Chapter 736: Dao Ancestor, This Big Monkey

The story of Qianli Yan and Shunfeng Er is quite intriguing.

They were originally a pair of human brothers who, after their deaths, encountered two strands of heavenly golden essence and water essence. This transformed them into demon immortals, and they joined the Jie Jiao sect.

Qianli Yan, whose name is Gao Jue, and Shunfeng Er, whose name is Gao Ming, were Jie Jiao immortals who entered the Feng Shen Platform early in the great calamity.

This pair of brothers didn't possess exceptional abilities, but they were clever, quick to react, and had innate divine powers for scouting. Their appearances were somewhat whimsical, yet they carried an air of authority.

After Li Changshou left the primordial world and Jiang Shang took charge of the Feng Shen events, these two brothers were selected as messengers running errands in front of the Lingxiao Dian. Empowered by the heavenly way, they could instantly survey the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity.

A burst of colorful xiaguang shot toward the Lingxiao Dian, startling the immortals and gods in session.

The Yu Di was already annoyed and about to lose his temper when Qianli Yan and Shunfeng Er entered the hall to report promptly. They were then ordered to observe the source of the xiaguang and returned to report what they had seen.

"Reporting to Your Majesty!"

Gao Jue said steadily, "What I have seen is that the xiaguang originates from a stone monkey on Hua Guo Shan in the Dong Sheng Shen Zhou region. This stone monkey seems to have innate divine powers, and its emergence caused spiritual energy fluctuations that disturbed the heavenly court!"

"Stone monkey?"

The Yu Di fell silent for a moment, and the Lingxiao Dian was enveloped in fluctuations of the heavenly way.

Soon, the Yu Di spoke calmly:

"It is merely a stone fetus born from a mending stone, perhaps infused with power from the sacred mother of humanity. My dear ministers, continue with your discussions and pay it no mind."

The gods bowed their heads and acknowledged, saying, "As you command."

Qianli Yan and Shunfeng Er bowed and retreated to guard the hall's entrance, standing shoulder to shoulder with the four marshals who once hailed from Jiu Long Island and now defended the Lingxiao Dian, exuding an imposing presence.

The discussions in the Lingxiao Dian resumed, but the Yu Di's mood inexplicably improved.

It had been a long time since this heavenly emperor had shown a smile, yet today he smiled several times.

On Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Li Changshou performed a divination and quickly learned through the heavenly way about the stone monkey's emergence in the East Sea and the disturbance it caused in the heavenly court.

After a brief hesitation, he rode the clouds to the East Sea to observe the heavenly court's reaction in secret.

As the teacher appointed by the Dao Ancestor for this monkey, handling such matters was part of his duty.

By nightfall half a day later, Li Changshou finally saw the stone monkey with his own eyes.

It was curled up in a crevice in the mountain forest, its pale golden fur covered in mud, with a makeshift covering of leaves around its waist.

Do not underestimate that simple covering—it was a sign of how this heavenly spiritual fetus differed from ordinary creatures.

In the stone monkey's eyes, Li Changshou saw a hint of bewilderment, a touch of panic, and a strong sense of yearning and curiosity.

As night deepened, the stone monkey touched its empty stomach, ventured out to gather some leaves and tender grass, chewed on them briefly, and soon discovered a peach tree. It climbed up and feasted heartily.

Afterward, it cautiously returned to its crevice in the mountain wall and curled up quietly, spending its first night since emerging into the world.

A large mass of dark clouds drifted over the East Sea, bringing rain and wind to Hua Guo Shan.

The stone monkey stared blankly at the darkened landscape, listening to the rain and wind; Li Changshou wondered what it could see or feel in that moment.

But it was likely experiencing the solitude of a living being.

The stone monkey yawned, its eyelids growing heavy, and slowly fell asleep.

Li Changshou landed on the mountain wall, sat cross-legged, concealed his aura, and made his form ethereal. He wore a thoughtful expression and stayed there through the night.

With the protection of the heavenly way, Li Changshou had no concerns for the stone monkey's safety.

Yet, for some reason, he felt compelled to stay close to this monkey, quietly accompanying it through this most difficult night.

As the second dawn broke and Li Changshou prepared to leave quietly, a wave of insights arose in his heart.

These insights were not about the great dao or divine powers, but about life itself.

Living beings are born into loneliness and thus crave companionship.

Trapped in this dark, lightless night, the stone monkey might come to yearn for and pursue the light.

Because the night is so profound, one believes all the more that light lies ahead.

Li Changshou's heart was filled with emotion, and for some reason, he thought back to the difficult days before his death in his previous life.

When his illness worsened the second time, he hid it from his family and had only his closest friend see him through his final moments. He left behind farewell videos, expressing his gratitude, thanks, and regrets to his loved ones.

Enduring the pain while sitting in a wheelchair, looking up at the yellowing leaves of a parasol tree, Li Changshou had questioned and felt lost, wondering what his life, cut short in middle age, had truly amounted to.

But questions and doubts changed nothing; the end of life was utter darkness.

Li Changshou had asked himself more than once—after awakening in the primordial world, was he still the same person from his previous life?

