Chu Yu was stunned.
Before this, he had prepared himself for this, but when he saw it happen, he still felt like it was a dream.
He felt like he was in a legend!
No matter what, Confucius and Hou Yi were all people who existed in ancient China.
Even True Lord Erlang was a real person!
But Sun Wukong was different, he was someone who existed only in the legends and stories of ancient China.
This was a character that was formed through the imagination and legends of the ancient chinese.
Hang on....
Chu Yu frowned, legends... legends?
He knew that recorded ancient chinese history was extremely short. There had been many breaks in civilisation over the years.
Before the time of records, everything was passed down through word of mouth.
Could it be that Sun Wukong was really a powerful life form which existed last time?
Did he really make a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace?
Many thoughts flashed by in Chu Yu’s mind.
In the end, he cupped his fist and bowed to the monkey on top of the pile of bones, "Greetings Elder Sun."
"Aiyo, Elder Sun... it’s been so many years since someone has called me that. Young man, who are you? How do you know me?" Two rays of golden light shot out from the eyes of the monkey on top of the pile of bones as he scanned Chu Yu.
Chu Yu had always been using his vertical eye to observe people. Now, he met his match.
This was the real Penetrating Gaze!
After being scanned by the monkey, Chu Yu felt extremely uncomfortable.
At this point, the monkey said chirpily, "Boy, your bodily makeup is very special!"
"Special?" Chu Yu laughed bitterly, "Is Elder Sun joking?"
"Please don’t call me Elder Sun." The monkey jumped down from the pile of bones, extended his furry arm to take Chu Yu’s and dragged Chu Yu inside like a little kid.
"Come come come, let me bring you to someplace fun!"
The monkey left no room for discussion as he dragged Chu Yu away.
"Oh yes, call me the Great Sage next time! Great Sage! Great Sage!"
Chu Yu was dragged by the monkey into the depths of the cave.
Kaboom!
With a flash of light, Chu Yu found himself atop a luscious hill.
Water flowed in rivers around him and he was surrounded by the aroma of flowers and the chirp of birds. The entire area was filled with peach trees!
There were monkeys everywhere!
"The Great Sage is back!"
"The Great Sage is back!"
"Great Sage, Great Sage..."
Monkeys rushed over from the surroundings.
"Kids, I am back!" The monkey chuckled, bounding up and down. Then, he turned to Chu Yu, "How do you find it? My Mountain of Flowers and Fruit is not bad huh?"
Chu Yu looked up and saw the humongous waterfall. Atop the waterfall was a huge stone engraved with Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in ancient chinese calligraphy.
The words were powerful and had a strange sense of Dao.
There were cliffs next to the waterfall. The left read, "The Prosperous Mountain of Flowers and Fruit" whilst the one on the right read, "The Caves are our eternal homes."
Chu Yu could not believe this, F*ck me... this is exactly like how the Journey to the West described this place?!
However, when he opened up his vertical eye, he realized that the entire place was barren!
All of those peach trees were all dried up and dead!
The bounding monkeys were all just fur...
This...
For some reason, Chu Yu felt a wave of sadness in his heart.
"Aish, not fun, you’re such a spoil sport!" The monkey sighed then waved his hand.
Everything vanished in an instant.
The roaring water ceased. That place had dried up, where was the water coming from?
All Chu Yu saw was the ravaged remnants.
"You actually have a Penetrating Eye of your own." The monkey looked at Chu Yu. He took on the look of an old cultivator and sat atop a rock.
He leaned on a dead tree, loneliness filling up his eyes.
"Ancestor Monkey... was this place once the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit?" Chu Yu asked cautiously.
"The Mountain of Flowers and Fruit is a thing of the past. It was destroyed, along with all the life in it." The Monkey leaned on the tree as he scratched at his leg.
His gaze was empty, upon closer look, there wasn’t even a strand of life.
"Can senior please tell me the story here?" Chu Yu asked humbly, curiosity overwhelming him.
He wanted to know if what was recorded in the Journey to the West was true!
And if it was, how much of it was true?
"Story?" The monkey was slightly lost. Then, he looked to Chu Yu, "How did you know about me?"
"Journey to the West..." Chu Yu said weakly.
"Journey to the West? West?" The monkey blinked, visibly confused, "Then you tell me about it first!"
"Okay then..."
As Chu Yu told him the story, the monkey remained expressionless, listening to the story intently.
"How very... boring."
In the end, the monkey rolled his eyes and murmured, "I nearly fell asleep, how boring."
After Chu Yu heard this, he laughed, "Ancestor Monkey, is there any truth in the story?"
The monkey contemplated for a moment, then shook his head, "This is just the imagination of the people."
"Then... can senior please tell me your real story?" Chu Yu looked at the monkey with anticipation.
"The real me?" The monkey grit his teeth, "I’m a vicious fiend!"
