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Chapter 53: Sage Mode (I)
🕑 Added 2024-09-09 16:00:14 +0000 UTC10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
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Two whole weeks had gone by since Takauji had started to learn [Touki]. Being able to just use the technique proved to hardly be a challenge for him, having completed it on the same day of his arrival. However, Wukong wasn't satisfied with just that, he needed to show genuine competence with [Touki] before he started teaching him [Sage Mode].
He appeared disgruntled, sitting cross-legged on top of a boulder in an area with dense foliage. His mind constantly adjusting the amount, and control of [Chakra] he absorbed like a computer trying to brute force a password.
I smell like shit.
He lifted up his arm, bringing it up to his nose and giving it a brief sniff. His improved sense of smell from becoming a Dragon forced him to breathe in the repugnant odor in high definition. A result of having not taken a shower since his arrival.
Whatever, if I focus on my training hard enough my mind should drown the stench out.
Sayafushi was laid across his lap, becoming enveloped in a soft white light alongside the rest of his body, Takauji closing all four of his eyes as he inhaled sharply. Honing his concentration to its absolute maximum.
I can feel it. Learning [Senjutsu] is improving my concept of [Delusion], through gaining the ability to read the aura of others through [Senjutsu], I'm able to connect with them on an even deeper level, I can bring their despair closer to me.
The plants and soil around him seemed to hum pleasantly as his execution of [Touki] improved, as if they were praising his progress, admiring his linkage to the life surrounding him.
"The chirping of birds is music to the ears of soothed hearts, and noise to one's of angst." He recited Sun Wukong's words, the layer of [Touki] he had formed around him growing even brighter, calming itself to a monk-like level.
A soothing cool sensation filled his body, Takauji opening his eyes as he slowly hauled himself to his feet. Examining both his body and Sayafushi with an accomplished look on his face.
My proficiency has gone up another level. Surely this is enough?
"Not bad, not bad at all." A voice reached out to him, revealing the figure of Sun Wukong approaching him while stroking his beard. "Did you hear it this time? The singing of nature around you?"
Takauji nodded.
"I heard it."
"That is what [Senjutsu] is, it's a performance, you perform to nature, and it rewards you depending on how good your performance is. Once you're able to hear it perform back to you, that is when you've started to truly connect with it. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" He clasped his hands behind his back.
"I do."
"Then show me, show me what nature has taught you." Wukong withdrew his staff, extending it to its normal size. "Battle me with nothing but [Touki], and see whether your connection can contest with mine."
Takauji clenched Sayafushi's hilt, hearing it cry out to him through the [Chakra] he had imbued it with.
Sorry. I've been ignoring you until now like I did with my last blade, but I won't do that anymore, trust me. Trust this connection of ours, fight with me, not for me.
Wukong smiled, genuinely elated to see his student care for his weapon the same way he did his staff for once.
"That blade loves you, Panda. Don't go breaking her heart now alright?"
"I wouldn't dream of it." He smiled, the duel beginning between the two.
"Good." Wukong was quick to take advantage of his small stature, weaving through the trees effortlessly and reaching Takauji within a matter of seconds. Thrusting the tip of his [Touki] infused staff towards his abdomen.
The terrain is in his favor, how troublesome.
CLANG!
Takauji parried the attack, quickly swinging his blade horizontally to take advantage of the small opening he had spotted.
"Attacking an old man with such ferocity, young people have no tact nowadays." Wukong's agility proved to be too great, allowing him to land on Sayafushi with both his feet as his staff extended into Takauji's neck. Sending him flying into the foliage behind him as the Dragon clutched his throat, the sensation of being hit with Wukong's insane physical strength properly staggering him.
"Your [Touki] is impressive, there's no doubt about that. But you're nowhere near being capable of making it flow like mine, not even close." He smirked, casually approaching the wobbly Dragon as he twirled his staff.
No kidding, my [Touki] may not ripple even if you throw a few stones into it, but his wouldn't even budge if you tossed an entire mountain into it. The Victorious Fighting Buddha indeed.
"I guess that means you still won't teach me [Sage Mode]?" He asked in a somewhat defeated tone.
"No, I'll teach you it now. You've actually been ready for a while, I just didn't want to let you get a big head so I made you train your [Touki] for a bit longer. Shishishi."
To think there truly exists someone more shameless than me in this world. I am humbled.
"What happened to you not wanting to spend very long training me?"
"Eh, I changed my mind. I haven't trained a Dragon since Yu-Long, and that was a fair while ago. Also, [Sage Mode] is an extremely draining technique, [Touki] on the other hand can be used for a much longer period of time. So you should be glad that I made you work on it even more."
He has a point, [Touki] is definitely something I'll be making frequent use of. Especially since I can also imbue it into Sayafushi.
"But before all that," Wukong pinched his nose. "Let's get rid of that smell shall we?"
