Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 171 Laozi
Niu Yi soared through the clouds and soon arrived at the highest heaven of the Thirty-Three Heavens, the Heaven of Separation from Hatred.

As soon as Niu Yi entered the Lihentian, which was filled with golden light and auspicious clouds, he flew straight towards the center of Lihentian. Before long, Niu Yi saw a palace complex.

Tushita Palace

Niu Yi's spirits lifted, and he rode auspicious clouds to the gate of this palace complex. Looking at the three large golden characters on the plaque above the gate, he saw that it was indeed 'Doushuai Palace'.

"crunch~"

Just as Niu Yi was gazing intently at the three characters "Doushuai Palace," the palace gates suddenly opened slowly, and a handsome young Taoist boy stepped out to greet Niu Yi, bowing respectfully.

"Immortal Master Guangyi, my master invites you."

Niu Yi remained calm and returned the greeting:

"Then I'll trouble the fairy boy to lead the way."

The young Taoist nodded, turned and walked into the Tushita Palace. Niu Yi followed, and the two walked together in the Tushita Palace until they arrived at a garden.

At that moment, an old Taoist priest dressed in a yellow robe with the Tai Chi Bagua symbol was standing by the pond in the garden, occasionally picking up fish food from a stone bowl and throwing it into the pond.

The young Taoist led Niu Yi to the old Taoist's back and bowed, saying:
"Master, Immortal Guangyi has arrived."

"Hmm~ Go down."

An aged and peaceful voice slowly came from the old Taoist priest. The young Taoist priest bowed respectfully again, then turned and left.

Niu Yi stepped forward, bowed respectfully to the old Taoist priest, and said:

"Guangyi pays respects to the Supreme Dao Ancestor."

Laozi did not turn around, but sprinkled the last bit of fish food from the stone bowl, and said in a gentle, aged voice:

"Hehe~ Get up, there's no need to be so reserved."

"Yes."

Niu Yi stood up, only to see Laozi turn around, wave his whisk, and casually hand the stone bowl that had been holding fish food to Niu Yi. Niu Yi was surprised, but still quickly reached out and took it.

"Come on, let's walk around together."

"Yes."

Laozi walked ahead, and Niu Yi followed behind, carrying a stone bowl.

Niu Yi saw that the garden was filled with countless exotic flowers and rare herbs, and the fragrance of incense rose slowly from the garden incense burner, surrounded by rosy light.

Niu Yi was well-versed in medical books and pharmacopoeias, and he had memorized all the rare and precious materials in the Three Realms. However, upon seeing this garden, he couldn't help but marvel inwardly. There were probably very few rare and precious materials in the Three Realms that could not be found in this garden.

But then Laozi reached out and plucked a dazzling flower shaped like a phoenix tail from a spiritual root, casually placing it into the stone bowl in Niu Yi's hand. He continued walking forward, saying casually:
"Have you encountered any difficulties in your recent cultivation?"

Niu Yi quickly moved the stone bowl in his hand closer to Laozi. Upon hearing this, his mind raced, but he finally replied honestly:
"Reporting to the Dao Ancestor, this junior has obtained a treasure by chance, but does not know how to refine it. I have not encountered any other difficulties."

Laozi nodded slightly but did not respond. Instead, he led Niu Yi to stroll around the garden, occasionally picking a rare flower or herb and placing it into the stone bowl in Niu Yi's hand.

The two walked on until the stone bowl in Niu Yi's hand could no longer hold any more rare flowers or herbs, and then they arrived at a pill hall.

Niu Yi followed Laozi straight in and immediately saw the tall Bagua furnace standing in the center of the Pill Hall.

At this moment, the Eight Trigrams Furnace was still burning fiercely, and it was unknown what it was refining.

But then Laozi waved his whisk, and the strange flowers and herbs on the stone bowl in Niu Yi's hand flew up one after another. As the top of the Bagua Furnace opened, these strange flowers and herbs flew into it, causing the Bagua Furnace to emit a burst of golden light.

After a while, Niu Yi stood beside Lao Jun, watching the golden light in the Eight Trigrams Furnace grow brighter and brighter.

"Ox, do you know what I'm refining in this furnace?"

Niu Yi recalled the various exotic flowers and herbs that Laozi had placed inside, but finally shook his head and said:

"Junior doesn't know."

"This is a batch of Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pills."

After Laozi finished speaking, he waved his whisk again, and the gourd hanging on the wall immediately flew over. In a flash of golden light, it collected the golden pills that kept flying out of the furnace and hung them back on the wall.

At the same time, three more golden pills flew over and landed in front of Niu Yi.

Niu Yi looked at the three golden pills in front of him, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Is this for him?
Lao Tzu stroked his beard and laughed:

"Keep these three Resurrection Pills safe; they will be useful to you in the future."

Upon hearing this, Niu Yi quickly bowed and thanked him before putting away the three Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pills in front of him.

The Supreme Lord nodded slowly and said again:

"As for your innate Kun steel, you can send it to my Tushita Palace. I'll use this Eight Trigrams Furnace to forge a suitable weapon for you, how about that?" Upon hearing this, Niu Yi was surprised that this person was being so kind to him, but he still quickly bowed and thanked him.

“Niu Yi is willing! Thank you, Dao Ancestor.”

Laozi, however, smiled and patted Niu Yi on the head as he bowed, saying:
Don't overcomplicate things.

"Now that you've joined my sect, I'm merely giving you two small gifts as a token of my appreciation, since I quite like your ox. This will save your master from having to come asking for them later."

"As for the rest, I know you want to grow a fire gourd in my furnace, but I need to use that furnace for refining pills and crafting weapons, so how can I let you, an ox, grow it there?"

