Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

The Borderlands, where the entire Three Realms were born and extended, was still in the chaos of the initial opening of heaven and earth, with clear Qi forming the heavens and turbid Qi forming the earth. Therefore, one could not see any sun, moon, or stars at all. The entirety of the Three Realms was wrapped within the Borderlands, which continuously transformed into the current regions of the Three Realms, and as it transformed, parts of it would merge into the Three Realms.

It could be said that the Three Realms were continually expanding, albeit extremely slowly. But due to the existence of the Borderlands, this expansion was endless, unless one day the Borderlands completely transformed into a fixed form; only then would this boundary finally be defined.

Back in the Primeval Era, not all treasures were distributed by Hong Jun Daoist Ancestor on the Division Rock; some were left behind in the Borderlands, and some treasures were even still forming.

Luo Bai had opened a spatial channel to the Borderlands because he knew this, entering from the Three Realms in search of treasures. Being a Sword Immortal, he simply wanted to find a suitable treasured sword for himself. However, the Borderlands were continuously in a state of chaos and transformation, filled with naturally formed formations and prohibitions, trapping Luo Bai for five hundred years.

"Don't you understand formations?"

Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow, "Surely you, a Sword Immortal, aren't only adept with the sword?"

"Of course not, I can also compose poems and drink wine!"

"..."

This guy is an idiot, assessment complete!

There was an MMP that Sun Wukong really wanted to blurt out inside, but he reckoned Luo Bai wouldn't understand what it meant. The best approach to dealing with a narcissistic fool was to simply ignore him.

Rising to his feet, Sun Wukong jumped out of the deep pit. Having spent some time in the Three Realms' Borderlands, his body had gradually adapted to this area's powerful gravity. Although riding the clouds still cost a great deal of mana, his regular activities weren't affected.

"Hey hey, where are you going? Wait for me!"

Luo Bai was still tilting his head, waiting for Sun Wukong to ask him how he could compose poems and drink wine, but Sun Wukong completely ignored him and just walked away, leaving Luo Bai no choice but to hastily follow.

"My fellow, your cultivation isn't high, but your strength is quite impressive. What's your name? Let's be friends!"

"Was that Dharma Aspect Heaven and Earth Divine Power you used just now? I heard that only those with strong body refining techniques are able to grasp such divine skills. What body refining technique did you study?"

"Your clones and transformations are seriously impressive. I, Luo Bai, have never been at a disadvantage against someone of lower cultivation than myself before! You've heard, right? Our Sword Immortals' attack power is unmatched…"

They say three women make a crowd, but sometimes a man can match the chatter of a hundred ducks. Sun Wukong truly felt this now. Not only was Luo Bai a narcissist, but his incessant talking was as unbearable as that of the annoying Monk Tang from his previous life, making it impossible for Sun Wukong to focus on sensing the patterns of the formations.

"Shut your mouth, Old Sun!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Sun Wukong bared his teeth and shouted, veins throbbing on his forehead, "If you spout any more nonsense, Old Sun will kick you out! If you want to get out, just shut up and follow me quietly!"

"Why be so fierce…"

Luo Bai shrank his neck, but still wisely shut his mouth under Sun Wukong's glaring eyes. Finally, Sun Wukong let out a long sigh of relief and closed his eyes to concentrate on deducing the pattern of the formations.

The formations and prohibitions in the Borderlands were numerous and lacked any specific patterns. Sometimes, one wouldn't even realize they had walked into one. Sun Wukong had to stop every few steps to sense and deduce the situation, and if he found himself within a formation, he immediately thought of ways to break the formation barrier to escape. Luo Bai was truly a novice in the way of formations and completely ignorant, able only to stick closely to Sun Wukong, afraid of getting lost otherwise.

Should he get lost, it was unlikely Sun Wukong would come back specifically to find him.

Years flew by, and before they knew it, Sun Wukong and Luo Bai had been in the Borderlands for ten years. In that time, they had stopped frequently, spending most of their time breaking through formations. The distance they had covered probably wasn't as much as they would have traveled in half a day flying on clouds under normal circumstances.

Not just formations, the Borderlands were also home to many unevolved monsters, all formed from the essence of Chaos Qi, or perhaps more aptly called demonic spirits. They usually lacked intelligence, possessing only the instinct to destroy. Upon detecting living things, they would immediately launch attacks. Over these ten years, Sun Wukong and Luo Bai had killed many, mostly by Luo Bai's hand, as Sun Wukong was primarily occupied with breaking formations, leaving this task to Luo Bai.

These demonic spirits often left behind a pearl the size of a dragon's eye, which Luo Bai referred to as a Primordial Chaos Pearl. Sun Wukong had read about these pearls in ancient texts from the Three-Star Cave Heaven. Containing Chaos Qi, they were excellent auxiliary materials for artifact refining and alchemy. During the Primeval Era, Qi refining practitioners often used these Primordial Chaos Pearls to create magical treasures and refine spirit pills. But after the collapse of the Primeval Era, these pearls became rarely seen, and thus, many artifact refining methods and pill recipes were lost.

