Journey to the West: Starting by becoming an apprentice of Emperor Donghua

"Waiter, did you see a Taoist priest drinking with me just now?"

Xiao Er stared at Ji Sheng for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"Sir, are you perhaps talking nonsense? The wine was just poured and you're already drunk. What Taoist priest are you talking about?"

The waiter, busy with his work, shook his head and muttered to himself:

"I've seen plenty of people who get drunk after just a sip of alcohol, but someone who gets drunk from the smell of alcohol is a first in my life..."

Ji Sheng had lost his appetite for drinking. He threw a silver ingot on the table and walked out of the tavern.

Snowflakes were falling heavily, and occasionally a pedestrian would walk down the street with snowflakes on their back and their breath steaming in the air.

A gust of cold wind sent a shiver down his spine. The Golden Core Fire Technique and Azure Dragon Sword Technique, bestowed upon him by the Emperor, flashed into Ji Sheng's mind word for word.

The methods of immortals are truly wondrous!

After bowing three times towards the sky, Ji Sheng could no longer contain himself. He laughed loudly, soared into the air, and flew into the azure sky.

Upon returning to Jinji Mountain, he immediately closed his cave and began to check his harvest for the day.

The greatest gain was naturally the Golden Elixir and Fire Technique bestowed by the Emperor. The more Ji Sheng examined it, the more astonished he became.

Truly worthy of being the authentic lineage of Golden Elixir!

This cultivation method progresses from simple to complex, leading directly to celestial immortality. Ji Sheng dares to assert that it is absolutely no less than any other Golden Elixir cultivation method in the world.

Even the Great Celestial Immortal Technique of Patriarch Bodhi is in no way inferior!

Not to mention the unorthodox techniques Ji Sheng had practiced, such as guiding exercises and ingesting elixirs, and the Yellow Sprout White Snow cultivation method.

This method uses the body as a furnace, gathers vital essence as ore, removes the ore and retains the gold. Ultimately, when yin is exhausted and yang is pure, the primordial spirit leaves the body, thus becoming a celestial immortal.

Wonderful, wonderful!

The Azure Dragon Sword Technique was even more mysterious. He had heard of this sword technique before; both Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin were skilled in it.

It can be considered the signature sword technique of the Donghua lineage.

Although the Azure Dragon Sword Technique is called a sword technique, it does not include martial arts. To be precise, it should be a method for cultivating supernatural powers.

In terms of the Five Elements, this sword technique belongs to the Wood element of the East. A single strike generates endless vitality and is unpredictable.

It can gather primordial wood energy, initially transforming into a snake, then into a dragon, and finally into a blue dragon. It truly possesses a first-rate ability in the world.

The third item is the so-called Merit and Virtue Register.

With a thought, a token about half a foot long, seemingly carved from green jade, appeared in his hand.

This talisman of merit is both real and illusory, moving according to one's thoughts. It usually exists in the void, only appearing when Ji Sheng summons it.

The token's patterns were not elaborate, but it subtly emitted a lustrous sheen, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary object.

The front of the token is engraved with the words "Donghua holds the talisman, Zifu nurtures the true" in cloud-shaped characters, while Ji Sheng's name is engraved in the corner.

The words "merit" are at the top right of the back. The area below is blank.

It seems that this so-called Merit Record is exclusive to the Donghua Sect and is used to record merits.

Then... what exactly constitutes merit?

As if sensing Ji Sheng's confusion, a few lines of small characters appeared on the blank space of the Donghua Token:

All disciples of Donghua School must adhere to the principles of cultivating purity of character, accumulating merit and virtue, practicing humility and helping the world, and upholding righteousness and integrity.

If one helps those in distress, punishes the strong and supports the weak, saves the world and guides people, or vanquishes demons and monsters, then one's merits will be inscribed on a memorial tablet.

Those who accumulate merit will be protected by the primordial Eastern Qi, and their cultivation and spellcasting will be aided by divine assistance.

Seeing this, Ji Sheng seemed to be deep in thought.

It means that as long as you accumulate merit, you can become stronger.

What remained were the three tea dates given by Emperor Donghua.

The Emperor said these tea dates were given by the God of Longevity. So, these tea dates should have the effect of prolonging life?

He is still young; forty is considered just adulthood among demons, so he has no shortage of lifespan. These tea dates are of little use to him, so there's no need to rush to eat them.

Besides, if the three tea dates that Emperor Donghua personally gave us could only prolong life, who would he be looking down on?

Keep it safe; it might be useful for something else in the future.

After tidying up these things, Ji Sheng went to the secluded cultivation room specially built at the top of the mountain. He closed the door and windows, focusing solely on his cultivation, ignoring everything else.

Ten days or so passed quickly. At dawn that day, the sky was barely light.

