Wukong's shout shook the heavens. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him.
The old earth god leading the others squeezed out from behind the crowd.
In his hands, he held the smooth wooden board Xuanzang had used to write on earlier.
The old earth god was utterly unlike his usual self, all his earlier timidity and cringing gone.
Now, his aged face actually glowed with confidence.
He strode into their midst, first offered a proper bow, then raised the wooden board high.
Several crooked lines had been drawn on it in charcoal, with a few words labeling them.
The handwriting was truly awful, but just barely legible.
"Great Sage, mighty ones, please look at this humble god's design."
The old earth god's voice even carried a trace of barely contained excitement.
"This humble god took the liberty of thinking long and hard just now, and finally devised a method! I call it the 'Water-Fire Golden Light Drill'!"
"What drill?"
Bajie poked his head over and looked at the crooked drawing of something resembling a spinning top, labeled with the words "water," "fire," and "earth," with a staff drawn beside it.
"Old earth god, what's this you've drawn?"
The old earth god gave an inscrutable smile, pointed at the diagram on the board, and began explaining:
"Marshal, everyone, look! My method is this: I will serve as the axis, using the Earth-Escape Technique to pull us along and control our direction."
"The Dragon King will take the left, channeling true dragon water; Madam Bull will take the right, channeling Samadhi True Fire!"
"Water and fire naturally oppose each other, but with me mediating between them, earth restrains water, and fire nourishes earth. When water and fire converge, they can generate an immensely powerful rotational force!"
"Furthermore,