The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong

After that touch from the Golden Cudgel, Five Finger Mountain remained silent for two days.

Goten did not continue to erode the Seal—he was waiting.

He was waiting for that awakening presence to fully open its eyes, waiting for the one trapped deep within the mountain for five hundred years to decide whether it truly intended to answer him.

On the morning of the third day, he received his answer.

The mountain split open—not from an earthquake, but from a fissure starting deep within that stretched from the foot of the mountain all the way to its waist.

The crack he had been eroding for three days and three nights was torn open from the other side by a force within the mountain.

Golden light surged from the fissure—not a gentle glow, but a straight pillar of golden light that shot into the sky and exploded among the clouds, dyeing the sky for a hundred miles in every direction gold.

Everyone stood up at once.

Goten did not stand—he was already right in front of the mountain wall.

The golden light shone upon his face, and he reached out his hand—not to touch the light, but to catch what was falling within it.

A fragment hovered an inch above his palm—entirely golden, with sharp edges, looking like a broken piece of metal. It was a fragment of the Golden Cudgel.

He gripped the fragment, and a current of power surged into his arm and spread throughout his body; in that instant, he established an unbreakable connection with the Golden Cudgel.

This was a legacy of power spanning five hundred years. It was not passed through the Seal, but through this fragment.

The fragment grew hot in his palm—a brand-new power was breaking through the Seal and awakening, as if saying, "I am here; come find me."

The fissure in the mountain continued to widen. More fragments flew out from the crack—not toward him, but in different directions, flying toward every corner of the Three Realms.

The Golden Cudgel had been shattered by Sun Wukong himself after he attained Buddhahood and before his soul reincarnated; now, the fragments were scattering across the Three Realms.

Goten gripped the fragment in his hand and looked up at the scattering golden light. "The Golden Cudgel has shattered."

Zixia's voice was calm. "It didn't just shatter; it was released. Sun Wukong broke it himself after attaining Buddhahood and before his soul reincarnated, and now the fragments have scattered into the Three Realms. This way, no one can monopolize its power."

"Then how do we restore it?"

"Find all the fragments—the Golden Cudgel will reassemble itself."

Goten looked down at the fragment in his palm—it was glowing, pulsing like a beating heart.

Zhi Zun Bao stood before the mountain wall, his hand still pressed against the handprint.

When he saw the fragments of the Golden Cudgel scattering earlier, one had flown toward him—it paused three feet in front of him and circled him once.

Then it flew off into the distance. It hadn't flown toward him—it had been observing him.

"It recognizes me," Zhi Zun Bao said in a low voice.

Zixia did not answer.

But she knew—of course the Golden Cudgel recognized him; that was a trust that time could not erode.

It was the aura of Sun Wukong himself—even after reincarnation, the Golden Cudgel would not mistake it.

Goten tucked the fragment into his robes and stood up.

He watched the scattering golden light vanish in every direction—his task had suddenly become clear: leave Five Finger Mountain, travel the Three Realms, find all the fragments, and let the Golden Cudgel be whole again.

He opened his palm—the fragment floated up and tilted toward the northwest.

"What is in that direction?"

To the northwest lay a desolate Gobi Desert, and further northwest, the Flowing Sand River.

Zhu Bajie's expression changed. "No—I'm not going to the Flowing Sand River. That is..." He paused. "That is where I stayed after I was banished to the mortal realm."

Sha Wujing did not speak, but when he heard the words "Flowing Sand River," his hand gripping his shoulder pole tightened slightly.

"Then we go," Zhi Zun Bao said, hoisting his wooden staff onto his shoulder. "We can't just leave the fragments of the Golden Cudgel at the bottom of the Flowing Sand River."

Sand stretched out beneath their feet—the boundless Gobi Desert. Ahead lay the Flowing Sand River, eight hundred miles of it, where the waters were so weak that even a goose feather could not float upon them.

The first fragment of the Golden Cudgel lay at the bottom of that river.

In the Heavenly Court, within the Lingxiao Palace, the Jade Emperor sat upon the Nine-Dragon Throne with his eyes closed, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the armrest—he was counting whether the golden light would last for one incense stick or two.

If it lasted longer than three incense sticks, it was not a simple loosening of the Seal; the Seal had been broken.

When the third incense stick burned out, the golden light had not vanished. The Jade Emperor opened his eyes.

"Li Jing, summon the Four Heavenly Kings, the Twenty-Eight Mansions, and the Nine Luminaries—surround and suppress Five Finger Mountain."

"Your Majesty—"

"I do not wish to hear any more 'buts'." The Jade Emperor's voice was not loud, but every word struck the ground like a nail. "Yang Jian failed, Nezha failed—I gave Patriarch Bodhi face and left Fangcun Mountain alone. But now the Golden Cudgel is shattered—Sun Wukong's aura has reappeared in the Three Realms. Do you know what this means?"

Li Jing was silent for a moment. "It means someone has opened the Seal of Five Finger Mountain."

"No," the Jade Emperor looked at him. "It means he has returned."

The pillar of golden light at Five Finger Mountain could be seen even from the Heavenly Court, ten thousand miles away.

The Heavenly Soldiers outside the South Heaven Gate stood in formation upon the clouds—every gaze was fixed in the same direction: the west.

Every pair of eyes in the Three Realms was watching that golden light—everyone knew whose aura it was.

After five hundred years, that name reappeared in everyone's heart: the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong.