Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 159 Two-Pole Magnetic Iron
Lingtai Mindset, first floor of the library.

Niu Yi stood in front of the bookshelf and placed the thick medical book in his hand back in the last position on the shelf.

From the moment he first arrived at the first floor of this library and opened the first pharmacopoeia, until now, he has been studying these pharmacopoeias and medical books in this library every night. Nearly four hundred years have passed in his spiritual realm.

In recent years, he has often set aside some time to study the supernatural powers on the second floor of the library, but this has been a rather long period of time.

The Great Celestial Venerable appointed him as the Divine Physician Daoist Lord. With the 13,610 volumes of medical books and pharmacopoeias covering all things in the universe as his foundation, Niu Yi was confident that he could certainly become the Divine Physician Daoist Lord.

"That old rooster, after all these years, still hasn't made a sound."

Niu Yi felt a little helpless when he thought of that old rooster.

Within this spiritual realm, the old rooster had been transformed into the five-colored egg for nearly ninety years. During this long period, Niu Yi could only sense a power brewing within it, without any other changes.

Fortunately, there was no one to disturb him in his spiritual state, so the rooster could quietly transform in the back mountain. Niu Yi had been cultivating for so long, and he was not short of time to wait.

Just then, Niu Yi suddenly felt a sudden urge, his expression froze, and he looked towards the upper level of the library.

After a moment's thought, Niu Yi stepped up the stairs and onto the second floor of the library. There, as always, were only three books on supernatural powers and one book on magic lying quietly on the bookshelf.

Niu Yi did not linger on the second floor, but went straight to the third floor.

As soon as Niu Yi arrived at the third floor, his eyes lit up. He quickly walked to the first bookshelf on the third floor and saw that the bookshelf was filled with books.

"These are classic texts from Taoism, as well as Confucianism, Buddhism, and other schools of thought from various other periods."

Niu Yi picked up one of the books and opened it to look at it. These books and scriptures would be quite rare in the human world, but they were not particularly mysterious. They could probably be found in some large temples or famous academies.

But it is precisely these seemingly ordinary classic works, each from its own school of thought, that have built the true foundation for their enduring legacy.

Niu Yi put the book back in his hand and looked at the third floor of the library, which was filled with classic works that filled all 360 bookshelves. His eyes were filled with emotion.

If he were to study and master the classics of these three religions and the other schools of thought, and lay a solid foundation, he might one day be able to be as proficient in all schools of thought and the three religions as his master, Bodhi Patriarch.

The master may have wanted him to follow the same path by showing him these books. Even if that's not the case, having these classic works from various schools of thought can greatly broaden his horizons.

Niu Yi respectfully bowed to the central hall.

"Thank you, Master."

As Niu Yi straightened up, he heard a familiar rooster crowing again.

"Whoa whoa-----"

As Niu Yi gazed at the rising sun outside the window, his consciousness quickly withdrew from his mental state.

In the forest, as Niu Yi, who was sitting cross-legged under a tree, slowly opened his eyes, he saw the golden morning sunlight shining through the layers of leaves and onto him.

Niu Yi looked up at the black mountain floating in mid-air, hidden in the clouds, and motionless, and slowly stood up.

Seeing this, Ao Xuan, who had been standing guard beside Niu Yi, also quickly got up and came to Niu Yi's side.

"Xuan'er, was there any movement at Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain last night?"

"Reporting to Master, there has been no movement at all."

Niu Yi nodded, looking at the enormous, lifeless, pitch-black mountain, but the information recorded in the old Zen master's book came back to mind.

This place is a huge island hidden in the North Sea, called Yuanci Island, and on this island, there is a divine mountain called Yuanci Divine Mountain.

Niu Yi's target was a piece of divine iron in the Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain. This divine iron was interwoven with gold and silver and was called the Bipolar Yuan Magnetic Divine Iron.

These two polar magnetic divine irons possess unique magnetic power, independent of the five elements, and are extremely powerful, being the most effective magic weapon against the metal element.

However, this divine iron remained within the Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain that floated in mid-air, and around this divine mountain was a Yuan Magnetic Grand Array.

This grand formation is a manifestation of the Primordial Magnetic Dao. The surrounding天地气机 (heaven and earth energy) is chaotic and disordered, with no discernible pattern, making it extremely dangerous.

If you step into that formation, you might be fine one moment and then be torn to pieces by the violent polar magnetic force the next, or be instantly sent out of the formation by the chaotic magnetic force, not knowing where you will end up.

Let alone his Taiyi True Immortal realm, even a Daluo Golden Immortal would be slightly affected by this Yuan Magnetic Array.

Moreover, this Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain is a complete whole without any gaps. Even if one enters the Yuan Magnetic Grand Array, one cannot break through the outer shell of this divine mountain and cannot extract the bipolar Yuan Magnetic Divine Iron inside.

However, since the old Zen master included these two polar magnetic divine irons in the book, it must be because those two polar magnetic divine irons are about to be born.

