Chapter 740: Teaching the Monkey (Lower)

The Great Dao has a beginning, yet the Great Dao has no end.

Hongjun Daozu sat idly in the bamboo house deep within the bamboo grove, gazing at the Zaohua Yudi laid out on the low table. The disc displayed the scene of Xieyue Sansing Dong.

To evaluate the power of a supreme treasure, one could also consider the clarity of its images.

For instance, Hongjun Daozu's Zaohua Yudi could manifest the Three Thousand Great Daos with ease, revealing even the shape of a single grain of soil in the scene.

What it showed was:

Puti Laozu meditating in the back hall, while Sun Wukong and several fellow disciples played and fought in the open space in front of the hall. Everything appeared much the same as it had been for the past sixty-plus years.

Hongjun Daozu paid little attention to Puti Laozu, his gaze fixed on Sun Wukong, tinged with admiration.

He suddenly laughed. "Dao friend, the monkey you mentioned is truly likable..."

As the words fell, Hongjun turned to the empty seat on the right side of the low table and couldn't help but chuckle wryly.

Of course, that friend was long gone.

Hongjun flicked his fingers lightly, and layers of mist rose in the bamboo grove, as if crossing the river of time to return to some distant point in the past.

Three figures appeared beside him, some sitting cross-legged, others lounging at an angle, all with relaxed expressions.

This was a projection of memories.

Hongjun sat in the same spot, but remained silent, his face serious, with a row of neatly arranged jade plaques before him.

Beside him were two old Daoists, and opposite sat a somewhat rotund Daoist with a restrained demeanor.

Amid a few casual conversations, time slowly drifted by.

Suddenly, faint ripples of Dao rhythm emerged around them. Hongjun flicked his fingers again, and the scenes quickly faded, leaving him alone by the low table. The jade plaques were gone, leaving only the Zaohua Yudi.

"Dao friend."

A voice called softly from outside the bamboo house.

A gray-robed old Daoist stepped in and sat opposite Hongjun.

Hongjun asked, "How did it go?"

"The one named Li Changgeng hasn't moved at all. He's been in the Kunpeng Secret Realm the whole time. As for Xuandu and the others, they seem to be gathering the prehistoric beings that escaped from the heavens, but they won't amount to much."

The gray-robed old Daoist spoke slowly.

"The spies we've placed in the Kunpeng Secret Realm have been there all along. Although we can't contact Li Changgeng directly, we can certainly sense the operation of the Equilibrium Great Dao.

There were a few instances when Yunxiao and Lanling E entered and exited the great hall, and we clearly saw Li Changgeng's figure.

He appears to be diligently cultivating, trying to comprehend the realm beyond the perfection of the Equilibrium Dao.

He truly hasn't left the Kunpeng Secret Realm."

Hongjun Daozu smiled.

"It seems we were overthinking things before.

Before he was driven out of the prehistoric heavens, he had only cultivated for about a thousand years, so his accumulation is far from sufficient.

We shouldn't underestimate Li Changgeng, but we don't need to see him as too powerful either. In the end, it's all just Taqing's schemes."

The gray-robed old Daoist asked, "But Dao friend, if Li Changgeng stays in the Kunpeng Secret Realm, are we just going to wait forever?

Should we destroy the Kunpeng Secret Realm to force him to act?"

"No need to rush; waiting is fine," Hongjun straightened his posture. "If we push too hard, it's easy to provoke him into war with us, which would go against our plans.

Although the Three Realms are entirely under our control, if he uses the Kunpeng to forcefully breach the heavens, we would suffer unnecessary losses.

For now, we just need to observe and wait patiently.

The power of living beings can no longer threaten the heavens, and the Heavenly Court stands as a barrier before the Heavenly Dao. If any living beings rebel, the Heavenly Court can suppress them.

Compared to the heavens, living beings lack endurance. A few yuan meetings or even dozens of them—we can afford to wait."

The gray-robed old Daoist nodded slowly and asked again, "How are the arrangements for the Journey to the West calamity coming along?"

"Look," Hongjun laughed, "this monkey is already shaping up nicely. In another one or two hundred years, he can be put to use for us.

As for the Buddhist sect, there's no need to worry. Jiyin has already been secretly controlled by me; he didn't put up any resistance.

