Chapter 513: Side Story Four: Five Finger Mountain Descends from Heaven

Side Story Four: Five Finger Mountain Descends from Heaven

"You scoundrel, you're a monkey spirit; how dare you deceive and covet the Jade Emperor's throne? … Besides the method of Longevity and transformation, what else can you do to dare seize the supreme realm of the Heavenly Palace?"

Sun Wukong, already fuming, heard the words and grew even more indignant, planted the Golden Cudgel into the ground and raised his head, shouting:

"My tricks are many! I possess the Seventy‑two Transformations, an ageless Longevity that lasts ten thousand eons. I can ride the Somersault Cloud, a single leap spanning one hundred and eighty thousand li. How could I not sit upon the heavenly seat?"

Tathagata Buddha listened, then smiled faintly:

"I'll make a wager with you: if you can, with a single somersault, strike out of my right palm, you win, and without any Blade and Troops you may have to fight, I will ask the Jade Emperor to reside in the West and relinquish the Heavenly Palace to you; if you cannot strike out of my palm, you will be sent back to the mortal realm as a demon, cultivate a few more eons, and then come quarrel again."

Hearing this, Sun Wukong showed no hesitation, his Golden Eyes and Fiery Eyes flashing, and immediately replied:

"Fine! Bet on it! Old Sun Wukong isn't scared of you, right?"

But his mind turned quickly, and he asked further: "You Buddha, are your words binding? Can you truly be the master?"

Tathagata Buddha, seated on the lotus platform, nodded slightly: "Naturally I can be the master."

"Good! Delightful!" Sun Wukong, upon hearing, no longer hesitated, leapt, and shouted:

"Old Sun Wukong is off!"

A Somersault Cloud materialized beneath his feet, carrying him as a golden streak of light; with a "Swoosh—" he shot toward the vast, spread‑out right palm of Tathagata Buddha!

From his perspective, that Somersault Cloud leap spanned one hundred and eighty thousand li, swift as lightning, rapid as a meteor; in an instant he burst through the Southern Heavenly Gate, crossed layers of fierce wind and cloud seas, soaring straight toward the depths of the Universe, the very edge of heaven and earth!

He felt triumphant, believing victory was in his grasp.

However, from Tathagata Buddha's view, the monkey was merely struggling within a tiny inch of his palm.

He smiled faintly.

The faster Sun Wukong flew, the more Tathagata Buddha's palm silently and imperceptibly expanded, keeping Sun Wukong forever racing within the palm's "Universe" yet never reaching a true boundary.

No matter how Sun Wukong propelled the Somersault Cloud, all his sight met was endless void.

After an indeterminate short flight, Tathagata Buddha deemed it sufficient and ceased the transformation.

Then Sun Wukong saw five Heaven‑Supporting Pillars suddenly appear ahead!

The pillars were immensely stout, their tops supporting the Heavenly Pillar Top Sky, bases resting on the Nether Soil, their whole bodies entwined with a blue aura reminiscent of Chaos at its inception, standing prominently at the "edge of heaven and earth"!

"Haha! We've reached the sky's edge! These must be the pillars that hold up the heavens!"

Sun Wukong rejoiced beyond expectation, believing he had finally reached the limit.

He pressed down the cloud, landed beneath one of the massive pillars, looked up and saw the pillar soaring into the clouds, its top invisible.

"Having arrived here, I must leave a mark; what will that Buddha do later to dodge his debt?"

His mind agile, he immediately plucked a single hair from the back of his head, breathed a breath of fairy air, transformed it into a thick‑ink double‑brush, and on the central pillar wrote eight bold characters: "Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Here for a Visit."

The strokes were silver‑hooked, iron‑drawn, exuding a rebellious aura.

After writing, he reclaimed the hair, yet sensed his purpose still unfulfilled, and after that rapid dash, he found himself a bit needing to urinate.

His eyes flicked, he chuckled: "Once I start I won't quit; leave another 'proof'!"

So he moved to the base of the first pillar and, with gusto, sprayed a stream of monkey urine.

