Journey to the West Creation Technique

The Flowing Cloud Flying Boat circled in mid-air before landing in the training ground of Nanming Guard City.

The spiritual light on the boat dissipated, and Zhao Xiong was the first to jump off, followed closely by Cai Yiheng, Qiao Zhi, and others.

Lu Chengjun carried Amiya and carefully followed her to the ground.

With my feet on the bluestone floor, my heart finally settled down.

The city gate was bustling with activity, filled with people dressed in Central Plains attire and soldiers on guard duty.

Inside and outside the city walls, the fields were crisscrossed with lush green rice seedlings, presenting a scene of agricultural life in the Central Plains, a stark contrast to the perilous wilderness and dense forests of the desolate region.

Lu Chengjun looked around and felt as if he had been transported to another world.

I set sail from Middle-earth three years ago and have been adrift at sea ever since, only now do I feel a sense of security.

Zhao Xiong didn't linger. He turned to Cai Yiheng and instructed, "This child will be under your care for the time being. First, register him at the outer gate. Afterward, you can arrange whether to send him to the academy or keep him by your side."

Cai Yiheng bowed and accepted the order: "Disciple obeys."

Lu Chengjun heard it clearly and immediately bowed to Cai Yiheng, saying, "Disciple Lu Chengjun greets Master Cai."

Cai Yiheng is a good person in terms of both character and cultivation, which is better than arranging Qiao Zhi to be his master.

Cai Yiheng looked at the young man before him, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes, and nodded slightly: "No need for formalities. Now that you've entered the Qingyun Sect, you're fellow disciples. From now on, you can cultivate with me."

After saying that, Cai Yiheng led Lu Chengjun to the outer sect's affairs hall to handle the entry procedures.

Inside the hall, wisps of smoke curled up as several deacons were bent over their work, taking notes. Upon seeing Cai Yiheng arrive, they all rose to greet him.

Cai Yiheng briefly explained the reason, and the steward then took out a grayish-blue wooden plaque, engraved with Lu Chengjun's name and status as an outer disciple, and handed over a set of plain sect robes and basic cultivation manuals.

Although the initiation ceremony was simple, it was also strictly regulated.

Dressed in sect attire, Lu Chengjun, guided by the steward, bowed three times to the ancestral tablet of the Qingyun Sect enshrined in the hall. Only after completing the ceremony was he officially recognized as an outer disciple of the Qingyun Sect.

Amiya crouched in the corner of the room, her cat eyes darting around as she surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings without making a sound to disturb them.

The people here are used to seeing tabby cats, unlike the natives who regard them as sacred animals.

After the ceremony, Cai Yiheng led him to the outer sect residence, saying as they walked, "Outer sect disciples all live in communal dormitories, four people to a room, which makes attending classes and eating and lodging very convenient."

"Master Cai, what if you want to live alone?" Lu Chengjun asked casually.

Cai Yiheng frowned: "The inner city will not provide outer disciples with a place to live alone. If you really want to live alone, you can only go outside the city, find a village, build your own house, cultivate your own farmland, and support yourself."

Lu Chengjun stopped and bowed to Cai Yiheng, saying, "Master, I have a request."

"Please feel free to speak."

"I am a peasant from a remote village, accustomed to farming, and dislike noise. I humbly request my master to allow me to leave the city, build a hut, and cultivate the wasteland. This will allow me to be self-sufficient and also enable me to focus on my cultivation."

Upon hearing this, Cai Yiheng frowned slightly: "No! Your cultivation level is too low, no different from that of an ordinary person. Living outside the city, it's hard to guarantee your safety."

"If mortals dare to live outside the city, why shouldn't this disciple?"

"Would a mortal dare to do that?! They would only do it out of desperation!" Cai Yiheng interrupted, "Since you've joined my sect, you must obey my arrangements!"

"Disciple obeys." Lu Chengjun could only reply helplessly.

Cai Yiheng led him to a courtyard with blue tiles, and upon opening the door, he found himself in a dormitory with five shared sleeping rooms.

Upon entering one of the shared rooms, there were three disciples inside. The oldest was no more than twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest looked only seven or eight.

Eighteen-year-old Lu Chengjun stood at the door, looking completely out of place, like a stranger who had wandered into a children's school.

