His golden eyes darted about. There was initially a layer of mist, but they gradually regained clarity.

　　Feng Lin squatted on the cliff as he stared at the familiar yet strange surroundings. After a while, he confirmed that he had transformed into a spiritual stone monkey and come to the illusion-scape formed by his memories.

　　This was the Flowerfruit Mountain. Flowers bloomed through the year, and the four seasons cycled through normally. The spirit energy here was extremely concentrated, with birds, beasts, fish and bugs around. It was a place filled with vitality and a sense of auspiciousness like paradise in the mortal realm.

　　He stood up and began strolling around.

　　The flow of time in this dimension was different from the real world. It was much slower.

　　He had enough time to find the truth about the ancient mythology path and searched for the secrets of Sun Wukong’s growth.

　　Tigers, leopards, panthers, wolves, eagles, condors, sparrows, and swallows… All sorts of living creatures flew through the air and walked on the earth. This lone island seemed to be an independent region cut off from the rest of the world. It was its own heaven and earth and even seemed a little magical.

　　Feng Lin roamed the mountains freely. When he was thirsty, he would drink some of the sweet spring water. When he was hungry, he would pluck some fresh peaches. He was carefree and unrestrained like a demon born from nature.

　　However, he didn’t forget his purpose for entering the illusion-scape even after transforming into a monkey.

　　If his spirit was lost in here, he would never be able to exit.

　　Cultivation might provide one with a great fortune but also a great danger.

　　Each step on the path was filled with thorns. Only by guarding one’s original heart and relentlessly advancing would one be able to succeed.

　　Feng Lin leaped around nimbly, checking each corner of the Flowerfruit Mountain and trying to find traces of his mythological path that might exist here.

　　However, he didn’t find any clues no matter how long he searched. He had to scrap it and start all over again. He truly became that newly birthed spiritual stone monkey and retraced his earlier steps.

　　Changes are a fixed law, but they are also like dreams and froth.

　　Yet, Feng Lin could clearly see through it.

　　He was Feng Lin, he wasn’t Sun Wukong. The mythological path was just an example, and one mustn’t completely walk the old pathway.

　　As to why he had not discovered the truth yet, it must mean that there was still something Feng Lin hadn’t discovered.

　　There was no ‘calendars’ in the mountains, so no one could account for the changing of dates.

　　He simply did his best to search. Without realizing it, a day soon passed by.

　　The night came, the moon was high in the sky, and gleaming stars were everywhere. The atmosphere was very tranquil.

　　Under the silver moonlight, the waves of the ocean splashed about. The entire Flowerfruit Mountain was engulfed by a screen of light.

　　Feng Lin squatted on the mountain peak. His vision covered the sky, the sea, and the earth. He seemed to be in a ‘lost’ state while staring at them.

　　That skinny figure looked as though he wanted to fuse with the heavens and earth. There was an incomparable sense of harmony with him and nature.

　　He inclined his head and stared at the sky. From the depths of his eyes, a golden light started glimmering as his gaze pierced through the stars. Along with the transformation, his spirit force and perception stretched out endlessly to encompass all things.

　　For a while, Feng lin only felt his spirit force surging upward without end as he became one with heaven and earth. Astrology, geography, the shifting of stars…all the changes was accurately captured by his perception, and he knew everything.

　　In fact, he even felt that as long as he had a single thought in his mind, he would be able to change the constellations.

　　Feng Lin took a deep breath and stared at the sparkling stars again. The essence of the countless constellations in the sky flooded into him like birds returning to their forest. That skinny figure actually absorbed all of it and slowly recovered its original appearance, a spiritual stone money that had radiant golden fur.

　　The spiritual stone monkey was a spiritual lifeform nurtured by heaven and earth. It had quick wits and was able to sense the changes in fate. In this regard, nothing could escape his perception, even things as major as stars shifting or things as minor as a blade of grass.

