Chapter Eighty-one: Having gone through a thousand dangers, he finally reached Mount Fangcun

  Sun Yuan was dazed for a moment, and finally sorted out the memories in his mind. A long time had passed, and he felt a sense of strangeness about everything now, as if there was always a layer of gauze between him and reality.

  "Not bad! You were actually able to pass one of the eighteen steps of the Difficult Immortal, it seems you're not just an ordinary little demon!" The immortal child's expression changed slightly, seemingly surprised, with a flash of sharp light in his eyes. However, he didn't ignore Sun Yuan again, instead nodding at him and saying "Since you've passed one of the hells, then you have the qualifications to enter this cave, I don't have any reason to stop you."

  At this time, Sun Yuan had come to his senses and put the events back into his mind. After listening to Xian Tong's words, he immediately took a few quick steps and came to Sun Wukong's side.

  At this time, Sun Wukong was listening to the two people's conversation with a strange face, looking somewhat bewildered. He simply didn't understand what had happened. In his eyes, Sun Yuan just closed her eyes and took one step forward, then she was thrown over here. Sun Wukong, who did not understand the significance of the eighteen light circles, was now confused.

  "All right, the ancestor is inside. You two should be more respectful and not make a racket!" Seeing Sun Yuan follow him, Tongzi flicked his hand to remove the floating dust, and stepped in first. Sun Wukong saw this, pressed down his curiosity, and followed closely behind, but he had already forgotten to ask Sun Yuan anything.

  Seeing the two of them walking ahead, Sun Yuan naturally couldn't fall behind and quickly followed up, stepping into the cave.

  In the hall, Sun Yuan concentrated his mind and looked around, only to see a cloud seat at the highest point inside the cave, an old ancestor with crane hair and childlike face was sitting cross-legged and lecturing. Below him were dozens of rush cushions, on which sat more than ten green-clad disciples, who closed their eyes and meditated, quietly thinking about the content of the old ancestor's lecture.

  As soon as Dai Yun and others entered the cave, Lao Zu had a premonition. He suddenly opened his eyes, stopped lecturing, and asked with a hint of intention: "Who is under the hall? What's your purpose here? Why don't you speak quickly?" Apparently, it was somewhat deliberate.

  Upon seeing the old ancestor speak, the immortal child slightly bowed his head, which was considered to be handing over the task. He then stepped into the ranks of the numerous disciples, and more than a dozen green-robed disciples under the main hall also woke up from their meditation, casting their eyes onto Sun Yuan and the others.

  The Monkey King was not intimidated, and when the old ancestor asked him a question, he immediately stepped forward and sang a loud "Ah", bowing his head and saying: "Old immortal, I am here to pay my respects and learn from you, please accept me as your disciple and fulfill my desire to seek the Tao."

  The Bodhi Patriarch didn't know whether it was possible or not, and glanced at Sun Yuan behind the beautiful monkey king, saying "He has come to pay homage to his master, but why have you come? Looking at your ability to withstand one of the 108 routes of ascending to heaven and the eighteen steps of trapping immortals, you should be a cultivator with great achievements. Could it be that you also came to pay homage to your master?"

  "I humbly report to the venerable immortal, I am but a disciple who followed the great king to pay respects and seek guidance. The path of cultivation is fraught with difficulties at every step, each pass blocked by obstacles. I was fortunate enough to awaken my spiritual intelligence, and thus began my journey on the path of cultivation. After several hundred years of trials and tribulations, I have finally achieved this level of attainment. However, I have come to realize that the path to immortality is fraught with danger, and one cannot advance without the guidance of a renowned master. Therefore, I have specifically come to pay respects and seek your teachings, please do not hesitate to impart your wisdom upon me!" Sun Yuan's eyes widened as he saw the script change before him, and he had no choice but to take a step forward, his voice low and serious.

  "Ah, able to climb up the mountain gate of my Crescent Moon Three Star Cave, you're indeed a destined person. Wait aside for now, and let me ask about your origins before making a decision." Bodhi Patriarch nodded slightly, fixing his gaze on Sun Wukong, saying "You monkey is also a loyal and honest fellow, I'll ask you: what's your origin, where do you live, what's your surname and name, and how did you arrive at my place?"

