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

Chapter 79: Hundred and Eight Great Laws
It has been three days since Jiang Yuancheng received the book from the ancestor.

For three days, he read the book carefully in a quiet room without making any mistakes. Just as the master said, this book solved his doubts.

Jiang Yuan knew from the book what kind of magical powers he had now.

Fate is that all gods, demons and monsters are divided into three categories to measure their abilities and means: the first is magic power, supernatural powers. The second is martial arts. The third is magic weapons.

Mana and supernatural powers complement each other, and they complement each other. Only with profound mana can one cultivate great supernatural powers. This time, Jiang Yuan has profound mana and has become a Taiyi Celestial Being, but he has not yet cultivated all kinds of supernatural powers. The only two supernatural powers he has are the abilities of Jin Gong after the five people returned to the holy fetus, which taught him to make the magic weapons ineffective and repel water and fire.

Martial arts are the ability to be violent and ruthless, and most gods are not good at this. Jiang Yuan has the help of Black Fish, and has some ability, but it is only acceptable, and he is not very good at this.

The magic weapon is a treasure outside the body. Jiang Yuan is wearing a purple robe, holding a jade whisk in his hand and the Yu Ding on his waist, all of which are magic weapons.

Jiang Yuan suddenly realized, and thought to himself: "Master, this book really clears my doubts. I am not very powerful now, because I have not learned all kinds of magical powers, but I have the help of Yu Ding whisk, and there are few who can beat me."

Now that he understood, he took the book and returned it to his master.

Jiang Yuan walked out of the quiet room and went to the master's residence. After entering, he bowed to the master and then took the book and returned it to him.

The master placed the bamboo slips aside and asked, "Boy, do you understand?"

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "Master, I understand."

The master sat cross-legged on a cushion, took another cushion, and asked Jiang Yuan to sit on it. After the boy sat down, he asked, "Tong'er, what do you say?"

Jiang Yuan said: "Master, I have magical powers now, but no supernatural powers. It's like a person's two feet. If one of them is missing, he can't walk."

The master smiled and said, "My boy, I told you in the past that I would teach you the way to protect yourself when you succeed. Now that you have succeeded, I should pass on the Dharma to you."

Jiang Yuan said: "Master, what do you say about the body protection method?"

The master said, "I passed on the Dharma to you to protect yourself, but you used it to protect yourself, and you also used it to commit crimes. I have no control over it. I think you are a restless person."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Master, I am no longer the same as I was before, why am I so restless?"

The master shook his head and said, "I still don't know your personality, boy. I should teach you the way to protect yourself, but there is an angel here to see you, boy, please follow me out of the palace to welcome him."

Jiang Yuan didn't understand what he meant and asked, "Angel?"

The master said, "Because you have become a Taiyi celestial being, you have had strange visions, so the angels have come to lead you into the heaven."

Jiang Yuan understood what he had said. He had practiced hard for hundreds of years and had become a Taoist. The heavens wanted to lead him to ascend to heaven. He asked, "Master, what should I say?"

The master pointed at the boy and said with a smile, "Why are you asking me this? It's all up to you."

Jiang Yuan suddenly realized, "Master, I understand now."

The master nodded with a smile, then stood up and went out of the quiet room.

Jiang Yuan followed closely behind, walked out of the room, and headed straight for the fairy cave. The fellow disciples on the road saw the master and the boy, and they all bowed and paid their respects. Now that the boy has become a fairy, he has a majestic aura, and all the fellow disciples are convinced.

Not long after, the master and his disciple came out of the cave, but saw five or six celestial beings standing outside the gate. When they saw the master bowing, they said, "Greetings to the old immortal, greetings to the real person Guangxin. We are following the Jade Emperor's order to invite the real person Guangxin to heaven to receive the immortal talisman."

The ancestor said, "Please come in."

The Patriarch and Jiang Yuan welcomed five or six celestial beings into the Sanxing Cave Tower, setting up a feast for them and treating them with full etiquette. When they were in the tower, the Patriarch said, "I am grateful for your coming and for being my disciple. It is up to them to leave or stay, but I cannot force them to do so."

