Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

There are two methods to change one's external appearance and clothing.

One is transformation.

The other is illusion.

Illusion means deceiving the vision of others, making them believe that one looks a certain way; while transformation is actually becoming that appearance oneself.

And Sun Wukong, he truly transforms.

If Nezha hadn't noticed that this person had been standing in the same spot where Sun Wukong was earlier and had some impression of it, he wouldn't have recognized him as Sun Wukong.

Yet Nezha was puzzled.

How would this allow one to cut in line?

Ah, no.

It was, how could one get to eat tofu cakes ahead of others?

And how did this dragon maiden also turn into an old woman with charm remaining?

The Iron Fan Girl had transformed into a little boy with two pigtails, but her illusion technique was not well practiced, so her face did not change.

Even more outrageous was the big white ox that turned from a body forty to fifty feet long into one only four to five feet, with its white fur turning to black, resembling a newly born calf of a water buffalo.

The dragon maiden, Iron Fan, and the ox demon with sealed mana—they all employed illusion, with the big white ox being an illusion cast by the dragon maiden.

But why do this?

Ao Yun spoke with a hoarse voice, earnestly saying, "My elder brother once said that although we are kings and loved by all spirits of Huaguo Mountain, we must not be too ostentatious."

"Walking with our true appearances could disrupt the order of the city, hence the transformation," he continued.

"In fact, after entering the city, my elder brother cast an illusion over us. You didn't notice at the time; otherwise, all the spirits in this city would swarm over," he explained.

Nezha had no words in response.

In his heart, he regarded the Monkey King even more highly—truly a wise monkey!

In front of the tofu cake workshop, people continuously left, some merchants from Ao Lai even ventured deep into the inland of Huaguo Mountain to purchase goods, loading up an entire large cart to take away.

The cart was thirty feet tall, sixty feet long, and forty feet wide, and ordinary cattle and horses could not possibly pull it. Thus, the merchants used gold and silver to hire the demons of Huaguo Mountain to pull the cart.

Two rhino demons, pulling on the reins, steadily took the cart away, clearly a routine business for them.

Nezha asked, "I heard that your Huaguo Mountain uses a different currency called 'Eternal Coins'? Ao Lai also has them in circulation, with black and red stripes, isn't it true that cultivators can equate one black-striped coin to a day's worth of cultivation?"

"Indeed," Sun Wukong replied slowly, nodding like an old man, "These rhino demons are also able to be hired by the merchants of Ao Lai because of the black-striped coins."

"They can earn three black-striped coins for one trip," Sun Wukong added.

Nezha whistled in amazement.

In the market, a pound of gold can be exchanged for ten black-striped coins.

For these rhino demons, just three trips could earn them nearly a pound of gold—the cost of living in Huaguo Mountain was indeed staggering.

However, since the merchants of Ao Lai could afford to pay a hiring price of six black-striped coins, that large cart full of tofu cakes would surely net even greater profits.

As Nezha knew, even though Ao Lai had trade branches established by Huaguo Mountain, the amount of black-striped and red-striped coins that could be exchanged was limited. This was probably because Huaguo Mountain had not yet minted more eternal coins.

Even if those merchants earned an abundance of gold and silver, in the short term, they likely couldn't acquire enough black-striped coins.

Moreover, while a pound of gold could be exchanged for ten black-striped coins or one red-striped coin at Huaguo Mountain and its trade branches in Ao Lai, in private deals within Ao Lai, a black-striped coin's price had been driven up to ten pounds of gold, and it was still hard to come by.

Not to mention red-striped coins.

Although Huaguo Mountain has set the exchange rates between black, red, silver, and gold coins at a ratio of ten to one, outside of Huaguo Mountain in Ao Lai, the private exchange varied between 20:1 and 30:1.

Thus, how were the merchants of Ao Lai actually making a profit?

If Sun Wukong knew of Nezha's thoughts, he would have scoffed.

Although Ao Lai revered the Eternal and Heavenly Dao coins, they still predominantly used gold and silver. These merchants only needed to exchange the profits for enough eternal coins to cover their costs, and the remaining gold and silver could be slowly planned to trade with countries outside of Ao Lai.

