Chapter 25: The Secret of the Strange Person (Part 1)
I'm not lazy, I went to the hospital for a check-up. When I got back home, I realized I forgot my house key, so I had to wait for my mom to bring it over, which made me late. Now I still haven't eaten dinner yet. The doctor scolded me and told me to take care of myself. Hehe, tonight's two chapters are here! Hope everyone collects and votes a lot. If you have a monthly ticket, don't hesitate to use it, that's also a way to support me. Thanks! Tomorrow morning I'll release another chapter, VIP gets two chapters.
Hailong slowly stood up from the ground, somewhat surprised and said: "Senior, what do you mean by this?"
The strange man sighed and said, "To be honest, that day you saved yourself. Although I was watching you with my heavenly eye, I didn't expect the demon sect's girl to suddenly attack, if it wasn't for the Inverse Heaven Mirror protecting you at the last moment, by the time I arrived, your body would have been finished. And you haven't formed a primordial infant yet, so there's only one outcome: reincarnation. Do you remember when I told you to come find me two years later on August 14th? Today is August 13th, two years later. That's why I say my days are numbered. Almost everything that happened after you left the mountain was seen by me - your cleverness, bravery, and your heart that isn't tainted by worldly affairs, all of which are what that person likes the most. I know you can't put down the friend who was captured by the demon sect. Everything is fate, not a single bit is up to humans. You don't need to think too much about it, he also has his own path to follow. In the future, there will definitely be a day when you two meet again."
Hai Long's heart skipped a beat, he knew exactly who the strange person was referring to. With some excitement, he said: "Senior, your cultivation is so profound, can't you rescue Dou Ya from the Demon Sect?"
"The strange man said faintly, 'It's not that I don't want to help you save him. I'm here, originally carrying a guilty body, leaving to save you has already gone against the teachings of my ancestors, how can I still linger in the outside world? To save your friend, you can only do it when you become strong yourself. That is something others cannot help with. What you need to do now is to quickly make yourself stronger. How can relying on others compare to relying on oneself? Only things that belong to oneself are the most real. You must remember, the effort you put in will determine your harvest. Your future achievements depend on your efforts.'"
Hailong nodded as if he had suddenly understood, saying: "Senior, it's me who has been holding you back. Since you're about to leave this place, can I ask you to show me your true appearance? After receiving so much kindness from you, I haven't even seen what you look like yet."
The strange man sighed and said, "Yes! It's time for you to see me." As he spoke, his hunched body slowly turned towards the Sea Dragon. The Sea Dragon felt an intense surge of emotions, his heart racing faster and faster, his fists clenched tightly, all his attention focused on the strange man in front of him. How many times had he wanted to see what this strange man looked like? Now that his wish was finally about to come true, how could he not be excited?
It was as if a hundred years had passed, the strange man finally faced the sea dragon, he slowly raised his head, and at the same time stretched out his hand to remove the hood on his head, revealing his appearance in front of the sea dragon.
Hailong's entire body shook violently. In his mind, he had imagined the appearance of the strange person countless times, but when he actually saw him, all those imaginations disappeared. He never thought that this strange person, who had saved him numerous times and had unfathomable cultivation, would be in this form. Standing before him was a snow-white, aged gibbon monkey. Unlike ordinary gibbons, the strange person's fur shone with a faint gemstone light, his golden eyes were deep like bottomless icy pools, and on each of his cheeks, three small ears overlapped, making six ears in total. As he recalled the words "Six Ears Senior" spoken by the ethereal Taoist master, Hailong was completely stunned.
The six-eared macaque smiled slightly and said, "Didn't expect it, did you? I'm actually just an old monkey who's become a spirit. To be honest, even I don't know how many years I've lived. Are you disappointed? I'm not the kind of transcendent being with a refined and elegant demeanor that you imagined. I remember that my dharma name was supposed to be Lingtongzi. Same as your six masters."
A strange gleam flashed in the dragon's eyes, and he firmly shook his head, saying: "No, senior, no matter what form you take, in my heart, you are always the most respected senior."
