Simultaneous traversal: All Abyss difficulty.

Chapter 575 Arrival at Gao Lao Zhuang
At the summit of Maoshan, Shi Jian finally finished writing the back of the Lightning Thunder Fist.

Fang Yu took the Lightning Thunder Fist manual from Shi Jian, casually flipped through a few pages, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

He closed the bamboo slip, shut his eyes and concentrated, and suddenly fine arcs of electricity appeared around his body.

Seeing this, Shi Jian's goatee twitched slightly as he suppressed a laugh and said, "Senior, this fist technique requires drawing in the thunder of heaven and earth into the body, then using the meridians as a guide to transform the thunder into fists. I have cultivated it diligently for over twenty years and only achieved a minor degree of mastery. I'm afraid you are just beginning to learn it."

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Yu suddenly opened his eyes!
"Crack-!"

A blinding bolt of lightning shot out from his fingertips, tearing through the air like a silver snake and shattering the stone lantern ten feet away!

The shattered stones splashed onto Shi Jian's Taoist robe, and he froze on the spot, completely unaware that he was drooling.

Fang Yu flicked his smoking fingertips, turned to Shi Jian and winked: "Twenty years?"

With his palm facing upwards, a ball of liquid lightning material appeared out of thin air, flowing between his fingers and transforming into a dazzling ball of lightning. "I have the approval of the Nine Heavens Thunder Pool. Your fist technique..."

The lightning ball suddenly transformed into a mini lightning dragon, circling around Fang Yu's arm. "It's like an experienced driver driving bumper cars; it's child's play."

Shi Jian's Adam's apple bobbed, and the static electricity made the white hair beneath his Taoist hat stand on end. He stared at the lifelike thunder dragon, his voice trembling: "I have learned a great deal."

"However, the Maoshan Thunder Magic takes a different approach, using lightning like an embroidery needle with exquisite skill, which has indeed made up for my shortcomings." He patted Shi Jian on the shoulder, who was jolted awake by the electric shock. "Thanks, this is a huge win."

------

A light rain was falling as the three travelers left Guanyin Temple and continued their westward journey.

Sun Wukong, carrying his golden cudgel, walked at the front. Suddenly, his nose twitched twice, and his fiery eyes narrowed: "Huh? This cave smells strongly of bears!"

Fang Yu didn't even look up. "Brother Monkey, let's go. Why bother with it? It's just a black bear who believes in Buddhism. Apart from its dirty hands and love to steal, it hasn't done anything evil."

Tang Sanzang asked in surprise, "What are you talking about?"

Fang Yu pointed to the cave, "There's a black bear demon living in that cave ahead." He glanced at Tang Sanzang's bundle as he spoke, "But since we didn't lose anything, let's go."

Deep inside the cave, the black bear spirit, who was meditating, suddenly sneezed three times in a row.

It rubbed its nose, looked out of the cave in confusion, completely unaware that it had just missed its destined reward.

According to the original trajectory, it should have fought a great battle with Sun Wukong for stealing Tang Sanzang's cassock, and was eventually taken in by Guanyin as a guardian deity of the mountain.

But now, under Fang Yu's influence, Tang Sanzang's cassock was never lent to Elder Jinchi, and the Black Bear Spirit didn't even know that the westward journey team was passing by. He continued to chant sutras and worship Buddha every day, occasionally stealing some earthly treasures to play with, but he never had the chance to step onto the right path of Buddhism again.

At the same time, it also lost the opportunity to be the first chapter's boss.
A few days later, the border marker of Ü-Tsang came into view.

"We've finally arrived!" Fang Yu stretched and pointed to the village with wisps of smoke rising from its chimneys in the distance. "Let's beg for alms there. Old Tang must be tired of my porridge by now."

Tang Sanzang coughed twice, "How could I be tired of it? I just want to stay the night and eat something else, like cornbread or something."

Fang Yu chuckled mischievously, "If you were truly without desires, you wouldn't just be eating plain porridge; you should be drinking dew and absorbing the essence of heaven and earth! That would be the profound state of being free from desires that you believe in! Right now, you can't even stand being given porridge without any pickles~"

Tang Sanzang pretended not to hear and looked towards the distant village. "There are wealthy families there. Let's go and beg for some alms."

