Journey to the West: Starting with the Hunting of the Three Demons of Twin Fork Ridge

After the meeting, Zhenyuan Daxian led his disciples down from Yaotian, descending on auspicious clouds, and arrived at the gate of Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain.

The temple gate was wide open, and the ground was clean. The immortal said, "The breeze and the moon are quite useful. Usually, even when the sun is high in the sky, they don't stretch their backs. But today, when we weren't here, they got up early to open the gate and sweep the floor."

Upon hearing this, all the disciples burst into laughter.

But when everyone arrived at the hall, they saw that the hall doors were wide open, and the bright moon and gentle breeze were sleeping on both sides of the hall doors.

Upon seeing this, the disciples remarked, "Those two are quite carefree; they neither close the hall nor return to their rooms, but simply sleep here."

Zhenyuan Daxian said, "Quickly wake him up."

So the disciples went forward and patted and shouted, but they couldn't wake him up!

Some people even reached out and helped him up, but he still didn't wake up.

The immortal laughed and said, "Good celestial child! Those who have become immortals should be full of energy and not want to sleep, so why are you so sleepy? Could it be that someone is playing a trick on him? Quickly, bring some water."

A boy hurriedly fetched half a cup of water and handed it to the immortal.

The sage chanted an incantation, spat out a mouthful of water, sprayed it on his face, and immediately dispelled the sleep demon.

The two awoke abruptly, rubbed their faces, and looked up to see Zhen Yuanzi and his group. Qingfeng and Mingyue, startled, bowed deeply and cried out, "Master, you've finally returned! You don't know, your old monk friend, his gang is full of evil people!"

Zhenyuan Daxian said, "Don't be impatient, tell me slowly."

The boy said, "Since Master left, two groups of guests have come to our temple. One group is Taoist priests, and the other is Buddhist monks. They are all your old friends. The Taoist priests call themselves the Perfected Ones. They said that they met Master at the Ullambana Festival and, since they haven't seen each other for many years, they came to catch up with Master."

The monk claimed to be the Tripitaka Master of the East, whom our master had instructed. When he came to the hall, we two dared not be negligent and offered him ginseng fruit. The monk Tang was worldly and foolish, and did not recognize our immortal treasure.

He said it was for a child who was not yet three days old, and refused to eat it. So the disciple thought about it and gave the two fruits to his master's old friend, the Taoist. Unexpectedly, Tang Sanzang's men overheard this, and one of them, surnamed Sun, named Wukong Xingzhe, stole and ate four fruits.

The disciples spoke frankly to Yili, but he wouldn't listen. He secretly used some extraordinary means to knock down my ginseng fruit tree.

Upon hearing this, the immortal was not annoyed, but simply said, "Allow me to do a calculation."

He then calculated with his fingers and knew the cause and effect, but the matter of Li Fa was shrouded in mystery.

So he asked, "Don't worry about the monk's matter. What else did the Taoist priest say to you?"

The two children said, "That immortal said he has a method to revive trees. I discussed with him that we would teach him how to heal trees after our master returns."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Yuanzi became interested but didn't reveal the truth. Instead, he asked, "Where is that Taoist priest now?"

The two children said, "He was still in the back guest room before we fell asleep. We don't know if he's left yet."

Zhen Yuanzi rushed to the back room and found the door closed, with the person fast asleep.

Upon seeing this, the disciples pried open the door, and the Great Immortal used magic to break the curse, which finally brought Li Fa and Baili Bo back to consciousness.

The Great Immortal laughed and asked, "Does the Ultimate Transformation Immortal recognize an old friend?"

Seeing his expression, Li Fa knew he meant no harm, but he regretted that he had also fallen for Sun Wukong's trick. So he said, "We have become friends, even more so than old friends."

The immortal said, "I just heard the young boy say that the True Man has the power to revive trees. Is that true?"

Li Fa said, "I have the Three Lights Divine Water, indeed."

The sage asked, "True Man, Living Tree, is there anything you wish to ask for?"

Li Fa said, "I have already given it to him, so I have nothing to ask for in return."

The Great Immortal then laughed heartily and instructed his disciples, "This is an old friend of Zhen Yuanzi; prepare some wine to serve him!"

Li Fa said, "Thank you, Great Immortal."

The sage said, "Since we are friends, we should address each other as friends and there is no need to stand on ceremony."

Li Fa said, "Then thank you very much, Fellow Daoist Zhenyuan."

The immortal laughed and said, "No need to be so polite, please come to the front hall for a chat."

After saying that, he glanced at Baili Bo, who was terrified and horrified.

Upon seeing this, Li Fa said, "This is my Taoist disciple, who has now converted to the right path."

The sage said, "He is extraordinary and has the appearance of good fortune; he may attain enlightenment in the future."

Upon hearing this, Baili Bo repeatedly bowed his head and said that he dared not.

So he went with Li Fa to the main hall to talk.

Upon arriving at the main hall, after the guests and hosts took their seats, the Great Immortal asked, "May I have a look at your Three Lights Divine Water, fellow Daoist?"

Li Fa then took out the water-overturning bowl, and sure enough, it contained the Three Lights Divine Water, which was crystal clear.