Now, within the entire Three Realms, probably only the Borderlands still had Primordial Chaos Pearls available. However, without some real skill, even if one truly came here, they would end up trapped like Luo Bai, moving in circles in one place. Encountering demonic spirits was almost as if by sheer luck.

"Lucky day, got another Primordial Chaos Pearl, tsk tsk!"

After splitting a demonic spirit with his sword, Luo Bai delightfully picked up the pearl left on the ground and was about to pocket it.

"One for each person, this one belongs to Old Sun."

Sun Wukong spoke in a light tone.

"This was killed by me!"

Luo Bai's face turned sour, and he reluctantly opened his hand. He watched as the Primordial Chaos Pearl flew out of his hand and landed in Sun Wukong's.

"The formation was also broken by yours truly!"

Sun Wukong rolled his eyes, "Why don't you break the formation and I'll go slay the demonic spirits?"

"No, no, let me handle the small matter of slaying demonic spirits. Wukong, you better focus on breaking the formation."

Luo Bai instantly cowered and let out a dry laugh. Asking him to break the formation would get him trapped for another five hundred years; he'd rather just peacefully slay demonic spirits.

Sun Wukong pursed his lips and continued to break the formation, advancing forward.

Sun Wukong was not one to roam aimlessly. Over these ten years, he had continually changed directions, moving towards the direction most likely to contain treasures.

All treasures possessed spirit and emitted a unique aura. These auras were masked by formations and restrictions which usually went unnoticed by ordinary people, but not Wukong. Every time he broke a formation or restriction, he would sense the fluctuations of aura emitted from the gathering site of the treasures.

Treasures chose to reside in places with concentrated spiritual energy. The Borderlands, being in a state of primordial chaos, was rich in spiritual energy. Real spiritual treasures naturally converged where the spiritual energy was most abundant. As for those that didn't converge, either their spirit was insufficient or they were too proud and unruly to consider.

Another decade passed, and Sun Wukong and Luo Bai arrived at a special location. Nine mountain peaks stood tall around them, forming a circular valley, distinctly different from the other terrains.

The Borderlands were at the initial state of chaos, with clear air as the sky and turbid air as the earth. The terrains were mostly indistinguishable, except for this arrangement of mountains and valleys, unseen in many years. Even Luo Bai noticed the unusual nature of this place.

"Wukong, you're incredible! Only you could find such a treasured place! There must definitely be great treasures inside this area!"

Luo Bai looked at the nine mountain peaks ahead, his eyes gleaming, "But tell me, Wukong, how did you find such a treasured place?"

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

Sun Wukong spoke softly. It wasn't that he didn't want to explain, but rather that explaining would be futile. Without an understanding of the way of formations, one couldn't notice the differences in aura fluctuations after each formation was broken. Such things were intuitive and couldn't be conveyed through words. If you understand, you understand; if you don't, no amount of explanation will make a difference.

"You haven't even spoken yet, how can you be sure I won't understand? That's rather dismissive, isn't it?"

Luo Bai was somewhat displeased, but Sun Wukong didn't even look at him, heading straight for the mountains. Even though they could already see the mountains, a popular saying goes, 'the mountains are deceiving'. From their current position to the nearest mountain, there was a distance yet to be crossed. According to past experiences, there were at least ten to eight formations in between. Now was not the time to lower their guard.

"Hey, I'm speaking to you, Wukong. Can you at least acknowledge me?"

"Shut up!"

"I can't keep quiet; it's just us two in this eerie place; not talking makes it too gloomy..."

"If you talk any more nonsense, go break the formations yourself and don't follow me!"

"...Fine, I'll keep quiet!"

Luo Bai, having proved numerous times that he was a man of the hour, saw the signs of Sun Wukong's impending outburst and wisely kept his mouth shut. However, his eyes kept rolling around, which made Sun Wukong speechless. How had such a guy cultivated to the realm of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, and how had he managed to stay over five hundred years in the Borderlands without going mad?

It was truly beyond comprehension!

The old saying about being deceived by the mountains in this Borderlands proved absolutely correct. Though Sun Wukong and Luo Bai had seen the nine mountain peaks three days ago, it took them exactly three days to reach the foot of the nearest peak, mainly because they encountered eight natural formations along the way, which took a lot of time.

"We finally made it! Hey, I can already smell the treasures. I'm going to find the most powerful treasured sword and a dashing immortal robe. When the time comes, with my robe flapping and sword dancing through the sky, there will definitely be a bunch of beauties swooning over me..."

Luo Bai, with shining eyes, stepped onto the path between the two mountain peaks, but the next moment, he leaped back with a scream as if stung by a scorpion.

"Damn! Why is it so hot?"