treasures, Wukong wanted more, but upon seeing the look in Subhuti's eyes, he immediately suppressed the thought. He was certain that if he spoke up again, the Patriarch would definitely throw him out. After leaving Patriarch Subhuti's residence, he quickly returned to his room, then leaped onto his meditation cushion to sit cross-legged, impatiently taking out the two whips.
Wukong thought to himself, "If they are genuine, that would be splendid. With the vastness of the world, where couldn't I go?"
The true God-Beating Whip could only be possessed by someone destined by heaven, and Jiang Ziya was such a person, which is why he could possess the God-Beating Whip. The genuine God-Beating Whip was still likely in the hands of Yuan Shi Immortal Monarch, and even with his Saint's body, he should not use it carelessly to avoid the great karma associated with the whip. The God-Beating Whip had twenty-one sections, each adorned with four talismans, which glittered dazzlingly, emitting bright lights when swung.
The two whips, one soft and one iron, looked almost like ordinary ones; they needed to be activated with the oral spell and mental method, harboring great power.
He raised the two whips into the air, opened his mouth, and spewed a mouthful of Samadhi True Fire, which vigorously enshrouded both divine whips, fiercely burning. Wukong bit his tongue's tip, spraying his vital blood on them. After a moment of refining by the True Fire, the fresh blood seeped into the whips, making them ready to be manipulated as extensions of his limbs.
Both the God-Beating Whip and the Great Year Whip were the paramount among soft and iron whips in the world. Whenever any artifact-refining master wished to make a whip into a magical treasure, the first they thought of were the God-Beating Whip and the Great Year Whip. Thus, many Iron Whips in the hands of those on the Immortal Path had twenty-one sections, each fitted with four talismans, and the soft whips were similarly forged after the model of the Great Year Whip.
As these two whips were masterless, it was much easier for Wukong to refine them. With a thought, he summoned his Primordial Spirit, upon which three lotuses appeared, with two Primordial Spirits sitting on either side while the center one remained vacant. His Primordial Spirit also spewed out refined Congenital True Qi from his mouth, in clusters and bunches, surging towards the two whips.
The brilliance on the two whips became increasingly nourished, trembling slightly and emitting a faint sound, as if sentient, giving a very comfortable feeling.
Wukong's two Primordial Spirits, the one on the left spouting masculine True Qi onto the God-Beating Whip, and the one on the right painting the Great Year Whip with feminine, deadly True Qi.
As they were a pair of male and female whips, naturally, the method of refining them also had to be rational; refining the God-Beating Whip with Pure Yang True Qi would have better effects, and similarly, refining the Great Year Whip with Pure Yin Qi would also be effective. Conversely, the results would be significantly affected. Wukong's two Primordial Spirits, one cultivated Pure Yang True Qi and the other Pure Yin True Qi, one cultivated Heavenly Gang Transformation and the other Earthly Sha Transformation, could indeed complement each other, fostering the Golden Lotus in the fire without worrying about the imbalance of Yin and Yang.
Having refined them for about three days, Wukong flicked his fingers, and his Primordial Spirit, sitting atop the Three Flowers, returned to his body; the two whips were also well refined.
The two divine whips tumbled in the air, clashing against each other and emitting a booming sound. Wukong snapped his fingers inwardly, formed a spell with his fingers, and the two whips smashed into each other fierily!
"Boom!"
The whole house collapsed instantly, and Wukong was almost blown away by the shockwave, hurriedly steadying his form.
The loud noise alarmed the surrounding senior brothers and sisters, all of whom ran over to watch the excitement.
Wusheng's expression was grim as he shouted, "Wukong, what happened?"
Wukong, scratching his head, sheepishly said, "Well, my master gave me two magical treasures, which I've been refining for a few days, and then I just tested their power."
"Reckless!" Wusheng couldn't help but scold, "Alright, your master wants to see you."
Wukong knew it must be that Patriarch Subhuti was ready to dismiss him, feeling helpless in his heart, he just shrugged off Wusheng and went to find Subhuti.
The fate of Wukong's departure remains unknown, please tune in to the next part to find out.