"Judging from the time given by the old Zen master, it should be two to four years before these two extreme Yuan Magnetic Divine Irons appear in the world. Even with the old Zen master's abilities, he can only estimate a rough time. This Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain must be quite extraordinary."

After leaving White Tiger Ridge, he went straight here. The area around Yuan Magnetic Island was also somewhat affected by the Yuan Magnetic Array, making the surrounding天地气机 (heaven and earth energy) and space quite chaotic. Even he spent a full half-hour calculating before he could figure out the path into Yuan Magnetic Island. However, it now seemed he would have to wait here for several more years.
“Xuan’er, let’s build a thatched hut here. It looks like we’ll be staying here for a while.”

Ao Xuan naturally had no objections; as long as his master was there, it didn't matter to him where he was.

"Yes, sir!"

A year later, on the outskirts of Yuanci Island, a small fishing boat is slowly approaching the island.

On the small fishing boat, a Taoist priest wearing a straw hat and raincoat was holding a bamboo fishing rod, his head bowed, his whisk resting on his lap, letting the fishing boat slowly move towards Yuanci Island ahead, propelled by the sea.

If you listen carefully, you can even hear soft snoring coming from under the straw hat.

"hu~hu~"

Just then, a sea fish leaped out of the water and fell back down with a splash, the sound of which also woke the Taoist priest.

But then the Taoist opened his still somewhat blurry eyes, yawned, and stretched.

"Ha~~"

"Has a fish taken the bait?"

The Taoist priest casually lifted the fishing rod in his hand, only to find that there was only a lonely long line at the top of the rod, without even a hook, and no fish were biting.

The Taoist priest, however, seemed completely unconcerned. He put away his fishing rod, stood up, and looked at the Yuanci Island before him with a smile.

"If you think about it, it's only been two years since Master mentioned the divine iron would appear. We can't miss out on such a wonderful treasure!"

As he spoke, the Taoist priest took out a wooden compass engraved with the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams from his robes.

The Taoist priest made a hand seal, and the compass spun rapidly before settling down, indicating a safe route to the island.

Without the Taoist priest making any move, the fishing boat beneath him was quickly propelled by the seawater, heading towards Yuanci Island along the route indicated by the compass, and soon reached the shore of Yuanci Island.

The Taoist priest disembarked from the boat with his whisk. With a casual wave of his whisk, the fishing boat, fishing rod, and the straw hat and raincoat on his body all turned into golden light and flew into his sleeve.

The Taoist priest chuckled, patted his sleeves, and walked straight into the forest.

On the other side, near the central boundary of Yuanci Island, outside a small courtyard surrounded by three thatched huts.

Ao Xuan was sweeping fallen leaves with a large broom at the door, while Niu Yi was sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, seemingly lost in thought.

However, in Niu Yi's pupils, a white tiger shrouded in scarlet killing intent was locked in a fierce battle with a true dragon shrouded in azure flowing water, neither giving an inch.

After a while, as if sensing an unfamiliar aura around him, the white tiger and the true dragon in Niu Yi's eyes slowly dissipated.

He shook his head helplessly.

"The difficulty of coexisting with the White Tiger and the True Dragon is worlds apart from that of the Dragon Roar Stone and the Tiger Howl Stone."

In the past year, besides cultivating the "External Incarnation" supernatural power, he has been deducing the method for refining the Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl Diagram.

However, despite countless deductions over the past year, he has made limited progress. He can completely refine the White Tiger Bone and the True Dragon Bone with the Primordial Chaos Fire, but the two are difficult to coexist and their conflict is extremely strong, making them incompatible.

In his view, the best method would be to subdue the Dragon Roar Stone and Tiger Howl Stone with his own divine will, just as he did when he fused them. However, neither the White Tiger nor the True Dragon are ordinary beings, and with his abilities, it might take a lot of time and effort.

"This matter is not urgent. When I return to my sect, even if my senior brother has not yet emerged from seclusion, I can find an opportunity to ask my master for help."

"As for now."

Niu Yi stood up, looked in the direction from which the aura had come, and slowly walked out of the courtyard, standing at the door.

"Xuan'er, let's stop for a moment, we have guests."

Ao Xuan was surprised to hear this. He and his master had lived on this island for a year, but he had never seen a single bird or beast. How come there were guests today?

Despite his surprise, Ao Xuan quickly swept the fallen leaves aside, put the broom back in the yard, and stood behind Niu Yi to wait.

Before long, a Taoist priest dressed in a Taoist robe and holding a whisk slowly appeared in the mountains and forests and walked towards the thatched hut.

Niu Yi looked at this man with a hint of surprise in his eyes. The Taoist priest, seeing the thatched cottage in the mountains, also showed surprise. But the next moment, this man stepped forward, a sincere smile on his face, bowed, and said:

"This humble Taoist is the Taiyi Zhenren of Jinguang Cave on Qianyuan Mountain. May I ask how this fellow Taoist is addressed?"

(End of this chapter)