Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 177 Monkey King Pays Homage to the Mountain
Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, inside the Xieyue Sanxing Cave.

The Bodhi Patriarch was preaching on the high platform, and below the platform, Guangwu Boy was attending to him, listening to the Patriarch's teachings along with many fellow disciples.

The patriarch was speaking when he suddenly stopped, looked at Guangwu who was attending him, and said:

"Young man, a cultivator has arrived outside. Go and greet him."

Guangwu was taken aback upon hearing this, and quickly bowed in agreement before walking briskly toward the cave entrance.

Before Guangwu even reached the cave entrance, he saw a familiar figure in blue robes appear beside the side hall road, walking towards him.

"Hey? Junior Brother Guangyi, weren't you in seclusion on the back mountain refining a treasure?"

Guangwu looked at his junior brother Guangyi with delight. His senior brother had gone into seclusion again recently, and his junior brother Guangyi was also in seclusion refining magic weapons. He hadn't been able to disturb him too often these past few years, and he was quite bored in the sect.

Back then, he and his two fellow disciples deduced the Dragon Tiger Fan's techniques and determined that it would take at least forty years to fully master it. Now, this is...
Niu Yi smiled, walked to Guangwu's side, and together they walked towards the cave entrance, saying:

"Senior Brother Guangwu, I suddenly felt like coming down the mountain for a walk today. My furnace is being looked after by Ao Xuan, so it won't be a problem if I leave for a while."

Guangwu was somewhat surprised to hear this:
"Master said that a cultivator has come from outside, presumably to seek apprenticeship. Could it be that Junior Brother has come down the mountain because of this person? Is there anything special about this person?"

Niu Yi smiled but remained silent, and walked towards the gate with Guangwu.

As soon as the two reached the gate, they heard a rustling of leaves, along with what sounded like cheerful laughter.

Guangwu and Niu Yi exchanged a glance. Guangwu then strode forward, opened the door, looked outside, and called out loudly:

"Who is making such a racket here?"

Just then, a yellow-clad figure swiftly leaped down from the top of a nearby pine tree, tossed the pine cone aside with lightning speed, and in a few agile steps arrived before Guangwu and Niu Yi, bowing and saying:

"Immortal Child, Immortal Master, I am a seeker of the Dao and the path to immortality; how dare I make a fuss here?"

Guangwu looked closely and saw that the newcomer had ears that were bent, a nose that was broken, a hairy face and a thunder god's mouth. He was dressed in cloth but covered in yellow hair, and looked like a monkey.

Guangyi looked at the handsome Monkey King in front of him, a fleeting emotion flashing in his eyes.

If he hadn't known this beforehand, he still wouldn't be able to discern the monkey's origins even with his current level of skill, which in itself is quite extraordinary.

He remained silent, but stood respectfully behind Guangwu, indicating that he was Guangwu's leader.

Guangwu looked the monkey up and down and laughed:

"Just now, my master was giving a sermon on the platform when he said that a cultivator had come to the door and ordered me to open it. I suppose that must be you?"

The monkey nodded repeatedly, pointing to itself and saying:
"It's me! It's me."

"In that case, you shall come with us to pay your respects to the patriarch. Please."

"Okay~"

As Guangwu spoke, he turned around and walked into the cave with Niu Yi, while the monkey looked delighted and quickly followed.

The three walked along the path to the Taoist temple, while Guangwu subtly transmitted his voice to Niu Yi's primordial spirit:
"Junior Brother Guangyi, is there anything special about this person?"

"Hehe~ Senior Brother Guangwu, you will know in the future."

"Junior brother, you've really followed in your senior brother's footsteps and become bad!"

Upon hearing Guangwu's telepathic message, Niu Yi was speechless for a moment. Just then, the two of them arrived at the front of the hall with the monkey. Guangwu and Niu Yi stepped forward and performed a disciple's salute before returning to their respective positions.

Guangwu came to serve at the foot of the ancestral altar, while Niu Yi stood at the forefront of the disciples, ignoring the curious gazes of his fellow disciples below, and stood there calmly.

The Bodhi Patriarch, seated on the high platform, nodded slightly to the two. At that moment, the monkey, looking at the Bodhi Patriarch, quickly stepped forward, prostrated himself, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying:
"Master! Master! Your disciple sincerely pays homage! Please, Master, accept me as your disciple!!"

As Niu Yi watched this scene, an image inexplicably flashed into his mind of the monkey standing on the Jade Emperor's desk, shouting "Old Jade Emperor!"
Bodhi Patriarch looked at the monkey below, then waved his whisk and said:
"Where are you from? Please state your hometown and name before I bow."

"This disciple is from the Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain!"

The patriarch frowned slightly and said sternly:

"Nonsense, throw him out!"

The monkey, however, kowtowed repeatedly, saying:

"Master! Master! Your disciple would never dare to deceive you; everything I've said is the truth!"

"Huaguo Mountain is separated from here by a vast ocean and the Southern Continent. How did you get here?"

“Master! I traveled across the ocean on a bamboo raft, and it took me more than ten years and countless hardships to finally come to the side of the Ancestral Master.”

But then the monkey knelt on the ground, quickly darted forward two steps, looked up at the patriarch, and earnestly pleaded: "Master, Master! Please accept me as your disciple!"

Bodhi Patriarch looked at the monkey below, his expression softening, and said:
"What's your last name and your first name?"

“I was born from a mountain rock collapse, I have no father or mother, I am an orphan.”

