Chapter 5: Peach Tree

The true form of this spiritually enlightened stone monkey is none other than the five-colored stone left over from Nüwa mending the heavens, and since they already bore karmic stains, the two of them painstakingly schemed and came here—perhaps they provoked Nüwa.

Only a Holy Person taking action could make them unable to perceive heavenly secrets.

"Junior Brother, watch your words!" Jieyin hastily stopped Zhunti's words.

"Although Junior Sister Nüwa is not like us, confined by our teacher to the Purple Heaven Palace, she too remains restricted from taking action; moreover, the Spirit-Enlightened Stone Monkey has become the mastermind of the Great Calamity, already ordained by Heavenly Dao—how could there be resentment in the heart and yet act thus?"

"Perhaps the Great Calamity has been triggered, and heavenly secrets are obscured—maybe if we search more, in a few days we will find this monkey."

Zhunti nodded and said: "Senior Brother speaks correctly; then I shall inform the Tathagata and mobilize Buddhist disciples to search."

"The Buddha told Subhuti, O Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas, thus should one subdue their mind, all sentient beings..."

Within the Great Thunder Sound Temple, the Tathagata was lecturing on Buddhist sutras, speaking thus, when suddenly he stopped.

The wonderful discourse halted abruptly; everyone turned to look at the Tathagata, seeing only that the Buddha with dignified countenance had a look of utter bewilderment written across his face.

What happened?

Everyone wondered in their hearts: why is the Buddha like this?

They had never before seen the Tathagata make such an expression.

After a pause, the Tathagata said in a deep voice: "The Buddhist lecture assembly is temporarily adjourned; the monkey is missing."

The monkey is missing?

For a moment, everyone was bewildered—how could this be possible!

They naturally knew whom the Tathagata meant by "monkey"—one whom they Buddhists so highly value could only be that Spirit-Enlightened Stone Monkey.

"Impossible! The almsgiving monk personally saw that monkey enter Fangcun Mountain!" Guanyin blurted out.

In the mountain, there were not only pre-arranged routes, but also the Holy Corpse Bodhi Old Ancestor seated in command—how could it disappear?

"It was a voice transmission from the Saint Zhunti to me." The Tathagata shook his head and said.

Since it was the word of a Saint, it cannot be wrong.

Glancing at the assembly, the Tathagata continued: "Guanyin, Puxian, Wenshu—where are you?"

"Replying to the Buddha, the almsgiving monk is here."

Three figures responded and stepped forward—precisely the Three Great Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist Sect.

"The monkey's heavenly secrets are obscure; fundamentally, they cannot be calculated. You lead the Divine Astonishment Cooking Arhats Vajra in a meticulous search; you must find the monkey, for the Journey to the West must suffer no mishap!" The Tathagata said.

The three Bodhisattvas pressed their palms together, slightly bowed their heads, and said: "A Mi Tuo Fo, the almsgiving monk respectfully follows the Buddha's edict."

Elsewhere, Chen Nuo saw the monkey going to wash, so he gathered the plate left behind after Sun Wukong ate the egg fried rice, and said: "System, activate the spiritual root."

"Ding, congratulations, host, you have obtained the Innate Spiritual Root Peach Tree."

Ni Ma! Isn't this prepared for that monkey!

Chen Nuo's mouth twitched, and in his heart he felt a bit of disappointment.

After all, the peach tree can be said to be the rarest of innate spiritual roots, and the Queen Mother's Peach Orchard alone has three thousand six hundred trees!

"What year's peach is this?" Chen Nuo asked.

Peach trees are graded into three, six, nine levels—three thousand years to ripen, six thousand years to ripen, and nine thousand years to ripen.

"Nine thousand years!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Nuo nodded and said: "That will do, but cultivating innate roots from scratch—when will we ever get to eat?"

"Probably only after the Journey to the West ends will this Ni Ma finally grow out?"

Just as he was worrying, the system spoke again: "Only need to plant it within the Chaos Residence area, and it will be like an ordinary fruit tree, ripening once a year, and the efficacy remains unchanged."

Chen Nuo widened his eyes: once a year to ripen? Awesome!

Now that monkey definitely won't leave.

