Chapter 437: White Bones Become Buddha

Time was like a murky river.

Skeletons from all ages lay buried deep within it, broken halberds and sunken sands corroded into deep red rust, their origins unrecognisable, worn away by the currents.

Amidst the dust clouds, Jufu's eyes opened. They were the legendary fiery eyes, forged in the True Monarch's furnace, tearing through the thick veil of dust.

He seemed to have trudged from the river of time, pulling his feet from the mud and planting them firmly on solid ground.

He lifted his head, gazing at the long-unseen sky of five centuries, and memories flowed over him like water.

"Master, I want to hear the story of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."

The young monkey, with its beautiful golden-yellow fur, looked up at the white-robed youth before him, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, huh..."

The white-robed youth coughed lightly twice and asked, "Where did we leave off last time?"

The young monkey blurted out, "The Great Sage rode on auspicious clouds to the Heavenly Court, sweeping aside a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals with one swing of his staff! He stormed into the Tongming Hall, outside the Lingxiao Palace, turning heaven and earth upside down, striking such fear that no immortal or deity dared to look up!"

The young monkey's voice was tender, yet full of longing.

"Ah, that part..." The white-robed youth nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

The young monkey also nodded vigorously, asking, "What happened next? What became of the Great Sage?"

The white-robed youth slowly recounted, "Later... later, the Jade Emperor invited the Buddha Tathagata to intervene. Tathagata, hearing the summons, went and made a bet with the Great Sage: could he somersault out of his palm? The Great Sage rode on clouds and mist, covering a hundred and eight thousand miles in an instant, yet still could not escape. So, Tathagata flipped his palm and pressed down, transforming the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth into a mountain, pinning the Great Sage beneath Mount Wuxing."

The golden-furred young monkey's excitement faded, eventually turning to astonishment.

He thought his master would continue, perhaps telling how the Great Sage shattered Mount Wuxing and stormed back to Heaven. But the white-robed youth sat silently, his hands resting flat on the armrests, not uttering a word.

"Wh-why?" The young monkey's face was filled with disappointment and shock. "Why... how could the Great Sage, being so powerful, be trapped under a mountain?"

The white-robed youth gave an incredibly simple answer: "Because the enemy was too powerful."

This was the golden-furred young monkey's earliest memory. He could never forget the despondency he felt then, only vaguely recalling a steadfast face, dust-laden with age, as if he were gazing back at it across the vast expanse of time. Yet, the Great Sage of his imagination never opened his eyes to him.

Still unconvinced, the young monkey asked, "What happened next? The Great Sage couldn't have been imprisoned for life, could he? He must have escaped and charged back into the sky with his Ruyi Jingu Bang, right?"

The white-robed youth shook his head. "The Great Sage was imprisoned for five hundred years. Five centuries later, a monk from the Great Tang, traveling west to seek scriptures, passed by Mount Wuxing and released him."

"Great Tang? Where is Great Tang?"

"Hmm... that's a story your Uncle Eshi told me. He said that Great Tang was a very, very ancient dynasty."

"Oh... and what then? Where did the Great Sage go after that?"

"After that, the Great Sage journeyed west towards Spirit Mountain, on the path to seek true scriptures from the Buddha."

"Huh? Seek scriptures? Wasn't it just losing one fight? Why ask him for scriptures?" The little monkey asked indignantly.

The white-robed youth replied, "After seeking scriptures, one can become a Buddha."

The golden-furred little monkey asked again, "Become a Buddha? What's the point of becoming a Buddha?"

"That's also a question you need to ponder," said the white-robed youth. "This story is still very long; I'll tell you the rest gradually."

The white-robed youth stood up from the chair.

The light outside was bright, making the room seem even dimmer.

The little monkey watched his solitary figure and asked, "Master, I... I heard them say that you seem to be the reincarnation of a great deity, who once shot down many suns. I've heard many tell your stories, and I think you're as powerful as the Great Sage in the tales."

The white-robed youth seemed moved; his white robes fluttered without a breeze.

"Is that so..." He looked outside the door and said, "We are all just pitiful creatures trapped beneath Mount Wuxing."

