America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

"It must be time travel."

This is the second time.

Standing in front of the collapsed temple gate, the plaque that had fallen to the ground was already rotten, making it impossible for him to discern the temple's former name.

Bending down, Li Qun touched the plaque with his fingers, and the plaque shattered at his fingertips, with gold dust shimmering among the fragments.

Straightening up, he sensed an unusual atmosphere within the temple, his sixth sense warning him of the danger lurking within.

Li Qun cautiously entered the mountain gate and went into the moss-covered ruins.

"Maybe?"

Li Qun entered the abandoned temple with a sliver of hope, and he heard the howling of wolves coming from the mountains.

As he ventured deeper, Li Qun felt his aura being locked by an unknown entity.

"You've arrived?"

In front of the main hall, a white-robed monk sat cross-legged, facing the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the hall, with his back to the group of people coming down the mountain. It was this monk with an otherworldly air who was speaking.

Li Qun stopped and warily eyed the white-robed monk.

The monk slowly rose and turned around, his white-robed appearance leaving Li Qun stunned.

Give me the golden cudgel.

A white-robed monk, who looked just like the "Kung Fu Emperor," smiled and extended his palm to Li Qun.

Chapter 75 The Chosen One Has Arrived

To give or not to give, that is the question.

The white-robed monk beckoned to Li Qun again.

Li Qun extended the golden cudgel towards the white-robed monk with one hand. The white-robed monk grasped one end of the golden cudgel and tried to pull it out, but he couldn't budge it.

"What do you need this stick for?" Li Qun asked.

"This stick?" The white-robed monk frowned.

"Does it have a name?"

"Look carefully!"

A surge of energy flowed from the white-robed monk's hand to the golden cudgel, causing it to emit a golden light. The five seal characters "Ruyi Jingu Bang" (如意金箍棒, meaning "Ruyi Golden Cudgel") lit up one after another on the cudgel, making Liqun's nearsighted eyes, which were glaringly bright, bring tears to his eyes.

"It's the Ruyi Jingu Bang?!"

"I recognize it now," the white-robed monk said calmly.

"Then I can't give it to you."

Li Qun forcefully pulled the golden cudgel back, snatching it from the white-robed monk's hand.

The white-robed monk's face darkened as his hand missed its mark.

"Then I'll take it myself!"

The white-robed monk made a move, snatching the staff from Liqun's hand. Liqun let go to avoid it, but immediately gripped the staff again.

The monk raised his foot to kick Liqun, and Liqun also raised his foot to block the monk's kick.

Li Qun slung the golden cudgel behind his back, making room to compete with the white-robed monk in leg strength. The two men's calves collided, and the force of their kicks sent fallen leaves flying to the side of the blue brick ground.

The monk raised his knee to block, but Li Qun's foot landed on the ground and the monk stepped on Li Qun.

Li Qun reacted quickly, extending his foot forward to hook the monk's ankle and kick upwards, causing the monk to retract his foot and defend.

The monk kicked out, and Liqun also kicked out. The monk's knee struck the back of Liqun's knee, and Liqun mirrored the monk's action, turning to the side to retaliate.

Li Qun's moves were completely unorthodox. The only move his father had ever taught him was Drunken Fist. All his other attack moves were imitations of his father's. Now, he was imitating the moves of the white-robed monk in front of him.

After exchanging blows with his legs, the white-robed monk was almost touching Li Qun. The monk reached out to grab the golden cudgel that Li Qun was carrying behind his back, and twisted Li Qun's shoulder to take the cudgel away.

Li Qun bent down and circled around, twirling the golden cudgel in his hand. He then slammed the cudgel into the ground and kicked the white-robed monk in the waist, knocking the monk back.

"Well!?"

Li Qun was surprised to find that he had become so powerful. All his actions were instinctive, without any thought, as he retaliated against the white-robed monk.

"Good boy!"

The monk clutched his waist and took a few steps back; Li Qun's flying kick had hurt him.

"I'm going to get serious."

The white-robed monk took a step forward, and instantly a strong wind swept up from behind him, blowing all the fallen leaves and dust on the ground towards Liqun.

