Fish Leaping in Qujiang

Gu Changsheng, whose soul transmigrated into the Tang dynasty from modern times, failed the imperial exams ten times in a row. Having seen through the ways of the world, he despaired and jumped into Qujiang to end his life. But when he opened his eyes, he had become a golden koi in Qujiang Pool. Having died once already, all he wanted was to live quietly. He used his familiarity with Qujiang to mooch food from people, and in less than a month, he had become the leader of the koi. Just then, the Devouring Cultivation System suddenly activated, telling him he had awakened the cultivation bloodline of a Kunpeng. Gu Changsheng began cultivating without hesitation, leveling up rapidly by devouring others. In just a few days, he reached the Core Formation realm and was on the verge of taking human form.

His overzealous devouring of aquatic creatures angered the Dragon King of Qujiang. Ten thousand shrimp and crab soldiers captured him and took him to the Dragon Palace. Gu Changsheng thought he was doomed, but the Old Dragon King recognized him, freed him, and adopted him as his son. Nourished by the Dragon Palace's rare treasures, Gu Changsheng successfully took human form and even succeeded the Old Dragon King as ruler of Qujiang. Only then did the Old Dragon King tell him that Qujiang was where the ancient Kunpeng's divine corpse had fallen. Gu Changsheng was the reincarnation of the Kunpeng's primordial spirit, and the Kunpeng's complete body lay dormant at the bottom of Qujiang Pool.

After a year of cultivation, Gu Changsheng broke through to the Tribulation Transcendence realm. He merged with the Kunpeng's body and successfully ascended amid the lightning tribulation, becoming a demon king beneath Spirit Mountain in the Western Ox Continent. He also swore brotherhood with Sun Wukong and the others as one of the Seven Great Sages. Gu Changsheng was none other than the Roc Demon King, the Great Sage Who Confounds Heaven, and was thus swept into the great calamity of the Journey to the West. When the calamity ended, Sun Wukong became a Buddha and the Seven Great Sages retired after completing their mission. Then a ragged true monkey found Gu Changsheng's cave abode, and a shocking conspiracy finally came to light: the one who had become a Buddha was the Six-Eared Macaque. The real Wukong had been replaced and imprisoned, and even the Kunpeng's death long ago had been orchestrated by Spirit Mountain.