The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 98 - 096: When Will Zhuang Zhou Stop Dreaming of Butterflies

Chapter 98: Chapter 096: When Will Zhuang Zhou Stop Dreaming of Butterflies

In the discussion held in the Three Purities Doulu Palace, they clarified that Wukong had indeed been sent by Laojun into the Bagua World created by Fuxi.

This Bagua World was extremely mystical, and if one entered before their destiny had matured, they would get lost within it. Even a saint would have to exert great effort to escape! Tao Yao, however, seemed to possess some secret technique that protected her body, allowing her to maintain a sliver of clarity within the Bagua World. Were it not for her, Wukong would have likely lost his way in the Bagua World long ago, unable to awaken until the cosmic cataclysm, forever bewildered within.

Naturally, the "Sutra of the Other Shore" he had comprehended was also indispensable. How many illusions and confusions were dispelled by the phrase "view it as such"? This Sutra, purportedly authored by Amitabha Buddha, was a supreme scripture of the Buddhist sect from ancient times, something ordinary people could never even hope to see. However, following the great war of the middle ancient times, this scripture ended up in the Black Tower of the War God Secret Realm, suppressing the nearly collapsed Map of Mountains and Rivers. Then, it was obtained by Wusheng, who passed it on to Wukong, giving him a tremendous advantage. This scripture was in no way inferior to the transformations of the Heavenly Gangs and Earthly Fiends.

"Wukong, you’re awake!" Tao Yao said with a smile, her white temples now impossible to conceal.

Wukong came to his senses and asked, "Tao Yao, how long was I asleep?"

Tao Yao squinted her eyes and smiled, "I’m not sure, I forgot, I fell asleep just now too."

Wukong unconsciously touched his head, feeling as if he had forgotten something, sensing that something was amiss.

"Tao Yao, why has your hair turned white again?" Wukong asked.

He paused, thinking to himself, "Why did I say ’again’?"

Tao Yao responded, "I dyed it myself. Doesn’t it look nice?"

Wukong could only smile and say, "It looks nice, very nice."

Tao Yao twirled her hair with her fingers, smiling, "Are you going to leave again this time?"

Wukong sighed and answered, "Yes."

Tao Yao waved her hand and said with a smile, "Then come back and see me soon. If you don’t come back soon, I won’t talk to you!"

Wukong nodded and turned to leave the Peach Garden.

Tao Yao sighed wearily, collapsing to the ground, her hair completely white. She looked around cautiously, carefully pulling out a rainbow-colored peach from her bosom, murmuring, "Only three left, it’s the ninth time already. After eating this, there’ll be none left, I must save the last for father."

She bit off more than half the peach, feeling a searing pain in her chest. The peach had grown from her own essence; each bite brought a pang of pain. Enduring the agony, she finished the last peach. Then, under a peach tree, she wrote Wukong’s name. Each time she finished writing the three characters, they disappeared. She wrote using the Xia Dynasty Dragon Seal; only such characters could have an effect in the deeply censored Bagua World.

Tao Yao dried the blood on her hands, then bit another finger and continued writing, her ten fingers now covered in bloodstains.

"Tao Yao, what are you doing!" Wukong, appearing behind her without her noticing, grabbed her hand.

Tao Yao jumped in surprise, hesitated for a moment, then said, "I was just bored, writing for fun!"

Wukong frowned, pulled her up from the ground, and shook his head vigorously, "No, no! You are lying to me, something is definitely wrong."

Tao Yao pursed her lips, wiped the blood off her hands using her skirt, and then hid her hands behind her back, "What’s wrong! Do you remember something?"

Wukong pondered deeply. Although he did not recognize the characters Tao Yao was writing, he could be certain she was not just writing for fun—who would joke with their own life? At this moment, Tao Yao, her hair nearly entirely gray, appeared very frail, lacking her usual vivacity and cheerfulness.

Wukong exclaimed, "No, no! I must be in Laojun’s Bagua Oven again, but this time it’s different. There are mysteries in this Bagua Oven that keep causing me to lose myself time and again, confusing my own identity."

