Chapter 956
Complete Coverage
Sun Wukong looked up at him, then tossed the branch aside.
"You're here. Did you sleep well?"
"I slept well. The most restful sleep I've had in nine days." Chu Yang sat down on a rock next to him. "Brother Monkey, I have something I'd like to ask you."
"explain."
Chu Yang organized his thoughts.
"Brother Monkey, I've followed you for so long, and experienced several battles, big and small. I've discovered that my biggest weakness isn't a lack of spiritual energy—spiritual energy can be accumulated slowly through cultivation—but rather that I have too few methods."
Sun Wukong's eyebrows twitched.
"The Taiyi Qi Cultivation Technique can only offer me limited benefits. Essentially, it's a health cultivation method, excelling at sensing spiritual energy, harmonizing qi, and strengthening the body. However, in combat, relying solely on qi cultivation is insufficient."
"In the battle against Tiger Vanguard, the reason I was able to hold out for a few rounds was mainly due to my agility and judgment. But what if I encounter a stronger opponent? Even the best agility has its limits. I need more combat methods."
Sun Wukong understood.
What do you want to learn?
Chu Yang looked at him.
"The art of transformation."
Sun Wukong narrowed his eyes slightly.
"The art of transformation? You want to learn the Seventy-Two Transformations?"
"I know that not everyone can learn the Seventy-Two Transformations. The Bodhi Patriarch taught you the Seventy-Two Transformations because you are exceptionally gifted and have profound spiritual roots. I, a mere Qi Refining stage mortal, certainly cannot learn such a profound method."
Chu Yang paused.
"But the art of transformation isn't limited to the Seventy-Two Transformations. The Monkey King's Seventy-Two Transformations are the pinnacle, but beyond that, there should be some more basic transformation techniques, right? Like—invisibility, shapeshifting, illusions, and the like. I don't aspire to learn them all; even mastering just one or two of the most basic ones would be a qualitative leap for me."
Sun Wukong crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk of the ginkgo tree, squinting as he looked Chu Yang up and down for a while.
“You’ve got a good grasp of things,” he said. “The art of transformation is both difficult and easy. The core lies in one word—qi (vital energy).”
"gas?"
"Yes. The essence of change is using spiritual energy to alter the form of oneself or the surrounding things. The Seventy-Two Transformations is so powerful because it can fundamentally reshape the structure of matter using spiritual energy—turning stones into people, and hair into monkeys. These are real changes, not illusions."
“But to achieve this, the required amount of spiritual energy is extremely vast, and the precision required for controlling that energy is incredibly high. Your current cultivation level…” He shook his head, “is far too low. Forget the Seventy-Two Transformations, even the simplest of the Thirty-Six Transformations wouldn't be enough for your spiritual energy.”
Chu Yang showed no disappointment.
Because he never expected to learn the Seventy-Two Transformations or the Thirty-Six Transformations.
"Is there anything based on the thirty-six changes?"
Sun Wukong thought for a moment.
"Yes, there are. The art of transformation can be roughly divided into several levels from high to low—the highest are the Seventy-Two Transformations and the Thirty-Six Transformations, which change the essence of matter; the next is 'Illusion Transformation,' which uses spiritual energy to construct a layer of illusion on one's own surface, making it appear different but not actually changing, essentially an illusion; and below that is the art of 'Concealment,' which uses spiritual energy to refract light and aura, making oneself disappear from the perception of others."
"The amount of spiritual energy required for Illusionary Transformation is about 30% of that required for the Thirty-Six Transformations. Concealment requires even less, only about 10%."
Chu Yang's eyes lit up.
"The art of concealment—is it simply invisibility?"
"Pretty much. Strictly speaking, it's not called invisibility, it's called 'disappearance.' The principle is to use spiritual energy to form a thin film on the surface of your body. This film refracts the surrounding light and conceals your own aura, making it impossible for others to see or smell you."
“However—” he held up a finger, “the Invisibility Technique has several obvious limitations. First, it can only fool mortals and demons with lower cultivation levels than you. Against those with higher cultivation levels or special sensory abilities, it will be seen through immediately. Second, maintaining invisibility requires a continuous consumption of spiritual energy, and your limited reserves probably won't last long. Third, if you make a sound or come into contact with someone while invisibility, the technique will immediately break.”
Chu Yang went through these restrictions in his mind.
There are quite a few restrictions, but it's enough for him.
He doesn't need to become invisible in front of gods—that's unrealistic. What he needs is a means of survival or a sneak attack when facing ordinary monsters. Even a few breaths of invisibility can mean the difference between life and death in battle.
"Brother Monkey, can you teach me the art of invisibility?"
