The story begins with the bride marrying off her daughter, and the woman, at the age of one hundred,

A cool breeze blows, and the aroma of tea wafts through the air.

There were no disturbances as usual.

The monkey was busy teasing the fat chicken.

Changshou focused on tasting the green tea.

Although Fellow Daoist Zhenli promised to give me a pot or two of tea leaves, I'll drink as much as I can, since I'm drinking someone else's tea.

It's still a bit bland.

Chang Shou smacked his lips and thought to himself.

It's not that he has a heavy palate, but rather that Fellow Daoist Zhenli has a bland palate.

When the pot of wine was so bland it could breed birds, Zhenli finally responded.

He poured himself another cup of tea, but looking at the bland liquid, he immediately lost his appetite. He glanced at Changshou and Zhenli slowly said:

"When I first entered the Xieyue Sanxing Cave, I met a senior brother."

He was a disciple of the Guang generation under the patriarch, named Guangzhi. He was the first disciple of the patriarch to take on a different form, and his true form was a three-leaf tree.

He was exceptionally talented and stood out among the disciples at the time. As a result, he had lofty ambitions and once declared that he would rather die of old age than obtain the Dao Fruit of the Ghost Immortal or the Dao Fruit of the Human Immortal, which offended a group of disciples in the cave.

He was an outcast from birth and was ostracized.

More than 30 years ago, after his cultivation reached the peak of Refining Essence into Qi, he encountered a bottleneck and could not break through. He chose to leave his master and go out to seek opportunities, and there has been no news of him since.

Even I, a humble Taoist priest, have lost contact with him.

We can seek help from the Patriarch during the next lecture. He is a man of profound wisdom and great supernatural powers, and perhaps he knows the whereabouts of Brother Guangzhi.

If this senior brother hadn't suffered the calamity, he probably wouldn't have let this opportunity slip by.

If, a hundred years from now, he successfully becomes an Earth Immortal, then, out of consideration for this good deed, even if we leave Fangcun Mountain, we will still receive some protection.

Longevity and constant heartbeat.

Ancestral Rules:

Disciples who have completed their apprenticeship are not entitled to the protection of their master's sect.

The disciples could only stick together for warmth.

However, after the patriarch established the mountain gate for decades, many immortals emerged from his disciples, ninety percent of whom were ghost immortals and the remaining one-tenth were human immortals.

To date, not a single Earth Immortal has been born.

Sun Wukong, however, did not react much to this.

For him, ghost immortals, human immortals, and earth immortals are all unimportant. He is after immortality. As long as he can live forever, he doesn't care what kind of immortal he is.

If one cannot achieve immortality, even the best immortal is useless.

---

I have a plan in mind.

The tea party concluded successfully.

As usual, he took his leave first and then summoned others back to settle the Night-borne Treasure Tree.

When Changshou took his leave, Zhenli kept his promise and presented him with two ounces of tea.

Why is it one or two ounces more than before?

Despite his doubts, Chang Shou didn't ask.

That would make me look stupid. Anyway, I'm the one who benefited.

After sincerely thanking him, Changshou readily accepted the tea leaves and left with the monkey and the round-faced fat chicken.

On my way back.

Chang Shou asked, "Monkey, what did you learn from our conversation just now?"

While playing, Sun Wukong, the chubby bird, was taken aback. He hadn't expected Old Man Chang to ask such a question, but he was truly clever. His eyes darted around, and he replied:

"Old man, you want me to get along better with my fellow disciples in the future, instead of always going it alone."

Chang Shou stroked his beard and smiled: "This young man is teachable!"

Fearing the monkey might not take it seriously, he patiently explained, "Many hands make light work, and the combined efforts of many are usually better than individual efforts. This rat extermination is proof of that."

Whether you are a mortal or an immortal, you cannot escape the complexities of human relationships. Even if you attain immortality in the future, your network of connections will still be an undeniable force.

It can provide a lot of help when you need it.

The monkey nodded and chuckled:

"It means making many friends, I understand."

This is no problem for me.

Chang Shou smiled helplessly and continued:

"It's better to have quality friends than quantity."

A wide circle of friends is not as valuable as a few true friends.