Having done all this, Sun Wukong suddenly felt body and mind refreshed, as if he had won the wager.

He clapped his hands, and with a somersault prepared to return the same way.

However, just as he turned to leave, his heart suddenly leapt!

A sensation of being watched suddenly surged in his mind!

"Strange..." Sun Wukong abruptly halted, spun around, his Golden Eyes and Fiery Eyes scanning the endless void like twin searchlights, especially the five pillars and the deep beyond sky:

"Why do I always feel…someone watching old Sun Wukong?"

He scratched his head, his hair bristling, a subtle alarm ringing in his mind.

Yet looking around, aside from the five silent pillars and the boundless "void", there was no figure or unusual aura.

He focused his senses for a moment; the feeling of being observed was both present and absent, wavering.

"Perhaps this place is strange; I'm overthinking," he muttered.

He suppressed the odd feeling, wasted no time, rode the Somersault Cloud, and sped back along his route.

This time, Sun Wukong seemed much faster, and in the blink of an eye he was back before Tathagata Buddha.

He pressed down the cloud, leapt to the edge of Buddha's palm, lifted his head and chest, pointed at Buddha, and shouted with full pride:

"I went out! And I'm back! Tathagata Buddha, quickly keep your promise, have that old Jade Emperor move out of the Heavenly Palace and give the seat to old Sun Wukong!"

His words barely left his mouth when he saw Tathagata Buddha's usually compassionate, smiling face now with slightly furrowed brows, nostrils twitching, his gaze fixed on Sun Wukong's lower half, showing disdain and anger.

His complexion also seemed less pleasant.

"Hmm? Buddha," Sun Wukong, noticing the change, asked oddly:

"Why does your expression look so sour? Did you lose the wager and want to backtrack?"

Tathagata Buddha, looking at the clueless monkey who had left a 'memento' in his palm, scolded:

"You urinating monkey! You know nothing! This is not a place for you to defile! Go back to the mortal realm and truly reflect, then cultivate your mind!"

Without waiting for Sun Wukong's reaction, Tathagata Buddha's right palm, which had been spread flat, suddenly flipped!

That flip, though seeming simple, contained boundless power capable of reshaping heaven and earth, moving stars and constellations.

Sun Wukong felt heaven and earth whirl, a colossal force he could not resist engulfing him, like a leaf in a raging sea, helplessly plummeting downward!

Simultaneously, atop Buddha's five fingers, the Five Elements Primordial Power of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth erupted, forming five towering giant ridges embodying the true essence of the five elements, trailing Sun Wukong and descending to suppress the Human World!

Whether Buddha intended it or it was a mysterious "coincidence," the spot where Sun Wukong was being suppressed seemed, perhaps, exactly, roughly, appropriately…

…corresponding to the very spot where he had just urinated beneath the "Heaven‑Supporting Pillar."

Thus, on that night in the Human World, especially around the tense standoff in and out of Kunyang City, countless soldiers and civilians looked up and witnessed a terrifying sight that would be unforgettable forever, worthy of the annals of history—

In the pitch‑black night sky, an intensely blinding blaze, like a scorching sun falling, enveloped a massive, silhouette‑obscured yet unimaginably huge "Flame Mountain," tearing the heavens and plummeting toward the earth with a destructive fury!

Its brilliance illuminated a radius of several hundred li as bright as daylight, every detail revealed!

In theory.

Such power falling to the ground, the resulting shockwave could directly destroy all of Huaxia.

But, well.

Immortal matters are none of your concern.

This Five Finger Mountain, perfectly centered, hurls straight into the mountain range behind the New Dynasty army besieging Kunyang!

It then disappears into the mountains.

Until the next day.

During the day, a cloud mass resembling a collapsing mountain falls toward the camp, spreading only a foot above the ground, and the New Dynasty soldiers are so terrified they lie flat on the ground.

All this, in Liu Xiu's eyes, is the perfect opportunity!

"Brothers, our chance has come!"