Primordial Era: Starting by overwhelming the Sages, Hongjun was stunned!

Wuzhishan.

The mountain wind was like a knife, howling through the desolate rock walls and stirring up clouds of yellow sand.

This is the edge of Xiniu Hezhou, a place rarely visited by humans, devoid of any demonic energy, where even birds dare not fly. Only that majestic stone mountain stands alone between heaven and earth, suppressing a legend that has lasted for five hundred years.

In the void, a figure in a black robe quietly appeared.

Kong Xuan.

He stood in mid-air, his black robe fluttering, his black hair falling down, his gaze sweeping over this unfamiliar world.

The next moment, he frowned slightly.

Reiki.

It's too thin.

Compared to the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, it is less than one-tenth.

Compared to when he sat in meditation at Zixiao Palace back then, it was like heaven and earth.

Kong Xuan raised his hand, and a wisp of chaotic light quietly condensed in his palm. The light was still as warm and gentle as water, but as it flowed through the world, it seemed to be bound by invisible shackles, and its movement was somewhat stagnant.

He withdrew his hand and gazed into the depths of the sky.

There, the laws of nature continue to operate.

Yet, within that operation, there was an indescribable decay and sluggishness.

It resembled a frail, ancient beast, struggling to breathe.

"The Great Calamity of Journey to the West..."

Kong Xuan whispered, his voice so soft that only he could hear it:

"It has actually declined to this extent."

Back when he was in Zixiao Palace, he used the Hongmeng Surveillance Mirror to peer into this timeline.

But what you see in the mirror is ultimately just a picture.

Only when you actually set foot in this place do you realize how depleted the spiritual energy of this world has become.

During the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, although a great calamity descended, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth remained abundant, enough to sustain countless powerful beings in their battles.

But now...

Kong Xuan's gaze swept across the surroundings.

Those once ethereal and blessed lands are now mostly dim and lifeless.

Those once-abundant grottoes and secret realms, once imbued with Daoist spirit, are now mostly devoid of spiritual energy.

Those once powerful beings who roamed the world are now mostly hiding in the shadows, awaiting the impending great calamity.

Journey to the West.

To seek knowledge.

A game.

A scheme more ingenious, more covert, and more ruthless than the Investiture of the Gods.

Kong Xuan's lips curled slightly, forming a very faint arc.

interesting.

He was pondering.

suddenly.

A hoarse voice came from below:

"Master...Master!"

Kong Xuan was taken aback.

He looked down.

Below, beneath that majestic stone mountain, lay a disheveled figure.

A monkey.

To be precise, it was a monkey that had been trapped under a mountain for five hundred years.

The monkey was covered in mud, its fur matted, and its face was covered in dust. But its eyes were surprisingly bright.

In those eyes, there was longing, expectation, and the ecstatic joy of finally having found a savior.

"Master! Here! I'm here!"

Sun Wukong struggled desperately, trying to climb out from under the mountain.

But that mountain was too heavy.

The seal on that mountain is too strong.

He struggled for a long time, only to end up covered in dust and unable to move an inch.

Kong Xuan looked at him.

Looking at this monkey that has been imprisoned for five hundred years.

Looking into those incredibly bright eyes.

Suddenly, I recalled the scene I saw in the Hongmeng Surveillance Mirror.

Huaguoshan.

Water Curtain Cave.

The Monkey King.

Havoc in Heaven.

Five Elements Mountain.

Five hundred years.

And what's coming soon...

The Journey to the West.

Kong Xuan's eyes flickered slightly.

At this point in time...

The journey to the West is about to begin.

That Guanyin should have already been here.

The golden headband should already be ready.

The pilgrim should already be on his way.

And this monkey is waiting.

He was waiting for the person who would come to save him.

He was waiting for the person who would lead him out of the mountain.

Waiting for that...

He thought it was someone who was his "master".

Seeing that the figure in black robes remained motionless, Sun Wukong scratched his ears and cheeks in frustration:

"Master! Come down here! I've been suppressed for five hundred years, I'm practically crushed into a meat patty!"

"Guanyin Bodhisattva said that someone will come to save me! Someone will come to be my master! And take me to retrieve the scriptures!"

"That must be you!"

"You're dressed so elegantly and standing so tall, you're obviously someone important!"

"Come down quickly! Get me out of here!"

Kong Xuan listened to his rant and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

It was said by Guanyin Bodhisattva.

The pilgrim on the pilgrimage.

Master.

He looked down at his dark robe.

Then I looked at the monkey that was trapped under the mountain.

Suddenly it felt somewhat absurd.

He originally came to this Journey to the West timeline to see who was behind the scenes and to witness the grand pilgrimage drama that was about to unfold.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he landed, the monkey mistook him for a pilgrim.

He was even called "Master".

Kong Xuan fell down.

With his black robes fluttering, he stood before the mountain, gazing at the disheveled monkey.

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up even more when he saw him come down:

"Master! You've finally come down! Quick! Save me!"

"This mountain is crushing me! Five hundred years! Five hundred years since I last ate a peach!"

Kong Xuan looked at him without saying a word.

Sun Wukong felt a little uneasy under his gaze.

"Master? What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"

Kong Xuan said calmly:

"Whom are you calling 'Master'?"

Sun Wukong was taken aback:

"I'm calling you! Aren't you the one who came to rescue my pilgrim on his journey to the West?"

Kong Xuan shook his head:

"I am not."

Sun Wukong's smile froze on his face.

"no?"

He stared wide-eyed, looking Kong Xuan up and down:

"You're not on a pilgrimage to the West? Then what are you doing here?"

"This wretched place hasn't seen a soul in five hundred years! You suddenly appear, if not to rescue me, then what are you doing here?"

Kong Xuan did not answer.

He just stared at the monkey, at its incredibly bright eyes.

Five hundred years.

They were trapped under the mountain, unable to move, their cries for help going unanswered.

Five hundred years.

His only hope was that someone would come to save him.

The person who will lead him out of this mountain.

The person he thought was his "master".

Kong Xuan suddenly spoke:

"You want to go out?"

Sun Wukong nodded frantically:

"I want to! I dream about it!"

Kong Xuan looked towards that mountain.

Looking towards the seal on the mountain.

That was set up by the Buddha himself, suppressed with the six-syllable mantra, and blessed with the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Even an ordinary Great Immortal couldn't budge him in the slightest.

But he was Kong Xuan.

Kong Xuan raised his hand.

A wisp of chaotic light quietly condensed at the fingertips.

He flicked it lightly.

The ray of light drifted out and landed on the mountain.

"Buzz!"

A soft chime.

The Five Elements Mountain, which had suppressed Sun Wukong for five hundred years, was suddenly...

Violent tremors!

Above the mountain, the six-syllable mantra flashed wildly!

A burst of golden light!

The Buddhist seal resisted desperately!

But wherever that chaotic radiance passed, the golden light shattered inch by inch!

One after another, the six-syllable mantra was extinguished!

The invisible force that had suppressed Sun Wukong for five hundred years was rapidly dissipating!

Sun Wukong's eyes widened.

He gazed at the figure in the black robe, at the casually flicked finger.

His mouth was so wide open it could fit a peach.

"This...this..."

He stammered, unable to speak.

Five hundred years.

He had imagined countless times that someone would come to rescue him.

I imagined that the pilgrim was compassionate and climbed the mountain step by step.

I imagined that the pilgrims chanting sutras and reciting Buddhist scriptures moved heaven and earth, causing the mountain to split open on its own.

I never imagined it would turn out like this.

A man in a black robe descended from the sky.

The mountain would collapse if you raised your hand.