Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 319 Four Hundred Years of Accumulation
"With Brother Ning's literary talent, I imagine he is quite confident about this important exam."

At the dinner table, upon hearing Niu Yi's words, Ning Caichen humbly smiled and said:
"To be honest, Brother Guo, I do have some confidence, but I'm not entirely sure, especially after seeing someone as talented as you."

"With your literary talent, Brother Guo, you're sure to excel in this important exam!"

Niu Yi shook his head and smiled:

“Brother Ning, you may not know this, but I no longer intend to participate in the Grand Examination. Instead, I am focused on cultivating the Dao and practicing swordsmanship with my senior, Yan. You can now call me Daoist Guangyi.”

"This"

Ning Caichen looked at Niu Yi with great surprise. Seeing that Niu Yi was not joking at all, Ning Caichen couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

"What a pity! It would be a great loss to the court if Brother Guo's literary talent could not be put to use."

This Brother Guo warmly invited him to eat here. Since they were both scholars, Ning Caichen already had a very good impression of him.

During their previous conversation, Ning Caichen discovered that this Brother Guo was proficient in all the classics, and many of the questions that even his teacher could not answer, he could talk about fluently, which made Ning Caichen quite admire and excited.

Although he felt it was a pity that his brother Guo had turned to Taoism, it was ultimately his business and it was not his place to say anything. He was also different from those pedantic scholars who regarded the classics as the highest authority.

Niu Yi laughed heartily and said:

“What’s the loss? We still have a great talent like Brother Ning waiting for the court to discover it.”

Yan Chixia watched the two of them drinking and chatting away, but he himself had lost his appetite, as the image of a great sun was imprinted on his mind.

The core of that Great Sun visualization method is actually just the crimson golden sun on the first page.

At this moment, as long as Yan Chixia is willing, he can visualize the great sun anytime and anywhere to continuously enhance his spiritual awareness and soul.

Xiao Hai looked at Yan Chixia beside him and whispered:

"Master Yan, why aren't you eating? The food the young master prepared today is delicious!"

Yan Chixia glanced at the still somewhat naive Xiao Hai, shook his head, and said nothing.

Although Guangyi always keeps Xiaohai by his side, he is definitely unaware of the affairs of the Guo family father and son.

Moreover, this kid completely prioritizes his young master. Whatever his young master does is right and perfectly justified.

Just like before, this kid clearly said that his young master had never cooked at home before, but he still believed that his young master could cook the most delicious food in the world as soon as he started cooking.

Having a page like Xiao Hai is a stroke of luck for both Guangyi and Xiao Hai, but Xiao Hai is ultimately just an ordinary person, while Guangyi's future is destined to be extraordinary.
It's hard to say whether this is good or bad for Xiao Hai.

Furthermore, now that he has learned this terrifying Great Sun Contemplation Method, his future path will be much smoother. However, he has also received Guangyi's favor, and the karma between the two of them has become increasingly entangled.

However, for Yan Chixia, this was a secondary matter, since he himself had many troubles.

Niu Yi roughly guessed why Yan Chixia was silent, but he couldn't tell Yan Chixia that the Great Sun Contemplation Method was actually something he had drawn himself by occasionally staring at the sun these past few days.
Even the most gifted geniuses have their limits. On that piece of paper, Niu Yi essentially copied down the divine will of the sun, allowing people to visualize a great sun in their minds day and night.

If one can grasp the concept on their own, it can be attributed to talent. However, if one copies it down and teaches it to others, it goes beyond just a matter of talent.
That night, Niu Yi invited Ning Caichen to stay at his place, while Niu Yi himself stood in the courtyard, gazing at the bright moon in the sky for a long time without saying a word.

The moon in this world seems to be no different from the moon in the Three Realms, but in Niu Yi's eyes, the difference is quite significant.

The moonlight and nights in this world seem colder, completely lacking the tranquility, peace, and grandeur of the moonlight and starry sky in the Three Realms.

Niu Yi's eyes slowly changed, and a crimson sun and a bright blue moon appeared in his right and left eyes, respectively.

With the appearance of these two, Niu Yi's aura constantly changed, shifting between intense heat and chilling cold.

After a while, the sun and moon in Niu Yi's eyes slowly disappeared, and his breathing returned to normal.

"As expected, the moon in this world cannot be easily understood; its radiance seems to favor demons and monsters."

As Niu Yi pondered, his senses suddenly stirred, and he looked toward the white-clad woman who had suddenly appeared in a tree not far in front of the courtyard.

The woman had a graceful figure, fair skin, and an extremely beautiful face; she seemed to have stepped out of a painting.

Nie Xiaoqian.
Niu Yi looked at the figure with an unchanged expression.

Although this woman is extremely beautiful, any fairy in the Heavenly Court of the Three Realms is an exceptional beauty with outstanding temperament, far superior to this little ghost girl.

Of course, Nie Xiaoqian also has some unique qualities. Although she is a female ghost, she has a clear and ethereal aura and a cool and aloof temperament.

