Before Iron-Raft Mountain towered a giant dharma manifestation, one hundred and twenty-eight zhang tall, clad in purple with jade at its waist. With a human body and a bird's head, it gazed down upon the ocean, its expression resolute.
As though responding, the ocean stirred. Towering waves rose from the Yellow Sea, scraping the heavens and meeting the clouds as they surged toward Iron-Raft Mountain like mountains themselves. Indeed:
A thousand tiers of snowy breakers rose across the sky; ten-thousand-zhang tide crests charged into the mountain.
Cheng Xinzhan watched the waves pile higher and higher. There even seemed to be music coming from them, and he knew this was no work of the sea, but of someone's hand. With a thought, he dispersed the hundred-zhang manifestation, leaving only a Golden Core suspended in the air. The Elixir Markings upon it distinctly bore the manifestation's likeness.
He flew out of his cave abode, opened his mouth, and inhaled, swallowing the Golden Core. Then he hovered in midair and looked toward the great waves.
Just then, a streak of red light leaped from Iron-Raft Mountain's northern side to its southern side, stopping ahead of Cheng Xinzhan. Its radiance faded to reveal Wu Qingbo. At the same time, Cheng Xinzhan received a voice transmission.
"My benefactor, something is happening in the Yellow Sea."
Cheng Xinzhan said,
"I have successfully passed my tribulation. Come over here."
Delighted, Wu Qingbo turned and flew back, plunging into the layers of cloud surrounding Iron-Raft Mountain. Before long, he reached Cheng Xinzhan's side.
He said,
"My benefactor, the Yellow Sea is surging, and whatever is coming means business. Since your tribulation is over, why don't we leave at once? Once we reach the interior, the Yellow Sea's aquatic folk certainly won't dare pursue us."
Wu Qingbo did not