Now, the only variable in the heavens is Yuan Shi, but he's just one tree standing alone, so there's no need to bother with him. Among the Three Purities, he's the most difficult to deal with."

The gray-robed old Daoist also showed a slight smile. "A saint follows the heavens, and the heavens cannot be disordered by a saint. With him alone as a saint, there's truly no cause for concern."

"Using Jiyin as a restraint is enough."

Hongjun Daozu tapped his fingers on the Zaohua Yudi, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

"But for some reason, I still feel a bit uneasy."

"Are you worried that Li Changgeng has learned something?"

"That's right," Hongjun said slowly. "Although we've covered up all the truth, I always feel that Li Changgeng has grasped some secrets he shouldn't through methods we can't determine.

For example, how he arrived in the prehistoric heavens.

Most of what he said to me before can't be trusted. He might have already understood the principles of true spirit traversal back then."

The gray-robed old Daoist fell silent for a moment before asking, "Didn't you look through those texts in the Kunpeng vessel?"

"I've looked through them, but there might still be hidden messages inside."

Hongjun said gravely, "What I still can't figure out is how Li Changgeng could comprehend the Equilibrium Dao in such a short time, even surpassing our understanding of it.

Given his nature, he'd show ten percent of his strength as three percent, hide another three percent, bury three percent, and keep one percent for a last-ditch escape.

Was what we saw before his true realm?

I have my doubts about that."

The gray-robed old Daoist fell silent.

Hongjun Daozu pinched his fingers to calculate for a while and whispered, "Maybe we overlooked some backup from that guy."

The gray-robed one said, "That person couldn't have hidden anything from you."

"It's hard to say; after all, I'm not that guy's confidant."

Hongjun Daozu's face showed a touch of emotion. He sighed lightly and said slowly, "Continue monitoring the Kunpeng Secret Realm. The other living beings aren't worth worrying about; just keep an eye on Li Changgeng."

"Very well."

The gray-robed old Daoist nodded slightly, his form beginning to dissipate, but then it solidified again.

"Should we make Haotian more obedient?"

"No need."

Hongjun Daozu thought for a moment and shook his head. "He's just a bit impulsive, but deep down, he understands. The title of Heavenly Emperor is nothing without our protection—it's just a joke.

Besides, in Yaochi, he has his wife and daughter; he has no way out and nowhere to go."

The gray-robed old Daoist nodded slowly and said, "To prevent any unforeseen events, how about placing Heavenly Dao shackles on Li Changgeng's friends and disciples?"

"No need," Hongjun said slowly. "As long as they don't threaten the Heavenly Dao, they are still just living beings. There's no need to act against them."

The gray-robed old Daoist said indifferently, "You still have some compassion for Li Changgeng."

"You're mistaken, Dao friend," Hongjun smiled slightly. "I just think that living beings are quite wonderful. Since we've already taken control of the Three Realms and eliminated most threats, there's no need to make things difficult for them.

Living beings are part of the heavens, after all. The more vibrancy they have, the more color it adds to the heavens.

This kind of stable prehistoric world is the most beautiful, don't you think?"

"You have a point, Dao friend," the gray-robed old Daoist nodded slowly. "Everything for the eternal heavens."

"Indeed, everything for the eternal heavens."

The figure of the gray-robed old Daoist dissipated with the wind.

Hongjun Daozu's smile gradually faded from his lips, as if he were pondering something. Soon, he lowered his head to look at the scene in the Zaohua Yudi.

What was the next step?

Changgeng was right about one thing.

When the Heavenly Dao merged with him, it gave birth to a consciousness similar to that of living beings, which wasn't a good thing. Because the Heavenly Dao would think about how to protect the heavens and suppress the power of living beings.

Hongjun Daozu lightly tapped the Zaohua Yudi a few times with his fingers, and various scenes appeared on it.

One was a shimmering underwater palace, where Tongtian Jiaozhu, surrounded by iron chains, yawned boredly, seemingly unconcerned about his situation.

He exuded an air of carefree nonchalance.

In Zixiao Palace, the seal of Taqing was extremely secure. Without a Heavenly Dao saint's full effort, it would be impossible to break.

Of course, Hongjun Daozu understood all too well.

Originally, Li Changshou's greatest leverage was the Three Purities as the primordial spirit of Pangu, and the combination of the Taiji Chart, Chaos Bell, and Pangu Banner into the God Axe of Creation, using the destruction of the heavens as the price to eliminate him, the Daozu, and the Heavenly Dao.

