Journey to the West: Building a Celestial Empire Starting from Lion Camel Ridge

Tang Sanzang and Chen Ping'an traveled for a while longer.

Suddenly, poisonous insects scurried about, monstrous beasts fled, fierce tigers lurked, and long snakes disappeared.

"Disciple, what happened?"

"Master, someone's here!"

Having the supernatural ability to communicate with the earth, Chen Ping'an had already discovered that someone was hiding at the bottom of the slope.

It seems we have reached the Shuangchaling area.

Then this person must be Liu Boqin, the Mountain Guardian.

......

A figure emerged from the front of the slope, wearing a leopard-skin hat, a cashmere robe, a lion-patterned belt, and suede boots.

He spoke from afar, "Elder, do not be afraid. I am Liu Boqin, a hunter from these mountains."

Sure enough it was him.

Chen Ping'an's heart stirred, and when the person stepped forward, he looked him over carefully again.

With round, piercing eyes and a tangled beard, he carried a sachet of poisoned bow and a steel fork.

Liu Boqin was visibly taken aback when he saw Tang Seng and Chen Ping'an.

After Tang Sanzang explained his identity, he nodded and invited Tang Sanzang to rest his horse at his lodgings, so that they could continue their journey the next day.

"This is my apprentice, Chen Ping'an."

Chen Ping'an clasped his hands together, and Liu Boqin returned the gesture.

As the three chatted, they heard the whistling wind again.

Liu Boqin listened for a moment and said, "Elder and your disciple, rest for a moment. A lynx has arrived. I'll take it home and treat you accordingly."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a steel fork and fought with the striped tiger. After about an hour, the bodyguard pierced the tiger's chest with the steel fork and fell to the ground dead.

Tang Sanzang couldn't bear to watch this scene and turned his head away.

Seeing Chen Ping'an chanting Buddhist mantras beside him, he felt that this disciple was becoming more and more pleasing to the eye.

He was highly capable and possessed a compassionate heart.

"This Liu Boqin doesn't seem to have any cultivation like Zhang Shao. He's still a mortal, but judging from his martial arts, he's already one of the best among mortals."

This means that although the plot of Journey to the West has changed slightly due to his arrival, the overall plot has not been significantly altered.

Chen Ping'an chanted Amitabha Buddha with a serious expression, but without any real focus, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

......

The clone stayed at the residence of the Mountain Guardian with Tang Sanzang.

Inside the shelter.

Chen Ping'an quickly instructed Zhao Gou'er to prepare some more vegetarian dishes and send them over. After gaining some goodwill, he disconnected and opened his eyes.

The blast that killed Gu Ping had no effect whatsoever on the lingering bone demon.

Fortunately, these guys can't get close to the barrier.

However, the barrier's durability...

Chen Pingan looked at the number 7 and silently opened the panel.

We need to upgrade again and restore the durability.

There are also damaged stone walls, all of which need to be replaced.

After doing all this, Chen Ping'an climbed back up the stone wall and stood with Fan Qiming.

"After your earth-shattering cannon shot, those guys in the mass grave probably won't dare to cause trouble for the entire rainy season."

Fan Qiming couldn't help but tease.

"I hope so."

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment: "That woman's methods seem to involve controlling venomous insects and ferocious beasts?"

Fan Qiming nodded: "They can be considered poison cultivators. They generally have two methods of dealing with enemies: either they command poisonous insects and beasts, or they use their own magic power, which is inherently poisonous, to kill their opponents directly."

"With the arrow tower in place, the woman won't dare to approach, so we can only use the first method."

"Even Wanyan Liang has to think twice now. I was worried that they would make threats and cause trouble during the rainy season, but now it seems that won't happen."

"We welcome friends with fine wine, but we send wolves away with cannons."

Chen Pingan said with a smile, "Actually, what I'm more worried about now are those two guys in the northwest corner. They haven't made any direct contact with us yet. They moved the statues from the Garan Temple, so we've confirmed that they are the eyes and ears of Buddhism."

"We have absolutely no idea what skills they possess or where they are hidden."

"And the unknown is the most dangerous."

