Chapter 275: Synchronization Space II

[Synchronization Space]

The moment Shun realized that his synchro rate with sun wukong had reached 50%, he immediately knew that he was on the right track and continued on to hear the story of his life through his mouth.

"Of course i have a traveling companion with me, aside from the monk named Sanzang, i have other two demons that were with me... one is Zhu bajie the pig demon, and the other is Sha Wujing the fish demon... i still don't understand why the monk would travel to the west with three demons, but later on realized that all of it was done in order to restore balance in the world and the help of three prophesized demons, well if through my help as half immortal, half demon, i thought that it would be a cakewalk for me since i did ruled a horde of demons once, however i kept forgetting the fact that most of my powers were sealed , thus turning me into an ordinary demon"

Sun Wukong, a monkey born from a stone nourished by the Five Elements, who learns the art of the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality, and whose guile and force earns him the name Qitian Dasheng or "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." His powers grow to match the forces of all of the Eastern (Taoist) deities, and the prologue culminates in Sun's rebellion against Heaven, during a time when he garnered a post in the celestial bureaucracy. Hubris proves his downfall when the Buddha manages to trap him under a mountain, sealing it with a talisman for five hundred years.

Dismayed that "the land of the South (China) knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins," the Buddha instructs the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) to search China for someone to take the Buddhist sutras of "transcendence and persuasion for good will" back. Part of this section also relates to how Tang Sanzang becomes a monk (as well as revealing his past life as a disciple of the Buddha named "Golden Cicada" and comes about being sent on this pilgrimage by Emperor Taizong, who previously escaped death with the help of an official in the Underworld. In the story, Tang Sanzang is considered an allegorical representation of the human heart.

Tang Sanzang sets out to bring back Buddhist scriptures from Leiyin Temple on Vulture Peak in India, but encounters various evils along the way. The section is set in the sparsely populated lands along the Silk Road between China and India. however, almost entirely fantasy; once Tang Sanzang departs Chang'an, the Tang capital, and crosses the frontier (somewhere in Gansu province), he finds himself in a wilderness of deep gorges and tall mountains, inhabited by demons and animal spirits who regard him as a potential meal (since his flesh was believed to give immortality to whoever ate it), with the occasional hidden monastery or royal city-state amidst the harsh setting.

"But you've got to admit it, despite being my master during that short timeframe, he was quite a handful person due to the troubles he brings along the way"

Tang Sanzang being captured and having his life threatened while his disciples try to find an ingenious (and often violent) way of liberating him. Although some of Tang Sanzang's predicaments are political and involve ordinary human beings, they more frequently consist of run-ins with various demons, many of whom turn out to be earthly manifestations of heavenly beings (whose sins will be negated by eating the flesh of Tang Sanzang) or animal-spirits with enough Taoist spiritual merit to assume semi-human forms.

"By the way i forgot to tell you at this point we then had the fourth companion, Bai long ma the third son of the Dragon King of the West Sea, who was sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl. He was saved by Guanyin from execution to stay and wait for his call of duty"

 The dragon prince was spared from death and banished to Yingchou Stream in Shepan Mountain, on the instruction to wait there for a monk Guanyin is to send on a pilgrimage to the Buddha. When Tang Sanzang is crossing the stream, the prince appears in the form of a gigantic white dragon and swallows Tang's white horse in one gulp. The dragon fights with Sun Wukong but is no match and retreats underwater. Sun Wukong hears from an Earth Deity that the dragon was placed there by Guanyin so he goes to find the bodhisattva and learns of the dragon's origin. The dragon prince had been waiting there for Tang Sanzang but did not recognize the latter and ate his horse as a result. The dragon transforms into the White Dragon Horse and serves as Tang Sanzang's steed for the rest of the latter's journey.

Throughout the journey, the four disciples have to fend off attacks on their master and teacher Tang Sanzang from various monsters and calamities. It is strongly suggested that most of these calamities are engineered by fate and/or the Buddha, as, while the monsters who attack are vast in power and many in number, no real harm ever comes to the four travelers. Some of the monsters turn out to be escaped celestial beasts belonging to bodhisattvas or Taoist sages and deities.

ang Sanzang finally reaches the borderlands of India, and present magical adventures in a somewhat more mundane setting. At length, after a pilgrimage said to have taken fourteen years they arrive at the half-real, half-legendary destination of Vulture Peak, where, in a scene simultaneously mystical and comic, Tang Sanzang receives the scriptures from the living Buddha.

Finally the final chapter, quickly describes the return journey to the Tang Empire, and the aftermath in which each traveller receives a reward in the form of posts in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang both achieve Buddhahood, Sha Wujing becomes an arhat, Bai Long Ma is made a nāga and Zhu Bajie, whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is promoted to an altar cleanser (i.e. eater of excess offerings at altars).

"Pretty amazing right? what an adventure, now that you heard my story, i presume that you now would need to re enact my achievements in order to have full synchronization with me"

"Wow! your right! your story is something else, so what do i need to do first"

"Well basically from the start open up your inner qi that naturally came from your body and practice meditation, through this you would have the clarity of mind that is needed in which you can use in the 72 transformation"

"I can use that skill? but that is not among your skillset"

"Your right! however you can use it when you reached a 100% synchro rate with me, so work hard host"