I'm already a Great Luo Golden Immortal, how come you're only Martial Saints?

He scratched his head, looking at Ning Chen, who was lost in a state of selflessness, with a look of astonishment on his face, but dared not approach rashly.

In crucial moments, even a monkey knows what's important.

"Junior Brother Ning... has he had an epiphany? Good heavens, this is even more extraordinary than when I listened to the Patriarch preach! Is this tattered scripture really that powerful?"

"Let me see what this thing is saying..."

Under Ning Chen's tutelage these past few days, the monkey has learned some characters and is no longer the illiterate monkey it once was.

He glanced at the gold scroll in Ning Chen's hand, then frowned and scratched his head.

"I don't understand, I don't understand at all. Forget it, I'll wait for Junior Brother Ning to wake up and have him teach me!"

Although monkeys are highly intelligent, they are still monkeys after all. Enabling them to read and write is already the limit. Asking them to delve into the nuances of language and understand such obscure scriptures is simply impossible.

Later, Patriarch Bodhi passed down the Great Celestial Immortal Technique and the Seventy-Two Transformations of Earthly Fiends, all of which were directly instilled through divine thought, simply because the monkey couldn't bear to read the book.

Just then, the monkey's golden eyes suddenly saw several wisps of black energy slowly surging in from under the door.

They entangled themselves around Ning Chen, who was in a state of sudden enlightenment!

This is one of the seven calamities that one will inevitably encounter when leaving the mortal body and establishing one's foundation.

Ning Chen was at the Bodhi Patriarch's sacred site on Fangcun Mountain, where calamities such as water, fire, war, injury, and plague were forbidden. Only the calamity of inner demons could sneak in silently and without form...

In this critical moment, the monkey didn't hesitate. He glared at Ning Chen with his big eyes and stood in front of him, scolding him.

"What the hell are you? How dare you harm my junior brother? Get lost!"

The moment the black aura touched the monkey's body, it seemed to suffer a severe blow and immediately receded...

Almost at the same moment, deep within the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars, the Bodhi Patriarch, who was sitting in meditation on a cloud bed, suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in them.

"Is this... a disciple establishing their foundation?"

With a sweep of his divine sense, Patriarch Bodhi absorbed everything that had happened in his disciple's retreat into his consciousness.

"This child can actually draw upon the true essence of heaven and earth, reaching the initial stage of the Dao realm?"

Bodhi Patriarch was no ordinary person; he instantly understood Ning Chen's current state.

He thought he had already paid enough attention to Ning Chen, but he never expected that just a few days after he gave his sermon, the boy would make another breakthrough.

However, just as he nodded with satisfaction, he suddenly frowned and looked up.

........

Thirty-three heavens away, in the Tushita Palace of the Heaven of Separation and Hatred, Laozi, who was tending the Eight Trigrams Furnace and regulating the civil and military fire paths to refine elixirs, suddenly paused in his fire-controlling technique.

The Samadhi Fire in the alchemy furnace suddenly leaped three zhang high, turning the entire batch of pills into dregs, and the smell of burnt pills filled the entire Tushita Palace!

Laozi let out a soft "Eh?" and lowered his eyes to look down at the lower realm!

His gaze pierced through layers of space, landing in the direction of Fangcun Mountain, and he was even more surprised.

"After the great calamity of the Investiture of the Gods, someone in the mortal realm has actually been able to resonate with the true meaning of the Tao Te Ching? Although it is only a rudimentary understanding, it is still remarkable. Judging from the location, it should be here. Allow me to take a look..."

Laozi was about to take a closer look.

Within Fangcun Mountain, Patriarch Bodhi sensed the supreme gaze cast from beyond the heavens, and his white eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"This child's mind is like a wild monkey, his will hard to tame. The time is not yet ripe; revealing his true nature too early may lead to unforeseen events, more of a curse than a blessing..."

Bodhi Patriarch snorted coldly, and with a gentle flick of his whisk, an invisible and intangible barrier quietly rose up, completely enveloping the entire Fangcun Mountain.

This barrier is not meant to prevent Laozi from probing, but rather to integrate the Daoist energy fluctuations caused by Ning Chen's comprehension of the Tao Te Ching into the aura of Fangcun Mountain itself.

