Chapter 957
Waterway Escape
Chu Yang opened his eyes and looked down—his arms below the shoulders were blurry, like a reflection in water; the outline was still there, but the details were no longer discernible.
“Continue,” Sun Wukong said, “chest and abdomen.”
Chu Yang gritted his teeth and expanded his spiritual energy towards his body.
The area of the chest and abdomen is three to four times that of the arms, and it involves several vital areas such as the heart, dantian, and spine. When spiritual energy flows through these areas, it is easily disturbed by the energy of the internal organs.
He carefully controlled the flow and direction of the spiritual energy, as if he were using an extremely fine brush to paint a huge picture on the surface of his body—every stroke had to be precise, without the slightest deviation.
Chest – covered.
Abdomen - covered.
The back—this was the most difficult spot. It was a blind spot for him, making it hard to focus his attention accurately. He could only rely on his memory of his own body structure to construct a "map" of his back's skin in his mind, and then spread his spiritual energy along the outline of that map.
The effect was not ideal. He could feel several gaps in the spiritual energy covering his back—approximately below his left shoulder blade and on both sides of his waist—but he couldn't bother repairing them for the time being, because the spiritual energy in his dantian had dropped to less than 30%.
"Don't worry about your back yet," Sun Wukong said, noticing his predicament. "Don't try your legs and feet either. Your spiritual energy can't handle it. Being able to manage your arms and chest is already beyond my expectations."
Chu Yang nodded and slowly withdrew his spiritual energy.
The halo faded from his body layer by layer, like the receding tide. First his chest and abdomen, then his arms, and finally his fingertips. With each layer of halo disappearing, the part of his body that had been covered became clear again.
After retrieving everything, Chu Yang let out a long sigh of relief.
Feeling a bit weak – a normal reaction to excessive consumption of spiritual energy. It won't harm your health, but you'll need to rest for a while to recover.
He sat cross-legged on the grass, closed his eyes, and began practicing the Taiyi Nourishing Qi Technique, slowly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish his dantian.
Sun Wukong squatted opposite him, scratching at the ground with a stick while muttering something to himself.
After about fifteen minutes, Chu Yang's dantian had recovered to about 60%. He opened his eyes.
"Brother Monkey, I have a few questions."
"explain."
"First, I've always struggled with covering my back properly; my focus on areas that aren't visible is too inaccurate. Are there any tricks?"
Sun Wukong thought for a moment.
"There's a simple method—find a mirror and practice in front of it. Seeing your own back in the mirror makes your mental focus much more precise. However, this method is only suitable for beginners. Once you've practiced to a certain level, you should be able to cover your entire body without looking. That relies on muscle memory, the same principle as writing your name with your eyes closed."
Chu Yang nodded.
"Secondly, when I tried covering my chest and abdomen just now, the spiritual energy in the dantian and heart area was particularly prone to disorder. Is it because those are the areas where the internal organs' energy is most active?"
"Yes. The dantian is the source of spiritual energy, and the heart is the center of blood and qi. The qi in these two areas is already circulating at a high speed. If you cover it with a thin film of spiritual energy, it's like spreading a piece of paper on the surface of a pool of living water—the water underneath is churning, and the paper won't stay stable."
"Solution?"
"Practice. Practice repeatedly. The more proficient you become, the stronger and more resilient the spiritual energy membrane will be. In the end, no matter how turbulent the energy beneath, it won't be able to tear it apart."
Chu Yang pondered for a moment.
"The third question—I only blurred my body just now, but I didn't achieve true invisibility. What conditions are needed to achieve complete invisibility?"
This question made Sun Wukong's expression become more serious.
"Two conditions. One is coverage area—every inch of skin on your entire body must be covered, including the smallest details like hair strands, eyebrows, and eyelashes. If you miss any area, that area will float in mid-air, looking even more eerie than if you couldn't hide."
"The other factor is the density of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy membrane you just spread out was too thin; it can only achieve 'blurring,' not 'disappearance.' To make it truly invisible, the density of the membrane needs to increase by at least two to three times. This means that the consumption of spiritual energy will also increase by two to three times."
Chu Yang quickly calculated it.
Based on the rate of consumption just now, he used about 70% of his spiritual energy to cover half of his body. If he were to cover his entire body, the amount of spiritual energy would double; if the density were to increase two to three times, the total consumption would be about four to six times his current spiritual energy reserves.
