Chapter 42 Gongkong II

　　—There are no desperate situations in the world, only people who despair of their situations.

　　During the time Gongkong spent among the Tianyou Clan he learned a great many things from Great Master Tianyouzi.

　　Tianyouzi told Gongkong that when spiritual power is cultivated to a certain realm one can master the powers of pasteye penetration and futureeye penetration.

　　What is called pasteye penetration means the ability to pursue and view the past, to see residual information, shadows or sounds of the past.

　　What is called futureeye penetration means the ability to view the future remotely, to foresee events that are about to occur, and even to see certain fragments of the future.

　　Tianyouzi explained that even those who, like the celestial gods, possess powerful spiritual force can act only within the world in which they exist. Even if they possess the abilities of pasteye and futureeye penetration, the spiritual body still cannot traverse to the past or the future and cannot influence the course of historical development.

　　Gongkong wished to investigate the site of the great decisive battle of the RoeDeer Grassland of that year. Tianyouzi therefore took Gongkong to a place above a vast grassland.

　　Upon that grassland a single great tree grew alone.

　　Tianyouzi pointed to the tree: “Young Lord, this is the place where the Yellow Clan celestial god met with misfortune that year.”

　　The two came beneath the tree and sat upright with their backs against it. Gongkong, according to the method Tianyouzi had taught, began to employ the power of pasteye penetration.

　　After a long while the great battle appeared frame by frame in blackandwhite images within Gongkong’s mind. Although the pictures were very blurred one could still faintly discern the scenes of that most tragic battle in the history of the continent of Mu.

　　It was a chaotic melee. From the ground to the air the sounds of slaughter and screams resounded everywhere: upon the ground figures were locked in mutual combat; in the air figures also flew, pursuing one another and contending in magical arts; high in the sky several enormous triangular shadows chased and attacked one another.

　　Upon the ground shadows continually fell; from the air shadows also continually plummeted.

　　Finally Gongkong saw the moment of the curtain’s fall: a tall figure with horns upon its head descended from the sky, holding in its hands two round objects.

　　Gongdian had once described to Gongkong the final scene of the great decisive battle of the RoeDeer Grassland; therefore when this picture floated into his mind he understood at once: those two spherical objects were precisely the heads of the Yellow Clan and Black Clan celestial gods! Tears burst from his eyes…

　　During the period Gongkong spent among the Tianyou Clan he had also employed the spiritual power of futureeye penetration and remotely viewed what would occur in the future.

　　His spiritual body flew to an altitude of ten thousand meters and sat upright among the clouds with closed eyes. After a long while these future scenes finally appeared before his eyes in the form of scattered fragments.

　　He saw that, exactly as in the War of the Gods twenty years earlier, the continent of Mu was plunged into a sea of fire; everywhere figures holding weapons were locked in combat, a scene of blood and storm, blood flowing upon the ground in enough volume to float pestles.

　　Immediately afterward the picture shifted: surging waves of the sea rolled up waterwalls hundreds of meters high and rushed ferociously toward the continent, destroying everything upon the surface of the continent of Mu as though the world itself no longer existed.

　　Finally an even more terrifying picture appeared: the continent of Mu suffered the collapse of heaven and the sinking of the earth, mountains crumbled and the ground split; Mu Star disintegrated and was blasted into fragments. Gongkong was stunned by the scenes that floated into his mind.

　　“Old Granny, is the unavoidable catastrophe of which you spoke this?”

　　“Correct. Young Lord, the age of peace has already ended. That year the Yellow Clan celestial gods let our Tianyou Clan hide in the Misty Mountains and we were fortunate enough to escape the greatest turmoil in the history of the continent of Mu. This time, however, none of us can remain outside the affair; every one of us must prepare to meet this catastrophe.”

　　“Old Granny, so long as I live I shall absolutely not allow this worlddestroying catastrophe to occur.”

　　“Everything has its cause and effect; all things have their destiny. Some matters we cannot escape.”

　　That morning, after receiving the intentional transmission from Tianyouzi, Jiang Er immediately employed the art of aerial flight and in a short while arrived outside the caves of the Immortal Valley of Qiongling.

　　He entered the cave of the Immortal Valley, came to the outside of Tianyouzi’s dwelling, and was about to knock when again the sound of Tianyouzi’s intentional transmission rang in his mind: “Jiang Er, come in at once—I shall introduce someone to you.”

　　Jiang Er pushed the door open and saw that, besides Tianyouzi, there was another young man in the room.

　　At the first mutual glance he froze and cried out in surprise: “My heavens—you… you actually have a third eye?”

　　That young man was none other than Gongkong.

　　Gongkong swept Jiang Er with his celestial eye and discovered that this youth, though young in years, had already reached a considerable level of spiritual cultivation; he too was rather astonished: “You must be Jiang Er. Old Granny Tianyouzi mentioned you just now.”

　　Tianyouzi said: “Jiang Er, how many years have you been in the Immortal Valley of Qiongling?”

　　“Reporting to Old Granny, I have studied the arts here for exactly seven years.”

　　“Mm. This master has decided that from today you have completed your apprenticeship. Follow this Elder Brother Gongkong down the mountain.”

　　She then turned to Gongkong: “Young Lord, hereafter I ask that you give Jiang Er much guidance and cultivation.”

　　Jiang Er glanced at Gongkong, filled with dissatisfaction, and thought to himself: “He is at most a few years older than I—does he merely possess one more celestial eye than I? What ability does he have that I should seek instruction from him?”

　　The disdain in Jiang Er’s heart did not escape Gongkong’s magical eye. Seeing how highspirited and arrogant this Jiang Er was, Gongkong laughed heartily and deliberately said: “Old Granny, no problem—I shall give him good guidance. Little Brother Jiang Er, hereafter with Elder Brother looking after you, you may rest easy.”

