Chapter 26: The Journey to Shuangyun Mountain

  One night without words, Sun Tuo sorted out his gains and losses, and then began to cultivate. After today's battle, Sun Tuo also understood the wonders of summoning the Western Treasure Classic. The tactic of using a large number of people, as long as he had enough spiritual power, would allow him to summon the monkey soldiers and generals from the Flower Fruit Mountain, and defeating Qin Hu would be an easy task. This made Sun Tuo even more diligent in his cultivation!

  The next morning, Liu Kai was shouting to take Sun Tao to experience the colorful world outside. It's best to encounter a blind demon lord, so they can eliminate demons and protect the way. In addition to dealing with evil spirits, there will also be a pretty good harvest, what's not to love about this?

  After using the early good, Sun Tuo was brought by Liu Kai to stroll around the city, and this Liu Kai was more familiar with the river water county than Sun Tuo who had arrived a few days ago. Obviously, he had been here in Heishui County before.

  Liu Kai and Sun Tao walked along the main street, winding through alleys, and finally arrived at a quiet little street. Compared to other bustling streets, this one was relatively deserted. The bluestone pavement had only a few faint shadows of people, and there were not many shops, mostly just courtyard walls.

  "Liu brother, don't tell me this is the place you mentioned, the Cultivation Street Market, where we can meet other cultivators." In front of a slightly worn-out wooden door, Liu Kai stopped and knocked three times in a rhythmic pattern. Sun Tao asked with some curiosity.

  "Brother Sun, you don't know this, but it's a secret contact point for us cultivators. It was told to me by a senior member of our sect. Here, you can get some unexpected benefits. As long as you have spirit stones, you can get the information you want, whether it's finding people, finding heavenly treasures and earthly riches, or even encountering cultivation methods." Liu Kai explained with a smile, seeing Sun Wei's questioning look.

  As they spoke, the tightly closed door creaked open with a "squeak", and through the gap in the door, an old man was watching Sun Tao and Liu Kai with a vigilant expression. Seeing this, Liu Kai made a unique gesture on his chest, and the old man smiled kindly at Liu Kai and Sun Tao, making a welcoming gesture to invite them into the house.

  Upon entering the house, passing through a partition wall, the old man lifted a curtain, and what came into view was a long and deep passageway. Not long after, roughly the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, a young man dressed in fine clothes took Sun Tao and Liu Kai away, while the old man retreated back inside.

  "Two noble guests, is there anything you need? Let me, Li, see if I can be of any assistance." The young man in the magnificent attire led Sun Tao and Liu Kai through the winding corridors, where a cool breeze blew in, indicating that this was an underground passageway. After walking for about the time it takes to eat a meal, they arrived at a spacious grand hall, where the young man immediately asked Sun Tao and Liu Kai:

  "It's okay, we're just here to take a look around and see if there's anything that suits us in this market." Liu Kai said with a practiced wave of his hand.

  This bazaar is a large trading square opened up in the underground, like a market, where all kinds of monks can be seen talking to various vendors in the hall.

  Among these stalls, most of them were selling medicinal materials, talismans, and broken ritual instruments. Judging from their attire, if not for the fluctuations in true yuan emanating from their bodies, Sun Tao would have thought that this was just a ordinary market opened by mortals, and it wasn't the underground trading bazaar Liu Kai had mentioned at all. Everywhere was a mess, with various vendors' cries and haggling sounds coming from afar, making it very lively.

  Dantian was abandoned, and all the heavenly treasures were useless to Sun Tuo, unless he could repair his damaged Dantian. As for the stalls selling spiritual medicine and artifacts along the way, Sun Tuo just glanced at them casually and then withdrew his gaze, these things were of no use to him.

  He walked forward slowly, and Sun Tao paid attention to the small vendors selling talismans. The talismans that didn't require true yuan but could be activated with divine thoughts were the most suitable for Sun Tao's use. He was quite particular about this and looked very carefully along the way, seeing many different kinds of talismans as he passed by.

  "Sun, you're only looking at those useless talismans! I suggest you buy some elixirs to increase your cultivation, it'll be beneficial for your future practice." Seeing that Sun Wei was only paying attention to the vendor selling talismans, Liu Kai, unaware that Sun Wei's dantian had been destroyed, suddenly reminded him.

  "Brother Liu, my situation is a bit special, you don't understand. I'm interested in these talismans and artifacts, but they're all trash. The good ones, they wouldn't dare to take out for sale. Oh, right, Brother Liu, since you're familiar with this place, do you have anything that catches your eye?" Sun Tao smiled and said, skillfully changing the subject, not mentioning his inability to cultivate.

  "This underground market isn't very big, most of the people setting up stalls here are just some scattered cultivators, they don't have many good things on them. I came here mainly to gather information. Best if there's news about low-level demon beasts and magical creatures, coming out to train, how can it be considered training if you don't see blood?! Liu Kai was born into a noble family, he wasn't interested in the things these scattered cultivators were selling, just had an attitude of broadening his horizons, suddenly spoke up."

  All the way chatting, Sun Tuo used all the spiritual stones on his body to buy talismans, especially the Golden Talisman and Sword Talisman, Flame Talisman. Sun Tuo's spiritual stones were all used to buy these few talismans. With two attacking and one defensive, having the Flame Talisman in hand, even if he encountered a dead puppet, Sun Tuo also had a way to deal with it, and would not be as flustered as before. These three talismans are most suitable for him to use now.

