Chapter 292: Master's Study

Sun Wukong's Original Spirit transformed into a pure golden stream of light.

It did not alarm the external guardian's avatar, nor did it attract Hongjun's attention.

It was like a non‑existent shadow, instantly passing through layer upon layer of the real dimensions.

It plunged headfirst into that Sea of Origins at the deepest part of the Universe, formed by endless law roots interwoven…!

Buzz!

The moment it entered, an indescribable terrifying pressure squeezed in from all directions!

This is the Source of Ten Thousand Paths!

It is the starting point of all the Universe's rules, and the endpoint of all power!

Looking around, there is no up or down, no left or right, no Concept of time's passage.

Only colossal law dragons, unimaginable in size, swirl, intertwine, and roar.

Each dragon scale represents a supreme truth capable of sustaining the operation of a vast world.

Light, darkness, Creation, destruction, time, space…

These ultimate paths, which would make a Saint retreat three houses in the outside world, here are merely the most ordinary part.

Any foreign will not belonging to this place will, the instant it enters, be torn by this endless torrent of laws into the most primitive Debris.

But Sun Wukong's Original Spirit remains unharmed.

He is like a water droplet merging into the sea, facing no rejection.

The Void Seed within him now emits a faint yet resilient warmth.

It is this power that allows him to ignore all the law repulsions of this place.

These laws are, in fact, the Master's students.

Student, how could one dare to clash with the Master's robe?

Sun Wukong does not pay attention to those spectacular law dragons.

He closes his eyes, carefully sensing the homogenous pull emanating from the deepest part of the Void Seed.

It is an extremely faint yet unmistakably clear guidance.

Like an invisible thread.

At the other end of the thread lies the Master's true backhand!

Sun Wukong follows this thread of perception, diving toward the deeper part of this sea of laws.

The deeper he goes, the more terrifying the pressure of the laws becomes.

Later, those laws no longer even take the form of dragons.

Instead, they become refined to the extreme, shimmering with dazzling divine light—Primordial Source runes.

Each rune weighs as much as an entire Universe!

They collide with each other, compress, and erupt terrifying energy capable of opening heaven and splitting earth.

Sun Wukong's Original Spirit, amidst this, is as tiny as a speck of dust.

Yet the Void aura surrounding him is like the sturdiest submersible.

No matter how fierce the external Storm, it cannot move him an iota.

He is like a ghost, traversing the deepest secrets at the core of the Universe.

He does not know how long has passed.

It could be an instant, or billions of years.

Sun Wukong finally "sees" the end of this sea of laws.

It is an absolute, pure "Void".

It is like a black hole, abruptly appearing in this kaleidoscopic sea of laws.

All the law dragons, all the Primordial Source runes, when approaching that region, are silently devoured, dissolved, becoming the most primitive "Nothing".

There, the place the Master left.

Sun Wukong has not a hint of hesitation.

He plunges headfirst into that thin membrane of Void.

The feeling of passing through is marvelous.

It is like stepping from a bustling market into a silent deep night.

All external law pressures, all ear‑splitting Dao Sounds, vanish without a trace at this moment.

Sun Wukong's Original Spirit reconvenes into shape.

He slowly opens his eyes, surveying everything before him.

Then, he is completely stunned.

Here…

There is no supreme treasure that could destroy heaven and earth as he imagined.

Nor is there a demonic army, forged from the resentments of a failed world, capable of sweeping across the heavens.

There is also no earth‑shattering divine secret that contains the ultimate way to break the deadlock.

There is nothing.

Here, there is only a plain, even somewhat shabby Study.

A wooden Study floating in absolute Void.

The Study is not large.

A desk that looks somewhat aged.

A bamboo chair worn smooth.

All around were gigantic bookshelves that reached from floor to ceiling.

The bookshelves extended to the end of this space, with no top or edge in sight.

They were densely packed with scrolls, jade slips, and some books he didn't recognize at all, made from what seemed like the shells of some creature.

The air was filled with a faint scent, a mixture of old paper and dust.

It was very quiet.

It was very warm.

It was very familiar.

Here, everywhere was the aura of Master Bodhi Patriarch.

Sun Wukong greedily breathed in the air here.

His heart, which had been clenched because of Yao, furious because of Hongjun, and stifled from helplessness, inexplicably calmed at this moment.

He walked step by step, slowly, to that desk.

On the desk lay an unfinished deduction diagram.

It was covered in cinnabar ink with countless symbols and lines that Sun Wukong couldn't understand,

They wove together into a complex Star Sea, in which the brightest star was circled, with a small "understanding" character written beside it.

Beside the diagram sat a cup of clear tea.

The tea had long gone cold.

A thin layer of dust had condensed on the cup's wall.

It seemed as if the master of this place had just risen from his seat and gone out for a walk,

and would soon push the door open, pick up his tea cup, and continue his dull deduction that had lasted a hundred million ages.

Sun Wukong just quietly watched.

Watching the diagram, watching the tea.

For some reason, his eye sockets felt a little sore.

He reached out his hand.

That hand, which once shattered the Lingxiao heavens with a single staff strike and overturned the Heavenly Dao with a single thought, now trembled slightly.

His fingertip lightly brushed over the icy desk surface.

It brushed over the diagram etched with countless efforts.

Boom!

At the instant his fingertip touched the diagram!

In Sun Wukong's mind, it seemed as if a hundred million thunderclaps exploded simultaneously!

He understood everything!

He finally understood!

Master's trump card was neither a weapon nor an army!

What Master left him was his "Dao", his "heart"!

What schemes against the heavens?

What plans for myriad ages?

All just a lonely old man, for his useless disciple,

for the children he himself created but had to abandon, his attempts, again and again, were endless, never-regretted trials!

Hongjun had his Heavenly Dao Order.

The Zeroers had their cleansing agreement.

The Lord of the Star Sea had his twisted paradise.

They each had their own "Dao", their own companions, their own followers.

Only Master!

Only his Master!

He was a lone person, standing alone against all existence.

Each time he failed, he was thrown into the "trash heap".

Each time he resisted, it was defined as an "error".

He had no companions.

No reinforcements.

All he could rely on was himself.

And there was this... study that had accompanied him through endless ages, a lonely study.

Here, it was not Master's armory.

Here, it was not Master's fortress.

Here...

It was Master's heart, lonely for a hundred million myriad ages...

heart!

A feeling of deep longing, mixed with the sorrow felt for Master,

that bone-deep grievance and heartache instantly engulfed Sun Wukong's entire Original Spirit!

"Master..."

He knelt on the ground, burying his face deep in that icy desk.

Like a child who had suffered a great injustice abroad and finally returned home.

Silently, choking with sobs.