Such a difference in exchange, wouldn't that be delightful?

To say that merchants are cunning would be an overstatement.

But without a doubt, they never do a losing business.

"Miss has sold out all the tofu, please come back tomorrow," she announced.

Yuyan jumped onto the rooftop, facing the people still waiting, and yelled out.

"Why so early today?"

"This little girl is the king's servant and must be on standby at all times, so the time for selling tofu cakes is irregular, and she also never takes orders. Whether you can grab one or not also depends on luck."

"Let's wait for tomorrow."

"Come earlier tomorrow."

The humans and demons scattered one after another, as Sun Wukong, with Nezha, Ao Yun, Iron Fan, and the calf, walked into the workshop.

Yuyan jumped down from the roof, walked into the house, and said, "Old man, old lady, the tofu cakes are all sold out, none left. If you want some, wait for tomorrow."

Sun Wukong closed the workshop door.

"What now?"

Yuyan raised her eyebrows, hands on her hips, "Couldn't buy any and thinking of starting trouble? Let me tell you, although I may look small, having been with the king, I've also mastered quite a few spells. If we really fought, you guys…"

"Tsk tsk, two sacks of bones, two kids, and one black calf."

"That calf could be good for barbecue."

Sun Wukong straightened his back, reverting to his original form, as did Ao Yun and the others, revealing their true selves.

Yuyan: (⊙o⊙)…

"My king, I was wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I'm just wrong," Yuyan replied. "That's what my dad told me—admit the mistake quickly, and the king will definitely forgive me."

Sun Wukong chuckled, "Pretty sly, but if you really commit an unforgivable mistake, I won't let you off."

"Yes, yes!"

Yuyan was immediately overjoyed, knowing Sun Wukong had forgiven her, even though she didn't know what she had done wrong.

How could she mistake him when the king had changed his appearance? First published on M|V|L!EMPYR.

She didn't have the king's keen eyes to recognize the signs.

"In the future, even if old folks act a bit strangely, you should still maintain the proper respect, unless they show disrespect for their age," Sun Wukong instructed, and then asked, "Any tofu cakes left?"

"Tofu cakes? All sold out... But if the king wants some, I can make another pot right now."

After saying that, Yuyan immediately set to work, taking out a triangular copper cauldron from her Qiankun Bag, pouring into it gold and silver items, followed by dumping a large sack of soybeans, then adding water, sugar, and various spices.

Next, Yuyan took a deep breath, puffing up her belly like a ball.

And then,

Whoosh—

Accompanying the breath, Yuyan's stomach deflated, and a faint blue flame spewed from her mouth, circling three times beneath the cauldron before Yuyan drew it back into her stomach.

This cycle repeated continuously, without end.

"That fire is Southern Ming Separating Fire, something only a phoenix can have..." Nezha began but then slapped his head and laughed, "I forgot that Huaguo Mountain has a phoenix, to take some Separating Fire for you, is nothing much."

"Just that—"

"I've never seen alchemy done like this before."

Nezha was genuinely curious.

In this world, who uses a cauldron to perform alchemy without even a lid?

And what are all those things you're adding?

Gold and silver make some sense, being used to craft external elixirs, but soybeans, sugar, water, and such—aren't you just cooking?

Compared to Nezha's silent criticism, Ao Yun was used to it, while it was Sun Wukong's first time witnessing the girl perform alchemy.

Although the process seemed... comical?

It was also novel.

Moreover, Sun Wukong valued that Yuyan seemed to have truly realized something. This ongoing cycle of exhaling and inhaling flames, along with her unique breathing technique, both smelted the various materials in the cauldron and drew in the essences of gold and silver. Combined with the essence of soybeans, it could continuously enhance her strength.

The aura of gold and silver, strong and yang, would fortify Yuyan's physical body, which over years could cultivate a body of golden muscles and jade bones. The essence of soybeans, soft and yin, could grow mana and strengthen the Primordial Spirit.

Although rough, it was enough for Yuyan to practice for now.