On the mountaintop, the secluded cultivation room where Ji Sheng was located suddenly brightened, and purple light shot out abruptly from the half-closed window.

The room was filled with a purple aura, with a faint blue aura swirling around it. The two auras intertwined, expanding and contracting like breathing.

Ji Sheng sat cross-legged on the bed, the purple aura emanating from his left nostril, while the green aura lingered around his right nostril.

"drink!"

With a soft shout, Ji Sheng took a deep breath, sweeping away all the purple and blue energies in the room through his nostrils.

"Phew... The Golden Core Fire Technique is truly extraordinary. My progress in just over ten days is equivalent to what I used to achieve in over ten months!"

Upon feeling the surging magical power within his body, Ji Sheng couldn't help but sigh.

Previously, he was just an ordinary spirit. After years of arduous cultivation, although his progress was rapid, he also accumulated a lot of impurities.

Speaking of which, we must thank Zhengyangzi for those three cups of fine wine. Without those three cups of wine, it would probably have taken Ji Sheng several years just to remove the impurities from his body.

Those three cups of wine cleansed Ji Sheng's meridians one by one, with pure Yang energy acting as a guide. His cultivation progressed rapidly, naturally by leaps and bounds.

Before this, Ji Sheng's cultivation had already reached the level of Demon General.

The classification of demons is quite simple. Those who can transform into human form and gain intelligence become demon soldiers; those who can wield magic become demon generals; and those who can refine their own bloodline and cultivate supernatural powers become demon commanders.

Despite his flashy appearance, the Demon General was actually only at the entry level of the Golden Core Technique, equivalent to refining essence into qi.

Above the Demon General is the Demon King, which is equivalent to refining Qi into Divine Essence. Above that is the Demon Immortal, which is equivalent to refining Divine Essence into Emptiness, also known as the Celestial Immortal realm.

Although there are only two short realms between Demon General and Demon Immortal, and between Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation and Spirit Refining and Emptiness Transformation, the difficulties involved are so great that they could mean the difference between life and death.

To refine essence into qi, one must first gather the essence and qi of the whole body, use the method of the River Chariot to refine away impurities, and store the resulting essence in the lower dantian. This method is also known as removing ore and retaining gold.

Until the accumulation of small amounts leads to the formation of a nascent elixir, it becomes the prototype of a great medicine.

Then, it requires both gentle and vigorous refining; once the fire is sufficient, the elixir will be complete. Finally, by using the Elbow-Behind-the-Head Golden Crystal technique to consume the elixir, one can enter the realm of Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation.

In the past ten days or so, the "gold" that Ji Sheng had gathered in his dantian was only the size of a fingernail, and he had just taken the first step.

It is still a long way from forming a cinnabar embryo.

However, with consistent effort over time, the task will eventually be completed.

With one step, he appeared beside a stream.

He remained motionless, and the water in the stream seemed to be guided, flowing in a straight line towards Ji Sheng.

The water bypassed his clothes and swam around Ji Sheng's skin, quickly washing away the grime and gloom that had accumulated over the past ten days.

His clothes remained dry.

He controlled these water flows with his magic. In the past, it would have been impossible to do so with such precision.

This is the growth brought about by that fingernail-sized embryo. Both the upper limit of magical power and the control over magical power are much stronger.

After cleaning himself up, Ji Sheng went to the cave halfway up the mountain and summoned Niu Er, the chief steward of Jinji Mountain, to inquire about the situation outside over the past two weeks.

Niu Er was a black bull demon. Usually, when Ji Sheng was in seclusion cultivating, Niu Er would manage the affairs on the mountain.

"Your Majesty, everything has been peaceful on and off the mountain for the past half month, with nothing unusual happening. Only the Black Serpent King of Eagle Sorrow Gorge has come a few times, saying he has some matters to discuss with you in person."

Black Snake King?

Ji Sheng felt puzzled, as Golden Rooster Mountain was quite a distance from Eagle Sorrow Stream.

Unlike Ji Sheng, who was focused on cultivation, the other party was accustomed to eating human flesh and drinking human blood. Using human hearts as a drinking aid and children as alchemy tools were common occurrences for them.

In addition, he often engages in double-crossing, so even though he is quite capable and experienced, he has a very bad reputation.

Even Ji Sheng had suffered a setback at the hands of the other party before.

The two had never been close, and even had some past grievances. What was the purpose of their repeated visits?

As if on cue, a wolf demon patrolling the cave rushed in.

"Your Majesty, the Black Serpent King of Eagle's Sorrow Gorge has come to visit, we don't know..."

The opponent is, after all, a demon king, and cannot be treated lightly. Ji Sheng said to the wolf demon:

"Go and invite him up here!"

A somewhat shrill laugh came from outside the cave, and the voice rang out:

"Brother Ji is indeed a natural cultivator; he's been in seclusion for over half a month, and his skills have certainly improved!"