Standing on what had once been Rotten Peach Mountain, Adam balanced on a peach branch, rolling a dried lotus pod between his fingers.
This was the Root Relic he had obtained from Purple Spider, the one Centipede Demon had acquired. Its name was She Changsi.
Lotus pod? Love's longing?
Or did it mean that lotus seeds were sweet on the outside but bitter at the heart?
The story of Yellow Flower Temple and Pan Si Ridge involved the West Queen Mother's arrangements, yet seemed unrelated to the meaning of She Changsi. Its deeper significance probably lay in the romance between Purple Spider and Zhu Bajie.
Unfortunately, Adam truly had little firsthand feeling when it came to such matters...
"Forget it. Better a small blessing than perfect fulfillment. There's no need to dig too deeply into a Root Relic I can't understand."
Adam put away She Changsi and drew a deep breath.
No matter how desperately he longed for it, whether he could return would not change in any practical way. The thing that would help most right now was to keep moving forward, to keep climbing higher.
Since he could not get an answer even from the Three Pure Ones, he would find it himself.
If the Sea of Worlds did not have it, then he would keep searching beyond it.
Adam slowly let out his breath.
"Come to think of it, I seem to be luckier than the Fool."
Not knowing where his homeland was, a place even the Three Pure Ones could not locate, was certainly despairing. But it still offered more hope than knowing for certain that one could never return home.
"Still, the Fool's inability to return is ultimately due to insufficient strength. If he were one of the most powerful Old Ones, returning to the