In other words, even if he poured all his spiritual energy into it, he could only maintain complete invisibility for about—
"Two or three breaths," Sun Wukong calculated for him, "at most three breaths. Then the spiritual energy will be exhausted."
Two or three breaths.
One breath is approximately two seconds.
Two or three breaths is four to six seconds.
It's indeed not long. But—
"That's enough," Chu Yang said.
Sun Wukong was slightly taken aback.
"You think two or three breaths are enough?"
Chu Yang looked at him.
"Brother Monkey, do you remember my battle with Tiger Vanguard? How long did it take from the moment I raised my hand to the moment the spiritual energy shot from my fingertip for that final decisive shot?"
Sun Wukong thought for a moment.
"Less than a breath."
“Yes. Less than a breath,” Chu Yang said. “If I can become invisible for two or three breaths, it means I can move two or three steps without my opponent being able to see me at all, and then launch a surprise attack at the closest possible distance.”
"Two or three steps is enough for close combat. If the angle and timing of the attack are chosen well, a single blow can inflict fatal damage—even if it doesn't kill the opponent, it will at least severely disrupt their judgment."
Sun Wukong stared at him for several breaths.
Then he suddenly laughed.
"You little rascal, you've turned invisibility into an assassin's killing technique. If Patriarch Bodhi heard your line of thinking, I don't know whether to praise you or scold you."
Chu Yang shrugged.
"With limited resources, we can only make the best use of what we have."
Sun Wukong stood up from the ground and stretched his limbs.
"Alright. Since you think it's enough, then practice. But I, Old Sun, suggest you don't rush to expand it to your whole body. First, practice the half-body stealth technique until it's perfected, to the point where it automatically covers the body without conscious effort. Then, you can expand it to your whole body; it will be much more efficient."
Chu Yang stood up: "I'll continue practicing now."
"No rush." Sun Wukong pressed down on his shoulder. "Your spiritual energy has only recovered to 60%. Practicing any further will be overdrawn. Have you taken the Qi Condensation Pill?" Chu Yang shook his head.
"Not yet. I want to save it for tonight when I'm practicing the Taiyi Nourishing Qi Technique; it will be more effective then."
"Then you should rest for now. Wait until your spiritual energy is fully restored before practicing the second round. In the meantime—" He turned to look at Pigsy, "let the idiot teach you how to use water-based escape techniques. My wind-based escape method is different from his water-based one; the more you learn about one, the more likely you are to find a method that suits you better."
Pigsy was lying on the grass sunbathing when he heard his name called, and his ears perked up.
"Why did you call me?"
"Teach Brother Chu Yang to use waterborne escape routes."
Pigsy rolled over and sat up, looking lazy.
"Me, teach? My invisibility technique... to be honest, I've only mastered it halfway myself..."
"Even a mediocre person is better than someone who knows nothing. Get up, stop dawdling."
Pigsy slowly stood up, walked up to Chu Yang, and scratched the back of his head.
"Um... Brother Chu Yang, let me first explain the basic principles of waterborne escape to you."
He squatted down, picked up a handful of grass leaves from the ground, and rubbed them in his hands.
"Monkey King's Wind Path technique uses spiritual energy to mimic the flow of air, thus concealing his presence. Wind is dynamic, so the Wind Path's concealment is best used while moving—the faster you walk, the higher the degree of integration between the spiritual energy membrane and the surrounding air, and the better the concealment effect. But if you stand still, the effect will be reduced."
Chu Yang nodded. He had indeed felt this characteristic in practice just now—when he stood still and tried to disappear, the aura was not very stable, and the edges were always trembling slightly, like a candle flame in the wind.
“My waterway is exactly the opposite,” Pigsy continued. “The water is still—at least on the surface. The thin membrane of spiritual energy that allows the waterway to conceal itself mimics the refractive properties of water, refracting the light that shines on you like sunlight reflecting off water, so that others see not you, but the scenery behind you.”
"This method works best when you are stationary—the stiller you are, the more stable the refraction, and the more perfect the concealment. But if you move, the angle of refraction will change, the light will become disordered, and the concealment effect will decrease sharply."
Chu Yang thought for a moment.
"So, wind routes are suitable for concealing oneself in motion, while water routes are suitable for concealing oneself in stillness?"
"Yes. Both approaches have their advantages. In combat, the wind path is more practical, but in situations like ambush, stealth, or eavesdropping, the water path is more reliable."
As Zhu Bajie finished speaking, a rare serious expression appeared on his face.
