I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Chapter 28: The peaches in the mountains are ripe, and a gift of congratulations to friends

Fangcun Mountain, southern cliff slope.

Patriarch Bodhi reached out and plucked a huge 'Longevity Peach', nodded and smiled, "This Longevity Peach sapling was given by the South Pole Immortal. It was planted on the southern cliff slope at the beginning of this year. I didn't expect it to bear such good fruit by the end of the year."

After saying this, Patriarch Bodhi picked another longevity peach and gave it to the boy Xianyun and the boy Guhe behind him respectively.

The two little children happily held the bright red longevity peaches, said, "Thank you, Master," and began to eat them.

Patriarch Bodhi looked at the two boys and said with a smile: "Even though eating one of these immortal peaches will only increase your lifespan by ten years, they ripen once a year."

At this point, Patriarch Bodhi glanced at the peach tree, and then instructed the Crane Boy: "Pick ten peaches later and give them to my friend. He has been promoted to the realm of 'Lianxu Hedao', so it's a good time to congratulate him."

The solitary crane boy quickly chewed the peach meat in his mouth and swallowed it, then bowed and replied, "Yes, Master."

“The rest will be distributed to all the disciples, one for each person, no more, no less, just the designated number.” After saying this, Patriarch Bodhi waved the whisk in his hand and then floated back to the temple.

Not long after, the solitary crane boy came to the mountain temple carrying a basket of longevity peaches.

The Fire Spirit Immortal was sitting on the eaves of the mountain temple, practicing his skills to cultivate the 'Three Magical Treasures Silver Pestle', and was unaware of the arrival of the Solitary Crane Boy.

Instead, it was Lone Crane Boy who first spotted Fire Spirit Immortal. He looked at Fire Spirit Immortal in confusion and said, "You are so rude. This is a temple of the mountain god. How dare you sit on the roof? You are disrespectful to the mountain god."

The Fire Spirit Immortal opened his eyes and looked at the Solitary Crane Boy below, only to find that he could not see through his actions.

Fire Spirit Immortal was slightly surprised, and immediately retracted his skills, stood up and jumped down, landing in front of the Lone Crane Boy, and bowed and said: "I am the mountain guard general under the command of the Mountain God, and my name is 'Fire Spirit Immortal'."

When Guhe Tongzi heard this, he suddenly realized, "Oh, so you are the Fire Spirit Immortal who caused a big disturbance in Guangci Palace and seized the Buddhist incense?"

"That's right." Fire Spirit Immortal said, "I didn't expect that a little kid like you would know my name?"

The solitary crane boy smiled faintly and said, "My ancestor has mentioned you. If the Lingtai Mountain God had not subdued you, you would have died within ten years, and your soul would have been scattered."

Huo Ling Zhenxian was stunned, and then she asked, "Who is your ancestor?"

The solitary crane boy said calmly: "My family name is 'Subhuti', and the world respectfully calls him 'Bodhi Patriarch'."

"Subhuti?" Fire Spirit Immortal was surprised. "Could it be Subhuti, one of the ten great disciples of Buddha?"

"No." The Crane Boy said, "That Subhuti is a great Buddhist who only practices Buddhism. But my ancestor is a true saint who combines Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. He is a true immortal who has deeply understood the true teachings of the three religions."

Hearing that it wasn't the Subhuti of Buddhism, Huo Ling Zhenxian breathed a sigh of relief, but then turned to Gu He Tongzi and said, "So powerful? Why haven't I heard of it? Are you bragging?"

The lonely crane boy smiled faintly, revealing a hint of pride on his chubby face. "I won't say much to you. If people don't see the truth, it's hard to resolve the prejudice in their hearts with words. General Shoushan, is the Lingtai Mountain God in the temple?"

When the Fire Spirit Immortal saw the demeanor of the Solitary Crane Boy, he couldn't help but feel a little respect for the Bodhi Patriarch. How could a person who could have such a boy be an ordinary person?

"Yes." said the Fire Spirit Immortal.

The Lone Crane Boy said, "Then please let General Shoushan know for me."

Fire Spirit Immortal said: "You can just go directly into the temple. The mountain lord said that he is the Lingtai Mountain God who protects the area, and all living beings in the world can come to see him at any time without notifying him."

The solitary crane boy said, "That won't do. The mountain god is a good friend of my ancestor. I can't be rude to him. Go and inform him quickly."

The Fire Spirit Immortal looked at the Lone Crane Boy in confusion, then said helplessly: "Okay, I'll go and inform you."

