Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 179 Enlightenment and Realization: Each Has Their Own Path
Sun Wukong tiptoed forward two steps and saw that the Taoist priest seemed to be meditating.

He pondered for a moment, then bowed slightly to the Taoist's back before turning to leave.

"Junior brother, since you're here, why not have a cup of tea before heading down the mountain?"

Hearing the voice behind him, Sun Wukong turned around and saw that the Taoist priest had stood up at some point and was looking at him with a smile. Sun Wukong quickly turned around and walked to Niu Yi, bowed and greeted him:
"Sun Wukong greets Senior Brother Guangyi. Thank you for giving me peaches to quench my thirst."

How did you learn my Dharma name?

The monkey, however, tilted its head and scratched its cheek, a sheepish smile on its face, and said:

"Hehe~ That day I blocked my senior brother's way, and other senior brothers told me about it. I was being rude, I was being rude."

Niu Yi, however, still had a smile on his face and said again:
Why don't you taste a bite of every peach today, unlike last year?

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong became even more embarrassed, repeatedly bowing and greeting Niu Yi, saying:

"When I first arrived at this mountain last year, I saw that the peaches on the mountain were unattended, so I assumed that they grew naturally and were unclaimed."

"I've been away from home for over ten years, and it's been a long time since I've smelled that peach fragrance or seen such exquisite peaches. I was overjoyed and dazzled by the tree full of peaches."

"I later learned that these peaches belonged to someone. I was so grateful to the owner for being so generous in letting me eat them. How could I dare to waste them like that? Now I know that these peaches were all planted by my senior brother. Please forgive me, senior brother! Please forgive me!"

Niu Yi looked at the monkey in front of him, nodded slightly, and smiled:
"It seems that Junior Brother Wukong has really learned a lot and made great progress in the past year or so since he came up the mountain."

Upon hearing his senior brother's praise, Sun Wukong immediately beamed with joy.

Niu Yi gestured with his arm toward the stone table beside him and said:
“Since you’re here, junior brother, why don’t you have a cup of tea with me before you go down the mountain to chop wood? My tea is called Zhenye Tea, which I brought from home. It has a unique flavor.”

"Okay, okay~ Thank you, senior brother, thank you, senior brother."

Niu Yi and Sun Wukong arrived at the stone table. Niu Yi slowly sat down on the stone bench, while Sun Wukong lightly leaped and squatted on the bench. He watched as Niu Yi poured a cup of warm tea from the jade teapot on the table and handed it to him. Sun Wukong quickly reached out and took it.

Niu Yi poured himself a glass and began to drink it leisurely.

Over the years, this precious leaf tea has continued to grow exceptionally well on Jindou Mountain. It has a sweet aftertaste and an inherent refreshing quality that can clear the mind.

Sun Wukong took a sip of tea, but only felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Although he swallowed it, he still smiled and smiled at Niu Yi while putting the tea back on the table and refused to touch it again.

This tea was really not to his liking.

Niu Yi looked at the monkey and shook his head with a smile.

This tea is meant to be savored slowly, but this monkey is rather impatient and wouldn't sit here and enjoy it at his own pace.

Niu Yi didn't force him. He kept the monkey around for a while and then sent him down the mountain to chop wood.

Not long after Sun Wukong left, Guangwu arrived at Rotten Peach Mountain, but his gaze kept drifting down the mountain.

"Senior Brother Guangwu, why are you paying attention to Junior Brother Wukong now?"

Guangwudao:
"I'm a little curious. Although this Junior Brother Wukong is intelligent and can learn many things quickly, he is also lively and restless and can't sit still. He is completely opposite to Junior Brother Wukong. But Junior Brother Wukong seems to like him quite a bit?"

Niu Yi laughed:

"Just taking care of my own junior brother."

"Although he was born a stone monkey, he is still a monkey at heart. Being lively and active is his nature. He's used to being the monkey king on his own mountain. How could we possibly expect him to be like you and me, his fellow disciples?"

"And we fellow disciples also have our own paths to walk, and I suppose Junior Brother Wukong is the same."

Guangwu stared at Niu Yi for a long time, then exclaimed in admiration:

"Junior brother, don't you feel that you are becoming more and more like your senior brother? You can also make sense when you talk about reason."

“However, what Junior Brother said is indeed quite reasonable. Master once said that cultivating the Tao is also cultivating the mind. One must understand one’s mind and see one’s true nature, like Junior Brother Wukong, who has not lost his original nature. If he were to become like you or me in the future, that would be a step down.”

Niu Yi smiled and nodded, sitting opposite Guangwu and drinking tea.

He never told his senior brother Guangwu that he quite liked Sun Wukong, which was indeed influenced by his previous life.

However, his care for his junior brother Wukong was purely out of affection, without any other ulterior motives.

Even if his junior brother Wukong becomes incredibly powerful or even a god or Buddha in the future, it won't really matter to him, and he certainly won't be able to help him attain the Great Luo realm.

Just as he said before, each of his fellow disciples has their own path. No matter where that path leads or where it leads, they must walk it themselves. There is no reason to rely on others.

Niu Yi still has a long way to go, and so does Sun Wukong.

However, Sun Wukong was still too immature at this time, merely a monkey on a mountain, far from becoming the Great Sage Equal to Heaven in the future. Niu Yi had no intention of teaching this monkey. With his own master there, why would he need to be a disciple to teach him? He certainly didn't have the ability or qualifications.

