Chapter 13

"Master!"

"Patriarch, you cannot!"

As soon as Patriarch Puti finished speaking, the entire lecture hall exploded.

All the disciples fell to their knees, their faces filled with shock and reluctance.

They could never have imagined that Sun Wukong's departure would lead to such an ending.

"I beg the Patriarch to retract his command!" Wu Ming kowtowed to the ground, his voice even carrying a sob. "We disciples are dull and have displeased the Patriarch, but we beg the Patriarch not to drive us away!"

Su Chen also knelt in the crowd; he had not expected Patriarch Puti to disband the entire Daoist site so decisively.

"Gathering and parting are both matters of fate; why force it?" Patriarch Puti's tone did not waver in the slightest. "There is no banquet in the world that does not end. Your connection as my disciples ends today. Your future cultivation depends entirely on your own fortunes."

He looked at the pleading crowd below and sighed softly, beginning to comment on them one by one.

"Wu Ming, your temperament is steady, but you are too bound by rules and lack flexibility. After you leave, you should observe heaven and earth more; only then will you have the possibility of further progress."

"Wu Qian, your natural talent is acceptable, but your temperament is lazy and you crave comfort. If you are not tempered, your achievements in this life will be limited."

The Patriarch detailed the strengths and weaknesses of each disciple and provided corresponding guidance.

As they listened, the disciples gradually stopped crying, firmly engraving the Patriarch's parting words in their hearts.

Finally, the Patriarch's gaze fell upon Su Chen.

"Wu Chen, come forward."

Su Chen's heart stirred; he stepped out as instructed and came before the Patriarch.

"You are different from them." Patriarch Puti looked at him with deep eyes. "I cannot see through your origins. I cannot calculate your future either. This is both your calamity and your opportunity."

He paused; although his voice was loud, he spoke only for Su Chen to hear.

"A great calamity is coming to this world. You are a variable; remember, do not easily enter the game."

"Master..." Su Chen's heart tightened.

"Your Jin Dan Dao is about accumulating strength and waiting for the right moment; seek stability, not speed. The more solid your foundation, the higher your future achievements will be. When the great calamity begins, the winds will be high and the waves will be fierce; you should find a quiet place to cultivate with focus, and do not get too deeply involved with that monkey. Once your Jin Dan is perfected, you will be able to roam freely between heaven and earth, fearing no wind or wave."

Su Chen engraved these words in his heart, word for word, and kowtowed solemnly: "This disciple will strictly follow Master's teachings."

Patriarch Puti nodded slightly, a faint smile appearing on his face. He flicked his finger, and a golden light entered Su Chen's brow.

"Your Dao lies in 'One'. One axe, one thought, one elixir. These are some of my insights into the Jin Dan Dao; perhaps they will be of some use to your future cultivation. Go."

Within that golden light was not some divine ability or great magic, but Patriarch Puti's entire cultivation experience and insights into the Jin Dan Dao, from Return to Emptiness and Union with Dao, to Tribulation Crossing and becoming an Immortal, and finally to attaining the Golden Immortal Realm. This gift was more precious than any magic treasure or divine ability!

Su Chen felt countless profound pieces of knowledge appear in his mind, as if a supreme master had cleared away all the fog on the path ahead for him.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, he kowtowed heavily once more.

When he raised his head, Patriarch Puti had already stood up.

He took one last look at the disciples below and waved his large sleeve.

An irresistible force swept over them, the stars shifted, and the world spun around.

When Su Chen opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on the mountain path of Lingtai Fangcun Mountain.

Beside him were Wu Ming and the other fellow apprentices, all looking equally bewildered.

They looked back, but where was the immortal cave of "Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Slanting Moon and Three Stars Cave"? There was only a bare, steep stone wall, reflecting a cold, hard light in the setting sun.

It was as if those years of seeking the Dao were just a dreamlike bubble.

"Patriarch..."

It was unclear who started crying first; the crowd knelt on the ground one after another, kowtowing toward the stone wall from afar.

After a long while, the crowd slowly stood up.

Wu Ming walked up to Su Chen; his eyes were red, but his expression was calmer than ever before.

He bowed solemnly to Su Chen: "Junior Brother Wu Chen, after parting today, I do not know when we will meet again. We had some minor unpleasantness in the past; I hope you will not take it to heart."

Su Chen returned the bow quickly: "Senior Brother speaks too seriously. Being fellow disciples is all a matter of fate. What are your plans after this, Senior Brother?"

Wu Ming looked toward the east, his eyes filled with a trace of confusion but also determination: "The Patriarch said I am bound by rules, so I shall go into the mundane world to walk about, to observe the myriad states of humanity; perhaps I will gain some insight. Junior Brother, take care."

"Take care, Senior Brother."

The group bid farewell one by one, and then, in twos and threes, they walked down the mountain in different directions.

Soon, only Su Chen was left on the mountain path.

He looked up in the direction Sun Wukong had left, then looked back at the empty stone wall.

Master was gone, and his fellow apprentices had left too.

In the vast world, he was left all alone.

He decided to go home first to see his parents and relatives and sever the ties of the mundane world.

Thirteen years might not be considered long for a cultivator, but for ordinary mortals, it was a large part of a lifetime.

He formed a seal and rose with the wind, his figure turning into a faint green shadow, speeding toward the capital of the Jiang Kingdom along the ground.

The region where the Slanting Moon and Three Stars Cave was located was not far from the Jiang Kingdom where his hometown was, at least not for a cultivator.

He had traveled with the monkey for three months, sleeping in the open and enduring hardships.

Now that he had reached the Return to Emptiness and Union with Dao realm, although his wind-riding technique was not a top-tier escape method, he could still travel thousands of li a day, and the return journey would take only a few days.

The closer he got to the heart of the Jiang Kingdom, the tighter Su Chen's brow furrowed.

On the official road, which should have been bustling with carriages and horses and endless merchants, there was now only devastation.

On both sides of the road, abandoned fields were visible everywhere, and withered yellow weeds grew taller than a person.

Groups of three or five refugees, sallow-faced and in rags, moved with numb eyes toward an unknown destination.

Occasionally, military supply carts would pass by, kicking up clouds of dust, and the refugees would scatter in fear.

Su Chen lowered his altitude, mixed in with the refugees, and walked slowly forward.

He learned from an old man that ever since King Cheng Zhou You rebelled in the north, the flames of war had been continuous.

To cope with the war in the north, the imperial court constantly increased taxes and conscripted soldiers everywhere.

Many villages had their able-bodied men drafted, leaving only the old, the weak, women, and children, who were unable to farm.

If they encountered natural disasters, they had no choice but to leave their homes and become refugees.

"Young man, you look like a capable person; how did you end up in such a state?" The old man sighed, his cloudy eyes full of sorrow.

Su Chen made up a story about his hometown suffering from the ravages of war and brushed it off.

He listened silently to the refugees' complaints, their curses against the war, their disappointment in the imperial court, and their hatred for that King Cheng.

He sighed slightly in his heart; since ancient times, when a nation rises or falls, the common people are always the victims.

Immortal magic could grant him longevity and the power to move mountains and fill seas, but it could not fill the stomachs of these starving people overnight.

He could slay demons and eliminate monsters, but he could not slay the greed and desire in this world.