Arriving at the backyard and finding a spot, Chen Nuo lightly tapped, and the originally flat ground instantly sprouted a lush peach tree.

Faintly, light flowed and colors shone—just looking at its appearance, one could tell it was extraordinary.

"Not bad,

Quite not bad!"

Chen Nuo nodded in satisfaction; before long, he would be the Little Prince of Peaches.

Drawing magical power to draw water, irrigating a bit, then he returned to the main hall.

Finding a seat to sit, thinking back on the egg fried rice he had just made, his eyes revealed a joyful expression.

Indeed, it succeeded!

Chen Nuo's system not only retains its previous abilities, but also possesses an extremely awesome ability.

Each time he cooks, the utensils he uses immediately gain merit qi, innate qi, Divine Astonishment Cooking Divine Astonishment Cooking Hongmeng qi, and chaos qi.

Merit qi can be called a panacea; its effects naturally need no further explanation.

Innate qi, however, can allow magical treasures to rise in rank; accumulating to a certain degree, it can even enable post-heaven to return to innate—but this qi, at the moment it formed in the Honghuang, was already divided among the various innate treasures.

Divine Astonishment Cooking Divine Astonishment Cooking Hongmeng qi, fully named Divine Astonishment Cooking Divine Astonishment Cooking Hongmeng Purple Qi, that single strand of Divine Astonishment Cooking Divine Astonishment Cooking Hongmeng Purple Qi back then caused the entire Honghuang to have no peace.

As for chaos qi, it is even more extraordinary—it is the chaos before heaven and earth were separated, the mother qi of chaos; its principles directly connect to the Great Dao!

Now, his spatula has gained a thousand innate qi, while his kitchen knife and divine ladle have gained three thousand merit qi; compared to the beginning, now the aura of his utensils is even more mysterious.

Previously, he had not drawn a divine treasure utensil, only able to use ordinary utensils, utterly unable to bear it, thus wasting the opportunity in vain.

Now it's fine—even if this Divine Astonishment is merely a post-heaven divine treasure, having this ability means no need to worry about rank.

This Journey to the West era is not comparable to the Honghuang era; even the most easily obtained merit is now something one can hope for but not obtain.

Moreover, the other three kinds have long been discontinued.

Chen Nuo feels that if he keeps cooking, sooner or later his Divine Astonishment will be able to destroy the entire world!

Since that is the case, let him first set a small goal for himself: one knife strike to kill a Holy Person!

When the time comes, he shall call himself the Kitchen Knife Saint!

Master!

Suddenly, the monkey's excited voice came, interrupting Chen Nuo's train of thought.

Chen Nuo looked up and saw that Sun Wukong had already changed into new clothes—a red robe, a red headscarf, and with that sly little stature, he actually bore a few traces of Liu Bei Xing.

"Not bad, you look very spirited." Chen Nuo smiled slightly and praised him without stinginess.

Sun Wukong then said delightedly: "Master, this new outfit is really nice, and the size fits just right."

"As long as you like it." Chen Nuo nodded and said: "Wukong, starting tomorrow, you will practice that basic knife technique, for knife technique is the first foundation supporting cooking skill!"

A cook who doesn't know knife technique is not a good cook!

Sun Wukong hurriedly nodded, his eyes darting around, and then said slyly: "Master, can I still eat the food you make every day?"

Chen Nuo rolled his eyes and said teasingly: "You, you, greedy mouth, since you've become my disciple, could you possibly do without this meal?"

The monkey hehehed a laugh and then said nothing more.

Time flowed silently, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Sun Wukong practiced the basic knife technique during the day, and at night he reflected on what he had learned in the main hall, making rapid progress.

Upon learning that the backyard was a pantao tree, Sun Wukong became even more excited, cherishing it with extra care.

He looked forward to the day when he could eat peaches.

Of course, Chen Nuo's egg fried rice, Sun Wukong could eat a hundred times and never tire of it.

During this month, the egg fried rice not only thoroughly consolidated Sun Wukong's Piercing Illusion Golden Eyes, and correspondingly, Chen Nuo's Piercing Illusion Golden Eyes also reached an extraordinarily proficient level.

Unfortunately, he never drew a second dish, and not a single person came to the shop!