Chapter 310: Traveling West with a Beauty, Meeting the Monkey Halfway

Outside Zhongnan Mountain,

A spacious cloud chariot, with a magnificent canopy held high.

In front, flying horses pulled the chariot; behind were thirty-six golden boys and jade girls. Some fanned, some held incense, and others cradled incense burners.

All around, there were soldiers and generals clad in armor, holding axes, halberds, hooks, and forks, stepping on rafts as they moved back and forth.

The honor guard was complete, and the momentum was not small.

Fang Longye slowly stepped out from Jade Pillar Cave. Seeing this scene, the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily. He turned his head and said to Yang Chan beside him, "Is such a grand display really necessary? We are just going to Xiniu Hezhou; this is too conspicuous."

He had originally thought that his usual way of traveling—using a Water-Avoiding Golden Crystal Beast to pull his chariot, accompanied by two or three beauties—was already pretentious enough.

Looking at it now,

It was simply a case of a minor witch meeting a great witch. He did not know how it had developed, but in this world, whether they were immortals, demons, gods, or Buddhist, everyone acted with extreme extravagance. Their travel entourages were always exceptionally massive.

Moreover, there were endless banquets of all kinds: the Pan Tao Banquet, the Danyuan Meeting, the Yulanpen Festival Banquet... all sorts of varied and colorful affairs.

In the original *Journey to the West*, even when the Black Bear Spirit stole the cassock, he had to hold a "Fo Yi Banquet."

To be honest, he was really not used to this kind of fanfare, luxury, and clamor.

He still preferred the low-key, luxurious, and substantial style of his previous life.

"Oh my!"

Yang Chan pushed him onto the carriage and said with a smile, "I think you have just stayed in Beiju Luzhou for too long and have been infected by the rough and unconstrained habits of the Demon Clan."

Fang Longye gave a light hum and said, "Are you saying that I am a mountain pig who cannot appreciate fine bran? Is that it?"

"That is what you said; I certainly did not say that," Yang Chan said with a laugh, covering her mouth.

The two of them bickered and laughed, sat down in the carriage, and headed toward Xiniu Hezhou.

They had stayed in Jade Pillar Cave for a period of time, listening to Yunzhongzi preach the Dao several times and observing him refine treasures on a few occasions.

Seeing that the purpose of their visit had basically been achieved, Fang Longye suggested that the two of them go to Xiniu Hezhou for a good tour.

Originally, he had intended for the two of them to ride the clouds slowly. He had not expected Yang Chan to call for an entire carriage procession for the trip.

As for what his true intention was in making this suggestion? He really had no other meaning; it was simply for a trip and some leisure.

If one really had to say there was a purpose.

It was probably just to find an excuse to spend time alone with Yang Chan and properly cultivate their relationship.

Rumble—

The carriage left Zhongnan Mountain, leaped into the void, and headed in the direction of Xiniu Hezhou.

The cloud carriage traveled continuously through the void and soon left Nanzhan Buzhou.

After passing through a vast ocean, they arrived at another continent—Xiniu Hezhou.

Inside the cloud carriage,

Fang Longye and Yang Chan chatted and laughed, occasionally telling some risqué jokes that made the beauty blush, her smile unable to be contained.

At the same time, in the auspicious clouds above his head, the Yin and Yang Two Qis swirled—one clear and spiritual, one turbid and heavy—moving back and forth, entwined with a bronze treasure pot.

He was multitasking, refining the treasure.

This treasure pot was none other than...

The product of Fang Longye asking Yunzhongzi to help him fuse the Refining Immortal Pot and the Jun Tian Divine Pot while he was at Zhongnan Mountain.

It was still called the Refining Immortal Pot, but it possessed forty-two Post-Heaven Divine Prohibitions, combining the characteristics of both the original Refining Immortal Pot and the Jun Tian Divine Pot.

It could not only capture people and objects and swallow enemies, but it could also refine enemies into a divine pill or precious medicine to serve as cultivation resources.

"Xiniu Hezhou also has its own unique scenery," Fang Longye said with a smile, recalling what he had seen and heard along the way.

In his view, this Xiniu Hezhou was much more chaotic than Beiju Luzhou.