Like a drop of clear water, once it merges into the ocean, it becomes indistinguishable.

In the Tushita Palace, as far as Laozi’s eyes could see, Fangcun Mountain was shrouded in clouds and mist, appearing peaceful and serene, as if it were just a mortal mountain.

That subtle Daoist rhythm, originating from the Tao Te Ching, has vanished within Fangcun Mountain, leaving no trace.

"Who is shielding me from the secrets of heaven? Fine, if they won't let me see, then I won't see..."

"However, since you've studied my Tao Te Ching, when it comes to future matters, you should at least be considered half my disciple..."

Laozi stroked his beard and smiled, no longer delving into the matter. He then refocused his attention on the alchemy furnace, and immediately grimaced, looking heartbroken.

"By the Dao Ancestor Hongjun, this batch of Nine-Turn Golden Elixir has been ruined; we must start anew!"

He lifted his leg and walked outside, calling out loudly.

"Ox, ox, carry me to see the Jade Emperor. I need to report the losses incurred in refining the elixir to him..."

Inside the pavilion, Ning Chen was completely unaware of the covert contest between the two powerful figures.

He was currently immersed in the profound Daoist realm of the Tao Te Ching. As his understanding continued to grow, his innate talent and cultivation of the Dao became more solid, and his aura became increasingly ethereal and otherworldly.

Sun Wukong squatted to the side, his golden eyes unblinking. Although he couldn't understand the mysteries of the scriptures, he could sense Ning Chen's dramatic change, and his curiosity grew stronger.

The monkey secretly admired itself.

"I just picked up a junior brother at the foot of the mountain, and he's already so powerful. I'm incredibly lucky. If he continues to cultivate like this, he might not even need the patriarch to pass on his skills; he could probably reach the realm of immortals right away..."

After an unknown amount of time, the strange phenomena surrounding Ning Chen gradually subsided.

He exhaled a long breath of stale air, which condensed and did not dissipate, with faint black and white colors flowing within it, before finally dissipating into the air.

He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze seemingly reflecting the ephemeral nature of stars and the arising and ceasing of Daoist principles, before regaining his clarity after a moment.

A notification popped up in front of Ning Chen's eyes.

[Comprehension of the Tao Te Ching (fragment), Root Bone +82, Current Root Bone: 330]

[Gained insight into the profound mysteries of the Great Dao, cultivation level increased by 5 years, current cultivation level: 5.2 years]

[Comprehension increased by 10 points, current Comprehension: 984!]

[Lifespan increased by 100 years, current lifespan 18/178!]

I felt my cultivation, understanding, and lifespan all increasing in an all-round way.

Ning Chen knew that this gamble—betting ten years of cultivation in exchange for enlightenment and to decipher the Tao Te Ching—had been a huge win.

Not only did his physical potential increase dramatically, but more importantly, his initial glimpse into the Tao Te Ching laid an incredibly solid foundation for his future path, directly pointing to the Great Tao.

As long as you have the Tao Te Ching in hand and study it daily, your spiritual cultivation and foundation will be endless!

Ning Chen looked up and was met with Sun Wukong's hairy face.

"Junior Brother Ning, just now, did you perhaps become an immortal?"

The monkey scratched its head, its face full of disbelief.

Ning Chen smiled slightly, shook his head, looked at the Tao Te Ching in his hand that had lost its strange appearance and returned to its ancient simplicity, and said softly.

"The path to immortality is long and winding, and I have only just begun. However, I have at least begun to understand its basics... Just now, I must thank my senior brother for protecting me."

When the inner demon struck, Ning Chen was restless and had various hallucinations: beautiful women, money, his elderly parents who were seriously ill and dying with no one to help them. Sun Wukong's angry shout brought him back from the illusion.

The monkey scratched the back of its hand, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Hehe, we're brothers, no problem, no problem!"

Outside the window, the clouds and mist over Fangcun Mountain swirl and roll, everything as usual.

Only Bodhi Patriarch sat quietly on his cloud bed, a faint smile appearing on his lips. He then closed his eyes and wandered into the vast emptiness, while his mind began to make plans.

"It seems it's time to teach them some real skills, otherwise it would be troublesome if that old scoundrel snatched them up as disciples..."