Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 399 Lü Yan and Lü Dongbin
Twenty years later, in the Zhongnan Mountains.

Lu Yan sat cross-legged on a towering, steep mountain peak, his eyes closed, his hands forming a mudra, facing the sun, letting the scorching midday sun pour down on him.

The pure Yang energy of heaven and earth constantly poured into his body, making Lü Yan's own pure Yang energy more condensed and refined, and his understanding of the Pure Yang Dao was constantly deepening.

After returning from Daojun Mountain, Lü Yan resumed his secluded cultivation at Zhongnan Mountain, where his cultivation level steadily increased, and his progress in the Pure Yang Dao was rapid.

He is now not far from the Taiyi True Immortal realm, and may break through to that realm in less than a hundred years.

After a while, two white cranes spread their wings and flew in from a distance, emitting clear and melodious crane calls.

Upon hearing the sound, Lü Yan slowly opened his eyes, looked at the two white cranes flying towards him, and stood up.

"Senior brothers and sisters, you've arrived."

The two white cranes circled around Lü Yan once before landing on the mountain peak, transforming into the forms of white jade and white dew.

Bai Yu stepped forward and said:
“Junior brother, Master sent me to pick you up. He asked if you are ready. If you are, come back to Crane Peak with us. Master is at home.”

Lu Yan looked up at the sky, his expression somewhat inscrutable.

For some reason, since he returned to Zhongnan Mountain, as his cultivation level has improved, he has also developed some increasingly firm intuitions.

This intuition was leading him out of Zhongnan Mountain and into the bustling world of mortals.

It's something we absolutely must do: spread our teachings to the world.
For some reason, Lü Yan felt that this thought was getting stronger and stronger, and during his daily meditation over the years, images would often flash through his mind from time to time.

Lu Yan looked at the two people in front of him and nodded, saying:

"Senior brothers and sisters, let's go back to Crane Peak. I'm all ready."

Based on his years of cultivation experience in the mortal world, and considering what the old man in his dream said, if he were to compile this information, he could indeed establish a new sect among other Daoist schools. However, this matter is different from his previous independent cultivation; he needs to contemplate it further for a while.
Zhongnan Mountain, Hefeng Peak.

Zhong Liquan was lying comfortably in a rocking chair, enjoying the cool shade under a big tree, his eyes half-closed.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, he opened his eyes, stretched, and slowly stood up. He gently waved his fan and looked at the three figures flying together in the sky on clouds.

Before long, the three figures landed in front of him and respectfully said in unison:
"Master."

Zhongli Quan nodded with a smile and looked at Lü Yan in the center, saying:

"Lu Yan, you have been cultivating with me for decades, and now you have reached the point where you can prepare to graduate."

"Yes, Lü Yan thanks Master for his guidance over the years."

Zhongli Quan glanced at the Chunyang Sword behind Lü Yan. Fortunately, the broken sword didn't jump out and ruin things at this moment.

"Ahem, Yan'er, come with me."

After Zhong Liquan finished speaking, he strode towards the main hall behind him. Seeing this, Lü Yan quickly followed. Only Bai Yu and Bai Lu seemed to be looking at this scene with some loneliness.

Bai Yu sighed softly only after his master and junior brother disappeared into the house.

“Junior brother’s cultivation is now progressing well. As long as this missionary work is successful, he will surely regain his memories of the Pure Yang Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin.”

"At that time, Junior Brother Lü Yan will probably be gone forever." After all, that was Lü Dongbin, who was one of the Eight Immortals of Zhongdong, just like their master. At that time, neither of them had the ability to make him call them Senior Brother.

Although they had known for a long time that Lü Yan was the reincarnation of Lü Dongbin, they had all grown to genuinely like this junior brother over the years, and thus often forgot about it.

Now, their junior brother is about to disappear, while Lu Dongbin, the Pure Yang Sword Immortal from the Heavenly Palace, is about to return.

Although this period may take decades, it is still very short for them, passing in the blink of an eye.

Bai Lu's expression also darkened. If they could, they really wished that Lü Yan wasn't some reincarnation of the Eight Immortals, but rather a junior brother who needed to grow under their wing.

But there are no "what ifs" in this world.

The two remained silent for a moment, when suddenly a glint of light flashed in Bai Yu's eyes.

"Bai Lu, what do you think about us asking Master to find another junior brother or sister? Master is usually lazy, so if he doesn't want to teach, the two of us can teach!"

Such an unreliable idea would probably be rejected outright by others, but Bai Lu's eyes lit up and she nodded repeatedly to Bai Yu with excitement.

"That's right! How come I didn't realize that although Master hasn't taken on any disciples for thousands of years, he didn't say he wouldn't take on any more disciples!"

"Why don't we go and find a few good disciples for Master? What if he really takes a liking to them and accepts them?"

The two children, Baiyu and Bailu, hit it off immediately and began chatting excitedly as they headed out of the courtyard.

On the other side, inside the house.

The master and apprentice sat facing each other. Zhongli Quan took an ancient bronze mirror out of a wooden box and placed it in front of Lü Yan under his curious gaze.

"Master, what is this? I don't think I've ever seen it before."

Seeing that the mirror seemed to have no magical power but was emanating a pure and ethereal aura, Lü Yan realized that it was not a magic weapon, but rather something that had been simply polished from an extraordinary material.

Zhongli Quan waved his folding fan and laughed loudly:

"This treasure is rare in the mortal world; it was made from celestial bronze from a divine mountain in heaven."

"As for this treasure's abilities, it's both powerful and utterly powerless."

Seeing Lü Yan's curious expression, Zhongli Quan didn't keep him in suspense. He pointed his thumb at the bronze mirror and said:
"This treasure has only one ability: to reveal one's true self. If a demon takes on a different form, it can reveal the demon's true form. If a person changes their appearance, it can also reveal their true soul."

"Even the reincarnated gods, such extraordinary beings, can reveal their true nature."

“My disciple, after you returned to the mountain, you asked me why Daojun treated you so well. Today, you might as well ask yourself why.”

Lu Yan was quite surprised to hear this, but he still followed his master's advice and looked down at the mirror, where he saw his face clearly reflected.

But soon, the image in the mirror began to ripple like water, and his face became increasingly unclear. At the same time, a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him quickly appeared on the mirror.

"This is this"

Lu Yan stared blankly at the Taoist priest in the mirror, who had a smiling face, wore a Huayang turban, and had black hair and a black beard.

(End of this chapter)