Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 40, Staying with Friends at Wuzhuang Temple (Part Two)
Meanwhile, Ao Tu arrived at Wuzhuang Temple and transformed into a Taoist priest.

You see him: wearing a purple-gold flying mountain crown, dressed in a robe with eight trigrams and dragons and tigers, with a dragon-binding rope around his waist and auspicious cloud-borne boots on his feet.

[Enter the mission area]

[Current Side Quest: Staying with Friends at Wuzhuang Temple]

[Task Requirements: Block the pilgrims in the Wuzhuang Temple area. Rewards will be calculated based on the time taken to block them.]

[Task Rewards: 3 days/Spell: Earth Escape Technique, 7 days/Six-Turn Golden Elixir, half a month/Taiyi Purple Gold Elixir, one month/Buddhist Practice: Six-Syllable Mantra, one season/Supernatural Power: Rainbow Transformation Technique, half a year/Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood, one year/Innate Spiritual Treasure: Soul-Scattering Gourd, three years/Innate Spiritual Treasure: River Map and Luo River Writing, twelve years/Chaos Bell, sixty years...]

Current progress: Six days

The task rewards are quite generous.

Among them, the Six-Turn Golden Elixir and the Taiyi Purple Gold Elixir are precisely the pills that Ao Tu urgently needs to improve his cultivation and magical power.

As for the six-syllable mantra, it is a universally applicable supernatural power in Buddhism, suitable for almost any situation.

It can be used for combat, healing, disaster relief, and resolving difficulties.

The only drawback is that the power of this supernatural ability is only strong when the user's magical power is profound enough; otherwise, its effect will be relatively ordinary.

Besides the system's rewards, there was another thing to be gained from the ordeal at Wuzhuang Temple.

Ginseng fruit, also known as herbal elixir, is said to grant lifespan of 360 years with just a whiff of it, and 47,000 years with just one.

Ao Tu naturally wanted to acquire two of such treasures.

Even disregarding lifespan, refining it to increase cultivation is still beneficial.

Although Zhen Yuanzi is strong, Ao Tu doesn't need to fight him.

He also possessed the Three Lights Divine Water obtained from Guanyin Bodhisattva, which he could use to heal the ginseng fruit tree in place of Guanyin Bodhisattva, and then receive two fruits as payment.

Ao Tu transformed Tiger Vanguard into a child and entered the mountain gate.

To the left of the mountain gate is a stele with ten large characters on it:
Longevity Mountain is a blessed land, and Wuzhuang Temple is a celestial paradise.

Inside, there is a couplet above the second gate:

A house of immortal immortals, a Taoist house with the same longevity as heaven.

It is the Daoist temple of Zhen Yuanzi, the ancestor of earth immortals, also known as Zhen Yuan Da Xian, whose name is known as Yu Shi Tong Jun.

Previously, Zhen Yuanzi received a letter from Yuanshi Tianzun, inviting him to listen to a lecture on the Hunyuan Daoguo at the Shangqing Tian Miluo Palace.

There are countless wandering immortals under Zhen Yuanzi's tutelage. He still has forty-eight disciples by his side. On the day of his lecture, he led forty-six disciples from the upper realm to listen to his teachings. He left behind two of the youngest disciples to guard the place: one named Qingfeng and the other named Mingyue.

The breeze is 1,320 years old, and the bright moon is 1,200 years old.

Before leaving, Zhen Yuanzi instructed the two boys, "You two be careful at home. An old friend will be passing through here soon, so don't neglect him. Give him two of my ginseng fruits as a token of our past friendship."

The two children asked, "Who is Master's old friend?"

Zhen Yuanzi said, "He is a holy monk under the rule of the Great Tang Dynasty in the East, with the Dharma name Sanzang."

The two children asked, "We are from the Taiyi Xuanmen sect, how do we know that monk?"

Zhen Yuanzi said, "That monk is the reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, the second disciple of Buddha Tathagata. Five hundred years ago at the Ullambana Festival, he personally served me tea, so I consider him an old friend."

Upon hearing this, the two fairy boys respectfully obeyed their master's instructions.

Zhen Yuanzi led his disciples to ascend to heaven, heading straight for the celestial realm.

Now, only the two fairy boys, Qingfeng and Mingyue, remain in the temple; Zhenyuanzi is no longer there.

Of course, even if Zhen Yuanzi were here, Ao Tu wouldn't be afraid of him, because Ao Tu wasn't there to steal fruit, and he had nothing to hide, so naturally he wasn't afraid of anyone.

They knocked on the door, and two little boys hurriedly came out.