Although Beiju Luzhou was the territory of the Demon Clan, it had its own rules. It was nothing like Xiniu Hezhou, which was sparsely populated and filled with chaotic demons and monsters, with no rules to speak of.

Oh, that could not be said either.

In Xiniu Hezhou, the Brahma sect was the rule.

Fang Longye had discovered that, even though it was not yet the time of the *Journey to the West*, many of the demons he saw had great connections to the Brahma sect.

They exuded an aura of Buddhism from head to toe, yet they were still wantonly wreaking havoc on the mortal world.

"Hmph! For the sake of faith and incense, these bald donkeys have absolutely no shame left."

Hearing Fang Longye's lament, Yang Chan could not help but snort coldly, her face showing disdain as she laughed mockingly.

Many "pets" and "mounts" raised by the Brahma sect would frequently run to the city-states and nations established by the Human Race to commit evil.

They would either eat people directly or abduct the population.

Then, they would stage the routine of a Brahma "Great Sage" descending to subdue the demons.

These bald donkeys had been playing this trick for who knows how many years; it was always the same old routine.

While lamenting, Fang Longye stretched, leaned casually into Yang Chan's embrace, rested his head on her lap, and peeled a banana.

He ate it slowly.

Hearing Yang Chan's subsequent grumbling, he chuckled.

It was as if Dongsheng Shenzhou, dominated by the Daoist sect, was any better—they were all the same, and neither had the right to criticize the other.

He casually tossed the remaining banana peel outside and was about to say something.

But his brows twitched, and he let out an "eh," waving his hand to stop the carriage, then clapped his hands and laughed, "Interesting."

Seeing this, Yang Chan curiously followed his gaze and looked down.

She smiled in realization and said, "I never thought this Monkey would arrive in Xiniu Hezhou so quickly."

They saw that below the carriage, in the mountain forest, there was a very strange "person" with a banana peel on his head, looking up and cursing loudly.

It was the banana peel Fang Longye had tossed, which had landed squarely on the strange person's head.

This strange person was less than four feet tall, very thin like a bamboo pole, with a gaunt face, a bushy beard, and clothes worn all askew, looking quite restless.

Looking closely, this strange person was surprisingly not a "human," but a furry monkey.

At first glance, he appeared unremarkable.

Fang Longye also utilized his "See-Through-Walls" divine ability before he could discern a few clues.

He saw golden light rising from the top of the monkey's head, vast and mighty, so broad it could not be seen in its entirety. Inside it was reddish-gold, with an outer halo of purple and cyan, suffused with an inexplicable aura.

It possessed an unstoppable posture, connecting heaven and earth.

"A monkey, huh~"

Thoughts surged in Fang Longye's mind, and a sense of melancholy arose in his heart. He naturally recognized who this monkey was—with such an aura, who else could it be but Sun Wukong, the protagonist of Journey to the West? Oh, right now this monkey had not yet met the Bodhi Patriarch and was not yet called Sun Wukong; he was just a wild monkey with an extraordinary essence.

He saw that the monkey's Aura was quite thick, almost no different from a Golden Immortal. Of course, this only referred to his essence and did not represent his actual strength.

Not to mention his realm~

Having not yet stepped into cultivation, no matter how strong his own essence was, he could not be considered a figure of the Immortal Realm.

Excluding strength and speaking only of his realm, it was probably at the level of the Primordial Spirit Realm.

After all, in the current world, the rules had changed; no one could be like in the early days of Honghuang, where one was earth-shattering and possessed boundless Dharma the moment they were born.

Yet a monkey of this realm could actually possess such a strange phenomenon; one could only say he was worthy of being the protagonist in the original Journey to the West, truly extraordinary.

"It seems the curtain is not far from being raised!"

Fang Longye said to himself in his heart.

This monkey had already run to Xiniu Hezhou; it was feared that it would not be long before he could cultivate a body of divine abilities~

"I remember the original Journey to the West said that this monkey wandered around Nanzhan Buzhou for eight or nine years, then reached the West Sea, made a bamboo raft to cross the sea, arrived at Xiniu Hezhou, and apprenticed to the Bodhi Patriarch."

