Chapter 6

I am doing a fair bit of world-building in this chapter. Taking pieces from various Chinese myths and concepts on Taoism and Buddhism to create a coherent concept.

It's fair to say that the White Snake demon boy, Xu Xiwang, in my story is similar in some ways to Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto if you guys are trying to draw some parallels. In Chinese and Japanese stories, it's not uncommon to have characters like that with an all-consuming lust for vengeance. Can you really blame him though? He and his family have been hunted by Fahai for generations, while he has lived on scraps from outlying areas beyond the protection of Taoist gods. He's someone who fell through the cracks within the system, similar to disenfranchised LGBT and other minority peoples, who have historically been relegated to the fringes of society. As for his sexuality, he's not gay, bi, or straight. 

On the romance front, Yuanfen readings are real world thing  It's a practice in China that is attributed to Buddhism and Taoism, based on astrology, occlumency, and various life cycle calculations. In terms of the reading, I used a simple compatibility reference for the Chinese zodiac, a monkey and snake under the Chinese zodiac would be completely incompatible with one another. One is an internal thinker, one is an external operator. If you know of people born under those 2 signs in a relationship, be wary and pray extra hard that they don't get into fights.

Another aspect I introduced in this chapter is the nature of magic in my universe. While the novel Heaven Official's Blessing did introduce some concepts about magic and energy, it does flesh out the technical concepts as much as I am doing. To me, magic is a manipulation of matter and energy. If you were to apply this in a science fiction concept, it is essentially telekinesis on a molecular or even atomic scale. Shapeshifting, in this chapter's example, requires the person attempting to change their body to manipulate the molecules around them and apply it to their body. A snake can become a human or vice-versa by adding carbon from the earth and water, via Hydrogen-Oxygen from the air. Both of these items are also part of the Chinese 5-Element concept in Taoism. The magical arrays and spells that are used represent complex calculations on how best to manipulate matter/energy to reach certain ends. (As for the portals that the character traverse in both the novel and my story, my explanation is its an subatomic level manipulation, requiring quantum entanglement. Basically, it's a wormhole.)

Sun Wukong's character is imperfect, he's showing a lot of growth in these early chapters, but also demonstrating a child's naivete. It will take time before he gains his famous self-confidence. His captivity has negatively impacted him, but he's slowly opening up. He is also developing a certain unorthodox view in the gods and the Buddha in general, which will play an important role in how he acts in the future. 

As for Buddhism and Taoism, I know I am introducing a can of worms here. However, it is true that Chinese Buddhism is a bit different than Indian Buddhism, along with how historically some pieces of Ancient Chinese Buddhism actually resembled modern-day conservative Evangelical Christianity. When you think about it, it's not too hard to imagine hardline religious adherents trying to convert people and calling certain abnormal behaviors sinful abominations. Elements in this area of the story were based on history as early Chinese Buddhism lacked any doctrinal limits or guidelines, so there were major issues with how practices should work. The historical journey to gain Sutras from India by the Chinese monk was in part spurred by these major problems with Buddhist ideology and inherent philosophical issues.