Vicious fiend?
Chu Yu suddenly remembered that in the most ancient copy of the Journey to the West, the monkey inside was a real vicious demon.
It was only beautified in subsequent editions.
He thought about the carcasses he had seen when he first entered the cave. Coupled with what the monkey had just said, Chu Yu was starting to believe that it was true.
"The Heavenly Court... existed before but it’s... vanished."
"Buddha, alive."
"Dao Zu, alive."
"This world is no longer the same world as before."
As he spoke, the monkey stood up and grew many times in size!
The space also expanded as he gree!
Initially, Chu Yu could still see the silhouette of the monkey. By the end, he could not even see the foot of the monkey.
By comparison, he was like a speck of dust, incredibly insignificant.
"This..."
Chu Yu was dumbfounded. He did not know what this monkey was up to.
At this point, a huge force lifted Chu Yu into the air.
The monkey’s hand was like an immense plain.
At this point, Chu Yu stood in the monkey’s palm and stared into the distance.
A barren land came into view. This land was devoid of any life.
"Do you see this? This was the Heavenly Court!"
"Back in the day, I fought my way from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits all the way here!"
"I hated the gods and Buddha. What gives them the right to sit high up and look down on us?"
"But at the end of the day, hehe... it’s all for naught."
The monkey laughed manically in Chu Yu’s ear.
"The Heavenly Court was devastated beyond repair long ago!"
"The Buddha’s love and compassion can’t take care of everyone!"
"Dao Zu is incredibly powerful, but he still can’t capture everyone’s heart!"
"What is the use of the Heavenly Court?"
"What use if the Buddha’s compassion?"
"What is the use... of Dao Zu’s power?"
The monkey murmured to himself. However, that voice boomed out and covered the entire area like an announcement system.
Chu Yu stared blankly. He seemed to understand what was happening, but in actual fact, he did not.
"This billion mile area was once incredibly prosperous, but now, what’s left of it?"
"What happened?" Chu Yu asked, "The Immeasurable Catastrophe?"
"Immeasurable Catastrophe?" The monkey laughed icily, "You do not know, but the Immeasurable Catastrophe did not cause all these, the human heart did."
"Human heart?" Chu Yu was taken aback.
"The more powerful the person, the greater their ambition, and the more influence they have over the world." The monkey looked at Chu Yu, "When this world is filled with many of those cultivators and many are invincible, their jealousy will take over."
The Monkey smiled, "The Heart Catastrophe... is the Immeasurable Catastrophe."
Chu Yu was taken aback. This was the first time he heard of this.
The monkey continued, "The arrival of the Heart Catastrophe will cause the entire universe to crumble. This happens once every few trillion years."
"Once a universe is extinguished, another one will be born."
"In the end, Immortals and mortals will all suffer the same fate."
The monkey smiled coldly, "Do you know how many universes I have survived?"
Chu Yu shook his head, lost.
The monkey said, "I have already lived through three such universes."
Three Heart Catastrophes?
Chu Yu was in aghast.
The monkey smiled bitterly, "Do you think that I must be incredibly powerful?"
Chu Yu nodded.
The monkey sighed, "How am I incredibly powerful? I am just like Buddha and Dao Zu. Whenever one universe is extinguished, my consciousness splits into two. One will remain in the broken universe whilst the other enters the new one. I am the one left behind."
"What you’re saying is too deep for me, I can’t understand it." Chu Yu laughed bitterly.
"Yes, it is too deep!" The monkey said, "Now, I have three consciousness in each of the three universes. My actual body is in the new universe to continue the... cycle."
"Cycle?" Chu Yu frowned.
"Once my body leaves, it will begin the cycle, taking all its past memories as it starts a new life." The monkey was extremely depressed, "This life never ends and is extremely boring. That is until they find a road in that place, which should be your hometown..."
Chu Yu stiffened.
The monkey added, "That’s the path out."
"Hmm?" Chu Yu felt like there was some hidden meaning.
"A path out?" Chu Yu asked, "Where to?"
"A path out of this boring... endless cycle." The monkey looked at Chu Yu seriously.
"You really can exit the cycle?" Chu Yu was stunned.
He had learnt that the saints never die and were above the cycle. Only now did he truly understand.
Even if they were as powerful as the Buddha, Dao Zu, or the Great Sage, they were never truly free of the cycle.
Did they see this coming? Is that why they are so desperate to attack the Solar System?
"Has anyone succeeded?" Chu Yu asked.
"I do not know. I only know that the road is difficult. Even Buddha is likely not to be able to survive it." The monkey said worriedly.
Chu Yu felt a wave of emotions well up. By comparison, the hardship he was going through was insignificant.
"I am familiar with your bloodline. As such, I can help you out." As the monkey spoke, his figure shrunk.
The two of them once again returned to the barren land.
The monkey said, "Come, be my disciple!"