After saying this, he quietly departed.

But the little monkey couldn't help but follow him, filled with a belly full of questions.

"Master, there are so many powerful people in the world, why did you choose me? I feel like... I'm not good at anything," the little monkey said, lacking confidence.

"It was Eshi who told me to find you," the white-robed youth said. "He chose you; I'm just here to be your teacher."

"Eshi..." The little monkey wondered, "Who exactly is Eshi?"

"He's our village chief. He was later captured by villains. Before that, he told me many stories from unknown dynasties," the white-robed youth explained. "Before he was taken, he told me to find you."

"Me? Is there anything special about me? I don't even know where I came from," the little monkey said, scratching his head.

"You sprang from a crack in a stone," the white-robed youth said with a smile.

White clouds drifted across the sky, and rivers babbled on earth; a few years passed in the blink of an eye.

"A monkey can never step into the same river twice, because the monkey that was in front of the river has already become human and learned to use tools."

The little monkey had grown a bit. Wearing a conical hat, he sat on a tree branch, sharing his philosophical thoughts with the sparrows, who chirped their responses.

The sparrows listened to his chatter simply because the monkey was handsome, the most good-looking and imposing of all the monkeys they had ever seen.

"What new spells have you learned lately?"

In this chaotic era where the strong reigned supreme, the sparrows clearly had no interest in his philosophical musings.

The little monkey had excellent spiritual roots. Over the years, following his master's training, he quickly mastered various divine abilities like fire sitting, water immersion, wind manipulation, flame spitting, wind borrowing, and mist weaving. He could effortlessly perform them in no time.

However, he didn't seem particularly interested in these miraculous Daoist techniques, for they fell far short of the true divine powers from myths and legends.

He once asked his master, expressing his desire to learn the divine skill of shooting down suns with a bow. His master sat alone in his chair; his face appeared incredibly young, yet a profound weariness seeped from his very bones.

After a long pause, he shook his head and said that he could no longer find his bow.

The little monkey was a bit disappointed and then asked about Nüwa, Fuxi, and Pangu: "Are their stories real or fake? Could people truly cultivate to such an incredible degree in the past?"

The white-robed youth nodded. "They are real. Although they are no longer here, their names will live on for many, many years. They are names of heroes."

Names of heroes...

The sparrow looked at the lost-in-thought little monkey and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

The little monkey came back to himself and said seriously, "I'm thinking, I still don't know what my name is."

The sparrow chuckled, "Don't you always say you want to become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?"

The little monkey shook his head. "That's a hero's name, not my name. I... I don't even know what I should be called."

The sparrows hopped back and forth on the branch, unconcerned by this; they had never had names for generations.

In this precarious, chaotic era, a name was a luxury. Anyone could have one, but few could leave it behind. Only the revered names of ancient great deities could be passed down.

"No, I think I need a name, and you do too!" the little monkey said earnestly.

"A name?" The sparrow shook its head. "What would I do with that?"

The little monkey replied, "Of course, it's to distinguish you from other sparrows."

The sparrow said, "I was not born special, nor do I feel I am anything out of the ordinary. They also say that sparrows, though small, are foolish. So, my tiny brain only needs to hold joyful things like sunshine and dew. A name is too much of a luxury; I dare not have one."

As the little sparrow spoke, the little monkey, wearing his conical hat, could offer no reply or comfort.

He looked at the little sparrow and said earnestly, "Don't worry, I've found the most powerful master in the world. I will definitely learn the greatest martial arts and help you smash open a sky of freedom."

"A sky of freedom?" the little sparrow asked. "What's in a sky of freedom?"

This question stumped him again.

"In a sky of freedom..." He thought seriously for a moment and said, "There are suns, moons, and stars in the sky, white clouds, wind, and..."

"What's the difference between that sky and the one now?" the little sparrow asked again.

The little monkey was greatly troubled. He thought the sparrow was not stupid at all, and he explained earnestly, "Beyond the very, very high sky, there's a huge demon that wants to eat all people and animals. If we don't defeat it, we'll all be eaten sooner or later."