The Great Immortal was indeed delighted. Upon seeing the alms bowl, he recognized it as a primordial spiritual treasure and exclaimed, "Truly a fine treasure! I went to the Mi Luo Palace to hear about the Primordial Dao Fruit and met the Old Mother of Lishan."

During our casual conversation, she mentioned that she had bestowed three treasures upon someone, but the first two had been taken back, leaving only a drop of starlight divine water to be returned to its rightful owner.

Li Fa asked, "Did your mother go to listen to the lecture too?"

The Great Immortal said, "She is a primordial Yin spirit who served under the Primordial Heavenly Venerable of the Floating Dawn at the beginning of chaos, and was the head of all disciples. Later, the Heavenly Venerable founded the Chan Sect, so she was also called the Primordial Heavenly Venerable of Jade Purity."

Upon hearing this, Li Fa was shocked, thinking to himself, "This setting is wrong! The Journey to the West, Investiture of the Gods, and the Primordial Era settings all lack the name Fu Li!"

But he remained outwardly calm and asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhenyuan is also a primordial deity. Do you know what existed before chaos?"

The Great Immortal said: "Before the chaos, there were three thousand gods. Later, Pangu separated heaven and earth. He died but his spirit did not perish. His true spirit transformed into the Three Pure Ones: the first is the Primordial Heavenly Venerable of the Floating Dawn, the second is the Heavenly Venerable of Immeasurable Spiritual Treasure, and the third is the Heavenly Venerable of Pure Morality."

His divine soul transformed into Namo Amitabha Buddha and Namo Cundi Bodhisattva.

The sacred thought then transforms into the Creator Nuwa, the Primordial Sovereign. These six are called the Six Primordial Elements.

Li Fa pressed further, "And then?"

The Great Immortal said, "Later, the Goddess Nuwa molded humans from clay, and they were known as Nuwa. She then manifested a single thought to emulate the Earth Goddess Houtu, who was in charge of the Heavenly Mandate."

The Primordial Heavenly Venerable of the Floating Dawn opened the Chan Teaching, and was renamed the Primordial Heavenly Venerable of the Jade Purity; the Boundless Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Venerable established the Jie Teaching, and was renamed the Master of the Supreme Purity Teaching; the Pure and Moral Heavenly Venerable created the Human Teaching, and was renamed the Supreme Lord of the Great Purity.

The Inconceivable Light Tathagata and the Great Bright King Bodhisattva Cundi jointly established the Western Paradise, one known as Amitabha Buddha and the other as Cundi Bodhisattva, also called the Seven Crore Buddha Mother. The structure of the Three Realms was thus established.

Li Fa then asked, "Then where does the Jade Emperor, the ruler of the Three Realms, come from?"

The Great Immortal said, "The Six Primordial Elements establish the four paths of Heaven, Earth, Man, and God, but do not personally attend to worldly affairs."

Among the three thousand gods left behind by the chaos, there is an ancient and revered god called Haotian. He is of profound virtue and his fortune is unparalleled throughout history. He was jointly chosen and appointed by the six Hunyuan as the ruler of the three realms, residing in the Haotian Golden Palace, and is known as the Jade Emperor.

It governs all the celestial stars, the three realms and ten directions, and all spirits of Yin and Yang.

The Great Immortal continued, "Later, the Three Realms were in chaos, Yin and Yang were out of balance, and karma arose everywhere. The various primordial beings discussed the matter of bestowing titles upon the gods, which led to the Great War of Investiture of the Gods."

Unexpectedly, the battle escalated to a point where Hunyuan himself intervened, causing the heavens and earth to collapse. Only after the Investiture of the Gods war were the elements of earth, wind, water, and fire re-established.

Li Fa asked, "Then who is the current Western Sage Buddha...?"

The Great Immortal said: "After the Investiture of the Gods, the Jie Sect was defeated and perished. The first disciple of the Shangqing Sect, Duobao Daoist, was sent to the West to become the leader of the Saha World, known as Shakyamuni, and is the Western Holy Old Man Tathagata Buddha."

Many members of the Chan sect were also converted, including Cihang Daoren, Manjushri Guangfa Tianzun, and Samantabhadra Zhenren, who all went to the Western Paradise. Together with some of their original disciples there, this led to the formation of Buddhism as we know it today.

After hearing the immortal's words, Li Fa suddenly understood and expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, immortal."

The immortal said, "Don't mention giving me instruction; it's just that I'm old and know a bit more."

Li Fa said, "In that case, can we allow the tree to be saved?"

The immortal laughed and said, "No rush, no rush. Fellow Daoist, please sit here for a moment. Let me capture those Tang Sanzang and his disciples. How could they come and go as they please at my Wuzhuang Temple?!"

Having said that, he led the gentle breeze and bright moon away, riding on auspicious clouds.

Other disciples were keeping Li Fa company, which will not be discussed further.

This is exactly:

After returning from the Jade Terrace, I searched for the immortals' whereabouts, only to find two boys sleeping at the mountain gate.

The sleeve holds a universe of wondrous methods, the bowl contains divine water and profound power.

In the beginning of time, the universe was separated and the six sages stood together in the heavens.

Riding on auspicious clouds, he ascended to heaven, while the immortals chased after the pilgrim monk.