Archfiend

Chapter 438: Master of the Clearcloud Realm (2)

Translator: XTB

As long as the Dream Eater touched someone, it could create a dreamland. This was the same as a type of fantasy technique. Very soon, Xu Yangyi recalled the Azure Winged-Demon Mask. In combining both these moves, he could almost ensure that the Dream Eater hit the enemy, and once the butterfly met its mark it would immediately create an illusion. Not to speak of trapping the enemy to death, the Dream Eater would be able to stop an opponent from using divine abilities for at least ten seconds!

Yet ten seconds could already be considered the turning point in a battle of Foundation Establishment cultivators!

“Just how divine is this Butterflymother Southflower? All of her items are amazing. In any case... I like it.”

He laughed and shared a glance with Moonless. Just as he was about to step towards the Transference Formation leading back to Earth, though, slivers of black light suddenly flared from the Dream Walker’s broken corpse. In the next moment, a black hexagonal crystal, no less than the size of a fist, slowly floated up.

“A Gem of Dreaming?” Xu Yangyi stared blankly. He felt the situation to be somewhat unimaginable.

He had never seen such a large one!

The past gems were the size of a finger, but this piece far exceeded them!

Based on the explanation he’d received about Gems of Dreaming, they stored a memory or some object. The item that this Gem of Dreaming was storing definitely wasn’t insignificant!

Without a moment’s hesitation, he took it and broke it in his hand. This wasn’t Butterflymother Southflower’s Gem of Dreaming, so he didn’t have anything to be scared of. In a flash, sparkling, crystalline light glimmered before his eyes, leaving him with no choice but to close them. But when he opened his eyes again, he was struck dumb where he stood.

He... wasn’t in the Nightmare passage! On the contrary... he had arrived in a desert!

“No... it’s not that I’ve moved. This is the memory stored in the Gem of Dreaming. This memory brought my consciousness here.”

He himself wasn’t actually in the desert, but rather... he looked down upon everything with a god’s view point.

Jingle... Jingle... From far away, the melodious bell of a camel was heard. A wizened middle-aged man was saddled on the camel, and he was slowly traversing the desert. At his side was an attendant, also saddled on a camel. The pair evidently hadn’t lost their direction, nor were they worried about drinking water and food. Little by little, they traveled ahead.

The setting sun was like blood, and the desert was like smoke. Amidst yellow sand flying upwards, they walked for an unknown period of time. In the end, the attendant spoke out. His voice, perhaps because the dreamland’s era stored in the Gem of Dreaming was long ago, seemed to reverberate all around like a bell chime once he opened his mouth.

“Sir Che, how long until we reach the Kingdom of Gandhara?”

Xu Yangyi’s gaze quickly grew sharp.

Sir Che? Gandhara? Rocjourney had once said this name, but he hadn’t clearly explained what it was at the time.

It was abrupt, but Xu Yangyi suddenly remembered many things. His heart wanted to return to Earth, but he pressed down on the stop key for the time being.

He recalled that Enihilus had called himself Horseplague. He recalled the Gold-Banded Staff at the seal’s entrance. He recalled Rocjourney and Enihilus’s conversation. The entire string of events.

The Clearcloud Realm had too many secrets, but these secrets were perhaps hidden in this Gem of Dreaming!

Sir Che didn’t speak, rather taking step after step towards the sun. It was unknown how long he walked. Everything ahead began to blur, maybe because the history in this gem wasn’t anything worth remembering. White mist churned in front of Xu Yangyi, but it scattered away a few seconds later. He was now looking upon a city that was nothing like the style of China’s central plains.

There were many people in the city. Already, it seemed to be close to Persian in style. Xu Yangyi, however, kept on feeling that everyone else was vaguely indistinct.

If I can see and get a clearer understanding of some of this, that’ll be good, he thought inwardly.

But unexpectedly, just as his train of thought fell, the scenery facing him cleared in a flash. As his spiritual sense brushed over each person, his gaze instantly narrowed.

These people... weren’t human!

While there were humans in this place, less than half were shockingly half-demons!

Some had the upper bodies of leopards, and some had the head of a bird. But regardless of human or demon, all of them were interacting harmoniously in this city. There were even many humans and demons that were squatting down in front of a peddler, and asking about prices.

“What the hell is this place?” Xu Yangyi murmured to himself.

White mist churned again. After the fog cleared, a Buddhist temple appeared this time. A middle-aged man was staying under the temple, taking a temporary stop.

