Primordial Era: I, Ksitigarbha, shall be the Supreme Being of the Primordial Era.

Just as Ksitigarbha was about to ride away on a cloud, he suddenly remembered something and immediately waved his sleeve.

A hundred or so spiritual fruits then fell in front of the Medicine Master Maitreya.

"This place is still tens of thousands of miles away from Mount Sumeru. These spiritual fruits are for you two to quench your thirst on the way."

Having said that, he rode the clouds and disappeared into the horizon.

The two, Medicine Master and Maitreya, looked at the spiritual fruit in front of them, their eyes welling up with tears.

"Brother Ksitigarbha is truly benevolent! We are no match for him!"

"Brother Ksitigarbha possesses a pure and innocent heart; he will surely attain the Great Dao one day!"

"Fellow Daoist Medicine Master, let us also set off. We will surely meet again in the future!"

"good!"

……

Time flies like an arrow.

Ksitigarbha is about to reach the border between the west and the east.

Sitting cross-legged on the Dharma cloud, Ksitigarbha clearly felt that the concentration of spiritual energy in the air had increased significantly.

As we were about to cross the border, a sacred mountain suddenly came into view.

There were verdant peaks and towering ridges, ancient trees with gnarled roots; glistening fruits and exotic flowers; and birds fluttering their wings and strange beasts frolicking in the water.

One could hear the cries of monkeys, which, combined with the chirping of birds and the roars of beasts, made one feel as if they were in a fairyland.

Ksitigarbha gazed at it intently for a long time before exclaiming, "What a blessed land!"

"Haha, young friend, if you like it, why not descend from the clouds and enjoy a leisurely stroll?"

Suddenly, a hearty laugh reached Ksitigarbha's ears.

Ksitigarbha looked in the direction of the sound and saw a Taoist priest dressed in a red robe, his chest exposed, lying diagonally beside the mountain path of the sacred mountain, eating a spiritual fruit.

The owner of that voice was clearly this Taoist priest.

When Ksitigarbha saw that this Taoist was one with heaven and earth, and his whole body was filled with Taoist essence, almost identical to his own master, he knew that this person was probably a highly accomplished Taoist.

Not daring to dwell high above, it hastily descended from the clouds.

He quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Disciple Ksitigarbha of Mount Sumeru greets Senior!"

Upon hearing Ksitigarbha introduce himself, the Taoist priest was visibly taken aback.

"Mount Sumeru? What is your relationship with those two fellow Daoists, Amitabha and Cundi?"

"They are my two venerable masters!" Ksitigarbha replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Oh?" The Taoist priest tossed aside the remaining fruit in his hand, slowly stood up, and said, "That's quite a coincidence!"

"Do you know that your two masters have a grudge against me?" The Taoist priest, whose face had been kind, suddenly changed his expression and shouted at Ksitigarbha.

Ksitigarbha was stunned and looked at the red-robed Taoist, speechless.

Meanwhile, the brain is racing to guess the identity of the person in front of it.

However, the red-robed Taoist's chilling aura and oppressive power constantly weighed on Ksitigarbha, causing Ksitigarbha's brain to shut down.

After a long while, Ksitigarbha exhaled and bowed to the red-robed Taoist, asking, "As the saying goes, when Master has something to do, disciple will serve him."

"Since you have a grudge against my master, then whatever punishment you may impose on me, I will accept it."

"Not afraid of death?" The red-robed Taoist's pressure intensified.

"This body is like a speck of dust; after death, the soul returns to heaven and earth, and will also become a speck of dust."

"Haha, good lad, you do have some affinity for the Dao, to be able to say such things. Your two masters have certainly taken in a good disciple!"

You are indeed far superior to your two masters!

"I am far inferior! Compared to my two masters, I am but a firefly and the bright moon!"

Hongyun looked at Dizang with a smile. She had seen Dizang looking up at the mountains from the clouds and had sensed a familiar aura on Dizang, so she became curious.

After learning that Ksitigarbha was a disciple of the second path of Mount Sumeru, he became even more playful, which led to the previous incident of intimidating Ksitigarbha.

After witnessing Ksitigarbha's polite, wise, and humble demeanor, I immediately felt a fondness for him.

