Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 194 Hou Fei of Monkey Mountain
The top of Jindou Mountain.

At dawn, golden sunlight shone through the wisps of spiritual mist, illuminating the summit of Jindu Mountain. The golden light made the mist appear like golden clouds.

Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes and looked out the window, only to find that cherry blossom petals were fluttering in the air, accompanied by a gentle breeze and the fragrance of cherry blossoms.

Niu Yi stretched out his hand, and a cherry blossom petal slowly drifted from outside the window into the room, finally landing in Niu Yi's palm.

"It looks like today is the perfect day."

Niu Yi flicked the cherry blossom petals out the window again, a smile on his face.

Two years have passed since Wukong went to heaven to become the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses, and Yao Qing'er has been in seclusion on this mountain ever since, her aura growing stronger day by day.

Judging from his current appearance, he will probably be leaving the pass soon.

Niu Yi stood up, pushed open the wooden door, and walked outside.

"crunch~"

The moment Niu Yi stepped out the door, the cherry blossom petals that were fluttering in the wind seemed to speed up slightly, and gusts of wind blew past Niu Yi's clothes, making them flutter.

Niu Yi looked toward the source of the cherry blossoms, where Yao Qing'er was sitting cross-legged between two magic arrays, her face calm, and slowly opening her eyes.

"Wow~~"

As Yao Qing'er opened her eyes, the cherry blossoms began to spin faster and faster, all converging on her.

As Yao Qing'er slowly floated into the air, cherry blossom petals flew into her pink dress, making the cherry blossom fragrance even stronger and spreading throughout the mountaintop.

A moment later, when all the cherry blossoms had flown into the pink dress, Yao Qing'er slowly landed and stood still. At this moment, she seemed no different from before, except that the cherry blossom mark between her eyebrows was even more vibrant.

Yao Qing'er sensed the changes within her body, seemingly dazed for a moment before regaining her senses. She looked at Niu Yi, who was smiling at her not far away, bowed slightly, and said:
"Yao Qing'er thanks the leader for his sermon."

"Miss Qing'er, now you must be confident that you can break through your current realm. You should return to Falling Cherry Valley as soon as possible to prepare for your breakthrough. I'm sure the Land God of Falling Cherry Valley is getting impatient."

"Once Miss Qing'er breaks through her cultivation level, we'll gather again to celebrate!"

Upon hearing this, Yao Qing'er looked at Niu Yi and nodded seriously. She then gave Niu Yi a deep look, as if she wanted to imprint his image in her heart. Without further pleasantries, she turned and walked down the mountain.

She could never repay the debt, so there was no point in being polite anymore. Although she might never be able to repay Chief Niu Yi in this lifetime, she would always remember this kindness.

Niu Yi watched Yao Qing'er leave with gentle eyes, wishing her all the best in her life.

With Yao Qing'er gone, the summit of Jindu Mountain returned to tranquility. Niu Yi slowly walked to the stone bridge pavilion, took out the Starry Chessboard, and began to play against himself.

Today, the Golden-Hooped Earth God went to Liu Gui's place, so he had no choice but to do this.

When the Great Celestial Venerable gave him the supernatural power of "Incarnation," he said that when they met again, he couldn't still be a terrible chess player.

Although he had received the celestial ordination and entered the Heavenly Court for so many years, he had never been received by the Great Celestial Venerable again. He mostly had Venus relay messages to him.

However, if this person were to seek him out in the future, he wouldn't give him any advance notice.
In short, it's always better to prepare in advance for many things, and he is currently quite engrossed in the game of Go.

While Niu Yi was playing chess in the stone pavilion, Niu Feng and Niu Ping also went up the mountain to feed the spirit fish in the pond and pick peaches from the peach trees.

The pond on Jindu Mountain hasn't had its fish changed for over a hundred years. This is because the mountain is rich in spiritual energy and permeated with Daoist charm, and Niu Feng and others feed it with fish food made from spiritual fruits. These spiritual fish have all received considerable blessings.

