Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 153 Golden Toad Mountain (Combined into two chapters, each 3,000 words)
In the Western Sea, within the Dragon Tomb of the Abyss.

Niu Yi sat cross-legged amidst swaying blue water plants. His eyes were closed, and his expression was calm. Within the abyss, streams of azure water-elemental energy surged toward Niu Yi's body, swirling around him.

Just then, Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes, and a light blue gleam flashed in the depths of his dark pupils.

Including today, he has been cultivating in this abyss for six years. Now he has not only embarked on the path of water movement, but has also made considerable progress on it.

Niu Yi's eyes were calm as he slowly raised his palm, sensing the gentle flow of water that brushed against it.

"The highest good is like water, which benefits all things without striving."

Even after embarking on the Great Path, the direction of understanding will differ for each individual.

Niu Yi's understanding of the Earth Element Dao is most profound and thorough, particularly the earth's nurturing and all-encompassing creative power. And in his understanding of the Water Element Dao, his deepest insight is this: water benefits all things without contention.

"Sir, please have some tea."

Hearing the voice beside him, Niu Yi turned his head and looked at the handsome young man in a light blue robe with dragon horns on his head, who was holding a teacup and looking at him.

A gentle smile appeared on Niu Yi's face. He nodded at the handsome young man, took the jade teacup, took a small sip, and praised:

"Not bad, Xuan'er, your tea-making skills are becoming more and more proficient."

Upon hearing Niu Yi's praise, the handsome young man blushed slightly, and a hint of excitement flashed in his sky-blue eyes.

This dragon boy with dragon horns was born from the dragon egg awakened by Niu Yi and Taibai Jinxing, and his name is Ao Xuan.

In just six years, the little boy has grown into a young man, and Niu Yi has taken him in as a disciple.

He and Venus awakened the child and took care of him together for a period of time. Venus then returned to the Heavenly Palace. As the master of the Qiming Palace, he naturally had many things to do.

For the remaining five years, Niu Yi took care of the child alone. Fortunately, the child was born with knowledge and never caused him much trouble. Over the past six years, however, he has truly developed some affection for the child.

Among the dragon race, especially true dragon offspring like Ao Xuan, the bloodline of the dragon race is inherited. This inheritance includes magic, supernatural powers, and all kinds of knowledge, which makes this child know many things from birth.

Furthermore, Ao Tao clearly gave his son special training, and Ao Xuan's growth was much faster than that of an ordinary true dragon.

At the same time, Ao Tao also left the details of his transaction with the person he was destined to meet later in Ao Xuan's bloodline memory, which made Ao Xuan aware of these things from birth.

Ao Xuan, on the other hand, was quite quiet and peaceful, which Niu Yi and Taibai Jinxing liked very much.

Niu Yi looked up, surveyed the now completely empty sea abyss except for the blue, glowing water plants scattered across the ground, patted the Chaos Green Gourd tied to his waist, slowly rose, and said:

“Let’s go. We’ve been here for six years. It’s time to leave.”

"Yes, sir."

Niu Yi turned around and walked towards the entrance of the underwater cave, while Ao Xuan glanced around, imprinting the appearance of the place firmly in his mind, and followed Niu Yi, leaving the place.

Niu Yi led Ao Xuan out of the underwater cave and back to the dark seabed of the West Sea.

"Ok?"

Niu Yi's treasure-hunting talent was suddenly triggered for a moment, and he couldn't help but turn his head, only to see a seemingly ordinary black-scaled fish swimming around there.

Niu Yi looked at the black-scaled fish, thought for a moment, picked up the Chaos Green Gourd from his waist, uncorked it, and aimed it at the black-scaled fish.

But then a suction force emanated from the mouth of the Chaotic Green Gourd, directly drawing the black-scaled fish towards it. As it approached the gourd's mouth, it shrank continuously and flew straight into the gourd.

"Hehe~ This magic gourd is so convenient. Now that snake skin bag is completely idle."

Niu Yi re-stuffed the gourd and hung the Chaos Green Gourd back on his waist. He looked at Ao Xuan beside him and saw Ao Xuan's somewhat surprised face.

Ao Xuan wasn't surprised by his master's magic gourd, since he had already witnessed its wonders. He was more surprised that his master had put that seemingly ordinary black-scaled fish into the gourd.

Niu Yi simply smiled and offered no explanation.

"Xuan'er, I am now going to visit some friends. Do you want to come with me, or go back to my Golden Gourd Mountain first?"

Niu Yi originally planned to search for more treasure locations recorded by the old Zen master in the next few years, but he spent six years in the abyss comprehending the Dao of Water by using the rich water-based Daoist energy there.

Now, with less than two years until his elder brother Jin Fu's birthday celebration, it's time for him to head to Jin Fu's Golden Toad Mountain as soon as possible.

"Ao Xuan wants to follow Master! Wherever Master goes, Ao Xuan will go!"

Ao Xuan said these words with absolute certainty, without the slightest hesitation.

Over the past six years, he has developed a deep dependence on Niu Yi, who raised him, as if he could feel at ease as long as his master was around. His father, Ao Tao, left many words in his bloodline memory, but the two most important ones were that he must not resent the Heavenly Court and that he must obey the words of the person who awakened him.

Niu Yi nodded and said:
"In that case, Xuan'er, you shall come with me."

