Chapter 9: The Golden Elixir Great Dao is True, Both Receive Transmission

Patriarch Puti's words "let him come in together" were like heavenly music, passing through the door and falling into Su Chen's ears.

A huge stone in his heart fell with a bang, and his whole being felt a bit light, almost subconsciously pushing open the door that was ajar and walking in.

The furnishings in the room were extremely simple, with only a bed, a meditation cushion, and an oil lamp with dim yellow light.

Patriarch Puti was already sitting cross-legged on the bed, while Sun Wukong was kneeling to the side, grinning foolishly at him, looking like he was asking for credit.

Su Chen steadied his mind, stepped forward quickly, knelt side by side with Sun Wukong, and kowtowed respectfully.

"Disciple Wu Chen, pays respects to Master."

His voice carried a hint of trembling, not because of fear, but because of excitement.

Seven years of woodcutting, three months of bitter waiting, he had bet everything and finally reached this step.

Patriarch Puti's gaze fell on him, those eyes deep as if they could see through him from inside to outside.

Su Chen's heart hammered violently a few times; he knew that his little tricks were completely transparent before the Patriarch.

"You slippery one." Patriarch Puti spoke slowly, his tone unable to tell joy or anger, "Do you know what the crime of deceiving your master is?"

Sun Wukong was anxious upon hearing this and hurriedly said: "Master, this matter is not Little Brother's fault; it was I who acted on my own, wanting to..."

"You shut up." The Patriarch glanced at him indifferently, and Sun Wukong immediately swallowed the rest of his words, just scratching his ears and cheeks, anxious.

Su Chen took a deep breath, looked up, and met the Patriarch's gaze.

He didn't defend himself, nor did he beg for mercy: "Disciple is guilty. But the disciple also knows that immortal affinity is hard to seek and the Great Dao is hard to find. The disciple is of mortal origin, dull in aptitude, and if I don't strive for it, I fear I will never see the true gate of the Great Dao in this life."

He paused, his voice carrying a hint of sincerity: "Master once said that the word 'affinity' can also be taken by oneself."

"The disciple does not dare to covet the heaven-sent opportunity like Monkey Brother, only hoping that when Monkey Brother receives the Great Dao, I can listen to a little bit on the side, even if I can only understand one ten-thousandth, it is better than the disciple's hundred years of bitter cultivation. If Master punishes me for this, the disciple is willing to accept it."

These words were neither servile nor overbearing, acknowledging the mistake while expressing his firm heart for the Dao.

Sun Wukong nodded repeatedly while listening, feeling that his little brother's words were too reasonable.

Patriarch Puti looked at Su Chen quietly, and a smile appeared on his face that had been as calm as an ancient well.

"Very well, very well." He waved his hand, "This mind of yours is actually more clever than this monkey's. Since you have come, it is an affinity."

He changed the subject and looked at Sun Wukong: "You monkey, seeking the Dao for a fellow disciple, being loyal, is a good thing. But the path of cultivation is ultimately one's own business; outsiders can help for a while, but not for a lifetime. Remember, remember."

"Disciple understands!" Sun Wukong was overjoyed to see that Master wasn't blaming him and kowtowed repeatedly.

Patriarch Puti didn't say anything more and waved his wide sleeves lightly.

A meditation cushion appeared out of thin air before the bed.

"Sit down."

The man and the monkey didn't dare to be negligent and hurriedly sat on the meditation cushion as told, collected their minds, and sat upright.

Patriarch Puti looked at the two disciples before him, one a natural stone monkey, born with spirituality, the protagonist born to face the catastrophe; one of mortal origin, with hard-to-find karma, yet having forcibly knocked open the immortal gate with a tenacity.

He was also quite emotional in his heart and said: "The wonder of longevity and the path of becoming an immortal all lie in the two words 'nature' and 'life'. Nature is the primordial spirit; life is the primordial Qi. Cultivating both nature and life can prove the Great Dao."

"Listen well, the path of cultivation begins with Refining Essence into Qi. Mortals build the foundation in a hundred days, refining their own essence and blood into primordial Qi; this is the first step. When primordial Qi is full and the heavenly cycle circulates, one can refine Qi into spirit. When spirit is born in Qi and spirit and Qi merge, one can increase lifespan by two hundred years, with sharp ears and eyes, and no hundred diseases."

The Patriarch's voice was flat, yet seemed to carry a power that pointed directly to the source.

Su Chen listened, intoxicated; what the Patriarch said was exactly the sorting and elevation of his "Axe Dao" cultivation over the past seven years.

The path he had groped out himself became clear in many stagnant places under the Patriarch's explanation.

"After Refining Qi into Spirit, it is Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness. Restrain the spiritual sense, make it return to nothingness, not stained by external objects, not leaving traces. When this realm is achieved, one can increase lifespan by five hundred years and possess the ability to mobilize the primordial Qi of heaven and earth."

"Refining Emptiness and Merging with the Dao is the merging of spirit and Dao, the unity of heaven and man, with a lifespan of a thousand years, already a land immortal in the human world."