But the little sparrow shook its head again. "I won't be eaten by it; I'll be eaten by an eagle. I can never fly that high. I don't fear unseen demons; I only fear eagles."

Listening to the sparrow's words, the little monkey could no longer retort. On that day, he understood that there was an invisible chasm between all beings. For most lives, simply grasping what was immediate was immensely difficult, and fighting against Heaven, such a distant endeavor, was destined to be a lonely one.

"Master, I want a name."

Back in the wooden house, the little monkey looked at the white-robed youth and said solemnly.

The white-robed youth put down his brush, looked at him, and said, "There is an ape demon named Jufu in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*. You shall be called Jufu."

Jufu...

His master's words sounded calm and amiable, yet he engraved this name deeply into his heart.

From then on, he was called Jufu.

At that moment, he still did not know what monumental heroic legacy lay behind this name.

"Master, what are you doing?" Jufu asked, looking at the youth writing at his desk.

The white-robed youth explained, "This is a will. I'm preparing for what happens after I'm gone."

"A will?!" Jufu was startled. "How can Master die?"

"I have died many times already. If I die again this time, I don't know if I'll have a chance to wake up," the white-robed youth said.

"How... how could this be?" Jufu's joy at receiving his name was instantly diluted.

"It's alright. You are still alive, and many others are too. From ancient times until now, what has been passed down is never flesh and blood, but will," the white-robed youth said, looking at him gently, as if gazing at a burning flame.

Jufu looked up, speechless. At that moment, he still looked like a monkey, but he was dressed in martial arts attire, appearing quite spirited.

The white-robed youth said, "Let me continue the Great Sage's story. Where did we leave off last time?"

Jufu replied, "We were at the part about the true Pilgrim and the fake Monkey King!"

"Ah, that chapter..."

Jufu sat on a mountain rock, watching the clouds drift by. The story of the Great Sage seemed to recede further and further. The once unruly Great Sage in the tale had put on the golden fillet, carrying his dark iron divine staff, and journeyed west, slowly fading into the distance.

He, too, gradually grew up.

Lately, demons often caused trouble down the mountain. He, along with others, went to slay monsters and eliminate evil. His dream was to become a Great Sage beyond the stories, so he was the most proactive in fighting demons. In recent years, he had endured several battles to the death, and many notoriously fierce demons had fallen beneath his iron staff.

Of course, this was not the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle from the stories, so he had broken many staffs.

He also liked to name the demons he defeated, such as Deer Strength, Tiger Strength, and Dog Strength Immortals, or Gold Horn, Silver Horn, and Bronze Horn Demon Kings. He imagined himself as the Great Sage, needing no reinforcements from the immortal court or borrowed magical artifacts. With just one staff in hand, he would break all laws with sheer force and sweep away everything that stood in his way.

Today, he had slain a notorious ox demon and named it Bull Demon King.

He had pursued this ox demon for thousands of miles to kill it.

The ox demon's colossal body lay in a pool of blood. It stared at Jufu and asked, "Why must you kill me?"

Jufu replied, "Because you have committed many evils and killed many people!"

The Bull Demon King said, "But many of my kin have also been killed by you!"

"Because you surrendered to the demons, you betrayed this mortal world," Jufu said.

The Bull Demon King laughed miserably. "Is resistance necessarily nobler than surrender? We just want to live... In this world, do we not even have the right to survive?"

Jufu looked at the Bull Demon King and said, "You have your choices, but we are seeking a true path forward for all beings. You may cling to life, but you should not block this path."

The Bull Demon King said, "There is no path left in this world, unless you can escape this fate, escape to the stars beyond."

"The stars beyond," Jufu actually nodded. "If there is a path there, then I will lead everyone to it."

The Bull Demon King, however, went mad. "You mischievous, demonic monkey, what's with this pretense of great compassion! How much blood is on your hands? Is seeking freedom just an excuse for your slaughter?"

Jufu showed no wavering. "I do not love slaughter; I want peace."

Jufu brought his staff down, striking it dead.

