Just as Lu Yu gave himself the same title as Sun Wukong, "Great Sage Equal to Heaven," a clap of thunder suddenly exploded across the cloudless sky, leaving him dazed.
"Damn, what am I afraid of? The Douluo Continent is a novel, and I transmigrated here, so Journey to the West must exist too. That's Sun Wukong's title. I don't believe the Heavenly Dao of this little Douluo world would dare strike me down."
While Lu Yu cursed and grumbled about scaring himself, three golden monkey hairs suddenly appeared in an inconspicuous spot in the void and quietly stuck to the back of the golden-haired monkey's head.
The golden-haired monkey scratched the spot instinctively. It felt a little itchy.
"The monkey's called 'Great Sage,' so the staff needs a name too. What should I call it? It doesn't have any Golden Fillets on it. It's just a solid-gold-colored staff."
"I've got it. How about 'Ruyi Staff'? Ruyi, Ruyi, follow my will: grow big or small, long or short."
"Not bad, not bad."
Lu Yu nodded, thoroughly satisfied.
He crouched down and picked up the golden-haired monkey.
"Little monkey, you have a name now too. From now on, you'll be called 'Great Sage.'"
The golden-haired monkey blinked his big, watery eyes. He didn't understand what "Great Sage" meant, but his master had picked it, so he liked it very much and danced with joy.
"Hahaha..."
Seeing how much Great Sage liked the name, Lu Yu laughed along with him.
With a wave of his hand, he set the golden staff upright on the ground and said to it:
"From now on, you'll be called 'Ruyi Staff.'"
At the sight of the suddenly appearing Ruyi Staff, Great Sage's eyes lit up. He wriggled a couple of times, then jumped out of Lu Yu's arms and circled the staff.
Looking at the monkey and the staff, Lu Yu remembered that Twin Martial Souls supposedly couldn't be summoned at the same time.
Soon enough, though, he put the matter to rest.
Could Lu Yu be the same as everyone else?
One was an External Beast Martial Soul, and the other was a Tool Martial Soul. External, external-it was already outside his body, so no Martial Soul manifested on him. Wasn't it perfectly reasonable to summon another one?
Great Sage circled the Ruyi Staff a few times. Just as Lu Yu was about to put it away and head home, Great Sage squeaked at the staff three times.
Then something happened that Lu Yu could hardly believe.
The Ruyi Staff shrank visibly. He hadn't given it an order; it had shrunk on its own.
The Ruyi Staff stopped when it had shrunk halfway. Three more squeaks came from Great Sage, and it began shrinking again, until it was the right length for him.
"What the hell? What kind of move is that? A Martial Soul controlling a Martial Soul? Is that even possible?"
Before Lu Yu could recover from his shock, something even more shocking happened. Great Sage actually grabbed the Ruyi Staff in one hand and swung it around, smashing it everywhere.
The ground trembled slightly.
Lu Yu hurriedly spread out his senses to see whether the Ruyi Staff's weight had changed along with its size. When he had enlarged it before, its weight had still been tied to its level; it hadn't increased with its size.
But shrinking it was a different matter. Lu Yu hadn't tried that yet.
He would have been better off not checking. Once he did, he was even more distraught. According to his senses, the Ruyi Staff now weighed a full 900 jin.
That corresponded to Great Sage's current level: 100 jin at level one, 900 jin at level nine.
Watching Great Sage swing the Ruyi Staff around excitedly, Lu Yu felt his scalp tingle. Wasn't this taking a somewhat wrong turn?
A monkey shorter than his calf was having a grand time with a 900-jin staff, looking as though it took no effort at all.
"Great Sage, come here!"
Hearing his master call, Great Sage scratched his head and reluctantly came over to Lu Yu, dragging the Ruyi Staff behind him. It carved a long trench in the ground.
"Hiss-"
"If Gangzi got hit by this staff, he'd probably cry, wouldn't he~"
Great Sage came to Lu Yu's feet and looked up at him, still wanting more.
"Come on, Great Sage, stand the Ruyi Staff up."
"Like this."
Afraid Great Sage wouldn't understand, Lu Yu found a small twig and stuck it into the ground.
Great Sage nodded and stood the chopstick-length Ruyi Staff on the ground.
As soon as it touched down, there was a bang, and the ground trembled. Lu Yu's mouth twitched.
"Damn it, where does such a tiny monkey get so much strength?"
Looking at the Ruyi Staff on the ground, Lu Yu took a deep breath, bent over, and gripped it with one hand.
Five seconds~
Ten seconds~
A minute passed. Lu Yu's little face turned bright red with strain, but the Ruyi Staff still didn't budge. He collapsed onto his backside, gasping for breath.
"Why? A Martial Soul holding another Martial Soul is ridiculous enough, but how did such a tiny monkey pick up a 900-jin staff?"
"Is he really that strong?"
Lu Yu looked at Great Sage with complicated feelings. Great Sage was just as confused; he didn't know why his master couldn't pick up the golden staff.
So Great Sage reached out a monkey paw, grabbed one end of the staff, and offered the other end to Lu Yu.
It was as if he were saying, "Here, take it!"
"If you want to smash me to death and get a new master, just say so..."
Lu Yu felt helpless. Never mind that he was only six; even after another six years of cultivation, he might not be able to lift 900 jin.
Suddenly, with a thought from Lu Yu, the Ruyi Staff vanished and returned to his body.
"Phew, thank goodness, thank goodness. I can still control it."
Lu Yu patted his chest. He had genuinely been afraid that the Ruyi Staff would leave him too and become Great Sage's.
That would make for a strange picture: he would hide in the back while sending Great Sage into battle with the Ruyi Staff on his shoulder.
That would be a first on the Douluo Continent: a Soul Master fighting without lifting a finger himself, sending his Martial Soul in instead.
Uh~ Gangzi seemed to count as one.
On second thought, Lu Yu gave Great Sage an order:
"Great Sage, come over here and pick me up."
Lu Yu wanted to see whether Great Sage was really strong enough to lift the 900-jin Ruyi Staff, or whether there was some other reason.
Though he didn't understand, Great Sage did as he was told. He came to Lu Yu's side and wrapped his two little paws around Lu Yu's small waist.
"Squeak-"
Watching Great Sage strain with all his might to pick him up, Lu Yu murmured in confusion.
"Ah, looks like Great Sage isn't the reason. Then what could it be?"
"Damn, could it be like Little Scumbag's trident? It weighs 108,000 jin, but only 108 jin in his hand."
"The Ruyi Staff weighs 900 jin on the surface, but only one jin in Great Sage's hand?"
He put the idea to the test immediately. As someone from Blue Star, he knew practice was the only requirement for truth.
Lu Yu summoned the Ruyi Staff again, and with a thought, shrank it to a size that suited Great Sage.
"Great Sage, pick up the Ruyi Staff."
"Don't move. Stand still!"
With that, Lu Yu rose and crouched down, gripped Great Sage with both hands, and heaved.
He didn't budge...
"Damn, I could pick Great Sage up just now, but once he's holding the Ruyi Staff, I can't. How can his little body bear 900 jin?"
Lu Yu fell into despair. The good news: he had Twin Martial Souls. The bad news: he couldn't use either of them.
"Just destroy it all. I'm tired..."