Once upon a time, after realizing he couldn't stay any longer, Sun Wukong bid farewell to his mentor, the Patriarch Bodhi, and his fellow disciples. With a chant of his spell, he hopped on his somersault cloud and in less than an hour, he was back at the Water Curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain. But alas, the scene that greeted him was one of desolation and ruin, a far cry from the home he remembered.
In his absence, a mischief-making demon king had taken over the Water Curtain Cave and kidnapped many of his monkey kin. Enraged, Wukong ground his teeth and stomped his feet. He tracked down the demon's lair and, fueled by a desire for revenge, he soared north on his cloud.
Before long, he arrived at the demon's Water Dirty Cave and bellowed at the goblin guarding the entrance, "Your so-called king has bullied us monkeys for the last time. Today, I've come to show him who's boss!"
The goblin scurried inside to alert the king, who hastily donned his iron armor and brandished a broadsword as he marched out, surrounded by his minions.
Wukong, with his bare hands, snatched the sword from the demon king and split him in two. Then, plucking a handful of his own hairs, he chewed and spat them out, transforming them into a legion of tiny monkeys. They stormed the cave, vanquishing all the goblins within, rescuing the captured monkeys, and setting the cave ablaze.
With a wave of his hand, Wukong gathered his monkey army, and with a gust of magical wind, they all sped back to Flower-Fruit Mountain. From then on, Wukong had his troops fashion bamboo spears and wooden swords, and with the stolen broadsword, he taught them the art of combat.
But it wasn't long before Wukong felt the need for more formidable weapons. Two of his monkeys informed him that the kingdom of Ao Lai had an arsenal of fine arms. So, Wukong rode his cloud to the kingdom, cast a spell that sent a fierce wind swirling through the streets, and while the townsfolk cowered indoors, he raided the armory, filling it with an army of tiny monkeys made from his own hairs. They plundered the weapons and, with a shift of the wind, returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain.
The fame of the Water Curtain Cave grew, and all the demon chiefs, rulers of the seventy-two caves, came to pay their respects to Wukong. However, one thing troubled him: the broadsword was too light for his taste. An old monkey suggested that beneath the bridge of the Water Curtain Cave lay a passage to the Dragon King's palace, where he might find a weapon more to his liking.
Wukong immediately made his way to the Eastern Sea's Dragon Palace and explained his predicament to the Dragon King, Ao Guang. The king, unable to refuse, had his shrimp soldiers present a trident weighing three thousand six hundred pounds, but Wukong found it wanting. Next, the crab generals brought forth a halberd weighing seven thousand two hundred pounds, but still, it was too light.
The Dragon King insisted there was no heavier weapon, but Wukong would not be swayed. The Dragon Queen then suggested, "There is the divine iron used by Yu the Great to measure the sea's depth, which has been glowing recently. Give it to him to be rid of him." The Dragon King revealed to Wukong, "This treasure is too heavy for any to lift, but if you can take it, it's yours."
Wukong followed the Dragon King to the seabed, where he pointed out the glowing divine iron. Wukong approached and touched the iron pillar, as thick as a barrel and over sixty feet long. He tugged on it, saying, "It's too long and thick. If only it were shorter and thinner."
Before he finished his sentence, the pillar shrank and slimmed down. Wukong, delighted, said, "A bit thinner, please." And just like that, it became even more slender. He saw the inscription: "The compliant golden-hooped rod, weighs thirteen thousand five hundred pounds." He played with it for a while and found it to be just right.
Back in the crystal palace, Wukong requested a matching suit of armor. The Dragon King, in a bind, rang the emergency bell and called his brothers from the other seas. Together, they provided Wukong with a golden armor, a phoenix-plumed crown, and lotus cloud shoes.
Upon returning to Flower-Fruit Mountain, Wukong discovered that the golden-hooped rod could transform into a tiny needle, small enough to hide in his ear. One day, after a feast with the demon kings, he drank too much and dozed off under a pine tree by the bridge. In his drunken stupor, he saw two men with a document bearing his name. Without a word, they lassoed him and tried to drag him away.
Wukong, in a daze, followed them to a city gate marked "Netherworld." Realizing it was the King of Hell's domain, he tried to leave, but the ghostly guards held him fast. Enraged, Wukong pulled out his golden-hooped rod and turned the guards into paste.
Breaking free, he stormed into the city, all the way to the Hall of Darkness, where the ten kings of the underworld were cowering in fear. Wukong demanded, "You sit on your thrones, yet you don't recognize me? I, Sun Wukong, have achieved immortality. Bring me the Book of Life and Death!"
The kings hastily brought the book, and Wukong found his name under the soul number thirteen hundred and fifty. With a flourish, he crossed out his name and all other monkeys', declaring, "This is splendid! You have no power over us now." With that, he fought his way out of the netherworld. The kings rushed to the Jade Cloud Palace to consult with the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, discussing how to report this incident to the Jade Emperor.