His own greatest leverage was that they wouldn't dare act against the heavens.

After all, they weren't like that guy inside ancient Fuxi.

Moreover, as the dignified Daozu, how could he lack trump cards?

For example, the Qiankun Cauldron, which could harness the essence of the heavens, and the four divine beasts of the prehistoric world that he had refined long ago into the Heaven and Earth Wuji Four Symbols Great Array...

And so on.

He had trump cards too. If, after the Investiture of the Gods calamity ended, Li Changshou had chosen not to leave but to clash head-on, the outcome would have been uncertain, but living beings would have suffered heavy casualties.

Since Li Changshou chose to leave, in Hongjun Daozu's view, if he hadn't prepared some 'heaven-defying' ultimate trump card, his chances of winning would only decrease as time flowed by.

After all, he, the Daozu, wouldn't just sit and wait for doom.

What was the next step?

It was time to make the final preparations and devour this Heavenly Dao.

Transcendence?

That was nothing but nonsense. If one's heart was vast enough, even the Chaos Sea was just a prison.

So, long ago, he, the Daozu, had embarked on another path.

Using the prehistoric heavens as his Dao body, transforming into the ultimate living being that had never existed before, to contact those consciousnesses that established the rules of true spirits—that was his path to transcendence.

Hongjun Daozu looked at the Zaohua Yudi before him, and a slight smile inadvertently appeared at the corner of his mouth.

That smile was identical to the one he had deliberately shown to scare Li Changshou in Zixiao Palace back then.

"You all are still too shallow."

Hmm...

Why does it feel like someone is cursing me behind my back?

In Xieyue Sansing Dong, Li Changshou opened his eyes, suppressed the urge to yawn, organized the subtle insights from his cultivation, and felt a slight sense of emotion.

Modifying the Jiekong Great Dao was truly not easy.

His immortal sense fell on the monkey, who was jumping around joyfully and freely.

Several female disciples were calling out, "Wukong, come here!" "Wukong, catch this!" teasing him nonstop.

The monkey happily leaped left and right, intercepting the flower balls they threw back and forth, making the male disciples nearby green with envy.

There was no helping it—Wukong was just too popular with the female disciples.

As for why, Li Changshou had analyzed it carefully.

First, this stone monkey was utterly clueless about matters between men and women and had no gaps in his Dao heart.

His heart was for the Dao, and his Dao was for his heart.

Second, the stone monkey was clever and knew how to say flattering words, showering compliments endlessly. From the moment he joined, his flattery won over the senior sisters, treating him like a close brother.

Third, Wukong didn't make the male disciples feel any pressure; he was more like a mascot in the Taoist temple, even though his strength had already surpassed that of the other disciples.

Fourth, Wukong was skilled in battle and often defeated stronger opponents, especially in close combat.

During several trials in the nearby mountains and forests, Sun Wukong charged ahead, casually slaying powerful demonic beasts, exuding an indescribable heroic aura.

How could such a handsome monkey king not be popular?

Li Changshou chuckled lightly, stood up, walked to the door of the room, sat in a rocking chair, and watched the disciples playing.

This kind of life was actually quite nice.

But the current peace was just an illusion. As long as the Daozu wasn't eliminated and the will of the Heavenly Dao wasn't erased, the entire prehistoric world was like a small sailboat drifting on an endless ocean.

If the ocean was in a good mood, the sailboat could sail steadily forward.

But as soon as the ocean stirred up waves or a storm, the sailboat would be swallowed in an instant.

This wasn't a hidden threat; it was an obvious one.

It was almost time.

In another two or three hundred years.

Once the monkey returned to Huaguo Mountain, he could naturally slip out of the Five Parts Continent. If the Daozu chose to eliminate Puti Laozu, he would have no choice but to flip the table.

If the Daozu chose to spare Puti Laozu, he could make up for the last bit of his winning hand and gain complete control in the final gamble.

From the time his true body left the prehistoric world, a considerable amount of time had passed in the blink of an eye. Actually, two or three hundred years would fly by.

Sometimes, time was like that—one open and close of the eyes, and decades were gone.