Sun Wukong pondered for a moment.
“Teaching you isn’t difficult. I, Old Sun, know the incantation and the method of circulating energy. The problem is whether you can learn it—this isn’t just about knowing the incantation; you need to be able to evenly spread your spiritual energy across your entire body, forming a complete thin film. If there’s any gap in this film, your concealment won’t be complete, and others will still be able to see a part of you.”
"What level of spiritual energy control is required?"
Sun Wukong picked up a branch from the ground and drew a human-shaped outline on the soil.
"To give you an analogy, your body is like this human form. Spiritual energy is like water. What you need to do is to evenly pour the water onto every inch of this human form, neither too much nor too little, ensuring no area is too thick and no area is leaky."
He drew some lines on the outline of the human figure.
"The difficulty lies in the joints. The spirit is most easily dissipated in protruding areas like the fingers, toes, ears, and nose. And in recessed areas like the armpits and the backs of the knees, the spirit tends to accumulate. To evenly distribute the spirit throughout the entire body requires at least a month or two of rigorous practice."
Chu Yang listened attentively, memorizing every key point.
"What's the mnemonic?"
Sun Wukong cleared his throat and recited a passage.
The mnemonic is short, consisting of only four sentences, each with seven characters.
It sounds like an ordinary limerick, but the way spiritual energy flows within it is extremely ingenious—each word corresponds to a node in the meridian, and when reciting it, the spiritual energy jumps between different nodes according to the rhythm of the words, eventually converging on the surface of the skin.
Chu Yang silently repeated it three times to make sure he had memorized it.
"Okay. I'll give it a try."
He stood up and walked to the center of the open space.
Pigsy had rolled over at some point and was now lying on his side, propping his head up with one hand and tilting his head to look at him, the grass stalk in his mouth still swaying up and down.
"Brother Chu Yang, are you really going to learn this?"
"Um."
Pigsy smacked his lips.
"I, Old Pig, also know the art of transformation. As for Marshal Tianpeng, the Thirty-Six Transformations are a required course. However, I've only mastered about ten of them; I've forgotten the rest."
Sun Wukong scoffed from the side, "Don't even mention your transformation skills. Last time you turned into a tree, you forgot to tuck your tail in, and it was hanging behind the trunk, swaying back and forth—"
"That was an accident! I was transforming myself when a mosquito bit my tail, and I was distracted for a moment—"
"Alright, alright," Chu Yang interrupted the two. "Bajie, do you know the art of invisibility?" Zhu Bajie thought for a moment and nodded.
"Yes, it is. However, my method of concealment might be different from what Brother Monkey taught me. Our lineage of Marshal Tianpeng uses the water method—using spiritual energy to simulate the refractive properties of water to hide our form. Brother Monkey uses the wind method—using spiritual energy to simulate the flow of air to conceal our presence. The two methods are similar in effect, but the way we channel our energy is completely different."
Chu Yang's eyes twitched.
"Two paths? Which one is more suitable for me?"
Pigsy sat up and, unusually, pondered for a few moments.
"Look at the attributes of your cultivation technique. What attribute does your Taiyi Qi Cultivation Technique lean towards?"
"It is balanced and moderate, without any obvious bias. If I had to say, it leans slightly towards Yang."
Pigsy stroked his chin.
"If you prefer the Yang aspect, then Brother Monkey's Wind Path should be easier for you to grasp. Wind is Yang, and its nature is movement, which aligns better with your current skill level. My Water Path is Yin, and its nature is stillness, so you might find it awkward to use."
Sun Wukong added from the side, "But you can try both. What if the water route suits you better? Sometimes practice is different from theory."
Chu Yang nodded.
"Then I'll try the wind path that Brother Monkey taught me first."
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Following the incantation taught by Sun Wukong, he began to guide the spiritual energy in his dantian.
The spiritual energy originates from the dantian, ascends along the Ren meridian, and splits at the Tanzhong acupoint. One path leads to the three Yin meridians of the left arm and down to the fingertips, while the other path leads to the three Yin meridians of the right arm and down to the fingertips.
This is the first step—to deliver spiritual energy to the extremities.
His cultivation of the Taiyi Qi Nourishing Technique had given him a solid foundation in the manipulation of spiritual energy, and this step was completed smoothly. He could feel the warm spiritual energy flowing along his meridians to his fingertips, and his ten fingers felt slightly numb and warm.
The second step is to allow spiritual energy to permeate from the meridians into the skin's surface.
This step is difficult.