  And without mentioning how the Monkey King responded, Sun Yuan saw the calm eyes of Bodhi Old Ancestor and his heart skipped a beat. This expression was all too familiar to him. He remembered that in his previous life, when government officials were perfunctory towards them, they had this exact same attitude. Although they spoke politely now, Sun Yuan knew that if he wanted them to do something, he would still have to put in extra effort himself; otherwise, the matter was hopeless. This was clearly a brush-off.

  Sun Yuan's face muscles twitched, but the old Bodhi Patriarch didn't react at all. It can be said that the current Bodhi Patriarch was not the real Bodhi Patriarch, or his soul was not the real Bodhi Patriarch. At this time, his soul was actually the second master of Buddhism, Zhunti Saint.

  The heavens operate according to a fixed number, and everything has its own destiny. Unless an external factor disrupts this order, even saints must consider the consequences of altering it. Therefore, although Buddhist saints knew that Bodhi and Sun Wukong had a master-disciple relationship, they did not dare to directly replace him. However, for the sake of the great Western journey, Buddhism could not entrust Sun Wukong's future to a non-Buddhist immortal like Bodhi. Thus, the spirit of Zhuanti was sent down to occupy Bodhi's body and take his place in teaching disciples.

  Although Sun Yuan had stepped on the 108-day road to heaven and one of the eighteen steps of the trapped fairy, Quan Ti Dao Ren did not take him as a disciple. After observing, Sun Yuan was just an ordinary monkey, except for some ancient water ape's Taoism, there was almost nothing else strange about it. Quan Ti had his own judgment on this little demon who passed through the heavenly road and the trapped fairy step.

  The Western Journey is a major event in Buddhism, related to the further prosperity of Buddhism. Zhunti knew that many powerful figures in Taoism would not be willing to give up, so there were flags set up by them everywhere in the Western Journey. In fact, it's not just that, even in Buddhism, there are also many powerful figures who take advantage of the situation to set up flags. Therefore, at this time, Zhunti attributed the reason why Sun Wukong was able to pass through to the actions of some people. After his calculations, he believed that Sun Wukong's origin was very simple, and he was just an ordinary monkey.

  Although his heart was extremely tense, Sun Yuan had to suppress the fluctuations in his mind. If Bodhi Patriarch really looked down on him, he would have no choice but to seek another path in this Western world. At this moment, his strength was lowly, and he had no other thoughts, only becoming more respectful, hoping that Bodhi Patriarch could give him a glimmer of hope. However, he did not know that the person in front of him, although physically Bodhi, was actually a split soul of Zhuanti, and it seemed that his tragedy was already unavoidable.

  "At the right time, Sun Wukong cupped his hands and said: 'I am a disciple from the East Victory God State of Haughty Country, a resident of the Water Curtain Cave in the Flower Fruit Mountain. I was born without parents, but emerged from a boulder. After waking up, I only knew how to play with the monkeys, roaming freely between heaven and earth. One day, my Daoist heart burst forth, so I came together with my brothers to seek immortality. Along the way, we crossed the vast ocean, stepped on the Southern Jiao Continent, and finally arrived before the Old Ancestor. Please accept me as your disciple, with a sincere heart that seeks the Way.'"

  As recorded, Bodhi heard the Monkey King's words and suddenly became furious, shouting "Come on, get these two monkeys out of here! I don't want this kind of nonsense in my place!" In fact, however, a gleam of delight flashed across Bodhi's eyes - the true master of the Western Journey had finally arrived. But he couldn't take him in directly and still needed to put on an act for a while!

  After hearing Bodhi's words, a group of Qingyi disciples rushed forward, wanting to drive the two monkeys out of the cave. At this critical moment, Sun Wukong jumped out and said, "The disciple's words are true, why does the ancestor want to drive us away?"

