Chapter 34: The Potential of a Great Sage

"Staff techniques?!"

The Stone Monkey's eyes lit up instantly, and he repeated, "I wish to learn, I wish to learn!"

He had always relied on his fists in a fight. Now that his elder brother mentioned staff techniques, it was as if a door to a new world had been opened for him. It stood to reason; as the Monkey King of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, a hegemon in his own right, it was indeed rather unrefined to always resort to brawling with bare fists.

The Stone Monkey turned a somersault in excitement. "Brother, how big and long should this staff be, and what should it be made of?"

Shi Yu mused that the monkey's true destined weapon lay deep within the East Sea, but since the monkey had not yet learned the Water-Avoiding Spell, he could not retrieve it even if told. Thus, he suggested that the Stone Monkey find a sturdy tree to craft a staff, based on the dimensions of the black iron staves used at his school on the Blue Star.

At the Stone Monkey's command, the troupe of monkeys chattered and scurried off into the wilderness. After some searching, they finally found a Dragon-Scale Ancient Pine. This tree had grown for thousands of years; its trunk was covered in patterns resembling dragon scales, and its wood was incredibly hard yet possessed a certain elasticity.

The Stone Monkey reached out, snapped a branch off with force, and stripped away the bark. A perfect Dragon-Scale Mystic Staff appeared in his hands. Shi Yu took it and tested its weight; this staff was actually more than twice as heavy as the black iron staves at school, weighing in at a full 220 kilograms. It was just the right weight for Shi Yu’s current arm strength when wielded as a weapon.

However, he heard the Stone Monkey remark, "Brother, this staff is light as a feather, it has no weight at all."

For the Great Sage, a staff of this weight was no different from a common person holding a toothpick. Shi Yu rubbed his nose and said, "This is only for practice. In the future, you will have a weapon that suits you perfectly."

He then led the Stone Monkey to an open area, took a stance, and began to demonstrate. Before entering the soul chamber, Shi Yu had only practiced the first move of the Celestial Gang Universe Staff, and his progress was only at 11%. But that did not stop him from mimicking the motions from beginning to end.

"The Celestial Gang Universe Staff is indomitable and fierce. When practiced to its depths, it is like a falling star, shattering all defenses!"

"This is the opening move, named 'Heaven-Shattering Earth-Splitting.' By borrowing the primordial energy of heaven and earth and concentrating it at the tip of the staff, one achieves the effect of shattering stone and shocking heaven with a single strike."

As Shi Yu demonstrated, he explained the technique and the mental cultivation method to the Stone Monkey. Standing before a towering boulder, he gripped the staff tightly, and the primordial energy within his body surged through his meridians following his intent. He swung the staff, the tip carving graceful arcs through the air. As the move progressed, the primordial energy seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, slowly gathering at the tip of the staff.

"Energy converges, the staff tip leads, force pierces with the weight of thousands, Heaven-Shattering Earth-Splitting!"

The eruption happened in that instant! Shi Yu swung the long staff fiercely. The tip, shrouded in concentrated energy, streaked through the air like a meteor and struck the boulder directly.

"Boom!"

A thunderous roar erupted, as if lightning had split the sky. Under the impact of the staff tip, the boulder shattered instantly; debris scattered, and dust filled the air. Birds in the forest took flight in fright, letting out shrill cries.

[Celestial Gang Universe Staff: First Form, Heaven-Shattering Earth-Splitting, progress increased to 15%.]

Shi Yu’s eyes lit up, his heart filled with surprise. To have such progress after just one attempt! It seemed that in this blessed land of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, not only was the cultivation of primordial energy accelerated, but the practice of martial techniques was as well!

"How was that move?" he asked, standing tall with his staff, feeling exceptionally suave.

Yet, he saw the Stone Monkey, holding his own Dragon-Scale Mystic Staff, give the mountain rock in front of him a gentle tap. Following a massive, rumbling explosion, a deep crater appeared between them. There was no technique, no process of gathering energy—just a motion as light as a dragonfly skimming water—yet it displayed a destructive power far greater than what Shi Yu had spent so much time demonstrating!