“Gandhara, this place is Gandhara? What connection does it have with the Clearcloud Realm?” His gaze skimmed through the surrounding area. Sure enough, there were quite a few buddha statues all around. Each and every statue, though, was carved to be vividly realistic. A relaxed, free-handed style hadn’t been used.

The memory within the Gem of Dreaming repeated these monotonous scenes. Xu Yangyi’s brows slightly furrowed together. Could it be that such a large Gem of Dreaming was recorded with these daily occurrences?

With the passage of ten minutes, the Gem of Dreaming shrunk a little. At this time, though, a strange situation happened all of a sudden.

Outside the Buddhist temple, a streak of black qi infiltrated the temple at night. This voice was muttering to itself, “This Throne has smelled the scent of an orthodox cultivator... While his realm is still inferior to my own... this person seems to be a carrier of the Voidspirit Immortal Physique. If I can devour it... I will surely advance to Core Formation!”

With a wooden expression, Xu Yangyi watched all of this. He hadn’t paid attention to where the black qi had come from, but this voice still hadn’t found Sir Che. The sun rose and the moon fell, cycling at lightning speed in the memory. On the second day, at the same time, Xu Yangyi was fully concentrated on the entire temple. As midnight arrived, his eyes shone; he finally discovered the black qi’s origin!

Outside the monastery, there was a tomb. It was rather bizarre and too big for a human, no less than two meters tall and three meters wide. Furthermore, the tombstone didn’t have an epitaph. Instead, a pair of horses was carved on it.

“Horse... Horseplague... Don’t tell me this is Horseplague’s true origin?” Xu Yangyi began to mumble to himself.

On the fourth day, the black qi finally found Sir Che’s location. After a joyous cry, it rushed into Sir Che’s body. From that moment onwards, Sir Che fell to serious illness. Countless black and red scars began to grow all over his body, and he became increasingly prone to sleeping.

“I wish to the divine colt to bless and protect me...” Three days later, Sir Che was already on his last gasp. The temple’s monk started to bring him up and down. Only then did Xu Yangyi know that the pair of horses was originally the temple’s divine-object.

“Something’s off...” His brows pinched together again. “Something’s off... The more I see, the more I feel that this story’s familiar... like I heard it from somewhere before?”

Sir Che’s sickness became progressively dire, but in this story, even until now, Sir Che’s name hadn’t emerged.

On the sixth day, Sir Che’s breathing started to become difficult. He clutched at his bedside and said lowly, “If I completely recover... I am willing to shave my head and become a monk!”

Yet on this day, Buddha did not watch over him.

On the seventh day, Sir Che’s life was hanging by a thread. As the temple’s abbot was already preparing his final rites, however, the door swung open. Several novice monks rushed in excitedly.

“A Master of the Tripi?aka has come! A Master of the Tripi?aka has come! Sir Che is saved!”

Xu Yangyi took a deep breath. This strange feeling he was getting was becoming stronger and stronger.

In these memories, the first name he was familiar with appeared!

A Master of the Tripi?aka!

This was a name that no ordinary monk dared to use in confusion! In Buddhism, the Three Scriptures, otherwise known as the Tripi?aka, were a collective term concerning the Classic Scripture, the Law Scripture, and Theory Scripture. In Chinese, this term was Sanzang. And one who called themselves a Master of the Tripi?aka symbolized that they had already totally comprehended and understood the Three Scriptures.

Even in consideration of the Indian subcontinent, there weren’t many such monks!

“A Master of the Tripi?aka... the Gold-Banded Staff out there...” Xu Yangyi licked his lips. “Could it be... that I’m really going to witness a world-shaking secret?”

“As long as this story is related to Journey to the West, as long as I can verify that...” He clenched his fists in a death grip and said no more.

In that case... he could confirm that immortals truly did exist!

Journey to the West was a legend. Although it wasn’t known how much was made up, if this novel was real... he had an eternal goal!

Immortals... truly were above everything, forever strong! Everlasting and undying!

His mind focused in more and more. He sensed that this story was already beginning to enter the climax.

In the memory, a short, small monk walked in. While it was a memory, in the instant Xu Yangyi saw this monk he couldn’t help but automatically rouse his qi.

Core Formation!

Core Formation Dao Master!

“This poor monk is Sheliyuemo, Sarira-Surpasses-Demon.” The old monk put his hands together and said.

Swoosh! Understanding dawning on him, Xu Yangyi bolted up to his feet. This name... he remembered the history of this memory!