"Brother Chu Yang, I, Old Pig, have a suggestion—learn both. You don't need to be proficient in both, just get a basic understanding of both, and then you can choose which one to use depending on the specific situation. Even—"
He paused, as if considering his words.
"You could even try combining the two approaches."
Sun Wukong's eyebrows twitched.
"Mixed together?"
Pigsy nodded.
"Use the wind path when in motion, and switch to the water path when still. This way, whether you're moving or stationary, your stealth ability will remain relatively stable. Of course, switching between these two methods of spiritual energy circulation is a skill in itself, and you might accidentally create a gap in your stealth ability at the moment of switching—but if you can master the ability to switch seamlessly, that's truly impressive."
Sun Wukong glanced at Zhu Bajie thoughtfully.
"Idiot, why don't you use your brain for important things?"
Pigsy chuckled.
"It's not that I'm bad-minded, I'm just too lazy to use my brain. But it'll still come in handy when it counts."
Chu Yang memorized everything that Zhu Bajie said.
"Alright. Pigsy, teach me the incantation for waterborne escape and the method of circulating qi."
Pigsy nodded, sat down opposite Chu Yang, and began to explain.
The incantation for the Water Path Escape Technique is longer than that for the Wind Path Technique, consisting of six sentences. The method of circulating energy is also more complex—the spiritual energy does not radiate directly from the dantian along the meridians to the whole body like the Wind Path Technique. Instead, it first gathers at the Tanzhong acupoint, where it rotates and compresses into a high-density ball of spiritual energy, and then, like water ripples spreading, it is evenly released from the Tanzhong acupoint in all directions.
The advantage of this method of circulating energy is that the distribution of spiritual energy is more even—because it spreads from a central point to all directions simultaneously, there is no issue of sequence, and it is naturally more even than the linear conduction from the dantian to the extremities, which is the method of wind path.
The downside is that it puts a lot of strain on the Tanzhong acupoint. The energy generates heat during the rotation and compression process at the Tanzhong acupoint, and if not properly controlled, it can easily burn the meridians surrounding the acupoint.
Pigsy specifically reminded him of this.
"When you try it for the first time, don't pour too much spiritual energy in. Use only 10% of the amount to test the feeling, and only gradually increase the amount once you're sure your Tanzhong acupoint can handle it. Burning your meridians is no joke."
Chu Yang made a mental note of it, and once his spiritual energy had recovered sufficiently, he began to attempt to use waterborne escape techniques.
First attempt – one-tenth of the spiritual energy.
He drew spiritual energy from his dantian, guiding it up the Ren meridian to the Tanzhong acupoint. Following the method taught by Zhu Bajie, he allowed the spiritual energy to slowly circulate within the Tanzhong acupoint.
The spinning sensation was strange—it felt like a tiny spinning top was spinning in my chest, and the faster it spun, the hotter it felt in the center of my chest.
The amount of spiritual energy is small, and the heat generated by its rotation is very weak, like having a hand warmer on in winter, warm and comfortable.
After spinning three times, the spiritual energy was compressed into a ball the size of a peanut.
Then, following the instructions of the mantra, he released the ball of spiritual energy from his Tanzhong acupoint.
The spiritual energy spread in all directions like ripples on water.
The ripples passed over the chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms—and wherever they passed, a faint sheen appeared on the skin's surface, as if covered by a thin layer of water.
Unlike the wind path, the halo of the water path doesn't have a blurry, frosted texture, but rather a more transparent, water-like reflection. Light refracts through this halo, causing the outlines of bodies in the covered areas to appear slightly distorted—not blurred, but deformed, like looking through a piece of uneven glass.
The effect was slightly worse than the wind path—after all, it only used 10% of the spiritual energy—but the unique water ripple refraction was indeed completely different from the wind path.
"How was it?" Pigsy asked, leaning closer.
Chu Yang felt the lingering warmth of the released spiritual energy ball in his chest.
"My acupoint at the center of my chest feels a little warm, but it's still within my tolerance range. The way spiritual energy spreads is indeed more even than through wind, especially on my back—I didn't consciously control the coverage on my back, but the spiritual energy flowed there automatically because it spreads simultaneously from the center point in all directions."
Pigsy nodded.
"That's the advantage of the waterway. You don't need to worry about any leaks; as long as the spiritual energy at the center is sufficient, it will automatically cover the entire body. The disadvantage is that it can't cover only certain areas—it comes at once, and it goes away completely. Unlike Monkey King's windway, which can conceal only one hand or half of the body." (End of Chapter)