Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 252 Yuan Shoucheng

The Dragon King of Hongjiang sent Chen Guangrui back to life and presented him with a Ruyi Pearl, two Zoupan Pearls, ten pieces of silk, and a pearl and jade belt, thus fully repaying the debt of life-saving grace.

After seeing Chen Guangrui's family reunited, the Dragon King turned and went to a side hall of the Dragon Palace, where he respectfully addressed the figure reading a book:

"Daojun, I have sent Chen Guangrui back to life so that his family can be reunited."

Daojun put down the book in his hand, stood up, nodded, and then reached into the medicine box beside him and took out a small porcelain bottle with a red cloth stopper, which he handed to the Hongjiang Dragon King.

"Daojun, this..."

"These contain ten Dragon Transformation Pills. From today onward, you shall consume one pill every three hundred years. This will help you to quickly perfect the Dragon Transformation Technique and avoid the calamity of losing all your cultivation every three hundred years."

This Dragon Transformation Pill is made primarily from dragon saliva grass, making it quite precious, especially for dragons like the Hongjiang Dragon King who cultivate the wondrous method of Dragon Transformation to become dragons.

But for Daojun, while he might need to search for other things, Dragon Saliva Grass was not so troublesome.

Who told him to raise a little dragon? The dragon saliva grass that grew in his pond on Golden Dust Mountain, nourished by the dragon's aura, was as plentiful as water plants.

Having cultivated to this level, Daojun roughly understood the feeling of a great figure casually bestowing a treasure. What was extremely important to the Dragon King of Hongjiang was nothing more than roadside weeds to him.

The Dragon King of Hongjiang looked grateful and bowed to the Daoist Lord again.

"Little Dragon thanks Daoist Lord."

Daojun stroked his beard and smiled, then left the Dragon King of Hongjiang, leaving only his words echoing in the Dragon King's ears.

"Your cultivation has not been easy, and after becoming the Dragon King of Hongjiang, you have worked even harder and governed Hongjiang quite well. This time, your encounter with Chen Guangrui is both a calamity and an opportunity."

If the Dragon King of Hongjiang hadn't been a grateful person and had protected Chen Guangrui, then the Dragon Transformation Pill would naturally not have fallen into his hands.

Daojun left the Crystal Palace and flew out of the Hongjiang River. He originally intended to return directly to his own Daojun Mountain, but suddenly stopped and looked at a fortune teller who was setting up a stall on the bank of the Hongjiang River.

Daojun's heart stirred, and he roughly guessed the person's identity. Seeing that this person was not staying in Chang'an but suddenly appeared here, how could he not know that this person had come for him?

Daojun simply rode the clouds and mist to the divination stall by the river and sat down, looking at the middle-aged sorcerer who appeared to be in his forties.

"Is Mr. Yuan waiting for me?"

The man before them was none other than Yuan Shoucheng, the uncle of Yuan Tiangang, the current head of the Imperial Observatory, and a diviner.

Yuan Shoucheng looked the man in front of him up and down, while the man in front of him was also looking him up and down.

Daojun was secretly surprised. Yuan Shoucheng was not surrounded by spiritual energy. Although he was a sorcerer, his body was still in the realm of mortals. Yet, he gave Daojun an extremely extraordinary feeling.

This person is said to be well-versed in the Six Lines divination, proficient in the Eight Trigrams, knowledgeable of celestial and terrestrial phenomena, and adept at understanding the nature of spirits and deities. He can foresee good and bad fortune, predict death and life, and see the future and the past with crystal clarity.

He saw that this person did not seem to be a reincarnation of a deity, but as a mortal, could he really do such a thing?

Yuan Shoucheng stroked his beard lightly and cupped his hands in greeting:

"I apologize for disturbing you, but I only wish to meet you, Dao Lord. After all, among all beings in the Three Realms, you are the only one I can find."

Daojun suddenly understood.

What Yuan Shoucheng was referring to must be that he was a reincarnation from outer space in his previous life.

At this moment, he was no longer as cautious as he had been back then. Clearly, his Heaven-Seizing Hand and his origins from beyond the heavens were already completely exposed in the eyes of his master, Patriarch Bodhi, or the Jade Emperor and other great beings.

And now he is no longer the same person who just arrived at Jindu Mountain; he has already gained his own confidence.

Then, Daojun asked with some curiosity:

"Mr. Yuan, have you noticed something? Is there anything you wish to tell me?"

Yuan Shoucheng looked at Daojun and shook his head slightly.

“An existence like Daojun is a rare ‘variable’ in the world, and this ‘variable’ is the most difficult to calculate. I am not afraid that Daojun will laugh at me for coming to see you today. I am just here to broaden my horizons.”