As the Fire Spirit Immortal was about to enter the hall, he saw a clear and bright figure appear at the entrance of the hall. The Fire Spirit Immortal immediately bowed and said, "Mountain Lord." The Solitary Crane Boy saw Zhuang Yan standing outside the hall and hurried forward to bow and said, "Greetings to the Lingtai Mountain God. I am sending these ten immortal longevity peaches on the order of the ancestor to congratulate the mountain god on his progress in Taoism."

Zhuang Yan walked down the steps and came to the Solitary Crane Boy. He took a look at the basket of immortal peaches and said with a smile, "Grandmaster, I am deeply grateful for your kindness."

The solitary crane boy said, "The ancestor said that the Lingtai Mountain God is his good friend. If a good friend makes progress in his practice, we should pay tribute and congratulate him."

Then, the solitary crane boy continued, "This immortal peach tree is a branch that the Southern Pole Immortal gave to my ancestor. The ancestor planted it on the southern slope of Fangcun Mountain at the beginning of this year. It has produced a lot of fruits. In addition to distributing them to all the disciples, I have given the rest to you, the mountain god. Please accept them."

Zhuang Yan nodded, stretched out his hand to take the fruit basket, and then said: "Thank the master for me. I will go to the Xieyue Sanxing Cave to thank him in person in a few days."

The solitary crane boy bowed and said, "Yes, I will report the mountain god's words back to the master. I will take my leave now."

Zhuang Yan nodded, then the Solitary Crane Boy turned around and flew into the clouds, turning into a ray of fairy light and flew back to Fangcun Mountain.

Watching the Crane Boy leave, the Fire Spirit Immortal walked forward, took a look at the peaches in the basket and said, "Shan Jun, what is the origin of this Bodhi Patriarch? How could he be gifted with a peach branch by Nan Ji Zhen Jun?"

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "I don't know the origins of Patriarch Bodhi, but I know that if he teaches you a spell, it will be enough to transform you and make you a master of your field."

"So powerful?" Fire Spirit Immortal's face was full of surprise.

At this time, Zhuang Yan used his 'Dongtian True Eye' to glance at the peaches in the basket, then took out two and handed them to the True Immortal Huo Ling, saying: "This is the 'Longevity Immortal Peaches'. Taking one can increase your lifespan by ten years."

The Fire Spirit Immortal took the longevity peach and said with some disappointment, "The peach tree given by the old birthday star only adds ten years to your life if you eat one of the peaches it produces?"

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "This is a fairy peach that ripens once a year."

The Fire Spirit Immortal stood there in a daze, and then a look of sudden realization appeared on his face. The immortal peaches ripen once a year, and even if only ten ripen at a time, that means a lifespan of a hundred years.

In other words, as long as you plant a longevity peach tree at home, your life span can be steadily extended by a hundred years every year.

The Fire Spirit Immortal's eyes immediately turned. He felt that he was too ignorant. He spent so much effort to snatch the incense of the Buddhist sect just to seek immortality.

But these powerful people don’t need to spend any effort. Just planting a tree at home can extend their lifespan indefinitely. Isn’t this another way to achieve immortality?
The True Immortal Huo Ling clenched the two immortal longevity peaches in his hand. If he remembered correctly, peaches all have "cores", right?
Zhuang Yan saw the look on Fire Spirit Immortal's face and couldn't help but smile, "Don't bother with the peach pit. It will only produce an ordinary peach, not a longevity peach."

Fire Spirit Immortal was stunned and asked, "Why?"

Zhuang Yan smiled and said, "These precious tree spirits can only be planted from the main branches and roots of the tree. Otherwise, why did the South Pole Immortal send the Bodhi Patriarch a 'branch' instead of a peach pit? Plants grown from peach pits are just ordinary items and do not have the precious spirit of the mother tree."

Fire Spirit Fairy was instantly disappointed, but she was still unwilling to give up, "I want to try." Fire Spirit Fairy said while holding two longevity peaches.

Zhuang Yan shook his head and smiled, saying, "You can try it if you want."

Fire Spirit Immortal nodded, then put the two peaches away. She then stepped forward and bowed to Zhuang Yan, saying, "Congratulations, Mr. Shan, on your advancement to the realm of Lianxu Hedao."

Zhuang Yan waved his hand and said, "I will continue to practice in seclusion. You will inspect the entire Lingtai Mountain every ten days, and the mountains and rivers of Guangci Prefecture once a month. If there are evil spirits doing evil and harming lives, they must be killed immediately. No mistakes are allowed."

The Fire Spirit Immortal bowed and said, "I will obey your orders."

Zhuang Yan nodded, then turned into a ray of divine light and flew back to the temple.

After Zhuang Yan flew back to the temple, Fire Spirit Immortal leaped up onto the roof again and lay down on the eaves comfortably.

She was seen basking in the sun, enjoying the breeze, taking out a longevity peach from her sleeve and eating it leisurely.

(End of this chapter)