"He ate peaches at Lantao Mountain for seven years, then the Bodhi Patriarch taught him secret Dharma, and in three years he developed his hidden power, became an immortal and attained the Dao, and became brothers with Niu Mowang and the others..."

Fang Longye counted on his fingers.

He discovered that in just a few years, this monkey would cultivate a set of skills, and by then, the curtain of the Journey to the West would slowly rise~ Fortunately, he had already achieved the status of a Taiyi Loose Immortal, so he would at least be able to catch up with this monkey show.

"It's just that if my cultivation could be a bit higher by then, that would be even better!"

Only then could he seize more benefits.

After pondering for a while, he did not think about going to see this monkey and was preparing to drive away directly. However, he saw the monkey below actually stop cursing, his eyeballs rolling around, as if he had realized something.

He knelt down directly and began to kowtow.

"I beg the Immortal to take me as a disciple!"

"This disciple pays sincere homage, pays sincere homage!"

"I beg the Immortal to take me as a disciple!"

"This disciple pays sincere homage,..."

This monkey hadn't reacted at first, but he soon came to his senses; being able to throw a banana peel from the sky, if this wasn't an Immortal, what was? Although throwing trash around casually was annoying, he thought this passing Immortal probably didn't have a very good character~ But ever since he left Huaguo Mountain, he had floated across the ocean, eating dew and sleeping in the open, having walked an unknown distance and spent several years.

Yet he had never had the fortune to meet a True Immortal.

Now he had finally bumped into one~ Ten birds in the forest are not as good as one in the hand.

Better to secure the immortal fate first.

Bang! Bang! Bang! This monkey was indeed sincere toward the Dao, just kneeling on the ground and kowtowing incessantly.

It was just that although his realm was low and he could not see the scene in the sky, he was fundamentally extraordinary and possessed a miraculous intuition.

He could sense that the mysterious existence above had not yet left.

However, despite this, Fang Longye did not have the thought of going down to meet him.

Although he was very curious about this divine monkey whose name he had heard but whom he had never seen, and had even made a special trip to Huaguo Mountain before.

But the timing was truly not right.

For one, this meeting was already a bit awkward; who could have guessed that a banana peel would be so accurate, landing squarely on the monkey's head without bias.

For another, this monkey had already reached Xiniu Hezhou and was probably not far from Xieyue Sanxing Cave; why should he go down and join in the fun? If he wanted to see this monkey head, he could wait until the other party returned from his studies and was traveling around.

"However, I cannot just leave like this." Fang Longye frowned.

Turning around and leaving before was fine. Now that he had received who knows how many kowtows from the other party, doing that again would be a bit unreasonable.

Just as he was struggling, Yang Chan teased: "Look, he wants to take you as his master! You might as well just take this monkey as your disciple, to save some existence from playing tricks at Mount Ling."

The implication was to remind him that the water here was very deep and he should not meddle blindly.

Got it!

A flash of inspiration struck Fang Longye, and he deliberately changed to a middle-aged man's voice, reciting a poem: "Viewed horizontally, it is a ridge; viewed vertically, a peak; far, near, high, and low, all are different."

"Not recognizing the true face of Lingtai, only because one is in the midst of this mountain."

After speaking, he dropped a divine pill produced by the Refining Immortal Pot, generating a sky full of Divine Light and auspicious clouds, which drew a burst of cheers from the monkey below.

Immediately after, he drove his carriage and, surrounded by golden boys and jade girls and Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, went straight away.

The sky full of Divine Light and auspicious clouds descended, but only a brilliant and dazzling divine pill fell, with no sign of a person.

Only the lingering sound echoed all around.

This monkey, who did not know how many times he had kowtowed, could not help but feel disappointed, but a moment later, he became excited again.

There really are Immortals in this world! His furry hand grabbed the immortal pill that had fallen in front of him, and he scrambled up in one motion.

"'Not recognizing the true face of Lingtai, only because one is in the midst of this mountain'?" The monkey murmured the poem Fang Longye had made up.

His face was full of bewilderment.

In the past, when he was in Nanzhan Buzhou, in order to seek Immortals and visit the Dao, he had also traveled through states and prefectures, learning human etiquette and human speech in the markets.

