That night, sleep eluded him.
Jiang Yuan's small cauldron hung at his waist, and he reminisced about what he had seen within the cauldron.
It was the life he had lived in the mortal realm.
The sages of the hundred schools, the great virtuous ones of the world, their glory unmatched.
Yet at the end of his lifespan, he was shoved by a small ghost in the Underworld, burdened with various crimes, unable to transcend in hell.
Why was it so?
Was the great virtue of the mortal realm, in the eyes of the heavens, not worth mentioning?
Jiang Yuan recalled "Journey to the West," which had never truly mentioned how the Heavenly Court and the Underworld treated the mortals of the Southern Zhanbu Continent.
However, the Western Tathagata had mentioned it, saying, "The Southern Zhanbu Continent is filled with greed, lust, and calamity, rife with killing and conflict; it is indeed a place of fierce tongues and a sea of controversy," which could be described as utterly vicious.
If the mortals of the Southern Zhanbu Continent possessed virtue, in the eyes of the great power wielders, such frivolity was akin to experimenting with medicinal stones or creating farming tools, all of which had their faults.
Indeed, as in his great dream, he could not attain immortality, ultimately leading to emptiness.
In that great dream, he was plagued by illness, suffering from chronic ailments, with no remedy from medicinal stones; it was "emptiness."
Not yet having entered a master’s door, he possessed great virtue, a great sage of the mortal realm, yet in the end, it was still "emptiness."
Emptiness!
Awakening from Emptiness!
Immortality, immortality!
Jiang Yuan felt a tremor in his heart, the malevolence of the black and white fish diminished somewhat, and his body felt much lighter.
"Child, how is it?"
The voice of the Patriarch entered his heart.
Jiang Yuan rose from his bed and walked out of the quiet room, seeing the Patriarch seated on a mat, seemingly waiting for him.
Jiang Yuan stepped forward and knelt before the Patriarch, saying, "Master, I have come to know the result, yet I did not expect the Underworld to have no way out, what a grievance! What a grievance!"
The Patriarch smiled and said, "What is there to be aggrieved about?"
Jiang Yuan replied, "I created a farming tool and crafted a medicinal stone, yet the Underworld judged me with a great crime."
The Patriarch shook his head, "Since you entered under my guidance, the Underworld should not come to entangle you. Once you enter the Dao, it counts as half an immortality."
Jiang Yuan was left speechless, asking, "Master, can one be half an immortal?"
How could something that could be cut in half be considered half an immortality?
Was the Patriarch joking with him?
The Bodhi Patriarch laughed, "Entering the Dao allows one to leap a hundred high zhang; with power in your body, your heart is valiant, and you are the master of killing. If the ghostly reapers come for you, you can strike them; how could that not count as half an immortality?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan suddenly felt enlightened; it turned out the Patriarch meant that by using brute force to kill the ghostly reapers, if one could fend them off, the soul would not be taken away, thus one would naturally remain alive, which would count as half an immortality.
He said, "According to what you say, if I were to kill my way into the Underworld and have that old Yanluo change the death register, would that not be a carefree immortality?"
Slap!
The Bodhi Patriarch, not knowing where he had pulled out a ruler from, struck Jiang Yuan once, laughing and scolding, "You child, truly restless; there has yet to be anyone with such boldness as you! There is a saying, 'When the mouth opens, the spirit scatters; when the tongue moves, controversy arises.' You have not yet created controversy, yet you wish to shatter the Yellow Springs; with your thinking, would not all the gods and Buddhas in heaven be beaten by you?"
Jiang Yuan was struck but felt neither anger nor resentment; he laughed and said, "With Master here, what does it matter if I beat them all?"
After saying this, he chuckled and walked back toward the quiet room.
The Patriarch was both amused and exasperated, pointing at Jiang Yuan, yet seeing this fellow slip away, he shook his head and said, "This child, the heart of the monkey has returned to submission, and his disposition is much more joyful."
……
Cultivation was tedious and flavorless, a struggle to advance.
Jiang Yuan had seen the sun and moon within the cauldron; he had cultivated diligently for three parts, often forgetting the passage of time.
Fortunately, the Patriarch had pointed it out, teaching him to continuously consume the wind and drink the dew.