Friends who are good for drinking and eating are easy to find, but they are like sand in your hand; they will scatter at the slightest breeze.

A true friend is someone who can share your hardships, like an island that emerges when you are crossing the ocean, offering you a brief respite and even saving your life.

The difference between the two is huge!

Sun Wukong finally took it seriously, putting aside the round-faced fat chicken, and sincerely asked, "Please teach me, Old Man Chang."

Looking into Sun Wukong's clear yet... somewhat... innocent eyes, which seemed to belong to a college student from a past life, Chang Shou's heart softened. As he continued on his journey, he broke down his experience into smaller parts and fed them to the monkey.

"The most important thing in making friends is sincerity; this is the first principle."

It takes a long time of management and maintenance to gain a true friend who will stand by you through thick and thin.

In the beginning, in addition to sincerity, there is also a need for mutual benefit.

The world is hilarious, all come for profit.

Everyone in the world is benefiting.

Only when you can offer your friends some benefits or establish a community of shared interests can the friendship have a chance to last and be cultivated over time to reveal true character…

What is a community of shared interests?

"The so-called community..."

Chang Shou tried his best to impart his two lifetimes of experience to the monkey in a reasonable way, using examples and examples to guide the monkey's thinking, hoping to plant such seeds in the monkey's heart.

Although the monkey was a clever stone monkey with extraordinary intelligence, even though he had spent eight years in the mortal world, he was mostly seeking immortality and asking questions, and ultimately lacked experience.

Regarding this principle, some only know one aspect and not the other.

Changshou dislikes lecturing, but he has some experiences he has to share. Since he cares about the monkey, Changshou naturally hopes that his future path will be relatively smooth and happy.

He was no longer a lone hero rebelling against the Heavenly Court.

No longer a lone warrior.

Of course, it would be best if he could refrain from rebelling against the Heavenly Court and become a qualified Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

They have both a formal position and a formal status.

As for the problem of having official positions without corresponding benefits, there will always be a solution over a long period of time.

Of course, this also applies to the monkey's ability to make friends.

Chang Shou had no doubts.

After all, he's a powerful figure.

His skin is so thick that even a city wall would be ashamed of it.

---

The Sutra Repository and the Ten Thousand Scrolls Pavilion.

The monkey lingered briefly before leaving thoughtfully.

Seeing that the spirit deer had already fed the two cubs, Changshou let the round-faced, fat chicken forage for itself, since the cave was rich in resources anyway. He then lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

A busy day.

He is really not very energetic anymore.

Cover yourself with a blanket, and you'll be bathed in the sun and moonlight, living as long as the heavens.

He quickly fell asleep.

Soon, the sound of snoring filled the house. It wasn't noisy; the rhythm of their breathing had a gentle, babbling quality, like a mountain stream.

The next morning, as dawn broke.

The thin mist and sea of ​​clouds were rendered in orange-red.

The old Taoist priest in gray robes went out with his staff, sat cross-legged under the ancient Bodhi tree, facing east, and energetically practiced the Qi-absorbing technique to gather and refine the purple energy of the morning glow.

A misty haze hangs in the air, and purple currents flow through the air.

The two intertwined to form a pale purple cloud.

Chang Shou sat cross-legged, surrounded by purple clouds, exhaling mist and clouds. At this moment, he was like an immortal who ate the clouds and drank the dew, and did not eat grains. He was extraordinary and had the air of a celestial being.

In reality, he was just a ghost immortal.

The body has not yet transcended the limitations of the mortal realm.

They still need to eat grains every day to obtain energy. Only those who cultivate themselves into immortals can eat clouds and sweet rain and not feel hungry even if they go without food for several days.

The exercise is over.

They ate their meal in the kitchen.

Changshou returned to Wanjuanlou, perused the scriptures, and increased his knowledge. Before he knew it, the sun had set.

As dusk settled, the afterglow of the sunset painted the sky with vibrant colors.

Changshou noodles face north, absorbing water vapor, refining the essence of water spirit, nourishing the physical body, and enhancing magical power.

Wait until he finishes his cultivation.

A figure in a moon-white Taoist robe arrived bathed in the rising moonlight.

Just as usual.

He kept his word and sent a gift.

This shows that they did not eat alone.