　　“Haha—Elder Brother Gongkong, hereafter with me assisting you, no one will dare bully you.”

　　“Jiang Er, do not be disrespectful to Gongkong. Tomorrow morning pack your things and go with the Young Lord and Yao Gang to Wangqiu City.”

　　“As ordered!”

　　Early the next morning Jiang Er changed into the garments of the Gongyou Clan, finished packing his luggage, and set out from the Qiongling Immortal Cave together with Gongkong and Yao Gang, walking down the mountain.

　　They had originally intended to reach the foot of the mountain first and then ride camelhorses to Wangqiu City.

　　Gongkong found Jiang Er very clever and rather liked him, yet the boy’s eyes were set higher than the top of his head and he was not very obedient; therefore he wished to teach him a lesson: “Jiang Er, let us make a wager and test our spiritual power—how about it?”

　　“I am willing to accompany you. How shall we compete?”

　　“Uncle Yao Gang and I will form one group and walk together; you will walk alone. None of us will ride camelhorses; each will employ his own means. Whoever reaches Wangqiu City first wins; the one who arrives later loses. What do you say?”

　　“Haha—no problem. What is the stake?”

　　“If I win, you kneel upon the ground, kowtow three times, call me Elder Brother, and thereafter obey my every word.”

　　“And if I win?”

　　“Damn it—if you win I shall bow my head, take you as Elder Brother, and obey your every word.”

　　“Good—a word is a bond. Yet there is one unfair point: I do not know where Wangqiu City is.”

　　“That is simple. I shall transmit the direction and location of Wangqiu City to you by the art of intentional transmission. Boy, I am a few years older than you; I shall yield and let you go first.”

　　“Very well—I accept the concession. I shall not lose to you. I go first.” With that Jiang Er employed the art of aerial flight, rose into midair, and drifted rapidly toward Wangqiu City.

　　Only Gongkong and Yao Gang remained.

　　Seeing that no one else was about, Yao Gang bent his knees and knelt, apologizing to Gongkong: “Third Young Master, this time Xiao Cheng and I were in the wrong. We set a trap to deceive you and bound you to the Misty Mountains.”

　　Gongkong hurriedly raised Yao Gang: “Old Man, do not speak thus. If you apologize to me how can I bear it? From childhood I received your protection and was able to grow up safely; my gratitude is beyond words.”

　　Seeing that Yao Gang’s expression of selfreproach remained, Gongkong said: “Old Man, you and Xiao Cheng also acted under orders. My coming this time to the Tianyou Clan has, through misfortune, brought great benefit. Therefore not only do I not blame you—I ought rather to thank you.”

　　“Third Young Master, what talk is that? If you do not hold a grudge against me this subordinate is already infinitely grateful.”

　　Yao Gang paused and continued: “Jiang Er is gifted and intelligent, his spiritual cultivation high; he is the outstanding figure among the younger generation of the Tianyou Clan and therefore inevitably highspirited and arrogant. Just now when you competed with him, was it to dampen his arrogance?”

　　“Old Man is correct. This boy is rather likable, yet he is too proud and is quite unconvinced by me. Damn it—now I shall dampen his edge and let him know that one mountain is higher than another.”

　　“What art do you intend to use to defeat him? As far as I know, the art of aerial flight that Jiang Er has currently mastered is something few even in the Tianyou Clan can surpass.”

　　“The art I shall use is called the ‘Art of Traversal.’ These past few days I have just learned the essentials from Great Master Tianyouzi and have not yet employed it.”

　　“The Art of Traversal? I have heard it is a technique of escape that requires very high spiritual power. To achieve precise traversal toward a concrete location one must first possess the ability of remote viewing, know the path, and then use extremely high magical art to teleport there in an instant.”

　　“Correct. The Art of Traversal does not allow one to go wherever one wishes; one must first remotely view the path to that place. This art consumes excessive spiritual power and is not to be used lightly; moreover if one’s spiritual power is insufficient and one rashly employs it, danger may follow. Today I shall try to employ this art.”

　　Gongkong sat crosslegged upon the ground, employed the remoteviewing ability of the celestial eye, first determined the path from the present location to Wangqiu City, then pondered a moment and felt that with his present spiritual power he still could not reach Wangqiu City with a single traversal.

　　Therefore he set several points upon the path, concentrated his spirit, employed the spiritual power of magicaleye penetration, opened a traversal gate, and he and Yao Gang stepped into the gate, beginning the first instantaneous traversal. When the two stepped out of the traversal gate they were already within the Nanyu Forest.

　　Gongkong performed several more traversals; in the space of only half a cup of tea they arrived beneath Wangqiu City.

　　Gongkong and Yao Gang had already finished the midday meal upon the walltower of Wangqiu City and were leisurely basking in the sun when Jiang Er, travelworn, descended from the air beneath the city.

　　“Hey—that boy in the distance, what is your name and surname? What business have you in Wangqiu City?” Gongkong pretended not to recognize Jiang Er clearly and demanded.

　　“You… the two of you arrived long ago?”

　　“Ah. So it is Little Brother Jiang Er. Someone—lower the drawbridge and open the gate.”

　　Jiang Er entered the gate, saw Gongkong, at once knelt and kowtowed three times: “Elder Brother, I am convinced.”

　　“Haha—Little Brother, hereafter you must obey my every word.”

　　“Obedience is no problem, yet you must surpass me in every respect.”

　　“What—still unconvinced?”

　　“In the art of flight I am convinced; in the rest I still wish to compete with you.”

　　Damn it, Gongkong cursed inwardly. He was truly convinced by Jiang Er; he had not expected the boy’s temperament to be so competitive.