Journey to the West: Beginning with the Apprenticeship of Bodhi Patriarch

Chapter 214: Playing chess, Laojun talks about making elixir

Chapter 214: Playing chess, Laojun talks about making elixir
The story goes that the group met Laozi at the top of a high mountain.

The Supreme Lord praised Sun Wukong's practice. He said with a smile, "You are much more popular now than before. If you have time, you can come to my Tushita Palace. If you want to eat some pills now, I will give you some."

Laojun seemed to be thinking, and then said: "If you say one thousand pills or two thousand pills again, you don't need to come to me."

Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "I dare not do that again, Laojun, please rest assured."

Laojun just looked at Jiang Yuan and said, "Guangxin, you have been practicing the law for Emperor Xuan. Now that you have come here, have you succeeded?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "Old Master, I haven't accomplished my goal yet. It's still far, still far."

Laojun smiled and said, "I have heard the words of Emperor Xuan a long time ago that there are several laws to be cultivated, so how can you say it is far away?"

Jiang Yuan said: "The law cannot be cultivated overnight, but if the practitioner is not sincere, it will be difficult to achieve the law. That is why I am talking about a long way to go."

Laojun nodded with a smile and said, "If it is as you said, it is indeed very far away."

Jiang Yuan said: "I still don't know why Laojun is here now."

Laojun pointed to a place outside the mountain and said, "There is a cultivator in the world of Jambu who has some affinity with me, but I am afraid that he will lose his true nature, so I came down to save him. I know that he will come here one day, so I am waiting for him here."

Jiang Yuan said, "So that's the case. Laojun, do you need me to accompany you for a while?"

Laojun smiled and said, "If Guangxin is willing to stay here with me for a while, that's fine. I just feel a little bored. It will be much more interesting if Guangxin is here."

Jiang Yuan bowed and said, "In this case, please do not think I am nagging you."

Laojun helped him up and said, "How could I dislike you?"

Jiang Yuan stood up and said to Bull Demon King, Sun Wukong and others, "We will stay in the mountains to accompany Laojun. We can go to the mountains to get materials and build a hut. What do you think?"

Wukong and the others said, "That's right."

Say it.

They bid farewell to Laojun and the Immortal and went down the mountain to collect materials to build a hut.

Laojun grabbed Jiang Yuan and walked into the thatched cottage.

Jiang Yuan followed him in, but saw that the hut was simple, with only a coffee table, two cushions, and a chessboard on the coffee table, which was a game of "Go".

Laojun said: "Guangxin, come and play chess with me for a while."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Old Master, I thought you would discuss the Dao with me and give me some advice, but I didn't expect that you wanted to play chess with me."

Lao Jun said: "There is nothing much to discuss, why not play chess, Guangxin, this chess game is also a discussion of the Dao, so play a game with me."

Jiang Yuan said, "Forget it, forget it, forget it. Since Laojun says so, let's play a round."

After saying this, the Immortal held Laojun's hand and sat down at the table, and he then sat down opposite him.

Laojun pointed to the chessboard and said, "Guangxin, do you want to play with the black or white pieces?"

The Immortal said: "The elders come first, please choose first, Laojun."

Laojun took a black piece and said with a smile: "I will take the black piece, and Guangxin can take the white piece."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan took the white piece and placed it in front of him.

Laojun said: "There is a saying that 'white first, black second', Guangxin will make the first move, and show me some of your real skills, so that I can see how Guangxin has been practicing in recent years."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "I dare not disobey."

The immortal then took a white piece and placed it in the belly of the chessboard, which was in line with the chess rule that 'the high piece is in the belly, the low piece is at the edge, and the middle piece is in the corner'.

As soon as the real person put down his chess piece, thousands of divine lights appeared, and it seemed that a white dragon appeared in the chessboard, with its fangs bared and claws brandished, ready to pounce, truly a majestic and powerful being.

When Laojun saw this, he smiled and praised, saying: "Guangxin has great abilities. Compared with before, your abilities have improved a lot. Now that I have seen your abilities, I will also let you see mine." After saying this.

Laojun holds the black piece and places it on the chessboard. As soon as Laojun makes his move, thousands of auspicious lights rise up and a misty air appears, as if a fairyland has appeared. A black dragon appears and competes with the white dragon.

