Journey to the West: Demon Emperor: Beginning as a Little Toad

Chapter 29 Learning Arts
Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and the Three Stars Cave with the slanting moon.

Inside the Taoist temple, under the Yaotai.

After more than ten years of wandering and two years of living in the open air, the monkey finally bowed before Master Subhuti and said repeatedly:

"Master! Master!"

"I see that you look and behave like a monkey, so I'll give you the surname Sun. As the saying goes, it takes a monkey to break the stubbornness, so let's call you Sun Wukong."

Patriarch Subhuti looked at the well-behaved monkey and smiled.

Once you are given a name by the master, you are considered an official disciple.

The monkey, Sun Wukong, was overjoyed when he heard this, and he somersaulted several times: "Sun Wukong, Sun Wukong, from now on I will be called Sun Wukong!"

In the following years, Sun Wukong and his fellow brothers learned etiquette, lectured on scriptures, practiced calligraphy, burned incense, swept the floor, hoeed the garden, and grew flowers and trees.

Sun Wukong's temperament has also become more stable, and his initial impatience has slowly faded away.

……

"Dang, Dang, Dang..."

The clear and melodious bell sounded on Fangcun Mountain.

Today, it was time for Master Subhuti to preach again. All the disciples came upon hearing the news and sat down according to their seats.

In the main hall of the Taoist palace, on the Yaotai, Patriarch Subhuti sat with his eyes closed, while Xiao Chen sat beside him.

The first one on the left is Xiao Yuner, and the last one is Sun Wukong.

Patriarch Subhuti glanced at Sun Wukong with a peaceful gaze, and seeing that the monkey was now behaving properly, without being arrogant or impatient, he could not help but nod secretly.

After all the disciples arrived, Master Subhuti waved his whisk and closed the doors and windows.

Patriarch Subhuti said slowly: "Today, let's talk about destiny. How much you can understand depends on your luck."

"Thank you, Master."

All the disciples said in unison.

"Now, the heaven has its own way, and the trend of the heaven is irreversible and cannot be changed. All living things in the world must follow the will of heaven."

"Birth, aging, sickness and death are the laws of nature. Humans are subject to three disasters and six diseases, and gods and men are subject to five declines."

"If you go against the will of heaven, you can't do it."

"However, there are countless beings in the Three Realms, and cause and effect are intertwined with each other, and there is also the concept of fate."

"There are fifty great ways, forty-nine are derived from heaven, and man escapes one. An individual's destiny is a minor trend compared to heaven's destiny. The major trend cannot be changed, but the minor trend can be changed."

“As the saying goes, a single hair can move the entire body, and a slight mistake can lead to a huge error.

"The number is not fixed."

"To follow the will of heaven is not to follow, and to go against the will of heaven is not to go against."

"We cultivate to become immortals in order to transcend fate, fight against the heavens, and find a ray of hope in the destiny. If we follow fate, we will be ordinary people, and if we go against fate, we will be immortals..."

Patriarch Subhuti gave a lecture behind closed doors, speaking slowly.

"The big trend cannot be changed, but the small trend can be changed..."

"The number is not fixed..."

At the side of Patriarch Subhuti, Xiao Chen was shocked when he heard the words and muttered to himself.

"Did I come to this Journey to the West world just to trap myself in Journey to the West and become a prisoner in Journey to the West?"

"Cultivating immortals and transcending fate, is this the way to immortality?"

When Sun Wukong heard this, even though his temperament had gradually calmed down, he could not help scratching his ears and cheeks with joy, smiling widely, and dancing on the cushion.

When Master Subhuti saw this, he laughed and scolded him, "Wukong, why are you dancing wildly in the class instead of listening to me?"

Wukong hurriedly said, "I listened attentively to the Master's teachings. I was overwhelmed with joy when I heard the Master's wonderful voice. That's why I was so excited unconsciously. I hope the Master will forgive me!"

Master Subhuti said, "Since you know Miaoyin, let me ask you, how long have you been in the cave?"

Wukong said, "My disciple was ignorant at first, and I don't know how many seasons have passed. I only remember that there was no fire under the stove, so I often went to the back of the mountain to collect firewood. I saw a beautiful peach tree on the mountain, and I ate peaches there seven times. I think it has been seven years."

"Seven years."

Patriarch Subhuti stroked his beard and chuckled, "Wukong, since you have been here for seven years, let me ask you, what do you want to learn?"

"Grandmaster, the method of immortality! I want to learn the method of immortality!"

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up and he answered without hesitation.

Suddenly, Sun Wukong thought of Mo Lang, the poor little dragon bent on revenge, and the Mo Jiaolong family that was surrounded and destroyed by the heavenly soldiers, and quickly added:

"The way to attack!"

"Grandmaster, I would like to learn some offensive techniques!"

"The art of attack! Why does this monkey suddenly want to learn the art of attack?"

Xiao Chen was stunned when he heard this. In the original novel, this monkey only wanted to lead his monkeys and grandchildren to immortality.

Therefore, whatever the monkey learned, whether it was the Great Heavenly Immortal Art or the Seventy-two Transformations, was all for the purpose of cultivating the golden elixir, avoiding natural disasters, and seeking immortality. The somersault cloud was also a skill for escaping.

