Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 412 The Rooster Awakens

Three years later, in the world of Liaozhai, in Lanruo Temple.

Looking at the dilapidated plaque in front of him, which was still faintly legible despite being hundreds of years old, Niu Yi felt as if he had returned to the night when he first came to the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

Niu Yi examined the plaque for a moment, then put his hands behind his back and strode into the temple.

Because people had lived there for hundreds of years, Lanruo Temple had not become a ruin, but still looked somewhat dilapidated, although there were obvious changes inside the temple.

Unbeknownst to Niu Yi, a locust tree had sprouted from the ground in the temple courtyard, much to his surprise.

"Interesting coincidences"

Niu Yi recalled the thousand-year-old tree demon, looked at the locust tree in front of him, shook his head with a smile, and had no intention of touching the locust tree at all.

The world was now vastly different from when he first arrived. Demons and monsters were now extremely cautious, and if any appeared, the Thunder Department and numerous celestial masters and demon-slaying gods would go to deal with them. It was nothing like it used to be.

If this locust tree were to become a demon again in the future, someone would come to deal with it. Moreover, the locust tree in front of us doesn't even have a trace of intelligence yet.

Niu Yi stared at it for a long time, then suddenly said in a slow voice:

"Come out, Xiao Hai. Don't forget that I taught you this earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of escape technique)."

As Niu Yi finished speaking, ripples slowly appeared on the ground behind him, and a figure emerged—Xiao Hai, dressed in white.

At this moment, Xiao Hai scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. He no longer resembled the Sword Immortal Bai Yujing; he was no different from the silly boy who had wholeheartedly followed his young master back then.

Niu Yi turned around, looked at Xiao Hai in front of him, and sighed slightly:
"You, you, I told you to cultivate properly in Baiyujing, but you came along. I told you to go to the Daojun Mountain of the Three Realms, but you refused. Do you know that in this world, the one I worry about the most is you, kid?"

Xiao Hai opened his mouth, his eyes dimming slightly, but after a moment his resolve hardened, and he bowed deeply to Niu Yi in front of him, saying:

"Young master! No matter how much time has passed or how far apart we are, you will always be my young master!"

"I know my abilities are limited and I can't help you! I can only wish that you can achieve your goal of cultivating the Primordial Dao Fruit and live a long and healthy life!"

"Xiao Hai also hopes that when you attain enlightenment, you can return and see your old followers."

Niu Yi looked at Xiao Hai, who was bowing deeply, and sighed slightly. A golden light appeared in front of him, flew into Xiao Hai's body, and disappeared in an instant.

"I left you a book containing my insights from when I was comprehending the Heavenly Dao of this world. If you can master it, even if the Heavenly Emperor Sword is not in your hands, you will still be another Heavenly Emperor of this world."

"But if you want to go further, you have to go to the Three Realms, and it all depends on yourself."

“I know you don’t go to the Three Realms because you’re afraid I’ll see you as a burden, but how do you know that if you go to the Three Realms you won’t be helping me?”

"In the matter of cultivation, if I cultivate to the point of achieving the Primordial Dao Fruit, I can live a long and prosperous life. But your cultivation is not good enough. If when I return, all that will remain is a lonely grave, I am afraid I can only grieve and lament."

Niu Yi's words echoed in Xiao Hai's ears, causing Xiao Hai's heart to tremble. He quickly looked up ahead, but there was no sign of his young master. Only his voice remained, echoing in Lanruo Temple.

"Therefore, cultivate yourself well and do not think too lowly of yourself."

"Go, go to the Three Realms to follow in my footsteps, go to seek that glimmer of hope to break through to the Great Luo realm."

Xiao Hai stared blankly at the Lanruo Temple before him, lost in thought. After a moment, he slowly clenched his fist, his eyes hardening completely. Above the white clouds in the sky, Niu Yi nodded slightly at this sight.

He stood on a cloud, slowly closed his eyes, and began to silently recite the incantation that the Jade Emperor had taught him.

Niu Yi silently recited the incantation once, and felt a water mirror filled with endless stars slowly appear in his heart. It was as if he could enter the water mirror with a single thought and travel to other worlds again.

Niu Yi didn't hesitate to take the plunge. He felt the starry sky in the mirror before him was magnifying infinitely, and his consciousness was rapidly blurring.

However, at that moment, a clear and inexplicably familiar phoenix cry suddenly entered his mind. Along with a five-colored light flashing across the Mirror of the Universe, Niu Yi completely lost consciousness.

Before half a cup of tea, the three realms, the spiritual realm, and the state of mind.

Daojun was placing three incense sticks into the incense burner in front of the ancestral tablet, and bowed as usual to perform the disciple's salute.

Just then, Daojun suddenly noticed a change in his mental state. He quickly turned around and looked at the back mountain of the Taoist temple with some surprise.

A five-colored, misty light slowly rose from the mountains.

Daojun took a step forward and appeared in the nest of the rooster in the back mountain in the next instant. He looked at the five-colored egg in front of him with a smile. The egg had cracked and was constantly emitting colorful mist.

The surrounding colorful roosters fell into a deep sleep as soon as they were affected by the colorful mist, their bodies radiating colorful light, clearly undergoing some kind of transformation.

"Clang clang—"

Suddenly, a loud phoenix cry rang out. Daojun saw the five-colored light before him suddenly burst forth, the five-colored egg exploded, and a five-colored pearl shot out from it, leaving the towering tree and flying into the sky.

Daojun looked up and saw that the five-colored pearl had transformed into a five-colored phoenix stretching its body, with five magnificent five-colored tail feathers constantly scattering starlight.

The five-colored phoenixes sang and danced in the sky, enlivening the entire Lingtai state of mind.

"Hahaha~ I, the Chicken Lord, have finally regained my true form!"

Upon hearing that familiar, somewhat hoarse voice, Daojun, who was admiring the graceful figure of the colorful phoenix in the sky, couldn't help but freeze.

This rooster, even after regaining its phoenix form, still has such a voice; it's so incongruous with its appearance.

"You're already a phoenix, and you still call yourself 'Chicken Master'? You bastard!"

Daojun smiled and shook his head, but then heard the colorful phoenix in the sky lower its head and say:

"What do you know? Back then, Master Chicken broke through his bloodline with the form of a five-colored rooster and finally reached his current form."

"However, it's clear that your cultivation has progressed rapidly during the years that I've been in seclusion. What's with that divine aura and that terrifying incense smoke?"

Just as Daojun was about to reply, he saw the five-colored phoenix looking up at the sky, and that hoarse voice came again.

"The Mirror of the Universe has been activated again. It was indeed this fluctuation that awakened me. Your true spirit must have reincarnated again. I won't argue with you any longer~"

To Daojun's astonishment, the five-colored phoenix stretched out its body, transformed into a five-colored radiance, and vanished from his sight in an instant. Moreover, its aura disappeared from the Three Realms almost in a flash.

(End of this chapter)