She was very good-looking; as the saying goes: "Her bones were clear and her spirit was bright, her face was beautiful, and her short hair was tied in a topknot."

The Taoist robes naturally swirl with mist around the hem, while the feathered robes flutter in the wind from the sleeves.

The dragon head knot is tightly bound by a sash, and the straw sandals are lightly wrapped with silkworm velvet.

His extraordinary bearing sets him apart from ordinary people; he is like a gentle breeze and a bright moon.

When Qingfeng and Mingyue saw Ao Tu, they bowed and said, "Daoist, I failed to greet you properly. Please come in and have a seat."

Ao Tu entered, and Qingfeng Mingyue served him tea and asked, "May I ask where the title of Immortal Master comes from?"

Ao Tu said, "My Daoist name is Fuzhu Zhenshi Tianzun. I have come from the west to find your master, Zhenyuan Daxian."

Upon hearing this, Qingfeng and Mingyue, not knowing who this Fuzhu Zhenshi Tianzun was, asked:
"Immortal Master, my master has been invited by the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to the Mi Luo Palace in the Upper Clarity Heaven to listen to the lecture on the Primordial Dao Fruit. He is not at home. If you have any questions, please tell us, and we will pass on your message."

Ao Tu said, “You two are unaware of the truth. I have foreseen that someone will soon try to knock down Zhenyuan Daxian’s ginseng fruit tree, so I have specially brought a remedy to cure the tree for Daxian.”

Upon hearing this, Qingfeng and Mingyue angrily retorted:

"You Taoist priest, we treated you kindly, why did you curse my family's sacred tree?"

Ao Tu said, "You little brat, you have no manners. I have traveled a long way to help repair the trees in your family, and you blame me instead."

Qingfeng said, "You mad Taoist, my immortal tree is a spiritual root that was formed in the beginning of chaos, when the primordial chaos was first separated and heaven and earth were not yet created. In all the world, only my Wuzhuang Temple has this precious tree. Who would dare to damage it in the slightest?"

Ao Tu said, "You little brat, how could you know my divine foresight? Your spiritual root will soon face a calamity of destruction!"

Mingyue said, "How dare you talk nonsense! Go away, go away! My immortal tree has lush and fragrant branches, it doesn't need you, a mad Taoist, to heal it."

Ao Tu said, "Very well, you two children don't know my abilities, so I won't blame you. I'll be staying on the mountain outside the temple for the next few days. If you need anything from me, just shout 'Fuzhu Zhenshi Tianzun' three times, and I'll come."

Qingfeng Mingyue said, "Who needs your help? Go away!"

Ao Tu led Tiger Vanguard out and found a nearby mountain to stay in, waiting for Tang Sanzang and his disciples to arrive soon.

The Tang Monk and his disciples, having endured wind and rain and slept in the open for many days, finally arrived at the Wuzhuang Temple area of ​​Longevity Mountain.

Once inside the mountain, it truly was a beautiful mountain.

The mountains are towering and majestic, their peaks reaching for the heavens. Sunlight shines through the clear forests, while wind stirs the shady ravines. Grasses flourish before the cliffs, and plum blossoms exude fragrance on the ridges.

Thousands of colorful clouds drift by, their shimmering light creating an auspicious atmosphere.

Flowers bloom and fade on the mountaintops, clouds come and go on the ridges.

It is truly a blessed land of immortals.

Tang Sanzang said happily:
“Disciple, I have been traveling westward, passing through many mountains and rivers, all of which are rugged and dangerous places. Now that we have encountered this precious mountain, it must not be far from Mount Ling. Let us be solemn and dignified so that we may meet the World-Honored One.”

Wukong laughed and said, "Good morning! Good morning!"

Sha Wujing asked, "Brother, how far are we from Mount Ling?"

Wukong said, "One hundred and eight thousand li. We haven't even covered one tenth of that distance."

Pigsy asked, "Brother, how many years will it take to get there?"

Wukong said, "If it were my two junior brothers, they could reach this destination in ten days or so; if it were me, I could make fifty trips a day and it wouldn't be late; but if it were Master, forget about it!"

Tang Sanzang asked, "Wukong, how long do you think it will take for your master to arrive?"

Wukong said, “You can go from childhood to old age, and from old age to childhood again, and it will still be difficult to go through a thousand times; but as long as you see your true nature and are sincere, the place you look back to every time is the Vulture Peak.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang recited Amitabha Buddha's name without further ado.

The group went up the mountain and arrived at Wuzhuang Temple, where they were greeted by the gentle breeze and bright moon.

(End of this chapter)