The meridians are the channels through which spiritual energy flows, and the skin is the world outside these channels. To allow spiritual energy to seep out from these channels and spread onto the skin, it's like allowing water to seep from inside a pipe to the outside—you need to open the "holes" in the pipe walls.
One of the key phrases in the mantra taught by Sun Wukong is: "The Qi follows the will, and the membrane opens when the intention arrives."
This means that spiritual energy isn't something you force out, but rather something you guide with your mind. Wherever your attention is focused, spiritual energy will seep in.
Chu Yang focused his attention on the back of his right hand.
He imagined the spiritual energy seeping out from under his skin like a thin film of water, covering the skin on the back of his hand.
A few breaths later, he felt it.
There was a slight coolness on the back of my right hand—that was the temperature difference caused by the spiritual energy seeping out of my meridians and coming into contact with the outside air.
He opened his eyes and looked down at his right hand.
A very faint, almost invisible halo appeared on the back of my hand, like a thin layer of frost condensed on the skin's surface. Looking at the skin texture on the back of my hand through this halo, it was slightly blurred—but only slightly, far from achieving the effect of invisibility.
Moreover, this halo only covered a small area on the back of the hand, about the size of a palm, while the rest remained clearly visible.
“Not bad.” Sun Wukong jumped in front of him, squatted down, and carefully examined his right hand. “You were able to exude spiritual energy on your first attempt; your control over spiritual energy is stronger than I, Old Sun, expected.”
"But this is only a small piece on the back of the hand."
"Nonsense, it's your first time. When I, Old Sun, was learning the art of stealth, I could only manage to cover an arm's width on my first day. The area on the back of your hand that's the size of a palm is already quite large for someone at the Qi Refining stage."
Pigsy also came over to take a look.
"Indeed, it's quite good. However, Brother Chu Yang, there's something wrong with how you're releasing your spiritual energy—look here—" He pointed to a spot at the edge of the halo—"This spot is too thick, and the area next to it is too thin. The thicker spot will waste spiritual energy, and the thinner spot will leave gaps in your concealment. You need to balance it out."
Chu Yang nodded, withdrew his spiritual energy, and readjusted.
This time he tried to cover his entire right hand at the same time—the back of his hand, the palm, his fingers, and the spaces between his fingers, all of them.
The mind disperses to every corner of the entire hand.
The spiritual energy permeates from the meridians in the arm in five directions simultaneously—thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger.
The pads and backs of all five fingers were simultaneously enveloped in a faint halo of light.
However, there was a problem with the position of the spaces between the fingers.
The spiritual energy knotted at the base of the fingers, failing to flow smoothly to the skin between them. Two distinct "gaps" appeared there—the halo broke at the gaps between the fingers, revealing the clear skin underneath.
"Between the fingers," Sun Wukong pointed out incisively, "the spiritual energy bends too sharply here; it'll break if it can't turn around. You need to place another mental anchor point at this location to guide the spiritual energy around the bend."
Chu Yang did as he was told.
Setting an extra mental node at the base of each finger is like adding a guide sign on a bend in the road, allowing the spiritual energy to turn the corner along the correct path.
The third attempt.
This time, the entire right hand was evenly covered by that faint halo.
Chu Yang raised his right hand and examined it in the sunlight.
His right hand became blurred—not disappeared, but its outline became indistinct, as if viewed through frosted glass. Unless one was deliberately looking for it, the average person's gaze would easily drift past his right hand and not notice that there was a hand there.
"Good—" Pigsy slapped his thigh, "One hand completely covered it. Brother Chu Yang, your comprehension is too high! When I, Old Pig, was learning the art of invisibility, it took me five days to practice just one hand."
Sun Wukong didn't speak, but the way he looked at Chu Yang changed—from initially "just teaching him for now" to seriously scrutinizing him.
"You did it with your right hand. Try your left."
Chu Yang did as instructed. His left hand was faster than his right, completing the even coverage in about half the time.
"Both hands are fine. Next, extend to the arms."
The area of his arm had increased significantly, and the amount of spiritual energy required had also increased exponentially. Chu Yang's dantian began to feel tight—the rate at which spiritual energy was being consumed was faster than he had anticipated.
He took a deep breath, steadied his mind, and simultaneously extended his spiritual energy upwards along the meridians of both arms.
From wrist to forearm, from forearm to elbow, from elbow to upper arm.
The elbow joint was a challenge. The skin there had many folds, and spiritual energy needed to penetrate into each fold to form a complete coverage. Chu Yang paused at this spot for a moment, then remembered Sun Wukong's method of "anchoring points of thought," and set up a node at each of the three main folds in the elbow, allowing the spiritual energy to flow smoothly through.
Both arms were completely covered. (End of Chapter)