He was focused on his own cultivation. If the monkey came, he would just give him some peaches to satisfy his craving.

At night, Niu Yi entered the Lingtai Mind State and browsed through various classics on the third floor of the library. At this moment, he was reading the Tao Te Ching from the Xuanmen School.

This book was transmitted to the world by Laozi, the Supreme Lord Lao, when he descended to the mortal realm under the pseudonym Laozi. It is the most widely circulated and influential Taoist classic today, and one of the general principles of Taoism. Its profound meaning and broad scope have earned it the title of "King of All Classics".

The Daoist Master Taishang's message to him about the Daoist principle of naturalness originated from this book.

Niu Yi has read this book more than ten times, and each time he reads it, he still has new insights, which fascinates him.

Besides the Tao Te Ching, Niu Yi has also read through various classic texts over the years, including Buddhist scriptures from both Theravada and Mahayana traditions.

Within Buddhism, there are three vehicles of Buddhist teachings: the Śrāvakayāna, the Pratyekabuddhāna, and the Bodhisattvayāna.

Among them, the Śrāvakayāna and Pratyekabuddhāna focus more on their own practice and liberation, and are called Hinayana Buddhism, while the Bodhisattvayāna focuses on liberating all sentient beings and practicing the Six Perfections and myriad practices, and is called Mahāyāna Buddhism.

In this attic, there are numerous Hinayana Buddhist texts, encompassing a wide range of topics, but only one Mahayana Buddhist text, allowing Niu Yi to glimpse Mahayana Buddhism.

Niu Yi studied these classic texts, focusing primarily on Taoism. However, he also drew inferences from other classics, constantly building his foundation, which would become a solid basis for his path to the Great Luo realm.

Before he knew it, Sun Wukong had been on the mountain for seven years, and had eaten his fill of peaches on Rotten Peach Mountain seven times.

Starting from the second year, every time Sun Wukong went up the mountain to eat peaches, he would visit his senior brother Guangyi. Although the two only met once a year, the two brothers got along very well.

Knowing that the monkey didn't like tea, Niu Yi made peach juice for the monkey, which the monkey quite enjoyed this time.

On this day, the peaches on the mountain ripened again, and Sun Wukong, who had already come seven times, arrived at the summit with practiced ease, calling out from afar:

"Senior Brother Guangyi! Senior Brother Guangyi!"

Niu Yi, who was sitting in front of the Hunyuan Furnace, stopped his hand seals, turned to look at the monkey running excitedly towards him, and laughed:
"Hehe~ You're such a glutton, always so punctual every year, arriving just as the peaches ripen."

Sun Wukong stepped forward, and upon hearing this, his hairy face was full of smiles. He approached Niu Yi with a grin and greeted him, saying:

"Hehe~ Senior brother, it's the peaches on this tree calling to me~"

Niu Yi chuckled and shook his head, only to see Sun Wukong put down the basket on his back, pour out a pile of pine cones, and look at Niu Yi with a smile:

"Senior brother~ I saw that the pine cones on that tree were ripe, so I brought you a lot~"

"Not bad, you still remember your senior brother."

The monkey scratched its ears and cheeks and chuckled:
"Hehe~ Look at what you're saying, senior brother~"

Niu Yi and Sun Wukong sat down together at the stone table. Sun Wukong was now the same Sun Wukong he was when he first came up the mountain eight years ago. He had made great progress, and his aura was quite clear and pure. He had obviously begun to cultivate Taoism and had been taught the Golden Elixir Method by his master.

In just one year, he has already entered the realm of the Great Celestial Immortal Technique, and made such progress?
Looking at Sun Wukong before him, Niu Yi felt a pang of emotion. He had spent decades cultivating the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, a process that had taken him a great deal of effort to master.

This person's talent and background are indeed rare in the Three Realms. It is estimated that in another two years, he will be able to master the Great Celestial Immortal Technique and prepare to cultivate the Seventy-Two Transformations to avoid the Three Calamities.

And in the future, a single somersault can cover 108,000 li (approximately 54,000 kilometers), and it can be mastered in a single night.

Despite some mixed feelings, Niu Yi remained calm and continued his cultivation in an orderly manner. However, recently, something has stumped him.

After Sun Wukong left, Niu Yi flipped his hand, and three copper coins quickly appeared in his hand.

Niu Yi looked at his first natal magic weapon, the Karma Divination Coin, which had followed him all the way from a white-grade magic weapon to a rainbow-grade magic weapon.

At this moment, a glint of light appeared in Niu Yi's hand, and streams of precious energy rapidly emanated from his palm, attempting to merge into the divination coins of cause and effect. However, this precious energy only remained on the surface and did not enter the divination coins of cause and effect.

"The karmic divination money for the Treasure Qi Repair has reached its limit."

At this point, the Karma Divination Coin has reached the limit of a high-grade magic item, but this limit is also the limit that the magic energy can repair. Currently, there is only one feasible way to upgrade and restore the Karma Divination Coin.

That is to comprehend the complete Dao of Cause and Effect, and then use this treasure to carry the Dao of Cause and Effect that one has comprehended, thus completely restoring the treasure.

"It seems that we can't use this treasure energy now. We can only keep it for now. It will be very useful for cultivating spiritual roots or nurturing other treasures in the future."

Niu Yi smiled as he looked at the treasure energy slowly rising in his hand.

He can now condense over two hundred strands of precious energy every day, but he can never have too much of it.

(End of this chapter)