Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 163 Ascension to Immortality, First Entry into the Heavenly Palace

"Merciful and compassionate divine healer, please bless my child so that he may grow up safely."

"Lord Dao, please bless my mother with good health and longevity, and protect my father from this calamity."

"May the Dao Lord protect us! May the Dao Lord protect us!"

As Niu Yi listened to the devout prayers around him, a light flashed in his eyes. He saw countless wisps of incense smoke rising from both banks of the Tongtian River and slowly drifting towards him.

This incense smoke is the accumulated smoke from the worship of the Divine Physician Daoist Lord over the decades.

This number also demonstrates the widespread and fervent faith in the Divine Physician Daojun along both banks of the Tongtian River.

As streams of incense smoke began to flow into Niu Yi's avatar, the avatar's form began to slowly change with the infusion of the incense smoke.

Niu Yi did not stop this change, but let it happen naturally.

After a while, Niu Yi's avatar had completely transformed into a middle-aged Taoist with black hair and beard, a kind smile on his face, yet an imposing presence, and wearing a magnificent Taoist robe.

At the same time, as the incense smoke continued to condense, a magnificent purple-gold medicine chest and a jade bamboo staff materialized around him.

Over the years, the faith in the Divine Physician Daojun has continued to expand and improve along the banks of the Tongtian River.

According to folk legends along the Tongtian River, the Divine Physician Daojun was a heavenly physician who served the Jade Emperor. He was compassionate and could not bear to see the suffering of the people, so he descended to the mortal world as a wandering physician to cure diseases and save people from disasters.

The purple-gold medicine chest carried by the Divine Physician Daojun contains celestial medicines that can cure all diseases in the world and bring the dead back to life.

The emerald green bamboo staff in the hands of the Divine Physician Daojun is his treasured weapon for self-defense. He uses it to protect himself whenever he goes deep into the mountains and forests to gather herbs. Even the Mountain Lord would see stars and flee in a sorry state if struck by this bamboo staff.

"Is this the faith and practice of Shinto?"

At this moment, Niu Yi, the Divine Physician Daoist, appeared with a kind smile, stroked his beard, and spoke in a deep, resonant voice that of a middle-aged Daoist.

Now, only one final step remains before he fully cultivates his divine incarnation.

Niu Yi slowly raised the Jade Emperor's edict in his hand. Suddenly, auspicious nine-colored light burst forth from the edict, and a nine-colored celestial talisman flew out from the edict and merged into his body, causing Niu Yi to radiate light.

On the west bank of the Tongtian River, in the courtyard of a farmhouse, a young man yawning came to the statue of the Divine Physician Daojun that his parents worshipped, as usual, and inserted the lit incense into the incense burner in front of the statue.

He had absolutely no faith in this so-called Dao Lord.

You can't conjure up a single coin for this Taoist priest, can you?
But his parents offered him sacrifices day and night, so he had no other choice.

Just then, a burst of nine-colored light suddenly emanated from the statue of the Divine Physician Daojun. For a moment, the statue seemed to truly transform into a real person, becoming incredibly lifelike.

The young man's pupils widened at the sight, his expression growing increasingly terrified! He tried to retreat quickly, but his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Mother!!!"

At the same time, all the statues of the Divine Healer Daoist Lord that had received devout prayers on both sides of the Tongtian River emitted bursts of auspicious nine-colored light, which excited the devout prayers. They thought it was the Divine Healer Daoist Lord manifesting himself, so they quickly knelt down and kowtowed to sincerely worship.

"May the Dao Lord protect us! May the Dao Lord protect us!"

With his eyes closed, Niu Yi sensed everything about the path of incense offerings. As the celestial talisman flew into his body, a massive amount of divine information was constantly flooding into his mind.

He felt himself rising steadily, and the feeling was extremely comfortable.

Niu Yi seemed to understand something.

If a mortal has accumulated enough merit to be granted a celestial title, this step is precisely the shedding of the mortal body and the ascension to immortality.

After a while, Niu Yi's ever-increasing sensation gradually disappeared. He seemed to have stopped, and no more divine information was flowing into his mind.

Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing on a golden, auspicious cloud. Before him stood a tall, imposing gate, its surface a deep blue, as if crafted from crystal and adorned with precious jade.

South Heaven Gate.
Niu Yi stared at the tall gate before him, suddenly realizing what was happening. Just then, a group of golden-armored immortals, each wielding a spear, sword, or halberd, were walking towards him.

The leader, dressed in blue with a solemn face, clad in fine armor and wielding a sword, was none other than the Heavenly King of Growth, who guarded the Southern Heavenly Gate.

But when the Heavenly King of Growth arrived before the Divine Physician Daoist, he looked the Divine Physician Daoist, who was carrying a medicine chest and holding a green bamboo, up and down, and then cupped his hands and said:

"This must be the Divine Physician Daojun. The Jade Emperor has decreed that Daojun may freely enter and leave the Heavenly Palace in the future. Daojun, please~"

"Alright~ then thank you very much, Heavenly King."

After speaking, the Heavenly King of Growth gestured towards the South Heavenly Gate, then ignored the man and led the many golden-armored deities back to the South Heavenly Gate, lining them up on both sides.

Niu Yi didn't pay attention to this person's attitude, but stepped into the South Heavenly Gate. However, as soon as he stepped into the South Heavenly Gate, his figure disappeared in an instant.