　　This was what capable of transformation, knowing astrology and geography, and capable of shifting the stars meant!

　　As he became one with heaven and earth, he transformed into the heart monkey. Feng Lin’s proficiency in his abilities was enhanced by a level.

　　His body was gradually cloaked in treasured light as he absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper himself. He even gave off a faint celestial air while being completely immersed within this sensation.

　　All of a sudden, Feng Lin opened his eyes and that wondrous state ended. At this moment, he saw a pair of crimson eyes staring fixedly at him. Low-sounding growls could be heard.

　　Under the illumination of the silvery moonlight, a gigantic figure filled with spots walked out from the darkness. It was actually a leopard. However, this leopard seemed to be as large as an elephant and had extremely sharp fangs and a malevolent aura.

　　Its eyes were as red as blood and auspicious black-colored qi covered it. This wasn’t an ordinary leopard; it was a monster.

　　However, it didn’t transform!

　　Demonic beast!

　　Feng Lin narrowed his eyes. He noticed that this leopard was a cultivating demonic beast.

　　Right now, the eyes of it were filled with greed when it looked at him. It was like this leopard was staring at a supremely valuable treasure, and it wanted nothing more than to devour him.

　　Feng Lin’s heart sank. He knew that earlier when he was absorbing the energy of heaven and earth, including that of the stars, he must have inadvertently revealed traces of his aura and recovered the original appearance of a spiritual stone monkey.

　　As a spiritual creature birthed by heaven and earth, if he was devoured by other demonic creatures, he would be like a tonic that allowed them to evolve, greatly increasing their chances to attain the dao.

　　Before Sun Wukong grew up, he once had to fight for his survival in the wilderness. He must have suffered countless difficulties.

　　Maybe what he was experiencing now was merely one of the difficult things Sun Wukong had faced in the past.

　　ROAR~

　　The demonic leopard stared at Feng Lin, radiating a brutal and cold feeling. It was waiting for a chance to pounce over and tear him to pieces.

　　Although this was in his memories, things that happened here might be a reality.

　　If he was devoured by the demonic leopard, he didn’t know what consequences would there be.

　　Maybe the inheritance would be severed off completely, and he would be stuck at his current level forever, unable to advance an inch further.

　　Feng Lin calmed himself down and entered a state of focus.

　　Finally, the leopard could no longer suppress its urges. It roared and lunged over. Its claws reeked of blood, and the demonic aura surrounding it was like dark clouds.

　　Feng Lin didn’t retreat but chose to advance and meet it head-on instead.

　　The demonic leopard was extremely fierce. Its demonic aura covered it and empowered its attacks.

　　Although Feng Lin didn’t have any techniques in this form, he had a genuine spiritual stone monkey’s body. His body was as tough as steel and rock, and he also had boundless strength as well as Heart Monkey Force, allowing his body to transform freely.

　　He unleashed his self-created Beastlike Fist Art and displayed the wonders of a hundred beasts, fighting close-combat with the leopard and punching it every moment.

　　Although the demonic leopard was fierce, it hadn’t cultivated itself to the point where it could transform and become a true demon. It could only use the most basic demonic techniques, and the majority of its combat strength stemmed from close combat such as claws attacks. How could it be Feng Lin’s opponent then?

　　ROAR~

　　All of a sudden, thunderous roars of pain rang out through the mountain, startling the desolate region. The ordinary birds and beasts were all startled and the scene became extremely chaotic.

　　On a mountain peak, a skinny figure that exuded pride and wildness could be seen. His golden fur was matted with blood; there was a sense of ruthlessness radiating from it.

　　Feng Lin’s eyes were crimson. It took a long time before they reverted to their original golden color.

　　Some hidden memories suddenly awakened in his mind. Many scenes from ancient times flashed through his vision. He saw a monkey that had just been fighting against a hundred beasts, struggling for survival as an epiphany filled his heart.

　　The memory art wasn’t so simple.

　　If he wanted to dig out the inheritance from the mythological path, he had to appear within the memories as an incarnation of Sun Wukong and personally experience everything Sun Wukong had experienced before. All so he could truly gain insights about the true essence of the Great Sage Will.

　　If he purposely distanced himself from this and tried to search for the inheritance, he would fail for sure.

　　The memory illusion-scape was as vast as an ocean. Looking for the inheritance felt like looking for a particular drop of water in it.

　　Guarding and maintaining one’s original heart while experiencing whatever Sun Wukong had experienced before was the true method of digging out the inheritance.

　　Upon understanding this point, Feng Lin decisively acted.

　　After this, he truly became a newly-born stone monkey and roamed the world of the Flowerfruit Mountain.

　　Amidst the wind and rain, he continued alone. He braced himself during the savage winds as well as the fierce storms.

　　Under the blazing sun, he fought against a hundred types of beasts while he constantly searched for fresh water, experiencing what it was like to fight for his survival in the wilderness…

　　During the bone-chilling winter, he had to endure the naked cold; his furs were frozen into crystals.

　　…

　　After this process, he gradually experienced the cruelty of nature. That stubborn stone monkey that didn’t fear anything at the start finally learned caution.

　　The tougher the journey was, the stronger Sun Wukong would grow in the future.

　　What did it mean to be the heart monkey?

　　It meant that the vaster one’s heart was, the greater one’s strength would be.

　　The autumn faded and spring arrived.

　　The snow and ice melted.

　　Hualala~

　　The sound of water flowing startled Feng Lin who was sleeping inside a cave. He moved toward the source of the sound, as a majestic sight appeared in his vision.

　　The water flowed down with thunderous force, forming a water curtain. The flow continued unabated and formed a huge lake of water down below. Ripples manifested unceasingly as the water flowed toward the ocean.

　　“Chi chi chi~ quickly look. There’s a waterfall there!”

　　“Good, let us go take a shower!”

　　“Spring is finally here. The winter has caused some of us to be frozen solid!”

　　…

　　Beasts had their own speeches. Naturally, so did monkeys.

　　Chattering noises drifted over, and Feng Lin randomly understood. From far away, a group of wild monkeys appeared.

　　They leaped on trees to pluck fruits, ran around in the sand, chasing insects and bugs, catching and biting lice, using fur as coats, carefree and unrestrained… They were one with nature.

　　“After roaming the Flowerfruit Mountain for so long, I finally encounter this bunch of monkeys. In the future, when the spiritual stone monkey became the Monkey King, his subordinates were naturally monkeys as well. In that case, these monkeys here…” Feng Lin’s heart stirred as his eyes narrowed.

　　Monkeys were very active creatures. After they finished playing, they pushed each other and came to the cave near the waterfall as they started bathing. When they saw the majestic waterfall, all of them were extremely excited and clapped while shouting loudly, “Good water, good water!”

　　Only to see:

　　A white rainbow caused thousands of waves to surge, the ocean breeze shone along with the bright moonlight.

　　The cold air flowed around the green-jade peaks, the intense flows of the waterfalls formed a water curtain.

　　…

　　A white-furred old ape walked out. “Whoever is capable enough to find the source and come out uninjured, all of us will pay obeisance to him and take him to be our king!”

　　After three rounds of exclamation, everyone agreed. However, no monkey stepped out.

　　All of them had fear on their faces.

　　The water curtain formed by the flow of the waterfall was extremely large, almost a thousand feet wide. Let alone a monkey, even if a tiger were to rush in, it would be instantly crushed by the huge pressure. There were naturally no monkeys who dared to attempt this.

　　The white-furred ape felt disappointment when he saw this.

　　But at this moment, a voice rang out, “I’ll go in.”

　　The group of monkeys turned to the voice before they started laughing.

