The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 202 - 197: The Peach Tree is Young and Its Leaves are Lush

Chapter 202: Chapter 197: The Peach Tree is Young and Its Leaves are Lush

Upon finding a moment of reprieve in his pursuit of the Enlightenment Dao, Wukong felt a pang of guilt for having neglected Tao Yao at Flower-Fruit Mountain and decided to spend a few days with her.

During these days, the two explored the scenic beauty of Dongsheng Immortal State, traversed mountains and rivers, and even visited some of the smaller nations within it to take in the sights of the human world.

Tao Yao had a wonderful time.

Dusk. Just before dusk.

There was a breeze.

Sitting together at the edge of a cliff by the Eastern Sea, listening to the waves crash against the shore, Wukong suddenly furrowed his brows and said, "Tao Yao, is there something you’re hiding from me? I can’t shake the feeling that something is off."

Tao Yao laughed and replied, "Not at all! Do I look like someone who can keep secrets?"

Wukong thought there was some truth to her words, for the girl was too lively, hardly capable of keeping her thoughts to herself. Side by side, they sat with their legs dangling in the air, the sea breeze wafting a briny scent toward them. Tao Yao took deep breaths as if she quite enjoyed the smell of the sea.

"Thank you! If it wasn’t for you, I would never have known there were such fun places beyond the Heavenly Court!" Tao Yao said with a smile, her eyes squinting as she gazed at the distant sunset clouds, which seemed dreamlike and almost too beautiful to be real.

Wukong, cradling his head, lay down and said, "There’s no need to thank me. I should be thanking you. If it weren’t for you, I might still be trapped in the Bagua Oven!"

Tao Yao giggled. How could he forget that when he emerged from the Bagua Oven, Tao Yao’s hair was completely white? How could he forget how she used her own vital blood to write his name time and again to awaken him? Such a debt of gratitude was indeed unforgettable. Wukong thought of this as he inhaled her sweet fragrance, which made him irresistibly drowsy. It was so peaceful he felt like sleeping.

Tao Yao blinked and asked, "Are you going to sleep again?"

Wukong nodded and said, "Yes, it’s been a long time since I had a proper sleep. Let me take a nap, and when I wake up, I’ll continue playing with you."

Saying this, he fell asleep on his arm. Immortals also need sleep occasionally. The constant operation of the Primordial Spirit and the comprehension of the Dao can be utterly exhausting, and there must be rest.

With her flawless eyes, Tao Yao watched him drift to sleep, then softly pinched a spell. Three small steles appeared in her hand and she placed them beside Wukong, chuckling softly, "Daddy told me to give these to you. Go to sleep, I’m off now!"

Wukong murmured a reply in his groggy state, and Tao Yao had already turned into a seven-colored light and departed. Beneath the steles was a note she had left.

It had been an exhausting few years, and Wukong slept deep into the night, only to wake up feeling refreshed, with his spirit full and his limbs limber. As he got up, he saw the moon high in the sky, Tao Yao was gone, but there were three steles beside him.

At the sight of the steles, he was stunned. They were three Swallowing Dragon Steles, just miniaturized. With a wave of his hand, he collected all three into his possession.

Then he saw the note underneath the steles, furrowing his brows as he picked it up.

"Sun Wukong, my daddy has come for me, and I must go! Hope to see you again if fate allows it!" After reading this, Wukong immediately sensed that something was amiss.

"Not right..."

"Not right..."

Wukong muttered to himself, "There must be something wrong. I have a feeling the coffin coming back for her can’t be good. Where has she gone? Right... Laojun, I should ask Laojun, he is sure to know something. I’ll first return to Flower-Fruit Mountain to see if she’s there, and then I’ll head to the heavens to find Laojun."

With that thought, he couldn’t help but vomit a mouthful of old blood.

Wukong had already felt a premonition that something was amiss. Now that he had spat out a mouthful of blood, his suspicion intensified.

Meanwhile, atop Mount Buzhou, amidst the howling wind and sweeping snow, nine black coffins floated eerily. Tao Yao, transformed into a seven-colored light, arrived at this location.

The coffins opened, and from within emerged nine differently colored halos. The halos were blurry, obscuring the figures within.

"Tao Yao, you understand why I raised you to maturity, don’t you?" said the person who had once been hidden beneath the Peach Garden.

"I do! Tao Yao originally had no spiritual wisdom. It was thanks to Daddy merging with me the first strand of seven-colored light from the universe that I gained wisdom," Tao Yao said, blinking her eyes. "Daddy raised me to heal his wounds; I understand."

The person nodded and said, "Good, as long as you understand. Do you blame me?"

Tao Yao smiled and replied, "How could I blame Daddy? Without you, I wouldn’t know the joy of living! Although I was trapped in the Flat Peach Garden for countless years, these past few years have been happy and joyful! I originally lacked wisdom, but Daddy gifted me with sentience and the ability to take human form, something my sisters are still unable to do! Now that I must face my destiny, I have no reason to blame Daddy. After all, it is Tao Yao’s fate!"

The person then said, "Hmm... I’m glad you understand. I planted you for this very day. You still have a total of nine peaches, which you’ve obediently kept unused. Plus, over the years, your true form has nurtured Chaotic True Qi. Alright, the time has come."

Tao Yao asked, "If Daddy refines Tao Yao, will you be healed?"

The person nodded lightly.

Tao Yao said with a smile, "That’s good! Tao Yao is very willing to serve Father."