"However, if we encounter any danger later, once I open this gourd, you must not hesitate and immediately crawl inside!"

Although he has been having a relatively smooth journey so far, his master warned him to be careful on this trip, as there is a high possibility of unexpected changes. He must be cautious and not dare to be careless.

Seeing Niu Yi's serious expression, Ao Xuan quickly nodded and agreed.

Seeing that Ao Xuan had clearly taken his words to heart, Niu Yi's expression softened, and he channeled his magic power, exhaling a breath of fresh air towards Ao Xuan.

But then, the pair of dragon horns on Ao Xuan's head disappeared instantly under the surrounding pure energy. Ao Xuan's aura also became ordinary, just like that of an ordinary, handsome young Taoist.

Niu Yi nodded in satisfaction.

"let's go."

Although Ao Xuan possessed the strength of a demon general at only six years old due to his true dragon bloodline, and his strength was still rapidly increasing, the place Niu Yi was about to go to was no ordinary place either.

His elder brother Jin Fu was a three-legged golden toad who had cultivated for ten thousand years. He had gone far in the realm of Taiyi True Immortal, and because of his cultivation of the Great Dao of Fairness, everyone was willing to trade with him, so he had a wide circle of friends.

Now that Brother Jin Fu is celebrating his birthday, it will surely be a grand occasion with people from all sides gathering. Ao Xuan's pair of dragon horns and the dragon aura on his body are still quite conspicuous, so he took action to cover them up.

Niu Yi placed his hand on Ao Xuan's shoulder, activated the Water Escape technique from the Five Elements Escape Method, and in a few breaths, he came from the seabed to the surface of the sea, transformed into a golden light and flew into the clouds, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Father, they have already left."

Inside the West Sea Dragon Palace, Ao Run, the West Sea Dragon King, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, turned around to look at his four sons. Finally, his gaze fell on his eldest son, who had just spoken, and he nodded, saying:
"Alright, if you encounter that child in the future, remember to take care of him. And if you encounter that Immortal Master Guangyi, you must treat him with the utmost respect, without the slightest negligence. Do you understand?"

The four sons of the Dragon King of the West Sea are: the eldest son Ao Moang, the second son Ao Rong, the third son Ao Lie, and the fourth son Ao Wang.

If Niu Yi were here, he would probably take a closer look at Ao Lie, the handsome third prince of the West Sea Dragon King's family.

This Jade Dragon Prince was none other than the white dragon horse that would later accompany Tang Sanzang and his disciples on their journey to the West.

At this moment, the four brothers respectfully agreed to their father's request, but the second prince, Ao Rong, hesitated, and finally couldn't help but ask his father:

"Father, since he is a true dragon offspring of my West Sea Dragon Palace, why must he be handed over to others, and why must that treasure be given to that Immortal Guangyi?"

But then the eldest prince, Ao Moang, stepped forward and said:
“Hey, second brother, this matter was decided by Father and Taibai Xingjun, so we should just follow Father’s orders.”

Ao Rong frowned slightly. This was clearly not the answer he wanted to hear. Although he looked displeased, he didn't say anything. He simply greeted his father and then turned and left.

The Dragon King of the West Sea, Ao Run, took everything in, but said nothing.

Five years ago, Venus Li Changgeng visited the West Sea Dragon Palace and spoke with him briefly. Since then, he has decided to completely entrust the child Ao Xuan to the immortal Guangyi, and he is very confident in this future backer of Ao Xuan.

Furthermore, this Immortal Master Guangyi had relieved one of his worries, so he was naturally extremely grateful to him and wanted to befriend him, which is why he sent the treasure over.

As for what happened back then, only his eldest son, Ao Moang, knew about it among his four sons. The other three sons knew nothing about it. After all, it was a scandal, so the less they knew, the better.

His eldest son was loyal and brave, and always acted with discretion, so he would not easily spread this matter.

On the other side, Niu Yi left the West Sea and used his Golden Light Transcendental Divine Power to transform into golden light and fly swiftly through the sky. Soon he arrived near Golden Toad Mountain in Xiniu Hezhou and landed in the forest not far from Golden Toad Mountain.

Niu Yi, leading Ao Xuan, looked at the majestic mountain before them, which resembled a golden toad crawling on the earth, and nodded in admiration.

"Brother Jin Fu's Golden Toad Mountain is quite extraordinary indeed!"

The mountain itself was fine; it was indeed a beautiful and spiritually significant peak, and quite mystical. But what impressed him even more was that his treasure-hunting talent was now being triggered on its own.

This Golden Toad Mountain truly possesses an astonishing number of treasures; it is indeed worthy of being the Taoist temple of his elder brother, Jin Fu.

Niu Yi strode towards Golden Toad Mountain, while Ao Xuan followed closely behind, just like a little Taoist boy.

Before long, Niu Yi arrived at the foot of Golden Toad Mountain. He saw the two blue toad demons guarding the mountain gate and was about to go forward when a golden figure descended from the sky and landed in front of him.

"Hahaha~~ Brother Niu Yi, I've really missed you dearly~"

Niu Yi looked at Jin Fu, who was heavily pregnant, dressed in gold and jewels, and was laughing loudly as he strode towards him. A smile couldn't help but appear on Niu Yi's face as well.

Niu Yi, accompanied by Ao Xuan, quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying:
"Brother Jin Fu."

(End of this chapter)