Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 405 The Path to Transcendence
"I haven't been to Daojun Mountain for hundreds of years. I never expected it to have become so prosperous."

Looking down at the Tongtian River and the ferry crossings and towns on the west bank, Liu Dongchen sighed with admiration, noting that this place was now one of the most prosperous in the entire Four Continents.

With the Tongtian River and its many tributaries, this place can become a natural land of fish and rice, as long as the floods can be controlled.

"Speaking of which, hundreds of years ago, when Sister Ni Chang and I came to this Tongtian River, we were on that big ship below. I never expected that after so many years, not only would this treasure ship still exist, but it also seems to have been taken into the possession of the local water god."

A cool moonlight shone in Liu Qiaoqiao's eyes as she looked down at the treasure ship that was sailing smoothly on the river.

In her eyes, a faint, ripple-like azure divine power was slowly rising on the treasure ship, clearly blessed by the Tongtian River God.

Furthermore, when she traveled on this large ship back then, it wasn't as luxurious as it is now. The pearls and shells adorning the pavilions on that ship were no ordinary items.

Liu Dongchen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the bustling towns behind the riverbank.

"Let's go, let's head to Daojun Mountain as soon as possible to pay our respects to Lord Daojun. After that, we'll go to Huxiao Mountain to see Grandpa."

"I heard from my master that the true spirit of that senior has gone to travel through the chaotic worlds to pursue the Primordial Dao Fruit. The only one we can find now is the one on Daojun Mountain."

"The Primordial Dao Fruit!"

Liu Qiaoqiao pursed her lips. If she could cultivate the Dao Fruit of Taiyin Dao in this life and achieve the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, it would be a luxury, let alone the most difficult and mysterious Hunyuan Dao Fruit.

Liu Dongchen glanced at Liu Qiaoqiao beside him. He could certainly sense his younger sister's emotions, but how could one rely on others in matters of cultivation? Even at the Taiyi True Immortal realm, one mostly had to rely on oneself.
Even though he himself has now made up for the deficiencies in his mental state, he is not entirely confident that he can achieve the Great Luo realm in this current phase. If he fails in this phase, he will probably have no choice but to seek the protection of his master, Taiyi Tianzun, if he wants to live to the next phase.
For them, or most of the immortals in the Taiyi True Immortal Realm, surviving to the end of this cycle is actually quite certain. What's truly rare is achieving the Great Luo realm and transcending the mortal realm.
When the world falls into deathly silence and returns to chaos, apart from those Great Luo Golden Immortals who can save themselves, others can only escape this calamity of annihilation by relying on the protection of the Three Pure Ones, the Four Emperors, and other beings who are still above the Great Luo level.

Aside from those few, perhaps only those who have cultivated the extremely profound Primordial Dao Fruit can protect some people through this calamity when the world returns to chaos. Ordinary Great Luo Immortals would never be able to do this.

If one has no one to protect them and has not broken through to the Great Luo realm, even if they cultivate to the extreme in the Taiyi True Immortal realm, what good is fighting against a Great Luo? In the end, they will never be able to transcend.

When the world comes to an end, dust will return to dust, and ashes to ashes.

The brother and sister Liu Dongchen and Liu Qiaoqiao arrived at Daojun Medical Clinic at the foot of Daojun Mountain by riding the clouds and mist. There, they found a red-haired man and a white-haired woman waiting for them at the clinic’s entrance.

As soon as they landed, the two men stepped forward and greeted them with clasped hands.

"The seven guardian lions of Daojun Mountain, Fuli and Xueshi, greet you both. I presume you two are the brother and sister Liu Dongchen and Liu Qiaoqiao."

The Liu siblings returned the greeting with clasped hands, exchanged a glance, and both saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

Unexpectedly, the 'little lion' that their Nine-Spirited Primordial Saint had taken in the mortal realm appeared right in front of them.

Liu Dongchen said:

"Indeed, it is the two of us. Were you two waiting here specifically for my brother and sister?"

Snow Lion stepped forward and said, “That’s right. Dao Lord knew long ago that two old friends were coming to visit, so he specially ordered the two of us to wait here and receive the two venerable gods as they come up the mountain.”

"In that case, I'll trouble you two."

Fuli and Xueshi nodded quickly, gestured to the Liu siblings to invite them in, and led the two of them into the clinic.

As the four traveled, Fuli and Xueshi both showed slight hesitation, which made Liu Dongchen quite curious after noticing it. After a moment, he suddenly realized the relationship between these two and his senior, Yuan Sheng.

Sure enough, after the four of them passed through Daojun Medical Hall and arrived at the foot of Daojun Mountain, Xue Shi couldn't help but ask:

"My master told us that you two are distinguished guests from the Moon Palace and the Eastern Palace of Wonderful Splendor. Although it may be a bit presumptuous, we would like to ask this venerable master of the Eastern Palace of Wonderful Splendor a question."

Liu Dongchen smiled and said:
"Do you two wish to inquire about Senior Nine-Headed Lion?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Li and the Snow Lion looked pleasantly surprised and quickly bowed to Liu Dongchen, asking:
"Your Excellency knows about this matter? Did our ancestor mention us in the upper realm? Is he still well?"

Liu Qiaoqiao stepped forward and said with a light laugh:

"Of course, as the mount of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, Senior Yuansheng is naturally safe and sound in the Heavenly Palace. Moreover, he has also made contributions to the eastward spread of Buddhism. He has been living a very carefree life these past few years."

"And after I returned to Heaven from the mortal realm, every time I saw Senior Yuan Sheng, he would talk to me for a long time about Bamboo Mountain~"

Upon hearing this, both Fuli and Xue Shi were quite excited, and even Xue Shi, who was usually the most emotionally stable of the seven lions, had tears in his eyes.

"That's wonderful! Grandpa is doing well. He hasn't forgotten us."

Fuli could imagine how happy his brothers and sisters would be if they told him this news.

Although Daojun has always treated them very well and is now willing to make good use of these lions who came from the mountains and fields, they are still irreplaceable to Zuweng and the others.

That old man was their family member and elder.
Snow Lion suppressed the stinging in his eyes, slowly calming his emotions after hearing the news. He bowed to the two people beside him, his face full of apology, and said:
"I am truly sorry that you two venerable deities have made a fool of yourselves. Fuli and I will take you to meet the Dao Lord now."

When the Liu siblings saw this, they exchanged a glance and saw a gentle smile in each other's eyes.

The performance of these two lions is enough to prove that they have not disappointed Senior Yuan Sheng. The little lions that the senior is concerned about are also concerned about him.

They did not let their predecessors' efforts go to waste.
Fuli and Xueshi composed themselves and led the Liu siblings up the steps again, heading towards Daojun Palace with the pilgrims coming and going.

With their abilities, if they didn't want others to know, how could anyone know that four immortals and gods were traveling with them at this moment?

Before long, the group arrived at the Daojun Palace, where they saw the Daojun statue at the head of the hall and many Daojun Palace protectors dressed in golden armor and robes, each with a different appearance.

(End of this chapter)