Niu Yi felt the lingering warmth of the hand on his head and couldn't help but stand up to look at the Dao Ancestor in front of him. He felt a sense of bewilderment, as if the Dao Ancestor in front of him was not as lofty as he had imagined.

"Yes, Guangyi understands. Thank you for your guidance, Dao Ancestor."

With a smile on his face, Laozi nodded slightly and waved his whisk once more. In an instant, the scene before Niu Yi's eyes changed, and he found himself out of the Tushita Palace and back in his Divine Physician Daojun Palace.

The words of Laozi echoed in Niu Yi's ears.

"Those who cultivate the Tao follow the natural way. Ox, cultivate in peace~"

Upon hearing this, Niu Yi bowed again toward the Thirty-Three Heavens.

The next day, Niu Yi sent the Innate Kun Steel to the gate of the Tushita Palace through his divine incarnation. However, Laozi did not receive him this time. Instead, he sent a servant to tell him to come and collect his weapon after eighty-one days.

Niu Yi nodded knowingly, bid farewell to the boy who opened the door, and went down to the mortal realm.

Although heaven is a good place, he now receives offerings from both sides of the Tongtian River and has the responsibility to protect the people on both sides. Therefore, he needs to stay in the Daoist Palace in the lower realm to guard against any unforeseen circumstances.

Xiniu Hezhou is not as prosperous in its religion as Nanzhanbuzhou, and it has many demons. If Yuanze is the only one to guard it, he will not feel at ease.

On Rotten Peach Mountain, in a thatched hut.

After the divine incarnation delivered the innate Kun steel, Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Wan Ye Golden Bamboo Sword, which was being nurtured by the golden Daoist aura continuously released by the Golden Spirit Pearl.

The original body of the Ten Thousand Leaves Golden Bamboo Sword is the Golden Spirit Jade Bamboo, a pure metal-elemental natural treasure. The Golden Spirit Pearl, nurtured by the Great Dao of Metal, nourishes this magic weapon and enhances its foundation. This is also in preparation for the upcoming reforging of this magic weapon.

"crunch~"

As the gate opened, Niu Yi immediately saw Senior Brother Guanghui and Senior Brother Guangwu sitting at the stone table.

Upon seeing Niu Yi appear, Guangwu picked up a piece of scrap paper and excitedly said to Niu Yi:

"Junior brother, come and take a look. These are some designs of the magic weapon I drew based on the preliminary deductions made by us fellow disciples over the past few days regarding the method of reforging the Ten Thousand Leaf Golden Bamboo Sword. Junior brother, take a look and see if there's any you like!"

Niu Yi smiled and nodded, then stepped into the group.

Now, he is still missing one scroll from the Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl painting. He no longer needs any other treasures to reforge the Twin Elemental Magnetic Divine Iron of the Myriad Leaf Golden Bamboo Sword. He only needs to wait for the Golden Spirit Jade Bamboo to be fully nurtured and for the method of reforging this magic weapon to be completely deduced before he can reforge this treasure.

Time flies in the mountains. Niu Yi continued his cultivation step by step, and before he knew it, fifty years had passed.

Many things have changed in the past fifty years, but Rotten Peach Mountain and Golden Gourd Mountain seem to have remained unchanged.

Niu Yi stared at the withering peach blossoms on the tree, a look of bewilderment in his eyes.

After becoming an immortal, his concept of time seems to have become somewhat blurred. Several years ago, he went into seclusion to comprehend the Great Dao of Cause and Effect, and this seclusion lasted for eight years.

He only emerged from seclusion a few days ago to pay homage to the patriarch, and happened to see people worshipping at the mountain, and the patriarch accepting disciples.

The twelve characters of the patriarch's lineage are: Guang, Da, Zhi, Hui, Zhen, Ru, Xing, Hai, Ying, Wu, Yuan, Jue. The master recently accepted the first disciple of the Hai generation.

Before we knew it, less than sixty years had passed since Sun Wukong and his generation began their pilgrimage to the mountain...

"Soon, soon!"

Niu Yi slowly closed his eyes, and the Daoist auras of the three Great Daos of Earth, Water, and Metal spread around him, along with very faint Daoist auras of Fire and Wood.

At this moment, Niu Yi had clearly comprehended the three great paths of earth, water, and metal in the Five Elements, and had even dabbled in the two great paths of fire and wood, far surpassing his previous level.

At the same time, Niu Yi had completed half of his Path of Cause and Effect. The Cause and Effect Divination Coins in his hands had been repaired to the Color Grade by the precious energy eighteen years ago and were still improving. This had greatly helped Niu Yi comprehend the Path of Cause and Effect.

Perhaps in another hundred years, he will be able to fully comprehend cause and effect and cultivate the Great Dao of Cause and Effect.

Of the several Great Daos he is currently cultivating, only the Primordial Chaos Dao is progressing slowly. Even with the help of the Primordial Chaos Cauldron, this Great Dao is extremely difficult to comprehend.

In addition, the immortal metal element within him has also made great progress, and his physical strength is increasing day by day. However, the weapon in his Eight Trigrams Furnace has not yet been forged. He cultivates in the deep mountains and rarely fights with others, so he is not entirely clear about the current level of his combat ability.

Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes, raised his hand, and three spirit orbs appeared in his palm, slowly floating and rotating.

"Using the Golden-Winged Roc as a reference, with our current mastery of the three Great Daos of Earth, Water, and Metal, combined with the three Spirit Pearls and some other methods, we should be able to hold our own against the Golden-Winged Roc for a while, but that's far from enough."

Niu Yi was pondering when he suddenly froze, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"There really are people who dare to cause trouble on both sides of the Tongtian River!"

(End of this chapter)