Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 164 General Yuan

When Yuan Liu arrived at the Water Mansion Garden, he glanced at the open gate, nodded and bowed respectfully, and then entered.

Upon entering the garden, he saw his grandfather and a middle-aged Taoist priest sitting at a stone table, smiling at him.

When Yuan Liu saw that the person who came was not the one he had expected, he was somewhat disappointed, but he still stepped forward to greet him.

"Yuan Liu pays respects to his grandfather and the Taoist priest."

The old turtle looked at Yuan Liu with considerable satisfaction, only to see the Taoist priest also smile and say:

"It seems the old gentleman has put in a lot of effort over the years."

The old turtle stood respectfully to the side and said:

“After all, this child will be following the immortal in the future. If he doesn’t know etiquette, wouldn’t he be bringing shame to the immortal?”

Immortal Master? This Taoist priest is an immortal master?

Upon hearing this, Yuan Liu was taken aback and looked at the middle-aged Taoist sitting there. This man gave him an extremely noble and sacred feeling, which was completely different from the natural and easy-going Taoist in blue robes from back then.

Old Yuan noticed Yuan Liu's confusion but didn't explain. He even looked at his grandson with a hint of envy.

Niu Yi laughed:

“Yuan Liu, this is my divine body.”

"You and I have a special connection. Several years ago, when I passed by this Tongtian River, I conveyed a message to your grandfather that if I were to become a god in the Heavenly Court in the future, I would take you as my subordinate god. Are you still willing now?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Liu couldn't help but look at the old turtle beside him, only to see the old turtle quickly say:
"Why haven't you kowtowed to thank the immortal for his kindness!"

Yuan Liu then seemed to wake up from a dream, his face showing joy, and he quickly kowtowed to Niu Yi.

"Yuan Liu is willing! Yuan Liu is willing! Please, Immortal Master, accept Yuan Liu!"

"That's fine then. However, if you were to join my ranks, the name Yuan Liu would be somewhat inappropriate. I'll give you a Dharma name, Yuan Ze. What do you say?"

"Thank you, Immortal Master! Yuanze kowtows in gratitude to you!"

Yuan Liu looked up, his eyes filled with excitement, and kowtowed repeatedly.

Niu Yi nodded slightly, and with a flick of his wrist, the Dao Lord Seal, radiating golden light, appeared in his hand. A vast and powerful aura instantly spread out, silencing the entire bottom of the Tongtian River.

As the Dao Lord Seal appeared, the old turtle's legs went weak, and it knelt down in horror. The sixth turtle bowed its head deeply.

"Since that's the case, Yuanze, today I hereby appoint you as General Yuan, under my command."

At this moment, Niu Yi's voice carried an indescribable sense of majesty. As Niu Yi finished speaking, a golden immortal talisman flew out from the Dao Monarch Seal and landed on Yuan Ze's forehead.

Then, Yuan Ze's body flashed with golden light, and he quickly shed his tortoise form, transforming into a simple and honest young man wearing golden armor, who was kneeling down in front of Niu Yi.

"Yuanze kowtows to express his gratitude to the Daoist Lord! He is willing to serve the Daoist Lord like a dog or a horse and will never forget his kindness!"

Niu Yi withdrew the Dao Lord Seal, looked at Yuan Ze before him, nodded, and smiled:
"Get up, don't thank me, but thank yourself for your kindness."

This little turtle is quite grateful.

He had only helped the little turtle repair its shell casually, but Yuan Ze remembered it and was extremely grateful.

If it weren't for Yuan Ze using his own spiritual liquid to save people everywhere in order to protect him, remaining steadfast for more than ten years, his faith in the Divine Physician Daoist Lord might not be what it is today.

Therefore, the title of General Yuan was well-deserved and entirely appropriate.

The old turtle stood to the side, its eyes filled with a mixture of relief and emotion.

His family had been cultivating in the Tongtian River for generations, but from his ancestors to his generation, no one had ever dared to imagine that one day they could have any connection with the legendary Heavenly Court.

But now, thanks to the great kindness of the immortal, his family has produced a turtle general! He now has a powerful backer!
Back then, when Yuan Liu used the spiritual water from his mansion to treat the people on both sides of the river, he always turned a blind eye, simply because he knew that Yuan Liu did this because someone above him disrespected the immortals.

In the old turtle's view, this matter was a good connection between Yuan Liu and the immortal, a true cultivator of the Xuanmen sect. So when Yuan Jiu came to complain later, he not only did not stop him, but even directly expressed his support for Yuan Liu to do this.

Unexpectedly, this good fortune has blossomed and borne fruit, enabling Yuan Liu to obtain a celestial register and enter the Heavenly Court!
This is truly a meteoric rise to power!
It's unknown how many more years he needs to cultivate before he can shed his tortoise shell and attain human form like Yuan Liu did today.
Three months later, on Rotten Peach Mountain.

At this moment, Niu Yi was playing chess with his senior brother Guangwu, while Ao Xuan was meditating in the peach grove. The Water Spirit Pearl was quietly floating above Ao Xuan's head, sprinkling a water-based Daoist aura.

Guangwu stared at the chessboard, his brows furrowed, his hand supporting his chin, looking deep in thought. Niu Yi, on the other hand, held a teacup beside him, looking completely at ease, occasionally taking a sip of tea, quite content.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Niu Yi's divine incarnation, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Yuan Ze was using the gold and silver from the Tongtian River Water Palace to hire a large number of laborers to build the Daojun Palace on the west bank of the Tongtian River.