"After merging with the Dao, one can cross the tribulation and become an immortal. Immortals are divided into Earth, Heaven, Mysterious, and Golden; Earth Immortals enjoy a lifespan of 10,800 years; Heaven Immortals enjoy a lifespan of 129,600 years. It's just that Heaven Immortals face three disasters every five hundred years; if they can avoid them, they are carefree, if they can't, they turn into flying ash."

Su Chen's heart was surging; this was the path to heaven he had dreamed of!

"Above Heaven Immortals, there are Mysterious Immortals and Golden Immortals. Golden Immortals have the five Qi in their chests facing the origin, having obtained the wonder of longevity, jumping out of the Three Realms and not in the Five Elements."

"Above Golden Immortals is Taiyi. The three flowers gather on the top, the three souls and seven spirits return to one, supernatural powers are self-sufficient, and they are carefree infinitely."

"And above Taiyi Golden Immortals is the Great Luo Jinxian who is indestructible through ten thousand calamities and exists with the Dao!"

When the four words "Great Luo Jinxian" came out of Patriarch Puti's mouth, the entire quiet room seemed to shake.

Su Chen only felt his soul trembling; what a magnificent cultivation scroll this was.

From a mortal to an indestructible Great Luo, how much hardship had to be experienced, and how glorious it must be!

Sun Wukong was also itching with impatience, wishing he could immediately cultivate into that Great Luo Jinxian.

Patriarch Puti listed the cultivation realms one by one, and then, looking at the two disciples with different expressions before him, smiled slightly.

"There are three thousand Daos and ten thousand methods; teaching according to aptitude is the correct principle."

After saying this, his wide sleeves waved violently.

Su Chen only felt an irresistible force enveloping him, and the scene before his eyes instantly twisted, shattered, and turned into countless flowing light spots.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was no longer in that quiet room, but in a space of chaos and nothingness.

Everything was empty, and only the figure of Patriarch Puti was floating quietly ahead.

"Wu Chen." The Patriarch's voice sounded in Su Chen's mind, "With a mortal body, you realized the Dao with a mortal axe, which shows your temperament is firm and your foundation is solid. But your mortal origin is ultimately shallow in foundation, not suitable for practicing that method of opening and closing, courageously advancing."

"What I am teaching you today is the 'Golden Elixir Great Dao' created by the sages of the past."

"This method does not seek quick success, only the perfection of the foundation. Take the body as heaven and earth, essence and Qi as medicine, spirit as heat, and refine a 'leakless Golden Elixir' that is primordial, flawless, and indestructible in the lower dantian!"

"Once the Golden Elixir is formed, you can be reborn, wash away the mortal body, and reshape the immortal physique. After this, cultivation will be a thousand miles a day, pointing directly to the Great Luo!"

Following the Patriarch's words, a scripture called "True Explanation of the Primordial Golden Elixir" turned into countless golden characters, pouring into Su Chen's sea of consciousness like a tide.

"The Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things..."

"Gathering medicine, sealing the furnace, refining elixir, bathing, nourishing, rebirth..."

Every word contained infinite mystery, and every word pointed to a brand new path of cultivation.

Su Chen only felt his head "buzz", as if it were about to be burst by this vast and boundless information.

His realm was too low, and he couldn't understand this supreme method that pointed directly to the Great Luo at all.

That feeling was like letting a primary school student who had just learned addition and subtraction solve a calculus problem; it was completely confusing and incomprehensible.

But he knew this was his greatest opportunity in this life.

He forcibly suppressed the dizziness in his brain, gave up trying to understand, and relied on the powerful spiritual will he had sharpened by chopping wood for seven years to engrave this scripture, word for word, deep into his soul!

He wanted to memorize everything; even if he didn't understand it now, there would always be a day when he could understand it in the future!

Su Chen was completely immersed in this crazy memorization, forgetting time, forgetting everything.

And in another completely isolated illusion.

Patriarch Puti looked at the excited Sun Wukong before him, and a smile appeared on his face too.

"Wukong, you are a stone monkey born of heaven, carrying the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon, and your foundation is rare in the world. Ordinary methods would instead bind your nature."

"Today, I will teach you the 'Great Grade Heavenly Immortal Art'!"

"This method is a supreme wonderful method that leads directly to the Great Luo, focusing on gathering the spiritual opportunity of heaven and earth, seizing the creation of the sun and moon, and proving the Great Luo status with supreme power!"

A domineering and magnificent method also poured into Sun Wukong's mind.

Unlike Su Chen's difficulty and obscurity, the moment Sun Wukong came into contact with this "Great Grade Heavenly Immortal Art", it was like a fish returning to the sea, feeling completely comfortable, every pore cheering and jumping.

This method seemed to be tailor-made for him!

Two illusions, two completely different transmissions.

Patriarch Puti's figure existed in both spaces at the same time, looking at Su Chen who was struggling to support and memorize by rote, and then at Sun Wukong who was dancing and entering the door quickly, with a sense of emotion in his deep eyes.

"Affinity, affinity, truly wonderful." ===== CHAPTER 10 =====