He sensed for the Daoist Equal to Heaven, but found that even the Daoist had fallen into a stupor. He thought to himself, "Indeed! Indeed! I am in Laojun’s Bagua Oven, but I don’t know what has happened that has trapped me in this endless cycle of reincarnation."

Tao Yao pursed her lips and said nothing.

Wukong asked, "Tao Yao, have you been captured here as well? Why aren’t you speaking?"

Tao Yao shook her head but still said nothing. The Peach Garden was her creation; if she disturbed the Enlightened Daoist, this world of the Peach Garden would collapse. Only the Enlightened Daoist awakening by himself might resolve the issue. After she entered this Bagua World, she felt the rules of this place. The Peach Garden was one of the starting points in Wukong’s reincarnation through eight different worlds. Each time he stepped out, he entered a different world. He had been here for countless millennia, and each time breaking through the mysteries of a world took a long time. The longer he stayed outside, the more pain Tao Yao felt, continuously writing his name with her own vital blood to maintain a trace of clarity in his mind, giving him a chance to awaken from the Bagua World. Otherwise, he could be lost in this world forever.

Suddenly, Wukong said, "I remember now, I’ve left from here eight times, each time entering a different world, each situation unique. In a few of them, I became a Buddha, in others, a Great Emperor, and several times the heavens and earth shattered... Each time I saw through the illusions, I obtained a character!"

He fiercely pulled the Jingu Bang from his ear, drew a Bagua diagram on the ground, and wrote characters on it, specifically the Eight Characters: Qian, Kun, Li, Kan, Dui, Ze, Xun, and Gen.

Tao Yao watched quietly and asked, "Have you realized it?"

Wukong sat cross-legged within the Bagua, smiled, and said, "I have realized... This is not the real world but an illusory world created by great divine power! Tao Yao, thank you for doing so much for me."

Tao Yao shook her head and smiled, "Sun Wukong, we are good friends, aren’t we? Didn’t you say that good friends should help each other? I still need your help to find my father!"

The Bagua diagram on the ground flashed with golden light, rose into the air, and absorbed the essence of this Bagua World, revealing a figure.

This figure wore plain clothes, donned an Eight Trigrams Robe, and wore Yin-Yang Shoes, somewhat resembling Laojun’s attire.

"Heavenly Emperor, Fuxi!" Wukong was astonished to see that the Bagua diagram had evolved into a shadow of Fuxi, which was incredibly astounding.

"To thoroughly understand the Bagua is to be my successor. This is the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams, the Seventy-Two Terrestrial Sha Transformations; take them for yourself!"

This Fuxi lacked his original consciousness, representing an extremely ancient divine thought.

Wukong was slightly taken aback. The Seventy-Two Terrestrial Sha Transformations were a powerful method created by Fuxi, yet without Fuxi’s Nine Palaces Bagua Method, cultivating these divine skills to their ultimate potential was impossible, and would even hinder progress in cultivation! Yang Jian’s slow progression over many years was precisely because of practicing the Seventy-Two Transformations.

In the Taoist Sect, eight is even, and nine is odd, the combination of the two embodies endless mutations. How could it be limited to just seventy-two? If one truly inherits Fuxi’s legacy, then one could cultivate the path of transformations to endless extents. If not, one would have to explore on their own, making improving cultivation extremely difficult.

The Eighty-Nine Mutations entered Wukong’s mind, representing endless transformations, profoundly mysterious. By contemplating the Seventy-Two Transformations according to this method, one could achieve unimaginable effects! The Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Transformations, created by the Saintly Nu Wa, had more power than the Seventy-Two Transformations. However, once the complete method of the Seventy-Two Transformations was mastered, it was also extremely formidable; although it could not match the Saintly skills, it could potentially lead to an understanding of Fuxi’s divination and formation methods!

Wukong thought, "Old Laojun really favors this old monkey, throwing me here to comprehend the mysteries of the Bagua. He has indeed given me a great favor!"

Seeing Wukong comprehend the Bagua, Tao Yao also breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back down.

Wukong brought his hands together in prayer, murmuring, "All constructed things are like dream, illusion, bubbles, or shadows; like dew and also like lightning; they should be viewed in this way."

Whether Wukong can escape from this realm, please listen to the next part of our tale.