Sun Wukong looked up at him, then tossed the branch aside.
"You're here. Sleep well?"
"I did. The soundest sleep I've had in nine days." Chu Yang sat down on a nearby rock. "Brother Monkey, there's something I'd like to ask you about."
"Go ahead."
Chu Yang gathered his thoughts.
"Brother Monkey, I've been traveling with you for so long now, and I've gone through several battles, big and small. I've realized that my biggest weakness isn't a lack of spiritual energy—spiritual energy can be accumulated slowly through cultivation—but that I have too few means at my disposal."
Sun Wukong's brow twitched.
"The Taiyi Qi Cultivation Art can only give me so much. At its core, it's a health-preserving cultivation method. Its strengths are sensing spiritual energy, regulating one's breath, and strengthening the body. But in battle, nurturing qi alone isn't enough."
"In that fight with Tiger Vanguard, the reason I managed to hold on for a few exchanges was mainly my movement technique and judgment. But what if I face a stronger opponent? No matter how good my movement technique is, it has its limits. I need more combat methods."
Sun Wukong understood.
"What do you want to learn?"
Chu Yang looked at him.
"Transformation arts."
Sun Wukong's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Transformation arts? You want to learn the Seventy-two Transformations?"
"I know the Seventy-two Transformations aren't something just anyone can learn. Bodhi Patriarch taught them to you because you were extraordinarily gifted and had deep spiritual roots. A mere Qi Refining Stage mortal like me definitely can't learn such profound techniques."
Chu Yang paused.
"But transformation arts aren't limited to the Seventy-two Transformations. Brother Monkey's Seventy-two Transformations are the highest level, but below that, there should be some basic transformation methods, right? Things like invisibility, shapeshifting, illusions, and so