　　These monkeys had always lived in groups and would often eat immortal herbs and celestial fruits on the Flowerfruit Mountain. Their fur was extremely bright and now when they suddenly saw a new monkey whom they were not acquainted with, the one with fur that was covered in dust, all of them laughed in derision.

　　“Where did this wild monkey appear from?”

　　“He looks so skinny and frail. He must have been living a pathetic life. Does he really want to dream about jumping past the water curtain and becoming our king? I’m going to die from laughter!”

　　“He even looks like a dog!”

　　…

　　The laughter of contempt rang out unceasingly.

　　Feng Lin’s body stiffened and he felt extremely sullen. He didn’t expect himself to be mocked by a group of monkeys. If this were to leak out, he would surely become the biggest joke in the interstellar space.

　　Luckily, this was just an illusion-scape.

　　He also wouldn’t quarrel with a group of monkeys. He shouted in a loud voice, “Can it be that the words you guys agreed on earlier cannot be counted upon? So what if I’m a wild monkey? I will become your king after I jump through the water curtain!”

　　The group of monkeys laughed again.

　　“You are so skinny, how can you become the Monkey King?”

　　“That’s right. You can’t even win against me in combat!”

　　“Given your small size, wouldn’t you be courting death if you make the attempt?”

　　…

　　These monkeys continued to laugh as their words grew meaner and meaner.

　　“Cough, cough, cough.” All of a sudden, the sounds of coughing rang out as that white-furred old ape from before walked out. He cast a deep glance at Feng Lin and spoke in a heavy voice, “The words earlier are naturally counted. Although you are a wild monkey, as long as you can jump through this water curtain formed by the waterfall, you can naturally become the Monkey King, our king!”

　　After the old monkey spoke, the other monkeys also fell silent, but their gazes still had the contempt from before.

　　Feng Lin nodded toward the old monkey. He drew in a deep breath and walked toward the edge.

　　Only by viewing it in such close distance could he see the waterfall’s true appearance. The water fell from a height of at least a thousand feet. The speed of the waterflow was extremely quick, creating something akin to a water curtain as the water fell unabatedly.

　　Truly, this seemed like a magical work of nature.

　　The records in the legend seemed very simple, but when one had to experience this for themselves, they would then feel the danger.

　　If he was the slightest bit careless, he would be crushed and washed away by the waterfall, and his life and death would be unknown.

　　“Go and jump!”

　　“Why are you not jumping?”

　　“A wild monkey will always be a wild monkey!”

　　…

　　The group of monkeys shouted loudly behind him, jeering at him.

　　Feng Lin’s heart sank. It seemed like even the Monkey King wasn’t popular at the start. Sun Wukong must also have been ridiculed like this before.

　　Only by passing through the water curtain would he be able to subdue all these monkeys in a single move and become the true Monkey King!

　　He stared at the endless flows of water and gritted his teeth. At the next moment, he summoned up the entirety of the strength in his body. He arched it and abruptly jumped, his skinny frame leaping toward the water curtain.

　　Behind him, all the monkeys had their eyes wide open.

　　At the next moment, BOOM!

　　The waterfall mercilessly continued its flow. The waters instantly engulfed Feng Lin, pushing him down toward the lake as he vanished from sight.

　　“Hahaha!”

　　“Truly, a silly monkey that has overestimated himself.”

　　“Didn’t I say that he was courting death?”

　　…

　　The monkeys kept on laughing. They then continued their way and left the area, only the echoes of their laughter remained.

　　The white-furred ape had a look of regret on his face when he saw Feng Lin floating on the lake below. After that, he slowly left as well.

　　Feng Lin swept to the bank. His entire body was soaking wet and looked very pitiful.

　　Seeing his own pathetic state in the water’s reflection, he couldn’t help but sigh.

　　What the legends recorded were just words. In reality, things weren’t so simple; there were too many unknown variables that he had to test out one by one.

　　He should spend some time and ponder about this properly.

　　(What does it mean to be the Monkey King?)