Jiang Yuan and Laojun took turns to set up their formations and place their pieces on the chessboard. Divine light appeared in their bodies, which showed that they had magical powers. They placed their pieces very quickly, and the black and white dragons started fighting as the chess pieces fell.

However, the chess game was good at the beginning, and the two of them fought back and forth for a while, taking advantage of the layout. Later in the fight, Jiang Yuan was no longer able to fight, and was forced to defend, with no power to attack. Zhenren tried hard, but it was difficult to compare with Laojun's calmness.

A game lasted for several days and finally came to an end.

Jiang Yuan is ultimately inferior to Laojun, the gap is huge.

Jiang Yuan looked at the chessboard, where the black piece cut the white piece in half. He sighed, stood up and bowed, "Laojun is very skilled in chess, I am not as good as him."

Laojun smiled and said, "Guangxin, don't underestimate yourself. You have only practiced for more than a thousand years, how can you compare with me? But it is rare that you can fight with me to this extent."

Laojun looked at the chessboard and saw several scenes of playing chess with Jiang Yuan which were extremely wonderful. He was also amazed at Jiang Yuan's ability when he saw it.

What a great Jiang Guangxin.

He has not been practicing for long, but his ability has increased to this point. If Guangxin continues to practice, great magical powers will be within his reach.

Laojun suddenly thought of something and asked, "Guangxin, can you learn the whole external alchemy?"

Jiang Yuan heard this and shook his head and replied, "Laojun, I haven't learned it all yet, probably because I have many things to deal with, so I haven't learned it all, but if I refine the elixir, I have some confidence that I can refine the external elixir."

Laojun seemed to understand something, pointed at Jiang Yuan, and said with a smile: "You are good, Guangxin. Although you have not yet succeeded in concocting the golden elixir, you are almost learning the magical power of 'alchemy'. Therefore, your magic power has greatly increased, far better than before."

Jiang Yuan didn't understand what he meant, so he asked, "Laojun, when did I learn the magical power of alchemy?"

Lao Jun said: "This magical power is not what you think. It is the magical power of the law, the magical power of heaven and earth, so the method of practicing it is different from that."

Jiang Yuan asked, "Laojun never told me before, what exactly is the alchemy ability? Can you tell me now?"

Laojun smiled and said, "I can tell you now, but the game between us has been going on for several days, and the monkey outside has been waiting for a long time. You can talk to it, rest for a while, and then come back to ask me, and then I will tell you in detail."

Jiang Yuan accepted the order, bowed to Laojun, and left the house.

As soon as he came out of the house, he saw Sun Wukong, the Bull Demon King and others had built several thatched huts at the foot of the mountain, where they were having fun.

Jiang Yuan walked down, and Sun Wukong and others hurried to meet him and pay their respects to the immortal.

Sun Wukong said, "Big Brother, I saw you playing chess with Laojun in the hut earlier. Did you win or lose?"

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "Laojun is much better than me. But you and your companions have already built the thatched hut, why don't you go in and practice in peace, but play around outside?"

The Bull Demon King stepped forward and bowed, saying, "How can we enter without the master? So we are waiting for the master."

Jiang Yuan felt helpless after hearing this and said, "Just go inside. There are four thatched huts. The deer will be placed between the green cliffs. Each of you can have one hut. Just go in and meditate peacefully. Don't worry."

Sun Wukong and the others all responded, and then went into the thatched cottage, where they practiced meditation in peace.

Jiang Yuan did not return to Laojun immediately, but walked towards the thatched cottage, intending to calm down and rest for a while. After some time, he asked Laojun what the "magic power of alchemy" was.

He played a game of chess with Laojun and gained a lot. Now he should think about it carefully and learn something from it.

……

Among the thatched cottages.

Taishang Laojun felt something in his heart, looked towards the thatched cottage where Jiang Yuan was, and said with a smile: "Guangxin's determination to cultivate the Tao has never changed. The ups and downs of the world and the changes of dynasties have not changed it in the slightest. I thought Guangxin would turn back as soon as possible and hear about the great magical power of alchemy, but I never thought that after hearing it, Guangxin could be calm and not impatient. This disciple of Bodhi is really rare."

The Jade Emperor could not help but admire Jiang Guangxin’s aspiration for Taoism.

(End of this chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like