Nie Xiaoqian looked at Niu Yi, and in his eyes, she didn't see the burning passion, the lustful look, that she had seen in the eyes of the men at Lanruo Temple earlier.
All Nie Xiaoqian could see in Niu Yi's eyes was a serene peace devoid of any distractions.

"Young master, you and your elders and friends should leave as soon as possible. Your settling here has already made Grandma a little angry."

After Nie Xiaoqian transmitted these words to Niu Yi, she took flight and flew towards Lanruo Temple.

Niu Yi raised an eyebrow slightly. He hadn't even gone to cause trouble for the thousand-year-old tree demon yet, and the tree demon had actually sent people to monitor them.

Is she upset that they stopped some people who had entered the mountain earlier, thus delaying her hunting? But just now, Nie Xiaoqian's words were probably meant to lure a powerful enemy to Lanruo Temple to destroy this thousand-year-old tree demon, so that she could escape the tree demon's control.
Niu Yi took a deep look in the direction Nie Xiaoqian had left, after all, the woman in front of him was no naive and innocent little ghost.

However, he originally did not intend to pay attention to Lanruo Temple, after all, his strength was increasing day by day, and there were great changes every day.

However, plans can't keep up with changes. His progress was even faster than he had anticipated, and with Yan Chixia's help, eliminating the tree demon shouldn't be a problem.

Late at night, in the Guo family compound in Liuxi County.

At this moment, the bright moon above the Guo family compound was obscured by dark clouds, plunging the entire Liuxi County into darkness, and the entire Guo family compound was also silent.

If someone were to pass by at this moment, they would surely notice the stench of blood emanating from the Guo family compound, where corpses lay strewn everywhere and blood flowed across the ground.

Inside the master's room, a group of silent men in black were searching for something.

Meanwhile, the Guo family relatives who had usurped Guo Yang's place back then were now lying in pools of blood, dying with their eyes wide open in disbelief, even the children were in the same state.

The Guo family, which had been famous in Liuxi County for more than a decade, was wiped out in an instant.

"Elder, we have searched the entire Guo family compound, but we have not found that thing, nor any objects or traces left by Elder Guo Kun."

"Furthermore, I have heard that Elder Guo Kun's only son, Guo Yang, left the Guo family a month ago to go to Jinhua to participate in the imperial examination."

“Our informant recently reported that someone in Jinhua saw Guo Yang with someone who looks like Yan Chixia together.”

Sitting in the main seat of the family, the Kunlun Sect elder with gray hair and dressed in a Taoist robe, Su Baiming nodded slightly.

"Since everyone here is just an ordinary person who knows nothing, there's no need to waste time here."

“Leave some people here to finish things up, the rest of you, come with me to Jinhua.”

"With the sect leader in seclusion, does Guo Kun think he can get away with faking his death? I'd like to see who can protect him this time."

"Yes!"

The next morning, Niu Yi explained to Yan Chixia about the thousand-year-old tree demon that had been entrenched in the vicinity of Lanruo Temple.

Yan Chixia pondered for a moment and said:
"Yes, you're right. Ghosts and monsters are mostly cunning, and you should never believe what they say. But according to what you just said, the thousand-year-old tree demon of Lanruo Temple has been causing trouble in the area for a long time, and we really can't let it go on like this."

"However, your most important task right now is cultivation. You can leave Lanruo Temple to me."

As Yan Chixia spoke, he picked up the sword box beside him and left the courtyard. Niu Yi was about to say something when he suddenly sensed two carriages galloping towards the courtyard.

“Oh——”

Yan Chixia looked at the door with some surprise.

"It looks like that old Poison Witch has come, and Xiahou has come back with him too."

Niu Yi pondered for a moment and said:
"Senior Yan, Senior Xiahou's swordsmanship is extraordinary."

Upon hearing this, Yan Chixia nodded knowingly and smiled:

"Hey, you little rascal, don't worry, I'll follow you even if you don't tell me."

As the two were talking, the Poison Witch pulled in a carriage first, cupped her hands in greeting to Niu Yi, and said:
"My benefactor, what's on this cart is all the methods I've compiled over the years. Some are my own, and some I obtained from elsewhere. There are also all sorts of rare and precious materials on this cart. If you see anything you like, feel free to take it all."

Behind the Poison Witch, Xiahou Swordsman also pulled a carriage into the courtyard and walked expressionlessly to Yan Chixia's side.

"What, were you threatened by him? You're escorting him into the mountains on purpose?"

"He can't use his poison skills now, how is that possible?"

Yan Chixia nodded in realization.

"That means they were bribed."

Xiahou the swordsman snorted lightly, not refuting Yan Chixia's words.

Niu Yi nodded and walked unceremoniously to the pile of boxes tied with hemp rope behind the carriage, reaching out to open one of the boxes.

When Niu Yi saw that the box was full of books with titles such as "Qingcheng Breathing Method," "Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts," and "Embroidered Longsword," his eyes lit up.

Niu Yi opened each of the teachings and looked through them, and the smile on his face deepened.

With these methods, he could quickly accumulate knowledge and develop a unique set of techniques and supporting methods that far surpassed those of this world.

This poison witch really gave me quite a surprise; I had underestimated her four hundred years of accumulated experience.

(End of this chapter)