But Henry Clark had no intention of wasting time with him. Although he now appeared to be the Great King of the Ink Spirits, in reality, it was all a façade. He didn’t care at all about the fate of Tianyin Mountain. After fighting for so long, it seemed he had done enough, so he deliberately left an opening, feinted with a false attack, broke free from the Daoist’s entanglement, exited the cave, and with a swirl of his figure, stirred up a demonic wind and darted off to the east.

Although that Daoist had some magical abilities, his cloud-riding technique was nowhere near as formidable as the one personally taught by Bodhi. Just as he rose to the clouds and looked around, Henry Clark had already vanished without a trace. He could only return, disgruntled, to the entrance of the Trapping Void Cave, raise the Eight-Treasure Purple Gold Sword, and wield it even more fiercely than before. He joined the others, and before long, they had slaughtered all the little demons cleanly—no need to mention the details.

As for Henry Clark, not long after leaving Tianyin Mountain, he transformed into human form—his post-transformation appearance. He wore a dark long robe, a purple sash tied at his waist, and hanging from the sash was a green jade gourd, glistening and almost adorable. On his feet were black cloth shoes, and he stood atop a white cloud, flying toward the direction of Flower-Fruit Mountain.

That attire, combined with his appearance and bearing, made him look every bit the handsome immortal from the heavens.

This was because he had already cultivated the Nine-Grade Celestial Immortal Art to the middle stage of the second grade. After transformation, his body naturally exuded a faint immortal aura that could confuse others. Even so, he dared not be too ostentatious, so he didn’t travel too fast. From Tianyin Mountain to Flower-Fruit Mountain, there was a whole continent and two oceans in between—a distance of tens of thousands of miles. Henry Clark didn’t dare to go at full speed, so it took him a full five days before he finally saw Flower-Fruit Mountain beyond the Eastern Continent.

Chapter 11: Havoc in Heaven—The Spirit Bird Gains (Part 1)

Henry Clark stood atop the clouds, gazing far to the east. He saw, in the midst of the vast sea, a mountain range stretching for ten thousand miles. From afar, it looked as if it suppressed the boundless ocean, its might calming the Jade Sea. Suppressing the boundless ocean, waves surged like silver mountains as fish darted into their lairs; calming the Jade Sea, waves rolled like snowy billows as mirages rose from the depths. In the corner of wood and fire, peaks towered high; in the East Sea, summits soared. Crimson cliffs and strange rocks, sheer precipices and marvelous peaks. On the crimson cliffs, phoenixes sang in pairs; before the sheer cliffs, a lone qilin lay. On the mountaintops, golden pheasants could often be heard; in the stone caves, dragons could be seen coming and going. In the forest lived immortal deer and foxes; in the trees, spirit birds and black cranes. Rare herbs and wondrous flowers never withered; green pines and cypresses stayed evergreen. Immortal peaches bore fruit year-round; tall bamboo always touched the clouds. A ravine thick with vines, grassy banks fresh on all sides. Truly, it was the pillar that held up the meeting of a hundred rivers, the unshakable root of the earth through countless calamities.

In Journey to the West, this mountain is only briefly described at the beginning, and never in detail again. Now, seeing it, it was far larger than Henry Clark had ever imagined—a far cry from the small hill he had pictured.

This fellow had always been a careless reader, never paying close attention. He didn’t even know that at the very start of Journey to the West, it was written that Flower-Fruit Mountain was the ancestral vein of the Ten Continents and the dragon’s origin of the Three Islands, formed at the separation of clear and turbid, and established after the division of chaos.

Henry Clark descended from the clouds and looked at the endless expanse of Flower-Fruit Mountain, feeling a headache coming on. With such a vast place, how was he supposed to find the Water Curtain Cave? Just as he was fretting, he suddenly saw a streak of light flash across Flower-Fruit Mountain. Staring intently, he was delighted—it was the monkey riding the Somersault Cloud, instantly crossing two hundred miles of water, flying toward the distant kingdom of Aolai.

Henry Clark’s heart stirred. He knew what was happening. It seemed the monkey had already beaten up the Demon King of Confusion and was now heading to Aolai to seize weapons for his troops.

Sure enough, not long after, a strange wind swept through the city, carrying countless little monkeys and weapons, and flew back toward Flower-Fruit Mountain. At this moment, Henry Clark followed the wild wind to the entrance of the Water Curtain Cave.

What happened next unfolded just as recorded in the book: the monkey found the weapons unsatisfactory, listened to the advice of his four elder monkeys, and went to the Crystal Palace of the East Sea.

Henry Clark was very familiar with this episode and felt great sympathy for the four old Dragon Kings—they hadn’t done anything to deserve this.

But then again, as the saying goes, “An innocent man gets into trouble because of his treasures.”

These four old Dragon Kings didn’t have much ability, but they boasted so much that it seemed the Crystal Palace of the East Sea was filled with treasures. Even Henry Clark was tempted. So, when the monkey used the Water-Parting Art to enter the East Sea, Henry Clark transformed into a small fish and followed the monkey all the way to the bottom of the Eastern Ocean.

While the monkey was extorting the Dragon King, Henry Clark slipped in behind the mandarin fish commander and went straight into the East Sea Dragon Palace’s treasury.

At first, Henry Clark had high hopes for the East Sea Dragon Palace, given its reputation. But to his disappointment, as soon as he entered the treasury, he was let down.

“This old miser!!”

Henry Clark cursed inwardly. The treasury was piled high with gold and silver, but aside from these riches, there was little that caught Henry Clark’s eye. After circling the piles of treasure in the inner chamber, he went to the side room, which was filled with weapons.