He had found the answer:

It was not merely a grafting of memories, nor a rebirth of the soul, and certainly not a reincarnation after drinking Meng Po's soup.

Simply put, the true spirit of Li Changshou as an individual had, through a spacetime rift, been drawn into the six paths of reincarnation in the primordial world.

The river of true spirits flows not only through the chaotic sea and the primordial world but through all realms of form, projecting countless living beings.

The chaotic sea is not the only realm of form.

If he could find that spacetime rift, he might return to Earth.

The truth of his crossing was an incredibly minor event: a true spirit retaining the consciousness of its previous projection.

Once Li Changshou fully comprehended this, his dao realm advanced rapidly.

During his debate with the Dao Ancestor in Zixiao Palace, Li Changshou deliberately gave the answer the Dao Ancestor wanted to hear, leading the Dao Ancestor to mistakenly believe that Senior Lang had pulled him into the primordial world.

In reality, Senior Lang could not do that, and neither could the Dao Ancestor.

It was pure chance.

Senior Lang, through divining the heavenly way, saw Li Changshou in the primordial world's future and assumed it was the work of the Dao Ancestor and the heavenly way, recruiting him as a supplement to their unfinished plan for the primordial community committee.

After all, whether it was Hongjun Dao Ancestor or Senior Lang, they were merely making inferences from their own perspectives.

Li Changshou, however, took a different path, studying the nature of true spirits and their interaction with the dao, fundamentally proving the method of his crossing.

That unfinished plan of the primordial community committee was the truth behind Senior Lang's final desperate act, but Li Changshou lacked sufficient evidence to confirm it completely.

From this angle, Li Changshou and the stone monkey shared a similar plight.

When Li Changshou looked at the stone monkey, it was as if he saw that infant boy who had just awakened his previous life's memories, curled up and trembling in his parents' tent.

The fear of the unknown;

The longing for the outside world;

The excitement of gaining life;

That pitiful and absurd sense of loneliness...

"Enough."

Li Changshou sighed softly.

In that instant, he decided to teach this stone monkey properly, without imposing any missions on him or deliberately binding him to the chariot of rebellion against heaven.

He alone was sufficient for that rebellion.

Before leaving, Li Changshou saw a group of monkeys pass by the crevice where the stone monkey was and smiled slightly.

His master should be safe in the cycle of reincarnation.

Though comparing his master to a monkey was inappropriate, those monkeys that would take in the stone monkey were just like the master who had taken him in back then.

At that, Li Changshou frowned slightly.

But he did not intervene further; his cloud continued onward, his form hidden in the white clouds.

He would not assign missions or fates to the stone monkey, but the heavenly way intended to use it to scheme against the demon race and promote Buddhism. The stone monkey was even born for this fate.

Whether it could break free from this constraint depended on the stone monkey's choices going forward.

Li Changshou did not mind sacrificing a bit of his advantage to confront the Dao Ancestor earlier for this monkey's sake.

It all depended on the Dao Ancestor's choice.

Upon returning to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Li Changshou did not idle.

Earlier, he had taken in some disciples from Zhong Shen Zhou. On his way to Hua Guo Shan, he conveniently gathered a group of young demons and brought them back to his daoist temple for guidance, accepting them as students.

After all, they were disciples of Bodhi Laozu—what did that have to do with Li Changshou, the exiled one?

Taking in these demonkin was to help the monkey adapt to the teaching environment on Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, preventing any feelings of inferiority and giving it companions during its cultivation.

From some details the previous night, he could tell that this stone monkey had a very sensitive mind.

Thus, Li Changshou assembled twenty-seven young students, assigning the previously enlightened boys and girls to care for their daily needs. In the Xie Yue San Xing Cave, he began small-group teaching and imparting the dao.

Li Changshou treated each disciple equally—as his nominal students.

He also had strict requirements for their character—to keep them from causing trouble that might involve their master.

While teaching these disciples, Li Changshou recalled the joyful days when he had trained Ling E.

Of course, he felt no particular emotion about it; Ling E was right by his side, and he still made time to be with her regularly.

He simply thought that he had done a fine job teaching Ling E back then, and she was a qualified disciple for their steady sect.

And so, spring turned to autumn, and the mountain knew no seasons; more than sixty years passed.

All of Li Changshou's nominal disciples had grown into adults, with half having passed the Fei Xian Tribulation and gained immortal bodies.

Under his deliberate guidance, they did not discriminate based on origins and treated all living beings equally. They helped lost woodcutters in the forests and rescued black bears wounded by hunters.

As these disciples became more active, the reputation of "Lingtai Fangcun Mountain Xie Yue San Xing Cave" gradually spread.

Many cultivators came seeking fame but could not find the mountain's location.

Some wandering immortals tried to befriend Bodhi Laozu but were politely turned away by his disciples with the words, "Our master does not see outsiders."

For safety, Li Changshou reduced his own activities and focused on playing the role of the illusory Bodhi.

Ah, with his two would-be dao companions by his side, he waited here for the monkey to come and seek him as a master...

He shouldn't dwell on it; thinking too much might bring tears.