  These vendors, apart from selling some items they don't need themselves, also sell intelligence. From the lairs of powerful beasts to the birthplaces of rare spiritual herbs and medicines, as long as it's something they can't use, they'll sell that information.

  Liu Kai only spent ten pieces of low-grade spirit stones to get the information he wanted on this trip. In the Shuangyun Mountain, a hundred miles east of Yunlan Mountain, there was a low-ranking wolf demon that would often go out and sweep through the surrounding villages, devouring the domesticated livestock raised by farmers. The nearby villages were plagued by this wolf demon, and many villagers had moved away. There had been exorcists who went to eliminate the wolf demon, but it had avoided them in advance because of rumors. Some weak exorcists were no match for the wolf demon either. This target was just right for Liu Kai's outing training.

  After inquiring about Sun Tao's opinion, Sun Tao was also idle and had nothing to do. He was cultivating the Western Tour Treasure Book and the Original Spirit Treasure Record, which could be cultivated anywhere. Sun Tao had not seen any demons or monsters in this world yet, and he was very curious about what differences there were between the demons of this world and those in the Journey to the West. Sun Tao really wanted to see for himself, and with Liu Kai as his companion, he agreed without much hesitation, planning to go take a look at the wolf demon tomorrow.

  After leaving the underground trading market, Sun Tuo and Liu Kai parted ways. In He Shui County, they bought some food and clothes to change into before returning to the inn to rest and wait for dawn the next day.

  At this moment, Sun Tao had eaten all the Wudan pills on his body, and his dantian was destroyed, unable to condense the true yuan, naturally he could not build the foundation, and he could not reach the state of Wugong. Without Wugong, he would have to eat a large amount of food every day, how could he survive in the wild mountains and forests without preparing some food?

  Having made sufficient preparations, Sun Tao returned to his residence and immersed his mind into the world of Journey to the West. He observed the evolution of Journey to the West for a while. On the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, Sun Tao was able to see the seventy-two cave kings of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. This was a delightful thing. As long as he could see the demon kings in the world of Journey to the West, Sun Tao would be able to summon them out.

  In the world of Journey to the West, Sun Wukong is far away across the ocean in the Western Cowherd Continent studying with Bodhi Patriarch. As for this scene, Sun Tao can only see a vague outline, and if he tries to look harder, he will be forcibly repelled by a powerful force. As for Sun Wukong's fate, Sun Tao still cannot grasp it.

  It's a pleasant surprise that Sun Tao has been diligently cultivating the Yuanshen Treasure Record these past few days, and he can now see some shrimp soldiers and crab generals in the East Sea Dragon Palace. However, he hasn't encountered any of the formidable characters from Journey to the West. As his divine sense sweeps through the world of Journey to the West, Sun Tao is aware that this place might have some powerful demons and ghosts, but all he can see are a group of minor demons. The truly formidable monsters are shrouded in a layer of mist, and no matter how hard he looks, he can't see them clearly.

  When the divine thought was rejected by the repulsive force of Journey to the West, Sun Tao began to cultivate the Yuanshen Treasure Record. Sun Tao had always cultivated in this way, cultivating the Yuanshen Treasure Record and summoning the Xiyou Treasure Classic at the same time.

  The next morning, the sky was still a dull gray, with only a hint of white in the east. Sun Wei finished washing up and followed Liu Kai towards Mount Shuangyun.

  Because Sun Toudan's dantian was abolished, he couldn't fly with a sword. In order not to delay the journey, Liu Kai and Sun Tou bought two old horses in the city as a vehicle, and then rode the horse to rush to Shuangyun, which would save a lot of time on the road.

  Shuangyun Mountain is a large mountain outside the Yunlan Mountains, with a continuous and undulating terrain, like two newborn conjoined twins. This is why local residents call it Shuangyun Mountain. In the past six months, no one knows when a strange beast ran out of the deep mountains, bringing a gust of strange wind each time it appeared, sweeping away the domestic animals raised in the village. Occasionally, some villagers who encountered it alone would also fall victim to its poisonous claws, making the local villagers anxious and fearful.

  Racing along, they arrived at Mount Shuangyun in no time, bringing with them a cloud of dust. After asking the local villagers about the whereabouts of the wolf demon, Sun Tao and Liu Kai, being bold and fearless, ignored their warnings and charged headfirst into the mountain.

  The forest is dense and lush, with ancient trees reaching the sky, luxuriantly green, old trees with gnarled roots, strong and vigorous like a coiled dragon. Entering Mount Shuangyun, the mountain road is rugged, and it's impossible to ride horses, so Sun Tao and Liu Kai had their horses left at a farmer's house before entering Mount Shuangyun on foot. Because they were walking, and the roadside bushes and thorns were dense, their speed slowed down.

  "Wolf demon, why hasn't this damned wolf demon appeared yet? The sun is about to set, do we have to spend the night on these Double Allowance Mountains?" Looking at the endless mountains, the mountain ranges undulated and rose and fell, with wild beasts frequently darting out from the forests and thickets. After spending half a day wandering around the Double Allowance Mountains, Liu Kai saw the western sun setting, with flames of cloud burning like blood on the horizon. He adjusted his Taoist robe, which had been disheveled by branches, and complained.