Faced with the strange looks from a group of children, I suddenly felt my face burning.

Cai Yiheng pointed to an empty bed in the room and said, "You can stay here. Put your things down first, and then I will take you to the school to register."

Lu Chengjun's personal baggage was the one he was given when he first joined the sect.

Two sets of clothes, one book.

As for the personal belongings he brought from the indigenous tribe, all he had was a tabby cat.

He placed the items and the tabby cat on the clean bed, then whispered a few words in the tabby cat's ear before leaving with his master.

After meeting with several instructors, Lu Chengjun was assigned to Mingli Hall for his classes the following day.

Outer disciples are divided into three halls:

Enlightenment Hall: Ages 6 to 8

Mingli Hall: Ages 9 to 12

School entry: 13 to 18 years old

After completing their studies at the academy, if they break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, they can become inner disciples, carry out sect missions, and no longer need to focus on cultivation.

With things having come to this point, Lu Chengjun had no choice but to comply with the arrangements.

night……

In the dormitory.

Lu Chengjun lay comfortably on the bed, stroking the tabby cat while pondering how to leave the "classroom" as soon as possible to go out and farm.

Both the Earthly Fiend Technique and the "Sha Wujing Appearance" can only be cultivated through farming.

Staying in the inner city is safe, but your strength cannot be improved.

At any time, one's own strength is the most fundamental reliance.

Even in times of peace, we must be mindful of potential dangers...

……

The next day.

Lu Chengjun attended classes with the disciples of Minglitang.

Lu Chengjun, who is the height of an adult, sat in a corner of Mingli Hall, listening to the teacher's lecture.

The master was talking about the Five Elements.

"All things in heaven and earth are divided into the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. They generate and restrain each other in an endless cycle. This is the foundation of cultivation and must be carefully observed..."

"Metal generates water, water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal..."

The gentleman spoke eloquently in the hall.

Lu Chengjun's heart stirred, and he picked up a pen and wrote on the white paper: Earth, Sand Monk, Spleen and Stomach.

Earth produces metal.

He drew an arrow.

Gold, dragon horse, lungs.

Metal generates water.

Draw another arrow.

Water, Pigsy (Zhu Bajie), kidney.

Aquatic wood.

The third arrow.

Wood, Tang Sanzang, liver.

Wood generates fire.

The fourth arrow.

Fire, Wukong, Heart.

Fire generates earth.

The last arrow connects to the location of Sha Wujing, forming a closed loop.

The Five Elements, the Five Organs, the Five Qi, and the Five Phases.

When all things converge and return to one, the Great Way is finally achieved.

No wonder...

Master Niu asked him to first cultivate the appearance of Sha Wujing, and then the appearance of the dragon horse. At the time, he did not understand, but it turned out that it was because earth produces metal.

Master Niu probably thought that the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements was common knowledge in cultivation, which was simple and easy to understand, so he didn't explain it much.

On the podium, Mr. Minglitang was still explaining in detail the principles of mutual generation and mutual restraint among the five elements.

Lu Chengjun's heart stirred again.

The fact that the "Journey to the West Creation Technique" is in harmony with the Five Elements of this world suggests that this technique is not a mystical art from another world, but perhaps was created by a master from the Central Plains.

Looking back, Master Niu only spent three days explaining this technique, and most of the time he talked about the original story of "Journey to the West," only briefly mentioning the key points of the practice.

As a result, he failed to comprehend many of the incantations for the Seventy-Two Transformations of the Earthly Fiends and the Thirty-Six Transformations of the Heavenly Dipper.

While the Seventy-Two Transformations of the Earthly Fiends can be gradually understood through farming, observing the changes of the four seasons, and using the seventy-two solar terms throughout the year, the Thirty-Six Transformations of the Heavenly Dipper involve the movement of celestial bodies and the laws of heaven, making them far more profound than the Earthly Fiends techniques. They cannot be mastered simply by groping around.

Lu Chengjun looked down at the correspondence of the five elements he had written down on the bamboo slip, and made up his mind.

Since I can't go outside the city to farm anyway, I might as well take this opportunity to learn the basic principles of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and the art of divination.

Once the foundation is solid, one can naturally understand the obscure and difficult cultivation formulas of "Journey to the West: Creation Technique".