The patriarch nodded slowly and said:

"So you were born of nature."

“In our sect, there are twelve characters used to assign names to different generations. You are the tenth generation, the generation with the character ‘悟’ (Wu). I see that your appearance and mannerisms resemble a monkey, so your surname will be Sun, and your Dharma name will be Wukong. What do you say?”

The monkey was overjoyed upon hearing this, scratching its ears and cheeks and leaping up in delight.

"Master has accepted me! I have a name! I have a name!"

Immediately, the monkey rushed to the patriarch and knelt down repeatedly.

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this name upon me! Thank you, Master!"

After Bodhi Patriarch accepted Sun Wukong as his disciple, he had his disciples take Sun Wukong away from the main hall, arrange accommodations for him, and teach him etiquette, manners, and social skills.

Guangwu followed the patriarch, while Niu Yi and the other disciples walked out of the hall. Suddenly, a figure darted in front of him, blocking his path, and bowed to him with a smile, saying:
"Thank you for leading the way, senior brother."

The other disciples frowned slightly upon seeing this scene, even those who did not recognize Niu Yi. This man, standing at the forefront of his fellow disciples in front of their master, must be their senior brother. Why was this monkey blocking his senior brother's way?

Niu Yi knew that although the monkey in front of him was exceptionally intelligent and had traveled extensively, it had not received any formal education in manners.

But then Niu Yi smiled kindly and said:

"Junior Brother Wukong, you're too kind. Now that you've become a disciple, you should focus on your cultivation within the sect."

Seeing that his senior brother was so kind, and was the second person besides the patriarch to call him by name and junior brother, Sun Wukong couldn't help but show affection, scratch the back of his hand, and nodded with a grin.

"Hehe~ I've learned a lot, I've learned a lot~"

Niu Yi smiled and nodded, then turned and left.

He came here today just to watch the excitement and see his junior brother Wukong. Now that the excitement is over, he should go back to Rotten Peach Mountain to continue refining his Dragon Tiger Fan.

Sun Wukong has his own path to walk, and Niu Yi also has his own path to cultivate.

Seeing that their senior brother Niu Yi showed no sign of anger, the other disciples calmed down, called over Sun Wukong, and led him to arrange accommodations.

On Rotten Peach Mountain, Ao Xuan was intently staring at the Primordial Chaos Furnace before him when he heard a sound behind him. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, quickly stand up, and bow to those behind him, saying:
"master."

Niu Yi nodded gently, walked to the front of the Hunyuan Furnace, looked at the Dragon and Tiger Fan above the Hunyuan Qi Fire in the furnace, and formed a hand seal, making the Hunyuan Qi Fire burn even more vigorously.

Just then, a crimson killing intent suddenly burst forth from the furnace, rushing towards Niu Yi in an instant. However, Niu Yi changed the hand seal, and the crimson killing intent was instantly suppressed, revealing its true form: the gleaming white White Tiger Killing Sword!
Ao Xuan watched this scene with a calm expression, clearly already used to it.

You think you can hurt people after entering his master's Hunyuan Cauldron? That's just wishful thinking.

Niu Yi looked at the White Tiger Killing Sword trembling incessantly within the Chaos Furnace. This time, however, he did not directly send the White Tiger Killing Sword back. Instead, he said calmly:
"You are the spirit of a magical treasure created by heaven and earth, which is quite rare. However, I cannot destroy this treasure because of you. If you cooperate, I will keep your spirit and let it merge with my treasure. In the future, you will also have your own destiny."

"If you are unwilling, in order to prevent you from turning against your master in the future, I will have no choice but to scatter your spirit."

As if sensing the indifference in Niu Yi's tone, the White Tiger Killing Sword stopped humming, as if it were pondering something.

Niu Yi shook his head slightly. This sword was too murderous and not so easy to subdue. It seemed to be considering the matter, but in reality, it was secretly accumulating killing intent, just waiting for him to lower his guard before striking him.

Sure enough, the next moment, a scarlet sword light tried to rush out of the Hunyuan Furnace again, but it only flashed for a moment before being completely enveloped by the sweeping Hunyuan Qi Fire.

The White Tiger Killing Sword was extremely unwilling, but it was completely unable to resist the power of the Primordial Chaos Fire. It could only let out a reluctant buzzing sound before being thrown back into the mouth of the White Tiger on the Dragon Tiger Fan.

Niu Yi sat cross-legged in front of the Hunyuan Furnace, slowly closed his eyes, and exerted all his strength to activate the Hunyuan Furnace to refine the Dragon-Tiger Fan.

Six months later, Sun Wukong, who was studying and learning etiquette on the mountain and doing chores every day, was assigned a new task by his senior brother who was in charge of the kitchen.

"Junior Brother Wukong, we're running low on firewood in the woodshed. Go and chop some more."

"Okay~Okay~"

Sun Wukong looked around and saw that his senior brother had turned around and gone to do other things after he finished speaking. All the other senior brothers around him were also busy with their own things, so he could only take his axe, put on his basket, and head towards the back of the mountain.

Sun Wukong went straight out of the back door of the Slanting Moon Three Stars Cave. Once he arrived in the mountains, he became excited. He crouched slightly and leaped nimbly onto the treetops. He jumped up and down among the trees and forests, having a great time.

After Sun Wukong had been in the mountains for a while, he suddenly stopped, as if he had smelled something. His eyes lit up, and he turned his head to sniff it again.

(End of this chapter)