Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 151 Abyss Dragon Bone (Part 2)

Niu Yi stepped forward, helped Zhao Xizhu up, and said frankly:
“Mr. Zhao, there’s no need for that. You meant well back then, so how could I blame you? We should just address each other as we did back then.”

"This"

Zhao Xizhu looked up at the young man in front of her, who seemed to have changed little from more than twenty years ago, and a complicated expression appeared on her face.

He hadn't noticed it back in Xiaping City, but now, seeing this person standing there, he felt as if he were facing the boundless earth, embodying the Dao and merging with heaven and earth.

This person has likely grasped the essence of some great principle; I truly misjudged him back then.
Although Zhao Xizhu still felt that something was wrong, the facts were already laid bare.

The four local earth gods, left standing to the side, along with Yao Qing'er and the others, couldn't help but look at each other strangely. They hadn't expected that these two would actually know each other, and that the City God of Xiaping City was even called Immortal Niu Yi.
Niu Yi looked at Zhao Xizhu in front of him and smiled, saying:
"I haven't yet asked Mr. Zhao what brings you to Tiger Roaring Mountain this time?"

Looking at the man before her, who was as kind as ever, Zhao Xizhu quickly said:
"Replying to the Immortal Daoist, I have come here precisely to discuss the appointment of the new local deity of Tiger Roaring Mountain."

As Zhao Xizhu spoke, she formed a hand seal, and a tiger-shaped seal radiating golden light suddenly appeared. It was the Tiger Roaring Mountain Land Seal that she had previously retrieved from the Land God of Jindou Mountain.

But then Zhao Xizhu picked up the earth seal, solemnly tossed it into the sky, and the golden earth seal landed on the top of Tiger Roar Mountain, causing a resonance throughout the entire Tiger Roar Mountain area.

Just then, a majestic voice suddenly came down from the sky.

Niu Yi looked up at the sky and saw a solemn-looking golden-armored deity holding the Jade Emperor's edict and reading its contents aloud on a patch of auspicious clouds.

"By the decree of the Jade Emperor. There is a man from Shangtang Village named Liu Gui. During his lifetime, he was devoted to good deeds and possessed both virtue and talent. He once saved the lives of a hundred households in Shangtang Village. His merits are complete. He is hereby appointed as the local deity of Tiger Roar Mountain and shall assume office immediately."

As the sound slowly dissipated, the entire Tiger Roar Mountain region seemed to tremble slightly as if in cheers. With a flash of four-colored golden light, the figure of an old man dressed in a magnificent purple robe quickly appeared on Tiger Roar Mountain, standing in front of the Earth Seal.

The old man was none other than Liu Gui, the former village chief of Shangtang Village, whom Niu Yi was very familiar with from the land of Jindou Mountain.

Niu Yi and the Earth God of Jindou Mountain exchanged a glance, both seeing the smile in each other's eyes.

At this time, Liu Gui had clearly received the celestial ordination and achieved success in the divine path. He was just waiting to fully master the Mountain God Seal, and would then be officially appointed by the Heavenly Court as the Tiger Roar Mountain Earth God and the God of Fortune.

As soon as Liu Gui appeared, the earth seal in front of him flew into Liu Gui's body on its own, and Liu Gui knelt down to express his gratitude with a respectful expression.

Upon seeing this, the golden-armored deity nodded slightly, then stood atop the auspicious cloud and swiftly flew towards the heavens to return and report back to the Heavenly Court.

Upon seeing this, the City God of Xiaping City cupped his hands towards Niu Yi beside him and said:

"Daoist Master, I have come here to return the Earth God Seal. Now that the Earth God of Tiger Roar Mountain has returned to his position, and my Xiaping City cannot be left unguarded, I shall take my leave."

"If you have some free time in the future, Daoist Master, you are welcome to visit Xiaping City. I will certainly welcome you with open arms."

Niu Yi cupped his hands and said:
"Alright, alright~ then thank you very much, sir."

Seeing this, the other four local deities also quickly stepped forward, cupped their hands in a respectful greeting to Zhao Xizhu, and said:

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the City God Zhao!"

Zhao Xizhu smiled and nodded, then turned around and vanished in a flash.

Niu Yi knew in his heart that his presence put a lot of pressure on this person, which was why he was unwilling to stay any longer.

That makes sense, though. He and this City God Zhao were just casual acquaintances, and yet he cultivated the Earth Path, which allowed the City God Zhao, with his sharp eyes and high cultivation level, to see through his disguise. How could the other party not feel pressured?