He returned to the wooden house, where the white-robed youth sat on the steps in front of the door, seemingly waiting for someone.

"There's nothing more I can teach you," the white-robed youth said, looking at him with a relieved smile.

Jufu gently shook his head. "No, the Great Sage's story isn't finished yet."

"Indeed, only the final chapter remains."

The white-robed youth placed his hands on his knees, gazed straight ahead, and began to tell the ending of the story he had narrated intermittently for many years.

Jufu listened by his side.

He was a spirit monkey, growing slowly. At that moment, he still looked like a young monkey, but he had grown considerably compared to how he was years ago.

He quietly listened to the final chapter.

In the past, he might have been happy that the Great Sage went through countless hardships to obtain the true scriptures, or perhaps distressed that such a free spirit ultimately became the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

But now he said nothing, simply listening quietly to the long-anticipated ending.

"What is a Buddha?" Jufu asked.

"What do you think it is?" the white-robed youth countered.

Jufu pondered his experiences over the years. He lowered his head and slowly said, "I have never seen a true Buddha, but I have seen many 'Buddhas' in the mortal world.

They are gilded bronze statues seated on lotus pedestals. People kneel before them, offering incense to seek blessings. Many of those devotees are pitiable; some suffer from illness and calamity, emaciated, while others endure the pain of losing their families, weeping endlessly. Whether they find liberation from the Buddhas, I do not know. But this is the mortal world, not Spirit Mountain, nor the pure land described in Buddhist scriptures. What enjoys the offerings might simply be a hollow faith in a dark world."

The white-robed youth did not answer. He asked, "Are you satisfied with such an ending?"

"What ending?"

"The Great Sage's ending."

Are you satisfied with the Great Sage's ending?

As Jufu heard this question, his heart suddenly leaped. He seemed to see an ancient river, with scene after scene flipping through it.

He saw a path leading to the Western Heaven, a path like a scroll depicting sin. Above this scroll, dark clouds loomed, and countless demons arched their bodies and raised their dark-glowing magical artifacts. They roared, showcasing their ferocity and power, each a symbol of myriad trials and tribulations.

Meanwhile, the Great Sage, who yearned for freedom, remained imprisoned beneath Mount Wuxing, his body bound by chains, his eyes burning with the fire of hatred, yet before him, peach blossoms bloomed in profusion.

If he were the Great Sage, would he walk that path? Would he slay his sworn brothers and become a mere gilded bronze idol enjoying incense offerings?

"I understand," Jufu said suddenly.

"The lords of those divine kingdoms in Heaven, they fought through countless hardships, emerging from blood and bone, yet all for a divine ruler's throne," Jufu declared. "They exhaust their power only to become vassals of demons. They appear to be protecting the mortal world, but in truth, they merely offer paltry favors to guard an inevitable dark sun!"

"I am not satisfied with the Great Sage's ending! I don't want an ending like that!"

Jufu roared loudly, revealing a truly fierce expression for the first time.

The white-robed youth looked at him and asked, "If you become a Buddha, what will you do then?"

"If I become a Buddha..."

Jufu recalled the people who prostrated themselves before Buddhas, and the solemn, dignified statues draped in kasayas on lotus pedestals.

"A Buddha, of course, should do what a Buddha ought to do. If I become a Buddha..."

Jufu spoke slowly, his fierce expression gone, replaced by a Buddha-like compassion. Yet, his pupils involuntarily turned crimson. He declared his grand vow to the high heavens:

"If I become a Buddha, I shall..."

"Deliver—all—sentient—beings!"

Crows cawed on the branches, forest birds startled and fled, leaves fell to the ground, and Jufu's voice echoed outside the wooden house.

The white-robed youth looked at him, a relieved smile on his face.

He stood up and placed something into Jufu's hand.

"Here, take this, and hide it well."

"What is this?" Jufu asked, looking at the glowing object.

"This is my last authority; I entrust it to you," the white-robed youth said.

Jufu said in surprise, "How can I accept this? Master, what... what's wrong?"