From Niu Yi's current perspective, many of the fish in this pond have already developed sentience, thanks to his sermon ten years ago. However, these fish will not have the same luck as Jin Feng and Jin Yun in the future; how much they can cultivate will depend on themselves.

At the summit of Jindu Mountain, people were playing chess and feeding fish, creating a peaceful scene. However, not long after, Niu Yi looked up with a slight surprise.

Niu Feng, who was about to head down the mountain with a basket full of peaches, noticed Niu Yi's thoughtful expression and asked curiously:
"Chief, what happened?"

Niu Yi looked at Niu Feng, smiled and nodded, and said:

“The current chieftain of the neighboring Monkey Mountain has arrived. Niu Feng, go and greet him.”

Niu Feng was taken aback upon hearing this. The monkeys had always lived peacefully on the back mountain. Apart from offering some spiritual fruits and herbs to Jin Du Mountain every year without fail, they rarely interacted with the monkeys.

"Yes, Chief, I'll go take a look."

Niu Feng put down the basket in his hand and walked straight down the mountain. However, when he reached the halfway point, he saw the strong monkey walking up the mountain with Niu Li.

“Brother Niu Li, the chieftain already knows that this clan leader has arrived, and he sent me to greet him.”

Upon hearing this, the monkey was overjoyed. He thought to himself that the Daoist chant on Jindu Mountain ten years ago and the changes in Jindu Mountain over the past ten years were exactly as he had predicted. The leader was now on the mountain.

Before long, Niu Feng and Niu Li brought the chieftain of Monkey Mountain to Niu Yi.

Upon seeing Niu Yi, who was studying chess moves in the stone pavilion, the monkey immediately knelt down and repeatedly bowed in worship.

"Hou Fei of the Monkey Clan greets the Chief!"

Niu Yi looked at Hou Fei and nodded slightly. Having witnessed the monkey troop of Huaguo Mountain, the difference between Hou Fei, an ordinary monkey who had become a spirit, and the monkey troop was indeed vast.

But these monkeys were his subordinates, and the monkey mountain had been offering sacrifices to him every year since it came under his control. Although Jin Du Mountain no longer cared about those things, the monkey mountain clan leader had changed three times in the past three hundred years, but it was still the same.

When the old monkey passed away, he was grateful for the old monkey's hard work and dedication to this monkey clan throughout his life, so he sent a telepathic message to the old monkey, telling him that he would keep his promise and take care of this monkey clan.

Now, three hundred years later, he has kept his promise, and this monkey clan has not disappointed the old monkey.

Now the leader of Monkey Mountain is also at the level of a demon general, and is about to break through to the level of a demon commander. If that old monkey knew this in the afterlife, he would be pleased.

“I already know why you came up the mountain, but the Moon Deer Clan has long since left my Golden Gourd Mountain. I owe them nothing and have no karmic connection with them, so their affairs are naturally none of my Golden Gourd Mountain’s business.”

"Whether or not you help is entirely up to you."

Upon hearing this, Niu Li and Niu Ping, who were standing around, couldn't help but show surprise, while Niu Feng was stunned, and the image of Yuehua Lu Xiaoyue appeared in his mind.

"Yes, Chief, I understand."

Hou Fei quickly bowed and nodded in agreement. However, even though he already knew that this person's realm was beyond his comprehension, he still couldn't help but feel impressed by Niu Yi's precognitive abilities.

Niu Yi nodded and said:
"I observe that your cultivation level is about to break through. I have two boxes of spiritual incense that may be of some help to you. Three years later, you can come up the mountain again, and I will give you a magic treasure."

"Yes! Hou Fei kowtows in gratitude to the chief! Hou Fei is deeply grateful for the chief's great kindness and virtue! The Monkey Mountain clan is willing to serve the chief for generations to come! We will never regret it even if it means dying a thousand deaths!"

Upon hearing this, Hou Fei couldn't help but show excitement and repeatedly kowtowed to Niu Yi!
Besides being excited about the incense and the magical treasure, he was even more excited that his monkey clan's three hundred years of perseverance had finally caught the leader's eye!

(End of this chapter)