Because of the extraordinary phenomenon that occurred when he became a god, he recently received a huge amount of incense offerings, and his faith has suddenly increased.

When the news spread that Yuan Ze was sending people to build the Daojun Palace, many people came to worship even before the palace was completed, and some even wanted to donate incense money to the Daojun Palace.

Yuan Ze was initially quite flustered. Although he usually enjoyed listening to the conversations of the people on both banks of the river, listening was one thing, interacting was another, and doing was yet another. Fortunately, the old man, who was actually the Divine Physician Daoist in human form, was there to help him, which allowed Yuan Ze to gradually sort things out.

Although Yuanze still retains some childlike qualities, he is extremely serious and patient when doing things, which makes Niu Yi very satisfied.

He still has nine slots available for godhood.

Even if we give Niu Li, Niu Feng, and Niu Ping three spots later, and then give Niu Ping's younger brother Niu An one spot, there will still be five spots left for the Gods. There's no rush about it.

With the help of the Tongtian River Water Palace and his divine incarnation guarding both banks of the Tongtian River, everything was peaceful for Yuan Ze.

His main body was cultivating on Rotten Peach Mountain, and his progress was quite smooth.

Niu Yi has now cultivated the complete Earth Element Great Dao, and has also ventured into the Cause and Effect Great Dao, the Water Element Great Dao, and the Primordial Chaos Great Dao. In recent days, he has also comprehended the Metal Element Great Dao with the help of the Golden Spirit Pearl.

Every day during the day, Niu Yi would comprehend the Great Dao and use the precious energy to improve the grade of the Karma Divination Coin. If Senior Brother Guangwu came, he would meet with him and chat about everything under the sun, or play chess like today.

As night fell and he entered a state of deep mental clarity, Niu Yi found his days even more fulfilling.

Besides his daily studies and reading classic works from various schools on the third floor of the library at night, he spent the rest of his time deduce magical artifacts.

The reason is that the treasures he obtained this time are of an unprecedentedly high grade, making them very difficult to refine, and requiring careful deduction of many steps.

Besides, the treasure that his elder brother Jin Fu gave him was really beyond his expectations, making him somewhat undecided.

However, these are all happy troubles.
Niu Yi drank the tea in the jade cup in one gulp, then placed it on the table and looked at Guangwu opposite him.

Guangwu looked at the chessboard for a moment, then finally threw his white piece into the chess jar, shook his head helplessly, and said:
"I lost, and I have absolutely no idea how I could have won."

Niu Yi brought two fingers together and guided them towards the chess jar, causing all the black and white pieces to fall into it. He then comforted Niu Yi, saying:
"Senior Brother Guangwu doesn't like these things. If he were to focus on studying them, I doubt I could be his match."

Guangwu chuckled, arms crossed, his fighting spirit undiminished, and said:
"Hey~ Junior brother~ Let's do it again!"

"How about I and Junior Brother Guangyi have a match?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice from the side, Niu Yi and Guang Wu were immediately delighted and turned to look at the Taoist priest walking towards them with a smile not far away.

"Big Brother!"

The two stood up and went to greet the newcomer, who was none other than Daoist Guanghui.

"Senior Brother, you've emerged from seclusion!"

"Hmm~ I'm relieved to see that you two have been doing well lately~"

Master Guanghui smiled and nodded, pulling his two junior brothers back to the stone table to sit down together. He then looked at Ao Xuan, who was undisturbed in the peach grove on the other side, completely absorbed in his cultivation.

"Junior brother, is this your newly accepted Daoist disciple?"

“Indeed, senior brother, there are some things involved, but I also have a connection with this child. I see that I like him, so I have kept him by my side.”

"Hahaha~ It seems that Junior Brother Guangyi has experienced a lot over the years. You'll have to tell me about it later. But there's no rush. We'll have plenty of time to chat later."

"Speaking of which, our senior brother actually came out of seclusion four months ago. He just had to go out on some business. He even brought a gift for each of you."

As he spoke, Senior Brother Guanghui reached into his wide sleeve and took out two wooden boxes, placing them in front of Niu Yi and Guangwu respectively.

"Thank you, senior brother."

Guangwu and Niuyi looked expectant and almost simultaneously took the wooden box in front of them, showing no intention of being polite to their senior brother.

Upon seeing this scene, the smile on Guanghui Daoren's face grew even more gentle.

Guangwu opened the wooden box and saw a stack of dark purple talismans inside, emitting lightning.

“Guangwu, before I went into seclusion, wasn’t Master teaching you the Way of Talismans? These Purple Cloud Talismans were obtained by your senior brother from a friend, and I’m giving them to you.”

When Guangwu saw the stack of talismans, his expression turned slightly bitter.

Over the years, he had been quite troubled by those mysterious talismans. It wasn't until his junior brother Guangyi returned to the mountain recently that he felt much better, having someone to chat with and relax. Unexpectedly, his senior brother gave him another stack of top-quality talismans as soon as he returned.

It seems that the art of talismans is something I absolutely must learn.
Niu Yi smiled at Guangwu's bitter face and opened the wooden box in front of him.

However, the contents of the wooden box and that extremely familiar scent caused his expression to change slightly.

Guangyi looked at his senior brother standing to the side.

"Senior Brother, this..."

But then he saw the eldest brother pouring himself a cup of tea and leisurely saying:
"Hehe~ On the way back to the mountain, I saw a little bird sleeping soundly. Seeing how beautiful its feathers were, I casually plucked one and brought it back to give to my junior brother."

(End of this chapter)