Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 210 "Eye Drops"

In Heaven, after Sun Wukong was imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain for a day, Daojun returned from the An Tian Assembly.

This grand assembly to appease the Buddha and subdue the monkey demon has further convinced Daojun that this assembly is intended to strengthen the influence of Buddhism in the east in the future.

This time, the Queen Mother of the West, the God of Longevity, and the Barefoot Immortal successively presented treasures to Buddha at the conference, making Buddhism the most prominent sect for the time being, which was obviously something they had planned in advance.

Daojun also witnessed the Buddha take out the paper with the six golden characters Om Mani Padme Hum written on it from his sleeve, hand it to Ananda, and stick it on the top of the Five Elements Mountain, which finally subdued Sun Wukong.

As for the future transmission of Buddhism to the East, although he agreed, he and Venus both understood that there was no rush.

Daojun knew that this matter would take at least another five hundred years. The mortal realm was not like the Heavenly Court. Five hundred years was enough for many things, even the earth and rivers, to undergo tremendous changes. Prematurely deploying resources was completely unnecessary.

Even if they are anxious, it should be Lingshan who is anxious. The two of them should see how Lingshan is preparing.

"Guo Yun, I am about to descend to the mortal realm to return to Daojun Mountain. I will entrust the Daojun Palace in the Heavenly Court to you for protection and guard."

"Please rest assured, Daoist Lord, Guo Yun will definitely take good care of Daoist Lord's Palace."

Daojun smiled and nodded, then said:
“I know you also want to go down to the mortal realm to visit Daojun Mountain. I have received news from some friends in the underworld that two more disciples of Daojun Mountain should ascend to become immortal officials in a few days, and they can replace you.”

Upon hearing this, Guo Yun's face lit up with joy, and he repeatedly bowed to thank the Daoist.

After descending to the mortal realm, Daojun did not return directly to Daojun Mountain, but instead went to Daojun Temple in Nanzhanbuzhou.

At this time, there were many people worshipping at the Daojun Temple.

A year ago, a giant mountain suddenly fell from this place, causing the nearby residents to live in constant fear. Fortunately, a year has passed and nothing has happened to the giant mountain.

On the contrary, this Daojun Temple was located directly opposite the giant mountain. When the giant mountain fell, the temple did not move at all, and the giant mountain remained motionless. Therefore, it was regarded as a manifestation of the Daojun, and people would come to worship from time to time.

The temple is not large and there are no statues of his seven guardian generals, but there are still murals on the walls depicting their deeds.

The figure of Daojun slowly emerged from the clay statue above, passing over the unsuspecting worshippers and the temple keeper who was dozing at the entrance, and walked out of the temple, looking at the Five Finger Mountain not far away, which was shaped like five fingers.

Daojun's eyes flashed with divine light, and he soon saw Sun Wukong, who was trapped under the mountain, with only his head and hands sticking out, unable to move his body and looking quite disheveled.

Just then, five figures quickly appeared on the Five Elements Mountain. Upon seeing that it was Dao Lord, they bowed and said:

“Divine Physician Daojun, we are now under the command of the Buddha to guard the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Without the decree of the Jade Emperor or the Buddha, no one may visit him.”

“The Buddha said that when the Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s calamities are over, someone will come to his rescue.”

Daojun looked at the five people, returned their greetings with clasped hands, and nodded.

He had met these five before at the previous An Tian Assembly; they were the Golden-Headed Jiedi, the Silver-Headed Jiedi, the Para-Jiedi, the Para-Sengjiedi, and the Maha-Jiedi, the five Jiedi of the Five Directions.

He observed that on the Five Elements Mountain, there was a local mountain god guarding it, and besides that, there were the five guardian deities of the five directions.

If they were to actually fight, even if these five joined forces, they would not be a match for his divine incarnation. The divine treasures he possessed were equally powerful and unpredictable, and these five could not withstand them.

But these five figures represented the Jade Emperor and the Buddha, so he naturally wouldn't entertain the thought of taking action. Daojun glanced at the monkey one last time, then looked away and returned to the temple, preparing to go back to his Daojun Mountain.

It's good to let this monkey think things through quietly. With his intelligence as Wukong's junior brother, he'll surely figure many things out on his own in time.
On the other side, the Five Directions Protectors breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the Divine Physician Daoist turn and leave.

"I didn't pay much attention to him when I saw him sitting with Venus at the An Tian Assembly. I didn't expect him to have such an imposing presence. His gaze earlier put a lot of pressure on me."

"He must be a very capable person. This Divine Physician Daoist is not famous in the Heavenly Court. He can be said to be extremely low-key. But I heard that he was also a deity personally appointed by His Majesty the Jade Emperor."

"Why don't we pay him a visit sometime? It seems we'll be neighbors with him for quite some time."

That makes sense.

At the summit of Jindu Mountain, Niu Yi slowly opened his eyes. With a flick of his whisk, a jade bottle with cloud patterns appeared before him.

This jade bottle is none other than the Heavenly Treasure Bottle containing the ten directions of water.

"Over the years, we still haven't been able to refine the nectar that can heal the spiritual roots of heaven and earth. But we've unexpectedly managed to refine two drops of 'eye drops' instead."

As two shimmering, crystalline drops of water slowly flew out of the Heavenly Treasure Bottle, a smile appeared in Niu Yi's eyes.

Sun Wukong developed fiery eyes in the Eight Trigrams Furnace, which allowed him to see through the disguises of demons and immortals, penetrate appearances, and see many things that others could not see, making him truly extraordinary.

But this keen eye could also be considered an old ailment; it was afraid of smoke but not fire, which was actually caused by the thick smoke in the Bagua Furnace.

In Niu Yi's view, only those eyes that are not afraid of smoke can be considered complete eyes.

The two drops of water he accidentally created were the solution to his old problem of being afraid of smoke, while also preserving his fiery golden eyes.

"These two drops alone seem insufficient; at least a hundred drops are needed to wash the eyes with this water morning and night for it to be effective."

Niu Yi pondered for a moment, then waved his whisk again, putting away the Heavenly Treasure Bottle and the two drops of water once more, and slowly stood up.

The preparation of these "eye drops" was quite troublesome and could not be completed in a short time. Moreover, he did not intend to appear in front of his junior brother at this moment.

Let his junior brother Wukong think it over carefully. Only when he figures it out himself will his future path be much easier. Otherwise, no amount of persuasion will help. He will just prepare the medicine himself.

As for now, he plans to visit the underworld.

Despite the Jade Emperor's promise that he could release his second senior brother once the transmission of Buddhist scriptures to the East ended, Niu Yi still planned to personally visit his second senior brother and subtly inquire about his wishes.

Regardless of his thoughts, this is his own business. He can't possibly use the guise of doing what's best for his second senior brother to give him a so-called "surprise." After all, there were clearly many hidden details about what happened back then, and he knew very little about them. If he acted recklessly, he might do something that would backfire.

In any case, going to see his senior brother on this trip will reveal everything.

This time, he won't trouble his two brothers, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and will go to the underworld on his own.

Niu Yi stretched out his palm and gently drew a path in front of him, creating a dark path. Holding a whisk, he stepped inside.

(End of this chapter)