Great Demon Sun Wukong

Actually, the Bull Demon King did not finish his sentence. What he wanted to say was that if he could be taken away from Flame Mountain, he would be free from control. However, before he could say the rest, all his consciousness was suppressed by Tathagata. In fact, Tathagata is not omnipotent; the reason he could manipulate the Bull Demon King from the Western Paradise Sacred Mountain is that there is a golden statue of the Buddha of Tathagata within the eight hundred miles of Flame Mountain.

Once the Bull Demon King leaves the boundaries of Flame Mountain, that golden statue would no longer have an effect on him. Although the Bull Demon King didn't finish his words, Sun Wukong still understood his intent. Thus, he deliberately retreated, luring the Bull Demon King to chase him. As expected, the Bull Demon King, controlled by Tathagata, immediately pursued him.

But as Sun Wukong ran, he quickly noticed something was wrong, for his demonic power consumption within Flame Mountain was three times that of an ordinary battle. Soon he understood why; the fire of Flame Mountain was not only that of the Bagua Furnace used for alchemy by the Supreme Elder Lord but also contained a bit of fire for refining demons. Contemplating this, Sun Wukong was filled with doubt.

The fire of Flame Mountain, as soon as Sun Wukong saw it, he knew it was indeed the fire from the Supreme Elder Lord's Bagua Furnace. Coupled with what the Bull Demon King said, Sun Wukong could conclude that this was from the Bagua Furnace he kicked over during his havoc in the Heavenly Palace, causing the fire to spill and create these eight hundred miles of Flame Mountain.

If that truly were the case, then a problem arises. The Supreme Elder Lord once threw him into the Bagua Furnace for alchemical refinement for forty-nine days, and during that time, at least two Taoist boys would have been stationed before the Bagua Furnace, responsible for adding wood and fanning the flames. Naturally, this is a common necessity for any furnace to maintain its fire, requiring wood to be added. This principle is a universal truth, even for the Supreme Elder Lord's Bagua Furnace.

Yet, since the time of his havoc in the Heavenly Palace to the present, at least five hundred years have passed. In those five hundred years, the flame from Flame Mountain has never ceased, burning day and night. However, when Sun Wukong arrived, he surveyed the area and found nothing but the red-hot rocks of the mountain; not even a leaf could be found. So what has the Flame Mountain been burning for these five hundred years?

Of course, Sun Wukong once heard from his master that there exists a black stone that can burn in this world; however, even if the entire mountain range were made of such flammable black stones, it wouldn't last five hundred years, would it? Besides, Sun Wukong had already used his fiery eyes and golden gaze to observe that Flame Mountain was merely composed of exceptionally fire-resistant stubborn stones. Nonetheless, after five hundred years of relentless burning, this eight hundred miles of Flame Mountain has likely diminished considerably.

Since the stones of Flame Mountain do not burn and there was nothing to burn within, how did the flames persist? If this was already an undeniable fact laid before Sun Wukong's eyes, there could only be one possibility: somewhere on Flame Mountain, someone kept setting fires anew.

This implies that the vast fire extending eight hundred miles was not a natural burn of Flame Mountain, but rather flames set in one spot, then spread throughout the range. If this were indeed the case, and combining with Sun Wukong's speculation, the Golden Body of the Buddha of Tathagata within Flame Mountain could very well be the source of these fires. If the statue could be destroyed, not only would the eight hundred-mile flame be extinguished, but the Bull Demon King would also be freed from Tathagata's control.

Although all these were Sun Wukong's speculations, he was certain that his reasoning would be mostly correct. So, with a blink of his fiery eyes and golden gaze, pursued by the Bull Demon King, Sun Wukong continued to circle around Flame Mountain. The Bull Demon King tirelessly pursued him, while Sun Wukong's demonic power was being rapidly depleted. If Sun Wukong could not find the statue before his energy was completely exhausted, or if his assumption was incorrect, he would face dire consequences today.

Perhaps Sun Wukong wouldn't die, but often, death is not the worst fate.

As he flew around searching, finally, when his demonic power was about halfway spent, Sun Wukong suddenly spotted a temple at the foot of a mountain. It was a very small temple, resembling the Great Thunderclap Monastery of the Western Paradise. A sense of relief washed over Sun Wukong's heart, and he knew he had guessed correctly.