The person nodded again and said, "Step into the formation. Our injuries are too severe, and we need to refine the essence of the Peaches of Immortality and the Chaotic True Qi from your body. Although we can’t completely heal our wounds, we can still recover a lot, enough to catch up for the next great calamity between Heaven and Earth."

Tao Yao walked into the formation and sat down cross-legged, asking, "Father, will I... see him again in the future?"

The person shook their head and said, "It all depends on destiny."

Tao Yao seemed very composed and asked softly, "If destiny says no, then Father, can you tell me your name?"

The person paused for a moment, before replying indifferently, "I have no name, but if you must know, you can call me Zhong Tian."

Tao Yao pouted and said, "Alright, just knowing Father’s name is enough! Let’s begin!"

The jade talisman around Tao Yao’s neck flew up, returning to her hand, and then the formation began to shine with light. Tao Yao’s body kept turning into a seven-colored radiance, flashing intermittently, now in human form, and now in the form of a seven-colored peach tree. The tree bore nine seven-colored Peaches of Immortality, which were evenly divided among the nine individuals. They instantly flew up, landed in the hands of the nine individuals, and turned into streams of Chaotic True Qi and the essence of the peaches which they absorbed into their bodies.

When in the Bagua Oven, Tao Yao had been very careful, for she had been admonished to leave behind nine peaches. After consuming a few herself, she was left with these nine. With each one less, her life force and mana would weaken significantly. If not for the Immortal Pills from Laojun, she might still have a head full of white hair.

"Father, I am leaving now!" Tao Yao could no longer hold back her tears. She waved her hand vigorously and said, "Sun Wukong, I am leaving now! And to my Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, my sister-in-law, and my eldest brother whom I’ve never met! Oh, and the kind old gentleman from Doulu Palace! Goodbye!"

She understood that she was born for this very moment, and had long been prepared for it. She just didn’t expect that everything would happen so soon.

"My name is Tao Yao, Tao of ’Peach Blossoms Are Blooming Young’. Sun Wukong, don’t forget about me!" Tao Yao said. Her figure had disappeared, transformed into nine vast streams of Primordial Chaos Qi that were absorbed into their Primordial Spirits.

All nine individuals emitted a slight grunt, their withered bodies looking much fuller. Chaotic True Qi was difficult to cultivate, and what made Tao Yao truly formidable was not the nine peaches, but her true form. Refining her true form was sufficient to allow an ordinary immortal to reach a realm above the creator, or even achieve Quasi-Saint status.

She was an existence that defied the heavens, the most miraculous Mother Peach Tree. From a young age, she had merged with the first strand of seven-colored divine light in Heaven and Earth and was irrigated with the blood of Pangu for many years; the True Qi contained within her body was extremely terrifying. These nine individuals each devoured the True Qi she nurtured, and they were instantly much revitalized.

"Alright, continue to recover. The peach trees that you eight have been cultivating should also be almost ready, right?" Zhong Tian asked.

"Hmm, Pangu the Great God had nine divine meridians, and all nine have become Mother Peach Trees. The Mother Tree in Heavenly Court is just one of the ordinary meridians transformed and is thus much easier to nurture. After so many years, the Mother Trees we have cultivated are almost ready. Just another two or three years." One of them said solemnly.

Their voices were void of any emotional fluctuations, even as Tao Yao was refined, Zhong Tian showed no change in expression.

Tao Yao was not, as she had said, cut down from the Mother Peach Tree in Heavenly Court, but was one of the nine Mother Trees transformed from the divine meridians of Pangu. This had not been revealed earlier for fear of coveting, as she was indeed a thousand times more precious than the Mother Tree in Yao Pond!

The nine individuals retracted back into the Heaven-Avoiding Coffin, and with a whoosh, they scattered in different directions, disappearing without a trace.

Meanwhile, Daoist Equal to Heaven was flying toward Flower-Fruit Mountain. He asked, "Has Tao Yao been seen?"

Peng Demon King said, "Strange, weren’t you with her playing around, Seventh Brother? Why are you asking us now?"

A sudden shock struck Enlightenment Dao’s heart, and just as he was about to speak, he felt a sharp pain and couldn’t help but scream, leaping into the air and crashing to the ground, exclaiming, "It’s killing me!"

His brothers were astonished. What could have suddenly thrown him into such madness?

Enlightenment Dao, clutching his chest, rolled around on the ground, his hairpins scattering, covered in dust, almost fainting from extreme pain.

Daoist Equal to Heaven at Mira Palace, who was listening to a lecture, also cried out in shock, leaping from his meditation cushion and collapsing onto the ground, rolling around in agony.

Leader of Heaven-Penetrating, seeing this, slightly frowned. With a wave of his horsetail whisk, he calmed him and for a moment, he passed out.

Meanwhile, Sun Wukong, beneath Five Elements Mountain, was truly suffering, feeling an unbearable pain in his heart and gritted his teeth, "Surely, Tao Yao has met with disaster!"

In the mortal world, when people feel the departure of a loved one, many experience a sense of suffocation and pain in their chest. They might think it’s illness, but when the news comes, they realize it’s a relative’s passing.

Having helped Sun Wukong escape the Bagua Oven, Tao Yao had already become one of his closest people. Suddenly feeling unimaginable heartache, and connecting it with the previous premonitions, he naturally understood that Tao Yao had encountered a calamity.

"Boundless Heavenly Immortal!" Wukong could not help but clench a spell, saying with a trembling voice, and only then was the excruciating pain in his heart suppressed.

To find out what happens next, please listen to the following story. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)