Li Qun tensed his facial muscles; he wore glasses, so he wasn't worried about the wind getting into his eyes.

"Do you really need the Golden Cudgel?" Li Qun asked.

“That’s right,” the monk replied decisively.

“How about we discuss this? Tell me what you’re going to do with the Golden Cudgel, and I’ll go with you,” Li Qun said.

"you?"

"The place I'm going to is full of demons and monsters. Are you sure you can handle it?" the monk asked.

"Are you going to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek scriptures?" Li Qun asked.

"I have already obtained the true scriptures; I am going to return the Ruyi Jingu Bang to its rightful owner."

"Should we return the Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff) to the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the Monkey King, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Sun Wukong?"

The white-robed monk laughed.

"Looks like you know nothing, just a lucky kid."

“Tell me the whole story, and I’ll know everything,” Li Qun said.

"..."

"Give me the golden cudgel again." The white-robed monk stretched out his hand once more.

"Here's the stick, but I'm going to follow you."

"up to you."

The white-robed monk reached out and took the staff, and Liqun released his grip.

"Bang!!"

The Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff) slammed into the ground, causing the white-robed monk to fall as well, his hand pinned down by the staff.

"Quickly pick up the stick!! My hand is going to be ruined!!" the white-robed monk shouted at Li Qun, his face flushed.

"So you can't lift the golden cudgel after all?"

Li Qun bent down in bewilderment and picked up the Ruyi Jingu Bang from the broken floor tiles, then helped the white-robed monk up.

The white-robed monk's face grew even uglier. His hand, which had been pinned down by the golden cudgel, was trembling, possibly indicating a fracture.

"..."

Li Qun looked at the white-robed monk and sensed that he looked somewhat forlorn.

"Why am I able to wield the golden cudgel?" Li Qun asked the silent monk.

"Because you are the chosen one."

"The chosen one?"

"Go and offer incense to Guanyin Bodhisattva."

The white-robed monk pointed to the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the main hall.

Liqun walked towards the main hall with the golden cudgel in his hand, picked up the incense from the offering table, lit it with the help of a burning candle, and offered it to Guanyin Bodhisattva.

The aroma was enveloping everyone, and Li Qun felt as if his mind had been drawn in by the fragrance of incense, as if something magical was happening.

"This is Guanyin Temple."

The white-robed monk stood behind Li Qun and spoke to him.

“There is a black bear spirit on the back mountain. He borrowed something from the Great Sage. Come with me to get it back.”

"A black bear spirit? Could the thing he borrowed be a cassock?"

"It's not a kasaya; that's ancient history."

"Is the Black Bear Spirit the same Black Wind Mountain demon that Guanyin Bodhisattva subdued? The guardian deity of Mount Luojia?" Li Qun asked nervously.

"It's him." The white-robed monk walked ahead, leading Li Qun up the stone steps towards the mountain.

"Can I defeat the Black Bear Demon?"

"How will you know if you don't try? This stick in your hand weighs 13,500 jin. Ordinary little demons will die if they touch it, or perish if they get close to it." The white-robed monk laughed.

The two climbed over a thousand steps up the mountain, and at the top of the mountain stood a pagoda, in front of which was a flat plaza.

A bald, towering man, as black as a pagoda, sat cross-legged beneath the pagoda. A white-robed monk gestured to Li Qun that the giant was the Black Bear Spirit.

"Bear, return the goods. The chosen one has arrived." The white-robed monk stepped forward and spoke to the black bear spirit.

The black bear spirit opened its eyes and looked over; something on the top of the pagoda was shining.

"Has it finally arrived? I have been waiting for over a thousand years."

The black bear spirit stood up and saw a hint of disappointment flash in the eyes of the young man Li Qun behind the monk.

"he?"

"A mortal?"

"He doesn't have a single trace of magic power? How could he have won against me?"

"Let him go back and train for another five hundred years."

"Don't underestimate him," the monk said to the black bear spirit.

The black bear spirit shook its head.

“Stretch out your hand, and I’ll teach you a little magic spell,” the monk said, turning to Liqun.