As Zhao Chenghuang left, a golden light quickly descended from Tiger Roaring Mountain and appeared before everyone. It was none other than the newly appointed Tiger Roaring Mountain Earth God, Liu Gui.

Upon appearing, Liu Gui bowed deeply to Niu Yi and the local earth god of Jindou Mountain, saying:
"Liu Gui greets the Earth God of Jindu Mountain and the Taoist priest."

The local earth god of Jindou Mountain, leaning on his wooden cane, quickly stepped forward, helped Liu Gui up, and said with a smile:

"Village Chief Liu Gui, please don't stand on ceremony. We are all local deities now, so please don't make such a big show of respect."

Just as Liu Gui was about to say something, Niu Yi appeared in front of him and said with a smile:
“Village Chief Liu Gui, there’s a long road ahead. The three of us are old friends, so there’s no need for such formalities. Besides, we’ve gathered here to celebrate Village Chief Liu Gui’s appointment as the local deity of Tiger Roar Mountain.”

"Since everyone is here today, I'd like to introduce these future neighbors to Village Chief Liu Gui."

Liu Gui looked up at Niu Yi, his face full of gratitude.

He had already stepped onto the Bridge of Helplessness, intending to drink the Meng Po soup and be reincarnated, but unexpectedly a celestial being suddenly appeared and declared that his merits were sufficient to become the local earth god.

Upon hearing this, Liu Gui had no reason to refuse, and after an extremely long wait, the current situation has come to this.

Niu Yi and the local earth god of Jindou Mountain introduced Liu Gui to the other earth gods and Yao Qing'er and others. After a conversation, with Niu Yi's guidance, Liu Gui quickly integrated into this small circle.

These local deities clearly showed kindness and enthusiasm, which relieved Liu Guizai.

Three days later, at the summit of Jindu Mountain, inside the pavilion.

"So, Liu Dahu, Bai Guiqin and her husband, and Wu Tie were all taken away by that heavenly being?"

"That's right, Master."

Upon hearing Liu Gui's affirmative answer, Niu Yi nodded thoughtfully.

Liu Dongchen should still be cultivating at this time. If such an arrangement is made, it is possible that this matter was authorized by the Heavenly Venerable.

But this is good too. He has a close relationship with the Liu family and finds Wu Tiehan very agreeable. He is happy to have more old friends living on in this world.

On the seventh day after Liu Gui took office as the local deity of Tiger Roaring Mountain, Niu Yi bid farewell to everyone again and left Golden Dust Mountain.

At this moment, Niu Yi was standing above the clouds, looking down at the Tongtian River. His lips moved slightly, and he said something. After he finished speaking, his figure turned into a golden light and left the place.

Not long after Niu Yi left, a large, old turtle emerged from the Tongtian River, looking up at the sky with eyes full of gratitude and respect. It bowed to the sky before disappearing back into the water and returning to its underwater palace. At Niu Yi's speed, he arrived at the Western Sea in just a few breaths.

The vast ocean contains endless treasures.

His purpose in coming here was naturally to find the place where the rare and precious materials written by Zen Master Wuchao were kept, and one of them was in a deep abyss at the bottom of the West Sea.

Niu Yi stood on the cloud, looking down at the surging, boundless Western Sea. His figure quickly transformed into a golden light and plunged into the Western Sea, where he activated his water escape technique and remained in the water.

At this moment, Niu Yi was enveloped in a mass of water, ignoring the ocean fish around him. He looked around and continued to descend into the depths of the Western Sea.

The location recorded by the old Zen master was only a general area, and Niu Yi needed to search within that area.

Fortunately, this place is a remote spot in the West Sea, far from the West Sea Dragon Palace in the center of the West Sea, and there are not many eyes and ears of the Dragon Palace. We don't need to worry about disturbing them if we act here.

With Niu Yi's speed in water escape techniques, it didn't take long for him to reach the seabed. The surrounding area was already dark and fraught with danger.

This underwater realm is certainly not a peaceful place, especially since it is remote and the Dragon Palace is unlikely to pay attention to it. There must be sea demons lurking there.

Niu Yi sensed the fierce gaze coming from behind him, but ignored it. He activated his treasure-hunting talent and used his Multi-Treasure Eyes to search around the seabed. The darkness of the seabed was no different from light to him and had no effect on him.

