Devouring The Heavens

“We are going there for the Source Energy of the Dragon Heart. I want to save someone who’s infected by the Heart-Devouring Bug. There’s no other way to save him. Please join us, Mr. Monkey!” Xuanyuan said, with the utmost sincerity.

“You ain’t lying. But me tell you, me ain’t gonna stop you getting the Dragon Heart. But you can’t take the Medicine of the Black Dragon. And me ain’t gonna help you get it. Even you can’t get it, me still get the instrument,” the monkey demanded.

The pig squealed with excitement. “The Medicine of the Black Dragon? The medicine that grew from the death of the Black Dragon? It can bring back the dead and prolong life!”

The Vajrapani Monkey glared at the pig. If not for Xuanyuan, it would’ve long kicked the pig out. It ignored the pig and turned to Xuanyuan. “What you think? Me won’t force you to agree.”

“No problem. I can give you the instrument now.” Xuanyuan smiled happily and presented the Kasaya and the Seven Bodhi Beads to the monkey. He merged his mind into the instruments. “If the monkey wants to harm us, you should help me.”

The monkey beamed when it saw the instruments. “Me knew you have instruments from the Vajrapani line!”

Xuanyuan smiled on the surface, but inside, his heart was bleeding. However, he had to give something to recruit the monkey. Thankfully, he still had the golden skeleton, which worth much more than the instruments.

It did not take much intellect to know that those ‘outside people’ would come after him. He had antagonized the Hai Family of the Eastern Dynasty. There were also many people from the Fighting Dragon Sect who wanted him dead, and they would do all they can to kill him. If the monkey lent him its power, it would be much safer.

“Good! Me can beat them with these two pieces of instruments!” The Vajrapani Monkey wore the Kasaya, and immediately, it acquired the aura of a Buddha.

The next thing it did was kick the pig.

“Woof! You hit me!” the pig screamed.

“If you scream again, me gonna kick you again!” The monkey rolled its eyes, ignoring the pig. It turned to Xuanyuan. “Young man, me still don’t know your name.”

“My name is Xuanyuan. And yours?” Xuanyuan said.

“Me? Me don’t know!” The monkey scratched its ears. “Me master brought me here and died. He called me Little Monkey. Me don’t have name.”

Xuanyuan suddenly thought of a joke. “How about this. I’ll give you a name.”

“What? A name for me? Good!” The monkey grinned.

“From this day onwards, we’ll call you Wukong,” Xuanyuan said mysteriously. “Wukong means ‘understanding emptiness.’ I hope you can understand the universe’s philosophy one day. Don’t cling onto material things or emotions. Everything is empty in the end…”

“Good. A good name. Master kept talking about codes like these before he died. Me don’t understand,” Wukong said.

The pig was jealous.“You gave it a name? Why don’t you give me a name? Why do you have to call me pig all day? You know a few things about Buddhist thoughts, give me a name. I’ll have to see what can you come up.”

Xuanyuan looked at Wukong and turned to the pig again. He suddenly grinned. “Alright. Then I’ll call you Bajie from now on.”

“Bajie? What does it mean? If you can tell me its meaning, I’ll take the name.” The pig wanted to test Xuanyuan. It had discussed with Greed secretly before, but could not get any conclusive answers.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. Bajie represents the eight laws. Law number one, no killing; number two, no greed; number three, no lust; number four, no foul language; number five, no alcohol; six, no luxury….” Xuanyuan was interrupted by the pig’s whining.

“When did you learn all this bullshit from the Temple of Sukhāvatī? What’s the fun of life if I can’t do this, I can’t do that?”

“It’s not something you can understand…” Xuanyuan sighed.

In the middle of their conversation, they suddenly felt a change in the air. From faraway, a powerful Qi slid into the Land of Darkness. The Qi was so powerful that they all were almost pressed to the ground. Xuanyaun activated his Body of All Creations, but it was still difficult to withstand the Qi, so he also activated the Five Elements before finally feeling much more at ease.

“The Flood of Darkness is here. Xuanyuan, thank you for your instruments. Me gonna go out first to heal my wound from the Qi of the Flood. Me gonna kick those bastards’ asses!” The Vajrapani Monkey rushed out of the cave, and the pig followed suit. Through their mental connection, it sent to Xuanyuan, “The Qi of the Flood can also help me and accelerate my process to regain my strength. I’m going out too!”

Xuanyuan was confused and asked Greed, “What’s the Qi of the Flood?”

“The so-called Darkness is the place where souls travel to after death. The Flood of Darkness is the pulling force that brings all the souls in the Land of Darkness towards that location. The door to the Darkness would open and weaken the power of the techniques and dispositions of the Land. At the same time, a Qi comes out from the door, which is extremely beneficial to any practitioners. However, not everyone can practice with it, since the Qi is extremely cold. But it won’t be a problem for you. The Qi can help me regain my power as well,” Greed explained.

“Then it’s an inexhaustible mine of crystals?” Xuanyuan speculated.

“You can say that. The Flood will last for half a month. Many people will come to the Land to practice. The beasts inside will also take the chance to enhance their strength. There will be war. You should be careful.”

“I see!” Xuanyuan turned to Qian Doudou. “Miss Qian, why don’t you stay here. It’s too dangerous outside.”

“Don’t worry, Xuanxuan. I’m much stronger than you! The Qi can’t hurt me.” When he noticed that her skin was covered with a faint, golden light, he knew she was not lying.

“Alright, then we’ll go out together,” Xuanyuan said.

Youxue, who was also more powerful than Xuanyuan, had a pale face. Xuanyuan took out the spines of the cloud dragons to protect him from the Qi.

“Youxue, take these. It’ll help you with your practice,” he said, before setting off from the cave with Qian Doudou.