The immortals in heaven handed the imperial edict to Jiang Yuan, asking him to go to heaven.

Jiang Yuan was unmoved when he heard that. What he wanted was to live forever, not to become an immortal. If he was interested, he would have accepted the invitation from Maitreya Bodhisattva to sit on the lotus platform in the past. Why wait until today? He shook his head and said, "Please thank the Great Celestial Venerable for me. I have no intention of going to heaven."

The immortals said, "You don't know, the Jade Emperor has issued an edict to invite you to heaven to be conferred the title of 'True Lord'. It is a great blessing for you to lead the troops."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "I am a person of little ability and a nobody. How can I be worthy of this position? I hope you immortals will thank the Great Celestial Venerable on my behalf. I only wish to serve my master and practice the Dao assiduously. If I have great merit in the future, I will definitely serve the Great Celestial Venerable in heaven."

Jiang Yuanyi, who was knowledgeable about the immortals in the heavens, was secretly shocked and said, "In the past, those who had achieved enlightenment or were halfway to enlightenment, upon hearing the imperial decree, all went to heaven to ask for the title and be granted the immortal talisman. Now that this immortal has achieved enlightenment, he did not even ask for the heavenly position. He could not even ask for the position of a true lord. He is indeed an immortal with the Tao."

Therefore, the immortals did not dare to ask again, and they bowed and said, "We know what the Immortal wants, and we will definitely tell Your Majesty. Now we are leaving."

The master and his disciple saw the celestial beings off from the cave, hoping that they would return to the heaven directly, and then they returned to the quiet room.

……

In the quiet room, the master was sitting cross-legged on a cushion. Seeing the boy sitting beside him, he took out a red gourd and handed it to the boy. He said, "Boy, there is a wonderful pill in this gourd. When you meditate later, swallow it. It will help you gain merit and make your roots strong."

Jiang Yuan took the red gourd and bowed, saying, "Disciple thanks Master for his kindness."

The master said, "Now that you have accomplished your mission, I should teach you how to protect yourself. The angel came to see you off. Today, the angel is leaving, so I should teach you. Boy, what kind of self-protection method are you teaching me?"

Jiang Yuan said: "Master, I don't know. I have been practicing hard. I didn't know that you have such a way to protect yourself. I don't know how to learn it. I will just follow your teachings."

The master said, "There are many ways to protect yourself. Why don't you learn the 108 Great Methods, which can be used as a transformation technique to escape disasters and avoid misfortunes."

Jiang Yuan asked: "Master, how do you explain these 108 great methods?"

The master replied: "The number of Tian Gang and Di Sha adds up to 108, which is the art of transformation. It is enough for you to escape disasters and avoid misfortunes."

Jiang Yuan knew that the seventy-two transformations and the thirty-six transformations together made a total of one hundred and eight, so it was called the "Hundred-Eight Great Method". He bowed and said, "Master, I am willing to learn this! But please teach me!"

The master said, "Since that is the case, you should lean over and listen closely. Don't let the other six ears listen. I will pass on the secret formula to you. Now that you have mastered one secret, you will master all the secrets. If you practice by yourself, it won't take long before you will succeed."

Jiang Yuan washed his ears attentively and walked forward. The master passed on various secrets to him, and he memorized them carefully. He felt that there was a hidden inspiration. If he practiced it, he would be able to learn the skills in less than two or three years.

After the master had passed on the formula, he asked, "Boy, can you write it down?"

Jiang Yuan bowed and said, "Master, I will remember this."

The master said, "Then go ahead and cultivate the 108 Great Methods. Then I will teach you the body-protection method. You must swallow the miraculous pill to strengthen your roots before you can practice."

Jiang Yuan said: "Master, I understand now. I will not be arrogant and will focus on strengthening my roots first."

When the master heard this, he was delighted, knowing that the boy had some ideas, so he told Jiang Yuan to leave and let him practice with peace of mind. He only said that his path was still young and that he should focus on cultivating his mind to make his roots solid.

Jiang Yuan then left...

(End of this chapter)