One day, as Li Changshou was napping in the back hall, he suddenly sensed a surge of dao rhyme in his heart, and the Dao Ancestor's voice echoed in his spiritual platform.

"Bodhi, that stone fetus has left Hua Guo Shan. You must protect it in secret and ensure no one else takes it."

Li Changshou sprang up, bowed toward the air, and softly acknowledged.

He quickly fastened his daoist robes, picked up his whisk, and hurried to the border between Nan Zan Bu Zhou and Dong Sheng Shen Zhou, secretly guarding the stone monkey as it entered the mortal world.

This fellow...

Upon entering the human realm, it truly provided endless amusement.

The stone monkey left Hua Guo Shan for one purpose—to find an immortal master and seek the path to immortality.

Born with extraordinary gifts and various innate divine powers, conquering a group of mere monkey spirits was effortless.

Over these sixty-plus years, the stone monkey had lived freely on Hua Guo Shan, leading its band of monkeys on wild adventures across the mountains.

With Hua Guo Shan's abundant resources and previous demon inhabitants, the monkey spirits soon discovered caves, weapons, and treasures. They lived without want, enjoying a comfortable "well-off demon" life.

It was carefree and lively.

Perhaps due to the stone monkey's high spirituality, the monkey group gained intelligence within a few years—they could speak, move agilely, and even attracted more monkeys to join their tribe.

They drove away tigers and wolves, chased off jackals and leopards, brewed fine wine, and produced offspring.

The stone monkey was the strongest and most dominant fighter, and many female monkeys took a liking to it, but as no ordinary creature, it paid them no mind.

When the stone monkey discovered the blessed cave of Shui Lian Cave on Hua Guo Shan, the group of monkeys naturally hailed it as their king.

The stone monkey proclaimed itself "Grandpa," and the monkeys became its descendants.

In just a few decades, the monkeys of Shui Lian Cave became the rulers of Hua Guo Shan. Though they lacked powerful experts, the fact that the entire group had gained intelligence terrified the demons secretly observing from afar.

The stone monkey was unaware that the eyes of those ancient demons watching it were filled with greed!

After sixty years of carefree living, an old monkey spirit reached the end of its life and died in Shui Lian Cave, giving the stone monkey a direct experience of the power of aging and death.

All living beings fear death and cling to life, and the stone monkey was no different. It asked what death was.

A large horse monkey nearby explained some profound truths, introducing immortals and the path to immortality, and told the stone monkey that cultivating immortal arts could lead to eternal life.

The stone monkey suddenly understood and set out westward to find an immortal and learn the arts of immortality.

This stone monkey was not simply seeking longevity for itself; before leaving, it declared boldly:

"When I return, I will ensure all of you can learn immortal arts and achieve eternal life!"

And the monkeys truly believed it.

Incidentally, that large horse monkey must have been an incarnation of the heavenly way.

And so, the monkey ventured into Nan Zan Bu Zhou. Under the heavenly way's watchful eye and Li Changshou's protection, amid the screams of mortals, it experienced the various aspects of the mundane world.

Fortunately, the mortal world had long popularized "monkey performances," and the stone monkey was clever enough; otherwise, some tragedies might have occurred.

The stone monkey tumbled through the red dust, facing rejection and scolding, yet it laughed it off, though it took some of it to heart.

It also encountered kind people who offered it food, clothes, and even a place to stay.

But the stone monkey ignored both mockery and pity, simply playing in the mortal world without letting the dust cloud its pure dao heart.

It teased chained little monkeys, picked up bits of gold and silver, sampled rich foods from taverns, disciplined unruly thugs, chased wild boars from fields, and even peeked with a group of youths at a newlywed couple's window.

It also exorcised ghosts, fought fake immortals, and dismantled a few fraudulent temples...

After more than a decade, it journeyed from the east of Nan Zan Bu Zhou to the northwest.

Seeking immortals in the mortal world was, of course, futile.

Guided secretly by the heavenly way, when it reached the vicinity of Fangcun Mountain and heard the name of Bodhi Laozu, the stone monkey's expression was already quite calm.

Gazing from afar at the direction of Fangcun Mountain, seeing the spiritual energy soaring and immortal light swirling, it was startled, realizing it had found a true immortal abode.

It then dashed forward, leaping over streams and rushing through mists, losing its way unintentionally, and encountered a woodcutter. Hearing the mysterious poem, it bowed repeatedly and begged the woodcutter to take it as a disciple. The woodcutter simply pointed the way through the clouds and mists, leading it to Xie Yue San Xing Cave.

In the cave, Li Changshou sat in meditation. With his immortal sense, he saw the monkey's figure and smiled faintly.

It had finally arrived.

Watching the stone monkey hop and skip to the front of the daoist temple, looking around hesitantly, climbing trees, circling back, and finally unable to resist approaching the door,

The stone monkey glanced left and right, noticing two lines inscribed on the doorframe:

"Those who enter my door will all attain the dao, with immortality possible in mere centuries."

"Oh?"

The stone monkey perked up, rushed to the wooden door in a few steps, and knocked loudly, calling out:

"Master! Master! Your disciple has come to seek you as a teacher!"