Chapter 15: Becoming Master Bodhi’s Disciple, Opening the Heavenly Eye!
“I can’t keep it hidden any longer.”
With a sigh in his heart, Yu Qiye was already prepared.
He spread his wings and soared into the air, transforming instantly.
Under the incredulous gaze of the Monkey King, he took the form of a young man bearing twin wings on his back.
“I am Yu Qiye.”
The boy was stunned.
He rubbed his eyes, as if unable to believe it.
This Blood Crow was truly a demon.
However, compared to him, the Monkey King was even more shocked, as if stunned for a hundred years.
“Brother Crow, you’ve actually taken on a human form?”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Do you know, all this time I’ve walked alone without a word from anyone? It was so hard.”
...
Listening quietly, Yu Qiye cupped his hands and apologized:
“Brother Monkey, it was my fault. Please forgive me.”
“Wait, Brother Monkey? I called you Brother Crow!”
“I’ve watched you grow up.”
That simple sentence silenced all of the Monkey King’s words.
He tilted his head and decisively strode toward the cave dwelling.
...
Inside the cave, there was another world.
Mists swirled, as if they were in a celestial realm, every step treading on clouds — dreamlike and surreal.
In the distance stood splendid jade towers and immortal palaces.
Yu Qiye and the Monkey King followed the boy on either side.
They arrived at a high platform.
There, an elderly man with white hair and beard sat atop the platform, delivering a sermon.
Below, dozens of disciples sat cross-legged on meditation cushions, their expressions serious.
Some were even entranced, as if lost in ecstasy.
Seeing this, Yu Qiye and the Monkey King dared not disturb them.
They simply found a corner to quietly observe.
“Truly outrageous.”
A hurried glance stirred Yu Qiye’s heart.
Master Bodhi — endless questions swirled in his mind.
Even some of the disciples sitting on the cushions were puzzling over things.
Alright, this is the most mysterious force in the Journey to the West.
It’s truly terrifying.
But to be honest, who exactly is Master Bodhi?
Is he a supreme being uniting the Three Teachings?
Or some great figure of good and evil?
Or perhaps that very leader?
Yu Qiye was puzzled, deeply so.
Yet he knew this was beyond his comprehension.
For now, he would simply listen attentively.
...
After a long while, the sermon ended.
Master Bodhi then looked toward the Monkey King and Yu Qiye, inquiring about their backgrounds.
They answered truthfully.
Upon hearing they both hailed from the Eastern Victory Divine Continent and Flower-Fruit Mountain, many disciples were astonished.
Master Bodhi, however, seemed already aware.
Just then, he raised his eyes and fixed them on Yu Qiye.
“You already have your path, so why come to apprentice here?”
“Respectfully, Master, though I have cultivation, I lack divine abilities,” Yu Qiye admitted frankly.
“You are honest,” Master Bodhi nodded slightly, then turned to the Monkey King.
“Since you are a wanderer, what is your surname?”
The Monkey King replied, “I have no surname. If someone insults me, I’m not angry; if they strike me, I do not resent it. I merely offer a polite response.”
Hearing this, Master Bodhi bestowed a name upon the Monkey King.
He took the surname ‘Sun’ and chose the character ‘Wu’ for his given name, thus naming him Sun Wukong.
Though Yu Qiye had a name, he lacked a Dharma name.
Master Bodhi granted him the Dharma name ‘Wuming.’
This meant that Master Bodhi had accepted both Sun Wukong and Yu Qiye as his disciples.
Notably, Yu Qiye was a bit older than the Monkey King.
Therefore, Yu Qiye was the senior brother, and the Monkey King the junior.
“Remember to call me senior brother from now on.”
As everyone dispersed, Yu Qiye patted the Monkey King on the shoulder, reminding him.
The Monkey King merely bared his teeth in response.
But the next moment, his eyes gleamed with a clever idea.
“We’ll each call each other what we like. I’ll still call you Brother Crow, and you can call me Brother Monkey.”
...
Because both Yu Qiye and Wukong were demons unfamiliar with human customs, Master Bodhi instructed others to teach them etiquette: how to sweep, respond, advance, and retreat.
Then, many senior brothers arranged their sleeping quarters along the corridor.
However, the pursuit of immortality and enlightenment was not quite as Yu Qiye had imagined.
At dawn the next day, Yu Qiye and the senior brothers recited scriptures, discussed doctrines, practiced calligraphy, and burned incense.
At leisure, they swept the floor and tended the garden, occasionally nurturing flowers and pruning trees.
They also had to gather firewood, light fires, fetch water, and carry food...
Well, it was true—they did all sorts of chores.
Nonetheless, even so, Yu Qiye found time to absorb spiritual energy and diligently refine his body.
Chores and cultivation went hand in hand.
...
Time passed, and seven years slipped by like a blink.
“Li...”
A piercing cry, like thunder, exploded across the sky.
Immediately after, a black streak shot into the heavens, piercing through the clouds.
It was a young man.
Bearing twin wings, his face stern, his figure swaying as shadows trailed behind him.
His claws rose and fell, appearing ready to tear the sky apart.
“Junior Brother Qiye, are you training again?”
“Junior Brother Qiye is truly diligent. Compared to Junior Brother Wukong, he works much harder.”
“Don’t even mention Junior Brother Wukong. He’s a prodigy—seemingly lazy and mischievous, but deeply knowledgeable and connected in every respect.”
“Impossible to compare. Junior Brother Qiye is a prodigy, and Junior Brother Wukong is a marvel.”
As they spoke, many senior brothers looked at the black figure in the sky with complex expressions.
How can anyone live when others are both more gifted and more hardworking?
Junior Brother Qiye was one thing—his diligence was plain to see.
But Junior Brother Wukong... his talent was truly extraordinary.
While everyone else was ‘in class,’ he played around restlessly, yet whenever Master Bodhi asked questions, he answered fluently and even offered new insights that made the Master smile broadly.
His talent was truly terrifying.
...
After a simple training session, Yu Qiye descended from the clouds.
In these seven years, he had not learned any Taoist magic or divine powers.
Yet, listening often to Master Bodhi’s sermons had greatly benefited him.
“I advanced quickly before, but I blindly plundered without a solid foundation. Eventually, inner demons would surely turn against me.”
Yu Qiye understood this clearly.
So in these seven years, he focused more on consolidation.
He digested everything that was not originally his own.
Only now could Yu Qiye be considered a true peak demon general.
Still, as a peak demon general, Yu Qiye now felt he could fight five versions of his former self.
This was no exaggeration.
In these seven years, he had absorbed and integrated all major attributes.
Especially the golden attribute—Blood Moon Golden Eyes.
He had even developed abilities different from the Monkey King’s.
At that moment, as his eyes opened and closed, golden light flowed within them.
It seemed as if runes shimmered, and divine chains moved.
His eyes glowed.
An endless blood-red hue emerged.
This blood color, tinged with gold, eventually transformed into two beams of light, striking straight into the heavens.
Boom!
A thunderous roar, many times more terrifying than before, shattered the sky.
The entire firmament seemed to crack open, revealing a vast, enormous rift surrounded by countless tiny fissures that took a long time to heal.
“Good heavens! Brother Crow has become this terrifying!”
From afar, Wukong, still fetching water, saw this and jumped up, scratching his head anxiously.
How could he not be anxious?
His fellow Brother Crow grew stronger by the day, while he was still fetching water.
If this continued, he would truly become the junior brother.
But it was not just him...
Deep within the cave, the elderly man with white hair slowly lifted his eyes.
“I have indeed underestimated him.”