He could only sigh inwardly, lamenting that he was not fortunate enough to have such a disciple.

Having tested him and played around with him, Hongyun immediately withdrew his oppressive aura and smiled at Dizang.

He said, "I am Hongyun. I sensed a familiar aura from you earlier and learned that you are a disciple of an acquaintance, which is why I conducted this test. Were you frightened, young friend?"

Ksitigarbha suddenly felt the pressure on his body disappear, and upon hearing what Hongyun said, he realized that he had been tricked by Hongyun.

But he couldn't fight city hall, so he could only wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and say with lingering fear, "I'm scared! I'm terrified!"

Hongyun laughed heartily upon seeing this, clearly very satisfied with Dizang's performance.

"Although I have no grudges against your two masters, I am still bound by karma, but these are minor matters."

Hongyun stepped forward and patted Dizang on the shoulder, "You are not your master, so this karma has nothing to do with you."

I just heard that you like this mountain; would you like to visit it with me?

"That is indeed my wish, but I dare not ask you to." Ksitigarbha bowed and said.

"Haha, alright, come, come, let me introduce this mountain to you!"

Hongyun laughed loudly, grabbed Dizang's arm, and pulled him up the mountain.

"Young friend, look, this mountain is called Longevity Mountain, the Taoist temple of my good friend Zhen Yuanzi."

This mountain is blessed with extraordinary beauty and ever-changing scenery. It is a masterpiece of nature, imbued with the spirit of yin and yang, and can be called a top-tier grotto-heaven…”

Hongyun, holding onto Dizang, led him up the steps, introducing the mountain scenery as they went, leaving Dizang overwhelmed with admiration and full of praise.

At the end of the mountain path, a quiet and solemn Taoist temple, hidden deep in the forest, appears before Dizang.

On either side of the Taoist temple was a couplet: the first line read, "The abode of immortals who live forever," and the second line read, "The home of Taoists who live as long as heaven."

There is a plaque above it with the three characters "Wuzhuang Temple" written on it.

"Young friend, this is the training ground of my good friend. Please follow me inside."

As she spoke, Hongyun tried to pull Dizang inside, but Dizang quickly refused, saying, "Senior, how dare I enter without my master's permission? No, no!"

"Haha, young friend, you don't know this, my friend and I are as close as brothers, there's no need to worry about it..."

But no matter how Hongyun tried to persuade him, Dizang refused.

Just then, the gate of the Taoist temple suddenly opened, and a Taoist priest wearing a purple-gold crown and a crane-feather cloak walked out.

"Hongyun, since that brat refuses to enter my Daoist temple, do not force him! Besides, I do not like the people of Mount Sumeru!"

"Brother Dao, how can you say such a thing? Although I have karmic ties with fellow Daoists Sumeru and Ksitigarbha, how innocent is young Ksitigarbha?"

The person who opened the door was none other than Zhen Yuanzi, the master of Wuzhuang Temple.

Seeing that Zhen Yuanzi did not welcome him, and not wanting to be polite to someone who was cold to him, Dizang simply bowed to Hongyun and said, "Senior, since Senior Zhen Yuanzi does not like me, how can I be so shameless as to bother you? I will always remember your kindness in taking me on a tour of the mountains."

After saying this, he bowed to Zhen Yuanzi again and said, "This junior does not know what cause and effect exists between Senior Hongyun and my master, but this junior knows that cause and effect are cyclical and will eventually come to an end."

"Moreover..." Ksitigarbha paused, his expression changing, a profound smile playing on his lips, and said, "How does Senior know that this cause is not that cause?"

After saying this, Ksitigarbha turned and walked down the mountain.

The day of the ceremony is just around the corner, and we really can't delay any longer.

Hongyun wanted to persuade Dizang to stay, but seeing that Dizang showed no sign of stopping, she could only shake her head and sigh, and did not stop him any further.

Zhen Yuanzi's expression kept changing, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

After a long while, Hongyun spoke, finally waking Zhen Yuanzi.

"Brother Dao, just as my friend Dizang said, cause and effect are a cycle, and it will come to an end one day. So don't think about it anymore."

These mountain fruits are rather tasteless; I've been longing for your ginseng fruit for so long.

Upon hearing this, Zhen Yuanzi could only shake his head and sigh, "You!"