Thus, Sun Wukong's form descended rapidly, soon landing at the small temple's entrance. As he looked up, he saw the sign above the small temple's gate, inscribed with "Little Thunderclap Monastery". Just then, the Bull Demon King arrived. "I thought you were burned out of your senses, but it turns out you had ulterior motives, to manage to find this place, Sun Wukong, I truly admire you more and more. I can't wait to turn you into my puppet for my own use."

"However, what good is it for you to find this place? I know you well; you're kind-hearted, so you wouldn't dare harm your sworn brother. Sun Wukong, how pitiful, how pitiful." But as the Bull Demon King spoke, it was Tathagata's voice that emerged, incensing Sun Wukong greatly. However, what he said was true; Sun Wukong couldn't bring himself to harm the Bull Demon King.

Yet, if he didn't defeat the Bull Demon King, he couldn't destroy this temple, thus creating an apparent deadlock. Nonetheless, this slight difficulty couldn't outdo Sun Wukong. "Tathagata, today I will show you how I can demolish your wretched temple without harming my elder brother." As soon as he said this, Sun Wukong flashed in movement, positioning himself before the Bull Demon King, raising his Jingu Bang and swinging it toward him.

Controlling the Bull Demon King, Tathagata neither dodged nor evaded but rather smiled while rushing his head toward Sun Wukong's Jingu Bang. Just as the staff was about to hit the Bull Demon King's head, the Jingu Bang in Sun Wukong's hand suddenly vanished. Sun Wukong's body also blurred as he appeared behind the Bull Demon King, striking him on his back with a palm.

"Haha, I thought… This is… Sun Wukong, what is this power?" Tathagata was initially prepared to mock Sun Wukong for ultimately striking the Bull Demon King. However, he soon realized that from Sun Wukong's palm extended three silvery chains that firmly ensnared the Bull Demon King.

Bound by these silvery chains, Tathagata found he had lost control over the Bull Demon King's body, to which Sun Wukong chuckled, saying, "I don't know either; I woke up able to do this." Once the silver chains completely restrained the Bull Demon King, Sun Wukong severed the chains from his palm, then immediately disregarded the Bull Demon King lying on the ground. Picking up his Jingu Bang, he proceeded to the entrance of the Little Thunderclap Monastery. "Sun Wukong, don't get too cocky, you'll only make me want you more. Don't rush, the road is long; let's play."

Hearing these words, Sun Wukong retorted without turning back, "I will eventually reduce your Great Thunderclap Monastery to rubble, just like now." With that, Sun Wukong swung his Jingu Bang, smashing it down. With merely three to five strikes, the entire Little Thunderclap Monastery collapsed with a boom, and the golden-bodied Tathagata within it was shattered to pieces.

Upon the shattering of the golden-bodied Tathagata, Sun Wukong found a palm-sized small Bagua Furnace inside. He tapped it forcefully with the Jingu Bang, and it shattered immediately. Subsequently, Sun Wukong felt the flames of Flame Mountain beginning to extinguish gradually.

"Hmph, so it truly involves the Supreme Elder Lord. Such cunning calculations, it was clearly you, Tathagata, colluding with the Supreme Elder Lord, creating this eight-hundred-mile Flame Mountain desolate of people and animals, only to blame it on me, old Sun. Truly cunning calculations." With these words, Sun Wukong stamped the ground forcefully, cracking the earth to bury the pieces of the golden-bodied Tathagata and the broken small Bagua Furnace.

Soon, within Sun Wukong's Divine Sense, the flames of Flame Mountain began to extinguish. With a single toe push, Sun Wukong arrived beside the Bull Demon King. As the golden-bodied Tathagata had been destroyed, Tathagata's influence naturally ceased to exist. With a thought, Sun Wukong retracted the silvery chains and slung the now-unconscious Bull Demon King over his back, flying back to Tang Sanzang.

With the destruction of the golden-bodied Tathagata, the Iron Bull could no longer rampage; at this time, it must have reverted back to its original form, and thus Bajie would soon return as well.

"Tathagata, I, old Sun, will remember this grudge."