WuKong: The Monkey King

Chapter 30 Wings of Wind and Thunder

The person from the south cursed, "You ignorant fool, the heavens are unfathomable, and who doesn't have their informants? Being cautious never did any harm."

The man from the west said, "Let's talk about the matter at hand. We've been working day and night, refining so much Fate, but it's uncertain whether this method will be of any use."

The man from the east, slightly angry, responded, "This method of refining Fate is unique in both heaven and earth, obtained from a single pill of the Elder Lord's elixir from the old man of the South Pole. How dare you doubt it?"

The man from the west explained, "It's not that I don't believe, but since Fate is invisible and intangible, it's natural to have some doubts."

The man from the east said, "Enough idle talk, let's quickly refine these hundreds of thousands of Fates so we can present them as gifts."

The four became silent, each exerting their magical power to sustain the whirlwind that collected these white silks.

Wukong secretly breathed a sigh of relief; had he arrived a moment later, he would have missed hearing these secrets. From their conversation, he learned that they were collecting these white silks to offer to a certain emperor, and these silks were actually Fate! For humans, extracting Fate meant sacrificing a life for each strand, a cost far too great.

What was peculiar was that these four set up such a grand arrangement yet couldn't see the Fate themselves. Why could he see these strands of white silk clearly?

Wukong thought, if this was indeed Fate, and since Fate is beneficial for cultivation, why not collect some? With just a thought, countless strands of white silk swarmed towards him, entering his body through every orifice, much faster than the whirlwind created by the four.

Wukong felt no discomfort, allowing the silk to enter. In a short time, he felt the circulation of his golden core and an abundance of true essence. His invisibility spell was about to expire, but after absorbing so much Fate, he could feel that he could maintain it for at least another hour.

In about half an hour, Wukong had absorbed all the Fate within the curtain. Unbeknownst to him, refining hundreds of thousands of Fate would take years for an ordinary cultivator.

Seeing the four still earnestly refining Fate into the furnace, Wukong found it amusing, reminiscent of "The Emperor's New Clothes" tale being replayed in the heavens.

After absorbing the Fate, Wukong's cultivation deepened. He initially wanted to confront these four merciless heavenly generals with his powerful staff, but then thought better of it. Fighting might not be advantageous, but by not fighting, he left a trap in place.

Having absorbed all the Fate, since these four couldn't see it, they wouldn't know the quantity in the furnace had changed. As the Fate was intended as a gift, they wouldn't dare to try and absorb it themselves.

When the unnamed emperor received the furnace and found the quantity of Fate significantly less than claimed, he would surely be furious. Listening to their tone, they seemed to fear the emperor greatly, which would surely lead to dire consequences. Wukong, realizing this, couldn't help but feel smug about his cunning plan.

But soon, his heart was filled with raging anger.

Seeking immortality through cultivation is not in itself blameworthy, but to rob innocent humans of even the slightest bit of Fate was despicable. The instigator turned out to be the old man of the South Pole. Who else could it be but the revered South Pole Elder? It was shocking that this so-called venerable deity had accumulated countless blood debts, his cultivation and Fate built upon numerous skeletons. This was a score that would have to be settled sooner or later.