Fang Yu nudged Sun Wukong on the shoulder, "Look, Brother Monkey, he even knows to ask rich people for alms!"

The group arrived at the gate. Tang Sanzang straightened his cassock and raised his hand to knock on the copper ring on the vermilion gate of the Gao residence.

"Squeak-"

A sliver of the butler's face peeked through the crack in the door. Upon recognizing a fair-skinned monk, his cloudy old eyes suddenly lit up: "Elder, do you know how to exorcise demons?" "Amitabha," Tang Sanzang quickly waved his hand, "This humble monk only knows how to chant scriptures."

"Oh dear, Master, you don't know how, but I, Old Sun, do!" A furry monkey head suddenly popped out from under Tang Sanzang's armpit, its fiery eyes blinking at the crack in the door.

"Oh my god!" The butler was so frightened that he fell to the ground with a thud. The door slammed shut, and a frantic banging came from inside.

Tang Sanzang knocked on the door helplessly: "Don't be afraid, benefactor! This is my eldest disciple, though he has a rather fierce appearance."

The butler's trembling voice came from under the door: "It itself is a monster!"

“Wukong has converted to Buddhism.” Tang Sanzang’s voice was as gentle as spring rain, seeping in through the crack in the door. “Please believe me.”

The door bolt slowly slid open. The butler squinted at Tang Sanzang's compassionate features, then caught a glimpse of Sun Wukong blinking. Finally, he let out a long sigh of relief: "Alright then, come in."

In the main hall, Grandpa Gao's teacup clattered on the table.

The old man stared at Sun Wukong, who was squatting on a grand chair eating a peach, his white beard trembling: "That demon has held my daughter captive for three years, and every night she transforms into a burly man with a black face."

"Such a thing actually happened?!" Tang Sanzang's own experience made him instantly empathize. "A demon who forcibly marries a woman is outrageous!"

"Tsk."

Fang Yu clicked his tongue at an inopportune moment, which displeased Gao Taigong. "Young Taoist priest, what do you mean by that?"

"It doesn't mean anything. I just think that some people are really shameless for discarding their useful tools after they've served their purpose."

Grandpa Gao, furious, pointed at Fang Yu and yelled, "You! Speak your mind!"

Tang Sanzang quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Grandpa Gao, please don't take it to heart. He has his reasons."

"None of your business! What do you know?" Fang Yu interrupted Tang Seng's speech and looked at Gao Taigong. "When you used that dark-faced man, you treated him like an ox or a horse. With him around, he did all the work at home and in the fields. He's a rough man, without parents, land, or property. The only reason he was able to marry your daughter is because he was free labor."

"What a shameless thing to say about hoarding my daughter for three years! A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. When you're making others work for free, you don't even try to be understanding, but now that it's your turn, you're saying these things!"

"You!" Old Master Gao slumped into his armchair, trembling, on the verge of fainting. Fang Yu continued:

"What do you mean, 'you'?! Is there anything wrong with what I said?! It's a demon. If it really wanted to harm people, it would have eaten your whole family long ago. Now it keeps its wife locked in the backyard, feeding and caring for her well. It hasn't abused or hurt her. Just because she looks ugly after drinking, you're all being racist. I don't see any crops being neglected in the fields. How has it wronged you?"

Before Old Master Gao could reply, a sudden, eerie wind swept outside!

A fat, big-eared pig demon arrived riding on a black cloud!

"Well said! Hahahaha! Finally, someone who understands!"

"Old Master Yue, listen to this young master's righteous words! In all these years, has I, Old Pig, ever wronged your Gao family?"

Seeing that Gao Taigong had fainted from anger, Zhu Ganglie smiled at Fang Yu, "Even if you're a demon hunter, I, Old Pig, will still respect you!"

But then he added, “What you just said is absolutely right. I, Old Pig, will forgive your past offense of causing trouble at my door! And don’t say that I, Old Pig, am heartless. I’ll give you half an incense stick’s time to go and get some vegetarian food and run for your lives!”

Fang Yu laughed this time, "You pig-headed idiot, open your beady eyes and see who's behind me?"

Pigsy squinted and saw a hairy-faced thunder god laughing. He immediately sobered up a lot!
"Ah! The stable boy!"

With that, he turned and fled on a cloud!
"Monkey King! Charge!"

(End of this chapter)