Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 304 Six Lions
Above Yuhua Prefecture, Daojun's eyes flashed with light as he looked down at the demonic aura that had been soaring into the sky above Yuhua Prefecture, which was gradually receding.

At this time in Yuhua Prefecture, because of the death of Huang Shi's grandson, the Nine-Headed Lion King angrily took action and captured the Yuhua King, Tang Sanzang, and others into the Nine-Bend Cave.

The yellow lion's corpse, which was originally to be skinned, was left in the city, and no one in the panicked Yuhua Prefecture paid any attention to it.

Suddenly, the corpse of the yellow lion spirit vanished in a burst of light.

Daojun watched this scene and nodded slightly.

The next day, a lucky cloud descended from the sky. It turned out that Sun Wukong had escaped and learned the owner of the Nine-Headed Lion. He went straight to the Eastern Palace of Wonderful Splendor and invited the Heavenly Venerable.

When Daojun saw that the lion servant had indeed not come with the Heavenly Venerable as previously agreed, he couldn't help but smile.

"Yuan Sheng'er, come back to the palace with me."

Looking at his master in the sky, the Nine-Headed Lion felt helpless and heartbroken, but he could only transform into his true form and come to the Heavenly Venerable's side to return to the palace with him.

Sun Wukong returned victorious, only to suddenly see a familiar figure standing in the clouds, looking at him.

"Oh? Senior brother?"

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up, and with a somersault, he arrived in the clouds above, looking at the Taoist priest opposite him with black hair and beard, wearing a magnificent purple Taoist robe and a tiger-shaped bell hanging from his waist.

Sun Wukong stepped forward and smiled warmly at the Divine Physician Daoist:
"Daoist Lord, I, Old Sun, greet you. May I ask what brings you here?"

Since his senior brother had not told him, he would simply pretend not to know anything about it. However, he had already decided in his heart that the person in front of him was the incarnation of his senior brother.

Daojun looked at Sun Wukong in front of him and smiled:

"This humble Taoist priest wishes to ask the Great Sage for a favor."

"Oh? I wonder what it is?"

"I wish to take those lions away and let them guard my Daojun Mountain."

Sun Wukong's eyes darted around, and he scratched the back of his hand, a guess forming in his mind, but he didn't say anything, only chuckling:
"Since it was Dao Lord who mentioned it, then Dao Lord may take those lions with him."

No matter what his senior brother wanted those lions, the few little monsters around him certainly wouldn't be able to cause any trouble in his hands.

Daojun nodded with a smile, and waved his green bamboo staff downwards. Soon, six lions of different shapes flew up from below, quickly shrank, and landed in the medicine chest on Daojun's back.

Daojun patted the medicine box and laughed:
"Great Sage, I will take these lions with me."

"Now that we've arrived in India, we're not far from Mount Ling. However, there are still hardships ahead, so we must proceed with caution."

Sun Wukong nodded and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, saying:
"Okay, okay, thank you very much."

Daojun returned the greeting, and then rode the clouds toward Daojun Mountain. Sun Wukong watched Daojun until he was far away before landing on the ground.

On the other side, the Nine-Headed Lion, who was returning to the palace with the Heavenly Venerable, was still somewhat dejected, which made the Heavenly Venerable shake his head slightly.

"You lazy Yuan Sheng'er, you do nothing but sleep all day in the palace. How come you don't have half the energy you had when you were in the mortal world?"

"Don't worry, I know you're worried about those lions. With Guangyi protecting them, they'll be fine."

“That child came to me some time ago, asking me to show him some respect, and then he came down to the mortal realm. He has already left with those lions.”

With each word spoken by the Celestial Venerable, the Nine-Headed Lion Saint paused, his mouth opening wider and wider.

"Master, it's me."

“Yuan Sheng’er, I allowed Guang Yi to save those lions because you helped him before. This is the karma and blessing between you two, but it is not a reason for you to continue being lazy in the future.” Upon hearing this, Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng shuddered and quickly replied:

"Please rest assured, Master, I will never dare to be lazy again after returning to the palace!"

Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun nodded and said nothing more, leading the Nine Spirits Primordial Saint to continue towards the Eastern Supreme Palace.

As night fell, King Yuhua and Sun Wukong's group suddenly received a report from their guards that the yellow lion's corpse had suddenly disappeared. Sun Wukong immediately thought of Daojun, so he laughed it off and easily let the matter drop.

Meanwhile, the Divine Physician Daojun returned to Daojun Mountain on a cloud-riding journey and immediately threw the Six Lions into the incense space.

As Daojun slowly descended into Daojun Palace, Yuanze, who was on duty at the top floor, hurriedly stepped forward.

"Master Dao."

"Ah."

Daojun nodded, took out a scroll from his sleeve, and handed it to Yuanze, saying:
"Yuanze, go to the incense space and keep an eye on the six lions that are still asleep. If they wake up, show them what's in this scroll."

"Yes, Lord Dao."

Yuan Ze nodded, took the scroll, and a gate with incense offerings quickly appeared. Yuan Ze turned around and entered it.

Daojun held his hand out flat, and a small yellow lion appeared in his hand, looking around warily.

"Who are you? Where is this?! Is this the underworld?"

Daojun smiled and said:

"Ha~ You lion who stole someone's treasure, how rude of you."

"That underworld is filled with yin energy and is extremely dark. It is nothing like the palace in my palace."

"Do you know that if I hadn't saved your life with a Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill refined by the Supreme Dao Ancestor, you would indeed be on the road to the Yellow Springs right now?"

Upon hearing this, the yellow lion was stunned, and its eyes suddenly became empty, as if everything that had happened during this period of time was flashing before its eyes like a revolving lantern.

"This this."

Huang Shi seemed to realize something and quickly bowed down, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Thank you so much, Grandpa Fairy, for saving me! Thank you so much, Grandpa Fairy, for saving me!"

After bowing, the yellow lion burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

Having died once, Huang Shi had seen many things very clearly. He had been blinded by that treasure, which not only caused his Tiger's Mouth Cave, which he had built up over many years, to be burned to ashes, but also made him witness his brothers being knocked to the ground by Sun Wukong before he died, with little chance of survival.

Because of his selfish desires, everyone ended up in such a state. Overwhelmed with grief, Huang Shi was unable to stop his sorrow.

Daojun looked at the yellow lion wailing in his hands and shook his head helplessly:
"Don't worry, your brothers are all safe. I have rescued them all and they will be reunited soon. Moreover, your ancestor is also safe and has returned to the Heavenly Palace."

Upon hearing this, the yellow lion immediately stopped crying, staring blankly at the Daoist Lord. After a moment, it bowed down again, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Yellow Lion thanks the deity! Yellow Lion thanks the deity! I am willing to repay your kindness with my entire life!"

Daojun slowly shook his head and said:
"I should thank your grandfather. If it weren't for his help to me on several occasions and his status as my elder, you wouldn't be here today."

"Yellow Lion, you must know that this calamity was caused by your greed. In the future, you should cultivate your mind and not do anything greedy."

(End of this chapter)