"That would be ideal." The Monkey King brought him to what looked to be a natural hot spring within a forest clearing, the Dragon letting out a satisfied moan as he allowed his body to soak in the rejuvenating water.
"The spring water is filled to the brim with [Chakra] as you can probably tell, relaxing isn't it?" Wukong took a dip right next to him.
"I'll say." He agreed. "It's like I'm getting a premium massage."
Wukong scratched his chin, apparently having something on his mind as he looked at Takauji.
"So, Panda. Tell me about Great Red."
The Dragon raised a brow.
"Well that was certainly random."
"You're supposed to be his other half right? I've only ever seen him once, and it was for a few seconds at best. You could at least satiate this old man's curiosity in exchange for all the help he's given you." Sun Wukong's instruction had earned him a great deal of respect from Takauji, the latter having no qualms with spilling some of the details. Again, leaving the Ophis part out.
"For starters, I should probably correct you by saying that Great Red's a girl."
Wukong turned to him with widened eyes.
"Seriously?" He had just been given information privy only to Takauji and Ophis.
"We are opposites of one another, if Pandora is a boy, then Great Red is a girl. If Great Red is a boy then Pandora is a girl. Every part of us balances the other's out, regardless of how minor or major the aspect is."
"Huh, I never thought of it that way." He took out his pipe, taking a quick puff from it. "Actually the popular opinion was that Great Red was genderless."
"She was, until Pandora was born."
"So if you were a girl before becoming a Dragon, then Great Red would've become a boy? Is that what you're saying?" He interpreted.
"Mhm."
Wukong's expression turned a little mischievous.
"Then does that mean you two have been getting busy?" He grinned.
Takauji didn't say anything, simply smiling at him in response.
"You have!?"
"No, we haven't." Wukong's excitement died down. "We talk every now and then through telepathy, wandering around the Dimensional Gap gets pretty boring fast."
"I can imagine. What do you guys talk about?"
"Anything that comes to mine, like how our day's been, food, stuff like that."
"The Dragon of Dragons is more casual than I anticipated." One would've thought a chat with a Dragon God would've been significantly more complex. "If you two are connected, does that mean she's sharing your senses all the time?"
"Yeah, but she's asleep right now so if you want to greet her you'll have to wait for another time." Red rarely had any reason to get active, meaning most of her time was spent snoozing the hours away until something caught her attention.
Wukong sighed.
"Bummer, what about you? Do you see and hear everything Great Red does?"
"I could if I wanted to, but what would be the point? There's nothing in the Dimensional Gap to begin with. It's all just space, and then even more space."
"Fair enough, but it looks like you've got quite the future ahead. In the end will you also end up becoming a Dragon like Red? Wandering the gap for the rest of your life?"
"It's possible."
The Monkey King scratched his chin.
Great Red's presence alone was more than enough to maintain the gap, so there wasn't actually a concrete reason for him to remain there, other than wanting to keep his other half company.
"She must be happy though, after all those years of solitude she's finally found someone she has a connection to."
They continued to make small talk for an hour or two, eventually getting out of the hot spring to continue where they left off.
"Follow me." Wukong brought him to the peak of Mount Huaguo, the air becoming significantly more thin and the density of [Chakra] increasing almost threefold. "Take a seat." He tapped a large rock with his staff. "You've got a good understanding of [Chakra] and Mana, now all that's left for you to do is figure out how to blend them with an even ratio. The increased amount of [Chakra] up here should help you substitute for the amount of Mana you have, and there's no need to worry about it depleting. Even if you sat here and absorbed [Chakra] for years on end it wouldn't even get close to running out."
"That's good to hear."
"Mhm, remember, once you've managed to merge your Mana and [Chakra] into a new form of energy, that is when you'll have entered [Sage Mode]. 50-50, even if you get it a little off you'll completely fail."
"Got it."
Wukong nodded affirmatively.
"Good, I don't really have anything to do at the moment so I'll be near the base of the mountain training some of my people." Mount Huaguo was the home of Sun Wukong's species of Youkai, hence why there weren't any monkeys in the East or West Youkai Headquarters. "I don't know how long you're going to take, but once you're finished I'll come to drop you off back at the human world."
"I'll try my best not to take too long, out of curiosity how much time did you need to achieve it?"
"One week."
"Oh, that doesn't sound that bad."
"Actually I'm the only one who needed such a short amount of time, the average is about 6 months to 4 years of constant meditation."
Takauji's jaw dropped, unable to imagine losing that much time on one technique.
"Don't make such a face, you're the one who insisted on wanting to learn [Sage Mode]. You know what they say, nothing that's easy to achieve is worth having."
The Dragon could only grumble, watching as Sun Wukong summoned a golden cloud to glide towards the base of the mountain as he left Takauji to his own devices.
"If it could end up taking that long then I better get started sooner rather than later." He assumed the lotus position, channeling both his [Chakra] and Mana simultaneously as he got to work.
It was time for another Sage to be born.