“Che Fengchao! One of ancient China’s fifty high monks!” He gravely observed the memory. “No wonder I thought this memory was a little familiar... Sheliyuemo was a Master of the Tripi?aka, and Che Fengchao followed through with his promise, so he was conferred with the name...”

“Wukong!”

“This is historical fact, he really did exist! Because numerous cultivation specialists want to find out if the cultivation realm of immortal exists from this cultivator who was portrayed as both a god and a man! They didn’t find out, but they found Che Fengchao’s Sarira! The surface is still swirling with dense qi! Experts theorize that he was a great cultivator at least at Nascent Soul!”

“Both a god and a man... and this is because...” His gaze flashed. “His descendants, due to the story of his journey west with Tang Xuanzang, cleverly combined it and wrote a book that the cultivation world doesn’t even have an answer for now—Journey to the West!”

“And this is all of Che Fengchao’s history back then!”

Xu Yangyi’s gaze was red-hot as he continued watching.

In the memory, the Master of the Tripi?aka had already cured Che Fengchao’s illness. In that moment Che Fengchao was cured, however, countless golden symbols flashed around him, and his hair seemed to be shaved away by an invisible razor. It fell down in clumps.

“The vow he swore was a Dao-Heart Oath. Now is when it came true.” Xu Yangyi slightly nodded.

Sheliyuemo didn’t look at Che Fengchao, instead putting his hands together. “Benefactor has achieved supreme enlightenment, and experienced the reincarnation of life and death. All is empty, so I bestow upon you a Buddhist title: Wukong. Are you willing?”

“This poor monk is willing.” Che Fengchao promptly returned the greeting.

At this point, only a very small piece was left of the Gem of Dreaming in his hand. It was about the size of a fingernail. In Xu Yangyi’s heart, strong disappointment bubbled up. It seemed that this Gem of Dreaming had recorded the Clearcloud Realm’s past events. Although he’d already gained an approximate outline from within, he didn’t see what he wanted to.

He had somewhat more or less of a guess.

“Senior Che entered this place, and with the fall of his hair he became a monk. And according to historical record, he was pretty good at using a staff. Therefore, that Divine Sealock Needle outside should be his weapon.”

“It’s really not Sun Wukong,” he made a long sigh.

“And Enihilus called himself Horseplague. That should be the soul of the horse-demon that Sheliyuemo suppressed back then. Senior Che had already taken part in the fortune and set down the butcher’s blade, so the demon was suppressed here, that’s all.”

“I don’t know what kind of realm Senior Che cultivated to, but it should be a realm that demands the execution of malice. Daoism has the Execution of Three Corpses, and Buddhism should also have a similar arcane effort. So, he executed his malice and suppressed it here together with Horseplague. This malice, though, became a Dream Walker because of a few unknown reasons.”

“So that’s how it is...”

1. There is a lot to unpack here. Basically, Tripi?aka = Three Scriptures = Sanzang, if I haven’t made it clear enough. In this particular passage, its being referenced in how it’s known in Buddhism in Sanskrit, how others understand it in Chinese, and then there’s the added layer for the translation. These scriptures are also known as the Vinaya Pi?aka, Sūtra Pi?aka, and Abhidharma Pi?aka.

2. In case you’ve forgotten, Journey to the West is one of China’s Four Classics.

3. The problem I face here is similar to Enihilus’s name. Sheliyuemo = 舍利越魔 = Sarira-Surpasses-Demon. It’s a symbolic name.

4. Wukong = 悟空. Same Wukong as Sun Wukong. The name Wukong, as I have noted, means “The Comprehension of Nothingness”. The name Sun Wukong is never actually mentioned in historical text prior to Journey to the West. If there is any character like “Sun Wukong”, his name is something along the lines of “Monkey Pilgrim”. As we might presume, later writers used Che Fengchao’s title of Wukong for Sun Wukong.

5. The Tang Xuanzang mentioned here is the Master Sanzang that most people familiar with Chinese history are aware of.

6. I did my own research here, but the author actually might be wrong here. Later on in life, Che Fengchao is bestowed the title Wukong by Emperor Dezong of Tang. His initial title is Fajie (Chinese), or Dharma Realm (English). This was the title of the previous arc, Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit).

7. Now that everything is more or less revealed, you can see the juxtaposition between Enihilus’s Buddhist title as what I had translated as Enihilus (Wumie), and Che Fengchao’s Buddhist title in the text, (Wukong). Respectively, “The Comprehension of Extermination” and “The Comprehension of Nothingness”. The Execution of Three Corpses is a real term in Daoism that is about vanquishing the three malicious intents that take the form of insects. Per corpse, there are three insects.