Upon seeing this scene, the Heavenly King of Growth seemed to have discovered something, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. Meanwhile, Niu Yi had just taken a step forward when he found himself in a garden filled with exotic flowers and rare herbs, shrouded in mist. Before him, Venus was sitting at a stone table, looking at him with a smile.

"Hahaha~ Daoist Master has arrived! Please, have a seat!"

Venus stood up, took his whisk, and laughed as he approached Niu Yi, looking at Niu Yi now, a kind and gentle middle-aged Taoist.

"Xingjun."

Niu Yi smiled and cupped his hands in greeting to Venus. Although the man in front of him always had a smile on his face, he seemed to give people the feeling of being cunning and shrewd.

However, Niu Yi, having spent some time with this person, knew in his heart that this person was indeed resourceful, but also kind-hearted and peaceful.

Niu Yi and Taibai Jinxing sat down together at the stone table in the garden. Looking at the surrounding clouds and mist, the exotic flowers and auspicious plants, and the magnificent rosy clouds, they couldn't help but admire the scene in their hearts.

Venus picked up the wine pot on the table, filled it with wine for Niu Yi, pushed it in front of Niu Yi, and said with a smile:
"Daojun, from now on we will be colleagues~"

He knew in his heart that Niu Yi wanted to separate the identity of this Divine Physician Dao Lord from his true identity, and when meeting this divine incarnation, he always addressed him as Dao Lord.

"The reason I invited Daoist Lord here is not only to celebrate with him, but also because His Majesty the Jade Emperor ordered me to find Daoist Lord and convey a few words of His Majesty's words."

Upon hearing this, Niu Yi's expression turned serious, and he said:
"Please speak, Star Lord."

"His Majesty has stated that since Daojun has taken the incense offerings from both sides of the Tongtian River, he must assume the responsibility of protecting both sides of the Tongtian River. Now, all the local earth gods, mountain gods, city gods, and water gods on both sides of the Tongtian River can be commanded by Daojun."

Duties, huh?
Niu Yi nodded with a serious expression.

Since he has been given power and incense offerings, he has the responsibility to protect both sides of the river. If anything happens on either side of the Tongtian River, it will naturally be his responsibility.

Seeing that Niu Yi was insightful and understood the implied meaning in his words without him having to say much, Venus nodded with satisfaction.

He highly regards this person's down-to-earth nature and has been genuinely befriending him in recent years, naturally hoping that everything goes well for him.

Niu Yi chatted with Venus for a long time in the garden before bidding Venus farewell, leaving the Heavenly Court, and returning directly to the mortal realm.

He now possesses the Celestial Register, and the Palace of the Divine Physician Daoist in the Heavenly Court is under construction, which will be completed in ten days, while in the mortal realm, it will take ten years.

Once his Divine Physician Daoist Palace is completed, he will be able to enter it in an instant, which will be extremely convenient.

His master had said that if he ever went to the Heavenly Court, he could visit the Tushita Palace. Although Niu Yi didn't know why his master had given him this instruction, he still planned to visit the Divine Physician Daoist Palace once it was completed.

He was actually quite looking forward to it.
As for now, he still has many things to do.

Above the Tongtian River, in a burst of light, Niu Yi, the Divine Physician Daoist, quickly appeared, looking at the vast land on both sides of the Tongtian River.

At this moment, if he so desires, he can appear at any time in the place where there is a statue of the Divine Physician Daojun, and he can hear the prayers of every believer in him.

Niu Yi slowly raised his hand, and a golden seal radiating golden light appeared in his hand, floating slowly.

This seal is his Dao Lord Seal, which was given to him by Venus on the orders of the Jade Emperor.

With this seal, Niu Yi can receive the incense offerings from both sides of the Tongtian River, and he can also use this seal to mobilize the local land gods, mountain gods, city gods, and other deities.

"Now, we must also build the Daojun Palace in the lower realm as soon as possible to receive the incense offerings, so that we will have a place to meet the many local gods and mountain gods in the future."

Niu Yi looked down at the 800-mile-long Tongtian River, and in a flash, he disappeared into the sky and entered the Tongtian River.

He's still a lone commander, with ten unused divine slots at his disposal.

Now, it's time to fulfill the promise we made back then.

Tongtianjiang River in the palace.

Yuan Jiu looked at Yuan Liu and the shrimp and fish demons who kept carrying spiritual liquid out of the storeroom, his face full of anger.

Years ago, she watched as Yuan Liu discussed moving the spiritual liquid from the storeroom with the two shrimp and fish demons. She told her grandfather about it, but to her surprise, her grandfather did not punish Yuan Liu. Instead, he praised Yuan Liu's actions, opened the storeroom, and let Yuan Liu fetch the liquid himself.

Last year, the six turtles mysteriously used up all the spiritual liquid in the manor, leaving them with no share! Although her grandfather gave them some spiritual fruits as compensation, it still made her quite angry.

The real reason is that over the years, my grandfather has become increasingly fond of Yuan Liu, the little turtle that was originally somewhat inconspicuous. Not only does he keep it by his side to cultivate, but he also saves all the good things in the water mansion for Yuan Liu!

This made their other siblings extremely envious.

Just then, Yuan Liu suddenly paused for a moment, then a look of joy appeared on his face. He put down the spiritual liquid on his back and quickly swam towards the Water Mansion Garden.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Jiu narrowed his eyes, thinking that his grandfather was about to give Yuan Liu something good again, so he quickly followed.

(End of this chapter)