At the summit of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, there sat a stone of unusual shape — worn by wind and rain since the time when heaven and earth first separated.

This stone absorbed the essence of the sun and moon. It drank the dew of countless mornings. It was touched by the forces that shape worlds.

And then, one morning, the stone cracked.

From within emerged an egg — not a snake's egg, not a bird's egg, but a stone egg, polished smooth by the same forces that had shaped the mountain. The egg rolled once, twice, then split open with a sound like the cracking of the world.

Out stepped a monkey.

Golden fur. Eyes that blazed with light so bright they pierced the heavens. The Jade Emperor felt the tremor on his throne.

"It is only a monkey," the Star of Wisdom reported. "Nothing to concern Your Majesty."

And so the matter was dismissed. This would prove to be a mistake.

The stone monkey joined a tribe of ordinary monkeys and became their king. When they found a waterfall with a hidden cave behind it, the stone monkey leaped through first.

"I have found our home!" he called back.

Thus Sun Wukong — the Monkey Awakened to Emptiness — was crowned King of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

But kingship was only the beginning. Deep in his heart, he felt a hunger no fruit could satisfy. The hunger for immortality.