Today, looking at the withered tree in front of the door, it bloomed once every two years, and the withered tree had blossomed dozens of times, truly a reflection of the changes in the world, where things were no longer as they were, winter faded and autumn remained, spring came and summer waned, again and again.
On this day, in front of the cave dwelling.
The Patriarch and Jiang Yuan arrived at the stone table.
Jiang Yuan consumed the wind and drank the dew, and day by day recited incantations.
With the assistance of the Yu Ding, his heart was much more settled, and his body felt light; he was just about to test the 'Flying Leap' in front of the Patriarch.
The Patriarch looked around and said, "Child, show me your Flying Leap."
Jiang Yuan received the command, exerting force with his feet, leaping into the air, reaching a height of seven or eight zhang.
He pulled his body, and with each pull, he ascended another zhang; after ten pulls, he had reached eighteen zhang high.
He clenched his fists and exerted force again, climbing upward.
In the span of a meal, he climbed to a height of fifty zhang, and only then did he reach the limit, landing back on the ground.
Jiang Yuan landed lightly, truly possessing excellent skills.
The Patriarch laughed, "What kind of Flying Leap is this? You can't even reach the clouds."
Jiang Yuan replied, "Master, I have already reached over fifty zhang; if I reach another fifty zhang, I will be entering the Dao."
The Patriarch said, "Child, you have subdued the heart of the monkey for two years; with fifty-three years, you will have largely stabilized the heart of the monkey. Your talent is exceptional; you should be encouraged."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan was both astonished and curious; it had already been fifty-three years, yet he felt it had only been a year or two of effort; time was like floating clouds.
Could he not be ninety years old?
But why did he not appear old?
Jiang Yuan looked at his own palm, as if he were still twenty.
He asked the Patriarch why this was.
The Patriarch pointed to his waist and said, "Forty years ago, I gave you a Tai Xuan Qing Sheng talisman. With this talisman, you will not suffer from illness or the pains of aging."
Jiang Yuan took out the talisman, not expecting that the talisman from that day would have such marvelous uses.
He asked, "Master, is this talisman really so mysterious?"
The Patriarch nodded and said, "The Tai Xuan Qing Sheng talisman is indeed mysterious; this is a side method. However, for your immortality, it is like a pillar in a wall; one day, when the pillar decays and the wall collapses, your body will perish and your Dao will vanish."
Jiang Yuan, astonished, asked again, "Master, if I take down this talisman, will there be danger to my life?"
The Patriarch shook his head and said, "If an ordinary person obtains this talisman and holds it in their mouth, they will attain immortality. However, once this talisman is removed, they will immediately perish and their Dao will vanish. Yet you have the heart of the monkey to protect you, and the Yu Ding to guard you; if you remove this talisman, you will grow old, but there is no danger to your life. It may cause you inconvenience, so you should keep this talisman."
Jiang Yuan silently nodded, knowing this talisman was precious.
The Patriarch's powers were vast, and everything he gave him was indeed valuable.
He said, "Master, when I attain immortality, will I still be able to return to seek you and learn these mysterious methods?"
How could he not be delighted by such marvelous powers?
The Patriarch laughed heartily, pointing at Jiang Yuan and saying, "You will be my greatest disciple; if you can learn, I will teach you everything. However, your Golden Core Dao is difficult; you may not have the time to learn."
Jiang Yuan felt regret; he knew well that the Golden Core Dao was hard to learn.
He had only subdued the heart of the monkey for half the time; there still remained the wild horse, Golden Duke, Wood Mother, and Yellow Granny waiting there.
This path was hard to complete.
But he understood that only the Golden Core was immortal.
If he could have five people to protect his primordial spirit and cultivate the Golden Core, that would truly be immortality.
Jiang Yuan thought to himself that this should be encouragement, and he should work three times harder.
It was just a pity that refining the heart of the monkey was a slow process, and could not be rushed.
He pondered.
Suddenly, he felt a tremor in the distant heavens and earth, and the Jing Mountain was also affected, as if a dragon were turning over.
Jiang Yuan was greatly alarmed, holding the Yu Ding to protect the Patriarch in front of him, wanting to see what kind of demon or ghost was causing trouble.
He looked into the distance and saw a vast golden light rising, forming a vague totem.
From a great distance, he could not see the specifics; the totem resembled a 'bear.' When he looked again, the totem transformed into golden light, morphing into several forms, scattering in all directions...
(End of Chapter)