Daojun was speechless for a moment. This guy.
"Heh~ Well then, with such an extraordinary person as you in this world, I have broadened my horizons. I can say that we are even now."

Daojun stood up, preparing to leave this place.

After Guanyin Bodhisattva helped Jin Chanzi reincarnate, she returned to Mount Ling to report back. Now, in the Southern Continent, Jin Chanzi is being cared for by Elder Faming and others.

As for Yuan Shoucheng, he couldn't figure out this man's background at the moment, but he was only curious about him, just like he was about the official Wei Zheng.

The Eastern Land and the Western Continent are indeed different. The human world here is different from that there. Not only are the people here outstanding and the land blessed with abundant resources, but it is also closely related to the Heavenly Court.
Seeing that Daojun was about to leave, Yuan Shoucheng slowly said:

"Speaking of which, I observed the celestial phenomena a few nights ago and it seems that Daojun Medical Clinic may face a calamity in a hundred years or so."

The Divine Physician Daojun stopped and turned to look at Yuan Shoucheng, smiling:
“What you say is true, sir. But in this world, there is no such thing as something that lasts forever. You are a person who can understand the heavens through divination, so you should be able to understand this principle.”

His Daojun Medical Clinic owes its current prosperity to the help and reliance of four emperors from the Sui Dynasty to the present day, as well as the generations of students who went out to work as itinerant doctors and gained prestige among the people.

But since he borrowed the 'power' of the Eastern Emperor, he was inevitably involved in it, and the fact that most of the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Academy had studied at his Daojun Medical Hall is the biggest proof of that.

The deep connection between the medical clinic and the emperor is both a blessing and a curse. If the emperor is wise, the clinic will be highly valued and employed. However, if the emperor is foolish, the clinic's reputation will be too great, and if it is further instigated by treacherous people, it may become a target of suspicion.
A so-called tyrannical ruler is like Emperor Xuan of Zhou, who cannot be judged by common sense and is incompetent and immoral.

What Yuan Shoucheng said was also what Daojun had seen.

As the saying goes, prosperity inevitably leads to decline. The Daojun Medical Hall, composed entirely of ordinary people and teaching medical skills to ordinary people, is no exception to this principle.

Upon hearing Daojun's words, Yuan Shoucheng fell silent for a moment, then slowly said:
"It is truly extraordinary that Daojun can jointly oversee the eastward transmission of Buddhism with Guanyin Bodhisattva. It is I, Yuan, who have been impolite."

"If you have any free time in the future, you may visit Chang'an and sit at my fortune-telling stall. If we can sit down and discuss the Dao, I believe both of us will gain a lot."

When Yuan Shoucheng uttered these words, he was clearly very confident in his abilities. Daojun nodded without hesitation, and then rode the clouds away from the place.

At the summit of Jindu Mountain, Niu Yi was handing a large jade bottle filled with spiritual liquid to the celestial boy opposite him, and then receiving those ten-thousand-year-old purple ganoderma and jade herbs from him.

The celestial boy once again sensed the vibrant spiritual liquid within the jade bottle, a smile appearing on his face as he respectfully said:

"Thank you, Immortal Master. I have now completed the task assigned by my master and will return to Fangzhang Immortal Mountain as soon as possible to report back to my master."

"Thank you for making this trip, Fairy Boy. Please give my regards to Senior Donghua."

"Rest assured, Immortal Master."

The green ox, who was eating oranges nearby, glanced at the departing fairy boy but ignored him, instead looking at the bright red jujube tree above its head.

Emperor Donghua clearly intended to befriend his brother, and the purple ganoderma and jade herbs he brought were the best of the best.

However, he wasn't interested in these things. As long as they weren't there to sabotage his brother's dojo, he didn't intend to pay them any attention. After all, there weren't many immortals who could make him stand up and greet them.

At this moment, the jujubes on the tree, each the size of a fist, were shimmering with a spiritual light; upon counting, there were nine of them.

Upon seeing this, Niu Yi smiled and with a wave of his sleeve, all nine jujubes on the tree fell to the ground, three of them landing in front of the green ox.

"Brother Si, these jujubes are ripe now, why don't you have a taste?"

Qingniu looked at the three fire dates in front of him, but only took one in his hand and sent the other two back to Niu Yi.

“I appreciate your kindness, but I am not particularly interested in these fire dates. Laozi has planted several fire date and pear trees in his garden, but there are none of the spirit orange trees on your mountain.”

"Brother, you should keep these two jujubes to entertain guests in the future, or make them into jujube tea and share them with the little bull spirits of Jindu Mountain. It will be of great benefit to them as well."