The monkeys at that time were innocent and naive, but they had no intention of learning the "art of attack".

Why is it that today, Sun Wukong wants to learn the "art of attack"?

If Sun Wukong learned the art of attack on the basis of the original skills, then wouldn't this monkey be stronger than in the original book?
After learning the "art of attack" and practicing for another three hundred years, wouldn't he be a strengthened version of the monkey and "really" cause trouble in the Heavenly Palace?
By that time, can Buddha Tathagata still suppress this monkey?

Xiao Chen looked at Master Subhuti, as if he had realized something. Could this be what "destiny is not fixed" means?

"The way to longevity is the way to attack."

Patriarch Subhuti shook his head and said with a smile: "Wukong, there are 360 ​​side doors in the Dao door, and all the side doors have positive results. Let me tell you about them. Do you think you are willing to learn?"

Wukong was delighted when he heard this: "As you wish, Master, I will obey you wholeheartedly."

Master Subhuti looked at Wukong, stroked his beard and smiled, "Wukong, I will teach you how to seek divination and seek good fortune and avoid misfortune. Are you willing to learn?"

When the disciples heard this, many of them were envious and joined in persuading Wukong:

"Wukong, this is good. It's good to learn this. If you master this, you can become a fortune teller and have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life!"

Sun Wukong was unmoved. He pinched his fingers and made a fortune-teller's gesture, and asked, "Master, can I achieve immortality like this?"

Upon hearing this, Master Subhuti shook his head and said with a smile, "No, no."

Sun Wukong waved his hands repeatedly and refused: "It is better to make your own decision than to ask the immortals for divination. I won't learn it, I won't learn it!"

Seeing that Wukong refused to learn, all the disciples sighed and felt sorry for him, thinking that Wukong had missed a good opportunity.

"Wukong, how about I teach you to chant Buddhist scriptures and worship the true saint?"

Master Subhuti asked again.

"Wukong, this is also good. It's good to learn this. If you master this, you can become the abbot of a temple and enjoy a lifetime of leisure and wealth!"

Upon hearing this, all the disciples tried to persuade him.

Wukong asked again if he could achieve immortality? When he learned that he could not, he refused again.

……

"Wukong, I will teach you how to absorb Yin to replenish Yang, climb the bow and step on the crossbow, rub the navel to invigorate the qi, use prescriptions to prepare medicine, burn grass and beat the cauldron, add red lead, refine autumn stone, and take women's milk, etc."

"This method can be used to refine elixirs, cultivate Taoist companions, achieve mutual generation of Tai Chi, and harmonize Yin and Yang. How do you think it works?"

Patriarch Subhuti asked again with a smile.

"Wukong, learn this quickly! You are the great king of the mountains. If you have mastered this, go find three thousand female monkeys, live a carefree life every day, and control three thousand monkeys to enjoy the great road of bliss. Isn't that wonderful?"

There was a group of male disciples who were drooling and smiling as they advised, with their looks and expressions as if they wanted to replace Wukong.

Seeing the looks of these disciples, Xiao Chen seemed to have some understanding and thought:

"No wonder that what this Subhuti Patriarch taught publicly were all some quack techniques for praying to gods and fortune-telling."

“But this great way to immortality must be taught secretly in the middle of the night.”

"It turns out that the hearts of people in this world are only concerned with petty gains and have no ambitions. Even if they have acquired supernatural powers, they only want to seek wealth and fame."

"Isn't this question from Subhuti a test of Wukong's determination to seek the truth?"

Sun Wukong pondered for a while and asked again: "Grandmaster, can this also lead to immortality?"

Patriarch Subhuti stroked his beard and said with a smile: "This desire for immortality is like catching the moon in the water."

Sun Wukong scratched his head and waved his hands, saying, "Master is here again! How can it be called 'fishing for the moon in the water'?"

Master Subhuti said: "The moon is in the sky, and its reflection is in the water. Although you can see it, there is no place to touch it. In the end, it is just empty."

Sun Wukong refused again: "I won't learn it! I won't learn it!"

When Master Subhuti saw that Wukong refused to learn anything, he jumped off the platform, holding a ruler in his hand, and scolded him:

"You monkey, you don't learn this, you don't learn that, what are you going to do?"

Subhuti walked forward and hit Wukong on the back of the head three times. Then, Subhuti turned to look at Xiao Chen and scolded him, "You carried this monkey in here, why didn't you discipline him well?"

After saying that, Patriarch Subhuti came behind Xiao Chen again and hit Xiao Chen on the back of the head five times in a row.

After saying this, Master Subhuti put his hands behind his back, walked inside, closed the middle door, and left the crowd behind. The disciples, frightened by this scene, surrounded Wukong and complained.

Xiao Chen and Sun Wukong looked at each other and said in great joy:
"I have been here for nine years. It has been nine years. This Subhuti Patriarch is finally going to preach!"

"Wukong originally wanted to learn the way to immortality, but now he has also learned the way to kill."

"Then what should I learn? Great Heavenly Immortal Art, Eight-Nine Mysterious Art? Nine-Transformation Yuan Gong?"

"Should I learn the thirty-six changes of the heavenly energies? Or the seventy-two changes of the earthly energies?..."

Seeking corrections and advice from fellow Taoists
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(End of this chapter)