The six-eared macaque smiled slightly and said, "When I first saw you, I knew that you wouldn't change your mind because of my appearance. You didn't disappoint me! Good kid, now I'll tell you everything about myself." As he spoke, he waved his large sleeve, and Hai Long felt a sudden darkness in front of him, and instantly found himself transported to another place. This place was completely pitch black, and relying on his cultivation in the Cloud Ascension realm, Hai Long could only see things within one meter in front of him.
"The voice of the six-eared macaque sounded, 'Isn't it strange? Actually, every time you come here, you can see this place from the outside. This is the inside of that huge boulder. This boulder is extraordinary, formed by the cold spirit of ten thousand years. Its hardness is so strong that even with my current cultivation, if I want to forcefully shatter it, I would at least need to consume one-tenth of my magic power. I used the teleportation technique to bring you here. In order for you to cultivate more quietly, from now on, you will not leave this cold spirit stone. When you can completely absorb the energy of this cold spirit stone and break out with your own strength, then your cultivation will have made some small progress. As for how many years it will take, that depends on your fate. The little monk who came with you is on the other side of the cold spirit stone. At that time, I will let him guard the edge of the stone for you until you break out. Now, listen carefully to every word I say."
After this experience and the last narrow escape, Hailong's desire for power had already reached an unprecedented level. Upon hearing the six-eared macaque's words, he didn't feel dissatisfied, but instead felt a thrill in his heart. He nodded vigorously and said, "Senior, no matter how much suffering I endure, I will definitely persist in my cultivation."
The six-eared macaque seemed to have not heard the sea dragon's guarantee, and a hint of confusion flashed in his golden eyes as he muttered: "I was originally a macaque from the Great Snowy Mountains in the far north. The Great Snowy Mountains contain vast spiritual energy, and one day I accidentally ate a snow-white fruit. My fate changed from then on. As time passed, my power grew stronger and stronger. Suddenly, a majestic and unfamiliar voice appeared in the depths of my mind. At that time, I didn't know who he was. His voice became the command for my body to execute, and under his guidance, I began my cultivation that lasted for tens of thousands of years. For our kind of non-human spiritual creatures, cultivation is much more difficult than for humans, which is also why a human cultivator of a thousand years can easily defeat a demon who has cultivated for 1,500 years. But I was lucky, under the guidance of that voice, in just a few hundred years, I refined my bones and, relying on the nourishment of the Great Snowy Mountains' spiritual energy, I possessed human wisdom. As time passed year by year, when I devoted myself to cultivating for tens of thousands of years, I finally broke through the last boundary. That majestic voice told me that because of my perseverance and determination, he decided to spare me from the heavenly tribulation and directly ascend me into the immortal realm, granting me the title of Ling Tongzi. Wrapped in a seven-colored auspicious cloud, I left the Great Snowy Mountains where I had lived for tens of thousands of years. Even now, I still can't forget that moment when I ascended to immortality. I was so excited, my efforts of tens of thousands of years were not in vain, and I became an immortal with a macaque's body."
Hailong stared blankly at the six-eared macaque in front of him, although he had imagined many things before, but he couldn't have thought that the one who had been helping him all along was actually an immortal. No, it should be an immortal monkey instead. "You... you're already an immortal! I've actually met an immortal! Senior, since you've become an immortal, why are you still appearing here again? The Immortal Realm, what kind of world is that after all?"