Li Changshou maintained a state of outward relaxation but inward vigilance, carefully passing on the cultivation methods given by the Daozu to the monkey, and even teaching him some divine abilities that the Daozu hadn't provided.

Without telling the Daozu, he also passed on some things that shouldn't have been taught to the monkey.

Sun Wukong's cultivation advanced steadily and rapidly, as if he had no bottlenecks at all.

The extremely powerful spiritual energy within him had mostly transformed into his own magical power.

He cultivated copper skin and iron bones, and the ability to create an external incarnation.

He learned to ride the clouds and mist, and to achieve an indestructible golden soul.

Li Changshou sat in the depths of Puti's heart, waving his hand, and time around him accelerated rapidly, turning into streams of dazzling light.

Fast-forward to:

Sun Wukong survives the Golden Immortal tribulation and is driven away from Lingtai Fangcun.

In the 236th year since Sun Wukong entered the mountain, he smoothly passed the Golden Immortal heavenly tribulation and gained some benefits from it.

After Sun Wukong emerged from seclusion and couldn't help but show off in front of his senior brothers and sisters, he was caught by "Puti Laozu," who scolded him with a stern face.

"Wukong, did I teach you the Great Dao just for you to show off?"

Wukong quickly admitted his mistake. Being as clever as he was, he could already sense something from his master's expression.

Sure enough, Li Changshou flicked his sleeve and scolded, "Our master-disciple bond is at an end. Leave this place today and never return."

Sun Wukong was greatly shocked, and the other disciples were also surprised.

Among them, they had finally produced a Golden Immortal of longevity, so why was the teacher driving him away so easily?

The disciples all pleaded on his behalf, and Sun Wukong begged and explained, but Puti Laozu was as unyielding as iron and stone. With a flick of his sleeve, he tossed Sun Wukong tens of thousands of miles away.

Seeing that the teacher was truly angry, the disciples didn't dare speak up, and several female disciples had red eyes as they returned to their residences to cultivate.

That night,

Li Changshou lay sideways on the soft couch, facing the inner wall of the cave.

"Master..."

A slightly trembling voice came from outside the window—it was the stone monkey returning.

Li Changshou remained silent, as if asleep.

With a creak, the monkey quietly climbed over the window and knelt by the bed. He wanted to speak but didn't know what to say, only bowing his head in submission.

He knelt like that for half an hour, but Li Changshou still said nothing.

Sun Wukong asked in a trembling voice, "Master, did I do something to displease you... You can beat me or scold me, but asking me to leave like this—I can't bear it."

Li Changshou remained silent.

After a while longer, Sun Wukong sighed, "Master, is there something you can't tell me directly?"

Li Changshou still said nothing.

Sun Wukong couldn't help but close his eyes and take a light breath.

"Master, can you say just one more word to me? One word is enough..."

Finally...

"From now on, don't tell anyone that you were my disciple."

Li Changshou transmitted his voice, and Sun Wukong was instantly heartbroken, his face turning ashen.

This guy... oh well.

Li Changshou transmitted again to explain:

"This isn't because I think you're unworthy to be my disciple; it's just that our master-disciple bond has truly ended.

Wukong, do you still remember why you took me as your master?

And what you said to me on the first night you knelt here?"

"I... I..."

Li Changshou transmitted:

"Cultivation in the mountains is one form of practice, but wandering the mortal world is another.

You're the restless type. I'm letting you go because there's nothing more for you to learn here.

Go on.

The world is vast, enough for you to somersault through.

Though the prehistoric world has fewer great powers now, it's still full of wonders. It's the perfect time for you to explore.

But remember, don't mention to anyone that we were master and disciple. Whatever trouble you get into later, don't come looking for me."

With that, Li Changshou waved his hand.

Sun Wukong felt a surge of white mist around him, and when he reappeared, he was at the foot of Lingtai Mountain.

It was the same spot where he had encountered the woodcutter years ago.

Sun Wukong stood there in a daze, feeling the night breeze blow, a bit chilly.

He sighed softly, bowed several times toward the mountainside, then stood up to ride the clouds away. But he couldn't help turning back on the clouds and kowtowing a few more times toward where Li Changshou was.

In the end, the monkey, with red eyes, rode the clouds back along the path he had taken when seeking immortality all those years ago.

Li Changshou: ...

Once the Daozu makes a move, I'll immediately start the next phase of action.