The monkey then looked at Shi Yu and pursed his lips.

Seeing this, Shi Yu’s face darkened. How could a teacher's dignity be maintained like this? Was having a high level all that great? Was having immense strength all that mattered? Could he just squander his natural talent like that? The point was the technique! If he didn't learn, would he just flail around with a "drunken brawl" style once he obtained the Ruyi Jingu Bang?

Shi Yu rushed over to the Stone Monkey in a huff and grabbed his ear. "Don't think that just because you are young and physically gifted, you can rely solely on instinct to... to wield the staff. Right now, your strength allows you to hit with one unit of force, but if you learn the technique, you can hit with two, three, or even more!"

Shi Yu lectured earnestly, "You may be a king here on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, but outside, there are many masters with unimaginable power. If you don't learn, how will you contend with the gods and demons of the heavens and become the Great Sage of this world?"

The Stone Monkey had originally tilted his head, grinning as he humored his brother’s lecture. But upon hearing these words, a golden light suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"So, to become a Great Sage... one must be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the gods and demons...?" The Stone Monkey slowly looked up at the endless firmament, infinitely high, infinitely distant, boundless and vast. "Brother, can this heaven be reached?" he asked, murmuring.

Shi Yu had been prepared to continue his duties as a brother and mentor, ready with more verbal persuasion. Seeing the Stone Monkey look as if he had been struck by a bolt of enlightenment, he was taken aback. What had he just said? He hadn't said anything he shouldn't have, right?

Shi Yu also looked up at the sky; it was as usual, with white clouds and flying birds, calm and breezy. He coughed and said, "When one day you have mastered many arts..."

"This heaven, of course, can be reached."

"This sea, too, can be traversed."

"Between heaven and earth, there is nowhere you cannot go, nothing that can block your path."

"Carefree and unrestrained, unfettered and free."

"When that time comes, you will naturally be the Great Sage."

Hearing these words from his brother, the Stone Monkey felt as if he had been struck with a sudden clarity, his joy knowing no bounds. "Many thanks for your guidance, Brother. I shall devote myself to learning."

Shi Yu nodded with satisfaction. "A child who can be taught. However, you must restrain that divine strength of yours and use only ordinary force to grasp the essence of these moves."

After some instruction, the Stone Monkey put in significant effort to suppress his divine strength. By his own account, he had devised a method to limit his power to a level similar to Shi Yu's, though he could not maintain it for long and needed to fully exert himself periodically, or his whole body would feel uncomfortable.

This made Shi Yu secretly marvel. Was this a self-sealed state? Truly, he was the Lingming Stone Monkey—adept at transformations, aware of the timing of heaven, knowing the advantages of the earth, and filled with miraculous qualities.

After Shi Yu demonstrated once more, the Stone Monkey committed all the moves to memory. In an instant, his Dragon-Scale Mystic Staff became a blur of shadows, transforming into thousands of black streaks dancing in the air. Under the high-speed motion, the staff trembled slightly, emitting a sound like the roar of a dragon.

Following that, he turned his body, and the staff carved mysterious trajectories in the air. With a great shout, the Dragon-Scale Mystic Staff whistled through the air and struck a towering tree beside him. A heaven-shaking roar followed, and the giant tree exploded instantly, turning into countless fragments that scattered in all directions. Where the splinters landed, rocks cracked and grass withered.

This destructive power was many times greater than Shi Yu's demonstration earlier.

"Is this... mastered?"

Shi Yu could hardly believe his eyes. The Great Sage had watched his demonstration twice, and then mastered "Heaven-Shattering Earth-Splitting" on his first attempt? This was simply heaven-defying aptitude! He sighed toward the sky; perhaps this was what they called the potential of a Great Sage.

At that moment, a majestic voice resonated in his sea of consciousness:

[Host Achievement: Excellent Pedagogy]
[Evolution Value: +4]
[Host Evolution Value: 22/100]
[Achievement Reward: Enlightenment Jade Slip]
[Usage Instructions: A warm, jade-like slip that can extract martial techniques, spells, or cultivation insights from oneself or those one trusts deeply, deduce them into a complete form, and impart them to those in need.]