It could be said that he was not ignorant of human language, and even composing poetry and lyrics was not beyond him.

Therefore, Monkey felt that this poem left behind by the passing Divine Immortal held profound meaning.

It was just that he could not figure it out for the moment.

After scratching his ears and cheeks for a while, Monkey gave up on probing the meaning behind the poem.

Shaking his head, which was seeing stars from kowtowing, he carefully tucked the immortal pill from his hand close to his body and headed toward a large pine tree not far away.

He had not spent these years in vain. Although he had searched everywhere for Divine Immortals without success, he had heard many strange tales about Divine Immortals.

Even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs run; he knew that this immortal pill bestowed by the Divine Immortal could not be consumed casually.

Green mist drifted over, suffused with the colors of last night's rain, reflecting upon the moss beneath the pine, patch after patch of lush green.

Three or five seemingly very young deer stumbled about, fluttering under the pine, falling over from time to time and emitting "you-you" sounds.

Monkey did not drive these young deer away.

He simply found an empty space under the pine, leaned against the large tree, took some dry rations and water from his bosom, and began to eat.

He had traveled quite a distance today and his body was very exhausted; furthermore, he had encountered a Divine Immortal and experienced great shock and joy, kowtowing repeatedly.

Therefore, after resting under the pine, Monkey's eyelids soon began to fight each other.

In a daze, he seemed to be asleep yet not asleep.

A breath that transcended everything came from the void, enveloping his entire body.

……

"Watching chess until the wood rots, chopping wood with 'ding-ding' sounds, walking slowly by the clouds and the valley mouth. Selling firewood to buy wine, laughing wildly to indulge my spirit. The autumn path is high, facing the moon at the roots of the locust and pine, waking up when the sky is bright..."

"... Not knowing how to scheme or calculate, without glory or shame, living a tranquil life. Where we meet, if not an immortal, then a Daoist, sitting quietly and reciting the 'Yellow Court'."

"So the Divine Immortal is hidden here!"

……

……Suddenly turning his head, he saw a stone tablet standing at the cliff's edge, about three zhang high and eight chi wide, with a line of ten large characters on it: "Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Xieyue Sanxing Cave."

……

"'... There is a seeker of the path outside; you may go and receive him.' That must be you, right?"

"It is me, it is me."

……

"Master, Master! This disciple pays homage with a sincere heart, pays homage with a sincere heart!"

"Where are you from? State your hometown and name clearly, then bow again."

……

"I have no nature. If people scold me, I do not get angry; if they hit me, I do not resent them, I just offer an apology and that is all. I have had no nature my whole life."

"That is not the nature I mean. What was your parents' surname?" "I also have no parents."

"Since you have no parents, I suppose you were born from a tree?"

"Although I was not born from a tree, I grew inside a stone. I only remember that there was an immortal stone on Huaguo Mountain; that year the stone broke, and I was born."

……

"... I shall give you a Dharma name called 'Sun Wukong', how about that?"

"Good, good, good! From today on, I shall be called Sun Wukong!"

When the primordial chaos first opened, there was no surname; to break through the stubborn void, one must realize emptiness (Wukong).

……

In the present world,

Sounds of Brahma echoed in waves, and auspicious clouds gathered in clusters.

The sky was filled with flashing golden light and colorful auspicious flowers, revealing the figures of a group of Divine Immortals, who were none other than the Five Directions Jiedi, the Sizhi Cao, and the eighteen Hujiao Jialan.

"It is done!"

Looking at the sleeping Monkey, Jintou Jiedi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now that the Saint has exerted his great Dharma to lead the Monkey King into the Dao, our mission can be considered a complete success."

Yintou Jiedi echoed, "After experiencing the tempering of the mortal world, the Monkey King should indeed enter the Dao~"

The leader of the eighteen Hujiao Jialan looked at his fellow practitioners and said in a deep voice, "The Monkey King's entry into the Dao will take quite some time in the present world before he wakes up. For this final step, we still need to stand our last watch."

"As the Jialan Bodhisattva says~"

All the gods nodded in agreement, then dispersed into the void, continuing to stand guard over the sleeping Monkey.

(End of this chapter)