"It's alright. With your energy cannon, as long as those two rats haven't broken through to the Golden Core stage, they'll just be throwing their lives away no matter how many come."

Fan Qiming, unusually, cracked a joke.

"By the way, Brother Fan, what's your current cultivation level?"

"Still in the early stage of Foundation Establishment."

After thinking it over, Chen Ping'an decided to focus more on developing the top combatants in the shelter, since the stronger the residents' cultivation, the higher his own cultivation would be as a lord.

......

The second night of the rainy season.

It went even more smoothly than the first night.

Although the process was extremely dangerous, thankfully the ending was perfect.

When the group of people who had slept peacefully in the cabin woke up, they were all amazed when they heard the others recount the perilous events of the night.

"You didn't see it, lord's cannon shot was truly earth-shattering!"

"Just one shot, heh, just one shot, and that late-stage Foundation Establishment expert was instantly reduced to ashes!"

"Not even a crumb was left!"

"So, the lord built this energy tower with this situation in mind all along!"

"The lord's foresight is truly remarkable!"

"..."

After being showered with compliments, Chen Ping'an was speechless for a moment.

When the energy tower was being built, he really didn't expect to need the attack form so soon.

But he didn't explain much. After all, being perceived as unfathomable and capable of planning ahead could boost the shelter's confidence.

......

Datang.

Chang'an City.

West Gate Street.

The Divine Lesson Shop.

Yuan Shoucheng stood in front of the incense burner, the smoke from which rose and formed a silhouette in mid-air.

It was none other than Liu Boqin.

"Judging by the time, Tang Sanzang should have already arrived at Shuangcha Ridge. Have you seen him?"

"Replying to Mr. Shoucheng, the Elder is currently residing in my humble abode and will continue his westward journey early tomorrow morning."

No wonder Liu Boqin had no doubts about Tang Sanzang's identity; it turns out he was Yuan Shoucheng's informant.

Guanyin traveled from India in the west to the Tang Dynasty in the east, half in the clouds and half in the mist, and arranged three disciples and a white dragon horse for Tang Sanzang.

Zhang Shao, on Yuan Shoucheng's orders, made a trip from the Tang Dynasty to the foot of Mount Ling, where he planted countless human spies.

Liu Boqin was one of them.

"You should treat him well. Tomorrow, when we pass through Wuzhi Mountain, Tang Sanzang will take the old ape at the foot of the mountain as his disciple. This disciple is very powerful. He once made a great disturbance in the Heavenly Palace, and even 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals could not subdue him."

"Sir, didn't you say that Tang Sanzang's journey was a conspiracy between Buddhism and Heaven to divide up human faith? Then should I...?"

Liu Boqin's eyes hardened, and he made a gesture.

"Absolutely not!"

Yuan Shoucheng waved his hand: "This person has a Jiedi Gongcao protecting him. You have no cultivation, so you must not act rashly."

"The journey to the West has become an unstoppable trend."

"The hope of our human race lies elsewhere."

"Mr. Shoucheng, what is the current state of the Emperor of our Great Tang Dynasty?"

Yuan Shoucheng sighed: "He now lives a secluded life, and even Wei Gong and Fang Du rarely get to see him."

"This is truly very strange."

"Mr. Shoucheng, speaking of strange things, when I saw Tang Sanzang yesterday, he already had a highly accomplished disciple by his side."

"oh."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shoucheng became interested.

"The Tang emperor did indeed arrange for two officials to accompany him on his westward journey, but now only one remains?"

He casually cast a divination and exclaimed in surprise, "That's not right. These two have already met with misfortune. Logically speaking, Tang Sanzang should be alone with no one at the moment."

"Boqin, are you sure this person is Tang Sanzang's disciple?"

Liu Boqin thought for a moment and nodded emphatically: "It can be confirmed. Judging from the elder's expression, he highly approves of him and addresses him as 'disciple' rather than 'affiliate'."

How strange!

Yuan Shoucheng was also somewhat unsure.

I consulted the oracle several times, but each time the fog obscured everything, and I couldn't see anything.

"Well, this turn of events is truly unexpected. You can rest assured and send him westward without alerting him."