According to the old Zen master's record in the book, the treasures here are among the most top-tier treasures in the entire book, and they are of great benefit to his Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl painting.

However, that place is also extremely difficult to find, requiring a special method to enter. Fortunately, the old Zen master has written down the method in its entirety in his book.

Niu Yi strolled along the seabed, but more and more eyes were fixed on him. Among those gazes were ferocity, amusement, and mockery, but Niu Yi seemed completely oblivious.

Until a gigantic body, tens of meters long, silently appeared behind Niu Yi in the dim seabed.

That enormous body was none other than a giant octopus, tens of feet tall, with scarlet, ferocious eyes, and huge octopus tentacles below it were coiling around Niu Yi!

But then Niu Yi raised his palm, and golden light suddenly flashed behind him.

"Hu~~"

While the giant octopus was stunned, streaks of golden light swiftly swept across its body, instantly forming a golden tornado.

In the blink of an eye, it sliced ​​the dozens of feet tall deep-sea octopus demon into pieces, scattering them across the seabed.

Those who had been watching this scene immediately became terrified and quickly retreated, each one running faster than the last.

In the demon race, strength is paramount, and this holds true everywhere. The octopus demon was already one of the most powerful monsters in the area, yet it was still easily annihilated. Naturally, the other sea monsters dared not covet Niu Yi any longer.

Niu Yi turned to look at the octopus demon that had turned into thin, crystalline pieces, stretched out his hand, and activated his Heaven-Seizing Hand talent.

However, this time Niu Yi only obtained a blue-grade ink mist spell from this octopus demon at the Demon General level. He incorporated it into his Dharma Aspect spell, making it slightly stronger, which was better than nothing.

For the next period of time, Niu Yi wandered around the area, searching for the location recorded by Zen Master Wuchao. His efforts paid off, and on the third day, Niu Yi finally found the place.

"It is called the abyss, but it is actually completely hidden under the seabed mud and sand. It requires this special magic seal to open an underwater cave passage."

Niu Yi looked at the broken stone tablet in front of him, which was mostly buried under the mud and sand and had a very faint dragon-shaped pattern. He circulated his magic power and his fingers changed rapidly, forming a peculiar magic seal.

As the magic seal was formed, the stone tablet remained motionless, and a passage leading to the mud and sand below suddenly appeared beside it.

Niu Yi sensed the faint dragon's might emanating from it and thought to himself, "This is the place."

Niu Yi looked around and slowly walked inside.

As he stepped into the cave, the mud and sand at the entrance quickly closed in, and the dark seabed returned to silence once more.

Niu Yi was unaware that in the West Sea Dragon Palace, Ao Run, the West Sea Dragon King, who was sitting on his bed with a smile on his face, watching the clam maiden play music and dance with great ease, suddenly changed his expression.

Ao Run suddenly sat up, frowning, and the pair of dragon horns on his head emitted a faint crystalline light.

"Stop! All of you, get out!"

Upon hearing Ao Run's words, the many clam maidens were terrified and immediately knelt down to apologize. However, Ao Run quickly stood up, waved his sleeve, and angrily said:

"Get out of here!!"

Seeing the Dragon King's anger, the clam maidens quickly got up and hurried out of the palace. In no time, only the West Sea Dragon King Ao Run was left standing alone in the palace.

"That dragon's lair has actually been opened."

At this moment, Ao Run's face showed a complex mix of emotions, including nostalgia, anger, and感慨, but in the end, he only sighed softly.

"That's fine then. At least that child is innocent. After all, he is a member of the Western Sea Dragon Clan. I just don't know who opened the dragon's lair."

At this moment, Niu Yi was walking deeper into the cave. As he went deeper into the underwater cave, the path ahead was no longer dark. Instead, rows of blue light-emitting seaweed gradually appeared in the cave, illuminating it brightly.

Soon, as Niu Yi walked out of the cave, his view suddenly opened up.

In a seabed rift valley where blue-glowing seaweed grew, the skeleton of a giant dragon, two thousand feet long, appeared before Niu Yi's eyes.

Niu Yi looked at the enormous, winding dragon skeleton before him, which resembled a piece of crystal jade. Although it was devoid of flesh and life, its imposing presence was undeniable.

This dragon, in its previous life, must have comprehended the great principles of water and traveled quite far.

And this dragon bone is the treasure recorded in the Zen master's book.

(End of this chapter)