  "I'll ask you, Dongsheng Shenzhou and my place are separated by two great oceans, a southern Jambudvipa continent. You're just a small wild monkey, how can you cross such a vast territory? Not to mention you, even your brother doesn't have the ability to cross these territories." Bodhi Patriarch waved his fly whisk, stopping the disciples and asked.

  "What the disciple said is true, and I have also experienced some hardships over the years. As for the dangers along the way, my brother has gone through many of them. We went through great difficulties to find this place, and I hope our ancestors will bless us." Sun Wukong waved his hand, broke free from the control of the Qingyi disciple, and stepped forward to bow.

  "Ah, you are indeed sincere." Bodhi Patriarch also knew when to stop, nodded and said, "As the saying goes, anyone with seven orifices can cultivate immortality. Originally, I could have accepted you as a disciple, but unfortunately, you are different from ordinary people, and your fate is predetermined since the beginning of heaven and earth. This makes it difficult for me."

  After hearing this, Sun Yuan was even more shocked in his heart. It's clear that this Bodhi is not going to accept him now, and has already excluded him. Sun Yuan gritted his teeth, stepped forward with a hard scalp, snatched the Monkey King's lines, and said: "I beg to report to the Master, although I was born with less cheek, but I also have a snout, as it is said that one drink and one peck are not predestined, heaven has not cut off our cultivation thoughts. Please, Master, have mercy."

  "Alright then! Since that's the case, I'll accept this stone monkey of yours. As for you, you've already formed a demon pellet and can be considered a cultivator with some accomplishments."

  Bodhi was about to push Sun Yuan away, but suddenly the intense struggle of Bodhi's old ancestor, who had been suppressed in his divine soul, burst out. Unprepared, the avatar of Zhunti Daoren, which only had the cultivation base of a Mahayana Golden Immortal, was heavily struck and instantly felt dizzy.

  Although the soul of Bodhi's ancestor was suppressed in the depths of the sea of consciousness, he was very clear about the situation outside. Except for not being able to control his body, at this moment, everything outside his body, he could feel it all. At this moment, seeing Zhuanti Dao people seem to refuse this monkey, the anger that had been deeply buried in his heart suddenly burst out.

  Taking a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent thoughts of Bodhi, the cultivator immediately transformed into the sea of consciousness, looking at the furious Bodhi in front of him and said, "Bodhi friend, what's going on with you? This matter concerns the great plan of my Buddha's gate, are you planning to go back on your word?"

  Don't look at the back, but in front of the saint, Bodhi didn't dare to be too presumptuous. Only in the sea of knowledge, Bodhi said with a bow, "Zhun Ti Dao friend, I can ignore other things, but this 108-day road to heaven and the 18 steps of trapping immortals are my tests for disciples. In those days, I had a clear statement that whoever passes, I will take as a disciple. Therefore, this disciple is not to be taken in vain. I hope Zhun Ti Dao friend can understand."

  Zhun Ti stared at Bodhi for a while, and suddenly felt enlightened. This was probably Bodhi venting his grievances that had been suppressed for so many years, and the Sun Yuan incident just happened to be the fuse that ignited the flames of anger in Bodhi's heart, which is why he used this opportunity to lash out, but most of it was just a release of emotions.

  "Haha, Fellow Daoist, you're being too polite! Although I had to make things difficult for you for the sake of the Buddhist sect's greater good, it didn't sit well with me either. Now that you've spoken up, I'll accept your offer and put this matter to rest. Let's not ruin our harmony over these trivial matters. After our Western journey, I'll reserve a Buddha position for you at our temple."

  Zhun Ti smiled slightly, yet responded without hesitation. Although this move had the approval of the Heavenly Dao, Zhun Ti was taking on a significant karmic burden by replacing Bodhi. However, if this allowed Bodhi to vent his frustrations and anger, it would also reduce the karmic consequences for him.

  Indeed, after hearing Zhun Ti's words, Bodhi's complexion improved a lot. He cupped his hands and said, "If that's the case, please return, Saint. I, Bodhi, have offended you earlier." After taking a deep breath, Bodhi felt much better and naturally didn't dare to make any more requests. After all, he was facing the top existence in this world - the Saint, who wasn't someone he could afford to offend.