Time drifted on, and two hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.
Throughout that time, Sun Wukong had kept Tongtian's words firmly in mind: until he had enough strength, he had to learn to hide himself.
He had to make himself seem harmless. Only then would others lower their guard.
Only that way could he buy himself more time to grow.
And so, for those two hundred years, Sun Wukong had endured in silence and put on an act.
He pretended to know nothing, playing the happy fool, all to keep Subhuti from noticing anything amiss.
"Monkey, come here!"
Just then, Subhuti's voice suddenly sounded in Sun Wukong's mind.
Sun Wukong's expression shifted. He immediately went to the side chamber behind the mountain, found Subhuti, and knelt on the floor. "Wukong pays his respects to Master."
"Hehe, monkey, how long have you been here with me?" Subhuti asked with a smile.
Sun Wukong thought for a moment before answering, "I don't know. I only know the peaches behind the mountain have ripened twice."
Subhuti stroked his beard, then smiled. "Seeing you like this does stir my affection, little monkey. It seems I should teach you some ways to fight, besides the cultivation method, so that when you leave here, you'll have some means to defend yourself against enemies."
"I have the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations and the Earthly Fiend Seventy-Two Transformations. Which would you like to learn, monkey?"
Sun Wukong shuddered at those words.
He knew the crucial moment had arrived. From Tongtian's earlier guidance, he knew that of all the arts Subhuti could teach him, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Transformations were the most precious. Whether he could learn them, however, depended on whether he could fool the Subhuti before him.
At that thought, Sun Wukong's eyes rolled, and he