The six-eared macaque let out a soft sigh and said, "The immortal realm has its own rules, I'm afraid I can't reveal the secrets of heaven. When you succeed in overcoming your tribulations and ascend to that realm, you'll naturally understand everything. It wasn't until after I entered the immortal realm that I realized my ancestral master was incredibly powerful, and even I was just a small monkey in front of him. My master's identity is something I cannot tell you, it's an absolute secret. My master has great influence in the immortal realm, even the emperor of immortals fears him somewhat. Because my master had some affection for me, he arranged for me to guard the gate of his residence in the immortal mansion. For me, this was already a great honor. Unfortunately, good times don't last long, and one day a guest suddenly arrived, whose power was so great that it rivaled my master's. He came to pay respects to my master, but my fellow disciples were slow to receive him. Due to my master's greatness, the disciples had developed an arrogant habit, and they ended up offending that person. In his rage, he destroyed my master's most treasured possession and then left. When my master returned and saw his treasured possession destroyed, he was furious and personally went to find that person. Later, for some reason, they became sworn brothers. That person also helped my master restore the treasure. However, my master didn't forgive me and my fellow disciples because of this. My fellow disciples were suppressed by a powerful formation and needed to cultivate for ten thousand years before they could break free. My master said that this was done to temper their arrogant nature. And I, because I hadn't stopped my fellow disciples' reckless words in time, also received my master's blame and was demoted to the lower realm, suppressed beside this cold spirit stone. It would take six thousand years of cultivation before I could return to the immortal realm. As it happens, those six thousand years are almost up, and then I met you. The person who had sworn brotherhood with my master saw that I was wronged and gave me one of his magical tools, telling me to find someone with a predestined connection in the mortal world. Your appearance stirred up the words he left for me back then. So, I gave that magical tool to you - it's the small iron rod that has saved your life multiple times. Over a year ago, when you were heavily injured and on the verge of death, I had no choice but to risk my master's punishment and come out of seclusion to save you. Tomorrow is the day I re-enter the immortal realm, I don't know how my master will deal with me. If he blames me for this, it can only be said that I'm unlucky." As he spoke, the six-eared macaque couldn't help but reveal a melancholy expression. Despite his great power, his body was slightly trembling, clearly showing his fear of his master.
"Hai Long said in a puzzled tone: 'Senior, your ancestor is also too unreasonable. It's clearly not related to you, so why did he demote you to the mortal realm to suffer 6,000 years of loneliness?'"
The six-eared macaque was shocked and lost his color, while the sea dragon felt a sudden tightness all over his body and couldn't say another word. The six-eared macaque clasped his hands together and sincerely said: "Master, please forgive me, the sea dragon had no intention of offending you, please understand." With a stern expression, he spoke in a low voice to the sea dragon: "You ignorant little brat, can you even comprehend Master's thoughts? If you say something like that again, it will be as if we never met. In my heart, Master's position is supreme and unshakeable, no one can replace him. If not for Master's careful guidance back then, I wouldn't have achieved what I am today. No matter what Master does, there must be a reason behind it." The sea dragon felt his body lighten up again, regaining control over his movements, and looking at the six-eared macaque's serious expression, he didn't dare say anything else either.
The six-eared macaque's expression gradually relaxed, and he said: "There are many things that you won't understand now. The kindness of the Ancestor to me is something I can never repay. If it weren't for him forgiving my heavenly tribulation, with this monkey body of mine, I'm afraid I would have long been destroyed in the heavenly tribulation. Now, you should understand why I don't dare take you as a disciple. The true owner of the small iron rod is your master. He and the Ancestor are both people with great spiritual powers. How lucky you are! It's really making me envious. My story ends here. In two days' time, it will be the turning point of my fate. I don't know how the Ancestor will deal with me then. At that time, just watch from within the Cold Spirit Stone, I've set up a spell here, when you urge the power in your body to flow into the stone wall, you can see everything outside."
Hailong's eyes were slightly red as he muttered: "Senior, can you not leave? I...I really don't want to part with you!"
"Ah, foolish child," the six-eared macaque smiled. "Fate is also limited, and with such a powerful master by your side, your future achievements will be boundless. If you have the heart, after entering the immortal realm, come visit me again. At that time, you will understand everything, and it will be easy to find me." As he spoke, he casually pressed his hand against the stone wall beside him, and a crack appeared. Under the six-eared macaque's guidance, Haichuan arrived at another empty space. The light here was much brighter than before, and in front of Haichuan were two circular pits with diameters of one meter each. The left pit was empty, while the right pit was filled to the brim with a thick, red liquid. A strong, pungent aroma wafted over, making Haichuan's mouth water uncontrollably.
