Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 467 The miserable mandarin duck
"Come."

As Jin Lingzi finished speaking, the water droplets that had been flying off the herbs quickly flew toward Jin Lingzi's palm, gathering together and transforming into a clear water ball that floated on his palm, constantly undulating.

Chenxiang stared wide-eyed at the scene, her mouth agape in shock and curiosity.

"Master, what are you doing?"

Jin Lingzi smiled. Seeing that Chen Xiang was staring at the water ball in his hand without making any move, the water ball began to change rapidly.

In an instant, the water sphere rippled violently and transformed into a flying eagle, then into a rabbit, a mouse, a tiger, a fox, and so on.

Each transformation was lifelike, and Chenxiang, completely immersed in the process, felt as if he could hear the sounds of those animals.

The water sphere in Jin Lingzi's hand continued to change until it finally transformed into a majestic and magnificent mountain peak, at which point the transformation ended.

Chenxiang looked at the mountain peak that the water ball in the Master's hand had transformed into. The mountain peak was clearly visible in every detail. If one looked very closely, one would find that the mountain peak that the water ball had transformed into was made up of every tree and every leaf on the mountain. It seemed that there were animals running on the mountain and the leaves were swaying.

Wow, that's amazing!!!

Chenxiang quickly ran a few steps, her eyes sparkling as she peered closer at the mountain peak in Jinlingzi's hand.

"Master, Master, how did you do that!"

"What, you want to learn?"

Upon hearing this, Chenxiang immediately raised his head and nodded excitedly.

"Mmm! Can I learn it?!"

"Of course, but we need to agree on three rules. If you can follow them, I'll teach you."

Jin Lingzi spoke with a smile, leaning down to look at Chenxiang.

"Yes! I will definitely do it!"

"Don't rush, let me explain slowly."

Jin Lingzi patted Chen Xiang's head and sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Firstly, if you want me to teach you, you can, but you cannot tell anyone else. This matter is between you and me."

"Secondly, if you learn my skills, you must never use them to do evil or ruin your sect. You should cultivate merit and do good deeds."

"As for the third request, Master, I will tell you about it another day."

"So, do you think you can do it?"

Chenxiang was intelligent from a young age. Although he was stunned by the teacher's methods just now, he fell into deep thought after hearing the teacher's request.

Jin Lingzi was not in a hurry. He sat there calmly, letting Chenxiang think for himself.

In fact, Jin Lingzi was quite pleased with this. It was a rare thing for a child to be able to think for himself at such a young age, and he was indeed a promising talent.

After pondering for a while, Chenxiang seemed to suddenly think of something, and looked up at Jin Lingzi opposite him, his young face full of seriousness.

"Master, if I learn your skills, will I be able to find my mother?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Lingzi pondered for a moment before slowly nodding.

"can."

Seeing the little rascal's eyes light up as he was about to ask something, he reached out and stopped Chenxiang from speaking.

"I know what you want to ask, but there are many things even I can't help with. Perhaps only after you've completed your studies will you be able to find your blood relatives." "Please, Master, teach me!"

As Chenxiang spoke, he quickly knelt down and respectfully kowtowed three times to the teacher in front of him.

Jin Lingzi nodded with a smile and helped Chen Xiang up.

"In the future, in front of outsiders, you should still call me Master, but in private, you can call me Master."

"Yes! Master!"

Nighttime, in the schoolyard.

Jin Lingzi and Liu Yanchang sat facing each other at the stone table, drinking spiritual tea and admiring the starry sky and bright moon in the night.

"This kid Chenxiang can't hide his excitement today. He has some cleverness, but that's all. I'll leave the rest to you, Immortal Master."

Jin Lingzi stroked his beard, nodded, and smiled:

"Brother Liu, rest assured. Since I have agreed to this matter and accepted Chenxiang's apprenticeship ceremony, I will naturally teach him well and fulfill the responsibilities of a master."

Although this was his first time accepting a disciple, Bodhi Patriarch, the grandmaster of Chenxiang, had already personally set a good example for Jinlingzi.

"Ah, thank you so much, Immortal Master."

Liu Yanchang let out a sigh to cover up his feelings, his tone filled with complex emotions.

Whether his wife was a celestial fairy or a mortal, he would always love her. But now, whether he would ever see his wife again in his lifetime depended on his children.
“I know Brother Liu is troubled, but Brother Liu should know that the rules of heaven stipulate that gods in heaven cannot stay with mortals, and there is a reason for that.”

Liu Yanchang looked at the immortal opposite him. If this person had said this a year ago, he would have strongly disagreed, but he would not have dared to refute him.

However, after spending more than a year together, he had come to understand what kind of person Jin Lingzi was, and therefore he was no longer afraid.

"I wonder, Immortal Master, what is the reason behind this Heavenly Rule that makes a loving couple never see each other in this life, becoming a pair of star-crossed lovers, and even a young child lose the right to have his mother by his side at a young age."

Master Jin Lingzi shook his head and said:

"There is a difference between immortals and mortals. Putting aside the abilities of immortals and how much trouble they would cause in the human world, the difference in their lifespans alone is like heaven and earth."

"Brother Liu, do you know that a person's life is only a few decades long? But for an immortal, a single seclusion is not just that long. Perhaps in just one cultivation session, several generations have passed in the mortal world."

"Even if the immortal doesn't cultivate and spends his/her life with a mortal, these decades will pass in the blink of an eye. The immortal will still be beautiful, but the mortal will have turned into a skeleton. Isn't that cruel?"

"Furthermore, if a mortal dies and the immortals are unwilling to let him stay, it would disrupt the order of Yin and Yang."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yanchang felt somewhat distressed. He was a reasonable scholar, and the immortal opposite him had explained the matter so clearly; how could he not understand?

"But none of that matters as much as my love for her. Even if I die, she still has our child; she won't be lonely. And I just want to see this scene one day."

Liu Yanchang murmured in a low voice, as soft as a mosquito's buzz, but Jin Lingzi heard it clearly.

Jin Lingzi shook his head and said:

"Brother Liu, don't make it sound like you're destined to be a star-crossed couple for life. Although I said before that you don't have much talent for cultivation, you should know that nothing in this world is absolute."

"Brother Liu, starting tomorrow, why don't you also learn the art of medicine from me?"

On the second day after Chenxiang became an apprentice, he stopped going to school and was woken up early in the morning by Jin Lingzi. Together they headed towards the high mountain behind Baihua Village.

(End of this chapter)