The white-robed youth said, "My enemy is coming. If you don't take it, it will be seized by him. That enemy is very powerful, and your master is now incomplete, no match for him. I will die soon, but do not rush to avenge me. Live well, and become the Buddha in your heart. Only then might we meet again in the future."

"Authority..." Jufu shook his head. "Can I really hold onto something so precious?"

The white-robed youth spoke softly, "Fire doesn't care where it burns. It can be on a candle, in an oil lamp, in firewood, or anywhere it can emit light and heat, dispelling darkness and cold. It must burn until the long night passes, burn until people forget it. This is a flame passed down through generations, and now the flame has reached you."

Jufu took hold of the authority. He looked at the white-robed youth and asked tremblingly, "But I... I don't have the confidence to do it."

"Whether you can do it or not, this choice can only be entrusted to you," the white-robed youth said. "Because you sprang from a crack in a stone, and that stone was a star from the heavens. Eshi told me that in the past, we were all burning stars in the sky, guarding a civilization."

"Di Jun, Chang Xi, Nüwa, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven... all these are symbols of civilization. The stars representing their spiritual core did not extinguish over the long ages but carried the flame of civilization to this day. Now that we have descended here, we must continue to burn on this star, fulfilling our purpose until destruction."

Jufu did not know the causes and effects, so he didn't quite understand.

But he vaguely grasped it.

He looked at his master's face and finally accepted the authority.

"How do I hide it well?" Jufu asked.

"Imagine it as the thing you desire most, and it will transform into that object. That way, the flame won't be discovered," he said.

Jufu gripped it and closed his eyes.

The light in his palm stretched and transformed into a dark iron divine staff.

On the staff, golden fireworks seemed to burst open, and along the strokes of iron and silver hooks, the five characters "Ruyi Jingu Bang" were instantly inscribed!

The white-robed youth finally relaxed. "Remember my words. I'm going to rest now. After this... you will have a difficult path ahead."

He walked out.

Soon after, the projection of Lord Yuanfu appeared before him.

The unarmed youth stood before him, his white robes flowing freely.

Yuanfu looked at him and said, "This time, you can't escape."

The white-robed youth replied, "The path to the stars and the sea is one from which there is no return."

Yuanfu killed him.

He did not fall.

At that moment, the autumn moon hung in the sky, and the cold wind rustled.

The youth gazed at the moon, and faintly, a woman's clear voice reached his ears.

Autumn wind clear, autumn moon bright, fallen leaves gather and scatter, cold crows perch then startle...

The Yuanfu era had just passed.

Jufu secretly watched his master's death from afar. His face streamed with tears, but he knew he could not go out. He had to become a Buddha, to fulfill his vow of delivering all sentient beings. If his journey to the West had just begun, then this was his first and most unforgettable trial.

In the dust clouds above the Eighty-One Cities, Jufu finally fully extended his colossal form, truly standing tall between heaven and earth.

Ke Wenzhou, his body corrupted by dark power and fragmented like broken shards, hovered before Jufu. He held a broken sword, revealing a strained smile.

In the distance, the Nine-Spirit Yuan Sage watched them from afar.

The iron umbrella could not withstand such destructive impact. The Azure Lion's physical body had been destroyed; at this moment, most of its bones were exposed, with remaining flesh hanging from its body, still hissing with white vapor.

On that skeletal lion face, a fierce yet compassionate smile was painstakingly revealed.

Jufu lifted his head, gazing at the vast sky.

This was a long journey to the West; the Buddha was before him, Spirit Mountain was before him!

He would drive out the darkness; he would forge a path of freedom for all beings!

He would... deliver all sentient beings!

After sentiments of emotion and remembrance faded from his eyes, Jufu suddenly let out a roar:

"Five hundred years have passed; where are all the demons?"

In that instant.

In the Northern Lands, Central Plains, Southern Territories, Western Regions... and even on many unknown islands, the sound of breaking chains and the defiant roars of demon kings erupted almost simultaneously.

Across the divine land of Shenzhou, beams of light that had been dormant for centuries collectively surged from the ground, soaring towards the heavens!

Above the Divine Kingdom: Chapter List