Upon hearing this, Niu Yi smiled and nodded, saying:
"In that case, let's do as Brother Si says and make these two fire dates into fire date tea, and distribute it to the little bull spirits down the mountain."

Just like how he used to transport the many spirit peaches and spirit oranges from the mountaintop down the mountain from time to time, Niu Yi had originally planned to do so. But since his brother, the Rhinoceros, had given up two fire dates, he might be able to keep some this time.

In addition to the two jujubes left over from the last harvest, they would be excellent for entertaining guests in the future.

Nighttime, a state of mind.

Inside the central hall.

Niu Yi placed the incense stick in his hand into the incense burner on the altar and respectfully bowed to the memorial tablet of his master above.

Master, Master, a teacher for a day is a father for life. He is able to be where he is today because of the teachings and protection of his master, Bodhi Patriarch. Therefore, the first thing he does after entering the Lingtai Mind State every day is to come to his master to pay his respects.

Niu Yi has always been grateful that he was able to become a disciple of Bodhi Patriarch. He knows very well that if it weren't for his master's help, those powerful beings, even the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Venerable, would not have treated him so well. His master must have been involved in this.

Therefore, no matter how far he may go in the future, he will always do the same and never forget his teacher's kindness.

After paying his respects to his master, Niu Yi went straight to the Five-Colored Treasure Chicken Nest on the back mountain and looked at the huge tree that was now shrouded in the five-colored mist.

Niu Yi stepped into the chicken coop. At this time, all the colorful chickens had already rested, while the huge colorful egg, which slowly exuded a colorful mist, remained motionless and stood there quietly.

This colorful aura originated from the five-colored egg that the old rooster transformed into three hundred years ago, and it quickly enveloped the five-colored rooster's nest.

Enveloped by this aura, the surrounding colorful roosters slowly changed, their bodies becoming more graceful, their feathers glossy, and their colorful tail feathers even able to use the colorful stardust that the old rooster had shaken off back then.

Clearly, these colorful roosters have also begun to transform because of the rooster, only the transformation is just as slow.

Niu Yi stepped forward and patted the colorful egg, a look of nostalgia flashing in his eyes, and sighed softly:
“Since you fell asleep for over a thousand years, I have even reduced my farming. If it weren’t for the fact that your wife and children have also begun to change and eat more these past few years, my spiritual rice would probably be overflowing every year.”

"What a pity, they are not you after all. This state of mind is becoming more and more serene each year."

“It’s good for cultivators to be quiet, but it’s not good for you to stay in the egg all the time.”

After Niu Yi finished speaking, he remained silent for a long time, then slowly closed his eyes, trying to sense the rooster's presence again. However, after a while, Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes again but found nothing.

He still couldn't determine if the five-colored egg was missing anything; he could only see a five-colored phoenix slowly circling a bead.
"It's really strange. With my current level of cultivation, even with the help of the Primordial Chaos Dao and the Dao of Cause and Effect, I still can't detect the slightest thing about the five-colored egg that the rooster has turned into. Even if Master's methods are incredibly profound, there should still be some clues to follow."

Unless it's a rooster, it's not a being born from the Three Realms.
Niu Yi pondered, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. His master's origins were mysterious, and even he, as the disciple, did not know anything about his master's background. Of course, if his master did not take the initiative to tell him, he, as the disciple, would not ask.

What he was certain of was that his master was a powerful being, possessing the ability to travel to many worlds beyond the Three Realms.

This old rooster suddenly appeared in the special world of Lingtai Mind Realm, which relies on the Great Dao of Dreams. He has never heard of the First Phoenix giving birth to any Five-Colored Mysterious Phoenix in the Three Realms, so this possibility is even greater.

Judging from the rooster's current appearance, even if it really came from another world like Pigsy and himself, the situation must be very different.

Niu Yi pondered, but seeing that he still couldn't help the old rooster, he could only leave and head straight to the library.

Niu Yi made his way to the fourth floor of the library, walked to the table on the fourth floor, skillfully placed the paperweight on the white paper, ground the ink and began to write. The Wheel of Merit appeared behind his head, and he began to write with the help of the golden light.

The library has nine floors. The first floor contains medical books and pharmacopoeias, the second floor contains various supernatural powers and spells, and the third floor contains classic works from the three religions and other schools of thought.

These things are the foundation of Niu Yi's enlightenment, and they are also what his master asked him to study every day.

Niu Yi was also curious, wondering why his master had only put the first three floors of the library in front of him, since there must be much more to teach him.

In recent years, however, he has gradually come to understand.

The master leads you through the door, but the practice is up to you.

His master laid a solid foundation for him, so he needs to forge his own path and fill in the remaining six layers himself.

(End of this chapter)